| @inim @whiteflame55 @filifjonkan @RandomFriday @Antalk @jdvz @JokerVentura @ruckes @kekekeKaj @OrlahEhontas @cipheron @botnetMAL New thread for Sailor Moon R starting 10th July 2024.  |
 |
| @23feanor Beat me to it. Looking forward to this! |
 |
Reply to filifjonkan
Hello guys!
I am not so familiar with the Sailor Moon-franchise. Is the R-season holding 43 episodes? I found it on the so called High seas…
Have a nice evening
I am not so familiar with the Sailor Moon-franchise. Is the R-season holding 43 episodes? I found it on the so called High seas…
Have a nice evening
| I looked into this, and yes, it's 43 episodes. I found it on Hulu, which carries much of the series apparently, but just gives season numbers, not letters. On there it's listed as season 2. |
|
Reply to filifjonkan
@whiteflame5
Hello, tomodachi!
Thank you for the information. Can I ask how much you pay for a subskription for Hulu? I pay, in Sweden, around 8 USD per month for Crunchyroll.
Hello, tomodachi!
Thank you for the information. Can I ask how much you pay for a subskription for Hulu? I pay, in Sweden, around 8 USD per month for Crunchyroll.
| @filifjonkan I'll admit: I bum my account off of my brother (we share accounts for a couple of streaming services). Looks like it's going for the same price as Crunchyroll right now, so $7.99 a month. |
|
Reply to filifjonkan
@whiteflame55
I do the same with our son; he gets Disney+ and we get MAX from him. But I read that Hulu can only be streamed in USA and Japan..and Amazon had bought CR.
I do the same with our son; he gets Disney+ and we get MAX from him. But I read that Hulu can only be streamed in USA and Japan..and Amazon had bought CR.
| @filifjonkan Oh, if you have Disney+, then you don't need to worry about Hulu. Sailor Moon is on both services (their subscriptions can usually be purchased together in a bundle anyway), just need to check if you need a VPN for that. I don't think Amazon bought CR, though I could be wrong. I know they've got a deal with Amazon to be featured on Prime somehow, but I'm not sure how that works. |
|
Reply to whiteflame55
@filifjonkan
Oh, if you have Disney+, then you don't need to worry about Hulu. Sailor Moon is on both services (their subscriptions can usually be purchased together in a bundle anyway), just need to check if you need a VPN for that.
I don't think Amazon bought CR, though I could be wrong. I know they've got a deal with Amazon to be featured on Prime somehow, but I'm not sure how that works.
Oh, if you have Disney+, then you don't need to worry about Hulu. Sailor Moon is on both services (their subscriptions can usually be purchased together in a bundle anyway), just need to check if you need a VPN for that.
I don't think Amazon bought CR, though I could be wrong. I know they've got a deal with Amazon to be featured on Prime somehow, but I'm not sure how that works.
| @whiteflame55 - What I understand is that CR is currently owned by Sony and Aniplex. What percentages each has is anybodies guess. All I can tell is that CR's ownership tree must look something like the CCS or Gundam relationship graphs by now. As to the Amazon bit, looks like some of the CR programming is available on Amazon FreeVee (as best as I can determine is not available in the US. Tried watching something on it a few days ago and kept getting told "unable to find channel" so I gave up on that option) starting last Oct. and on PlutoTV starting this last Feb. My biggest problem with most of those is that they tend to either not have what I want to watch or when they do it's dubbed only. I'm one of those strange people that prefer it with subs. Mind you, I tend to watch NCIS and others with closed-captioning as well, so subtitled isn't a major issue for me. Keeps me awake during a really boring episode (most of the time). |
  |
Reply to OrlahEhontas
@whiteflame55 - What I understand is that CR is currently owned by Sony and Aniplex. What percentages each has is anybodies guess. All I can tell is that CR's ownership tree must look something like the CCS or Gundam relationship graphs by now. As to the Amazon bit, looks like some of the CR programming is available on Amazon FreeVee (as best as I can determine is not available in the US. Tried watching something on it a few days ago and kept getting told "unable to find channel" so I gave up on that option) starting last Oct. and on PlutoTV starting this last Feb. My biggest problem with most of those is that they tend to either not have what I want to watch or when they do it's dubbed only. I'm one of those strange people that prefer it with subs. Mind you, I tend to watch NCIS and others with closed-captioning as well, so subtitled isn't a major issue for me. Keeps me awake during a really boring episode (most of the time).
| @OrlahEhontas That clarifies it quite a bit, thanks. I generally prefer my subs (and use captions often regardless) myself, so I feel that frustration. |
|
| @filifjonkan I checked and Hulu isn't available in the UK, or through Disney. I saw that CR was available through Amazon Prime, but since I have a CR a/c I can access all the shows directly. My CR costs £5 or $6.50. I do get fed up having to navigate all these streaming services, and then you discover the show you want to watch isn't available to stream in the UK, which is a lot of shows. Interestingly I saw that Amazon Prime have dubbed My Deer Friend Nokotan, but don't have the sub, which is on CR. So they just picked up the show to dub it. I noticed that CR have switched to using AI to generate their subs and you can tell during Nokotan ep 1, some sentences just didn't read right. May switch to the dub. CR also disabled all the comments on the website, my guess to forestall all the complaints about AI generated subs they will be getting. Episode 1. We're back with Usagi. Same music for the OP but different visuals. So Usagi and the others lost their memories of being sailor guardians and the events at the end of s1. Not a big fan of memory loss arcs but lets see where it goes. Artemis has joined Luna and they appear to be working as a duo, sounds like Artemis wants to settle down with Luna. Ami and Usagi don't remember each other so guessing we're going to have to go through the whole cast meeting up anew. Usagi is late and is punished by standing in the corridor with a bucket of water on her head. I wonder if any school, anywhere, has ever actually done this, or is it just an invented trope. A strange object crashes into the town, which it turns out contains aliens who look like green elves, maybe from the dark forces people from s1 (can't remember their name, it's the dark kingdom). The school gets 2 mysterious transfer students, they've got to be the aliens in disguise. Yes indeed they are. Looks like the aliens get jealous and as they're pretending to be brother and sister this gives rise to some friction as they both find their eyes straying to attractive boys and girls. TM happens to be one. Ann collapses and has to be revived by Ali in some great tree floating above the earth. Turns out the great tree is running low on life energy and needs to be replenished using life forms on earth. So guessing these guys have replaced the dark kingdom group from s1, who I remember were defeated but wasn't sure if they were going to be resurrected again. Young girls in love are the best form of energy, so sounds like the sailor guardians are in the firing line. Ann and Ail summon a vampire flower from a card which seeks out young girls and finds Naru whilst she's on the phone to Usagi. Artemis and Luna are unable to stop the vampire, and then Usagi arrives and finds the monster. In a pinch, Luna restores Usagi's memories of being sailor moon so she can fight off the vampire. Sailor Moon is back and we get our first trademark Usagi speech followed by the 'I'll punish you' pose, oh it's good to be back watching Usagi and her little speeches. SM uses her tiara and defeats the vampire flower card. Ann and Ail then introduce themselves to SM and we have our premise for the next arc, aliens vs sailor guardians. I can't get enough of the simple and charming format of this show and it's gorgeous visuals. |
23feanorJul 10, 1:35 AM
|
| Episode 1 The return to Sailor Moon! Been looking forward to this one after being pretty delighted with the first season - I recall particularly enjoying its monster designs and, surprisingly, its filler. I think the main question going into this is whether the central plot will be stronger this time around, since I wasn't as invested in the Sailor Moon/Tuxedo Mask romance and it felt like they rushed a lot of the important bits. We reappear on the scene with only the cats knowing what happened. I guess the good thing about the memory loss here is that the series seems to be moving into this one quickly (the first monster arrives as a giant floating, veiny cucumber less than 5 minutes in), as it's certainly not giving Usagi much chance to get cozy in her normal life, though I don't love the relationship resets. It's frustrating to lose the dynamics they had later in the season, even setting aside their sacrifices. It also means resetting Usagi's relationship with Mamoru, which means that central plot element will likely take a while to get going again. Looks like the enemies this time around are two aliens that go undercover as transfer students. Usagi immediately falls for the guy, of course. I do love the girl Ann's "Spanish," not even a hint of an accent. She falls for Mamoru on first sight, and Ail seem to have fallen for Usagi. Yay for weird love polygons. It's nice to see the monsters still have personality and get distracted themselves - they feel like characters (superficial ones, but who isn't in this show?) and not just obstacles. Turns out, they need to recharge their energy as well using life energy from a huge tree in space. That tree needs life energy, so I guess we're doing this song and dance again: get it from teenagers while causing all manner of hijinks. The major difference is that this is not about gaining power for its own sake, but for their own survival. Guess they can't just ask nicely. The monsters now come from cards (Yugioh anyone?) and are summoned by Ail's flute. The newest one, Vampir, seems like a cross between energy vampire Morbius (yes, it's Morbin time) and a plant-type Pokémon since she can only says her own name. Turns out two cats are not sufficient to fight her after she goes after Naru (she does seem to be a magnet for these things). She imbues Usagi with her Sailor Moon powers, restoring her memories to boot (good - didn't even last one episode). Cue the transformation, posing and speech (truly, a most inconsiderate monster). Vine Whip and Leech Life are no match for Dazzling Gleam (hey, it's a Fairy-type move that kind of looks like Moon Tiara Action), so Vampir will have to return to the Pokémon center be banished to the Shadow Realm vanish in a puff of smoke. SM gets introduced to the two big bads who reveal themselves afterward, and she mourns the loss of her ordinary life. Guessing we'll spend a couple of episodes getting the others back in action, |
