Oh my god they finally did the thing that I’ve wanted but not the most things I wanted. Okay so full disclosure if we get one thing this season the entire fandom will be lost as shit in terms of things we never got: We’re all hoping to see Sailor Saturn’s transformation. But before that I really, really want to see Uranus and Neptune transform. We got one step closer today as we finally saw them use their attacks! All I wanna do is freak out and yell deep submerge over and over. We didn’t even get cool poses but we got to see them introduce themselves and use their attacks and it was cool and I’m excited plz anime give me more Uranus and Neptune and why am I so attracted to Uranus my god she is so cool but Neptune is so cool too she’s like a pristine perfect serious but oh my god they’re so perfect together and feelings and feelings and feelings.
It’s hard to be coherent about this show because it tends to counter my feelings a lot. I felt a lot of this episode what I felt the last: it’s very disappointing to deal with the fact that in this iteration all the villains feel the same, they’re one offs thrown at the Senshi in order to make a point or to win a battle. In the original anime Udial lasted a long time and had a character I actually miss in hindsight. Mimi or Mimette was actually kind of snarky and somewhat second hand embarassing because she was supposed to be trying to compensate for Udial after basically killing her herself. Now there isn’t that level of serious implication or rivalry between the girls or even really many dimensions, because they’re all one offs. That is slightly dissapointing in the same way that the Senshi get: but now the Senshi are all going to remain so they get developments and the villains never will. It is ironic I couldn’t understand the position of detractors wanting more development for the senshi, but it was because I knew the Senshi would remain and grow as characters. I understand the position more for characters who once had more characterization that never will. I’m even worried that Kaolinite’s severe devotion and maturity will simply be devolved into sexy witch boss.
Honestly though, that is the biggest problem. The rest is all stuff we have seen before and stuff we’ve all valued before: Namely, it’s a common theme after the first arc to constantly test Usagi’s devotion, heart, and feelings with multiple people who have some kind of relationship with her. There is always this distance between her and Mamoru after the beginning that is usually conquered somewhere in the episodes, but I haven’t read this part of the manga so who knows. Haruka and Usagi have a tenuous relationship between them where Haruka has kissed her and Usagi has awkward feelings. It’s hard to explain because this isn’t a simple romantic conflict like a typical anime, it’s just .. . .complicated. Sailor Moon loves to show complicated ideas. Haruka is incredibly genderfluid and even to me as a viewer isn’t just a man or a woman. I knew someone once who thought Haruka was better off with men and liked her better as just a ‘tomboy’ but seeing Crystal I see how genuinely misrepresented she was and how incredibly offensive that idea is now: Haruka’s identity is not a tomboy, she is literally the in between. I can’t show you a better example of genderfluid to this date, flawlessly pulling off handsome and beautiful while carrying her own identity weightlessly.
Even ignoring the gender of Haruka, her relationship with Michiru is as cemented as Usagi and Mamoru. Thanks to Chibi-Usa’s existence we know who will end up together: but these trials are important for Usagi’s heart so she can really come into her own and understand the things that make her who she is and her affections what they are. She loves Mamoru to the ends of the Earth, but is she the same girl who would stab herself in the heart if he died? Okay, bad example, this is Sailor Moon that’s probably always a melodramatic yes because destiny. Still, she isn’t the same girl at all because of what love means to her and the way that her reactions grow. At the same time Haruka feels affection for Usagi but isn’t about to be like Michiru this is a nope for me! Meanwhile the show plays on the idea of Michiru and Mamoru having a semi weird relationship bond that seems to bother Usagi in her mind. Deal with yo jealousy girlfriend!
We also covered the issue I had last week: Michiru and Haruka know their weapons are talismans. You know guys if you just communicated Chibi-Usa c…wait a second Pluto is supposed to be dead! So what-…Jeez I’m actually blind on this one. Can’t tell you where things are going next week, but I can tell you for the unfortunate forseeable future we have to deal with one off villains because ..well…really Sailor Moon always had one off villains, they were just monsters of the week. Now we have witches of the week! I’ll stop, I’ll stop, but I’m not going to lie I laughed at my own joke. Here’s hoping for Uranus and Neptune’s transformations soon and the continuation of awesome gender fluid representation because Haruka is so awesome and also my violin girlfriend Michiru yeAS.
On top of it all we got some really nice Hotaru scenes with Chibi-Usa, got to see Venus pull out her own transformation, and got to see more Coconut attacks. Look, I’m not going to lie. I’m a fan of the coconut thing, Jupiter.
Oki