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Sailor Moon Sailor Stars
Oct. 10th, 2013 11:37 amAnd done! (Minus the movies, but I think I'll save those until December since I traditionally rewatch the S movie around Christmas time anyway.) Tomorrow I'll do a wrap-up of the entire series, with a ranking of the twenty-five best episodes and five worst, but for now, let's just focus on Sailor Stars.
Top Ten Favorite Sailor Stars Episodes
Top Ten Favorite Sailor Stars Episodes
1. Episode 181 - Seiya and Usagi's Nervous Date
2. Episodes 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, & 200 - Princess Kakyuu Burns Out! Galaxia on Earth/Countdown to the Destruction of the Galaxy! Sailor Senshi's Final Battle/Ruler of the Galaxy, Galaxia's Threat/Disappearing Stars! The End of Uranus and Neptune/The Light of Hope! Final Battle for the Galaxy/Usagi's Love! The Moonlight Lights up the Galaxy
3. Episodes 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, & 172 - A Nightmare Scatters the Flowers! Return of the Dark Queen/The Awakening of Saturn! The Ten Senshi Come Together/Evil Mirror Under a Curse! Mamoru in a Nightmare Trap/The Fateful Night! The Agony of the Sailor Senshi/For the Sake of Love! Endless Battle in the Dark World/Moon Love Power! The End of the Nightmare
4. Episode 192 - Straight to Your Dream! Idol Minako is Born
5. Episode 184 - Night Between Us! Usagi's Pinch
6. Episode 180 - Brightness of Calling Stars! Haruka and Michiru's Entry into Battle
5. Episode 184 - Night Between Us! Usagi's Pinch
6. Episode 180 - Brightness of Calling Stars! Haruka and Michiru's Entry into Battle
7. Episodes 193 & 194 - The Silver Crystal is Stolen! Princess Kakyuu Appears/Holy War in the Galaxy! Sailor Wars Legend
8. Episode 188 - An Invitation to Terror! Usagi's Night Flight
9. Episode 183 - The Scream of Dead Souls? Terror of a Monster at Camp
10. Episode 185 - Taiki Sings with Excellence! A Song Carries a Believing Hearts Wish
Anyway, my main problem with this episode, besides the crappy animation, is the battle with the MotD. With Usagi not around to give an instant KO, the battle itself is actually pretty intense, which was nice a change of pace. However, I have no idea how the Inners actually expected to win the battle without Sailor Moon's help, especially after Mercury told the Starlights not to kill it. Sure, that's all well and good, but Sailor Moon is the only one with the power to turn the phage back into a human and nobody even thinks to call her! It was only pure luck that Usagi managed to pull out of her funk in time and decided to come check out the tournament after all. That really bugged the heck out of me. (And brings up the question, what happened to their communicators? A few episodes later, for her protection, Usagi is given a whistle that causes Rei to run instantly to her side, despite attending a school several blocks away. As amusing a gag as that was, surely calling Rei on the communicator would have made more sense? I know Pegasus didn't gift them with new communicators when he upgraded their henshin sticks, but I don't see why that should stop them from using their old communicators.)
This was another hard season to pick a "worst episode" for. There are none that are outright terrible, but I'm going to give the Worst Episode of the Season Award for Sailor Stars to Episode 191 - When a Light Butterfly Dances in the Air! Forsight of the New Wave, mainly because it's probably the worst drawn episode in the entire series. Seriously, I'm not one to care much about how well a show is animated, but this episode was just plain ugly. Everyone was off-model for most of the episode, and it it seemed they were being drawn in three or four different styles. The actual plot of the episode was fairly weak as well, which is a shame since the premise of the girls (sans a depressed Usagi) attending an arcade game tournament and cosplaying was actually rather fun. I didn't even mind Ami managing to win the tournament despite never having played the game before since it was established way back in her introductory episode that Ami is just that freakin' good at picking up game mechanics. (Yay for continuity nod and for not letting Ami show off with yet another random never-before-seen talent.) I did think it was strange that Minako got cut in the first round, though, since she and Usagi are the actual "gamers" of the group. (Granted, my opinion of this is probably clouded by the fact that I recently reread Codename: Sailor V, which really shows Minako's love of video games, but even in the anime she showed signs of being a gamer, especially in the third season. Which reminds me, how nice would it have been if Motoki had made a cameo in this episode? I don't think the tournament actually took place at Crown, but it should have. And, boy, I'm getting off topic...)
Anyway, my main problem with this episode, besides the crappy animation, is the battle with the MotD. With Usagi not around to give an instant KO, the battle itself is actually pretty intense, which was nice a change of pace. However, I have no idea how the Inners actually expected to win the battle without Sailor Moon's help, especially after Mercury told the Starlights not to kill it. Sure, that's all well and good, but Sailor Moon is the only one with the power to turn the phage back into a human and nobody even thinks to call her! It was only pure luck that Usagi managed to pull out of her funk in time and decided to come check out the tournament after all. That really bugged the heck out of me. (And brings up the question, what happened to their communicators? A few episodes later, for her protection, Usagi is given a whistle that causes Rei to run instantly to her side, despite attending a school several blocks away. As amusing a gag as that was, surely calling Rei on the communicator would have made more sense? I know Pegasus didn't gift them with new communicators when he upgraded their henshin sticks, but I don't see why that should stop them from using their old communicators.)