whiteflame55Jul 10, 9:20 PM
|
| Episode 2. I also appreciated that Usagi regained her memories in ep and they didn't drag it out. Sounds like the others will follow suit shortly. Usagi remembers her history with TM/Mamoru and acts as if they're a couple, but he still doesn't remember and wonders why Bunhead is suddenly getting all cosy. Looks like Natsume aka Ann to us, is sweet on Mamoru so Usagi has a love rival. The beings summoned via a card by Ail and Ann are known as Cardians. This time they select a minotaur to collect human energy for their tree. The other sailor guardians have been chosen for a tv role, although not Usagi. Ain and Ann (A&A) crash the auditions so they can suck the life energy from one of the girls. All the sailor guardians meet up and seem to have some sort of connection, although they're not sure why. Looks like we're speed running the memory recovery arc, which I'm grateful for. Minotaron chases the guardians. Still liking the silly monster designs. I haven't seen Pokemon but they remind me of Lucy's celestial spirits that she pulls from her cards in Fairy Tail. Mamoru is working at the tv station and Natusme/Ann and Usgai both go chasing after him. Loving the exaggerated reaction faces, especially Usagi and Luna. Usagi comes onto the scene but swiftly gets herself caught by Minotauran and Luna has no choice but to restore the other guardians memories so they can save Usagi. So only 2 eps in and it's back to status quo from the end of s1 although Mamoru still doesn't remember, maybe forestalling the romance between him and Usgai. |
|
| Episode 2 So, one thing that came to mind as they're getting their memories back: I wonder how they'll deal with the knowledge that they all died. Seems like that would be pretty traumatic, but I'm not sure if the show's going to get into that. Seems awfully short-sighted for the cats to initially refuse to bring the other Sailor Guardians back into the fold since they're now aware of a substantial threat, but it doesn't take long for Usagi to convince them that she can't handle them alone by beaning herself in the face with a ball. Admittedly, I'm unsure if they can even do that for TM (they were always kinda lost when it came to him), who still treats Usagi as an annoyance and now has girls all over him, so not much of a shift from most of S1 for him. Back to the Cardians, this time Minotauron. Once again, these monster designs are impressive, with the gigantic horns on a body that looks like it doesn't have the core to hold them up. They could've gone with a straight up Minotaur design, btu they went pretty extra with this female version with the furry tits. I can definitely see the comparison to Lucy's Celestial Spirits since they're human/beast hybrids. The other Sailor Scouts (and Naru because why not?) get roped in as both a casting crew (they don't end up mattering) and the aliens become interested in them for reasons and Usagi comes along to the audition because she wants fame. That tracks. The girls sense a connection upon meeting, and Mamoru's there because he works there. Might as well happen. Shortly after arriving together, the ruse is discarded and they fight Minotauron. A little disappointed because the design (could be a bit of unnecessary censorship) is distinctly different from what we saw on the card with that weird red outfit featuring the navel window, but the skull pauldrons are a nice touch and the horn extensions are a fun power to have. Nice to see both Rei and Makoto step up even without their memories and powers, makes sense for both of them. SM transforms and gets bodied due to a lack of her Moon Stick (guess she forgot about her tiara). In her desperation, Luna restores the other Sailor Guardians, and they make quick work of Minotauron after an abbreviated set of transformations. The TV drama is cancelled, the girls are resolved to fight, and only Mamoru's memories remain. |
|
| @whiteflame55 I'd forgotten they died, or was it only some of them died, can't remember. Didn't Usagi bring them back with her newfound moon princess powers and the crystal? I know it wasn't long ago but the specific details escape me, part of the problem with getting older and watching a lot of anime, you forget so many little details. I don't think the show will revisit that point, too dark for the light vibe of the show, although as we saw at the end of s1 it doesn't shy away from some traumatic emotional beats like the girls dying and Haru falling in love with that monster then having him die in her arms. Episode 3. I read a review talking about how certain shows, and SM is one of them for me, evoke a feeling of nostalgia for something you've never seen before. Although for me it's close enough to the formula of saturday morning cartoons I watched as a kid, which is why it evokes such childlike delight in the silly antics with a hint of something more serious now and then. I had a similar feelings watching City Hunter, mainly due to the music, and Maison Ikkoku, which has the feeling of an older soap opera, kind of like Neighbours for me, or Days of Our Lives for a US audience. I used to watch Dallas years ago with 'who shot JR' and the dream season where everything had been a dream of Bobby's and he suddenly returns. Mako and Usagi are buttering Ami up to give them the answers to an upcoming test when a pink fluffy creature, a Flyion (?) appears out of a spinning wheel in the air and attacks a boy, Kenji, don't remember him. He jumps and saves Mako and falls over a ledge, there's even blood visible. Didn't think they had blood in pg-13. They make the hospital trip feel suitably traumatic by having a red filter. Mako gives blood to help Kenji. Mako has a history with Kenji and he's looked out for her in past, usually after she's been dumped (I forgot that she's constantly chasing guys and falling in love). I like the little flashback with love ballad playing over the top. God I love Usagi's little drawings and explanation trying to job Mamoru's memory. Works as a little reminder for the audience on events of s1 as well. The girls encounter Flyion, another fantastic monster design, and who turns up, none other than the Moonlight Knight, who must be Mamoru/TM. Flyion is defeated by Jupiter and Kenji recovers. |
|
| @23feanor I suspect they won't revisit their deaths either (most of them were unconfirmed anyway - in their mad dash to reach TM, SM just left a lot of them behind as they made their heroic sacrifices), though I do hope we have moments like with Kunzite and Haru. And yeah, I get where that nostalgia comes from. Saturday morning cartoons had this exact same feel, though I didn't watch Days of Our Lives or Dallas. Episode 3 A female lion monster named Phalion (that’s the name coming up on my subtitles - also, doesn't make a lot of sense that it would have a mane, but I also like the design) shows up to steal some more energy from Kenji (don't remember him, either) using a spinning wheel in the sky that apparently doles out happiness and misfortune. Guess this one's misfortune, at least for Kenji, as he almost dies and has to be taken to the hospital. I like that the next scenes play out without animation in a flashing red lit room. Mako saves him by giving him her blood - guess they have the same blood type. We learn about Kenji and Mako's history together, and notably Mako's not her usual gaga self when it comes to falling for a man, seeing him as someone closer than a boyfriend. I also love Usagi's efforts to job Mamoru's memory - the drawings are actually pretty good. The two aliens trying to court Usagi and Mamoru also make for a fun interplay. Doesn't seem like either of them are going for it, though that might eventually be a real danger for Mamoru at least. The Sailor Guardians are really struggling with Phalion despite their diverse attacks until a mysterious masked figure arrives. No way this Moonlight Knight is TM; dude looks completely different, after all, he's wearing white Middle Eastern attire (no way TM would do that kind of cultural appropriation) and uses white roses. He makes quick work of the wheel of misfortune, incapacitating Phalion. Apparently, he did a half-assed job though, because she just gets up and attacks SM in short order. Sailor Jupiter brings down some supreme thunder, defeating their foe once and for all. Kenji recovers, Usagi thinks about the relationship between Kenji and Mako, relating them to her uncertainty towards Moonlight Knight, and then succumbs to math. |
whiteflame55Jul 12, 10:06 AM
|
| Episode 4. This ep sees Usagi visit a virtual reality theatre, which it so happens is the next place the Cardian's select to drain some human energy. Usagi bumps into Mamoru, who then meets Natsume/Ann so ofc Natsume and Usagi both decide to cling to Mamoru on a forced 3 way date. Oh and Usagi's dad and brother are also present, just to add to the mix. Not forgetting the rest of the guardians. So full compliment today. Great cheesy moment where Shingo acts out SM's 'i'll punish you' speech but in laser tag get up. After some rivalry between the group comprising Usagi, A&A and Mamoru, the Cardian's summon their monster, the Ant I think although not sure, maybe Helent. The Arnt monster goes after Shingo and Usagi's dad so Mamoru goes to save them. Usagi's dad tries to fend off Arnt but is overpowered. All the monsters so far have been female and slightly sexy with tight fitting outfits, or just fur. SM comes onto the scene but her moon tiara isn't working. Mamoru doesn't know who SM is. Oh the moon light knight appears, whilst Mamoru is with SM, so they aren't one and the same! Colour me surprised. Is it going to be Mamoru/TM's alter ego or lost brother or something like that, as he has an almost identical char design to Mamoru. The rest of the guardians arrive in time to finish off the monster as SM's tiara still isn't working. |
