Anime - A Rollercoaster of Emotion

[Bartimaeus]

Yeah, but Usagi is the only one who can Remove Curse anyways...of course, she seems perfectly capable of casting it on others as is - maybe it can't be self-targeted?

[Maedhros]

I watched Fate / Zero, which I liked well enough. Currently watching the sequel, Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Bladeworks, and I'm a bit dissapointed at the lack of connection between the two shows. Many of the characters are the same, but they never really talk about what happened before, as if it never happened.

[majestic]

  

  

1 hour ago, InsaneCommander said:

Spoiler

Btw, strange that Saturn is not the time guardian. It would fit better. I even checked on Google and saw that Sailor Saturn is related to death, which would fit Pluto better. But whatever.

 

You need to be careful, lest I write another ten page essay on mythology and how it relates to Sailor Moon. However, here's the short version:

If going strictly by the names, then yes, Saturn - the Roman equivalent of Kronos and therefore the God of Time - would be a better fit for what Pluto does in the show. But that would also make Saturn the father of Pluto, Jupiter and Neptune, and Uranus the father of Saturn... and I'm sure you're beginning to see the problems here.

If you want to look at the girls, their personalities and their planets you need to delve a bit into astrology, where Saturn represents death, poverty, endings, but also fears and inhibitions (modern astrology sees Saturn as a planet representing challenges to be overcome, not something entirely negative per se). Its representation is similar to the Major Arcana card "Death", which not necessarily means the literal death of someone, but also an end to something, and perhaps a new beginning.

In terms of Pluto we're reaching the limits here, there is nothing that would suggest any of the Sailor Senshi to be a good representation for a Guardian of Time. The closest you can get though, really is Pluto, but not as her being the Guardian of Time, but as a representation of transformation and upheaval - or, as she says in her introduction, guided by the planet of revolution.

Pluto in astrology represents extremes: Change, transformation, upheaval and revolution without the ability to go back. Insofar her watching over time and making sure nobody goes back (which she really sucks at) does make a tiny bit of sense. As much sense as astrology can make, anyway, yes?

Also, if you keep spoiling yourself with google we might as well stop bothering with making sure you don't read what you're not yet supposed to.

53 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

LMAO

They actually did try to fully explain the detail about where their money comes from exactly how I predicted they would because it'd be the stupidest thing possible to do? And it was...just as dumb as could be imagined? Absolutely incredible, top notch stuff.

Yes, absolutely. To my absolute shame I did not fully believe in your prediction. I shall repent.

 

Spoiler

Can't believe no one commented on the Hotaru in underwear thing. Or are you just being used to this being a creepfest by now? If anyone, I should be, and it was weird. So... hum.

Maybe you need convincing? Have some pictures then:

Hotaru wondering what to do with that plug, or where it is supposed to go...

Looks like she found out!

Although I have to admit that the still picture looks less like what it looks like when the animation is running. It's the motion and the moaning that really sell it. This show is rotting my mind worse than 26 years on the internet did.

 

  

18 minutes ago, Maedhros said:

I watched Fate / Zero, which I liked well enough. Currently watching the sequel, Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Bladeworks, and I'm a bit dissapointed at the lack of connection between the two shows. Many of the characters are the same, but they never really talk about what happened before, as if it never happened.

There seem to be an awful lot of animes that are called Fate /, are they all kind of connected? Where to even start?

Edited March 5, 2021 by majestic

[majestic]

Sailor Moon Crystal, Act 34
 

Spoiler

 

Usagi, Mamoru and Chibi-Usa are at the hospital. Chibi-Usa flatlines, the doctors are calling it. Okay. This does nothing for me. Usagi is crying of course, which I also really don't care about. Last season when Pluto died I felt something, and for a moment I had this tiny bit of hope that my emotional attachment to some characters will improve from there. Turns out that didn't happen.

But no. This is totally, completely, and utterly uninteresting, unmoving and boring. All the other girls and Mamoru agree. Nobody's crying, or looks sad, or even angry. Nothing. Good call girls, you probably realize that she can't be actually dead or will stay dead. 

Haruka wants to rope Usagi into killing Hotaru by telling her Mistress 9 stole Chibi-Usa's soul (by stealing her Silver Crystal, what now? Are we making this up as we go along?) and killing her and getting the crystal back will save her. The girls are more distraught about having to kill Hotaru than they are about Chibi-Usa dying.

The hell?

