Anime - A Rollercoaster of Emotion

[Bartimaeus]

Yeah, it specifically says Viz Media is blocking it. I can still watch them because I have ways around it, but not the case for KP.

I've come to genuinely like Chibi-Usa. I understand she'll stink in SuperS, but I'm going to refuse to blame her for that and pretend everyone is a different character disconnected from the originals when I get to it. And who the heck is Sakurada? Google says...that's the last name of Ms. Haruna - oh that makes sense with the context of the English test now, .

Episode 33 of S:

Spoiler

Side-by-side comparison of the two Sailor Moon S intros: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/5ahci5hunmfwqr1/fC2bDvvfo2.mp4

What happened to the quality on the second intro (left side)? Well, at least unlike you, at least I properly got both...

They just used a musical cue to introduce...Yui, I think her name is? that I don't think I've heard since like season 1. Bringing it back old school, . Also, I already can tell she stinks (RIP Eudial and Mimete), so it's a good thing she'll probably be dead soon too.

Mamoru: "Hey, where are you headed?"
Chibi-Usa: "Somewhere!"

Mamoru drives off without another word or thought about it. Good talk, what a great dad.

Ami getting made fun of by Yui because she doesn't treat learning seriously or dispassionately enough. Hmm, okay. Also, Ami broke the rules of this show - she actually moved in front of Michiru and Haruka in between Hotaru while they were talking. You can't do that, everybody knows talking is a free action - what the hell are you doing, Ami? Also, wow, it feels like...since like forever since I last saw just Ami transform...and she's got a lot of harsh words to say about it, too!

Usagi didn't need a reminder to fry this lady this time - good job, Usagi. Hm, except this lady killed herself too, just like the last one. "Why did you bother coming back from the dead?" Heeey, I've had the same question! Guess I'll find out soon enough. Maybe she'll be the downfall of the Professor at this rate if he keeps this up.

(e): lol, the very ending of this...Haruka and Michiru scolding Ami for letting the Messiah OF SILENCE (they have to add the "OF SILENCE" part every single danged time for some reason)...followed by "but hey, you saved us, so we're cool" followed by *anime mouth sounds*. Yeah, go ahead and please turn off the show now.

 

 

Edited February 25, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

Well you constantly need to be reminded that the character with the glowing weird eyes that can absorb the life energy of people and monsters with a mere touch is perhaps bad. Could forget that if they don't properly address her with her full name all the time. Sort of.

Welcome to the endgame of S, anyway. ****'s about to go down hard from now on.

Speaking of great dads and moms, slight Sailor Stars new character spoiler, click at your discretion:
 

Spoiler

 

Since Sailor Stars is completely derivative it also introduces a new Chibi character called... Chibi Chibi. She looks like she's two or three or so and the girls constantly let her walk off on her own. It's... weird.

Spoiler

In all fairness she can teleport around when she feels like it, so it's not like they could stop it, but still, doesn't leave the best impression. Where is Chibi-Chibi? I don't know, she was here just right now!

On the other hand it's really hilarious that nobody batts an eyelash any more after another weird little girl literally falls from the sky and starts staying with Usagi. Everyone's like "Huh, yeah, ok, hey Usagi, do you think that one's yours too or is it maybe Cibi-Usa's?"

 

 

Edited February 25, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

 Episode 34 of S:

Spoiler

Uh, so, this new lady just asked everyone to come to school and give her their pure heart crystals...and they just did it? Wow, that was easy. I guess they were in some kind of zombie state or something, but I must've missed exactly what caused it. Whoa, this lady just used a power that's...exactly like something someone uses at some point in Steven Universe. Hmm. Well, that's all I'll say about that.

"I am Cyprine, and I am Ptilol. We are one, body and mind!"
"Yeah, one pain in my butt!"

lmao, thanks for that, Mako. I'm at the half here, I'm gonna bet that Tuxedo Mask is gonna be necessary for them to win this, since he almost always is for the tough ones, . Oh wait, no, he's with Chibi-Usa...and pathetically failed to save her. Well then! "Dead Scream" is, uh, quite the name for an attack. Setsuna is pretty metal.

The only reason they won this battle was because of Ami's lousy fog attack. Classic Sailor Moon stuff right there. And Usagi just keeps trying to walk into the energized wall. Also classic Sailor Moon.

Kaolinite with her "I did it all for you, I love you" line just to literally get swept aside and instantly killed. Yeah, that about figures.

 

Edited February 25, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

3 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

 Episode 34 of S:

  Reveal hidden contents

Uh, so, this new lady just asked everyone to come to school and give her their pure heart crystals...and they just did it? Wow, that was easy. I guess they were in some kind of zombie state or something, but I must've missed exactly what caused it. Whoa, this lady just used a power that's...exactly lot like something someone uses at some point in Steven Universe. Hmm. Well, that's all I'll say about that.

"I am Cyprine, and I am Ptilol. We are one, body and mind!"
"Yeah, one pain in my butt!"

lmao, thanks for that, Mako. I'm at the half here, I'm gonna bet that Tuxedo Mask is gonna be necessary for them to win this, since he almost always is for the tough ones, . Oh wait, no, he's with Chibi-Usa...and pathetically failed to save her. Well then! "Dead Scream" is, uh, quite the name for an attack. Setsuna is pretty metal.

The only reason they won this battle was because of Ami's lousy fog attack. Classic Sailor Moon stuff right there. And Usagi just keeps trying to walk into the energized wall. Also classic Sailor Moon.