|
| Episode 4 We're off to a virtual reality theater because why not? Actually looks pretty cool. Everyone's here, including Usagi's brother and father. I agree, Shingo's use of the "in the name of the moon, I'll punish you" was pretty excellent. It's essentially a game of laser tag played with projections of monsters. Usagi's pretty bad at it (on point), and Mamoru, Ail and Ann are pretty good, but eventually the latter two default to their Cardian: Heliant. Noticed a trend of a lot of female monsters, all good with that because the designs have been extra (the cleavage on this one in particular is rather exaggerated). Heliant (who screams Ant and looks insectoid) starts sapping a number of randos before running into Usagi's family and starts sapping her dad. Shingo and Mamoru go to rescue him, leaving Usagi behind, but they're unable to do much. Nice to see Kenji (Usagi's father) put up a fight when he has to with a fire extinguisher. Dude's got some real courage. SM arrives on the scene, saying she won't accept any of their apologies (don't think they were planning on apologizing) and countering Helant's head tentacles with her tiara, but this time it's ineffective. Into this moment steps the Moonlight Knight... oh, but Mamoru is also here. So who is this guy? Nice surprise there. I agree they're likely related somehow. Dude's pretty good with a sword, but gets overwhelmed before the other Sailor Guardians arrive to overpower Heliant. I guess this was good training for them after all. Moonlight Knight has some swagger before he peaces out. Then the Sailor Guardians vanish like Batman off the scene with Usagi being nervous that her tiara is failing. |
|
| Episode 5. It's spring and that means cherry blossom viewing. I was honestly disappointed to learnt that this is pretty much an anime invention. In reality people don't sit under the cherry blossoms as it's considered rude and can ruin the ambience for other people. If you have your own grove of trees or are in a rural location then maybe people do sit under the cherry trees and eat and drink, but not in cities (well at least from what I've seen and heard from vloggers and people living in Japan). It sounds lovely, but when you think of the practicalities of all the rubbish and toilets it's not hard to see why you can't picnic in these spots. So Usagi and the gang, plus their teacher and Natsume go to a viewing party, where Umino saved a spot for them. After some light banter and the obligatory eating of sandwiches and munchables, A&A get around to summoning their next monster, some sort of cherry tree lady, who doesn't grunt her name when she attacks so I don't know what she's called and A&A never seem to refer to the monsters by name. Oh wait they do, Leshey or Fleshy? The monster starts draining the other guardians, so SM transforms, but again her tiara doesn't work! Then her moon brooch shatters and she turns back into Usagi. Usagi and Luna get sucked into a pillar of light by Leshey. After becoming naked, why, not sure but methinks fan service, Usagi has a moment of inner reflection and telepathically links to queen Serenity inside her mind, asking her how she can save her friends. Usagi summons the silver crystal which repairs her brooch. So Usagi levels up and we get a fancy transformation sequence. SM then gets given a new wand, the cutie moon rod. I might be being a bit cynical, but almost seems like the author was asked to include new accessories for toy sales (same method gundam employed), as I've heard these little gadgets and the ones from PreCure franchise sell very well with young girls. Moonlight knight makes another appearance before SM finishes off Fleshey. Is it me, or do Usagi's little speeches seem a bit less peppy than they did in S1? Some of her little preambles before she got to the 'I'll punish you' line were fantastic and came across as off the cuff. Don't quite have the same zing this season. |
|
| @23feanor I didn't know that about the cherry blossoms, I always thought that was based on something real. And yes, I agree that Usagi's speeches just don't have that x-factor this season. They're fine, but after 5 episodes, I was hoping to have at least one gem. Maybe they're saving them for mid-season. Episode 5 Cherry blossom time. Nice to have Umino having more presence in the story again, feel for him getting zipped up in his sleeping bag. In general, I like seeing opportunities for these characters to have fun interactions like the hot mustard bit. Also, small thing, but I like that Ann transforms from her human form to her alien form as she circles around a tree. Nice touch. The monsters arrive, another design I like (very much inspired by Yokai this time), and starts draining people in giant beams of light (seems like that's just a bit obvious, but it still takes them a while to find the culprit). Liked seeing her emerge from the tree - Leshy's a solid physical threat too, dragging SM across the ground while she holds the other Sailor Guardians captive and steals their energy. When SM's tiara fails again, she gets stripped of her power, dragged into a pillar of light with Luna, and stripped naked (yeah, it's fanservice). There, she sees Queen Serenity, and with her help summons the Silver Crystal to repair her broach. The power of friendship and magical stones grants her a new transformation sequence - good to see them change it up, though the outfit looks the same, even if the moon has a nice tattoo and she can now cycle the phases of the moon. SM fights the cherry blossom-wielding Leshy again, losing initially until Moonlight Knight arrives to help out. She then gets granted the Cutie Moon Rod (I don't think you're cynical - it's definitely an accessory meant to sell toys) because why not, and uses its power to finish off Leshy. Did we get a clear explanation for why her tiara was failing? I'm going to miss her throwing that frisbee around. Moonlight Knight congratulates her on a job well done along with the other Guardians who were useless this episode. |
|
| @whiteflame55 I'm guessing that somewhere in Japan people sit under cherry trees with a picnic and drinks, but not the major cities incld Tokyo. I watched a vlog of someone that went cherry blossom viewing around parks in and around Tokyo a few years ago while covid restrictions was still keeping tourists out and it was disappointingly staid, with the grass roped off and people lining up to take photos from the best vantage points. There was even huge queues for the food stalls, like 1-2 hours long wait just for street food. The vlogger (Tokyo Lens iirc) said it may be different in rural locations but this is what cherry blossom viewing is actually like, very regimented and orderly. Episode 6. Looks like this ep is focused on Minako, which I like, gives us a new perspective. From Artemis's viewpoint Minako seems like almost as much a goof as Usagi, but she hides it well and comes over as composed. Unlike Usagi who is one big goofball. Wait did they just sneak a panty shot in the scene with Minako falling, yes, yes they did. After Ail flirts with Usagi, we see Minako helping out a kindergarten aged girl who is getting bullied. The girl is a big fan of SM, but doesn't know SV. I thought SV had a show or was well known even before SM arrived on the scene. Guess SM is the popular new magical girl on the scene. The kids were very funny, it's that putting adult language in the mouths of children characters thing like when the girl says the boys will lose their innocence if they won't believe in a little magic whilst they're young. A&A summon a new monster, Gigaros, who is sent after kindergarten kids as a source of fresh energy. Think this is our first male monster but I could be wrong. I'd forgotten all about Usagi's transformation pen, they should make use of it more often as it gets Usagi into some funny situations. I think the kids on the bus were singing the SM theme song, very badly, with Minako and Usagi, love it. Looks like the transformation sequence we saw yday is the new one, I thought it might be a one off special. I like the new transformation but preferred the music to the old one. Looks like the writers heard us as SM's little speech about how the kids are the future, plus they need to look after us in retirement, was better. SM and SV get a beating from Gigaros until moonlight knight appears, again, and reminds them their strongest weapon is the belief of the children. Very corny but it works in this show. It works and SV unlocks a new attack thanks to the children's belief in her. |
|
| @23feanor Appreciate the well-researched insights. I'll have to see that experience someday for myself. Episode 6 It is nice to see the series give some time to the perspectives of the other Sailor Guardians. Good to see Minako is as much of a teenager as Usagi, if a little more put together on the surface. Definitely got a couple of fanservice moments like her undressing and dressing in a hurry. At least they don't linger on the panty shots. Ail and Ann are after a younger and freshfer form of energy: kindergarteners. Clearly, these airheaded teenagers aren't energetic enough. And yeah, this little girl only knowing about SM is kind of baffling. I do remember that Sailor Venus had her own show, but I guess it's been out of action for long enough that the younguns wouldn't know about it. I feel that. And yeah, that whole "yearning for their lost innocence" and "adults project all their troubles onto us kids" line definitely got me. I think you're right, this is our first male monster: Gigaros. Looks like a Greek design. For some reason, Gigaros just bursts into a bus full of kids and scares them - guess they don't care about subterfuge anymore, though as per usual, no one seems to notice that anything happened after the fact. Not sure how they explain a hole in the top of the bus. It's nice to see the transformation pen back in use. It was easily my favorite tool they got to use and I thought the show had forgotten about it. I love that Usagi gives it such a specific ask in terms of the design of her clothing and hair. I didn't notice that they were singing the theme, had to go back and listen again, but it's definitely off key. Gigaros attacks the bus with Usagi and Minako on-board to protect it. We see another SM transformation, and I agree, the theme just doesn't pop as much. I do love that SM is mainly concerned with having the kids take care of them after retirement. Girl's got her priorities on straight. SM and SV find themselves on the ropes, get saved by Moonlight Knight, and win the battle by the power of belief in the next generation. Based on this, I suspect we'll get a series of episodes about the other Sailor Guardians all getting upgraded attacks. I am quite fond of the new attack animations from SM and SV, but it's weird that Artemis knew about this secret attack but never mentioned it before. Feels like that could have come in handy earlier. |
