Sailor Moon S
To be perfectly honest, "Sailor Moon S" isn't doing too much different than the last couple seasons, particularly at this point, but I just seem to enjoy it so much more and I'm sure that is because of the addition of Sailors Uranus and Neptune. Let's get to it.
"To Save Our Friends: Moon and Uranus Join Forces"
Kaolinite: "If you continue to resist, your friend's going to die a lot sooner."
[Sailor Moon's tiara cuts the ties holding Sailor Neptune to the tree]
Sailor Moon: "Two against one? That's not fair."
Taiyan: "Who are you?"
Sailor Moon: "I am the Pretty Guardian who fights for love and for justice. I am Sailor Moon!"
Kaolinite: [growls] "Sailor Moon!"
Sailor Moon: "I'm not taking sides, but I believe fights should be fair and square with none of the dirty tricks you're pulling! That's unforgivable! So, in the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"
The Death Busters are sick of the Sailor Guardians particularly Sailors Neptune and Uranus, foiling their plans. They decide to try to take them out using Haurka's motocross competition as a staging ground. After taking Sailor Neptune hostage, Sailor Moon shows up to help. Kaolinite notices the two girls struggling to work together and handcuffs them to each other. Will the two girls be able to find a way to work together and save themselves.
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| Hiding in the bushes. |
One of the things that I love about "Sailor Moon S" is how unapologetically '90's it is. I mean, why wouldn't it be? It is when it came out, but that sort of nostalgia hits me in just the right way. One of the most '90's like teenager thing that I can think of is motocross, so it makes total sense that it would be featured in "Sailor Moon S."
Let's talk about these motocross dudes. First off, it's not surprising that Haruka would be great at this. She's a suave lesbian ho has everyone going nuts for her. You can't tell me that someone who looks like Haruka wouldn't be amazing at this sport. And it's not shocking that the men competing against her would be upset about it and try to intimidate her but goddamn. Is the competitive motocross circuit in Tokyo that bad that they would come at her with screwdrivers? Is that normal. Luckily they are confronted by the second place finisher, Yamada, who has no issues with Haruka.
You'd think that would be the end of those guys, but nope. The next thing we know they are in like a semi truck and they are trying to run Haruka and Usagi off the road on Haruka's bike. They are trying to run these young women off the road. This seems like the very definition of an overreaction. Like, is this something that happens a lot? Why is it still happening? And, Haruka easily whoops these guys asses which is fantastic and sends them crying to their mamas, so hopefully this will end. But it was wild y'all.
The show is doing a great job of wringing drama out of the differences between Sailor Moon and Sailor Uranus. They are opposites, which we know, but they are not just re-hashing the same conflict. Their differences are so stark that even Kaolinite sees it and decides to handcuff them together because she fees like that will bring them down. And she's not wrong. Sailor Moon and Sailor Uranus end up hiding out in a cave from the twin Daimons, Taiyan. It looks like Sailor Neptune may have been killed and Sailor Moon doesn't understand how Uranus can leave someone she obviously loves behind. Uranus talks about how she and Neptune made a deal to exalt the mission over everything even if something happened to the other.
The Guardians end up finding some common ground particularly when Sailor Moon patches up Uranus's wound even thought they are still not seeing eye to eye. It's them starting to accept these differences that allows them to start working together to defeat Taiyan and of course, Neptune is fine. Kaolinite is surprised to see them working together and Neptune is surprised that Uranus came back.
There is some movement in the season arc. Uranus talks a little bit more with Sailor Moon about the Silence. Sailor Moon recognizes the perfume that Uranus is wearing that is similar to what Haruka was wearing earlier, so she might be figuring that out. All in all, another solid episode.
Grade: B+
"A Man's Kindness: Yuichiro Heartbroken by Rei"
Sailor Mars: "Stop it! How dare you show up and try to take that man's pure heart! I am Sailor Mars, the Pretty Guardian who fights for love and passion! Not only can I not forgive you, but in the name of Mars, I'll chastise you!"
Rei is staying up all night trying to divine the meaning of a dream she keeps having but is coming up empty. The girls and Yuichiro are worried about her and despite Yuichiro's many attempts to get her to take care of herself, Rei ignores him. Usagi believes that Rei is praying to see if she and Yuichiro are compatible but his hopes are dashed when he sees Rei getting cozy with Haruka. Yuichiro gets sick of Rei choosing others over him and decides to leave the temple. Will Rei put aside her stubbornness and ask him to stay and can she stop the daimon from taking Yuichiro's pure heart?
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| Yuichiro is doing his best. |
You would think I'd be sick of the recurring plot point of the various Sailor Guardians flirting and being flummoxed around Haruka, but I'm definitely not. I love it every single time. I eat it up. I never want it to end. I want full episodes of just that. I loved when Yuichiro saw Rei and Haruka talking. The painted scenes to show how romantic it was. The blushing on Rei. We never really see Rei in this light where she seems to be genuinely enjoying flirting just for the fun of it. We've seen Rei flirt but a lot of the time it has been with Mamoru and that was just to fuck with Usagi. This looks like she is really enjoying herself. And I think it is because it is the best kind of flirting. It's fun flirting that doesn't mean anything. There isn't any undercurrent here because Rei knows Haruka is a woman and Rei isn't in to women. So, they can just flirt back and forth and it's fine. It's super refreshing and I legit never get sick of it and I never, ever will.
Yuichiro is a character that we don't talk about that much. And that is primarily because he's a non entity. He feels like the Yamcha of "Sailor Moon." He's pretty non offensive. He's a good dude who does really like Rei. It's kind of adorable to watch him try to get Rei to eat. I loved him going through all the different things Rei likes complete with matching backgrounds and Rei ignoring him the entire time. It was also cute to watch Yuichiro get his hopes hope when he buys in to Usagi's nonsense about how Rei is praying to see if she and Yuichiro will be good as a married couple. So, it's funny but kind of heartbreaking when that is shattered when he sees her with Haruka.
Speaking of Haruka, I laughed so hard when Yuichiro was stepping to Haruka ready to take her down and how easily Haruka sidestepped any of his blows. But then I'm back to feeling bad again when Yuichiro realizes that Rei is again taking someone else's side besides his own and he is brokenhearted all over again to the point that he is ready to leave the temple.
This is another great example of what good friends these girls are to each other. Everyone knows that Rei has feelings for Yuichiro, but she won't admit to it. And she is clearly upset when she sees that he is leaving without saying anything. But Rei is extremely stubborn and she won't go after him even though she knows that she will regret it if she lets him go without saying anything. The girls all tell her that she's being ridiculous and it's Usagi that really comes through with the wisdom. I especially love these moments between Rei and Usagi because it really does show how much they have grown and how much they are friends and how much they love each other.
Of course, Rei ends up stopping Yuichiro. And after some slight gaslighting when he brings up the daimon, Rei gets him to ask her out for coffee and it is extremely adorable. She drops that Haruka is a woman which adds a little insult to injury when it comes to Yuichiro's earlier confrontation with her. The daimon confrontation in this episode does feel a little tacked on here, but we do get a nice Sailor Mars solo fight scene which I'm never upset about.
Grade: B+
Next up, Minako is ready to stop being Sailor Venus and Usagi turns 15!
What did you all think of these episodes? Was the motocross a little too hardcore? Do you love the girls all flirting with Haruka? Are you a Yuichiro fan? Let me know in the comments.
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