Let’s do the time warp again.
What They Say:
Act 19 “Time Warp – Sailor Pluto”
Usagi and the others decide to go to the 30th century, where Chibi-Usa came from. Waiting for them there is the solitary Guardian Sailor Pluto.
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Chibi-usa came from the future! Time travel is afoot if it wasn’t painfully obvious. At least the gang take her at face value and start questioning her further, but the little girl is traumatized and can’t really answer who attacked or why.
There is some strange animation right off the bat in this episode, even for this show. Could the silhouette of Mamoru talking to Chibi-usa be any creepier? (Yes it can. You can see through the shirt of Mamoru’s Chibi-usa is wearing in a scene.) Who thought that was a good idea? They also start doing this vignette thing with picture-in-picture reactions that I think are supposed to be reminiscent of manga panels. That wouldn’t be so odd except this is the first time they’ve used them and we’re 19 episodes in.
I have to wonder about Usagi’s Mom letting her little mysterious house guest wander away to spend the night at the home of her daughter’s boyfriend. (Who at this point I’m not even sure she knows is her daughter’s boyfriend?) I’m going to assume excuses and phone calls were made. Unfortunately Usagi remains jealous of Chibi-usa monopolizing Mamoru and this has always bugged me no matter what version of the story is addressing what should be a stupid throwaway gag. At least Usagi realizes how creepy and weird she’s being. But hey it worked to her advantage in the end… *nudge nudge wink wink.* Mom certainly has no idea where her… 14 year old daughter is! Yay underage sex!
Luckily, eventually, we get out of this strange relationship business and in to the time travel stuff. Luna recalls a door guarded by a single Guardian whom the former Queen warned Luna away from. Chibi-usa decides to finally take Sailor Moon and her friends to the future so they can see what happened first hand. A time portal is opened and the group meets Sailor Pluto, who isn’t happy to see them. In fact she has orders to get rid of anyone trying to time travel. I assume this is to prevent a horrible paradox, which is basically what almost happens.
Chibi-usa stops Pluto with the power of cute, who then allows them to continue on their way, paradox be damned. Upon arrival in the future Sailor Moon and friends witness a post-apocalyptic deathscape which even I have to admit is quite impressive with its corpses and lifeless wasteland. Rather than turn tail and run, even after Chibi-usa passes out from shock, the group advances. They are then immediately attacked by two henchmen from the Black Moon we’ve never seen before.
Yes, Esmeraude makes a move against the good guys and nearly wins. The highlight of the episode has to be the moment where Tuxedo Mask and Venus double team the twins to get out of the bad situation. To bad it was preceded with yet another deus ex machina. They soon arrive in the Crystal Palace to meet with the frozen form of Neo Queen Serenity and her living husband, Chibi-usa’s father. The moment that has driven me mad with anger for years. HOW CAN CHIBI USA NOT RECOGNIZE HER OWN PARENTS IN THE PAST? They haven’t aged, they look identical!
In Summary:
YEARS. Sorry.
Inelegant would be the best way to describe how everything is handled in this episode. A combination of rushed plot points without enough set up (the throwaway bad guys), some strange and unintentionally creepy animation decisions, and too much time spent harping on themes we’ve already dealt with leaves this episode a chaotic mishmash. At least we can stop pretending Chibi-usa isn’t Usagi and Mamoru’s annoying child from the future. Sailor Pluto has failed at her job of preventing time travel, as proof of the Black Moon’s ability to do so effortlessly. Our planetary guardians are terrible at their jobs.
Episode Grade: C
Streamed by: Crunchyroll, Hulu, etc.
Review Equipment: 27” iMac running OS 10.10.1, via Safari 8.0.2, FIOS 15/5 Mbps connection. Your milage may vary.
To be fair, the Black Moon is not using Pluto’s Time Gate, they use their own portal which Pluto has no control over, and Pluto was assigned to that post by Chibiusa’s family (Queen Serenity and Neo Queen Serenity), so perhaps it stands to reason she would make an exception for the crown heir of that family… may be. Be as it way, a time paradox can’t probably make it any worse than it already is in Crystal Tokyo.