|
| @whiteflame55 not sure I can take the credit for well researched, during lockdown I happened upon a Japanese vlogger video of cherry blossom viewing. It just looked so boring, people weren't allowed on the grass, not because of covid although restrictions were in place at the time, but because people sitting on the grass prevented people from taking beautiful pics of the blossom. It was all about admiring from a distance. Episode 7. This ep sees Usagi and Mamoru babysitting. Talking of babies, the new arrival is 6 days overdue and we're just waiting, bit of a drag. A&A are going even younger this ep and are after babies for their life energy. This time the Cardian they summon is called Amardarasu who uses hair tentacles to drain the kids of energy. I think I was wrong about Gigaros yday as later in the ep A&A referred to them as 'she'. After the monster attacks a nursery leaving everyone drained, one baby, Minami, is saved by its mother and needs looking after until she's better. Just the job for Usagi and Mamoru who take the baby Minami back to his place. I like that they've included the baby's inner monologue, who it turns out is a boy. Usagi and Mamoru play happy families trying to care for a baby, it kinda is like that for your first baby, then Usagi gets teased by the girls. Then Natsume makes a visit to see Mamoru and gets a face full of wee for creeping out the baby. This is, apparently a common occurrence with baby boys and something I'm not looking forward to. Girls are neater and the wee doesn't go everywhere but with a little hose, baby boys wee all over the room when you're changing their nappies, even hitting the ceiling! The guardians find the Cardian monster and yet again can't do very much but get knocked over and drained of energy, requiring the moonlight knight to swoop in and save them, again. This ep it's SMe turn to get a new attack, a freezing spell. |
|
| @23feanor I was wondering about your new arrival. Do you have a date scheduled for inducement if it doesn't happen on its own? And yeah, I guess we did misgender Gigaros yesterday. Our bad. Episode 7 Literally stealing energy from a baby... or, well, many babies. I don't think they've thought this energy harvesting plan through very well, they just keep going down in age. What's next, pregnant mothers? Can probably get some decent energy out of conception, but it'd be harder to track those down. Anyway, A&A sick Amadarasu on some infants and the adults around them while Usagi and Ami just stand there. Don't want to do transform or anything, huh? You'd think they would be prepared for this by now. Anyway, Minami, one of the infants who didn't get drained but had her parents drained ends up being left in the care of Usagi and Mamoru. Don't think a hospital would let random teenagers take home a baby - you would think the hospital staff could handle him for a few days - but hey, whatever keeps the plot moving. And yes, the inner monologue is great. Usagi and Mamoru are definitely not ready for kids, but they somehow manage most things right in the end, with Mamoru showing a better knack for it. They're both rather active with the baby, which leads to some teasing interactions with the other Sailor Guardians. Ann's no better in her human form, getting a splash to the face. I've heard stories of similar happenings. They get to witness Minami's first steps. Amadarasu attacks again, but the Guardians are ready this time, resulting in a brawl as all the babies are captured in red bubbles and used to shield Amadarasu. Moonlight Knight once again arrives to shift the tide in their favor, leaving them with words of wisdom. Sailor Mercury freezes the target because babies, and SM ends the fight - she's really become their heavy attack while the rest are more support. |
whiteflame55Jul 16, 1:15 PM
|
| @whiteflame55 inducement booked in for next Tuesday if he doesn't arrive before that. Episode 8. on Mamoru and Usagi taking the baby home, it's one of those things that only happen in fiction, ofc no hospital would deputise two teenagers to look after a baby for 3 days, utter madness, but hey it gave Usagi and Mamoru time to play at happy families. So this ep is about Rei as she's head of the school festival committee and busy arranging stuff. Rei has a talent for writing lyrics and music, and likes attention, and is hoping her performances get her noticed. A&A get collared by some students and forced to dress up as aliens. The outfits look truly ridiculous. A&A then summon the next Cardian called Siren, who looks like a mermaid, during Rei's performance. The guardians transform and the proceed to take a whipping from Siren, happening a lot in this season, so Rei transforms into SMa and uses her fire attack, but it doesn't work against the water aspect of Siren. Moonlight knight appears at the opportune moment giving SMa a chance to collect herself. Then Siren knocks over the music sheets she worked so hard to write and this acts as the catalyst for SMa to level up her fire attack and defeat Siren. We end on Rei giving her singing performance, which was, unique. Dubbed songs have a particular tone and sound as they're adapting words from the Japanese to the same music, sometimes it works, like the Magic Knight Rayearth OP, or in Tenchi, but usually it sounds a bit off, but has it's own charm as the singer tries to fit the words to the music. Sometimes, like in Gundam Origin the dub song (Don't Say Goodbye by Hamon Crowley) is actually better in English, but that is rarely the case as there's a lot more cross over in Japan between VA and singing. Interestingly I looked it up and this whole alien arc is filler. In s1 the filler eps were some of the best ones, like the cat ep or the mystery house one with the murder. These filler eps don't quite have the same bite, you could tell the writers of the filler in S1 were going to town with silly speeches for Usagi and wacky plots, but they've toned it down so far, which is a bit of a shame. |
|
| @23feanor Ah, well hopefully the arrival comes sooner than that, but good to be prepared. And yeah, I'm good just rolling with zany plots like juggling a baby for an episode. Doesn't matter if it's particularly realistic. Episode 8 I got the distinct feeling that these were filler episodes, so good to have that confirmed. I checked back and it looks like the filler-to-required episode ratio is a little higher for this season than for S1 (13:46 vs. 16:43), but the recommended episode ratio is lower (26:46 vs. 21:43). That might have more to do with the first season just having more substance to its filler, but like you, I really enjoyed the filler of the first season. It's where the humor really popped and there was just generally more to appreciate. Aside from the lack of silly speeches, I'd put it down to the monsters not being able to banter with the heroes since they can't speak aside from saying their own name and the lack of any interesting side-plots like the Rainbow Crystals, which also led to repeat interactions and some interesting character dynamics. So far, these have felt very one-off. Rei's quite a taskmistress when it comes to setting up this school festival and is clearly using it to advertise herself, but she's got some real skill when it comes to music, both in the preparation and the performance. I liked watching the girls go to various displays and activities at the festival. A&A get rightly picked out to portray aliens. Those are a bunch of absurd outfits. When they get a chance, they summon Siren who drizzles shiny dust on the crowd before whipping out her hair. Despite all the Sailor Guardians fighting together, they struggle against Siren. That has seemed to happen a lot this season, and it always serves as an excuse to showcase some new ability and have Moonlight Knight play a part, but it's starting to get frustrating since we know both SMe and SV have new powers they just forgot to use and SM always waits to use hers as a finisher. All the recent fights have followed a very predictable path: - the Guardians fight the new monster - they get drained and/or injured - just as things are looking hopeless, Moonlight Knight arrives to give an impassioned speech about how the current circumstances embody something that matters greatly to humanity (and that will somehow empower the Sailor Guardians) and how the monster needs to be stopped to preserve it - Moonlight Knight gets in a hit or two before being taken out of the picture somehow - one of the Guardians who is the focus of the episode steps up to use a new ability - with SM's help, they defeat the monster The only deviation I could see from the above is that Moonlight Knight just disappeared in the middle of the fight instead of being taken out. In any case, it's good to see SMa show some emotional attachment to her work that helps her develop her new technique. Rei gets her chance to sing. I think it works well enough, but I agree, it's not common for dub songs like this to really stand out and while this one's decent, it's not going to stick with me. Did love that song by Hamon, definitely a memorable one. |
|
| Baby is coming so will check back in next couple of days when things settle down. |
|
