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What do you get when you cross fall anime season premiere week with fall allergy week? A very fuzzy-headed blogger, turns out. I had a ton to say about Episode 147, but I blazed through 146 to make up for it, and I have exactly nothing of value to add in the opening remarks except “It was a good week and neither episode made me throw my tablet out the window, yay!”

And if you wanna read the SuperSubstance I managed to scratch out before the sinus meds wore off, hit that jump and dive right in!

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Remember that thing I said about Ami episodes a few weeks back? WELP.

Oh hey, lookie there, I mostly enjoyed SuperS this week! Funny how those weeks so often coincide with Ami episodes, innit? And, I mean, anytime Sailor Moon does an episode about artists, it usually ends in a good time. Although it’s always super(S) unpleasant when the show decides to make cracks about Usagi’s weight. For a series that’s usually so good about empowering young women, it has a rough track record when it comes to body image commentary, that’s for darn sure.

Still, most of the events were pleasant enough, although we’re still deep in Filler Territory, meaning there ain’t much to talk about other than what’s in the recaps themselves. So hit the jump and let’s get to it!

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Sometimes I feel like I’m playing Russian Roulette with this season.

Every week I wonder if I’m going to get good SuperS or UGH SuperS, or maybe just plain old meh SuperS. It’s a gamble, and if I lose, the price is… well, a few grouchy words and a large red hand print on my forehead, mostly. It’s a low-stakes game. In some ways I’m grateful for it—I’ve given up on there ever being any plot this season, so the sliding scale of quality keeps things exciting, at least—but I do miss the days when I could just sit down and feel confident that something fun and/or emotional was going to happen.

This week was… not great. It wasn’t even table-flip-worthy, just one-part forgettable and one-part unpleasant. But, on the plus side, it means the word count is a lot shorter, too! So take solace in that, I s’pose. Then hit the jump for a lady who deserves better, and a Fish of whom I expected better.

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Psst, Sailor Moon. Your talent is showing.

These episodes are great examples of how exceptional directors can elevate throwaway or even downright poor material, taking a pair of one-off episodes and filling them with visually exciting shots, angles, sight gags, and character animation. The Showrunners of Sailor Moon Past and Future have pretty much always been around to direct individual episodes, but here we get a back-to-back pair that stand out from the recent run and do a nice job highlighting each person’s strengths.

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