Sailor Moon Crystal is a new adaptation of the beloved graphic novel series Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi. The first animated adaptation of the property aired in its home country of Japan from 1992 to 1997 spanning a total of five seasons. As Sailor Moon, it was partially broadcasted in the United States from 1995 to 2000. The new series is being broadcast all over the world online through sites like Hulu, Crunchyroll, Nico Nico, and Neon Alley. New episodes are being released every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month. The Lunafix will faithfully recap the episodes on Sunday as long as I don’t sleep through my post deadlines.
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| Naoko Takeuchi/PNP, Kodansha, Toei Animation, Viz, Hulu |
So, I’ve fallen behind on my Sailor Moon Crystal Recaps. Act 3 was another repeat plot, so I probably wasn’t totally excited about covering it. This episode marks the debut of Sailor Mars in Sailor Moon Crystal. SMC was marketed as being a more faithful adaptation of the comic, so episode is a pretty big deal. Sailor Moon fans have been pretty vocal about what they think is an unsatisfying portrayal of Rei in the first animated series. In the comic, Rei is mature and aloof. If she seems abrasive, it’s because she is often put off by her friends’ childishness. This personality trait was twisted in the first animated series where they made her a loud, hotheaded nag. They also made her a bit boy crazy to add some extra drama to the mix. A lot of fans see this as the most unforgivable misstep. The real Rei has a lot of unresolved issues with the male figures in her life and has forsaken dating. She’s pretty hardcore for a shrine maiden. That was the point of her character. The question is, did SMC deliver on their promise of a true Rei?
Things are heating up at the Dark Kingdom’s headquarters. The episode starts with Queen Beryl putting Jadeite through the ringer. He’s failed two missions, now. This evil queen doesn’t play. Before he can stick up for himself, his fellow Kings of Heaven start circling him like the sharks that they are. Nephrite flat out comes out and offers to take Jadeite’s job. Meanwhile, Zoisite takes a few jabs from the corner of the room. These guys are competitive, like Real Housewives competitive. Queen Beryl decides to take a bit of a step back this week. Rather than giving Jadeite another chance to fail at his job, collecting human energy to awaken their great rule and finding the Legendary Silver Crystal, she tells him to get rid of the sailor guardians. He’s still in the running to become the Dark Kingdom’s next top King of Heaven. For now.
Rei’s intro plot goes a bit like this: The Sendaizakaue (or Sendai Hilltop) bus stop near the Hikawa Shrine is haunted. People get on the bus at 6pm and disappear. Hence, it quickly becomes known as the 6pm Demon Bus. The neighborhood bitties start suspecting Rei of foul play because she’s known for having strange psychic powers and that makes her scary by default. Usagi and Luna learn about the bus at school thanks to the world’s biggest gossip, Umino, and immediately schedule a strategy meeting with Ami. They decide that the Dark Kingdom could be behind the disappearances and plant to visit Sendai Hill. Luna and Usagi meet Rei while Ami is at cram school. They take an interest in her because they think she might be their Moon princess.
After their second trip to Sendai Hilltop, all hell breaks loose. Rei is captured by Jadeite, who was driving the demon bus the whole time. Usagi happens to spot her on the bus and transforms into a beautiful flight attendant to pursue the demon bus through a wobbly portal. Tuxedo Mask shows up just then to catch Luna as she falls out of Usagi’s hands. As far as Luna is concerned, Tuxedo Mask might as well be one of the Kings of Heaven. She’s really not into him. She escapes his clutches and runs off in search of Ami.
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| Naoko Takeuchi/PNP, Kodansha, Toei Animation, Viz, Hulu |
The wobbly portal Usagi follows goes into a different dimension. Not much is explained about the portal or the new dimension. All of the stolen bus passengers are there, though. Jadeite reveals that he collected these people to lure the sailor guardians. To that end, he’s successful. Usagi is stuck in this dimension and starts to panic. Lucky for her, the prize she got from the Sailor V game this week is a communicator she can use to talk to Ami and Luna. Together, her teammates find out how to use the power unleashed by Usagi’s transformation to break open the portal to the other dimension. I’m telling you this because it’s important. This is how they did it in the comic. It makes so much sense. (It doesn’t. It really doesn’t.)
Upon their reunion, Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury take on Jadeite. Only, he’s too powerful. They quickly meet their match. Things start looking pretty grim. But wait, Rei wakes up. She sees Usagi in danger and her Sailor Mars powers awaken, too. Luna sees the sign of Mars on Rei’s forehead and tosses her the Mars transformation pen. It’s never really explained where Luna keeps these things, either. Cats don’t exactly have pockets.
Anywho, Sailor Mars transforms and defeats Jadeite. He burns up in one of her fireballs, so that’s pretty faithful to the comic. In every story arc, each sailor guardian gets paired up with a bad guy that she eventually defeats. Jadeite is Sailor Mars’ counterpart. There’s evidence to suggest that the author, Naoko Takeuchi, intended to have the sailor guardian’s romantically attached to the Kings of Heaven, but she never actually worked that into the story. The Sailor Moon fandom gets into discussions about this. Some fans want the pairings to be official while others don’t think the pairings should count. Either way, Jadeite is toast. The next segment of The Real Four Kings of Heaven is going to be extra tense.
Other Impressions
- The Betty Spaghetti limbs came back in this episode. Not to worry, though. Toei gave the series a little facelift for the Blu-Ray release on October 15 in Japan. You’ll have to stay tuned for a US release date.
- If you have time, you may want to go back and watch the first series’ rendition of this story. The way 90s Rei throws the gossips out of her shrine is hilarious and over the top.
- This week’s accidental run in with that jerk was pretty cute. He heard Luna talk again and finally gave us a name, Mamoru Chiba. He’s a second year high school student and glasses enthusiast. Here’s a bonus screenshot from the scene:
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| Naoko Takeuchi, PNP, Kodansha, Toei Animation, Viz, Hulu |
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