Mamo-chan connects himself to Chibi-Usa, like in Sailor Moon S. Except in S she isn't clinically dead for however long it took for Mamoru to bring her to his apartment (and the show showed us that you can survive for a while without your pure heart crystal). The time can be anything from hours to zero, maybe they teleported home. It's certainly been long enough for some major brain and organ damage though. Poor Chibi-Usa, that's going to be a rough awakening.

This entire soul stealing thing is only there to explain why Usagi just doesn't use MOON HEALING ESCALATION on Chibi-Usa's dead body. *yawn*

Kaorinite resurrects the Witches 5 after having complained about their deaths last episode. Why wait until they're all dead?

This Chris Carter Effects worse than the X-Files did. Way worse.

Cyprine and Ptilol separate the girls. Eudial is trying to... seduce Rei? This continues to be amazing. Viluy is paired off with Ami again and convinces her that Sailor Moon is just holding her back. Minako is paired off with, well, Mimi, who else. Minako wants to be an idol and immediately forgets about fighting. Makoto is seduced by Tellu's roses.

This would be a nice scene if we had spent some more time with the girls and their hopes and dreams. It's a decent effort marred by the absence of character development.

Look at Usagi being the only one who figures out that something's wrong. To be fair, that only works because Mamoru tells her telepathically that she's hallucinating.

Sailor Moon holds her own against all five of the Witches 5 until Viluy traps her with her nanobot cloud debuff, but Michiru shows up and obliterates them all at once with SUBMARINE REFLECTION. Guess the Outers were out grinding a bit.

You know, I get the feeling that the manga has lots of filler too, because everything that happened ever since they left the hospital was purely to pad the runtime - or to be able to meet the monthly deadline. Nothing of consequence happened. Nothing. Except that we learn the hopes and dreams of the girls through forced exposition. Which might as well be nothing.

Ami rightfully wonders why the Outers showed up to help them, and they say that they had to come, after all they're battle sisters and Sailor Senshi. Haruka says that they always wanted to fight side by side with the Inner Senshi. Yeah guys, like you haven't spent the last 8 episodes pretending you're nothing alike and all that?

Sailor Moon S Outer gang was at least consistent until the end where Sailor Moon managed to convince them that she knows what she's doing (until they forget in Sailor Stars, but let's not dwell on that yet). They summon the holy grail, Sailor Moon powers up, then the find Kaorinite. They fight for as long as it takes for the Inner Senshi to play their stock footage, then the Outers shield them from an attack and Haruka...

has to tell Usagi to get to killing, and she does. Bye Kaorinite. Meanwhile Mistress 9 eats the silver crystal and says yummy! Okay.

Forget the counters because screw this.

 

 

Edited March 5, 2021 by majestic

[InsaneCommander]

Oh, forgot to mention, this was hilarious:

 

[majestic]

One of the best episodes to be sure. Seeing this with the Viz dub is a bit confusing though, after 200 episodes in German and 200 episodes in Japanese this is weird. Even though the voice actors are great.

[Bartimaeus]

@Hotaru: I'm deleting from my brain what I don't want to see or hear. Or at least I'm trying to, but you keep giving these horrible screenshots of the terrible things being shown in this show!

40 minutes ago, majestic said:

that they always wanted to fight side by side

Uh, is SMC schizophrenic? That's rhetorical - I know it's actually just bad.

@InsaneCommander That's the episode that I started to realize that Minako was the best, .

Edited March 5, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

Sailor Moon Crystal, Act 35. Gonna keep this one short unless something totally insane happens that I have to comment on. I want to get this over with, four episodes (including this one) left.
 

Spoiler

 

Chibi-Usa and Hotaru are inside Mistress 9 now, and they are fighting her control. Unlike in Sailor Moon S, we see this happening directly on the screen, on the "inside" of Mistress 9, not as Mistress 9 struggling from outside. Hotaru frees herself from thorny tendrils. I can see how that would be interesting in a manga, but on the screen it again just proves why direct adaptations are bad.

Professor Tomoe finally goes full Red Skull and channels his inner Hitler, complete with a maniacal laugh. Yay! Except while that made him funny and loveable in S, this just sets him up so that he can be blasted apart by someone without remorse. I'm mildly curious who will kill him.

Usagi and the Outers are in an elevator until they're suddenly in a Lynchian dreamscape of complete darkness. Sailor Moon summons light by casting RAINBOW MOON HEARTACHE. They're back in the elevator.

She's clearly channeling her inner Hoff.

 

Th Professor is having some fun, then transforms into an human/alien hybrid supercreature. Who knew that the Professor actually works for the Syndicate?