| @23feanor Great, congratulations! Hopefully the delivery is already over and both mother and child are resting. Episode 9 The mystery of the Moonlight Knight is being explored this episode. Seems Makoto is falling for him, which is on brand. Seems the desire for relationships is going around, with Usagi mainly wanting one for the free lunch. A large part of the humor in this episode comes from Usagi having forgotten her lunch. The crazy faces she makes are pretty great, though it's hard not to feel for her plight. Makoto then falls for Seijuro (as do many girls at the school, apparently - too bad for them he's into Usagi), with Makoto and Ami believing he could be the Moonlight Knight. He doesn't have the right hair color, but hey, he does appear otherworldly. Ami uses a uniquely designed computer program to assess the likelihood that he's the Moonlight Knight and shows that it's very unlikely, though Makoto still approaches him with food and romantic interest, which pisses off Natsumi. Eventually, Usagi gets her lunch delivered by a poorly-treated Luna to live another day. Natsumi transforms into Ann, intervening in her outing with Seijuro. SMe and SM arrive to intervene, with the latter calling Ann a "big, huge, oversized, ginormous humongous pest!" (see, they can do it if they try). Ail and Ann summon the Cardian Utonberino - now that's some hair on her, very glam rock with a giant shoulder pad that I think is meant to be some kind of tempura. It's a bit muddled, but the odd pairing of themes works for me. After SJ transforms, Utonberino shampoos her hair (lol) and turns her arm into a Megaman blaster, firing sushi wrap at them up until only SJ is left to fight with the Moonlight Knight's help (again, he doesn't do much this episode). So, as expected, SJ summons a new ability: Supreme Thunder Dragon, which does look badass. SV and SMa arrive to help finish the job (with the latter burning SMe and SM for good measure), and SM takes out Utonberino. Yep, the formula above to a "t." Ail and Ann escape, the Moonlight Knight peaces out, and Makoto's still in love. Kinda cute to see how little Ail and Ann understand love and food. |
|
| 15 mins after I wrote that post yday, baby suddenly arrived whilst Em was in the bath, no time to even get to hospital. Bit of a shock suddenly having baby appear, but luckily ambulance came within minutes and Em and baby Theo are both fine and back home. Phew. Episode 9. Watching with a newborn, so going to have to keep this brief. Makoto falls for moonlight knight (MLK), and there's suspicion that Sejiro is the MLK, so Makoto decides to investigate. You're right, the faces Usagi pulls when she's hungry and sees Ami has eaten her lunch are priceless. Is that Cardian monster supposed to be modelled after the black wrapping that goes on sushi rolls and other things? Agreed, better speech from SM. SJ levels up with a new power, although it's still left to SM to finish the Cardian off. |
23feanorJul 19, 4:15 AM
|
| @23feanor Wow, that's a fast arrival alright. Glad it at least wasn't a prolonged labor, even if that sounds extremely stressful for everyone involved. Episode 10 Who knew Luna was on the market for romance with another cat? Honestly forgot that she had a bit of a fling with a big cat (one of the Rainbow Gems from S1), so this took me by surprise. Seems like there's a common thread of kissing loves in their sleep a la Sleeping Beauty this episode, but Ail seems more interested in stealing a kiss from Mamoru whereas Luna wants to receive (yes, I know how that sounds). Seems this episode will finally bring Mamoru back into the mix - he's kind of just been a background character since the first two episodes. The girls are fighting over trying to get the role of Snow White in a play Mamoru's going to be in. Love how Makoto just straight up says that she should be Snow White because she has the biggest breasts. She knows teenage boys so well. Natsumi throws in and games things in her favor to ensure that she gets the lead while Usagi gets the Evil Queen, the role she was born to play (she does seem legitimately perfect for it with her attitude). They summon a Cardian named Bipierrot to steal energy... even though that will likely interfere with the play. This one has a real harlequin vibe going with a weird helmet for some reason. As they're practicing for the play, Usagi struggles with the kissing scene in particular, biting her nails. Classic, though Natsumi keeps messing up the play by going in for a smooch herself. The other Guardians knew Natsumi rigged the drawing, but only tell Usagi later because they didn't want to keep fighting over the role and think Natsumi's lonely (not the perception I got from her scenes, but whatever). Wasn't sure what the other Guardians would be cast as, but I believed they might be dwarves... until I saw their costumes. They're all animals because Umino is taking creative license. Guess there are only 6 now as well, since Seijuro wasn't willing to take the 7th spot (he wanted the prince role). The play starts and Bipierrot just arrives and starts destroying the set. This is the part I don't really get - is this Cardian just out of their control now? Even when Natsumi tells Bipierrot to stop, she attacks her. Maybe she doesn't recognize her master? Maybe she's under Ail's orders to make a mess of things? In any case, Mamoru and Natsumi end up injured and the Sailor Guardians have to get free of their absurd outfits to stop Bipierrot from draining the audience. SM transforms first as normal, calling out Bipierrot for messing up their play (because that's the major concern, of course). Bipierrot attacks her with a parasol and tentacle extension (seriously, so many tentacle and tentacle-like objects in this show - they know exactly what they're doing) before Moonlight Knight arrives to give his speech. The other Guardians transform. Gotta hand it to the stage and lighting crew - they get the spotlights just where they need to go on the fly and SM even gets a platform to rise up on through the stage. Everyone gets an introductory speech this episode, very performative. This ends up being a much easier fight because SMa, SJ and SM just bust out their new attacks in quick succession. The audience loves it too - way better than Snow White - but Ann is upset with Ail over losing her chance to smooch. |
|
| Episode 10. I'm reading your posts but may have to keep my posts brief (until we settle into a new routine) as I'm watching with baby in my arms whilst Em is napping, and trying to write when I get a chance. Watching one of our group watch eps a day is my usual routine and helps keep me grounded, and 25 mins out, but writing whilst you're holding a baby is not easy. I did like Luna suddenly acting out and wishing for romance, reminded me of the middle aged single teacher type you get in anime who always bemoans the fact that romance comes to everyone but them. Miss Yukari from Azumanga Daioh springs to mind but can see you haven't see it, it's a decent light hearted comedy even if you're not a fan of cgdct shows. What is up with those costumes for the dwarves. I like that each of the guardians gets the time for their own intro speech. I believe this filler arc is wrapping up in the next couple of eps then we move onto canon material and essentially pick up from the end of s1. |
|
| You can keep it as short as you'd like for any of these posts - baby's the priority, no doubt. And yeah, I think we're just a few episodes off from canon content. We'll get a solid run of it shortly thereafter. Episode 11 Crazy enough, we start with SM and the other Guardians purging a Cardian. Wow, that episode ended fast, didn't even get to see much of the crescent moon-styled Cardian. Oh, there's the title card. Usagi, Makoto and Ami are booking it to school together, barely making it as roll is being called. For once, Usagi isn't called out for being an airhead after running in late and making a mess. Even she knows that can't be right. Turns out her teacher has a date, but it gets cancelled. Really feel for the adult characters sometimes in this series, and the teacher returns to her frustrated self in short order, calling out Usagi for eating in class (fair) and Natsumi for spacing and speaking "in the language of her home planet" (she's low on energy, but also fair). So now they have detention together while several of the other Guardians go see a movie. Their teacher leaves on a date after all, resigning both Usagi and Natsumi to detention purgatory. Usagi and Natsumi end up arguing over Mamoru, ending up in a contest over their worksheets for his heart (because I'm sure that'll decide it). Kinda silly to watch Natsumi try and fail to steal Usagi's energy. Meanwhile, Ail summons Cardian Amanju - pretty good design with the blu hair, green skin and orange outfit. Ail orders the monster to go after Mamoru, but she goes elsewhere. I guess there is an issue with their ability to give the Cardians orders, though I'm still not sure why. Doesn't look like Ail knows, either, especially when she jumps in the lake and steals energy from the ducks for some reason. Amanju makes her way to Ami's classroom, breaks down the wall and steals some energy. The other girls are summoned to action out of their movie and arrive just in time to protect the poor ducks, but Amanju just abandons the fight. So now everyone, including Ail, Ann, and all the Guardians beyond SM, end up chasing her around. Turns out none of their new attacks are worth a damn against this opponent, who just keeps running. There are hints that she's somehow drawing power from the tree or may even be drawing the power of their attacks to it. SM arrives after some cajoling from Luna and finishes the job, once again, with a little help from Moonlight Knight who has a less flowery speech this time. No one has any clue why all this happened or why both Natsumi and Usagi have energy at the end of the episode despite their earlier deficit. A weird episode that likely presages events to come as this arc wraps up. |
|
| Episode 11. Funny bit with the teacher on a date and Ann talking alien. Ann and Usagi in detention, Ann targets Usagi to drain her of energy, but it doesn't work. The rest of the guardians head off to the cinema, despite Luna's admonishment that they shouldn't visit such places after school. I'm also unsure why the Cardian's don't follow their orders, maybe to give things a chaotic edge rather than the strict hierarchy of the dark kingdom. Attacking the ducks was pretty funny. Events wrap up as usual with MLK appearing then SM defeating the Cardian with a final move. It just doesn't feel like the writers for this filler have their heart in it like they did with S1. Final ep of the filler arc next. |
|