Kaolinite with her "I did it all for you, I love you" line just to literally get swept aside and instantly killed. Yeah, that about figures.

 

 

Spoiler

Speaking of good moms and dads, by the way, what do you think about Queen Serenity sending Chibi-Usa back to have her pure heart crystal consumed by Mistress 9? Mom of the millennium material there.

 

[majestic]

Here's one random bit of information that I haven't mentioned yet, and it is a complete tangent, but back when I first played World of Warcraft after the EU launch my first two characters were:

Spoiler

Cyprine, the ice mage (forum friend of mind played a fire mage called Ptilol, we originally wanted to play as team, but that never really happened... for balance reasons, Fire Mages had more deeps but holy hell did ice mages level faster in Classic ) and a Demonology Warlock named Tomoe.

In hindsight not the most creative of choices, huh? Still, that shows just how long the anime resonated with me. The first run was over for, uhm, 6 or 7 years at that point (the point where it ran on TV here, not when it came out, that was more like 10 years then, and 8 years for S, I think, yes, S aired '97).

Apparently either Blizzard trashed the characters or messed something up with their server changes because they're no longer visible in the armory. A pity.

When the anime ran on TV it was sometime in the afternoon, like 14:00 or 15:00 or so, with me being in school until 16:30 or longer every single day I had to ask my parents to tape it so I could watch later.

That was... something.

"Hey mom, can you tape Sailor Moon for me?"

"Sure, what's that?"

"Oh nothing, just a cartoon about pretty superheroes in miniskirts meant for young girls."

"Whatever you want dear (read: weirdo)."

And my brother was all over that too, like "haha look he's watching girl shows again."

[Bartimaeus]

lmao, as a kid, I would've never been able to ask for something like that in a billion years, way too self-conscious.

Episode 35 of S:

Spoiler

Mistress 9? Pharaoh 90? What are these names? ...Still better than "Death Phantom", though - that was the very worst, sounded like a bad/much too literal Japanese translation.

Okay, so wait a second here...Hotaru is being possessed as a result of a trade the Professor made to resurrect her. ...And the Professor himself was a part of that trade, so that means he's probably being possessed too. Does that mean...he's going to get redeemed, too? If anyone deserves it, it'll be The Professor.

Just a wall of naked ladies forming a giant wall over the building. Japan.

RIP Setsuna. Hopefully not for real, but that didn't look too good for her.

I wonder if Hotaru's VA is the same VA as it is for Mistress 9. I can't tell yet, she sounds pretty different, but it could just be the VA putting on a different voice. Her lines are really stiff compared to most everything in this dub...kind of like Black Lady's was back in R, actually. Weird - perhaps intentional, but if so, it still sounds kind of lousy.

.gif spoiler of S:

Spoiler

Something about her just slowly floating out of frame was hilarious to me (bonus points that it looks like the Professor is concerned about it in this gif), so I had to capture it.

Setsuna from beyond the grave with the KO. Hammy beyond belief, but I'll take it. And...yep, The Professor's finally himself. This is gonna be instrumental somehow, I just know it. Hotaru still kind of sucks even as Mistress 9, though - way too much pointless and awkward giggling.

 

Edited February 25, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Even more Sailor Moon

Chibi-Usa tries to make friends, which of course turns into looking for a boyfriend, and her first attempt is a weird kid who....shows her an elephant. She ends up running into a tea master, and it turns out she and Usagi are both ignorant of Japanese tea ceremony. After the inevitable Daimon battle, this time with one that tries to undress to show hospitality, Chibi-Usa goes back only to find her potential friend is copying her Sailor persona. She runs away.

Mako goes to train in the mountains after getting beat up by an animated clothes iron. The highlight of this episode was the pillow fight and the awkward positions some of the girls went to sleep in. I dislike training episodes from years of watching them derail anime, so luckily here training took a back burner to Makoto learning how relying on friends is OK. Yay for not being a socially stunted edge lord like some anime characters. And a huge lmao how Usagi just ditched Chibi-Usa. I'm beginning to think Neo-Queen Serenity sent Chibi-Usa back in time to convince Usagi to not have kids. It certainly seems to have that effect on Mamoru.

And a backstory for the talisman seeking Sailors. Tbh it didn't really do as much for me. "We had a dream and fought a monster" is the same thing that happened to the other Sailors anyway.

Chibi-Usa again, looking for a boyfriend again. Of course her potential boyfriend has a crush on Michiru to the point of sculpting her as an angel, so Usagi had to step in to play Cupid after eating the pie Chibi-Usa made. Alls well that ends well, because now Chibi-Usa gets made into a sculpture.

[Amentep]

1 hour ago, majestic said:

When the anime ran on TV it was sometime in the afternoon, like 14:00 or 15:00 or so, with me being in school until 16:30 or longer every single day I had to ask my parents to tape it so I could watch later.

This makes me feel old, as locally the DIC syndicated version of Sailor Moon came on in the afternoon as I was getting ready for my evening shift back in the mid-90s. 

[Bartimaeus]

Episodes 36, 37, and 38 of S:

Spoiler

 

Wow, the famous shot! It's about time. I'd been wondering when this would happen for a while, or whether I'd somehow missed it and hadn't noticed.

Spoiler

Hey, didn't Demande once upon a time tell Sailor Moon to re-unite the two Moons? ...Man, this is so incredibly hammy. Of course Usagi tries to jump straight into the Black Moon, that's a very Sailor Moon move. Ah, well, the power of love and friendship conquers all...except real life, that is.