Usagi decides that she'd rather kill the Professor than let him kill Haruka. Good job. Your better version from the 90ies managed to save both, you pathetic excuse for a Princess who wins with the conviction of her great heart and love. She drops out of Super Sailor Moon form when Pharao 90 appears, implying that the four Inners left in the building that we just saw blasted away from it were killed. Good thing Usagi can resurrect everyone willy nilly when she feels like it.

Pharao 90 appears. Still three episodes left. Three? Why. Another hour of Sailor Moon fighting Pharao 90? Eugh.

 

 

Edited March 5, 2021 by majestic

[majestic]

11 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

@Hotaru: I'm deleting from my brain what I don't want to see or hear. Or at least I'm trying to, but you keep giving these horrible screenshots of the terrible things being shown in this show!

I'll let David Warner explain what I'm yelling at the screen when I do that:

 

[majestic]

Sailor Moon Crystal, Act 36

Final stretch now. I've taken a very tentative first step towards looking if there's a way to watch the recently released Sailor Moon Eternal movies outside of Japan yet, and I seem to be in luck, that's a no so far. That means I can't subject myself to the full depravity of whatever the writers and animators made of the really disturbing things that are present in the manga for the time being.

Spoiler

Namely, Chibi-Usa both lusting after Mamoru and a white unicorn with wings, never mind the body switch scenario where Usagi tries to seduce Mamoru in the body of Chibi-Usa (or a 6 year old version of herself, the manga can't really make up its mind).

I did, however, find a way to watch something from the 90ies that I haven't seen yet, an Ami focused SuperS special called Ami's First Love. I'm looking forward to seeing this, even if it is just 15 minutes long. It's an adaptation of one of the manga side stories.
 

Spoiler

 

Pluto remarks something about spacetime again. Oh, right, we get it, Pharao 90 is some sort of reality warping something or another and can... you know what, who cares? There's a reason that Sailor Moon S ignored all that talk about a sci-fi-ish explanation of anything in this arc. It's not necessary and distracting. 

Mistress 9's grin looks like how I always imagined Abeloth, the Force Cthulu from Star Wars' expanded universe to look like. For once the art of th show actually works in its favor. It only took 36 episodes to reach that point.

Ami wakes up in bed and bids a bunch of pigeons good morning. Huh, this suddenly looks way better. Whoops. I accidentially switched the video to the SuperS Ami special. Erm. Back to Sailor Moon Crystal. My bad. The split lips issue is present in the 90ies special too (and in the anime every now and then) but it is a lot less disturbing than in Crystal. Actually not disturbing at all.

With Rei out of commission it flals to Uranus, Neptune and Pluto to narrate what is observable on the screen. The sea is in turmoil, Neptune says, while we're seeing a sea in turmoil, the sky is too, says Uranus, while we see dark clouds with purple lightning swirling where Pharao 90 is sure to make an appearance soon. Spacetime continues to twist ever worse, Pluto tells us, while we can see buildings fall apart below us.

Ami is taking a bath now and introduces herself. Her birthday is September 10th, and to the surprise of no one she's a Virgo. Her... wait a minute. Woops.

Pharao 90 begins to meld with the Earth. Mistress 9 explains that this will create a second Tau galaxy. Sure, why not. I'm getting very strong Men in Black vibes here. Mistress 9 in the meantime is growing silver spikes out her back. Now all she needs to do is lay waste to Coruscant and we're good. The Outers summon a reflector shield that contains Pharao 90 for now. Or whatever else this purple mist is that's creeping around.

Sailor Moon casts MOON SPIRAL HEART ATTACK on Abeloth. She's about as impressed by it as she was when the Jedi tried to fight her off. Abeloth grows elven ears for some reason. Hotaru grabs Chibi-Usa's soul and the silver crystal inside of Abeloth and vows to not be defeated for Chibi-Usa's sake.

Ami explains that she likes eading sandwiches because finger food can be more readily eaten while reading. That makes sense Ami. But why is she having breakfast while the world's in peril? Oh. Why does that keep happening?

Bereft of the power of the Silver Crystal, Abeloth begins to absorb the energy of the Inner Senshi. Bad idea Abeloth. You shouldn't be pushing Master Usagiwalker's berserk button like that. Vader made that mistake once and it cost him an arm, his dark side conviction AND his life in the end. Hotaru grabs the souls of the Inner Senshi inside of Mistress 9. This is getting ridiculous.

