First Impressions / Sailor Moon Crystal

Episode 24

「攻撃 –Black Lady–」 (Kougeki –Black Lady–)
“Attack –Black Lady–”

 

Episode 25

「対決 –Death Phantom–」 (Taiketsu –Death Phantom–)
“Showdown –Death Phantom–”

I keep saying this every post but oh my gosh, Sailor Moon Crystal is nearly over! One more episode and it’s officially been over a year since I started this journey with this remake… and I’ll save up my final impressions until then. I wonder how many people actually stuck it out this long to see where the series would end up. It’s definitely hasn’t turned out the way I expected.

These final episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal have focused a lot on the secondary characters that we saw but never got a focal point in the story. During the pivotal moments of this finale, we’re finally seeing more to Chibi Usa and within a few episodes, she goes from being lost and confused – to dark and evil – to our new Sailor Scout. Quite of development in so little time and my gripe with that is how I wish they did more of that earlier on. Chibi Usa has been with us since the beginning of this arc and they could’ve used that extra time to show just how isolated and lonely she felt at home under her mother’s shadow. Instead, it felt like a lot of information crammed in the last moments of the series just to give her a purpose and tie in Sailor Pluto. Her development isn’t all for nothing if they bring her back to defeat Nemesis with her newfound powers though. Hopefully we’ll see her patch up her differences with Sailor Moon.

Speaking of Pluto, I’ve never been a huge fan of her – especially the way they butchered her face in the OP. Her role in this arc felt so minor; being locked in a room, staring at endless nothingness… it feels like torture to me for that to be your destiny. I’m glad that she finally left the room and did something that she wanted to do, but it felt a little too late for that. Her character got a lot of screen time, but didn’t do a lot – until the author gave her a bigger role in for Chibi Usa’s backstory. I don’t want to downplay her involvement and importance because I actually feel worse for her than for Chibi Usa, however she could’ve done more and sooner. I don’t know her fate in the finale (she could come back to life?), and if she stays “dead”, I hope she gets more recognition for her contributions in this fight as some form of tribute.

Prince Demande was another one that got more of the spotlight in the past few episodes. I always thought he deserved more screen time though because he’s probably the most interesting one of the Dark Moon clan. He seems more complex with his love for Neo Queen Serenity and he even kills his own brother! Unfortunately, once again I think it’s a little too late to really get a clear look at who he is. He had so much potential to be an empathetic character because he actually sacrifices himself to save Sailor Moon (or rather, I guess he didn’t know he was going to die) but even at the end, I didn’t truly understand where he stood in terms of loyalty. He had a goal to kill Sailor Moon, but he also hated Wiseman/Nemesis for using him so he really had no hope to win in either situation.

On to some positive notes about the past few episodes – I definitely feel like it keeps me on edge. Just when I think it’s over, it’s not and Nemesis comes back stronger than before. The “Wiseman” was just a façade for Nemesis when he reveals that he’s actually the entire planet Nemesis itself. Furthermore, he used to be known as Death Phantom when Neo Queen Serenity banished him (as already seen in previous episodes) and this is the true “evil” which Sailor Moon has to defeat. Quite a long journey to get to where we are today, but I’m impressed by how the story just keeps on going. The plot is less predictable than the previous arc which I appreciate and the tactics that they use to defeat evil isn’t just “love conquers all”. There’s a lot of development (especially with Chibi Usa) about finding your inner strength and that’s the key message that I get from this final battle against Death Phantom. No doubt, they’ll win next episode but this arc was – by far – superior to the former one and surprised me on more than one occasion.

Author’s Note: So I realize I’m about a month behind on these posts and I feel incredibly bad. Life gets in the way and with all the previews, new season starting and monthly impressions, the site is just so busy already! I promise the finale for Sailor Moon Crystal will be out promptly though. With that said, thanks for everyone’s patience and continued support on RC.

 

Preview

18 Comments

    1. That was apparently just a mistranslation. There still hasn’t been any official confirmation from Toei about any form of continuation. Most probably we won’t be seeing new episodes any time soon, though it doesn’t mean all hope is gone. They may announce a new season after the TV airing in Japan finishes in autumn. The merchandise from the following arcs keeps coming in abundant amounts and a musical based off the third arc also launches in autumn. The DVD/BD sales aren’t mind-blowing (usually slightly under 3k for the limited BD edition), but still better than some other Toei shows that were slated for 50 episodes. Personally, I don’t see much sense in this new adaptation if they’re not going for all the five manga arcs, especially since from now on it’ll just keep getting better and better, but oh well, we’ll have to wait and see.

      kaguraa
      Reply

  2. ‘she could’ve done more and sooner’

    Uhm, you know that in the old anime she literally did NOTHING in the Black Moon arc but stand by the damn door all the time and got almost ZERO backstory, right?

    kaguraa
    Reply

    1. Proof that the blogger doesn’t know much about the anime. If there is a 2nd season, please find somebody else to blog Crystal. I’m getting tired of all this criticism.

      Anon
      Reply

    2. So what, is the blog author not allowed to blog about a show by itself now? Comparisons to other material are not necessary. If a show can not be judged on its own, then that is the shows fault entirely, not the bloggers. Get a grip on reality please.

      Anon
      Reply

      1. The thing is, the blogger has stated quite a few times that the old anime is the only version of Sailor Moon she’s familiar with. She has also HERSELF made comparisons to the old anime and commented on how this version is different than the old one in many regards. So excuse me while I find it a little bit weird that she complains about Pluto not having done much, when instead she should be surprised by the amount of screentime Pluto gets in this adaptation, how important she is to the overall plot and how much more backstory she was given as compared to the old anime, which is the only version of SM the blogger had known before Crystal AND compared Crystal to.

