Sailor Moon Crystal Season III ep 10 [Outer Senshi Bonding]

Sailor Moon Crystal has finally taken a divergence from the original anime that is so distinct it is worth talking about. The major reason that Sailor Moon Crystal was different was the manner of which it condensed the premise, mostly taking away a good deal  of content. To date the differences have been aplenty but none quite as distinct as what we received in this arc and primarily this episode. The original anime of Sailor Moon featured an almost unidentifiable set of characters and villains, and this episode is a very good time to discuss how Crystal holds up and compares to the original anime take on the Death Busters arc. Not to mention well, we get an outer Senshi field trip with Sailor Moon! Beat that slightly antagonistic original Haruka!

The Senshi are still fighting their way through the maze of the school in hopes of finding Chibi-Usa. They decide to split up, which is always the worst idea, and Sailor Moon goes with the Outer Senshi. Now, theoretically I understand they wanted to split it four and four, but the Outer Senshi are acknowledged as having powers far beyond the Inner Senshi. If you take away Sailor Moon then the Inner Senshi lack a complete power base. It’s not that they’re helpless, its that the power levels just don’t match up. (Insert cool Dragon Ball Z reference here.)In any case, the point was clearly to put the outer Senshi with Sailor Moon as they spend the time connecting with her and reminding her they were all alone for the longest of times- and their only light of hope was Sailor Moon.

Think about that, they were never together at all. That means Uranus and Neptune, despite their legendary love, never get to see each other or be together. I wish the show really touched on how that effects them and what they’re going through because a lot of what Crystal is is how everything has touched them around Usagi. Think about it, in the original anime the focus was kind of on everyone and what influences them. Uranus and Neptune have no idea where the talismans are and do their best to find them, even being willing to die themselves. When Eudial of the original anime figures out its them, she tortures them and forces them to watch each other be victimized as she aspires to kill them and take their talismans. We could see in that moment their genuine love for each other and it was soul clenching.

The original anime also showed a lot of scenes for every one of the inner senshi and what drove them and that was good. Crystal isn’t bad in what it does, but it definitely doesn’t show the same. Why not? Because Sailor Moon is actually the heroine. In the original anime Sailor Moon would sometimes feel whiney, petulant, and have to work very hard at the end of the season to show she was not just a gag. In many episodes she would just run around squealing at an enemy until finally taking it out, being clumsy to a fault. This Sailor Moon? She jumps and dodges, is the hope of all her loyal servants, and genuinely seems like she could be the ruler of a future utopia.

If you want to watch an anime about all of the senshi that genuinely explores what they do then the original is more for you. Crystal was created to be exactly what Naoko wrote, a story of Usagi, future ruler of the world who brings all her friends together with her love and kindness. She may lack book smarts and she may be over sensitive, but she has the passion and capacity to truly be Sailor Moon. Now, I will back up to say I think that the Senshi all get developed in this series. But the way they get developed is ultimately in relation to Usagi. Haruka desperately wants to fight by her side, and Neptune does as well. Pluto has been serving at the time door forever and even loves Mamoru, but she loves and admires Usagi all the same.

Even though all of the Senshi can be incredibly selfish in some ways, none of them hate Usagi or lack admiration for her. The reason Rei and Usagi had problems in the original anime seemed to stem from girlish tsundere feelings, but this Usagi is so kind and loving that I think even original anime Rei would be inspired to be devoted to her. Simply put: Crystal Season 3 has been showing us repeatedly that everyone loving Usagi and being by her side is the function of the show. In the original anime Haruka spends the whole season badgering her, belittling her, excluding her, and even stealing her broach so she couldn’t interfere. Does that sound like the same Haruka? It definitely isn’t. The original anime had scenes where everyone had to give their power to Usagi, but Crystal makes a lot more sense as to why. Despite everything, all the senshi love her and the hope she represents. And you have to give Usagi this: out of all the awe inspiring beautiful rulers in anime, she literally gives everyone eternal life and happiness. They have a legitimate reason to be cool with that.

This episode also puts into the spotlight the differences in the death busters of this anime and before. We see Professor Tomoe has always been self serving, capitalizing on his daughter’s own suffering in order to make a ‘perfect human’. He has no love in his heart but instead self obsession, which makes me okay with his ultimate fate. Death Busters is an altogether different arc than the one shown in the original anime, and that’s okay. I will say a few things however: it is slightly tiring to see the premise essentially always be “Lets steal the legendary silver crystal!”. At this point I want to throw rocks at people. Chibi Usa has been the victim of this twice, Usagi once, and all their problems would be solved if they had a good way to protect that thing. Install it in your chest cavity like Iron Man! Or become mecha magical girls! Problem solved! Then again the original anime also ran into a problem because they did not go with this premise. There was always a new power the villain wanted every season and because it was supposed to be a more powerful source than what they’d know, Sailor Moon was always weaker and had to be upgraded. In fact, Sailor Moon is notoriously weak in the original anime. If I had to pick a Sailor Moon to defend me, it would be the one who made the Holy Grail with her feelings.

Ultimately, Crystal Season 3 has made Crystal what it was meant to be: a separate but successful entity. I can’t fault it for its differences and I’m glad to see things change. That being said, I think thanks to this new season the shows work together the best. Each fulfills something the other lacks in. I think Crystal’s plots are simpler and Sailor Moon is definitely a much stronger and more sympathetic heroine. In the original Usagi and Mamoru’s love was much harder to see, but in Crystal it is the foundation of everything that happens, and furthermore her love for her daughter is just as powerful. They’re really a family, and that’s nice to see. So lets just label Crystal: everyone loves Usagi and Usagi loves them wow though Mistress 9 is super hot 10/10 would base my artistic career off of again.

Oki