| I think we have one more episode left after this one before we get to canon material. This episode (episode 12 as we're listing it, episode 58 in the larger run of the series) and the next are part of a pair of final episodes for the arc, so hopefully it wraps up decently. Episode 12 Natsumi and Seijuro are on the hunt for Mamoru and Usagi, respectively. The lack of interest from the two humans is palpable, and while it was a fun distraction at first, it does feel dragged out as a plot point since neither Mamoru nor Usagi have responded to it meaningfully. Also, their tree is dying. Meanwhile, SM is getting a stage show, which gets interrupted by the latest Cardian: Yamandakka, a four-headed, multi-armed ashura-esque character (this one following Ail and Ann's orders) that rapidly and fully steals the energy of a whole crowd, but when she delivers it, the Makai Tree doesn't seem to accept it at all. Natsumi and Seijuro end up staying home from school to try and figure this out, and Usagi, Makoto and Ami check in on them. Seijuro appreciates the care, but Natsumi rejects it and pushes them out. Usagi, not getting the hint, returns the next morning (honestly, it's impressive that she got up early to do this - shows a dedication to helping out two acquaintances that I wouldn't have expected). She becomes curious about a room she wasn't allowed to go into, and finds within the Makai Tree, which tries to grab for her. Usagi doesn't catch on due to a lie about astrobotany (I mean... I guess it's not a lie?) and gets shuttled out again. It becomes pretty clear that Seijuro has actually fallen in love with Usagi and Natsumi with Mamoru over the course of this run (not sure why, haven't really seen these relationships develop at all), so that might lead to an interesting ending. They discover that the energy the Makai Tree took from Usagi did actually help grow the Makai Tree, so it needs to steal energy directly and possibly from a Sailor Guardian. It also becomes clear that the siblings don't know much about the Makai Tree, which seems to have a mind of its own. A piece of it even hitched a ride with Usagi and still moves independently, which also serves as a reason for the Guardians to find out about the Makai Tree. It takes a hot minute for Usagi in particular to believe that Seijuro and Natsumi are actually Ail and Ann, with her and Mamoru even having to revisit the apartment before she's convinced. Natsumi feeds Usagi to the Makai Tree, but when Yamandakka starts sapping her, the Tree has had enough and starts wrecking the building, wrapping up Usagi and Yamandakka for some reason. The other Guardians arrive and transform. Their attacks are useless as Usagi screams in terror. |
|
| Episode 12. It does feel like a slightly forced love polygon between Ann-Mamoru-Usagi-Ail, especially given that A&A are supposed to be a couple and live together. I like the inclusion of a SM play with the bobble head version of SM, especially the crowd cheering SM's line 'i will punish you'. Something's up with the Makai tree, it's not absorbing the energy from the Cardians the way it used to. The whole alien thing and alien life giving tree could've been an interesting subplot if they'd explored a bit more. A&A are off from school and Usagi press gangs Mako and Ami into visiting with her. Usagi may be a goofball but she does possess a heart of gold worrying about her classmate the way she does. A root of the Makai tree stuck to Usagi leads Luna and Artemis to uncover the identity if the aliens summing the Cardians, and shocker, it's A&A, well shocking to Usagi. Usagi returns to A&A's apartment, still unsure whether they are Natsumi and Seijuro. There she meets Mamoru who is on route to visit Natsume. Ann chucks Usagi in with the Makai tree, hoping it'll drain her and revive, but instead the tree starts talking and goes on a rampage. Despite the guardian's effort the Makai tree breaks loose and takes over the building. What will it take to stop it? The dub for Fairy Tail 100YQ just dropped woohoo, I've missed FT. I see you're reading the manga, any good? I know it's written by Hiro Mashima's assistants with some overseeing by him, rather than Hiro himself, or minimal input by him. As a big FT fan, I know it's chock full of the cheeseiest cheese, but it does it so well. Comedy, few serious moments and some tragedy thrown in, fan service. What I love most of all is the magic world. I remember so many little details like Edolas, the way Magnolia transforms when Gildarts returns to the guild, the caverns underneath the castle at the magic games, the history with Natsu, Zeref and Mavis (not usually a fan of immortal loli characters but I like Mavis and the villains, who were distinct enough to be memorable by not very deep, like the Spriggan 12. Plus the OST is great, the FT theme music is fire, and the OP and ED's usually slap. |
23feanorJul 22, 5:04 AM
|
| I'm one of those people who will readily admit that FT isn't great, but at the same time, I respect its hustle. It never tries to be anything more than it is, and while a lot of its arcs in the original series run played out very similarly, it never got boring for me, even if it was occasionally frustrating. I think it has had a lot of great ideas that I wish it could have expanded upon, particularly with groups like the Spriggan 12, though it does do really good characterization with some characters like Mavis as you say. I personally think the Grand Magic Games are underrated, and there are a lot of solid moments in its fights, like Natsu giving up against Gildarts rather than continuing to fight against someone so clearly stronger than him. 100YQ is a more interesting run, partly for the fact that it just takes us so far out of the regions we know in the FT world and pits our characters against beings so clearly out of their league, so it has to find interesting ways for them to fight and survive. It's taken some detours that put me off a bit, but I'm still invested and things have gotten pretty crazy in recent chapters. I might pick up the anime for 100YQ one of these days (I ended up just finishing the original series run via the manga rather than watch past a certain point) and just binge the season to enjoy some of those moments again, especially since I think the animation is stronger this time around. Episode 13 The Guardians are set to attack, but SMa believes the Makai Tree is sentient and stops them. Probably wouldn't have worked anyway. The Makai Tree lets them invade instead, with the apparent aim of absorbing them using poison attacks. The girls try to use the elevator (seriously, why would you think the elevator would still work here?). Meanwhile, A&A, Usagi and Mamoru are still caught in their love quadrilateral, with A&A both trying to protect their respective love interest and get the Makai Tree to drain the other. I still don't think this has been well established, but it does lead to an interesting dynamic where the Makai Tree isn't really on their side. A&A start dominating the Guardians with their abilities until SM transforms, giving her most confusing speech ever about plant equality. Both A&A succumb to jealousy, attacking their erstwhile crushes and try to get the Makai Tree to drain the planet. We even see A&A interrupt SM's main attack. SM talks to Mamoru, trying to recover his memories while they get bombarded by attacks. Their attempts to protect one another do nothing for Ann, but Ail sees beauty in their love. Moonlight Knight arrives and spews his usual idealist views that get staunch pushback from Ail, who feels that their plight has left them feeling alone. Not like you discussed that with anyone, Ail, so of course you feel alone in this. Seems kinda silly to call others out for their issues when this is the first time anyone else is hearing of it. Ail's attacks end up riling up the Makai Tree, which lashes out at everyone, thrashing Ail and stabbing Ann. She dies in his arms and just as the Makai Tree seems ready to kill Ail, SM's entreaty for it to stop pauses the attack. She and Ail enter its consciousness, learning about the Tree's history alone on a planet. It created all A&A's race and enjoyed the time together. They started fighting one another because greed, even destroying the planet. The Tree wandered space with the survivors, wanting love from A&A. So... I guess that was what the Tree was absorbing from Usagi? Also, if the Tree could talk, why didn't it mention any of this to A&A before? Was this whole arc a gigantic idiot plot where one character refusing to talk caused all the trouble? Hell, the Tree outright asks SM to purify it with her love to be reborn somewhere else... and I guess fuck up whatever planet it arrives on next. The power of love conquers all I guess. Oh, and Moonlight Knight reveals his identity as Mamoru #2. Apparently, his resolve survived Queen Beryl's attack last season. That resolve apparently coalesced into solid human form with abilities all its own for... reasons... and since Mamoru Prime has fallen back in love with SM (I guess he was protecting her, but... really? That's all it took?!), they collapse the wave function and reunite, restoring his memories. I guess TM's going to be back in the series going forward. Ann comes back to life for reasons. The Makai Tree spawns a sapling that A&A take to a new planet (how are they going to survive while it grows? Isn't their whole thing that they need to draw energy from it?), and the other Guardians are fine now and tease SM. So that... happened. Honestly, a pretty weak resolution to the arc. The focus on the power of love rang hollow, the reveal that this was all one gigantic idiot plot was baffling, the only death was almost immediately reversed, we don't get a real resolution to A&A's problem, they just up and leave, and the Moonlight Knight was a construct created because the series needed someone to be TM when TM wasn't around. In general, dragging out Mamoru's memory wipe felt entirely unnecessary and forced. This is probably my least favorite Sailor Moon arc so far, but thankfully, there's a new one starting next episode. |
|
| Episode 13. The whole love polygon just doesn't have any weight, the show just didn't set it up well enough. Also, A&A are supposedly a couple living together, but they don't seem to know what love is, yet they continually flirt with Usagi and Mamoru. Just melodrama for the sake of it. A&A fight the guardians and learn the extent to which SM/Usagi will go to protect the person she loves, Mamoru. Ann sacrifices herself for Ail, protecting him from an attack from the Makai tree, and only then do they realise the full extent of their feelings for each other, bit late really. Then the Makai tree talks to them and turns out A&A were born from the tree and it needs love, not simply energy, which A&A didn't grasp. I like the idea, but feels like it was hastily thrown in at the end. So MLK is Mamoru no2, feels like an invented plot point for this filler arc. I watched the SM Eternal movies a couple of years back as they were on Netflix and it was during lockdown and we were bored, Em even watched them with me, and liked them. So I do know about the new character ChibiUsa, although I'll keep it under my hat. Her name kind of gives it away though. Agreed, this filler arc was weak sauce, completely different to the S1 filler arcs. |
