Sailor Moon Crystal Ep 23 [ She’s. . .definitely a Lady ]

Today we finally saw the true power of villainy: Being hot enough to steal your own dad. But in all seriousness, we finally saw the true form of the villainess hovering around Wiseman, the very sexy and demure villain calling herself ‘Black Lady’. Yet she was known to everyone else through her true identity: The Rabbit, Chibi-Usa. Chibi-Usa has found a place for herself now, or so she believes, at Wiseman’s side.

What’s significant about this episode to me however is what it shows. In the original anime there were a lot of things I miss that I won’t be getting back: Rei’s cool but almost wanderer type boyfriend, Naru and Nephrite’s romance, some really funny fillers that showed intricate relationships: there is a lot of stuff that the original anime created that many fans of Sailor Moon like ourselves are missing. But let’s be blunt here: The original anime really sucked at showing the love the White Moon Family felt for each other. The dub especially was guilty, but the original itself too showed way too much animosity between Mamoru and Usagi before pulling a bait and switch, and Usagi and Chibi-Usa. . .despite being in the original R arc, don’t convincingly show they care about each other until Sailor Moon Super S.

Nearly a hundred, or more!, antagonistic episodes and we finally saw Usagi and Chibi-Usa would die for each other. But Sailor Moon Crystal? We know Mamoru and Usagi love each other for sure, but this episode we see Usagi feels empty without Chibi-Usa too. For all her brattiness, Usagi was just being a jealous teenage girl adjusting to the sudden realization her boyfriend wasn’t all hers anymore. Once she realized just who was taking her lover from her, she loved that person too.

That’s what Crystal does best, in my opinion. It shows us what the original was TRYING to do, the feelings Naoko was TRYING to convey. I finally felt like these characters actually loved each other even if they gave each other eternal shit. Hell, it shows just where Chibi-Usa gets it and that makes her so much more relate able and fun. And can I just say Chibi-Usa’s dub actor is going to be perfect for the Crystal incarnation? Much hype for that.

This episode was perfect, however. We’ve got 3 more episodes before Season 2 begins and terribly sad things are going to happen in between them. Very importantly we’ve got to see the culmination of Chibi-Usa’s loneliness and how being in the past might have helped her. We also have to. . .I mean. . .she genuinely is trying to sleep with her dad, past incarnation or not. Does she plan to have HERSELF? Is she going to create herself that way? Girl your dad gotta get it on with your mom or you’re in trouble. This is the one plot point I never quite ‘got’. Why him of all people? Couldn’t kidnap the cute arcade part timer?? No, I do get that Mamoru was the only one to truly care about her but- man. . .anime sure is weird.

I’m both excited and terrified. Chibi-Usa has rejected everyone who loves her and become Wiseman’s pawn, ‘Queen of Darkness, Black Lady’ is her new title, and she struts it well with a terrifying aura and extreme sexiness to boot. She now even has Demande and Saphir wrapped up in a basket for Wiseman, and I am just scared. Bad things happen here ya’ll. But I can’t help but love Black Lady in Crystal, finally a very sexy and darker version of her former self. The original anime did that for her, but Crystal’s is. . .yowza. You really aren’t a kid anymore, huh?

In any case, with Mamoru in Chibi-Usa’s dark hands and Wiseman stealing her family, Usagi has to do all she can to remind Chibi-Usa the truth. Meanwhile Neo Queen Serenity lies in wait to aid Sailor Moon in her time of need.. . but is that enough?

Oki