Sailor Moon S
We are wrapping up the two parter that began with last episode, we meet the Witches 5 and their representative Eudial and the return of Chibi-Usa. Jam packed couple of episodes. Let's get to it!
"The Stolen Pure Heart: Usagi's Crisis"
Sailor Venus: [disguised as Sailor Moon] "She's not Sailor Moon."
Kaolinite: "Who the hell are you?!"
Sailor Venus: [disguised as Sailor Moon] "You steal an innocent girl's pure heart and as if that weren't enough, you mistake her for me? I'm offended by your stupidity! In the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"
Kaolinite absconds with an encased in glass Tuxedo Mask and Usagi's transformation brooch. She tells Usagi if she wants Tuxedo Mask to be safe to meet her at Tokyo Tower. Usagi knows that it's a trap but she goes there anyway. The remainder of the Sailor Guardians follow with a plan of their own to not only save Usagi, but also, protect her identity. Will it all be for naught if it turns out that Usagi has a talisman?
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| What's going on? |
I love these episodes of "Sailor Moon" when things start to come together. I think everyone knows that this is one of my all-time favorite shows, not just anime, but it can definitely sometimes feel like the episodes are getting very same-y same. There is a big bad, the girls maybe don't know what their deal is, but they consistently take out their monsters until they gradually learn what said deal is. I think the thing that has saved this season from feeling really identical is the introduction of Haruka and Michiru and how that has toyed with the group dynamics and with the girls getting ready to move on in the next phase of their education career. But it's episodes like this that really zero in on the overarching plot of the season that I really dig. It sort of refocuses things and I think that is what happens with this part.
I love when the show focuses in on why Usagi is the main character. She wastes no time heading to Tokyo Tower to try to save Tuxedo Mask from the clutches of Kaolinite and Cenicienta despite the protests of the other Sailor Guardians. She knows its a trap, but she's going to go anyways. I enjoy the role reversal her. Usually, it's a man running headlong into danger to rescue a woman, but instead it's Usagi, someone who has been described as a crybaby and a coward, putting herself in danger to save a man. Haruka and Michiru pick up Usagi and take her to Tokyo Tower and during that ride, they talk about sacrifice and what it means hand it makes sense that Usagi is definitely not in favor of sacrificing anyone for the greater good.
The girls don't just stay behind, they head to Tokyo Tower with a plan of their own. As soon as you hear them say that Sailor Venus is integral to the plan, I think everyone has an idea of how this is going to go. But, it doesn't detract from the great visual gag of seeing Sailor Venus transformed into Sailor Moon. It's like Sailor Moon in a funhouse mirror. It definitely looks like Sailor Moon has added some human hair bundles to those ponytails. Usagi's reaction to seeing Venus as here is hilarious. It's like hearing your own voice recorded. But instead of it being "I don't really sound like that" it becomes "I don't really look like that." The girls really lean into how Usagi can't be Sailor Moon because she's too inept. Poor Usagi. They love to just drag her through the mud.
Cenicienta is taken care of pretty quickly and so the actual villain of the episode is Kaolinite. Though, kudos to Cenicienta for pulling out her year warranty when her arm breaks off. Sometimes these sidekicks are played for laughs or are just paragons of ineptitude, but Kaolinite really gets a moment to shine. She transforms Usagi's glass slipper into a sword to go after the girls. She creates a force field strong enough that it takes the girls using their Sailor Planet power attack to take it down but even after that she's still standing. It's Sailor Uranus who ends up delivering the killing blow after recalling the things that Usagi said about sacrifice in the car.
This is a great episode overall. A few minor quibbles. It's surprising that everyone buys that Usagi isn't Sailor Moon. It also seems like Usagi has deduced that Haruka and Michiru are Sailors Uranus and Neptune, but that sort of falls by the wayside. That is kind of a bummer. At the end of the episode, Professor Tomoe reaches out to the Witches 5 and gets Eudial to replace Kaolinite.
Grade: A-
"The Arrival of a Small Pretty Guardian"
Eudial: "Great. I'll be taking that crystal now."
Sailor Moon: "I don't think so! Anyone who targets the pure heart of a Taiko drummer is the enemy of traditional Japanese performing arts! I am the Pretty Guardian who fights for love and for justice. I am Sailor Moon. And now, in the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"
Sailor Mars: "That's right! And I'm the Pretty Guardian of love and fire. I'm Sailor Mars. And in the name of Mars, I'll chastise you!"
Rei is on a committee to liven up the Juban Culture Festival. She reaches out to a renowned Taiko drummer, Maya. She is targeted by Professor Tomoe and his new sidekick from the Witches 5, Eudial. As Sailors Moon and Mars face off against the newest daimon, they are confronted with a figure from their recent past.
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| With friends like these... |
This would be your run-of-the-mill episode of "Sailor Moon S" if it wasn't for the return of Chibi-Usa in her Sailor Chibi Moon form. I had completely forgotten that she returns in this episode and it kind of feels like the writer of this episode did too. She feels like an afterthought. Oh yeah. We have to bring her back. So, she just is tacked on to the end of the episode. Her arrival does inject a little bit of excitement into the episode which kin of drags a little bit in it's latter half.
It's fun to see Chibi-Usa back on the show and in a new guise. It wouldn't make sense to have her come back as the same person, so why not as a Sailor Guardian in training. She's cute as a button in her pink Sailor Guardian outfit. I love that her pink sugar heart attack doesn't work right away. It really proves that she is her mother's daughter and when it does it feels kind of weak just laser hearts hitting Soiya's face and then her butt. She let's Sailor Moon know that her mother sent her back to train. Usagi and Chibi-Usa fall into old patterns pretty easily so we have that to look for.
My other favorite part of this episode is the introduction of Eudial and the Witches 5. Eudial is not the same as Kaolinite. She's a scientist, but she's very bombastic. Look at the way she's driving and how she extracts pure heart crystal's using a laser cannon that they stick out the window of her car. My other favorite part of all this is how Professor Tomoe is creating his daimon seeds. He's using something called the Heart Snatcher Oven. It's like an Easy Bake Oven, but for stealing pure hearts. It's honestly giving Finster's monster making machine from the first season of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and I'm here for it.
I don't think that "Sailor Moon" gets enough credit for it's physical comedy. There are two great examples of that in this episode. The first comes when the girls are wondering where Rei is and why she cancelled studying at the shrine. She then comes tearing down the street on her bike. She's unable to stop. She skids to a stop. It's hilarious and the girls non plussed reactions to it just make it better. Then, there are the girls spying on Rei while she's meeting with Maya. They first think she's on a date, but that seems unlikely since she's meeting a girl, despite Mako's idea that maybe it's a guy in drag. The girls trying to hide from Rei by hiding behind the waitress is legit one of the funniest things I've seen in the series. I was cackling and I've seen it a million times.
The rest of this episode is just OK. These small moments make it entertaining, but the rest of it is just kind of meh. They don't really do a great job of connecting Maya to the story the episode is telling, which they usually do a great job doing. It's one of the weaker episodes of "Sailor Moon S."
Grade: B-
Next up, Chibi-Usa tries to make friends upon her return and Mako doubts her strength so starts training in the mountains.
What do you all think? Were you sad to see Kaolinite go? Excited for the arrival of Eudial? How do you feel about Sailor Chibi Moon? Let me know in the comments.
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