Anime - A Rollercoaster of Emotion

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

16 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

The episode didn't make me want to die

A prestigious endorsement. It was collected out of order so it's been animated out of order as well, so don't pay attention to the episode numbers. 

The tongue had arms and hands lmao

[InsaneCommander]

Btw, Chibiusa should use her Luna-P ball and create a magic mirror that shows people without makeup. The villains always stop when they think there is something wrong with it.

Edited March 2, 2021 by InsaneCommander

[majestic]

7 hours ago, InsaneCommander said:

Btw, Chibiusa should use her Luna-P ball and create a magic mirror that shows people without makeup. The villains always stop when they think there is something wrong with it.

Oh my, look at how Sailor Moon reinforces harmful stereotypes of women. Tsk, bad Sailor Moon, bad. Should have stuck closer to the feminist masterpiece that the manga is.

Actually... it's not that bad showing a quartett of villains being vain, I'd say. It beats their character in the manga (although that's like stealing candy from babies). It's a bad trait, and it makes sense to show the bad guys have it, and them obsessing over superficialities like make up and beauty neatly frames the entire cosmetic industry in a less than ideal light, kind of like the first season attempted to show that having an unhealthy body image is harmful. This is a good way to teach the actual target audience something about not falling prey to consumerist explotation of a lack of self-worth. It might not be overly interesting to us as adults, but the message is there.

There's something else I just recently noticed when it comes to Sailor Moon. It's an early to mid 90ies anime and whenever they have a one-off side character that's a woman, or even recurring female side characters that aren't at school any more, they all have a wide variety of jobs. Journalists, photographers, directors, scientists, an astronaut in the Sailor Moon S movie, and it is never framed as something special. Here the women just have the same job opportunities as men and they take it.

The feminist masterpiece manga doesn't even have side characters that can have jobs. The characters they have are chronically anemic in terms of characterization. Heh.

8 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Yeah, so Hilda season 2 is going pretty good, . Kind of miss the Pretty Guardians, been tempted to start SuperS, but I figure I should watch a few episodes of something I *don't* like first, and Hilda's sadly not that. Maybe I'll try an episode or two of Jojo's or that Thus Spoke Somebody spinoff KP mentioned and probably confirm that I'm just not enough of a weeaboo to enjoy anime at large, even the apparently decent stuff.

But what I'm definitely not doing is watching a show that I despise with every last fiber of my being, unlike a certain somebody in this thread. ...Although, wait - I just said that's what I *should* be doing so that I can appreciate SuperS more.

 

Spoiler

 

The first two or three episodes of SuperS are still good. I mean, yeah, the obvious problems of the season in terms of the actual story that happens kick off immediately, and aside from the children that get assaulted later and Makoto's "focus" episode, the second episode has by far and large the worst dream mirror assault scene in the season (but also has Minako and Usagi being the lovable dum-dums that they are).

Assuming the dub doesn't fix this in some way by changing the dialogue or cutting out Tiger's-Eye's insane squeals of joy while he does look into the mirrors. Looking at a couple of the old dub scenes on YouTube that at least happened for the old English dub. Tiger's-Eye just sounds bored and complains when there's no Pegasus in the dream, and the voice actors for the one-off characters (or even the recurring guests) are so terrible at conveying emotion that it almost becomes comical instead of really uncomfortable.

Maybe you can link Reika's scene later, just to check.

 

As for what KP likes to call hatewatching, I'm used to it by now, and I can't help it anyway. It's how I work. It is Sailor Moon and I know about it, therefore I must watch it, much like I need to finish reading the manga in the end. But at least I can make it somewhat fun by complaining about it, like I did with Star Trek Discovery.

Maybe, just maybe, I will eventually undergo a psychotic break like when I watched the premiere of Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker, where suddenly every problem is stripped away in my mind and I only revelled in the glory of this masterpiece of filmmaking. It was perfect. I even got up and gave the screen standing ovations when Darth Sidious disabled the entire Resistance fleet by shooting lightning at it from the ground.