...

Uh, she's a baby now? The hell? The Black Moon seems to have left a many block-sized giant crater in the city. Didn't...people used to live there? I guess they weren't explicitly animated, so c'est la vie. Wait a second, did Haruka and Michiru just babynap Hotaru there? Or...was the baby not Hotaru? I'm confused. Okay, yes, it was Hotaru, and yes, she did get babynapped. Oh, they're actually delivering her to The Professor. That's a little shocking...for them. And he's got total amnesia, which just about figures.

Dang, Setsuna really did eat it, mostly. Phooey. And dang, Chibi-Usa really got screwed in this whole deal. No wonder she turns to magical pedocorns for love in SuperS - she traumatically and irreversibly lost her best friend here.

lmao, this is the dumbest idea for an episode. Hey numbskulls named Haruka and Michiru, maybe you didn't notice, but uh...Usagi was right? Your future queen, Usagi? You remember her? Yeah, she was right. Admittedly, only with the help of the endless plot armor required to make this silly anime story work, but them's the rules in a kids show, and you're about to get your butts kicked for much the same reason. C'mon you guys, be a little more genre-savvy. Oh...wait...that was just a "test"...somehow, that's even dumber, especially since all Usagi did was dodge. Sayonara, you two.

Minako has sounded...a bit off for the last handful of episodes. I wonder if the VA was sick for like a day of recording or something. I thought maybe I was going crazy, but I listened to a couple of early season episodes just to make sure, and nope, she inexplicably just doesn't sound like herself. Weird!

...

Mamoru is so incredibly clueless - which is so, so much better than his awful Crystal incarnation. Also continues to try to avoid Usagi's advances even at the end of season 3! You could learn something, Crystal Mamoru.

Wait, hold on a second here, Chibi-Usa got a letter from future Usagi complaining that she missed her? Uh, how does that work? Wouldn't Chibi-Usa just...you know, go forward in time to just the moment after she originally left, so that she wouldn't really be gone for them? I guess we're not supposed to think about it.

Hey, the show just directly confirmed that Rei and Usagi are supposed to be best friends. Nice. And Usagi and Chibi-Usa finally get a proper mother-daughter relationship...just for it to be ruined next season. Also nice. Though this episode really didn't need one last final minion, but okay, show, go off. I guess you gotta stick to your formula, after all.

"Also, I'm Tuxedo Mask!" He's just happy to be included these days.

lmao, okay, never mind, this episode DID need one last minion, if only for Chibi-Usa to have a reason to do that.

I was able to complete S before KP did, which is a job well done. Now I need a break before I move on to SuperS.

Edited February 25, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

42 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

lmao, as a kid, I would've never been able to ask for something like that in a billion years, way too self-conscious.

I really wanted to watch Sailor Moon bad enough to ask. Heh. See, Sailor Moon even manages to inspire character growth in real people.

Spoiler

Pharao 90 looks pretty great. As far as Eldritch Cosmic Horror creatures go I'd even say its one of the better of its kind. It looks suitably alien too, this weird pocket dimension or universe or whatever it is. And once you're done watching the finale I can bore you to tears how I think it was better than in the manga, because... eh. Because!

 

7 minutes ago, Amentep said:

This makes me feel old, as locally the DIC syndicated version of Sailor Moon came on in the afternoon as I was getting ready for my evening shift back in the mid-90s. 

Heh. You know what's really bad, when I talk about the good old times like they were "yesterday" at work and our 20-something colleagues look at me as if I'm a random crazy person yelling at them in the streets for thinking about something that happened 25 years ago as having happened "not too long ago".

11 minutes ago, KaineParker said:

Spoiler

Mako goes to train in the mountains after getting beat up by an animated clothes iron. The highlight of this episode was the pillow fight and the awkward positions some of the girls went to sleep in. I dislike training episodes from years of watching them derail anime, so luckily here training took a back burner to Makoto learning how relying on friends is OK. Yay for not being a socially stunted edge lord like some anime characters. And a huge lmao how Usagi just ditched Chibi-Usa. I'm beginning to think Neo-Queen Serenity sent Chibi-Usa back in time to convince Usagi to not have kids. It certainly seems to have that effect on Mamoru.

 

Spoiler

Usagi is definitely mom of the year material, but that shot at the end where Mako-chan and Usagi-chan munch their food on the train was priceless. Such a perfect little feel-good moment with a grin attached to it.

 

[Bartimaeus]

16 minutes ago, KaineParker said:

Even more Sailor Moon

 

  Hide contents

Chibi-Usa tries to make friends, which of course turns into looking for a boyfriend, and her first attempt is a weird kid who....shows her an elephant. She ends up running into a tea master, and it turns out she and Usagi are both ignorant of Japanese tea ceremony. After the inevitable Daimon battle, this time with one that tries to undress to show hospitality, Chibi-Usa goes back only to find her potential friend is copying her Sailor persona. She runs away.

Mako goes to train in the mountains after getting beat up by an animated clothes iron. The highlight of this episode was the pillow fight and the awkward positions some of the girls went to sleep in. I dislike training episodes from years of watching them derail anime, so luckily here training took a back burner to Makoto learning how relying on friends is OK. Yay for not being a socially stunted edge lord like some anime characters. And a huge lmao how Usagi just ditched Chibi-Usa. I'm beginning to think Neo-Queen Serenity sent Chibi-Usa back in time to convince Usagi to not have kids. It certainly seems to have that effect on Mamoru.

