Sailor Moon R
These episodes were made for me. They are all about Sailor Venus and Artemis who are two of my favorite characters. Let's get right to it.
"Venus: Minako's Nurse Mayhem"
Sailor Venus: "Oh no you don't!"
Chibi-Usa: "Sailor Venus!"
Sailor Venus: "Threatening to harm an innocent child and spreading your evil power throughout our world?! You people are unforgivable! I'm the Pretty Guardian who fights for love and for beauty. I am Sailor Venus. Now, allow me to punish you with love!"
A flu manufactured by the Black Moon Clan and Esmeraude has swept the Juban District. The only ones who are seemingly unaffected are Minako and Artemis. Minako takes it upon herself to try to nurse her fellow Guardians back to health, but it turns out that Minako isn't a great nurse. Will the cure turn out to be worse than the cause?
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| Venus Star Power! |
I don't think that it will shock anyone to hear that I loved this episode. If you're giving me an episode focused on Minako Aino aka Sailor Venus, then it's going to be for me. And this episode is no exception.
One of the things I like about this episode, is that it gets right to the meat of the story. Sometimes we spend a little too much time with Esmeraude or the other villains explaining what they are doing and it's not really necessary. In the first few minutes, the news talks about the flu and shortly after we see Esmeraude walking through the Juban district and her voice over confirms that the Black Moon Clan is responsible for the flu. Easy peasy. It's established that Minako is unaffected and she's off to play nursemaid much to Artemis's dismay. I love that by the time Minako reaches Rei's place, she's already terrorized... er... helped Mako and Ami and Mako tries to warn her too late.
Rei is the perfect person to unleash Minako on. I have to say that this one of the funniest episodes of "Sailor Moon" that I've ever seen. And it never feels forced. It's all very natural. Every single bit works. The rice porridge being too salty and causing Rei to breathe fire. Throwing her out of bed when Minako tries to change her sheets after spilling the rice porridge after. Minako ruining her boombox. I have to give it up to Rei. She's not the most easygoing of the Sailor Guardians and she lasts a lot longer than I thought she would. But it's not long before Minako is tossed out.
Minako is not phased by this and she heads right to Usagi's house to "help." This is even better because it's a bit of a role reversal. Usually it's Usagi who is the one trying to help and getting everything wrong but this time it's Minako giving Usagi a taste of her own medicine. There are amazing moments here. I love Minako using the sheet that Chibi-Usa accidentally dropped off the balcony as like a cloak so she can make a dramatic reveal. The montage of Minako and Chibi-Usa making things a disaster are so funny. I could honestly watch it over and over again.
Another great thing about this episode is the heart to heart talk that Minako and Usagi have. Usagi asks Minako if she feels compelled to help her because she's the princess and it's more than that for Minako. Minako loves Usagi and she just wants to help her when she's not feeling good, whether she's good at being nurse or not. And she feels that way about all the Guardians and it's great to have them reciprocate this and thank her later in the episode.
If I have any gripes with this episode, it's the climax when Sailor Venus confronts the droid, Pharmakon. I love that when Esmeraude expresses surprise that Venus figured out that she was responsible for the flu, Venus just rolls with it. But I wish she would have held her own in the battle a little more. I definitely didn't need Tuxedo Mask showing up and I'm cool with the other Guardians showing up, but like I would have liked to have Venus be the focus instead of being pinned to a wall by giant syringes.
Once the droid is taken care of, Minako and Artemis gets hit with the actual flu and she and Artemis are at the mercy of Usagi the nurse. Talk about getting a taste of your own medicine.
Grade: A-
"Artemis's Adventure: The Monster Animal Kingdom"
Sailor Moon: "You have done the unthinkable! You've changed the pure hearts of kind animals into evil!"
Sailor Venus: "Perhaps, God and Buddha might forgive you, but--"
Sailor Moon & Sailor Venus: [together] "As for us? We can't!"
Sailor Moon: "I am the Pretty Guardian who fights for love and for justice, I am Sailor Moon..."
Sailor Venus: "And I am Sailor Venus!"
Sailor Moon: "And in the name of the moon, we'll punish you!"
Artemis feels like he is being made fun and taken advantage of by Luna and the girls, but especially by Luna. He's tired of getting no respect. While he's out walking on his own, he sees various animals taken off the street by a shifty man and follows them to the Great Animal Kingdom, which seem like a cross between a zoo and an animal shelter. The girls think that Artemis has abandoned them to live there and convince Luna to get him back. But, the GAK is the next Dark Point and Esemraude's newest droid has corrupted the animals and Artemis might be their only hope.
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| Blonde ambition. |
Artemis doesn't get much play on "Sailor Moon." He's Luna's counterpoint and he is usually there to just make some snarky asides. When I realized this episode was going to be an Artemis focused one, I wasn't super hopeful. I had a feeling it was going to give me like the droid focused episodes on "The Clone Wars" and if you read my "Clone Wars" recaps, you know how I felt about those. And, "Sailor Moon" doesn't have the greatest track record when it comes to episodes focused on their animal counterparts. I mean, remember the episode where Luna was being pursued by the overweight cat who ended up being one of the carries of the rainbow crystals? It... wasn't great. So, I was definitely worried that this episode was going to have some of those same vibes.
I will say it's definitely not as mediocre as that episode. I don't think I remember Artemis being put through the wringer as much as he does in this episode, but he gets it. He starts off getting chased out of a restaurant and gets a lump that Chibi-Usa immediately tries to touch. Luna reads him down and then when Usagi goes after him, she steps on him. I mean, I would probably take off too, if I were him.
Once the girls find out that Artemis is at Great Animal Kingdom, they peer pressure Luna to go after him because they are fully blaming her. She is in her feelings and won't go. I love how the girls turn it on, particularly Minako who says that if Artemis dies there and becomes a ghost he will haunt them all and no one wants that.
The droid in this episode is Dogmar and it's a little unsettling when she turns the animals bad and they start attacking the people in the park. I have been bitten by a dog, so when I see dogs especially go kind of nuts it freaks me out. And I think the animals going from walking on their hind legs and building a pyramid to attack dogs and cats and swans in an instant. It's legit kind of terrifying.
I love that we get two episodes in a row with Venus transformation sequences and Luna does try to get Artemis to stand down, but she refuses to apologize or admit that she's worried about him. Luna is kind of pigheaded for a cat. And they cats get whipped by Dogbar and I always hate when I see cats, even fictional cartoon cats, get slapped around. Seeing that box of kittens earlier in the dumpster really got me too.
All in all this is a fine filler episode. Artemis gets a showcase and Esmeraude gets peed on twice. Fun.
Grade: B-
Next up, Ami gets accused of cheating and Esmeraude attacks Chibi-Usa's school.
What did you all think? Are my other Sailor Venus fans feeling well fed? How much hentai do you thin was spawned from that scene of Dogbar holding the Guardians basically with leashes? Let me know in the comments.
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