People around me looked at me as if I've lost my mind, but I just saw the light! Praise be to Jar Jar Abrams. *cough*

8 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

So, uh, I don't know if you noticed this or not...but your tone about Crystal has been getting...just a teensy tiny little bit negative as of late. Just something to monitor while you're loving the show. It's easy to start getting hyperfocused on the little things when the rest of the show is so incredibly perfect, so it's a good thing to remind yourself to just enjoy it while it lasts, you know?

11 hours ago, majestic said:

 

To be completely fair to Crystal (which is hard to do and requires actual effort), it was making it clear later in the scene that I complained about that Haruka and Michiru are respected and known stars in their respective fields. Haruka is called the potentially best Japanese race driver in decades and Michiru is an internationally recognized violinist. Them being somewhat well off, even rich, isn't that problematic per se, but they're still a far cry away from owning two helicopters and having the resources to not only maintain and fuel them for their daily flight to school, park them somewhere, have landing pads, and all the fun stuff that goes with it.

But again this is the difference between Sailor Moon S and this. In Sailor Moon S, I went "huh, okay, they have a helicopter. Yeah... never mind." and that was that. In Crystal I start thinking about how ridiculous that really is when the two of them aren't even out of school yet. Just like that episode in the old anime when the helicopter first shows up, one could ask how Usagi manages to arrive at the cathedral just in time, or how the other Sailor Senshi show up just a minute later with Setsuna in tow. Or why Japan is even building a cathedral on an artificial island off the coast.

Or that minor detail how Eudial managed to actually start her car and start driving without noticing that the freaking breaking pedal is gone, not just not working, but gone. But really, who cares? Death to the Snail Woman in the station wagon.

 

bro they didn't have time for that in the original show, the hell makes you think they're going to in this one lmao; although now that I think about it, an unnecessary detail that will presumably be poorly handled and unreasonably explained is the exact type of thing that this show would dedicate time to, so you know what, it probably will happen at some point

 

To be completely fair here, I did come up with that "how rich are they really?" post in response to rewatching their completely ridiculous display of wealth in Sailor Moon S.
 

Spoiler

 

To be completely fair to Crystal (which is hard to do and requires actual effort), it was making it clear later in the scene that I complained about that Haruka and Michiru are respected and known stars in their respective fields. Haruka is called the potentially best Japanese race driver in decades and Michiru is an internationally recognized violinist. Them being somewhat well off, even rich, isn't that problematic per se, but they're still a far cry away from owning two helicopters and having the resources to not only maintain and fuel them for their daily flight to school, park them somewhere, have landing pads, and all the fun stuff that goes with it.

But again this is the difference between Sailor Moon S and this. In Sailor Moon S, I went "huh, okay, they have a helicopter. Yeah... never mind." and that was that. In Crystal I start thinking about how ridiculous that really is when the two of them aren't even out of school yet. Just like that episode in the old anime when the helicopter first shows up, one could ask how Usagi manages to arrive at the cathedral just in time, or how the other Sailor Senshi show up just a minute later with Setsuna in tow. Or why Japan is even building a cathedral on an artificial island off the coast.

Or that minor detail how Eudial managed to actually start her car and start driving without noticing that the freaking breaking pedal is gone, not just not working, but gone. But really, who cares? Death to the Snail Woman in the station wagon.

 

 

Edited March 2, 2021 by majestic

[majestic]

By the way, this is what I think will happen on screen when I see these weird, broken lipped creature things that replaced the alien giraffe people in Sailor Moon Crystal in the third season:

Spoiler

 

Edited March 2, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

The transformation you've undergone regarding the manga from now vs. like a couple of months ago has been amazing to see. Hyperbolic here, but it feels like it went from "well, I've heard from people who have read the manga that [bad or problematic element of original Sailor Moon show] was done totally different or wasn't even originally in the manga at all - those show adapters were sometimes just doing their own thing, ya know?" to "almost everything that was ever wrong is actually the manga's fault one way or another". Glorious.

1 hour ago, majestic said:

To be completely fair here, I did come up with that "how rich are they really?" post in response to rewatching their completely ridiculous display of wealth in Sailor Moon S.

