It’s a hectic time in and out of the Moon Kingdom this week.

This would be the week you drop a barrage of plot bombs on me, wouldn’t it, Sailor Moon? It’s not enough that I’ve got Fall anime premiere week, the return of The Legend of Korra, and a mess of family engagements—oh, no, you had to go and add “Moon Kingdom Backstory Episode” to my to-do list, didn’t’cha?

In the interest of getting this sucker out on time (I’ve been trying to make Thursdays my scheduled SM Review day), we’ll be skipping the retrospective and jumping straight into the recaps. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of commentary along the way. Also flashbacks. Sooo many flashbacks.

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This week’s episodes brought to you by: Ferris wheels!

Well, Ferris wheels and misguided martyrdom, anyway. Man, sometimes Sailor Moon just so perfectly captures adolescence, and all the flavors of adolescence, too. Our characters are often dealing with new-found responsibilities—Usagi’s story arc is almost entirely about that—but they’re also learning about empathy and altruism as they struggle to understand and help other people.

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Not all filler is created equal.

In Sailor Moon’s defense, I spent a good portion of this week’s episodes fighting with my tablet, which I was pretty sure was dead (turned out it was just mostly dead), and then with my laptop which for some reason hates taking screenshots. So part of my lukewarm reaction to this week’s episodes probably have to do with the fact that I spent them in a constant state of mild annoyance. (There are also fewer screenshots, for similar reasons.)

That said, this still feels like something of a weak, er… week. It’s pure filler—barring some mild progression from Endymion, there’s no real character or plot development from either of these eps—and while it’s nowhere near as irritating or dull as the filler from when plant Nephrite was in charge, it’s lacking the exuberant silliness or unabashed warmth of SM filler at its best.

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