Sailor Moon Eternal (Part 1 & 2)

On the day of a Solar Eclipse, a mysterious ship descends to Earth.  At the same time, Usagi, Chibiusa and Mamoru receive a vision of a mythical Pegasus calling for help.  One of Silver Millenium’s oldest enemies has returned, bringing terrible visions and curses upon not just the Sailor Senshi but also a mystical realm vital to Earth survival.  Armed with new powers, Sailor Moon and her fellow Senshi must reunite for a new battle with the fate of two worlds and the life forces of Usagi and Mamoru hanging in the balance.

After treading through the worse, the bad and the much better of three seasons of Sailor Moon Crystal, we arrive at the official continuation…which might as well be Crystal Season 4.  Yeah I don’t know why the Dead Moon Circus Arc was reformed into a two part double feature (I’ll probably question the same tactic when I get to Sailor Moon Cosmos later this year).  Whatever the reasons may be, Eternal has arguably the toughest task since the announcement of a Sailor Moon Reboot: Doing Sailor Moon SuperS better than it was in the 90s.  That’s a huge undertaking considering SuperS was the bottom of the franchise until Season One of Crystal came along.  Plus, we also have the spectacular Nehelenia Arc that kicked off Sailor Moon Sailor Stars to cover as well.  Can Sailor Moon Eternal achieve in a three hour run time what SuperS could not in 40 episodes (and had to have Sailor Stars spend 6 episodes cleaning up after)?
 
The immediate good news is that Eternal does continue in the style of Crystal Season Three, just with a more theatrical polish.  The character designs are great (and is it me or have Mars and Pluto gotten even hotter…same for Uranus for that matter, damn), the comedy is fun and hardly forced, and Usagi still feels like the Usagi I grew to love during her original five season 90s run.  Eternal actually goes a step beyond Crystal and allows us to get to know the Inner Senshi better than we did in their previous series.  Part 1 focusing on their hopes, dreams and fears opens up several doors Crystal seemed fearful of opening because it didn’t have the time to do so.  And some of these explorations are tough watches, Ami’s standing out as a particular gut punch.  This is the kind of deep cut analysis SuperS should have been doing following Sailor Moon S.  For good measure, we get a glimpse at life for the Outer Senshi and let me tell you, I actually wouldn’t mind a bit more time with this little slice of life family unit they’ve formed (especially more Pluto, did I mention she’s ridiculously hot…sorry moving on).  If SuperS’ greatest failing was not giving the Senshi enough to do outside of Chibiusa and Usagi, the Eternal rectifies all of that mostly in the first half of this double feature.
 
Eternal goes a bit beyond making the Sailor Senshi look more bad ass than ever, on their own and together as the unstoppable team they are.  The action scenes keep getting better and better, standing visually stronger than the 90s Anime and wayyyy more appealing and pretty to look at than Crystal’s first two seasons.  Transformations and special attacks feel more powerful than ever before and again, some of the Senshi are allowed to face their enemies and win fights without Sailor Moon having to finish them off.  Let me tell you…I screamed NO as loud as I could when I saw the Amazoness Quartet create the Amazon Trio to deal with the Senshi.  So yes, I was damn proud of my girls for not having them overstay their unwelcome (that makes sense right?).  It’s also awesome to see the Amazoness Quartet in action right out of the gate, though a lot of their bigger developments as characters come sort of last minute towards the end of Part 2. 
 
I will say though, most of what I like about Eternal is in Part 1 and the first 15-20 minutes of Part 2.  I like hanging out with the Inner Senshi on a more personal level and I love the familial bond formed between a rapidly growing Hotaru and her Mommas Michiru and Setsuna and Daddy Haruka (love they kept that in).  But Part 2 is where Eternal kind of collapses under the weight of bad pacing and a need to exposit heavily to make the events of the film matter more.  There’s one scene that’s basically Sailor Moons answer to the famous Maleficent scene from Sleeping Beauty that I think could have opened Eternal Part 1 and been a fantastic intro for Nehelenia.  Unfortunately, it comes in the middle of one of several massive exposition dumps that kill the momentum when it should be time for the Senshi to get into the Dead Moon Circus and wrap this battle up.  This also unfortunately means that Nehelenia’s stellar character arc from the end of SuperS and Sailor Stars is barely glossed over.  One of the most complex and memorable villains, probably my favorite of the original series run, feels like she’s been made nothing more than a one off villain of an Anime film, with barely a connection to Usagi that made her such a threat. 
 
As for Helios, well he’s better (?) than he was in SuperS.  He doesn’t waste a lot of time being secretive but at the same time, he feels less like Chibiusa’s love interest and more like Eternals’ chief Exposition Ex Machina.  It seems like someone in Crystal/Eternal has to serve that purpose (like how it was relegated to poor Minako in Season One).  Helios’ chief role is to dole out minutes worth of details about his own, his connection to the Moon Kingdom, his visions, Mamoru’s hidden power, you name it, he can probably run it down for you.  It doesn’t help that said history lessons come in after a quick but fun fight and kill any momentum drummed up from said action when Part 2 should be moving at a faster pace.  While I’m not fond of Helios as a love interest for Chibiusa, my favorite little Senshi carried a lot of that subplot in SuperS.  Thankfully, she gets more to do in Eternal that makes her a stronger character even without a love interest driving her like her future Mom in early Crystal.
 
Sailor Moon Eternal strives to fix what Sailor Moon SuperS ruined in the 90s and only comes up half successful.  Part 1 is my favorite of the two parts with a greater focus on the Senshi, some good action and getting to see the worst parts of SuperS get a serious ass kicking.  While Part 2 starts off stronger with the reintroduction of the Outer Senshi, information overload seems more the priority that ruins the pacing and also one of Sailor Moons most emotionally impactful and exciting storylines and Villainesses.  It is overall better than Sailor Moon SuperS but had this been a Season Four of Crystal, as well as trimmed, rearranged and reassembled in various ways, Eternal could be the full triumph this reboot of Sailor Moon has been striving to do since the start of Crystal.  Still, it’s a step in the right direction, even with some stumbles.
 
Sailor Moon Eternal (Part One) receives an 8/10
Sailor Moon Eternal (Part Two) receives a 6.5/10 

And that, Dear Readers, concludes our Extended Summer Series Review of Sailor Moon Crystal.  But hold on a second, what about Sailor Moon Cosmos?  Well the original plan was to do Crystal, Eternal and Cosmos all in one run.  However that was dependent on Netflix getting Cosmos before July (or at least before I went to Otakon).  It was just before I started watching Crystal to review it that Netflix announced a late August 2024 release of the next and final Sailor Moon Double Feature.  Which means it’ll have to wait and it’ll be a minute too.  The important thing is: I will be looking at Sailor Moon Cosmos…in November 2024 (I’ve scheduled it for my birthday on November 2 before Godzilla Month 3 begins).  Til then, thanks for listening to my rants and eventual praises of Sailor Moon Crystal and Sailor Moon Eternal and if you’re going to Otakon 2024 I’ll see ya there.  Otherwise, I’ll see ya back here on Friday, August 9^th for the start of The Case Study of Vanitas, right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.