Yeah, I do remember you mentioning that, but that's the thing about details: if you don't have a good explanation, it's almost definitely better not to explain it at all. They said over and over that they would stop at nothing to carry out their mission - as far as I know, they probably just used their powers to rob a bank or something so they could buy one. That'd also be a bad explanation, just as "they're really talented...but also still not even out of school" would be - so it's really just better to never say anything about it directly if you don't have something good to use. But of course, if your mind is wandering because the show stinks...

Speaking of terrifying animation, is it just me, or does "shiny" skin in anime pretty much always look weird and off-putting? Like in that M screenshot you gave earlier, she's got weird patches of shiny skin (below her eyes, below her mouth) - it's like looking at a lizard person for me, creeps me out. Might be just me and my distaste for anime art styles, though...

Edited March 2, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

1 hour ago, majestic said:

By the way, this is what I think will happen on screen when I see these weird, broken lipped creature things that replaced the alien giraffe people in Sailor Moon Crystal in the third episode:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Sailor Moon Crystal is a prequel to Blade 2 or The Strain?

[majestic]

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

The transformation you've undergone regarding the manga from now vs. like a couple of months ago has been amazing to see. Hyperbolic here, but it feels like it went from "well, I've heard from people who have read the manga that [bad or problematic element of original Sailor Moon show] was done totally different or wasn't even originally in the manga at all - those show adapters were sometimes just doing their own thing, ya know?" to "almost everything that was ever wrong is actually the manga's fault one way or another". Glorious.

You're right. In the TV thread I posted that the male gaze issues of the show were down to the animators sneaking them in, and that Naoko Takeuchi wasn't very keen on them either. She did complain about the sexualization of her characters in the original anime after all (and about changing Rei). I also argued that for a 90ies anime they were pretty tame and that the show did more right than wrong when it came to empowering girls.

The former is pretty much correct. There was never any need to draw the underwear of the girls (and I think Minako's scene in her backstory episode in season one stands out because it was completely unnecessary, you can't even argue that this happens because of the motion on screen, like with the very early shots of Rei's leotard during her jumps). The latter I now know is ridiculous because Rei has no character in the first place.

My mistake was trusting the word of the creator, fanboys and/or drawing the conclusion that these issues weren't present in the source material. There are upskirts in there, Usagi and Ami get one in the third act for instance, and the issue then becomes that any drawing of upskirts is only problematic when men do it, so, not sure if I want to subscribe to that theory. There are also scenes in the manga where the girls are standing in positions that should reveal underwear but don't. Instead there's either nothing at all or simply skin visible. It looks weird at best and like they're wearing very tiny thongs at worst.

I also honestly thought that the weird lusting of Chibi-Usa after her father was the showrunners idea. Turns out it wasn't. Between what's actually going on in the manga and what was in the 90ies anime, yes, I really would rather look at Minako's skirt blowing in the wind than being subjected to the implications at the end of the Black Moon arc.

So indeed, I changed my mind. Let the showrunners have their 10 seconds of upskirts in the show. It still beats what the manga is capable of subjecting its readers to.

By a mile.

Spoiler

I also don't think she should complain about her characters being sexualized when she herself creates very clearly sexually driven desires in nine("hundred") year old children towards their fathers and a motherf-ing unicorn with wings. And yes, that mistake was mine as well. I honestly never thought this would be a case of a pot calling the kettle black.

 

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

Yeah, I do remember you mentioning that, but that's the thing about details: if you don't have a good explanation, it's almost definitely better not to explain it at all. They said over and over that they would stop at nothing to carry out their mission - as far as I know, they probably just used their powers to rob a bank or something so they could buy one. That'd also be a bad explanation, just as "they're really talented...but also still not even out of school" would be - so it's really just better to never say anything about it directly if you don't have something good to use. But of course, if your mind is wandering because the show stinks...

Speaking of terrifying animation, is it just me, or does "shiny" skin in anime pretty much always look weird and off-putting? Like in that M screenshot you gave earlier, she's got weird patches of shiny skin (below her eyes, below her mouth) - it's like looking at a lizard person for me, creeps me out. Might be just me and my distaste for anime art styles, though...

Oh, I agree. They never attempted to explain where their wealth comes from and left it at that in Sailor Moon S, and it pretty much worked anyway. It's a good indication that something's wrong with your material if viewers suddenly start noticing all the plot holes or the convergence of many contrivances for the story to work.
 

Spoiler

 

The best and arguably most noticable of these in the original show is in Sailor Moon SuperS where, because their tranformation and attack sequences were linked, Chibi-Usa and Usagi always had to miraculously be together or come together at the exact scene of an attack, while all the other attacks in the series always happening in the same area or close to the girls were certainly a weaker point of the show, but not too distracting. One can reasonably suspend your disbelief in the latter case, very much less so than in the former.

To quote Oscar Wilde: Man can believe the impossible, but man can never believe the improbable.

It's impossible that any decent villain would strike in the only area where they know they can't operate in relative peace. It's totally improbably that Chibi-Usa and Usagi are always close to an attack site AND each other though, right?

However, if the episodes were mostly good, that would most likely also not be an issue. Turns out they aren't.

 

Speaking of the weird shiny spots on the picture. Man, why did you have to mention that? I honestly didn't see this in the animation before. Just now that I HAVE seen it, I cannot UNSEE it.

Edited March 2, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

 

1 hour ago, majestic said:

I also honestly thought that the weird lusting of Chibi-Usa after her father was the showrunners idea. Turns out it wasn't.

In fact, they actually toned it down. What the hell, Naoko Takeuchi? What the hell. How dumb would you have to be to have read the original manga, hear her statements about the 'inappropriate liberties' they took in the anime, and not find anything incongruous about it all? Well, apparently not all that dumb, because piles of people seem to agree with her.

Also, sorry about mentioning the shiny skin thing! I figured since you've watched a lot of anime, it's probably something you'd seen plenty of times and gotten used to, seeing as how I am nominally a non-anime watcher and feel like I've had the misfortune of seeing that particular shiny skin phenomenon a number of times, and it always immediately makes me think everyone's faces look so much weirder and grosser than they would ever need to be. There have been a few different times someone has sent me an anime clip from something random I'm not familiar with, I've seen the weird skin patches, stopped the video and taken a screenshot, then photoshopped it out and been like, "wow, huh, everyone's faces suddenly got significantly less creepy-looking - why is this a thing again?". Still don't know why.

[majestic]

I love this Unicorn of War guy, here's a quote from his 90ies Anime review where he states how much Sailor Stars is a "sin" in his eyes.

Major Sailor Stars spoiler:

Spoiler

 

Quote

The Sailor Starlights are also not nearly as emphasized in the manga as they are in the ’90s anime. And Chibi Chibi’s role is completely different between the two stories, and in my opinion, it makes much more sense in the manga than the ’90s anime. I won’t spoil it, but I will say that it is very clever.

Emphasis added by me. Yes, manga Chibi-Chibi is exceedingly clever writing. Exceedingly... clever. Much clever. Such good. Great wow. How dare they change that.

Here's what Chibi-Chibi is in the 90ies anime:
 

Spoiler

 

Sailor Galaxia's Star Seed, a representation of her inner core as a Sailor Senshi, her innocence if you want, and since she is the legendary hero of the old Sailor Wars and the strongest of all Sailor Senshi, her Star Seed is also the Light of Hope, a glimmer that shines even in the darkest of times.

She willingly removed it from herself when she sealed Chaos in herself, the ultimate evil of the Universe, after she could not destroy it. She knew she would not be able to contain it forever and eventually lose herself to Chaos. She sends her Star Seed away so Chaos cannot make use of it and for it to be used to destroy her - and maybe Chaos in the process - when the time comes and the next legendary hero rises.

Spoiler

Spoiler: It's obviously Usagi, who else.

Chibi Chibi finds Usagi and stays with her, and she mildly helps out in the final confrontation by saving Sailor Moon from Galaxia's attack. She later transforms into a representation of what she was meant to be, a weapon to be used - a sword that Sailor Moon refuses to use in all but the most defensive measures (and when Galaxia accidentially cuts herself on her sword while Sailor Moon is defending herself she's horrified).

 

So what is Chibi Chibi in the manga that is so much cleverer?

Spoiler

Yeah. She is Sailor Cosmos, the most powerful being in the universe, strongly implied to be Sailor Moon's final form when she ascends to literal goodhood, who travels to the past to give Usagi guidance and the courage to fight.

And because being the ultimate evil in the universe isn't lame enough, Chaos also tells Usagi that he was every other enemy they fought too. Metalia, Death Phantom, Pharao 90 and Nehelenia.

Well, and since no evil bad guy ever needs any actual motivation or heaven forbid, a backstory, Galaxia teams up with Chaos because she's just like that. She wants to rule the galaxy, and Chaos is powerful enough to fulfil her desires. Yay!

 

 

 

Mental note: For the love of god stop reading the crap this guy puts out.

Edited March 2, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

Deus ex machinas are so hot right now, .

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

On the shiny skin stuff, I think it's mostly cheaper digital coloring used by Studios starting in the early 2000s and becoming more widespread. It looks weird to me and I don't really like it.

4 minutes ago, majestic said:

I love this Unicorn of War guy

I bet he thinks Speedwagon was the best JoJo character.

[majestic]

5 minutes ago, KaineParker said:

I bet he thinks Speedwagon was the best JoJo character.

He sure has the best monologues, and his voice actor REALLY does a good job of saying Joestar-san.  Dshoooooooostaaaah-SN.

 

[Bartimaeus]

2 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Deus ex machinas are so hot right now, .

I would just like to note to everyone that the 5 minutes ago version of myself was referencing the classic "so hot right now" meme (even though I think I didn't do it 100% in the correct format), and I was not actually saying that the character I was referring to is hot. After all, my name is not Mamoru Chiba, .

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

13 minutes ago, majestic said:

He sure has the best monologues, and his voice actor REALLY does a good job of saying Joestar-san.  Dshoooooooostaaaah-SN.

 

I actually like Speedwagon, I just used him as an example because...I dunno, he gets little development and that seems to be what unicorns like.

Have you seen that episode in the video yet?

Edited March 2, 2021 by KaineParker

[majestic]

Just now, KaineParker said:

Have you seen that episode yet?

No, I'm in the middle of a fight with Dio, Baron Zeppeli, Speedwagon and JoJo in a zombie infested graveyard next to some prison village.

Didn't get to watch much recently, and when I did I wasted it on Sailor Moon Crystal. I should probably watch more JoJo and Steven Universe.

[Bartimaeus]

On the other hand, watching a single SMC episode can ruin your entire day, so you should really just watch the entire thing all at once so it can only ruin one day. It's only logical.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

5 minutes ago, majestic said:

No, I'm in the middle of a fight with Dio, Baron Zeppeli, Speedwagon and JoJo in a zombie infested graveyard next to some prison village.

Didn't get to watch much recently, and when I did I wasted it on Sailor Moon Crystal. I should probably watch more JoJo and Steven Universe.

WRRRRYYYYYYYY!

2 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

On the other hand, watching a single SMC episode can ruin your entire day, so you should really just watch the entire thing all at once so it can only ruin one day. It's only logical.

Just like my ex-wife.

[InsaneCommander]

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

3 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

Oh ho

Get ready for a will saving throw

[InsaneCommander]

That meme looked appropriate for this thread.

 

Funny that they leave Chibiusa alone all the time. It happened multiple times and they already know how dangerous that is. In a way she may be more responsible than any of the other characters.

 

Next episode will introduce Sailor Pluto.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Just now, InsaneCommander said:

That meme looked appropriate for this thread

Still looks better than Crystal lmao

Chibi-Usa is probably safer on her own tbh.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I finished up S and have started Super S. 

Spoiler

S ending with Sailor Moon winning a fight by not fighting with Uranus and Neptune would have been great, instead we get a Chibi-Usa episode with a final Daimon that feels like filler and apparently gets reversed in Super S. Over all this has been my favorite season, the Professor was a main villain who was actually fun (even if the Daimons and henchmen were disappointing), the Sailor Gang got some attention, Mamo and Usagi have a fairly normal relationship, and we got some new supporting characters who actually support. Even if Super S is a major tail spin and even with how s1 and R really lagged at points, this season really makes the show worth it and will be why I reccomend it to anybody.

