After a hard fought battle against the Black Moon Clan,
Usagi Tsukino and friends are long overdue for some R&R. But such a thing hardly lasts when Rei has a
nightmarish vision of the future: the total destruction of the world that even
the Sailor Senshi cant stop. As if on
cue, a new threat appears and theyre targeting the very hearts of their
victims. What’s more, a new pair of
beautiful Guardians have also appeared but aren’t too keen on teaming up with
Sailor Moon and the others. Looks like
break time is over as a new battle begins.
Annnnnnd…we’re back, or rather, theyre back.
This is the Season I’ve been looking forward
to the most, well maybe second after Sailor Stars cause I haven’t seen any of
that Final Season before.
Still, when I
was watching Sailor Moon on Toonami, this was the pinnacle of the shows
popularity and for good reasons too.
New
gorgeous bad asses join the fray and a new enemy emerges that poses a far
darker threat than ever before, though they haven’t escaped some very
repetitive early villain tropes.
Dear
Readers, our year long look at Sailor Moon continues starting today with Sailor
Moon S (The S stands for “Super”, the eyecatches confirm it, so no guessing
like I did with Sailor Moon R).
And boy,
is there a lot to cover in these first six episodes.
Alright, let’s start with the couple everyone holds on
the highest pedestal.
Yes, Sailor Uranus
and Sailor Neptune have arrived and like much of what’s usually introduced as
new for Sailor Moon, I have mixed feelings.
When it comes to Haruka Tenoh and Michiru Kaoih, these two are great.
They act very much like teasing older
siblings to the Senshi and they’re very open about their affectionate
relationship.
Whenever Haruka and
Michiru appear, all eyes are on them and they’re hailed as the coolest and
hottest thing to ever show up in the city…and they’re kind of likeable despite
the fame.
Michiru is the wiser voice of
reason between the two, lobbying for love to come out on top always.
Haruka’s more of a hot head but I like how
she teases everyone, especially when everyone comes to the realization that
she’s not a boy and she’s dating Michiru.
Plus, Haruka for some reason calls Usagi “Bun Head” just as Mamoru used
to in the beginning of the show…but she never sounds condescending when she
says it, it’s just a casual nickname for Usagi in her eyes.
When Haruka and Michiru are around, I love
them and I look forward to everyone interacting with them more throughout the
season.
As for their alter egos, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune
certainly break the mold of the Senshi we’ve been introduced to so far.
These two are all about their mysterious
“mission” to find the three Talismans hidden withn the crystals of those with
pure hearts.
They refuse to even think
about teaming up with the Senshi and hold their greater strength and excellence
in battle as all the resume they need to stay as their own team.
What irks me is they are both quite content
with leaving the Senshi to handle a Daimon (the new Monsters of the Week) alone
if they don’t find a Talisman in their crystal (more on that later).
Maybe most of my issue is with Uranus’ more
militaristic views as a Senshi: the Mission comes first, everything else is
expendable and she feels the Senshi should get used to that philosophy.
Neptune agrees with Uranus 100% but can still
act as more of a voice of reason between the two sexy Sailor Guardians.
I have to wonder if theyre aware of the true
identities of Sailor Moon and the others because Usagi and the gang clearly
have no clue that Haruka and Michiru are the new players determined to make
their lives kind of miserable.
Still, a
rouge pair of Senshi is certainly a bold new wrinkle to kick off the new Season
with.
Our Villains of the this new arc are the “Death
Busters”.
We don’t really get to know
them too much beyond two of their big players: a very creepy Professor who
looks like Umino if he went full on Dark Side, and his sexy lab assistant
Kaolinite, and their main objective: Find the Holy Grail which can only be
summoned using Three Talismans hidden within the pure hearts of three chosen
humans.
They’re Daimons are pretty
formidable too.
The Season Premiere has
one almost kill Rei and depower Usagi with little effort.
Even Usagi cant fight them as Sailor Moon
until she gets a new upgrade.
There’s
something chilling about the Daimons and Death Busters M.O.’s too.