Hotaru knows it is ridiculous because she starts wondering why she's fighting so hard. Yeah, me too. You didn't even know these girls. You knew Chibi-Usa for a bit, but the last time you saw her she turned away in disgust at the mere sight of you.

Wouldn't it be nice if there were some episodes dedicated to showing Hotaru becoming friends with Chibi-Usa? My dear Sailor Moon S, I will never again say you have pacing issues with the Hotaru filler episodes. Never! I promise.

Sailor Saturn breaks free of Abeloth, with the souls of the Inners in tow. They're revived. Chibi-Usa wakes up too. Yay. Usagi clearly wonders why Hotaru's force ghost is hovering in front of her in her underwear, because she's blushing.

Ami goes to school and finds a love letter for her. She turns red immediately. Ami do you think this is the tim... eerrr, hum. Sorry!

Abeloth breaks free of her fleshy prison. Hotaru and Chibi-Usa are trying to profess their undying love for each other but are interrupted by, you know, Hotaru's body dying, making her soul disappear. Why, what? You're a disembodied force ghost, why are you dissolving? Hotaru says how much Chibi-Usa's friendship enriched her life. Girl, you met her like two days ago.

Chibi-Usa proves to be not genre savvy enough and wonders why Hotaru's fate is so sad and horrible. Chibi-Usa, you should have known that before you befriended the gothic queen cyborg with an implanted demon. But all will be well soon enough, don't worry. I feel bad for Chibi-Usa. She remains the only character worth a damn. Sailor Chibi-Moon is off to help the others. Yeah, that'll help.

You do that, it's not like you and Mamoru are the two most useless people ever in fights.

The Inners are trying to fight off Abeloth but it's not working. The tide seems to turn when Chibi-Moon arrives to cast PINK SUGAR HEART ATTACK. Is this a joke? Some sort of parody perhaps?

The other girls have love letter envy, Ami explains that she gets super nervous about love letters. Minako gets a proverb completely wrong, Artemis corrects her and they're all laughing, and everyone else is put out by Ami saying that studying should be more important than romance for 15 year olds. Where was this for 36 epis... oh wait. No. Not again.

Tuxedo Kamen seems to have gotten a level up and can fly now. Not bad. Now you can ALL forget about being able to fly when the next fight requires a dramatic moment on the ground. Mamoru tells Sailor Moon to transform back into Super Sailor Moon and get some sh*t done before Earth is lost. Way go go Mamoru, why don't you mansplain their jobs to the girls? Not that they didn't deserve it. Abeloth recovered from the PINK SUGAR HEART ATTACK and begins scaling whatever it is the girls are standing on. The ruins of a building, or whatever.

In a turn of events most dramatic, two holy grails appear so that Chibi-Moon can transform into Super Chibi-Moon too. Yay!

Ami is worried about someone else getting the same perfect exam scores as herself. The girls think she's overreacting. They got you there Ami-chan. She talks to herself about accepting the challenge in the middle of the hallway. Ah, you adorkable doofus you, I love you. This also looks really pretty... oh.

Marshmellow Abeloth keeps scaling the building, and the two Super-Moons cross the streams.

The girls figure out that Ami has fallen in love with whoever her rival is. Usagi says that she doesn't even know who he is - or if indeed he is actually a he. Minako and Makoto are badgering Ami to tell her what her ideal boyfriend would be like. This should be interesting. She says a genious like Albert Einstein. Usagi has no idea who that is.

All the girls, except Ami, are at the crown fruit parlor. Minako decides that if Ami is in love for the first time, that's the perfect opportunity for her to help. She IS the goddess of love, after all! The other girls don't entirely look convinced. Or think this is a good idea. Like, at all.

Chibi-Usa casually asks how she plans to do that, and of course she has no idea or any plan. Usagi has the good sense to ask Umino, and he knows who this rival is. A friend of his. Oh boy Ami, that does not bode well for you, does it? Meanwhile Ami has joined another prep school in her manic quest to beat the test score of her rival, the one that has given himself the nickname Mercurius. Ami's love and frantic studying wake the spirit of something that was chained to the prep school a hundred years ago.

The evil spirit attacks Ami with love letters that make knowledge fall out of her head. I'm reminded a little of an episode of Married with Children where Kelly Bundy turns out to be able to perfectly memorize a small amount of knowledge, but every new piece of information she learns removes something else from her head, but I doubt Ami will forget who scored four touchdowns in a game of high school football for Polk High.

