Another episode, another new guardian joins the battle.
What They Say:
Act 5. Makoto – Sailor Jupiter –
All of Juban Middle School is talking about the “cursed bridal shop”, where every men who visits is said to disappear. Just then, a tall girl with superhuman strength, Makoto Kino, transfers to the school!
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
After a short break from gather up the guardians last episode it’s time to introduce the newest member to the team. Back when the original series of Sailor Moon aired, Sailor Jupiter was my favorite out of the group. I think I was enamored with the prospect of smiting enemies with bolts of lightning, and ponytails because I had one at the time.
For Usagi it’s another crush at first sight as she’s knocked out of the way of an oncoming car by Makoto Kino. Makoto has transferred into Usagi and Ami’s school and rumors have followed the tall girl. People assume she was kicked out of her last school for fighting, as she’s quite confident with her physical abilities. Contrasting with her looks is her desire for the more traditionally feminine things in life, and she’s still hung up on her last crush, which is the real reason for leaving her old school.
Usagi, as obsessed with food as always, latches on to Makoto’s lunch right away. Confronted with the first girl to see herself as a girl and not a bully Makoto opens up and the new friendship seems more natural than any that have come before. Of course Luna and Rei notice right away that Makoto is likely the next member of the team and immediately go on guard.
The inevitable attack from the bad guys comes in the form of man-eating mannequins dressed in wedding gowns. Nephrite ends up luring in Motoki with one and using him to lure in Makoto. Mamoru sees this all go down and heads off to retrieve the one person who can put a stop to it.
Yes, Tuxedo Mask knows where Usagi lives at this point. It’s amusing that almost everyone recognizes each other right from the get go in this adaptation. Usagi runs off after Tuxedo Mask, who doesn’t even explain why she might want to follow him. He leads her to Makoto, and Luna summons everyone else to the scene as well.
It’s a bit disheartening to see Makoto easily duped into a depressive slump when Nephrite starts in with his ‘love will end you’ speech. It lasts all of thirty seconds though, as Makoto transforms into Sailor Jupiter without any hinting or helping from Luna beyond being given her transformation pen. This points at Jupiter sensing what she had to do, as she was having the same flashbacks of the Moon Kingdom the other guardians had been having. She easily takes out the monster with both a flower attack and a lightning attack.
Nephrite escapes after a cryptic comment that he recognized the look Jupiter was giving him. This points in only one mostly unexplored plot point for this series to delve into, and it will be interesting to see how they work the kings into the backstory. Hopefully with some level of grace that this series is typically lacking.
At the end of this episode Luna presents Usagi with the moon stick and tells her it’s time to lead. Usagi certainly doesn’t seem prepared to take up the mantle of leader, especially in this version of events.
In Summary:
Makoto leaps into action as Sailor Jupiter, and pushes this quickly paced version of events even further forward. The pacing and execution, along with the animation, seem more solid in this episode compared to previous ones, even if the plot of the villain is typically eye-rolling. This modern update still feels stiff in it’s handling of the humorous elements, it really needs to lighten up. The lack of fun is starting to poke through to the audience, and it’s making this show more boring than it should be.
Episode Grade: B
Streamed by: Crunchyroll or Hulu, take your pick.
Review Equipment: 27” iMac running OS 10.9.2, via Safari 7.0.4, FIOS 15/5 Mbps connection. Your milage may vary.
Why is everyone expecting so much humor from Crystal? If you’ve read the manga, you’d know that while there are a few comedic moments here and there, you really shouldn’t be expecting them. All of the humor from the first anime should stay in the first anime where it belongs. The manga isn’t about that, and neither is Crystal.
So far, I think Crystal has been amazing, with episode 5 being the strongest in animation, writing, pacing, etc.
Why is everyone expecting so much humor from Crystal? If you’ve read the manga, you’d know that while there are a few comedic moments here and there, you really shouldn’t be expecting them. All of the humor from the first anime should stay in the first anime where it belongs. The manga isn’t about that, and neither is Crystal.
So far, I think Crystal has been amazing, with episode 5 being the strongest in animation, writing, pacing, etc.
Interesting factoid: in the manga, Nephrite was killed by Jupiter here, but this obviously didn’t happen, while in the original anime, he was killed before meeting Jupiter. There was speculation that the author had him and Jupiter as lovers in their past lives(this may have been what he remembered when she looked at him) , but didn’t go that route in the manga, so this ep may have been a start to a very complicated relationship between them 😀
Right now they are actively cutting out humorous scenes from the manga, for whatever reason. (Usagi transforming into a groom was obviously cut because it no longer made sense with the message of the episode, but it would have been funny. Then again, that hasn’t stopped them from leaving in complete nonsense so far.) They’re trying to play this story as more serious and straight and it’s not particularly smooth about it…. yet leave in some Usagi antics which are falling flat. That’s why I wish the humor was broader.
I didn’t think any of Usagi’s antics so far have fallen flat. I don’t think they were as outrageous as her antics from the first anime, that’s for sure, but it’s a lot more realistic this way and it fits in with the tone of the show better. Having the more serious story that the manga becomes really clashes with the type of humor you seem to be expecting.
I guess it might be good to point out that while I love all forms of Sailor Moon, the first anime is definitely one of the weaker ones, in my opinion. I never liked Usagi’s outrageous antics in that show, nor did I like how they completely exaggerated her clumsiness and immaturity. In the manga, it’s way more realistic, and her growth/maturation is almost tangible.
Since Takeuchi herself seems to have a lot of input on Crystal, I’d say it’s a possibility that Crystal might become the definitive version of Sailor Moon (though I guess nothing can take that title away from the manga). It’ll definitely become the definitive anime, just as FMA: Brotherhood became the definitive anime version of FMA. Of course that doesn’t mean it’s free from criticism, but I’m more okay with Crystal cutting certain things from the manga since it’s Takeuchi herself giving the go-ahead as opposed to Toei making their own changes during the first anime.
And I don’t see how Usagi disguising herself as a groom is funny…I think it would’ve been awesome! Maybe you and I just have different perspectives on humor and how we both appreciate it.