One and a half episodes into Super S. So the new intro starts with the girls in a pond or lake with Pegasus who flies off and they chase after him. Quite an interesting start. The new villains seem lame in comparison to Death Busters, we meet a bunch of fukin dip****s until the three henchmen are summoned by the ringleader, who is boring as **** compared to the Professor. There's an inevitable monster battle (with more exploitation than usual), where Tuxedo Kamen shows up but fails to stop it, and just in the nick of time Pegasus shows up to blast Usagi and Chibi-Usa with his horn beam so they can defeat the monster. Any creepiness we can read into this aside (and that's a big aside), it shows that Chibi-Usa is a lot like her mom in that she goes for older dudes and relies on them to come save her after having a monster beat her up for a minute or so. I can already tell this season is going to be not nearly as fun. But at least Motoki is back lmao. There was one thing about this thread I kept thinking about when watching Chibi-Usa put a carrot on a horse's head though...

Spoiler

 

 

[majestic]

8 hours ago, KaineParker said:

Spoiler

There was one thing about this thread I kept thinking about when watching Chibi-Usa put a carrot on a horse's head though...

 

 

That's episode two of SuperS, so you're in luck. It's also the one with the worst dream mirror scene (at least when the show isn't targetting children), maybe outside of those that deal with characters you might acutally like.

edit: Speaking of SuperS, did you notice how they were all skinny dipping in the pond before taking off and chasing after the, uhm, new character? The opening sequence, I mean.

Edited March 3, 2021 by majestic

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

4 hours ago, majestic said:

Speaking of SuperS, did you notice how they were all skinny dipping in the pond before taking off and chasing after the, uhm, new character? The opening sequence, I mean.

Yes, I thought I mentioned it but I guess I was too tired to proofread before posting.

[majestic]

SMC, Act 28:
 

Spoiler

 

Episode begins with a liberal helping of Usagi is immature and jealous of Chibi-Usa who will be visiting a theme park with Mamo-Chan tomorrow, a time when Sailor Moon is needed to investigate that weird Infinity Academy and its GIANT TICK MONSTERS.

The opening sequence continues to be a highlight of each episode. The song is different, and it is better than Moon Pride, but that's, uhm, not hard to do.
Spoiler, click me if you want to see Hotaru and Chibi-Usa in the opening credits:

Spoiler

Does this ever get tired?

Spoiler

 

Hey, you looked. Pervert!

 

 

The GIANT TICK MONSTERS by the way, are supposed to be "reversions" the "opposite" of evolution. So, uhm, Humans that regressed backwards and became animalistic again. Because nothing screams HOMO ERECTUS like GIANT TICKS.

Raaaaaaaaawrs it is me, HOMO AUSTRALOPITHECUS! No, I mean, ERECTUS. Yay!

No, this idea isn't at all taken from one of the really bad Star Trek: The Next Generaiton episodes where the otherwise delightful Dwight Schultz turns into a human/spider hybrid creature.

It's almost time to wrap up our show, and we still have props left. How about we use all of them at once?

Actually it probably really wasn't, the manga came out in '94 and Genesis aired in '94 too, there's not much overlap here. Probably none at all. Curious happenstance nonetheless.

The Blade 2 prequel Reaper monsters are still around playing characters I liked very much in a different show. To be honest this is more unnerving than the shiny spots on their faces or the alien giraffe people that played characters I like very much in a different show in the two prior seasons (the ones that occasionally had praying mantis stand-ins for shots that were far away).

The Witches 5 are sent out by Kaorinite to defeat the Senshi. If this follows the usual pattern they'll get one episode each to die when Sailor Moon blasts her with RAINBOW MOON HEART ACHE. Or maybe Sailor Mars gets to burn some of them to a cinder.

Or who knows, maybe each of them gets one to kill this time. I doubt that MURDER DEATH KILL Usagi will let them kill each other, or have accidents like they did in Sailor Moon S.

The Witches have levels by the way. Like in character levels. Kaorinite propmises a level up for the one who kills the Senshi.

Next scene, the girls are all standing in front of the Mugen/Infinity Acedemy where weird things happened last episode. Including the first GIANT TICK ATTACK if you remembered the morning news of yesterday, or however much time has passed.

Rei does her best Deanna Troi impression, puts a hand on her face and says: I feel something. This building has an ominious aura. 