And a backstory for the talisman seeking Sailors. Tbh it didn't really do as much for me. "We had a dream and fought a monster" is the same thing that happened to the other Sailors anyway.

Chibi-Usa again, looking for a boyfriend again. Of course her potential boyfriend has a crush on Michiru to the point of sculpting her as an angel, so Usagi had to step in to play Cupid after eating the pie Chibi-Usa made. Alls well that ends well, because now Chibi-Usa gets made into a sculpture.

 

The elephant was the "the worst thing I'd ever seen" I mentioned earlier. But those three were all good episodes...except for the one H&M exposition dump episode, which was pretty blah (as most of the only-main-story episodes have tended to be).

[Amentep]

I imagine its a bit like me talking about anything from the 1980s.  Like watching a modern show that is supposed to be set in the 1980s and complaining about how they've mashed the late-80s and early-80s styles in an unrealistic fashion.  It just still seems so recent and vibrant for me. 

As an aside, I was in college and asked my mom to tape Batman: The Animated Series for me so I didn't miss any episodes.  Luckily she liked the show too.  Except she got annoyed when they kept showing repeats and she'd set the tape up to tape and felt she'd wasted her time.   If only I knew then I could wait 30 years and just get the whole thing on Bluray...  

[Malcador]

2 hours ago, majestic said:

When the anime ran on TV it was sometime in the afternoon, like 14:00 or 15:00 or so, with me being in school until 16:30 or longer every single day I had to ask my parents to tape it so I could watch later.

Was on during lunch when I was in school, 1230-1300.  I came home for lunch so I'd watch it but I'd have to miss the last 5 minutes, so would miss the end of the story sometimes.  heh.  Should have just taped it but that'd just have pissed my mom off more

30 minutes ago, majestic said:

Heh. You know what's really bad, when I talk about the good old times like they were "yesterday" at work and our 20-something colleagues look at me as if I'm a random crazy person yelling at them in the streets for thinking about something that happened 25 years ago as having happened "not too long ago".

From my younger coworkers, I realize that youth is indeed wasted on the young.

[majestic]

  I do have a tendency to overanalyse things, but here we go. Warning, major overanalysis for a three minute scene incoming...

5 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Spoiler

lmao, this is the dumbest idea for an episode. Hey numbskulls named Haruka and Michiru, maybe you didn't notice, but uh...Usagi was right? Your future queen, Usagi? You remember her? Yeah, she was right. Admittedly, only with the help of the endless plot armor required to make this silly anime story work, but them's the rules in a kids show, and you're about to get your butts kicked for much the same reason. C'mon you guys, be a little more genre-savvy. Oh...wait...that was just a "test"...somehow, that's even dumber, especially since all Usagi did was dodge. Sayonara, you two.

 

 

Spoiler

 

Ah, here we are. The infamous "WHY ARE THEY ATTACKING USAGI FOR NO REAL REASON" episode that I've seen many fans complain about. To be honest, the idea of a test by the two is pretty ridiculous after just how everything went down in the episode before, however, I do think that this is one of the more important moments for Usagi on her way to become Queen Serenity in the future. Or maybe the most important moment in her life up until that point besides the point where she came to accept that she's Sailor Moon.

Well, there are two of those in the anime even. One at the end of the first season when she accepts that everyone died for her to have a chance to save the world, and one in the filler arc of R when she accepts that her life as ordinary school girl is really and irrevocably over and receives her upgraded transformation for it.

Haruka and Michiru confront her, telling her that she's a naive crybaby that should never become queen in the first place. Season one Usagi, maybe season 2 Usagi toom would have agreed and simply started crying. Instead Usagi just tells them that she thinks that she has done nothing wrong - she's at peace with her character flaws at this point too, and yeah, while that is based purely on plot armor from an outside point of view it is also true from her point of view. She doesn't give in or cry.

She just tells them to transform back.

They then yell at her that they'll never respect her (and the implication that they'll never be friends, which is what Usagi wants most of all) if she doesn't fight them. And she... doesn't. Just dodges out of the way and makes Haruka kick Michiru, leaving them both down in the dust. Not only is she right, she also stands up for what she believes in. She does not fight (well, not the people she wants to save or befriend, anyway. That she's needed to blast the monster of the week usually isn't... yeah, eh, you get what I mean ). That is perhaps a bit heavy handed given the religious symbolism (holy grail, messiah) of the season, but it does reinforce it.

That the two immediately back down after realizing that Usagi is not only willing to stand up for herself, her ideals, her role as messiah and future queen, but also risk that they'll forever go their separate ways confirms this, I think.

Her relationship with Chibi-Usa was also really, really wonderful in the last two episodes (and pretty good in S alltogether). That heartfelt goodbye was just great. It's precisely that moment in time that made going to SuperS and pressing her character development reset button so painful, where she'll spend most of the season childishly bickering with Chibi-Usa over a variety of things, but often over Mamoru's affection.

For me it was really painful to see them regress back into mindless, constant, annoying, embarrassing and horrible bickering up to a point where Mamoru is visibly uncomfortable with Usagi around when he has friends visiting. Or how she's accosting Ami of all people for asking Mamoru a question when they're all at his appartment to study.

Finally... and that's something that stays somewhat unique for Sailor Moon sadly, is that the bad guys have motivations beyond HURR DURR I WANT EVERYTHING TO BE DEAD. Not that Pharao 90 wouldn't have killed everyone on the planet, but he still was looking for a new place for him and his daimon spawn to live. He just commits the classic sci-fi mistake of trying to invade Earth, but there are so many creatures and aliens that tried that in other franchises too, so can we really blame him?

