Sailor Moon R
Just like with "Superman: The Animated Series," we are in the home stretch of "Sailor Moon R." And we are meeting a pretty famous character in today's post. So let's get to it.
"Wiseman's Evil Hand: Chibi-Usa Disappears"
Wiseman: "So, Esmeraude has fallen to her demise into a dark void. Well, it was inevitable. After all, my true objective is not to help the BlackMoon Clan get their revenge. And eventually Prince Demande and Saphir will be dissuaded to give up their lives for my great cause as well. The true power I see is already in my possession."
[A female laugh is heard echoing throughout the chamber]
Wiseman puts his plan for the Black Moon Clan into action. It's clear he's manipulating Demande but the only one who wants to do something about it is Saphir. Esmeraude is willing to go along with Wiseman if it means she gets Demande. That plan quickly backfires as Wiseman drains her life and turns her in to a dragon to go after the Sailor Guardians. Meanwhile, Chibi-Usa starts regaining her memories and Wiseman finally gets his claws in to the Rabbit.
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| Is that a lacefront on that dragon? Work. |
As we enter in to the final six episodes of "Sailor Moon R" we are getting more answers. Chibi-Usa gets some of her memories back and one is pretty important. It turns out Chibi-Usa took the Neo Queen Serenity's Silver Crystal so it's possible that she could be partially responsible for what happened to Crystal Tokyo.
This episode moves the plot forward more than the previous episode, but it's still not moving super fast. I will say that I've been pretty vocal about my dislike of Chibi-Usa, but I definitely have a lot of sympathy for her in these episodes. She is a child. A very young child. And Wiseman is really emotionally manipulating her. Twisting her memories of her loving parents. Preying on her guilt and loneliness. It's pretty gross and even though we haven't seen much of Wiseman up to this point, you pretty much ate him immediately.
Oh Esmeraude. She meets her end in this episode and it's kind of sad and disappointing all around. I love Esmeraude because let's face it, she's high camp. That fan. That annoying laugh. We stan. But I do wish she was a better villain. It is very "Sailor Moon" for her to be so obsessed with this guy who wants nothing to do with her. I mean, Usagi had a similar storyline for the majority of this second season, but it doesn't mean I want more for Esmeraude. She definitely goes out with a whimper, letting herself be knowingly manipulated by Wiseman. That is the worst part. She goes in, eyes wide open. She thinks she can beat Wiseman at his own game, but she definitely can't.
If there's one plus to Esmeraude's downfall, she does get turned into a dragon. So, that's kind of cool. I've always wondered if this was a wink or a dig at Dragon Ball which was huge at the same time that "Sailor Moon" was airing. I do think the battle with dragon Esmeraude is kind of underwhelming, but at least we get a few cool visuals.
I feel kind of bad for Saphir. Sure, he's a bad guy, but he definitely cares for his brother and he should probably be in charge. But, he's destined to fall. It feels like if you have any sense in these situations you can't be the leader and you're basically fucked.
We are heading towards the final battle and it definitely feels like things are amping up after some slower episodes.
Grade: B-
"The Dark Queen: Birth of Black Lady"
Black Lady: "Sailor Guardians, stop where you are!"
Sailor Moon: "What? Wait. Who are you?"
Black Lady: "Who am I? I am the Queen of Darkness, created by the great Wiseman. I am known as Black Lady."
The Sailor Guardians & Tuxedo Mask: [together] "Black Lady?!"
Wiseman manipulates Chibi-Usa's memories to turn her against her parents and the Sailor Guardians. He uses the Malefic Black Crystal to warp her mind and age her transforming her into Black Lady. He sends Demande and Black Lady to Earth in the 20th century to transform the world into darkness. Can the Guardians save Chibi-Usa or is Wiseman's control already too complete?
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| Ugh. Don't touch me. |
Black Lady is one of the most recognizable and famous Sailor Moon characters outside of the Guardians themselves and Tuxedo Mask. I think she is anyways and this is my blog. And she finally makes her debut in this episode.
I mentioned in the review of the last episode that I really felt for Chibi-Usa and I just feel worse for her in this episode. Can you imagine being a child and having these memories of your parents implanted in you or twisted. I like how they don't try to overcomplicate these memories. It makes total sense that a memory of your parents refusing to help you up when you've fallen in the rain or them not being home on your birthday and no one else celebrating you could potentially warp you. Particularly at such a young age. And sometimes its easy to forget that Chibi-Usa is very young.
Kind of sticking with Chibi-Usa is very young, I didn't love how when she's being aged up by Wiseman, there was a lot of focus on her chest growing or her backside becoming wider and more womanly. It felt like they lingered on those things a lot and it felt a little lascivious. For all it's woman. power themes, there are some shots like this that feel like they lean a little too heavily in to the cheesecake and this is one of them. And it feels extra inappropriate because it's aimed at Chibi-Usa.
I think that Black Lady is a character that works really well in the context of "Sailor Moon." The Sailor Guardians are not ones to just take someone out if they think they can help them. Look at the Spectre Sisters. This sort of emotional story and encounter is really where this anime shines. When the girls figure out that Black Lady is actually Chibi-Usa, Sailor Moon immediately makes the decision that she isn't going to fight her. She immediately goes in to defense mode, trying to stop from being skewered by Black Lady's umbrella attacks.
Sailor Moon does what she does best and attempts to bring back Chibi-Usa's actual memories using the Silver Crystal. Of course, Endymion and Neo Queen Serenity wouldn't purposefully not celebrate their Small Lady's birthday. They just were a day late and wanted to have a surprise part, which is why the Guardians were acting strangely. There are still four episodes, so you know that Sailor Moon isn't going to be successful but she gets so close. Again, I'm not sure why Black Lady/Chibi-Usa has to be naked when she's shifting between forms, but I digress.
I'm glad that we are back on Earth. Crystal Tokyo was getting a bit boring and it definitely feels like the action is shifting into overdrive. It was nice to see Sailor Pluto again, even briefly and I'm glad they are focusing away from Prince Demande since he feels like he's kind of a non-entity at this point.
Grade: B+
Next up, Saphir dies (that's not a spoiler, it's the title of the episode) and Prince Demande abducts Sailor Moon... again.
What do you all think? Where are my Black Lady fans? How do you feel about the Black Moon Clan arc adaptation as a whole? Let me know in the comments.
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