Sailor Moon Crystal Ep 16 [ You’re a strong woman who- . . .gets kidnapped]

Let’s start off with the problem this arc has- contradiction. I can’t help but point out that until now I’ve been nothing but positive about Crystal sans it’s horrible transformation scenes and found that the story we’re getting is really fun, the arc is really interesting, etc. But two episodes into the big conflict of the series and I’m tremendously bored. As you might have guessed last episode, the theme of this arc is kidnapping the senshi after they get a very detailed episode about their feelings and history.

Let me say this is a big problem. Like a huge one, as in, please stop it show. Please. I cannot emphasize enough how I find it really cool to learn things about the Senshi only to have them all one shot and kidnapped. This is supposed to be a show about strong women who protect the world from it’s struggles, and instead we’re entering an arc where they’re kidnapped. This is not me saying the anime alone must be guilty of this, I am sure the manga did the same thing but I have read neither. I don’t even remember this arc from when I was a kid, so my view of it is purely as a spectator of anime.

And. . .this isn’t cool. It’s not cool to give the senshi episodes showcasing their inner strength, their ressolve, their abilities- only to literally take the victory from them in an instant. With Mars I can believe she got attacked and that ultimately she would end up this way, but come the fuck on. Are you really telling me the girl who just literally out smarted the villain runs after her, knowing full well Mars was captured in a way they couldn’t stop, and just went YOLO once they were threatened? This episode showcases Mercury’s intelligence and wit, and what happens? She gets stupidly caught in a single attack that is once again unable to be broken by Sailor Moon or any of the other Senshi.

This is some class A bullshit right here. No it definitely does not invalidate the entire series and no, I’m not saying the series as a whole suffers for this. I am saying point blank, this episode, the previous, and the next two are going be incredibly tedious and frustrating if all that happens is a Sailor Senshi gets to be really cool, really show off their talents, really excel, really show their friendship and bonds- only to stupidly be one shot.

How do plot points like this even function? How does someone realistically set up an entire arc where the main heroes are captured in such an underwhelming way? This is the series that has shown very clearly earlier and later how brutal it’s willing to be to capture people, Mamoru, Uranus, Neptune, people have been punctured over and over again, died, been revived, turned to crystals, dissinigrated, and the best this series can do is send people of the same elements to choke hold them in such a mcguffin manner that they can’t break free?

I hate abilities that don’t make sense. I hate continuity that will have to be undone in order to make sense. There’s no way this power will be unbreakable or unbeatable in the end, so why is there no way to even touch it now? Not even an inch gives when they’re imprisoned, and Rubeus always seems to just show up and take them back. I’m sorry but they just got a power upgrade and they’re kicking ass in these fights, so the best way to showcase how amazing and powerful they are is to lock them up tight in a magical deus ex machina bubble/flame/zeus lightning bolt/inevitable copy cat love chain bullshit/rose petals/cat hair ?? This is the scouts time to shine, and all their development gets shut down by one shotting them.

Don’t get me wrong, readers, I am very much a fan of this show and thing that if you cut out the bullshit of the last few minutes these episodes would be great additions. But from the way they are presented and the method the show tells it, I’m just not going to enjoy the next month of episodes. It is not fun to admire a set of characters, watch them grow, tear up at their scenes, and then blandly watch them be captured over and over in the most predictable sense.

My god. Mercury is the smart one and she saw Mars being taken away in this unbreakable attack, but she just kind of looks around and stares at the water as it tears through her illusion.

That being said, good points. We see Chibi-usa in a very positive light, one that the story usually doesn’t show her in the original anime. We also see a little bit of her pain, and we feel for Usagi that this mysterious girl is suddenly sympathetic and more deserving of love to everyone in her life. We see what each of the Senshi are feeling and it’s really fun to watch them all expand and show their talents, and given Ami’s mention of a dad we never saw in the original anime, I was really moved by her. We also learned the villains are after Chibi-usa! What a tweest.

Buckle in folks. It’s going to have it’s good points but the endings are going to be sadly predictable, I fear, for the next month of episodes. All I can say is that we will be rewarded by the amazing epic of the only thing I do know about in this arc – black freakin lady. Gonna be worth it, boyz, let’s get through it.

Oki