Usagi Tuskino has faced many threats to planet
Earth. But an unthinkable loss and the
arrival of three mysterious strangers heralds the coming of a war that will
cost Sailor Moon dearly. The stars
become a battlefield as Sailor Senshi from across time and space come together
for the battle to end all battles. Can
Usagi overcome her greatest despairs, doubts and fears to defeat the ultimate
enemy, one who will not stop until they’ve claimed every power in the
cosmos?
It hasn’t been the smoothest journey for Sailor Moon’s
big reboot for the new millennium.
The
first two seasons of Sailor Moon Crystal were utter failures while Season Three
and the Sailor Moon Eternal duology made critical course corrections though not
without faults of their own.
Of all the
stories in the original saga to be adapted, none come with as much pressure as
the final arc aka Sailor Moon Sailor Stars.
The final season of the 90s Anime was borderline perfect save for the
actual Series Finale which was so depressing it felt like Sailor Moon hadn’t
really won in the end at all.
If the
reboot needed to get anything right and take advantage of a chance to do things
better, that time is right here in Sailor Moon Cosmos.
So, after so many downs and ups, does this
reboot live up to the potential many hoped it would?
While many are no doubt looking forward to Cosmos because
of the hotly anticipated return of the Sailor Starlights, the films make it
very, very clear that this is Usagi Tsukino’s journey first and foremost.
While the rest of the Senshi get more to do
in the final battle against Galaxia than they did in the original Series Finale
of the 90s Anime, this is arguably the most Usagi focused story we’ve gotten in
a while with this reboot.
And man is my
girl put through the worst torture I think I’ve ever seen.
The tragedy of her mental state in Sailor
Stars is amplified to a whole new level with repressed memories and panic
attacks. One major complaint I have had about Sailor Moon Crystal in particular
was the shows seeming disrespect towards Usagi’s portrayal and Cosmos not only
gives me the Usagi I’ve always known and loved, it also gives her more of a
fighting spirit than in the Sailor Stars Finale too.
If anyone’s an epitome of that rousing speech
Rocky gives to his son in Rocky Balboa, it’s Usagi Tsukino.
She takes all the hits and keeps getting back
up, her spirit tested and seemingly broken but never fully.
This is the best portrayal of Sailor Moons
character I’ve ever seen and it’s probably the first time in this whole
rebooted saga I’ve wanted to see her succeed.
But what about the Starlights?
This is their only appearance in the saga so
how are they handled?
Well Cosmos cant
escape the pacing problems that plagued Sailor Moon Eternal.
There’s a lot of speed running through the
Starlights screentime.
Seiya is the only
one who gets any substantial character work, with their romantic subplot with
Usagi still preserved from Sailor Stars but dialed back considerably.
They are still fun divas and bad asses and
their interactions with the other Senshi are still highlights, particularly in
Part 1 providing some much needed levity in thee wake of the growing sense of
dread surrounding Galaxia.
While not as
bad as other popular villainesses from past rebooted arcs, the Starlights do
suffer from a rushed storyline in Part 1 to get us to the action and drama
heavy second half.
Still, they’re here,
theyre beautiful and those new transformation sequences had me shaking my head
in amusement, like of course that’s how they should have transformed all along.
While Sailor Moon Eternal was an improvement over much of
Crystal, it overall didn’t feel worthy of a two part movie treatment.
Cosmos is the exact opposite, very much
feeling like the Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers Endgame to this
series.
The threat of Galaxia has never
felt more dire, dangerous and loaded with despair.
The Senshi do get to do a lot more than they
did in the Sailor Stars Finale but with each new loss, Cosmos instills a sense
of doubt that this is a fight they might not be able to win this time.
It goes for broke with scale and epicness
befitting a conflict that spans multiple worlds and a whole plethora of Sailor
Senshi.
The films never give that last
bit enough room to breathe or be fully explored due to time constraints.
