See, this is why you should never trust someone who goes around calling themselves “Wiseman.”

While this may have been the calm before the storm, it sure as heck didn’t feel calm, as there were (super uncomfortable) kidnappings, dragons, character deaths, and more creepy villains than you can shake a Moonstick at. With stalkers to the left and evil wizards to the right, Usagi and the gang have got their work cut out for them.

Fortunately, they’ve also got a hologram of 1000-year-old King Mamoru to help them on their way. Yeah, you heard me. A 1000-YEAR-OLD HOLOGRAM KING IN A TUXEDO. And a mask. Times may change, but the gentleman hero never goes out of style.

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Time waits for no man. Good thing Sailor Pluto is no man.

The plot is back with a vengeance this week, as we head down the home stretch of the season. Plots will be laid, times will be traveled, and fores will be shadowed! Are you Sailor Moon Ready for this?!

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It’s dangerous to go alone! Here, take friends!

At first it was bothering me a bit that there were so many episodes this season where the scouts kinda got their butts kicked (last week’s Venus episode especially rankled me), but then I realized with this week’s pair that, insomuch as Sailor Moon R has an ongoing theme, it basically boils down to what Luna tells Artemis this week: “You can’t defeat the enemy alone.”

In other words, characters who try to play the lone wolf (like Chibiusa in the early going, or Artemis for much of this week’s first episode, or pretty much any of our villains) fail pretty spectacularly. It’s only when people trust, draw strength from, and rely on one another that they succeed. Look no further than the Rubeus Finale for a shining example of this, as the two Usas teamed up to win the day while Rubeus went all “party of one” and ended up as a firework. Because just in case we hadn’t already figured it out, Sailor Moon is all about the power of friendship and teamwork.

Well, friendship, teamwork, and Ami being awesome. There’s a lot of that going on, too.

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Man, I’m really gonna miss that breakup subplot—said no one ever.

Juuban’s most famous power couple is back together, everyone’s health is falling apart, and Esmeraude continues to follow the Villain’s Handbook to the very letter. Admittedly not my favorite pair of episodes—while the central story of R is much stronger than that of the first season, I haven’t found a ton of R’s character episodes all that memorable, and that’s pretty much what we’re getting this week. Also, since when has Minako been Usagi 2.0? I kinda feel like they rewrote her character this week, and I’m not a fan of the changes.

But we’ll get to that in due time. First, Usagi and Mamoru need to throw some feelings at each other.

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