Minor SuperS spoiler:
 

Spoiler

 

This is also one of the funnier scenes of the season. Usagi and Mamoru are on his balcony, and she tells him that's she's a little cold, hoping that he'll catch on and just hold her. Mamoru goes back inside and Usagi asks what he's doing, and he's like: "Going inside to make hot chocolate, you said you were cold."

I just can't really remember in which episode that was. I thought one of the earlier ones, but that was apparently a mistake, I just checked. I hope that was in SuperS and not somewhere in S... Stupid binge watching.

 

Oh... and here's how this thing ends goes down in the manga:

Professor Tomoe is a mad scientist even before he merges with Germatoid, wanting to create genetically enhanced super humans. Hotaru has an accident and the Professor saves her by turning her into a cyborg and implanting Mistress 9 in her body because he sees the daimons are a way to further his agenda, to create better, more powerful humans. He dies, no redemption for anyone.

Pharao 90 comes to Earth by using Chibi-Usa's Silver Crystal instead of having Sailor Moon give up the Holy Grail (and the talismans are in possession of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto right from the start) and begins to merge with the Earth. They then summon Sailor Saturn who attacks Pharao 90 with the wonderfully named DEATH REBORN REVOLUTION, causing him to back off while Earth is destroyed by the attack. Talkt about scorched earth tactics.

Pluto locks Sailor Saturn and Pharao 90 away in some dimension or other from where he came from and it is implied that Saturn kills him. Sailor Moon uses the Silver Crystal to restore Earth for the second time. Just like after Queen Metalia destroyed everything. Hotaru also gets better in both versions. In one she's just reborn as a baby, in the other Sailor Moon saves her and she's reborn as a baby.

Eh, and Pluto stopping time to save everyone (or someone, who knows, not there yet) is actually part of the Black Moon arc in the manga.

 

So, how surprising is it really that the story parts are the weakest of the show? Geez.

[Bartimaeus]

The Sailor Moon Says channel just posted one of the absolute best OG English dub clips I've seen (I literally watched it about ten times), but it's farther in S than KP currently is. It's also a pretty good moment even in the new dub (but the original English dub is so much better because of how farcically ridiculous it is), so I'm writing this post as a mental reminder to myself so that I remember to post it later.

@majestic

Spoiler

I didn't have a problem with it from Usagi's perspective: she acted as she should, as a much more grown character than she used to be. It just felt...really phony and forced from Haruka and Michiru. Like, guys, she just turned all of your feelings and premonitions on their head and proved that she could do things her way and have everything work out - AGAIN. She faced your non-stop scolding and insults and then stared into the abyss and didn't blink, and you guys still think she needs some kind of test? She might be weak in a lot of ways, but this ain't it, chief.

Okay, so wait...was Pharaoh 90 part of the Black Moon or the Black Moon itself or not? Hotaru had the upside down moon symbol on her head, so I assumed it was all connected, and it kind of looked like the entire thing could be the Black Moon, but I don't know.

That "SuperS" scene you're talking about actually happens at the end of S, so yeah, whoops, .

The manga consistently sounds even dumber than the show's plot. Good thing they didn't keep to it.

 

Edited February 25, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

49 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

The Sailor Moon Says channel just posted one of the absolute best OG English dub clips I've seen (I literally watched it about ten times), but it's farther in S than KP currently is. It's also a pretty good moment even in the new dub (but the original English dub is so much better because of how farcically ridiculous it is), so I'm writing this post as a mental reminder to myself so that I remember to post it later.

@majestic

  Hide contents

I didn't have a problem with it from Usagi's perspective: she acted as she should, as a much more grown character than she used to be. It just felt...really phony and forced from Haruka and Michiru. Like, guys, she just turned all of your feelings and premonitions on their head and proved that she could do things her way and have everything work out - AGAIN. She faced your non-stop scolding and insults and then stared into the abyss and didn't blink, and you guys still think she needs some kind of test? She might be weak in a lot of ways, but this ain't it, chief.

Okay, so wait...was Pharaoh 90 part of the Black Moon or the Black Moon itself or not? Hotaru had the upside down moon symbol on her head, so I assumed it was all connected, and it kind of looked like the entire thing could be the Black Moon, but I don't know.

That "SuperS" scene you're talking about actually happens at the end of S, so yeah, whoops, .

The manga consistently sounds even dumber than the show's plot. Good thing they didn't keep to it.

 

I should have known that the joke was too good to be in SuperS, damn.

Spoiler

No, Pharao 90 has nothing to do with the Black Moon, the show writers just transferred Pluto's heroic sacrifice to the third season instead of using it in the second arc like the manga did. They're not really related.

I don't disagree with your assessment. It wasn't really necessary and should have probably be done in some other way, but it was still nice seeing Usagi be at peace with herself. The other girls got moments like these in S too. She got to slap Mamoru, which was nice too, but still ridiculous (blame him for your never telling him your birthday, ey? Classic).

I'm very forgiving when it comes to forced or phony things as long as the outcome is good, so for me that matters more than the test being ridiculous. Hmmm.

With that in mind, just how bad was SuperS really?

I am REALLY curious about your reaction to it. Eventually. Let is rest for a while, it's really not a good idea to jump right in.

