"In the Name of the Moon" Re-Watch: "Battle of the Flames of Love: Mars vs Koan!" & "For Friendship: Ami vs Berthier"

 Sailor Moon R

We got new opening credits in this episode, which was awesome. I had to actually stop and watch them since its been a minute since I've seen them. We are getting final showdowns with two of the Spectre Sisters in these episodes, so let's get to it.

"Battle of the Flames of Love: Mars vs. Koan"

Tuxedo Mask: "The image of love shimmering in the sun. Come, you sad lost soul... Listen to the sound of a loving heart."

Koan: "What?"

Tuxedo mask: [picks up Chibi-Usa] "Farewell."

Rubeus sends Koan back to the Hiakawa Shrine because Wiseman has seen a vision of Chibi-Usa showing up there and using her powers. Koan goes to the shrine to stake it out, disguised as a cosmetics saleswoman. When Chibi-Usa shows up, Rei is the only Sailor Guardian near. When Yuichiro is injured trying to help Chibi-Usa, it's up to Rei to take on Koan all by herself.

Sailor Mars isn't playing.

I want to talk a little bit about Yuichiro to start this off. Yuichiro is a himbo before himbo was even a word. I mean, look at him in this episode. He's carrying all of Rei's packages from shopping and she is not being very nice to him. Constantly snapping at him for not moving fast enough. Calm down, Rei. Yuichiro isn't gay. He doesn't walk that fast. Yuichiro plows right into Koan so at one point he's getting dressed down in public by two aggressive, dark haired beauties. If I'm being honest, it seems like Yuichiro would be into that. This is a big episode for Yuichiro overall. He inserts himself between Koan and Chibi-Usa when she finally shows up at the shrine. In the midst of getting dressed down by Koan, he admits that he is in love with Rei. This is a great episode for Yuichiro and it kind of shows why he's one of my favorite like minor character in the show.

We haven't really gotten a lot of focus on the individual Spectre Sisters since they were introduced but that changes with these two episodes. We learn more about Koan. Koan is clearly in love with Rubeus, who uses that love to manipulate her into doing what he wants her to do. I know some people will disagree but I think that there are times when "Sailor Moon" does a great job of teaching the viewers, who are primarily young girls, things to watch out for. And they are clearly showing people that this relationship between Koan and Rubeus is toxic. He is saying that he cares but his actions show something completely different. The way that he crushes the bottle of cologne in front of Koan is so cruel and heartbreaking. It makes me hate him even more than I already did. And I love that the show is saying, Koan has done bad things but she still doesn't deserve to be treated this way.

I really enjoy when a Sailor Guardian goes one on one against a foe so I love seeing Sailor Mars face off against Koan to protect Chibi-Usa and Yuichiro. I wouldn't say that "Sailor Moon R" is known for its action sequences, but this one between Sailor Mars and Koan is pretty great and kind of brutal. I mean, Koan breaks Sailor Mars' ankle. It's rough and it's great to see Sailor Mars not give up and continue to do her duty.

Speaking of Sailor Mars, it is nice to see her in a bit of a different light. Rei isn't a bad person by any means but she is definitely more of a no nonsense character. She doesn't play. She doesn't mince her words. She can come off as a little insensitive and a bit judgmental. That's why it's great to see her in this episode come to Koan's defense when the rest of the Sailor Guardians show up and after Rubeus has appeared to show Koan his true colors. It is Sailor Mars that talks Koan down and convinces Sailor Moon to try to help Koan. We aren't used to seeing Sailor Mars be the most compassionate person in the room, so its a nice change of pace. Sailor Moon is able to use the Legendary Silver Crystal to change Koan back into a human.

I really enjoy this episode. It contains everything that makes a "Sailor Moon" episode great, even an unnecessary appearance by Tuxedo Mask. 

Grade: A-

"For Friendship: Ami vs Berthier"

Sailor Moon: "Stop right there! You're not ready to challenge Ami at chess or anyone else for that matter! Cheating and lying aren't the ways to succeed at life! So, in the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"

Rubeus sends Berthier alone to the next Crystal Point location which is the Chess Tower. It just so happens that Ami is a teen chess champion and she and Berthier end up facing off against one another in the tournament. It's not long before Berthier reveals herself to Ami and it becomes up to Sailor Mercury to play chess for the fate of her friends.

Freeze!

A weird thing I love about animation or any sort of fantasy, sci-fi, superhero stuff is the weird architecture in cities that would never fly in real life. In my most recent, "Superman: The Animated Series" post, I talked about the bonkers design of Metropolis. "Sailor Moon R" gives us the Chess Tower, which is large chess pieces basically. There's a giant knight and rook. It's super cool. It could never in a million years appear in real life, but it's perfect for an anime.

It comes as no surprise that Ami is a junior chess champion. I just assume that if there is anything happening where a teenager could win, then Ami has won it or is on the way to winning it. I did think it was really funny that Ami was playing chess against Usagi in the beginning of the episode. Ami playing chess against Usagi is like having a Michelin star chef on "Nailed It!" Usagi is just immediately outclassed, I don't care how many books about chess that Usagi has read.

The next Crystal Point is the Chess Tower, so Berthier heads there and ends up joining the chess tournament. The man who built the Chess Tower is Ami's old chess master. He reminds me a little bit of Master Roshi from "Dragonball Z" but not a pervert, which is a nice change. I definitely expected this old dude to be hitting on or making inappropriate comments to Ami, but that never happened. And I was so thankful.

I know this is an anime, but when Berthier starts using her own chess pieces during the match, I wondered, is that legal? Can you bring your own pieces to a tournament? I feel like you couldn't. I didn't care enough to look it up, but it doesn't seem legit. The thing about this episode is that chess is kind of boring unless you really love chess. And so, the scenes with Ami and Berthier playing chess are kind of just meh. They aren't super exciting and they don't become more exciting after everything is revealed and it's Sailor Mercury and Berthier playing against each other.

The conflict that causes Berthier to lose it, much like Koan did in the last episode, isn't romantic but familial. A couple of times Petz and Calaveras show up to see how Berthier is doing. They are more than willing to support her if it seems that the mission is going to succeed but once it becomes clear that Berthier is going to fail, then they flee, leaving Berthier to face the consequences of her failure on her own. Berthier realizing that she really doesn't have her sister's support is what pushes her over the edge. Luckily, Koan had came to root for Ami and is able to talk her sister off of the ledge. 

I didn't love this episode as much as I did the last one. I wish that Sailor Mercury would have had more of a focus and been a little more instrumental in the defeat of Berthier. I did like that Koan is now a friend of the girls and came to support Ami.

Grade: B

Next up, Petz and Calaveras try their hand at taking down the Sailor Guardians and... UFOs? 

What do you all think of these episodes? Do you like the focus on the individual Guardians? Did you empathize with Koan and Berthier? Let me know in the comments.