A power up and a declaration of war.
What They Say:
“Act.33 INFINITY 7 Transformation – SUPER SAILOR MOON”
Cyprine and Ptilol of the Witches 5 have placed the Sailor Guardians under a spell that causes them to turn against one another. The battle continues to escalate, when suddenly the three Talismans react to Sailor Moon’s strong desire to stop this fight.
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The majority of the start of this episode are reaction shots of the others as Sailor Moon powers up into Super Sailor Moon. That means she gets, in my opinion, her best-looking outfit. The other guardians only get new heart-shaped brooches. After all of the time spent oohing and aahing over the power up and single easy blast defeat of the twin witches lacks the oomph it should.
I’m a little disappointed that the Rainbow Moon Heart Ache attack isn’t very different than Spiral. I know, it’s just an upgraded form of the attack, but I was hoping for something more drastic. (I also happen to think the spinning animation looks incredibly awkward.) Also, it’s kinda weird that the guardians can just fly in this version of the story, but then again they are sort of superheroes.
The outer guardians finally come clean about the powers of the talisman’s they hold after the reaction they had to Sailor Moon’s power up. We get the background on where they were back in the Silver Millennium and about how their duties kept them too far away to act on the disaster befalling the kingdom. As everything fell to ruin magic kicked in, they were summoned in order to summon the last guardian of our solar system, Sailor Saturn. Her one duty? Destroying everything.
They also happen to know that Sailor Saturn has been reborn as Hotaru Tomoe. The fact that the talismans are all in place and the conflict growing, they determine the best course of action is to kill Sailor Saturn before she can awaken and destroy the world. As you can imagine, this plan does not amuse Moon or Chibi-Moon. The outters leave on their own, once again, knowing Moon could never go through with it. Chibi-usa doesn’t wait, she immediately heads for Hotaru leaving the others to chase after.
If Neptune and Uranus wanted to take out Hotaru they really should have done it sooner. By now it’s too late to act. Pharaoh 90’s plan is slowly coming to culmination. Hotaru changes before everyone’s eyes into an adult woman who is very much not Saturn but something else. Something evil. She reaches out and forcefully removes Chibi-usa’s Silver Crystal, leaving the little girl shocked and lifeless in her future parent’s arms.
In Summary:
A few bright moments of levity interrupt an otherwise deadly serious episode of Sailor Moon Crystal. The new transformation and attack lack the splash I was hoping for, but it’ll get the job done. The sins of the past and the danger of awakening the last guardian of the galaxy foretell doom for the present. However, if Sailor Moon trusts in herself she knows that the future should be safe. All of these arguments may be pointless though, as Pharaoh 90’s seed has sprouted into a formidable enemy which strikes at the most venerable among the guardians.
Episode Grade: B +
Streamed by: Viz.com, Crunchyroll, Hulu.
The only correct reaction to learning the cost of renting a penthouse apartment in Tokyo, and losing your deposit from daimon damage.