Spoiler

Unless you can't wait to see Ami work on a car in a car shop after she thinks Mamoru's using prostitutes to cheat on Usagi, because that's something that happens. Ami the nice nerd girl covered in grease from head to toe:

You go girl. But don't worry, you get to post on the internet and fangirl around like 20 episodes later. It's all right then. Really. I promise you. Stay strong. You're not just covered in grease like that so weirdos can imagine rubbing you clean afterwards.

Ah, well. I just found that picture on The Mary Sue and am reminded why I stopped reading their articles a long time ago. They actually liked that episode, and the one that comes next, whose plot is so inexplicably weird and alien that it might as well be from a different anime (and that's saying a LOT in Sailor Moon, right?). It's also the one where the monster of the week attacks by hanging everyone from a trapeze to have an excuse to draw lots and lots of Ami underwear.

edit: Speaking of the dumb plot in the manga, at this point I wonder why they don't just always blow Earth up the moment a threat appears and have Usagi revive everyone. That's like the ultimate defense. Why bother fighting.

 

Edited February 25, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

 

Spoiler

Okay, but the Ami episode plot you just described sounds really funny, even though it's apparently really bad. Also, filthy jumpsuits are a lot better than more underwear shots!

I went back and checked, and apparently Mistress 9 had a black *star* on her head, not a black moon. Whoops.

Good call by the show on keeping Setsuna around until the end of S - the things she got to do in S were sparse, but worthwhile.

Now that you mention it, they really should just keep doing that. I guess it would be pretty tiring for Luna and Artemis to have to keep re-awakening them and getting to do it all over again.

 

[majestic]

13 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

 

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Okay, but the Ami episode plot you just described sounds really funny, even though it's apparently really bad. Also, filthy jumpsuits are a lot better than more underwear shots!

I went back and checked, and apparently Mistress 9 had a black *star* on her head, not a black moon. Whoops.

Good call by the show on keeping Setsuna around until the end of S - the things she got to do in S were sparse, but worthwhile.

Now that you mention it, they really should just keep doing that. I guess it would be pretty tiring for Luna and Artemis to have to keep re-awakening them and getting to do it all over again.

 

More little spoilers:

Spoiler

 

I think I worded that not all too well. The filthy jumpsuit episode is the one with the copious amounts of upskirts. The next one's just completely alien and only features Usagi and Chibi-Usa being absolutely fine with abusive parenting (after they find out it works!).

Oh, and you touched on the more insidious side of SuperS. That episode is funny. Well, except the underwear exposure, because that's really, really, REALLY just sexualized in that one. Why else bother lookup up at them while they're dangling from a suspended piece of wood.

One of the funniest episodes in SuperS is the one where Usagi freaks out when Ami asks Mamoru something. It's hilarious from start to finish, but it's... completely weird to watch (it also contains Yuichiro listening to Grandpa Hino, you can guess how that ends). And it comes directly after an episode (more or less) where Usagi is completely fine with an attractive, highly intelligent and mature woman from his university being around Mamoru because she trusts him. Two episodes later, hey Ami-chan, that is MY Mamo-Chan. What?

That's also why I'm curious to see what you think of it. It feels strange for me to say that one of the more hilarious episodes is one that I find utterly baffling, strange and is killing any motivation to keep watching. Usagi in a Ninja costume prowling around Rei's temple because she thinks Mamoru might want to bang his ex-girlfriend is funny. It's just... ugh. Really, Usagi? That what you're doing now?

 

Edited February 25, 2021 by majestic

[InsaneCommander]

I finished season 1.

 

Spoiler

 

Interesting that after they fought the demons that could become humans again Sailor Moon started healing them instead of hitting them with the tiara. But how did she know these were human once? Maybe if she thought about it, she would think the first demons she fought could have been saved, instead of turned to dust.

 

And talking about that, Sailor V could turn them to dust without the tiara, just kicking them.

 

Some hilarious scenes were:

 

Sailor Moon falling twice for the same trick in the end, with the 5 demons that created an illusion of Mamoru.

 

The alley scene:

 

 

Makoto actually changes her expression after some time staring at Ami's pants.

 

 

And the bad guys using a computer program to detect which of the girls were Sailors, because how else would you do it?

 

Edited February 26, 2021 by InsaneCommander

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Only one episode today.

Spoiler

For some reason Mamo knows a wealthy English gentleman who likes surrounding himself with young people and shows up to his apartment. You can read whatever you wan into that I suppose, but judging by the dude's garden I think we know where Tuxedo Kamen gets his roses from. I don't think drunk Usagi isn't particularly more clumsy (both physically and socially) than sober Usagi, maybe when she inhales all that food someone is slipping her alcohol. And I guess in S the girls decided they don't want Chibi-Usa to hang out with them, which makes sense given that she fights with Usagi and almost everytime they do something they end up fighting a monster.

Something I was reminded of watching Haruka dance with Usagi

Spoiler

Spoilers ahoy 

Spoiler

It's a big one

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[Bartimaeus]

To be fair, even when they don't do anything, they end up fighting a monster. They could all be literally sitting at home doing absolutely nothing and something would still happen somehow.

Edited February 26, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

4 hours ago, InsaneCommander said:

Spoiler

Sailor Moon falling twice for the same trick in the end, with the 5 demons that created an illusion of Mamoru.

 

 

Spoiler

Only to have Makoto do the same silly thing with the Motoki illusion and paying the price for it.