        The Black Moon arc in the old anime had 29 episodes to work with, but the only thing Pluto did in the entire season was communicate through Luna-P or let people pass through the door and that’s it. No backstory, no relevance to the main plot, even her friendship with Chibi Usa was hardly shown. But it’s suddenly in Crystal that she doesn’t do much? Well, that’s news to me.

        kaguraa
        Reply

  3. I wished I could have seen Pluto attack moves before she’s gone now.
    https://randomc.net/image/Sailor%20Moon%20Crystal/Sailor%20Moon%20Crystal%20-%2025%20-%20Large%2002.jpg
    RIP Pluto. Now you can go serve the Queen in the afterlife.
    https://randomc.net/image/Sailor%20Moon%20Crystal/Sailor%20Moon%20Crystal%20-%2025%20-%20Large%2004.jpg
    They are together again but then they get pushed aside to do nothing…
    https://randomc.net/image/Sailor%20Moon%20Crystal/Sailor%20Moon%20Crystal%20-%2024%20-%20Large%2012.jpg
    Finally they do their attacks again (once more), but I would have liked to see their combined attacks against Queen Beryl where they would have won instead.
    https://randomc.net/image/Sailor%20Moon%20Crystal/Sailor%20Moon%20Crystal%20-%2025%20-%20Large%2029.jpg

    random viewer
    Reply

  4. All the criticism of the art and animation this show has faced and I have learned it was basically criticizing a Beta product as most of the problems I have heard were corrected for the TV airing in Japan. I wonder if a miscommunication is involved did the Publisher fail to warn that the web release was unfinished or was this fact lost in translation. A lot of agony and upset could have been avoided if people knew they were watching an unfinished version. Or they could have waited till the finished version.

    Cherrie and I both missed Sailor Moon having sex with her boyfriend. I’m old enough I should have not missed the under the radar (trope) trick used but other boards caught it. When two people of the opposite sex are in a room alone with a bed and then kiss standing up then flower petals fly across the screen and the next morning finds them both in the same location clearly having sleep there that means they had sex. When Usagi and Mamoru find out that Chibiusa is there daughter later in same episode their looking at each other and blushing makes even more sense once you realize they both realize what they did last night might lead to this. I’m sure to keep things under the radar the pregnancy occurs later.

    Wow suicide, daughter french kissing dad more than once and inferred 14 year old sex don’t see this on US broadcast other than Toonami.

    I have enjoyed this show but this is the first Sailor Moon I have experienced. Might have to rewatch once the animation corrected broadcast version comes out.

    RedRocket
    Reply

      1. Well, the problem is that internet broadcasts in the West are normally products produced for tht very purpose or screened together with a TV-version. Adding to that the Western platforms doing their damn best to avoid mentioning that they are strwaming a pre-release product, many people are obviously confused.

        haguruma
        Reply

    2. Have you ‘heard’ that this was an unfinished product corrected for the TV release, or have you ‘seen’ the TV release? Because I have seen it.
      Unfortunately the so-called finished or corrected version for the TV release (which is the same as the BD release btw) is just as bad or at best marginally better… heck, some things are worse ^^’
      But certainly nothing to prevent the agony that ensued over this show. Check out some comparisons and judge for yourself…: http://sailormooncrystalfailures.tumblr.com/tagged/compbr

      Blog Reader
      Reply

  6. ………………_„-,-~”~”’:::”:::’:::::”::::”~-,~„
    …………._,-”:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::”-„
    ………..,-’::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::|
    ………,-’::::::::::::„:„„-~-~–’~-’~–~-~–~–~„:,’
    ……..,’::::::::::,~”: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : ‘-|
    ……..|::::::::,-’: : : : : : : : – -~””¯¯”-„: : : : : :\
    ……..|::::::::|: : : : : : : : : _„„–~””’~-„: : : : : ‘|
    ……..’|:::::::,’: : : : : : :_„„-: : : : : : : : ~–„_: |’
    ………|::::::|: : : „–~~”’~~””””-„…_..„~””””””¯¯|¯”,
    ………|:::::,’:_„„-|: : :_„—~: : :|”¯¯””|: ~—„_: |¯¯|
    ……..,~-,_/”: : : |: :(_ o__): : |: : : :|:(_o__): \.. |
    ……../,’-,: : : : : ”-,_______,-”: : : : ”-„______\-’
    ……..\: :|: : : : : : : : : : : : : :„: : : : :-,: : : : : :\
    ………’,:’: : : : : : : : : : : : :,-’__: : : :_’,: : : : ,’
    ……….’-,-’: : : : : :___„-: : :”: : ¯”~~”: ‘: : ~–|’
    ………….|: ,: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 😐
    ………….’|: \: : : : : : : : -,„_„„-~~–~–„_: : : | Dangit, Bobbeh
    …………..|: \: : : : : : : : : : : :——-~: : : : : |
    …………..|: :”-,: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 😐
    …………..’,: : :”-, : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : ,’
    ……………| : : : : : : : : :_ : : : : : : : : : : ,-’
    ……………|: : : : : : : : : : ”’~———-~”: :,’
    …………._|: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 😐
    ……….„-”. ‘-,_: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : ,’
    ……,-”. . . . . ”’~-„_: : : : : : : : : : : : :,-”’-„
    pm-”. . . . . . . . . . .”””’~~~~~~~”””¯¯. . . ”-„
    -”’. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ”’-,

    Anon
    Reply

  7. Demande was a villain to the end in the manga. In the Manga he did not attack Death Phantom at the end and get blown away. He attacked Sailor Moon again and she is Mamoru killed him in a counter attack.

    Envyus
    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *