Sailor Moon Crystal 12
Dec. 20th, 2014 08:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
heavenly_pearlHmm, some mixed feelings on today's episode, which was almost entirely different from the manga. I'm not sure if I liked it or not.
- I like how Jupiter, who had been unconscious, just came out of nowhere with her attack and planted herself between Sailor Moon and Beryl/Endymion.
- Oh, I forgot Mercury's power to create a subspace. That was pretty cool.
- I did like the flashback of Beryl watching Serenity and Endymion, but it was very similar to the manga, so it would have been nice if we saw a little more.
- Seriously, Beryl's defeat is given to Sailor Moon, not Venus like it was in the manga? Why can't anybody except Usagi do anything awesome? Well, at least Venus got to use the sword to release everybody from Beryl's hair, and the others did at least help distract Beryl while Sailor Moon attacked, but still... That was one of Venus's best moments in the manga.
- Also, why attack Beryl's necklace instead of stabbing her? That was just stupid.
- I was kinda willing to forgive the Venus thing when the shitennou showed back up and the senshi had to fight against them, but while the girls were finally able to reawaken their memories of their true selves, the shitennou were killed (I think?) right after by Metallia. That honestly was fine with me -- I wouldn't have wanted the girls to kill them, knowing that they were just being brainwashed -- until right after when the girls suddenly started sobbing. *rolls eyes* Seriously, they didn't even mention the shitennou in the previous episode, yet we're expected to believe that they're all devasted about their deaths? I could see them in shock and disbelief that everything they did turned out to be in vain, and I wouldn't have even minded if a couple of tears rolled down their cheeks, but that crying just sounded so...fake and unnatural. (And they got over it superfast, too.)
- That being said, I did like that one moment between Venus and Kunzite right before Metallia attacked where they said each other's names. I actually believed that they were two lovers happy to be reunited again. Good job on the seiyuu's part! (It helps that Venus had pretty much been trying to get Kunzite back from the moment she joined the others. If she had been the only one who cried while the others comforted her, that would have been much more believeable. I would have bought that.)
- You know, thinking about it more, this would have been a perfect time to give the sen/shi pairings some actual development. Instead of just showing pretty much the same flashback of the shitennou with Prince Endymion that we saw in Ep. 10 as the shitennou regain their memories, they could have added short flashbacks to romantic moments between them. Imagine Mercury falling asleep in the library while reading and Zoisite covering her with his jacket/cape... Nephrite surprising Jupiter with a bouquet of her favorite roses... Jadeite asking Mars to dance and being rebuffed at first, but someone (either Venus or Princess Serenity) convincing her that dancing isn't against her vows of chastity... The shippy moment in the manga when Venus follows Serenity to Earth and she and Kunzite bond over their troublesome charges... If they had done something like that, then maybe the crying wouldn't have come across as so hackneyed.
- The thing with the watch is a nice allusion to the original anime, where Sailor Moon tries to use the star locket to awaken Endymion's memories.
- I'm not usually one for blood, but I gotta say, the last scene where Sailor Moon strikes Tuxedo Kamen with the sword, then stabs herself probably would have been more effective if we actually saw them bleeding...
Not a great episode, I gotta say. There were small moments I liked here and there, but I REALLY wish it had stuck more to the manga. It's clear that the writers just aren't very good when they try to rewrite things. Next episode is the finale to this arc, and I'm ready for it to be over. I'm hoping that the next arc will be better, since I can't think of any reason why they would have to change anything from the manga (unless they do something really stupid and have the shitennou be resurrected after the final battle).
- I like how Jupiter, who had been unconscious, just came out of nowhere with her attack and planted herself between Sailor Moon and Beryl/Endymion.
- Oh, I forgot Mercury's power to create a subspace. That was pretty cool.
- I did like the flashback of Beryl watching Serenity and Endymion, but it was very similar to the manga, so it would have been nice if we saw a little more.
- Seriously, Beryl's defeat is given to Sailor Moon, not Venus like it was in the manga? Why can't anybody except Usagi do anything awesome? Well, at least Venus got to use the sword to release everybody from Beryl's hair, and the others did at least help distract Beryl while Sailor Moon attacked, but still... That was one of Venus's best moments in the manga.
- Also, why attack Beryl's necklace instead of stabbing her? That was just stupid.
- I was kinda willing to forgive the Venus thing when the shitennou showed back up and the senshi had to fight against them, but while the girls were finally able to reawaken their memories of their true selves, the shitennou were killed (I think?) right after by Metallia. That honestly was fine with me -- I wouldn't have wanted the girls to kill them, knowing that they were just being brainwashed -- until right after when the girls suddenly started sobbing. *rolls eyes* Seriously, they didn't even mention the shitennou in the previous episode, yet we're expected to believe that they're all devasted about their deaths? I could see them in shock and disbelief that everything they did turned out to be in vain, and I wouldn't have even minded if a couple of tears rolled down their cheeks, but that crying just sounded so...fake and unnatural. (And they got over it superfast, too.)
- That being said, I did like that one moment between Venus and Kunzite right before Metallia attacked where they said each other's names. I actually believed that they were two lovers happy to be reunited again. Good job on the seiyuu's part! (It helps that Venus had pretty much been trying to get Kunzite back from the moment she joined the others. If she had been the only one who cried while the others comforted her, that would have been much more believeable. I would have bought that.)
- You know, thinking about it more, this would have been a perfect time to give the sen/shi pairings some actual development. Instead of just showing pretty much the same flashback of the shitennou with Prince Endymion that we saw in Ep. 10 as the shitennou regain their memories, they could have added short flashbacks to romantic moments between them. Imagine Mercury falling asleep in the library while reading and Zoisite covering her with his jacket/cape... Nephrite surprising Jupiter with a bouquet of her favorite roses... Jadeite asking Mars to dance and being rebuffed at first, but someone (either Venus or Princess Serenity) convincing her that dancing isn't against her vows of chastity... The shippy moment in the manga when Venus follows Serenity to Earth and she and Kunzite bond over their troublesome charges... If they had done something like that, then maybe the crying wouldn't have come across as so hackneyed.
- The thing with the watch is a nice allusion to the original anime, where Sailor Moon tries to use the star locket to awaken Endymion's memories.
- I'm not usually one for blood, but I gotta say, the last scene where Sailor Moon strikes Tuxedo Kamen with the sword, then stabs herself probably would have been more effective if we actually saw them bleeding...
Not a great episode, I gotta say. There were small moments I liked here and there, but I REALLY wish it had stuck more to the manga. It's clear that the writers just aren't very good when they try to rewrite things. Next episode is the finale to this arc, and I'm ready for it to be over. I'm hoping that the next arc will be better, since I can't think of any reason why they would have to change anything from the manga (unless they do something really stupid and have the shitennou be resurrected after the final battle).