Ami finally removes the love letter stuck to her face and transforms, then proceeds to blast the evil spirit whom she believes to be Mercurius to bits. The girls tell Ami that they know who Mercurius is and that he looks like some bishonen superstar in a magazine Minako's reading. Ami says she expected nothing less from her rival and blushes. While the other girls wonder what's gotten into Ami for being so shallow all of a sudden, Usagi wonders to herself is the should tell her that Mercurius looks like Umino but with rectangular glasses and green hair.

Makoto asks why he is using the name Mercurius and Usagi explains it's just his normal name (Suuri Kurume) written backwards. It makes more sense in Japanese. The specials ends with Ami being somewhat put out that Mercurius is still rivalling her, even though she clearly destroyed him.

Well, that beats the SuperS movie, even though it's only 15 minutes long. And it looks really good.

Oh, that Crystal episode ended with Chibi-Moon and Sailor Moon crossing their proton pack rods. I'm pretty sure they'll obliterate Marshmellow Abeloth in the next scene. Stay tuned! I'm hyped!

 

 

Edited March 6, 2021 by majestic
Fixed some typoes...

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Man the Star Wars Extended Universe sounds weird

[Bartimaeus]

Yeah, I've got the Ami special, but I've yet to watch it. There're two other specials as well called "Make Up! Sailor Guardians" and "Sailor Moon SuperS Special" (not the movie) that I've yet to check out too. Thank goodness Crystal is almost finally over - will you start a re-watch of it so that you can better appreciate it right after?

[majestic]

2 hours ago, KaineParker said:

Man the Star Wars Extended Universe sounds weird

It indeed is at times, especially during and after the time The Force Awakens is set in - part of the reason why Disney threw out the old EU. At that time extragalactical invaders show up that are way into self-mutilation and body modification, use organic technology instead of machines and have a cultural fetish for enduring pain (i.e. they strap themselves onto torture racks for some R & R). They cut a swathe of destruction across the galaxy, and in a grimdark low point crash New Republic starships filled with refugees into Coruscant's plantary shield to break it.

Oh, right, and the side story of the same book follows a suicide mission led by Han's youngest son Anakin who, because nothing and no one else is left to spare, leads a team of Jedi teenagers to fight off a threat dangerous enough to be the final nail in the coffin of the New Republic. Predictably, while the mission is a success, half of them (including Anakin) die and Han and Leia's other son Jacen is captured (and copiously tortured later, of course).

The book then ends with the New Republic in full retreat, Coruscant invaded and it's population taken captive to be used for forced labor, torture and sacrifices. All in all truly wholesome fun for the family that.

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

Yeah, I've got the Ami special, but I've yet to watch it. There're two other specials as well called "Make Up! Sailor Guardians" and "Sailor Moon SuperS Special" (not the movie) that I've yet to check out too. Thank goodness Crystal is almost finally over - will you start a re-watch of it so that you can better appreciate it right after?

I'll give Sailor Moon Crystal the highest honor: I will never look at it again. It is perfection and not to be seen more than once for fear of tarnishing the experience.

Plus I still have the manga to read, the live action series, Steven Universe and JoJo's to watch, so I'm good for a while. I'm not sure in which order to tackle everything yet. I want to put off reading the manga for a while, but maybe I should just push through the crap and then get to the good stuff?

Edited March 6, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

I think KaineParker was suggesting that SMC is actually part of the Star Wars EU, but I might've misinterpreted.

[majestic]

8 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I think KaineParker was suggesting that SMC is actually part of the Star Wars EU, but I might've misinterpreted.

Works for me too. I also realized that Master Usagiwalker isn't nearly as good as calling her Master Moonwalker would have been. Tsk. Ah, well.

Sailor Moon Crystal, Act 37:
 

Spoiler

 

For a while now every episode of this travesty spends two full minutes on a recap of the last two minutes of the episode that came before. Guess when you can't use any more transformation sequences you need to come up with some other way to pad the runtime.

Turns out crossing the streams and firing at Gozer's temple isn't enough this time. Mistress 9 falls into the swirling maelstrom that is Pharao 90, and she is consumed by him. It's hard to be fair to the show here, but that looks suitably alien. But once that is done Pharao 90 goes back to being two eyes on the ground in a raging purple storm.

Full of resolve everyone's whipping out their longest stock attack sequences. It was easier to forgive the 90ies anime for its padding. Sailor Moon wasn't a billion dollar franchise yet.

