Friend of foe, they ask, yet no one answers.
What They Say:
Episode #31: “Act 30 Infinity 4 “Haruka Tenoh, Michiru Kaioh – Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune” The Sailor Guardians learn that Haruka and Michiru are Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. However, the two do not appear to be interested in working with the other Sailor Guardians.
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
I find it really strange that they chose to change the opening theme vocals at this point. We’re not even halfway through the season, yet the performer was changed. They also added sound effects in a few places. I actually prefer the new vocalist for the opening. However… they changed the ending as well. They replaced the Neptune and Uranus ending with this bizarre, terrible Chibi-usa thing with carnival music and it’s the worst. THE WORST. Combined with the animation taking a dip in this episode and the subtitles being rife with broken English, and it’s a huge downer.
Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus, the guardians of the solar system. Or so says Luna and Artemis, and you’d think they might have thought to mention the existence of other guardians earlier. At least Artemis claims they thought that those guardians hadn’t been reincarnated yet, because it can only mean a great crisis is afoot. Their transformations are almost a shot for shot reanimation of the original series, which I should have expected at this point. They also don’t tell the others that they are working on the same side, which according to the cats they should be. To add injury to insult they attack and flee, only for Haruka to pop back up later and play head games with Usagi once again.
I have to know what excuse Usagi is giving her mother about where she’s spending the nights because I know it can’t be “in my boyfriend’s bed.” Twice during this episode she spends the night at Mamoru’s place. I wonder if the rest of the guardians take turns covering for her? Maybe it’s always Makoto, since she lives alone. Ah, shoujo logic. That same logic also has Chibi-usa conveniently trying to make a model of a chalice, that they’re calling the Holy Grail, which seems oddly specific and also wrong. Gee, I wonder if that might be important later on?
While the group ponders what it going on with the two other guardians, Ami is invited to Mugen because of her stunning grades. This is where the episode finally starts to take off as Ami goes it alone. The witch in charge of luring her in, Viluy, is a genius in her own right and attacks Ami with nanomachines. Because…. nanomachines, son!
Then Ami jumps out a window, base-jumps into the pool five stories below, then bursts back out like the goddamn Kool-aid man, transformed into Sailor Mercury. At this point I had to take a five-minute break because I was laughing so hard. The fun and games end when Ami’s attack doesn’t do much of anything and the backup arrives. That backup includes Mars and Jupiter, whose attacks also don’t do much of anything. It’s only when Uranus jumps in with a very impressive looking Space Sword attack that Viluy is eviscerated and the innocent student body saved yet again.
The real surprise comes at the end of the episode when Motoki is meeting up with his girlfriend after class. They happen to run into a young woman who bears a striking resemblance to a guardian we’ve already met, and lost, Sailor Pluto. How very confusing.
In Summary:
Now that the guardians know they are dealing with two more potential allies, antagonistic ones notwithstanding, they need to figure out exactly what the relationship is between the talismans and the enemy. The quality of animation and scene staging takes a tumble is this episode, and the new ending is unfitting for the mostly serious nature of this story arc. Still, this remains a large improvement for Sailor Moon Crystal. I just hope that it doesn’t falter further once again.
Episode Grade: B
Streamed by: Viz.com, Crunchyroll, Hulu.
Review Equipment: 27” iMac running OS Yosemite, via Safari 9, FIOS connection. Your mileage may vary.