Well no sh*t Rei, a GIANT TICK ATTACK happened here, the academy is weird and... never mind, just forget it. Continue to be useless please. Ami's tablet tells her that the entire area has paranormal density (what?) and spacetime distortions. Guess that happens when you're trying to summon an eldritch horror from outer space by a wormhole. Who knows.

Wind blows, some leaves fall and Makoto remarks that even the wind is strange (no really Makoto? We just saw that!). A storm is... coming. Looks like everyone is Captain Obvious in this show now. Minako feels watched by someone. Or something.

Good job Minako. You're the only five people in front of the building and you're totally out of place here in your regular school uniforms. You THINK someone's watching you? Nah. Surely not.

Asanuma (this is the pupil that likes Makoto, and the one whom Mamoru apparently tutors) and Mamoru are at the theme park. Chibi-Usa and Momo (a character that in the original anime appears later in SuperS) ride the roller coaster. Mamoru starts sweating and tells him that he's not really into that. Mamoru is afraid of roller coasters. Huh.

Oh Chibi-Usa loses her hat. I think it's Hotaru time. Mamoru isn't very happy that Chibi-Usa ran off on her own. Yeah, okay Mamoru. Aren't you supposed to be the more responsible and mature one?

Michiru is playing the violin and everyone is drawn to the music. It's magic. Michiru, pied p... uhm vio... uhm rat catcher of Hamelin Sailor Senshi Catcher of Mugen. Never mind.

Usagi disguises herself as member of the elite school. Sure Usagi. Why not... why don't you let Ami do that, at least she wouldn't be so obviously out of place.

Unicorn of War guy said that the manga verisons of Haruka and Michiru are much nicer than their 90ies anime counterpart. Assuming for a moment that this episode doesn't stray too far from the source material (yet? maybe not at all? who knows? who cares?) I wonder why Michiru calls Usagi a damned fool for running around alone in the Acedemy and Haruka threatens the other girls. Yeah. +1 for not being b*tchy. Riiiiiiiight.

I think this dweeb has just superimposed everything that happens in SuperS and Stars over the first three arcs. Maybe.

Usagi thinks that for a moment Michiru looked like she wanted to devour her with her eyes. Is she the enemy? Well Usagi, probably. But she doesn't want to devour you with her eyes. She wants to eat you with her Reaper mouth.

Hello Hotaru. Let's see how much of a gothic emo queen mysterious waif you are in THIS version.

Eudial reverses the evolution of a cat and it becomes a GIANT WERECAT MONSTER.

Bad case of runtime padding. We see every single last tansformation in full, and every girl gives her full spiel to the GIANT WERECAT MONSTER that still  want to douse itself with water and repent any more than the GIANT TICK MONSTER, and it also really doesn't care about love, justice or being punished in the name thereof. If I were a cat, I wouldn't either.

Ami analyzes the GIANT WERECAT MONSTER and says: "Be careful! The claws are dangerous!" I can see why they call you the smart one Ami. Rei, pray tell, do you have a bad feeling now while this thing is tearing you apart? Huh? No?

The Witches 5 are having fun watching the Daimon. Look you dweebs, why hover there and watch? That'll just get one of you killed. Just help attacking.

Okay. So. Uhm. Mercury casts Aqua Mist, and Mars shoots fireballs at the GIANT WERECAT MONSTER. The monster tanks the hits like it is no big deal and then stretches itself out. It's now a GIANT SNAKE BODY WITH A WERECAT HEAD. Not sure where those claws went that Ami was so afraid of.  Chibi-Moon saves Hotaru and Makoto gives the GIANT SNAKECAT a fistful of SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE. You go girl, the SNAKE CAT has troubles tanking that and suddenly regrows its arms and claws. Minako chains it up with a VENUS LOVE ME CHAIN and...

tells Sailor Moon that it is time to be useful, and Luna (who has been watching in the super secret command bunker) tells Usagi to Use Serenity's Moon Rod thing. So... that stuff in the manga too? How disappointing. MOON SPIRAL HEART ATTACK! Animation looks curiously similar to its 90ies counterpart. Except worse. Because everything looks worse, even if it looks better than before. Reaper-Faces nonwithstanding.

Oh, come on Witches 5, you're ruining Usagi's bodycount by disappearing. At least one of you could have died.

Haruka and Michiru, the, quote by Unicorn of War

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First off, let it be known that I love the Outers. I adore them. They are majestically mysterious and badass giraffes who kick absolute ass… in the manga, at least.

Emphasis not added by me this time.
 

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Uranus, Neptune, and all the other Senshi have nothing but respect for Usagi. They all have a special connection to one another as Guardians, but in the ’90s anime they just act like they’re above their own damn queen. Pluto, you’re the Guardian of Time: please teach these bitches a lesson.

Or better yet, let manga Uranus and Neptune have a… talk with them. I’m sure it won’t last that long.

And then we get to perhaps the greatest injustice done by the ’90s anime… Saturn.

 

Yeah, the respect Haruka and Michiru have for Usagi was really visiible in this one. Michiru calls her a damned fool and implies she's a moron, Haruka threatens her friends and they both watch from the sidelines while the GIANT WERESNAKECAT MONSTER almost tears them apart. The respect. The RESPECT. Such respect, much wow.

Boy, I'm going to write you one angry post if I find out that manga Haruka and Michiru did the same in this act. Well, no, I won't, but let's see.

So Manga-Haruka tells the girls that she's not going to show them any mercy if they cross her path again. +1 for manga respect. Michiru talks to Usagi like's she's a total dweeb. I mean, Usagi IS a total dweeb, but that's not respect. Great.

 

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Sailor Saturn: Soldier of the Planet of Ruin and the Guardian of Silence. Saturn is a fan favorite, and her powers are perhaps the most intriguing. She has the power of Destruction and Rebirth. She can literally destroy an entire galaxy and then give it new life.

So obviously the most sensible thing to do is give her the least amount of screen time possible.

 

Again emphasis NOT added by me. He complains that Sailor Saturn barely gets any screentime in the original anime while at the same time stating perfectly why she doesn't. Because if you have a reality destroying superweapon in the one hand and the abilitiy to completely resurrect everything in the other, then you had better use both sparingly. See, in the manga, using the Silver Crystal to restore everything or save everyone does not carry the issue of making the user die of exhaustion. Or at least Usagi doesn't. Ever.

So yes, the most obvious and sensible thing to do is to not use either all the time, because if you do have a superweapon like Saturn AND the power to simply reverse the destruction caused by her, then, for the love of god, use them as little as possible. The hell. This was fun in ReBoot where Phong had a ridiculous little glass box that read "Break in case of giant Nullzilla monster attack!" with exactly what you need to defeat it in here, but that show mostly comedy.

Infinity in the manga sets a precedent like the Hyperspace Bomb attack by General Purple Hair in The Last Jedi. If you can DEATH REBORN REVOLUTION your enemies away and then resurrect reality without the enemies in it, why bother having a story at all?

Oh, I digress. The oh so RESPECTFUL outers just watch the Senshi do their stuff. Great showing there, Haruka and Bitchiru. You're waaaaaaay better than the anti-heroes with a heart of gold of S.

Chibi-Usa talks to Hotaru and tells her that she's a sailor warrior, and Usagi freaks out when she realizes that Hotaru now knows their identities. This wasn't any issue at all in the prior two arcs. The girls and Mamoru talk to Luna and Artemis freely on the streets, Naru is implied to know who Sailor Moon is (although that might be Crystal adapting a beat from the original anime, don't know yet) and they also had no real problem transforming in the middle of the street next to the GIANT TICK MONSTER that attacked last episode.

Writers, please. At least... at least give your scripts a single pass of editing before making an episode out of it? Please? it's not like you're in the 90ies and have only a week to come up with an episode.

Haruka and Michiru leave without saying goodbye. Or anything at all. How RESPECTFUL they are to their queen. My, my.

Oh, my!

 

Speaking of ReBoot, have you guys seen that show? It was awesome.

 

I'm considering to drop these write-ups. With all the pausing I need to do to write something down, it takes roughly an hour to go through an episode. That triples the torture that this is. So unless you find them fun enough, I'll... stick to small blurbs. Maybe. I admit it is a little therapeutic.

Edited March 3, 2021 by majestic