Tuxedo Mask. Long
has he been Sailor Moons secret protector from the shadows. But what is his true identity? Mamoru might have answers as dreams of the
gentlemen hero begin to plague him.
Meanwhile, Naru’s love for Nephrite leads her down a dangerous path that
even Usagi might not be able to save her from.
But when a jealous Zoisite plots Nephrite’s downfall, will love
prevail? And what about the mysterious
giant, the beautiful Makoto Kino? Is it
possible her arrival signals the birth of a fourth Sailor Senshi?
After last week ended with the show in neutral filler
territory, Sailor Moon returns with some major shake ups, a more dramatic tone,
the arrival of one of the shows best characters by far and some very
complicated intel about the potential endgame that the First Season is headed
towards.
All in all, this was probably
the best set of Sailor Moon episodes since the beginning, complete with a filler
episode that I actually didn’t mind.
Well we’ve got Nephrite’s end and Jupiter’s arrival to go over so lets
break it all down.
It's strange how even after all the wicked things he’s
done in his tenure as Sub Boss, Nephrite still managed to have a pretty
emotional send off.
The man was an
absolute monster once he started focusing his machinations on Naru, well aware
of her feelings for him.
And yet, much
like Usagi’s change into Sailor Moon is heavily influenced by Cinderella,
Naru’s doomed romance with Nephrite has familiar shades of Beauty and the
Beast.
We all knew that Nephrite wasn’t
going to make it but the scene with Naru patching up a wound he took for her
while talking about eating deserts on a date was incredibly sad, which is the
last thing I ever expected to feel for Nephrite.
Naru refused to back down with Nephrite and
even stood against Usagi and the others to protect him. “Even if you keep
lying, as long as we can stay together, it’s ok.”
Jeez, Naru’s got a kind heart and I think it
actually broke through to Nephrite…which makes his end all the more
tragic.
The emotions are real, as are
the tears from Naru and the Senshi.
Nephrite met a noble end…which is more than I can say for Jadeite and
more likely his two successors.
With Nephrite off the board, the teasing Zoisite stepped
in to fill his shoes but he isn’t the only new baddie for the Senshi to contend
with.
We were also introduced to
Kunzite, the fourth member of the The Dark Kingdoms “Four Kings of Heaven”,
which also includes Jadeite, Nephrite and Zoisite.
Oh and he’s also Zoisite’s Lover.
Fun Fact: in the original DiC Dub of the
Sailor Moon Anime, Zoisite was changed to be a girl because 90s America wasn’t
too keen on same sex romances…we’ll get to the more infamous casualty of these
practices when we get to Sailor Moon S (and yes you know exactly who I’m
talking about).
Kunzite didn’t get too
much screentime as we had to establish Zoisite’s strategy and new mission to
differentiate him from Jadeite and Nephrite.
That actually needs its own section to go over cause it leads into some
newly introduced and complicated story elements.
Suffeice to say, while Zoisite might’ve been
all annoying and braggy to Nephrite, and did play a direct role in his demise,
Zoisite doesn’t get the best first outing as a solo villain since he got his
ass kicked by Makoto…and she wasn’t even Sailor Jupiter yet.
All bark and no bite on Zoisite so far, he
needs to step up his game.
So let’s talk about the Dark Kingdom’s new assignment for
Zoisite.
Apparently to complete the
gathering of necessary energy for Queen Beryl to awaken “The Great Ruler” (who
got a proper tease moment in this set), The Dark Kingdom needs the Legendary
Silver Crystal.
To find it, Zoisite
needs to track down the Seven Great Monsters who have all been reincarnated as
Humans with no memory of their past.
Once he awakens them, he can collected a Rainbow Crystal Shard, hidden
within them that grants the Monsters powers in Human form.
Ok…so maybe now that I’ve written it down, it’s
less complicated really.
I’ll say this,
the show has given each Sub Boss their own mission and I commend it for
continuing that trend with Zoisite.
Question is, will he meet his end near the end of said mission or will
Kunzite take over at some point?
You’d
think once the Silver Crystal is formed it would signal the beginning of the
end.
Guess we’ll just have to see how
this plays out.
Oh and good on Luna to
note that the Monsters are indeed Human, so she’s given Usagi a new weapon: The
Moon Stick, that she can use to erase the Monster half from these Humans so
they can return to normal.
The set closed out with the arrival of Makoto Kino, aka
Sailor Jupiter.
And man does she make
one helluva entrance: stepping into single handidly save Usagi from a bunch of
thugs.
She’s tall for her age but
nonetheless gorgeous, tough, competitive and a really good cook.
Plus, as I mentioned, Makoto gets to show off
her amazing strength as herself and as Sailor Jupiter.
I think her fighting Zoisite and managing to
score a hit was an even better first impression.
As has been the trend with the other Senshi,
Makoto is seen as a bit of an outcast due to her height and physical
strength.
But Usagi latches onto her
quickly, maybe even quicker than she did with Ami (certainly more than with
Rei).
Girls a klutz and a bit of an
idiot but that heart that can accept the word and even mourn the loss of an
enemy should not be underestimated.
Also,
looks like Makoto might have the insta hots for Motoki…might this cause a bit
of tension between her and Usagi?
Or
will Usagi’s deepening feelings for Tuxedo Mask nip that in the bud quick?
Once again, “Odds and Ends featuring Mamoru Chiba” will
take up the last part of our review today.
Our resident Usagi hater who’s actually Tuxedo Mask upped the creep
factor by kissing the poor girl while she was drunk during a Masquarade.
This is wrong on so many levels from the age
difference to taking advantage of an inebriated minor (which makes it sound
worse).
I don’t care if Usagi says it
feels familiar, hinting at some deeper connection, from the past maybe?, wrong
is wrong and I’ve never been ok with a potential romance between Usagi and
Mamoru (even if that does become the cannon case).
Mamoru’s also been having dreams about who I
assume is the Moon Princess Luna’s been looking for and she’s asking him for
the Legendary Silver Crystal…did he have it at one point?
Speaking of potential Princesses, that filler
episode focused on a pair of aspiring animators working on a Sailor V Anime
Movie. Now, I’m a softy for behind the scenes Anime Studio stories like this a
la Golden Boy and Otaku no Video.
This
is a fun episode but it raises more questions about Sailor V herself.
She has her own video game, merchandise and
now an Anime feature film?
Just how long
has she been around?
And even if Usagi
and Luna haven’t gone to look for her, why hasn’t SHE gone looking for
them?
Surely she’s heard about a series
of similarly dressed and empowered superheroines running around Tokyo slaying Monsters.
When are we gonna actually see Sailor V?
Think that about covers everything.
Fare thee well Nephrite, I hope this doesn’t
mean Naru will be ejected from the show (Usagi never checked in with her during
Makoto’s intro.).
I can see why everyone
is in love with Sailor Jupiter after her intro and its hard to argue with that
fan base.
We’ve also got a new sub quest
that could lead us to the McGuffin crystal at last.
Hopefully Sailor Moon can stay this busy and
this good and provide some answers to those lingering mysteries.
The Quartet of Senshi beauties will be back
on Friday as Sailor Moon continues right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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