And I thought Jack-in-the-boxes were creepy.
recaps
Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 81-82
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?!
Yurikuma Arashi Recap – Episode 7: “The Girl That I Forgot”
Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 79-80
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.
Yurikuma Arashi Recap – Episode 6: “The Moon Girl and the Forest Girl”
A picture book nestled in a memory nestled in a flashback nestled in an episode. Well. Things must be getting serious, then.
Because Yurikuma was becoming just a liiiiittle too straightforward, this week sees us jumping back and forth through time like a Gallifreyan kangaroo. To help keep everything coherent (and avoid clogging this thing with the written version of establishing shots), I’ll be using bolded cues so everyone knows where we are in time. Allons-y!
Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 77-78
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.
Yurikuma Arashi Recap – Episode 5: “I Want to Have You All to Myself”
Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 75-76
A wild Time Lord appears!
The story moves forward a bit and then settles into its next mini-aRc as new (surprisingly likeable) villains take the stage and Chibiusa’s mysterious helper at last introduces herself. Also, cake! And really, what’s not to love about that?
Yurikuma Arashi Recap – Episode 4: “I Can’t Get a Kiss”
And now for something completely different…
Beforethoughts
Yurikuma has been pretty much a nonstop bear-shock horror movie experience from the word “go,” and while I was starting to settle in to that experience and finding ways to not just analyze it, but also kind of like it, I do think that after the Mitsuko Madness of last week we were sorely in need of an episode that offered us a reprieve from the harsh angles, saturated colors, and unrelenting intensity of Arashigaoka Academy. Fortunately Ikuhara must have realized that himself, because this week takes us away from the main story almost entirely and delivers a lovely, melancholy, and at times pretty darn funny fairy tale.
Oh, and speaking of—Ikuhara included a fairy tale in an anime, you guys! Everybody do a shot!
Then grab a chaser and gather ‘round, boys and grrls. It’s story time at the Severance Court.
Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 73-74
Everything’s comin’ up Rubeus!
While Episode 73 was pretty much just me shouting at Chibusa for 25 minutes, I kinda loved Episode 74, partly because we got us some fast-acting karma, but mostly because it did a good job of showing how much Usagi has matured since the series began—heck, it showed how much she’s matured since the end of Season 1, even. Sailor Moon’s character growth is enjoyably realistic, really: People still have their weaknesses and quirks, and they backslide from time to time, but overall these gals are growing up, and Usagi is a prime example of that.
So—who’s ready to shout at Chibusa and storm a spaceshaft with me?
The Josei Next Door 