Through the magical gifts of the talking Cat, Luna, Usagi
Tsukino has gained the ability to become Sailor Moon, chosen to do battle with
the forces of the Dark Kingdom. But
Usagi is just one girl against an entire legion and she needs help. Little does she know, Usagi is about to get
backup from the most unlikely of allies: the shy but intelligent Ami Mizuno and
the spiritual but fiery tempered Rei Hino.
The Sailor Senshi grows by two as Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars join
the battle. How will the Dark Kingdom
respond to this development?
Reinforcements have arrived and not a moment too
soon.
Look I know how iconic Sailor Moon
is and I know I said I like that Usagi is acting very much like someone
unprepared to become a Superheroine might act.
However, the introduction of two new Sailor Senshi in this outing kind
of outclasses her in a number of ways.
Ami and Rei entering the picture is also good to shake up the status quo
a bit as I can see why some of these early episodes might’ve been cut from the
first English Dub of Season One, the filler in this show is easily
skippable.
But anyway, onto the
positives and negatives of Sailor Moon’s sophomore outing of episodes.
As I said, the big moments of this set came from the
arrival of Ami Mizuno and Rei Hino.
While both come from different backgrounds, both have similar beginnings
in the series.
Ami is such a bookworm
she makes herself almost completely isolated (and thus terribly frowned upon by
her peers) and Rei’s Preistess activites paint a target on her back when her
Shrine becomes a focal point for a series of disappeaances.
Point is, no one wants anything to do with
either and that’s a damn shame.
Even
before they gain their cute Sailor Senshi costumes, I like both Ami and Rei as
they are.
Ami is kind hearted and highly
analytical.
Sure she needs a push to
have fun but she’s hardly shy once you get to know her.
Plus she’ll kick your ass at Video Games,
bring lots of quarters if you challenge her.
And Rei, well she was my first ever Anime Waifu and now that I’m
rewatching Sailor Moon in full, that crush I’ve had for years is coming
back.
Rei doesn’t take crap from anyone
and I like how she defended her Grandfather and home when accusations about
their mystical practices were thrown their way.
And I’ll just be up front: Rei’s freaking gorgeous.
Ami and Rei also take to their roles as Senshi fairly
quickly and with minimal complaints.
Luna thursts power into their hands and they put it to use
immediately.
I like how different their
powers are from one another too.
Ami’s
more about defense and analysis, using a bubble mist and gaining a magical
analyzer from Luna.
Rei is pure fire
power, no pun intended, and she even defeats a Monster on her own in her first
outing.
They’re excellent support for
Usagi…but there in lies a potentially big problem.
While Usagi is growing a little bit (emphasis
on litte), like when she enlists the aid of a love sick Jazz Musician to help
her tail a Monster without blowing her cover, Usagi is still Usagi.
When Luna and Ami make plans to infiltrate a
Ghost Bus, Usagi clings to a lamp posts and cries her head off out of
fear.
Even Ami, who’s still so new to
this, isn’t hesitant about getting on the bus to solve the mystery and save
potential people in trouble.
Just
saying, Usagi’s quickly been upstaged and even Luna agrees that Ami or Rei are
a bit of a step up from her (ouch).
Luna
too got some mystery advancement this time out with the reveal that she has a
super computer in Usagi’s favorite arcade, hidden in a Sailor V Arcade Machine,
so she’s not slacking in trying to find her missing Princess.
Also the computer’s password, “The rabbits on
the moon are pounding rice cakes”, I had to laugh cause I’m sure that’s a
direct reference to early Dragon Ball.
Also, who is Luna speaking with on the other side of the computer?
While their inclusion was a breath of fresh air, Rei and
Ami’s arrival couldn’t save the fact that we’re so early into the series and
we’ve begun reusing plots and schemes from the premiere.
Draining energy through a virus introduced
into a radio station via cassette tape?
Didn’t Jadeite try draining folks through a radio broadcast?
I get that this is a show geared towards kids
and the writing reflects that a lot with continued life lessons and what
not.
But come on, you can do better and
be more creative with how the Dark Kingdom extracts energy, every scheme in the
first five episodes was pretty different in execution even if the goal was the
same.
I suppose it speaks to Jadeite’s
level of incompetence since none of his plans have succeeded so far.
It’s a miracle Queen Beryl has let him carry
on for so long.
Thanks to his screw ups,
there are three Senshi to deal with now.
Something tells me Jadeite’s long string of extra continues is about to
run out soon…which isn’t a bad thing either.
If new Senshi can keep things energized, swapping out villains isn’t a
bad idea either.
Oh and speaking of
repetitive, good work on stalking Usagi just to insult her, Mamoru, that’s not
weird at all you creepy ass stalker.
New Sailor Senshi really helped propel Sailor Moon in
this second part.
Usagi still has far
too much growing to do but Rei and Ami are more than welcome additions to the
mix and I’m looking forward to seeing how they grow as well.
Plenty of questions still to be answered
though, like Luna’s secret mission and just how long Jadeite can stave off his
own execution by Queen Beryl if he doesn’t deliver.
Is it also possible the other two Sailor
Senshi aren’t far behind?
We’ll find out
more on Monday with our continued look at Sailor Moon right here at the Gundam
Anime Corner.
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