 

[majestic]

Sailor Moon Crystal, Act 17:

Spoiler

 

Usagi is crying over the loss of Ami and Rei. Yeah, with how that story arc went so far I figured there'd be no place for any more fun, and so far it seems I was right. Chibi-Usa sends Luna-P to Usagi to cheer her up, which almost ends with Usagi smashing it (and Usagi is weirded out by a talking cat doll that a girl has who literally fell through a hole in space time in the sky). Chibi-Usa intervenes and tries to cheer Usagi up with the Tuxedo Kamen doll she got from Mamo-chan. Usagi almost immediately flies off the handle and asks where she got that, Chibi-Usa saying "from Mamo-chan" which makes Usagi finally snap entirely and just yell at her because Chibi-Usa has absolutely no right to be so familiar with him.

Chibi-Usa just says that she wanted to cheer her up and runs off. Way to go Usagi.

Boy am I glad this was different in Sailor Moon R. It's really better for Mamoru to look like an utter douchewaffle than Usagi. As forced as that breakup plot is, it certainly beats Usagi being actively annoyed and jealous of a nine year old girl (I'm ignoring SuperS for the moment where that actually becomes a thing that regularily happens after she knows Chibi-Usa is her daughter) that wanted to cheer her up.

Plus it made for one of the most moving scenes I've seen on TV when Usagi even apologizes to Douchwaffle!Mamoru for making him hang out with her so much, leave and break down in a phone booth.

Because here's the thing, Sailor Moon Crystal's (and by extension, I'm guessing the manga's too) version of Chibi-Usa is at this point infinitely more likable than she was in the first anime, which makes it even worse.

Huh, what. Okay, so after this Usagi goes to the arcade and Chibi-Usa secretly follows her. Mamoru is there too, and Chibi-Usa starts playing the Sailor V game and other things and immediately wins at everything even harder than Ami did. Usagi tries too, but fails. Ah well, there is some fun in this at least. Not much, and everything is there just to make sure Usagi doesn't look like the complete jerkwad she is at the moment (also a review told me that all scenes that make Usagi seem less antagonistic towards Chibi-Usa in this episode are NOT in the manga). 

Then Mamoru takes Chibi-Usa away and in the next scene Minako, Makoto and Usagi are in the super secret command bunker that's... yeah, the one below the arcade. How did they get in there when it's packed full of people? Doctor Who style perception filter? Teleportation?

Minako is happy that Mamoru took Chibi-Usa away because they have no time for little kids, Makoto says something like "good thing too, I thought we'd be stuck with her all day" and Usagi apologizes for not being able to ditch her properly. Yeah girls I get it you're distraught over this ridiculous alien abduction plot that's running here but really, stop being so... unlikable.

Look at Luna and Artemis being the only sensible ones by stating the obvious.

The choral church music track that plays whenever there's something dramatic happening keeps being totally distracting. As if you need organs and a choir to understand just how terrible and EVUL Prince Demande is here while Wiseman hovers around fondling his crystal ball.

Demande goes full ham with the organ music playing in the background. "Finally I will have what I want: EVERYTHING!"

Except it's said in the flattest, most boring way possible, at least in the German dub. The look on his face also means there's no overacting in the scene going on, so missed opportunity just like with the giant moon laser that never happened.

Oh look, Mamo-chan and Usagi go on a date, and Mamoru has Chibi-Usa's Luna-P with him. Oh right, it got damaged in a scene prior when Chibi-Usa used to to summon an umbrellla in the rain and some doves. Mamo-chan wonders how he's supposed to fix it for her, and Usagi shows her best behaviour again by wondering if her parents have lost it completely because they're sending Chibi-Usa to school now, and how sick she is of the attention she gets.

Usagi and Luna are openly talking with each other and the weird kid from Mamoru's school that Makoto introduced two episodes back is sufficiently weirded out by Luna being able to speak. Everyone's coughing as well, including Makoto.

So, I'll be taking bets now. Will Minako be a lovable and klutzy catastrophe of a nurse in this one too? Hmm? Any takers? No? Aww, shucks.

Well, look at Makoto taking Asanuma home with her. That's going to end well. Still funny, I'm guessing the two are roughly the same age, but Makoto towers over him.

Asanuma asks Makoto if she's an alien after seeing come cropcircles on TV (hah, yeah, classic 90ies). Makoto flat out tells her that she's as human as she is, except for the Sailor Senshi part and that she needs to rescue Ami and Rei because she loves them and they're her best friends in the world. Another scene that would have had more impact if we had actually seen that friendship instead of being just told that it's there.

Then... Asanuma tries to be sweet and stuff and wow this is awkward, tells her that he'd like to be as strong as her so he could protect her. Awwww. Man, you just know all the right things to say to Makoto for some reason, how do you know that the tall, strong girl has a soft, feminine side that just wants to be hugged? Because you sure couldn't have figured that out in the 60 seconds of screen time you've had together so far.

Except nothing ever will come of this. There's no real reason given. Makoto clearly likes him (as much as these cgi atrocity giraffe people can express, at any rate), but apparently not like he wants. Because... well because f*ck romance in this if it isn't between Mamoru and Usagi (or the cousins later), or almost fanboyish* slash-fiction level homoeroticism between Mikano and Rei. Sure the reason is simply because the manga doesn't have the time of day for any side characters, let alone one that could maybe make Mako-chan happy.

Oh, right, Makoto has a nice flat screen TV at home. So everything's state of the art 2015 technology in this setting, except for all the cultural references to the 90ies and, uhm, the complete lack of mobile phones in Japan. Writers... animators. Really. The setting was fine the way it was. Making it contemporary Tokyo just adds another host of issues. If you did that so kids today can relate better to the setting, then why the hell does so much happen at an arcade?

Speaking of Makoto's home, that seems to be a nice large appartment. As she explains, her parents died a long time ago in a plane crash. They must have left her quite an amount of cash. Does anyone know how being an orphan with apparently no living relatives works in Japan? How or why is a 14 year old living somewhere on her own?

Anyway, Makoto is so weak she collapses, Petz attacks them her with a Droids, Makoto calls for help. Usagi and Minako are standing in front of Makoto's door but can't get it. They transform and teleport... into her home. Hey, nice. Girls, why bother going the door in the first place when she calls you for help? Just teleport there instantly? Or if that doesn't have the necessary range, just fly there? What. Why? Huh?

Makoto transforms into Jailor Jupiter and faces off with Petz, but weakend as she is she gets deafeated and just after that Sailor Moon fires her disintegration beam at Petz, pluverizing her. Rubeus takes the disabled Jupiter and abducts her in a scene that might as well come directly from a low budget TV show about UFO abductions (or from the actually much better X-Files that is now available for streaming on Disney+, in a glorious HD upscale/remaster wit a 16:9 aspect ratio, show's looking damned fine even on a 4k TV).

*Actually more like fangirlish, the vast majority of slashfiction writers were girls in the 90ies. I'm not sure if they still are, but probably. However that manga image looks like it's the beginning of terrible lesbian softcore action in a bad 80ies movie.

 

 

[Bartimaeus]

Spoiler

Does...Luna or Usagi ever, you know, address the fact that Chibi-Usa has a weird, silent robot clone of Luna? Perhaps Usagi created a special version of Luna that was specially engineered to be silent after Luna's endless teasing, taunting, and insulting of her?

Did the writers of Crystal think "hey, people hated Chibi-Usa in the original show - let's make our main characters the hateable ones to help make her more likable instead"? Ugh. Usagi and Mamoru just seem like the worst in this show...and apparently Usagi's even worse in the original manga here? What? I liked Usagi and Chibi-Usa fighting in the original show (except over Mamoru, because it was basically just the same scene over and over whenever it happened, and the main reason for it happening in R was Mamoru being a dummy), but there was give and take on who was in the right in the original show - sometimes Chibi-Usa was, sometimes Usagi was, sometimes both arguably were, and that's a big part of what made it work, since if one party was always right all the time, it would've been...well, one-sided and miserable. And that seems to be what we're getting here.

Does Rei have any interests in this show? Besides being a man-hater? She has a number of different ones in the original show, but it seems like she (and, well, quite frankly, everyone else) got hosed in this version.

In defense of the arcade appearing in Crystal, I think arcades still have some level of popularity in Japan not enjoyed by most anywhere else. Of course, I would assume present-day Japanese arcades look a bit different than 90s arcades, though I don't know for sure...but that doesn't excuse everything else that's anachronistic in Crystal with the weird dual-90s/10s setting.

>How or why is a 14 year old living somewhere on her own?

Isn't this a common anime trope - young teens mysteriously living on their own either apparently or actually since parent figures never appear? How does her backstory and housing work in the original show? I seem to have forgotten or never learned.

 

[majestic]

Oh, yes, right. Forgot again. Kino Makoto: Well Kino means Wood's in this context (Jupiter being Wood Star in Japanese, do you see a trend yet?). What Makoto was supposed to mean exactly is a bit problematic because unlike the other girls her name is only ever written in hiragana - without a kanji to differentiate and no context to glean meaning from, the closest one would probably be sincerity or faithfulness.

For those that don't know (which I'm guesing is potentially IC here in this thread) Hiragana is one of the three Japanese letter/writing systems where every character represents a syllable (sort of, it's not really a syllable in our sense, but as far as approximations go that's okay enough). It's entirely possible to write only in Hiragana, like Usagi does just to show you that she's not the brightest of students. Normal Japanese writing has Kanji for nouns and verbs, with Hiragana for conjugations and particles. So with Hiragana only able to provide how you pronounce a word, not what meaning it should have in the case of homophones we can't exactly know. Unless Naoko Takeuchi noted it somewhere. *shrug*
 

Spoiler

 

@Bartimaeus

Yes, it is a very common anime trope. Tragic backstories and children living on their own for some reason. Makoto's backstory is mostly omitted in the orignal anime, I think she just only once mentions being on her own for a while now, but we're never shown that she actually lives alone at home - but plenty of animes aren't set in contemporary Japan.

As for Rei's interests, beats me. She likes being a shrine maiden and remarking how men are all unreliable children. Her only interest so far is dedicated service to god and country, errr... faith and Serenity. So far the only thing that happened ouside of them being defined by their jobs is that Ami went swimming and likes chess, and that Makoto is a great cook.

Luna-P isn't mentioned much at all. Luna once says that she doesn't think it looks like her, but that she also does in the original anime.

And from what I've gathered so far, Usagi being an unlikable prick towards Chibi-Usa comes directly from the manga. The writers of Crystal took some liberties that make it look less problematic. I don't know that yet though, this is second hand information from a review of his episode that I read concurrently to watching the episode.

You know, if you'd take Mr. Plinkett's approach to test how well a character is defined and written from his The Phantom Menace review we'd probably end up with exactly the same reactions between the original and Crystal.

Just not for new and uninteresting characters, but for the same ones. Well, except for Usagi of course.

Video linked mostly for the benefit of others who click into this spoiler but shouldn't have.