Super Sailor Chibi Moon and Super Sailor Chibi-Moon rub their moon rods together again and cast another helping of RAINBOW MOON DOUBLE HEART ACHE. Oh boy, the suspense is killing me. I'm beginning to wonder if they actually will deviate from the manga here and simply have that work.

Who am I kidding. Of course it doesn't and the Outer's reflector shield collapses. Pharao 90 spills across Tokyo while the Tau galaxy appears in the sky. That's the third time Earth is destroyed in this show. Twice in the present, and once in the 30th century. Can't believe I've complained about Sailor Stars being derivative by copying story beats of the first three seasons.

Sailor Guardians you might want to rethink your carreer choices. You're pretty bad at your job. Three times you fought enemies, and three times you're saved by a divine intervention asspull: First the Moon's secret power generator, then by Pluto casting Time Stop and now you'll be saved by Hotaru coming back and her casting GALACTIC RESET BUTTON DEATH REBORN REVOLUTION.

Usagi casts summon holy grail and enters Pharao 90. Mamoru starts angsting. Dude, look to your left. Chibi-Usa is still there. If something happened to Usagi she'd go poof right before you. She doesn't. Everyone joins Mamoru in angsting about having failed in their duty.

Cut it out already, has none of you paid attention to Star Trek Time Travel 101? Hello Pluto, at least YOU should have figured that out by now. They start summoning Sailor Saturn now.

Sailor Saturn shows up and explains her presence. She's here to... to... she...

...she literally explains that's she's a Deus Ex Machina sent to make sure that anomalous circumstances are righted and history brought back on track. She attacks Pharao 90, then starts casting DEATH REBORN REVOLUTION.

The animation takes what feels ike 5 minutes, end of episode.

 

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

1 hour ago, majestic said:

It indeed is at times

Yeah, my dad read the books so I knew about the yuzan vong (or whatever they're called), but Force Cthullu was a surprise. Really seems like a lot of garbage with a few gems, but I guess that describes Star Wars in general, especially after the reboot.

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

I think KaineParker was suggesting that SMC is actually part of the Star Wars EU, but I might've misinterpreted.

I was honestly perplexed at the inclusion of Old Ones in Star Wars. Though I suppose that if SMC is a prequel to Blade 2, then it exists in the Marvel Universe, which means it also can touch Star Wars because that is owned by Disney. Which means SMC is part of the Star Wars EU!

 

[majestic]

Sailor Moon Crystal, Act 38: Endgame. If anyone wonders why the Act names are lagging behind in the episode count, that's because Act 27 was two episodes long.
 

Spoiler

 

Recap time... *yawn*

Opening credits.

5 minutes until something new happens, and it is Tuxedo Kamen complaining that the world will end now. Look around you doofus. The world is already destroyed. Sailor Saturn can't possibly make it any worse now. Seriously guys, stop being so freaked out about this.

You know this will turn out all right. Usagi figured it out, and you're all supposed to be smarter than her.

Usagi breaks Pharao 90 from the inside. She either absorbs DEATH REBORN REVOLUTION in the process of else somehow stops Sailor Saturn from finishing the incantation and buffs the other Sailor Senshi in the process. Good thing Hotaru forgot to invest points into concentration. She follows Pharao 90 into his home dimension where she will - I guess - blow everything up. Like in Sailor Moon S.

Hotaru goes full mysterious waif, revels in the pain and agony of Pharao 90's death throes and tells Usagi that she is the end, and Usagi is the beginning.

Ka is a wheel, and the Dark Tower will not fall. No, wait, wrong setting.

Saturn tells Pluto to seal the gateway to the Tau galaxy.

Wait a moment. Pluto... you can do what? She kneels down and invokes the power of her father, Kronos, then casts DARK DOME CLOSE and seals the dimensional rift.

Are you kidding me Pluto, you could have just closed the door in Pharao 90's face the entire time?

Usagi hears Horatu mysterious waif some more, then absorbs whatever's left over from Saturn's energy and morphs into Princess Serenity. It's time to restore the world. Again.

Baby Hotaru falls from the sky. Pluto, your dimensional seal is leaking I think.

Chibi-Usa has a heartfelt goodbye with the Outer Senshi. Even Minako gets misty-eyed. Awww. Neptune gives her talisman to Chibi-Usa.

It took 39 episodes, but the epilogue here is great. Usagi is really happy to finally be in high school with everyone else, except for Rei, who's still going to a catholic private school. Chibi-Usa wonders how she managed to pass the exams when she can't even write her own name in Kanji, Ami explains that with the energy of  desperation. Usagi falls down and agonizes over her friend's barbs, Minako goes to her and is really, really, really happy to finally go to the same school as Usagi.

Minako tells her she's really happy to finally have a friend at school with even worse grades than her (and she says she looks forward to go to make-up classes and take make-up tests together with Usagi). I have to admit, I laughed. That scene works... but only because it could come directly from the 90ies anime. It is really out of place in this otherwise dour run of a show.

The girls talk briefly about their plans for extracurricular activities. Cooking, singing lessons, Usagi wants to join the manga fanclub and Ami the computer nerd group. Rei wants to... learn archery. Yes Rei, we get it. You're not going to get interesting anytime soon. They all say goodbye to Chibi-Usa.

Like she won't be back almost immediately. Or even leave. The eclipse that will bring forth the Dead Moon begins...

 

 

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

7 minutes ago, majestic said:

Sailor Moon Crystal, Act 38: Endgame. If anyone wonders why the Act names are lagging behind in the episode count, that's because Act 27 was two episodes long.
 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Recap time... *yawn*

Opening credits.

5 minutes until something new happens, and it is Tuxedo Kamen complaining that the world will end now. Look around you doofus. The world is already destroyed. Sailor Saturn can't possibly make it any worse now. Seriously guys, stop being so freaked out about this.

You know this will turn out all right. Usagi figured it out, and you're all supposed to be smarter than her.

Usagi breaks Pharao 90 from the inside. She either absorbs DEATH REBORN REVOLUTION in the process of else somehow stops Sailor Saturn from finishing the incantation and buffs the other Sailor Senshi in the process. Good thing Hotaru forgot to invest points into concentration. She follows Pharao 90 into his home dimension where she will - I guess - blow everything up. Like in Sailor Moon S.

Hotaru goes full mysterious waif, revels in the pain and agony of Pharao 90's death throes and tells Usagi that she is the end, and Usagi is the beginning.

Ka is a wheel, and the Dark Tower will not fall. No, wait, wrong setting.

Saturn tells Pluto to seal the gateway to the Tau galaxy.

Wait a moment. Pluto... you can do what? She kneels down and invokes the power of her father, Kronos, then casts DARK DOME CLOSE and seals the dimensional rift.

Are you kidding me Pluto, you could have just closed the door in Pharao 90's face the entire time?

Usagi hears Horatu mysterious waif some more, then absorbs whatever's left over from Saturn's energy and morphs into Princess Serenity. It's time to restore the world. Again.

Baby Hotaru falls from the sky. Pluto, your dimensional seal is leaking I think.

Chibi-Usa has a heartfelt goodbye with the Outer Senshi. Even Minako gets misty-eyed. Awww. Neptune gives her talisman to Chibi-Usa.

It took 39 episodes, but the epilogue here is great. Usagi is really happy to finally be in high school with everyone else, except for Rei, who's still going to a catholic private school. Chibi-Usa wonders how she managed to pass the exams when she can't even write her own name in Kanji, Ami explains that with the energy of  desperation. Usagi falls down and agonizes over her friend's barbs, Minako goes to her and is really, really, really happy to finally go to the same school as Usagi.

Minako tells her she's really happy to finally have a friend at school with even worse grades than her (and she says she looks forward to go to make-up classes and take make-up tests together with Usagi). I have to admit, I laughed. That scene works... but only because it could come directly from the 90ies anime. It is really out of place in this otherwise dour run of a show.

The girls talk briefly about their plans for extracurricular activities. Cooking, singing lessons, Usagi wants to join the manga fanclub and Ami the computer nerd group. Rei wants to... learn archery. Yes Rei, we get it. You're not going to get interesting anytime soon. They all say goodbye to Chibi-Usa.

Like she won't be back almost immediately. Or even leave. The eclipse that will bring forth the Dead Moon begins...

 

 

 

At least it's over now. 

[majestic]

  

26 minutes ago, KaineParker said:

Yeah, my dad read the books so I knew about the yuzan vong (or whatever they're called), but Force Cthullu was a surprise. Really seems like a lot of garbage with a few gems, but I guess that describes Star Wars in general, especially after the reboot.

Well, Abeloth is a dark side entity that looks something like this:

And is said to be untold ages old (at least one hundred thousand years) and could not be killed by the Ones (a weird pure force precursor species of some sort), only sealed away. Luke and company accidentially set her loose by destroying Centerpoint Station and preventing the failsafe system from destroying Kessel and the entire Maw area. She's called The Beloved Queen of the Stars, and sometimes the Bringer of Chaos.

She can do typical Old Ones stuff, like making people explode at whim, dominate minds and change shape (and absorb people and "wear" their skin which apparently looks normal for most people but not for those that can see behind the veil). In the end she was only defated because the Jedi and Sith joined forces for a brief time. Just not before melting half of Coruscant or something near enough.

That's why I call her Force Cthulu.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

26 minutes ago, majestic said:

  

Well, Abeloth is a dark side entity that looks something like this:

And is said to be untold ages old (at least one hundred thousand years) and could not be killed by the Ones (a weird pure force precursor species of some sort), only sealed away. Luke and company accidentially set her loose by destroying Centerpoint Station and preventing the failsafe system from destroying Kessel and the entire Maw area. She's called The Beloved Queen of the Stars, and sometimes the Bringer of Chaos.

She can do typical Old Ones stuff, like making people explode at whim, dominate minds and change shape (and absorb people and "wear" their skin which apparently looks normal for most people but not for those that can see behind the veil). In the end she was only defated because the Jedi and Sith joined forces for a brief time. Just not before melting half of Coruscant or something near enough.

That's why I call her Force Cthulu.

Still better than Rise of Skywalker.

More Suppositional S

Makoto has a friend who wrote a love story about Pegasus. Looks like he really likes the young ladies.

I watched another one but passed out during, will have to watch it again.

It seems Saturn did destroy time in S, because Usagi and Chibi-Usa are back to fighting about everything. Mamo-chan is probably going to get the snip.

[Bartimaeus]

1 hour ago, KaineParker said:

At least it's over now. 

...Next time, on Sailor Moon Crystal Z!

Edited March 6, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

17 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

...Next time, on Sailor Moon Crystal Z!

OH MY GOD

[majestic]

1 hour ago, KaineParker said:

Still better than Rise of Skywalker.

More Suppositional S

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Makoto has a friend who wrote a love story about Pegasus. Looks like he really likes the young ladies.

I watched another one but passed out during, will have to watch it again.

It seems Saturn did destroy time in S, because Usagi and Chibi-Usa are back to fighting about everything. Mamo-chan is probably going to get the snip.

 

Oh, you've found the fun part of SuperS. It'll stay that way for a while. Like... until the season's over almost. Are you having fun?

I mean, honest question. What's your take so far? Given how far along you are there's ample reason to become really tired of the SuperS formula by now.

edit:

One more episode of Steven Universe. He made a bubble, and of course someone's eating popcorn. There's always some food, isn't there?

Edited March 6, 2021 by majestic

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

21 minutes ago, majestic said:

Oh, you've found the fun part of SuperS. It'll stay that way for a while. Like... until the season's over almost. Are you having fun?

I mean, honest question. What's your take so far? Given how far along you are there's ample reason to become really tired of the SuperS formula by now.

Spoiler

At seven or eight episodes in I think Super S feels like a soft reset in some ways and has gone back to what I enjoyed the least about previous seasons but focusing on Chibi-Usa instead of Usagi. I've joked about it before, but Chibi-Usa and Pegasus feels like a redux of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen to the point I'm wondering if Pegasus will get turned evil by the mean circus lady. There are fun moments that keep me going (like Mamo asking Artemis if he wants to go drinking after the arrival of Diana or Chibi-Usa with a mustache), but at present I think it's noticeably weaker than the previous three seasons in spite of better animation than 1 or R. We'll see how I feel when I'm finished, but unless there's a real big shift I don't think my opinion will change. At least it's not a cgi abomination.

There's some JoJo refences I could make (aside from an old man losing his ****), but I don't want to spoil anything.

Edited March 6, 2021 by KaineParker
hid potential spoilers

[Bartimaeus]

How have you changed as a person as a result of watching Sailor Moon Crystal, @majestic? Any new grand insights on life to share with the rest of us?

5 hours ago, KaineParker said:

I was honestly perplexed at the inclusion of Old Ones in Star Wars. Though I suppose that if SMC is a prequel to Blade 2, then it exists in the Marvel Universe, which means it also can touch Star Wars because that is owned by Disney. Which means SMC is part of the Star Wars EU!

I've belatedly realized that majestic actually mentioned Star Wars in his previous post by way of the "Abeloth", so that wasn't what you meant. Whoops! In my defense, I have no clue what any of the Star Wars or Marvel-related crap you guys are/were talking about is, so my brain probably just ignored it.