Sucking out life energy is a serious threat,
don’t get me wrong.
But these things are
literally taking hearts out of people.
Sure it’s not as graphic as say Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom or
Mortal Kombat, but it’s still a major organ being plucked out even if it is
presented as a Crystal.
That’s pretty
dark if you ask me.
However, the effect
it has on people varies.
For most, it
seems to put them in a near death state, as what happened to Rei.
But one basically became a Zombie trying to
kiss anyone to fulfil their deepest desires unrestrained by their heart…or
something like that.
I wonder if that’s
just a one time thing.
The Death Busters are definitely a challenge for the
girls and I’m guessing Usagi wont be the only one getting a new power up this
Season.
However, Usagi had it rough as
she was unable to transform after her first defeat in the Premiere.
But leave it to her to never back down when
her friends or anyone she is determined to save is in danger.
Usagi continues to maintain that perfect
balance of well done character growth across two seasons and being a clumsy and
scatter brained goofball that makes her so endearing and loveable.
Honestly, it’s getting hard to sing the girls
praises cause I feel like I’m starting to sound like a broken record.
But hey, Usagi got a new weapon and
transformation sequence and both are awesome.
While Ami and Mako don’t get much time to shine, Rei and Minako do.
Rei looks to be taking a more forward
position this season, both as the girl Usagi comes to first for help on anything
and with her apocalyptic visions kicking the season off.
Minako and Usagi teaming up to find out more
about Haruka was fun and it gave Minako an actual hobby to call her own: Video
Games…ok Usagi had that in the past but Minako hasn’t really gotten a lot of
well defined character traits of her own besides being pretty and messing up
famous adages (that later part can be attributed to her being just as bad at
studying as Usagi apparently).
Jumping into some odds and ends before we wrap up this
premiere review, most of these episodes had a very repetitive structure: The
Villains concouct a new monster and laugh about it, Heart Crystal is targeted,
Usagi and company run into Haruka and Michiru, fight ensues, Uranus and Neptune
check the crystal and leave when there’s no Talisman, Sailor Moon finishes
things up, episode ends.
The beginning
of S lacks the surprisingly in depth Villains of R’s Spectre Sisters and feel
more like a retread of the many repetitive plots of the Dark Kingdom from
Season One.
Even the encounters with
Uranus and Neptune are on repeat with the same kind of antagonistic dialogue
being shared between them and the rest of the Senshi.
On the bright side, Naru and Umino are still
around.
This show couldve left them
behind a long time ago but we’re still checking in on them and the episode
where they participated in the Love Contest was good for them…granted it helped
that Haruka and Michiru dropped out because they can do anything and it wasn’t
fair to the other couples.
Umino risking
his life to save Naru was such a good scene.
I’m surprised there wasn’t a Talisman in his Heart Crystal after such an
act of love that came right after a pretty epic confession of his feelings for
Naru.
If we aren’t going to be seeing
these two for a while, this was a good episode to close them out on, though I’m
sure they’ll pop in again from time to time.
Also, not a lot of Mamoru bashing because he wasn’t acting like a
douche…buuuut I am happy someone else called out how gross and inappropriate
his romance with Usagi is.
Never forget,
he’s in College and she’s still in Middle School…freaking no.
All in all, Sailor Moon S is off to a much better start
than Sailor Moon R.
It doesn’t bother
with a pointless filler arc to get things going and instead dives right into a
much darker premiere with emotionally distant Senshi and a vision of Tokyo
getting demolished by : a combination of Twister and the beginning of
Akira.
There’s still plenty of mysteries
to tackle too, including whatever the heck this “Messiah” Rei saw in her vision
is.
Now if only the Villains can act a
little more original in their scenes (motivations and tactics are fine) and
Haruka and Michiru can translate their fun older sibling dynamic with Usagi and
the girls to the other Sailor Senshi, this Season has a good chance at
outshining the previous two by a landslide.
Buckle up, Sailor Moon S is just getting started and we’ll be back on
Friday for more right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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