|
| Episode 14 Going into the canon content of the season basically blind. I know about some of the characters like ChibiUsa (yeah, it's a pretty obvious giveaway), but otherwise I don't know what to expect. First thing's first, we need some villains, and it looks like there are 5 new villains in a throne room (I see 6 thrones) to take up the mantle in their giant floating spiked chamber with fluorescent pink glowing tips (yep, no one will see that), each bearing crescent shapes on their foreheads. Seems the Silver Crystal is back to being the series MacGuffin and they're chasing an unknown "Rabbit" (probably ChibiUsa). They have trouble finding her, summoning the Great Wizard Wiseman (lol, really?) to prophesize about how the Silver Crystal will bring them misfortune and make it impossible to "destroy the despicable Crystal Tokyo." I have no idea what that means. Usagi and Mamoru are pursuing their romance at last, but just as they're sharing a passionate kiss, a mini Usagi (I know, this is ChibiUsa, but that's how she introduces herself with her floating Luna robot) arrives to steal their moment with a weird key around her neck. ChibiUsa pulls out a goddamn glock and holds her at gunpoint to get the Silver Crystal. To her credit, Usagi (Mamoru calls her "Usako," which is probably a fusion of her first and last name - don't recall them being this lovey dovey at the end of S1) risks getting headshot by a 7 year old (yes, I know she's actually older than that, but Usagi doesn't) to protect the Silver Crystal and ends up getting a flower suctioned cupped to her forehead for her trouble. ChibiUsa does her best Batman impression and disappears, apparently to tear up Usagi's room and butt into her life claiming to be Usagi's cousin and mysteriously appearing in her family's memories (Usagi and Luna appear unaffected) and even their photo album. We get a bit of fanservice with Usagi in the bath (no nipples) before ChibiUsa abruptly intervenes, demanding the Silver Crystal. Rinse and repeat at bedtime. Usagi goes to the other Guardians for help, but they have no clue and dismiss her concerns. Meanwhile, ChibiUsa drugs their tea with a milk bottle and transforms into Rei's letch of a grandfather. The other Guardians drink it while Usagi's stuffing her face, so she's ready to spank some sense into ChibiUsa, who also has a crescent on her forehead that appears as she's yelling in frustration. This allows one of the villains to find them, Koan, who says she's the youngest of the four Spectre Sisters (I'm guessing the other girls in that throne room) and tries to fry Usagi with green flames. Usagi transforms into SM and decides to protect ChibiUsa, but struggles against her dark fire attacks before body slamming Koan (never seen her use that attack before) and getting some assistance from TM (good to have you back my man). SM unleashes her strongest attack, but Koan dodges and escapes. TM sees a vision of a crystal kingdom (probably Crystal Tokyo), ChibiUsa likens him to her father while lying in his arms (hint hint), and the villains prepare for war. Not a bad start to the new arc, though there's more here to puzzle over than actually gets explained. |
|
| Episode 14. Ditto, I don't know about the upcoming canon arc, just ChibiUsa's identity. So we've got a floating green spiky palace, master Rubius and a group of ladies, clearly the new villains, who are after Usagi/ChibiUsa (they refer to her as 'the rabbit' in the dub) and ultimately the silver crystal. So back to that, although I thought it got used up at the end of S1? Yeah Mamoru and Usagi seem super close, but then if you discount the whole filler arc and memory loss, then the last canon events were the end of S1 and Usagi and Mamoru know about their past relationship as the moon princess and Endyimion, so they likely would be all lovey dovey after finding out about their destined fate to be together. Nice shot of them kissing reflected in the water. Haven't mentioned it yet, but the soft pastel colours still working for me. The visual aesthetic of this show is very good. And then ChibiUsa falls from the sky and brandishes a gun at Usagi demanding the silver crystal. All I remember about her is that she's Mamoru and Usagi's kid from the future. Don't know why she came back though. Bit harsh threatening her mum with a gun. GUess that key is going to be relevant to the plot. ChibiUsa somehow manipulates Usagi's families memories and they think she's Usagi's cousin and will be living with them going forward. So she's been shoehorned into the story and is a new central character. Usagi pulled off a great 'why I outta...' with clenched raised fists when ChibiUsa comes into her bedroom at night looking for the silver crystal. Rei does a spiritual test on a photo of ChibiUsa and nothing stands out so the guardians think Usagi is over reacting. ChibiUsa has the ability to transform, or robot Luna does, and she drugs the guardians. Usagi hasn't drunk her tea yet and spanks ChibiUsa as punishment. The youngest of the 4 spectre sisters, our new villains, locates ChibiUsa and makes a move to eliminate her. ChibiUsa calls out for her mum and dad, and then Usagi and after Mamoru appears, trickling those breadcrumbs. Love Usagi tackling Koan. SM and TM team up to fight Koan and drive her off. TM has a vision, looked like Superman's fortress of solitude and doom. I think ChibiUsa's going to be a good addition to the cast with her bag of tricks from the future/alternate crystal dimension. |
|
| I like ChibiUsa's contribution to the cast so far as well. I'm guessing she'll become more integrated in the cast going forward and have her own transformation. Episode 15 Wow, we go from U&M being lovey dovey for the span of a whole episode to Mamoru wanting to break up. Doesn't happen immediately, as we start off the episode with a cute meet-up between the two of them and then their effort to find ChibiUsa, who is clearly missing her parents (guess she doesn't recognize their younger versions even though she knew who Usagi was on first meeting, given her association with the Silver Crystal). Usagi gets jealous of ChibiUsa (seriously, girl looks like she's 7 years old, and Mamoru was making goo goo eyes at you just one scene beforehand) before bringing Mamoru around to the house, much to her father's chagrin and her mother's delight (Ikuko thinks he's hot). The Tsukinos have all forgotten about ChibiUsa despite knowing she was part of the family just one episode ago. ChibiUsa herself seems surprised by this, and has to hypnotize them (which doesn't end up working on Luna or Usagi due to Luna's intervention) into believing she's family once again. Meanwhile, the villains talk about their plans to eliminate ChibiUsa and the Silver Crystal to erase Crystal Tokyo in the future. Due to their difficulty locating the latter (and, apparently, their just giving up on the former for now - didn't you find her just last episode guys!?), they target Crystal Points that are supposed to later serve as generators for a forcefield around Crystal Tokyo. The villains summon a monster (good to see those back) in the form of Droid Atsugessho (who can talk!). Love the outfit on the villain Berthier in this scene - the yellow dress and parasol are pitch perfect. She's selling cosmetic products that are meant to turn steal energy from girls by turning them old and grey, which will also apparently drain this Crystal Point of energy. Not sure how that works, but fine. And yes, that panty shot due to the sudden gust of wind was an eyerolling bit of fanservice. Usagi runs into Mamoru again while he's having a vision of future tragedy for her. This is where he decides to break up with her, presumably for her protection... somehow. Ami kinda intuits that, even if she has the wrong reason behind it. Still, this feels contrived, particularly this early in their relationship together. Like Mamoru, though, that shot of Usagi barely holding back tears has an emotional potency that is hard to deny, even if I don't feel a lot personally about the relationship at this point - I feel like the season is trying to wring a lot of pathos out of the relationship established in S1. Usagi in her depression finds her way to the villain's cosmetics and refuses to use it in a rant that is actually pretty glorious. I could see Usagi from S1 falling for this, so it's nice to see how her development and perception of Mamoru from their relationship has changed her. This pisses off the store owner as the other girls leave the shop and she reveals herself to be Atsugessho, leading to Usagi's transformation into SM. Love Atsugessho's design - she looks like an anthropomorphized perfume bottle. She reveals to Usagi that this is all part of a plan to destroy the future city (way to give up strategic info) before spewing acid and crushing Luna beneath a giant powder puff. See, these are the kinds of design elements I was so badly missing from S1. TM arrives on the scene and argues with Atsugessho over the need for young girls to wear makeup. Again, love it. My kind of silly interjection. Also love that hitting her with her own perfume just erases her eyes and she has to physically draw them on... badly. I chuckled. SM finishes her off and TM leaves claiming he doesn't like girls who are weak. Yeah, clearly trying to push her away. Seems like the development of another idiot plot where everyone could be better served by talking this out. |
|