The concept of Sailor Senshi beyond the main
solar system isnt new by any means but Cosmos teases us with appearances by
more beyond the Sailor Starlights.
This
is probably the only rare occasion where I’d say making this a TV Season would
help letting these kinds of revelations sit in.
Still, all of this setup throughout Part 1 and most of Part 2 is
brilliant, building to the battle to end all Sailor Moon battles.
One of my main wishes for the entire Sailor Moon
Crystal/Eternal/Cosmos reboot has been to see some of the flaws of the original
series either fixed or changed altogether and Cosmos is pretty much Christmas
come early in this regard (or a birthday gift considering todays my
birthday).
Like I said, the Inner and
Outer Senshi all get moments to be bad asses one more time before being cleared
from the stage for the inevitable showdown between Usagi and Galaxia.
Probably my favorite of these skirmishes was
Rei and Minako against Sailor Lead Crow, which includes a very sexy declaration
of their pairs devotion to their Moon Princess (God I love Mars).
But we also get more direct involvement and
build up for Galaxia, making her the Thanos level endgame boss with a bit more
depth rather than the one note villainess I felt she was before.
But best of all: CHIBIMOON GETS TO JOIN
IN!!!!
It was criminal that one of the
series best characters was gone from Sailor Stars after the end of the Queen
Nehelenia battle but Usagi’s future daughter does come back for the final
showdown with some surprising reinforcement AND she gets to interact with the
always scene stealing Sailor Chibi Chibi, with some funny visuals as they try
to figure out if Chibi Chibi is Chibiusas sister or future daughter.
Ahhhh, this is what I’ve wanted from the
reboot all along.
The complaints I have about the Cosmos double feature are
pretty much the same I had about Sailor Moon Eternal but not to the same
degree.
The rapid fire pacing of the
first half makes it feel like a Compilation Film that rushes through a lot to
get things ready for the final battle.
This does come at a reduced role for the Inner and Outer Senshi and,
cause Crystal is riding this trend out to the end, completely wasting the incredibly
fun Aniamates, especially Sailor Aluminum Siren and Sailor Lead Crow.
However, unlike Sailor Moon Eternal, Part 2
doesn’t waste anytime and gets right to the good stuff with Usagi, Chibi Chibi,
the Starlights and even Princess Kakyu (sporting a very sexy Sailor Senshi form
of her own), running a Gauntlet off increasingly difficult challenges.
I’m also 50/50 on the humor.
It is great stuff, some of the best in the
series.
And while it’s mostly absent in
Part 2 (and yet it doesn’t make it depressing like the Sailor Stars Finale),
idk, having it in various spots in Part 1 feels ill timed, especially where
Usagi’s mental state is concerned.
Could
be just me but like I said, I’m 50/50 on the matter cause I was laughing a lot
at moments like the Starlights getting under Uranus and Neptune’s skin and even
the more tempered Neptune wanting to kick their asses.
Sailor Moon Cosmos is a movie level event that actually
succeeds at accomplishing the Sailor Moon Crystal mission statement of bringing
Sailor Moon into the new millenium properly.
The battles are grand in scale and emotional weight.
Galaxia is given more depth and allowed to be
a proper antithesis to Usagi’s career as Sailor Moon.
All of the girls get to have one last chance
to be the incredible bad asses they’ve always been and overall, the dour mood
that ruined the very end of the 90s Anime is replaced with a much needed
message of hope against the impossible, one that only Usagi Tsukino’s
indomitable spirit as Sailor Moon could give us.
THIS is what the reboot should have always
been and while it cant fully shake many of Crystals or Eternals flaws, Sailor
Moon Cosmos is by far and away the best entry in the rebooted series and proof
that none of what came before needed to be so bad when you could bring Sailor
Moon to a new generation of fans without losing anything of what made her so
great in the first place.
Sailor Moon Cosmos Part 1 gets an 8/10
Sailor Moon Cosmos Part 2 gets a 9/10
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