| Episode 15. Have to admit I'm puzzled about what ChibiUsa knows about her parents. I thought she recognised Usagi, or her name (given she's named after her), as her mother when she fell from the sky. Ofc we don't know what has happened to Usagi and Mamoru in the future, maybe they're dead or trapped. Plus that was why I thought she was living with the Tsukino's as they are family. Although even if she is aware, or has an inkling who Mamoru and Usagi are, they aren't the parents she remembers. Interesting that ChibiUsa's brainwashing wears off and she has to reapply it. The villains are out to destroy the future city crystal Tokyo, and to that end they need to eliminate ChibiUsa and the silver crystal. After repeated visions of a future in which Usagi gets hurt, Mamoru breaks up with her. Bit abrupt but we've seen this storyline a lot before. One half of a couple pull away from the other for fear of hurting them, or having them be hurt if they are near. Nearly never works. Despite being contrived, I did feel for Usagi and her tears and bewilderment came across convincingly, helped by the soft piano OST playing in the background. I think the filler arc dampened the impact of the breakup. If this had all happened right after the highs at the end of S1 we'd be a lot more invested in Usagi x Mamoru after seeing them grow closer over s1. The filler arc just blunted any emotional attachment for me. Master Rubius and the Spectre Sisters are back to draining people of energy, but this time at crucial points where crystal Tokyo intersects our one, or something like that. Another panty shot. Have to admit I'm not a fan of the increase in fan service and it seems counter intuitive for a shoujo series aimed at girls, but I remember that SM had a large male following, so guess the fan service is aimed at them. Monster design and Usagi's speech def improved over the ones from the filler arc. I wonder if Uasgi's speeches in the show are taken verbatim from the manga, or whether they're invented by the shows writing staff? So many plots in anime could be resolved if people just talked things out. It used to be because they couldn't easily get hold of one another and then smart phones took that crutch away from writers as well. |
|
| I agree, I think the events of the last couple of episodes would have hit harder without the filler. It breaks up the relationship between Usagi and Mamoru such that we're more bewildered by its sudden swings than anything else, even if the characters still sell it well enough. Episode 16 Ami's headed to Germany to study abroad. I guess after breaking up the central couple of the series, separating the Sailor Guardians isn't as dramatic of a step, but it does feel weird given that they are facing down a new villain group. Mamoru didn't stop being TM because of the breakup, but the absence of SMe could be a big problem, not just a "we'll miss her" situation. Well, at least Luna and Artemis are focused on the problems ahead, since they get them new wrist communicators and transformation sticks. Guess we're getting new transformation sequences. The villains have given up on the crystal point they were attacking. If at first you don't succeed, quit and go somewhere else. They summon the frost monster Niphas to begin operation "Some Like it Cold" (guess she's a fan of late 50's movies and/or Marilyn Monroe). Apparently, they take over a thriving ice cream stand, which now makes those who eat it very heat-sensitive and ornery. Artemis infiltrates their operation and gets frozen solid. Meanwhile, ChibiUsa suspects Ami has the Silver Crystal and gets an invite to stay the night. Ami asks about who ChibiUsa actually is and offers to let this 7-year-old stay in her room alone (shouldn't she at least ask her parents about this first?) after she leaves for Germany. Usagi feels as though she's being abandoned by those around her, but she genuinely wants the best for Ami, who is still waffling a bit in her waning days. The villains freeze a number of people and hide them in the freezer for "disposal." Some dark stuff. Minako makes it in and summons the other Guardians to help while Mamoru and ChibiUsa try to get a gift to Ami before she takes off. ChibiUsa badmouths the other girls saying they only care about themselves - she seems weirdly confident in arriving at that conclusion - before Ami opens the gift and sees her SMe equipment and a nice note. Mamoru gives her a knowing nod and Ami goes back into action, abandoning her flight. Back at the battle, we get a "how dare you use ice cream for evil!?" speech because, hey, that's pretty messed up. Despite those strong words, they find themselves in trouble very quickly. Seriously, no one even uses an attack. SMe arrives on the scene after a new transformation sequence and uses a new attack to pave the way for SM's finishing move. The power of friendship wins against the forces of darkness and... a good education? I guess she can take these classes locally anyway, which she never mentioned before, so everything's back to normal. |
|
| Episode 16. New wrist watches and transformation sticks, they're going hard on the toy sales this season. ChibiUsa staying at Ami's out of the blue is a bit weird, but in a similar vein to the ep where Mamoru and Usagi were allowed to take a baby out of the hospital for 3 days. Disposing of the frozen people in the storage room, that does sound a tad ominous. Luckily Minako intervenes and alerts the rest of the guardians, minus Ami who's due to leave for Germany. Oh Mamoru has a car, nice one as well (maybe a BMW), his part time jobs must be paying well or maybe it's the royalties from all his TM appearances. Love the Jpop song in the background when Mamoru and ChibiUsa speak to Ami. Can't remember S1 having many insert songs so the inclusion of a couple so far this season has been a welcome bonus. Not sure why ChibiUsa is trashing the other guardians, I guess to get a rise out of Ami to come to their defence. Spurred on by the gift brought by Chibi and Mamoru, Ami forgoes her trip to Germany and rushes back to the help the guardians get out of a freezer. No idea why they didn't try helping themselves, well I do know, it's so the focus can be on Ami. Power of friendship wins out and Ami decides to stay. |
|
| Episode 17 Looks like this one's focused on Rei. I guess these episodes will show upgraded new techniques for all the Guardians... which makes you wonder why they got new techniques during the prior filler arc. Maybe they'll use those again, maybe they'll just vanish into the ether, who knows? Rei's grandfather retires from the priesthood (oh hey, Yuichiro Kumada is still working here - completely forgot about him) to instead found a "Protection Aesthetics," a sport/workout place angling to recruit young girls. Rei recruits the other Guardians to be shrine maidens in his stead. I think we've mentioned it before, but the whole "grandfather figure is lecherous" trope was getting pretty played out at this time with the likes of Master Roshi, even if that's a more... odious example. ChibiUsa actually seems interested in trying it out to be able to outmuscle Usagi. This eventually proves successful with the ladies after Kamada recruits them with his good looks I guess. The Black Moon Clan (going to call them BMC from now on) finds another crystal point at the shrine (what a coincidence...) and Koan heads over. Side-note, one of the Spectre Sisters has a... unique placement of a pair of eyes on her chest. Nope, definitely not meant to make the audience think "nipples." Koan uses her dark power to transform the workout area, offering to be an instructor herself along with a suspiciously strong woman who can only say "Dumbull" who proceeds to wreck some random woman's shit on repeat (seriously, they repeat the scene over and over again), who proceeds to wreck other womens' shit. Nope, definitely not a monster. Yuichiro gets replaced in his instructor role because of feminine wiles, while Rei's grandfather proves quite strong himself, though not strong enough to take on the wrestling champion Dumbull. Love that hair and makeup design, very Ziggy Stardust. Rei ends up getting stomped on repeatedly to protect her grandfather. Usagi arrives and transforms into SM just in time to save them. That walk out of the shadow is pretty slick, as is her speech: "you have crushed a slightly lecherous old man's whole reason for living!" Is... is that a bad thing? TM arrives to give his own, vaguer thoughts on the matter, giving SM the opportunity to unleash her big attack. This successfully destroys Dumbull, but Koan remains a big threat, going after SM. Rei steels her resolve and transforms into SMa, pitting her fire soul against the villain's dark fire. The latter initially appears to have the advantage, but SMa boosts her attack with a burning mandala. I like the new attack design with the burning rings. TM parts with a pretty harsh statement and Rei's grandpa starts a Protection Jazz class. |
|
| Episode 17. Yep the whole lecherous grandpa cliché is a bit annoying, thinking Master Roshi and Happosai from Ranma who is really, really annoying. Can't think of one lecherous grandpa type who is amusing, there must be one (Brook and Sanji from One Piece are loveable perverts I guess, but not old, well Brook technically is old and dusty). Tends to be a trope from older anime. Didn't realise they were called the BMC (makes sense as they have black crescent moons on their foreheads), which includes the Spectre Sisters and Rubius. Dumbull is another better quality monster. Also like the design for Koan. Hadn't noticed those eyes, yeah def not nipples. I'd forgotten about Yuichiro. Didn't he have a crush on Rei, but she liked Mamoru. wonder if anything'll happen between those two this season or beyond. More fanservice with the tight and revealing lycra outfits. Transformed Dumbull reminds me of one of the Thundercats, and yes Ziggy Stardust. I saw Bowie live at Glastonbury many years ago (2000). "you have crushed a slightly lecherous old man's whole reason for living!" lol Burning Mandala is a cool new move. I'm enjoying the injection of additional comedic moments that ChibiUsa brings. |
|
More topics from this board
Sticky: » Discuss the Series You Just Finished ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page )Chelle - Jul 27, 2009 |
2956 |
by 23feanor
»»
Jul 24, 11:53 PM |
|
» Anime with adult main characterszubby - Nov 30, 2023 |
7 |
by gswelcome
»»
Jul 17, 3:10 PM |
|
Sticky: » New Member Introductions ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page )Chelle - Oct 3, 2009 |
841 |
by gswelcome
»»
Jul 17, 2:59 PM |
|
» Joshiraku (2012) - June 2024 Group Watch23feanor - Jun 21 |
38 |
by 23feanor
»»
Jul 9, 10:51 PM |
|
» The Heroic Legend of Arslan (2015) - May 2024 Group Watch ( 1 2 )whiteflame55 - May 19 |
87 |
by whiteflame55
»»
Jun 26, 7:12 AM |