Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Crystal episode 2

So....Sailor Moon is only airing every other week. The 4th one is due to air in 2 days. I am now posting about episode 2. I am a failure as a Sailor Moon fan. In my defense I did download the episodes as soon as they were available and watch them. Does that count for anything? Don't take away my transformation pen!
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WAI THE FLOPPY!!!!!
So for post number 5 of the night have Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Crystal episode 2. WOOHOO Sailor Mercury in the house. Spoilers for computers being super amazing and the best way to teach students.
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What no stickers?!
Episode Summary: Everyone in a classroom watches as their classmate Ami whooshes through a hard looking math problem. Later she gets a perfect on another test. Some of her classmates talk about how all she does is study and never spends time with friends. Ami overhears this and looks sad, especially when Usagi rounds the corner with her parade of friends laughing about bad grades. Elsewhere in the creepy palace of darkness the cackley lady, Queen Beryl, is busy yelling at one of her minions, the blond from last week Jadeite. She is like where is this Silver Crystal, our great ruler has been waiting MINUTES for it. Jadeite promises results and summons another monster from the ground. Usagi has finally made it home but can't nap as Luna is all staring at her. Luna reminds her she needs to find the Princess and the other Scout and defeat the enemy that she can't give Usagi any information about because....that would be no fun. Usagi seems to think battling is hard but having friends would be nice. Especially if it is Tuxedo Mask. Luna has other ideas on who the Scouts will be and goes to her own secret lair to look them up. During school everyone receives their grades on a recent slew of exams and Ami gets a perfect score. Usagi and her friends talk about this with Umino saying Ami attends Crystal Seminar, a prep school to help you get into high school. They talk about this and whether or not Ami is a good person. Ami hears all of this and walks home alone. Usagi also walks home alone sad about her awful grades. She spies Luna nearby and watches as the cat jumps on Ami. Ami happily pets Luna and Usagi decides she must be a good person. She introduces herself to Ami and when Ami hands over Luna she has a vision of the past. Usagi keeps up the friendly act, hoping the girl can teach her how to study one day. She invites her to the arcade and Usagi plays Sailor V while Motoki watches. Usagi goes okay and tells Ami to give it a try. Despite never playing before Ami does really well, beating the all time record. She wins a pen prize for her troubles and Usagi beats he machine until another pen pops out of the poor thing. Ami is acting like this is the best day of her life and is enjoying herself. They agree to refer to each other in a more casual manner but soon Ami has to run as she is late to the Crystal Seminar. Ami arrives and goes to work on her computer. Some fashion victim teacher comes by with the Crystal Seminar DISK and tells Ami to study with it as it will help her become a doctor. Ami agrees and uses said disk...her eyes growing green and the fashion victim teacher all smiling evil.
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Oh snap glowing forehead time.
The next day after school Usagi and friends try to go for ice cream but one of their main friends mutters off about the Crystal Seminar. It is becoming clear more and more people are using this place. Ami is off in the library using her new pen and the disk when Usagi appears, asking if Ami will come to the ice cream store with them. Ami is so happy to be invited but thinks about the fashion victim teacher and says she has to studying harder. She accidentally leaves her Crystal Disk behind while Usagi and Luna think the girl is acting weird. While Usagi is walking home she comes across the Crystal Seminar advertising in the streets about how they use computers to study MOG. Usagi goes to throw her flier away when she hits the random dude who is always wearing a tuxedo in the middle of the day. I wonder what his name is. He thinks he heard Luna talk so off Usagi runs all flustered. Luna and Usagi investigate the disk on her computer which turns out to be the enemy brainwashing people with some creepy voice. This leads them to believe Ami is in dangerous trouble and off they go. They arrive to find the Crystal Seminar guarded by...guards. Luna tells Usagi to use the pen she won at the arcade to transform into someone else. Usagi chooses a doctor so she can make a house call. She runs into the building as the fashion victim teacher is all leering over Ami and her dead green eyes. Fashion victim finds Ami's pen and decides it goes against their plan to suck energy out of students and take over Tokyo and find the Silver Crystal. So special this pen. She throws it and Ami tries to break the brainwashing to save her special pen she shares with Usagi. Usagi in her doctor outfit breaks in and is like haha don't mess with my friend you evil teacher you. She transforms in Sailor Moon while Ami is like friend good. The fashion victim attacks with razor paper and eventually pins Usagi to a wall. Crying her eyes out doesn't affect this new baddie so clearly Usagi is dead. Ami gets all upset that her one and only friend in this world might be squished so she starts to glow blue. Luna is like AHA I knew it Sailor Mercury time. She commands Ami to transform and Ami complies because you listen to talking cats.
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And in those 20 years...Tuxedo Mask still looks lame.
Episode 2 of the new Sailor Moon? Be still my heart. I am not a fan of this every other week schedule though. :( Why do they hates us? Is this some magical ploy to make tons of money and I am just not seeing the point? In any event it was like a game, seeing which one of us on Facebook among my Sailor Moon friends would post the second episode was out first. Like NOOO my episode is still downloading, don't you dare spoil things for me! It is still weird to be blogging about something that to me happened like 20 years ago. Like um everyone already knows what has happened in this episode, why am I doing this again? Because I can folks. Because nostalgia. Because it isn't exactly the same.
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See at this point Usagi already has a few baddies under her Sailor belt but now it is...one.
Even though it is almost the same. The only thing that really isn't the same is the fact that this episode wasn't episode 2 in the original anime. The original anime had many, MANY more filler animes. I think I liked...some of them. In the manga it was BAM BAM Sailor Mars and Mercury right off the bat. In the original anime we get a bit of Usagi being...well herself before she finally gets some help. Which I think sorta works better. Makes it looks like she does need someone else in her life to help as a Scout. To get her back on track. And it gave her a few episodes with her normal friends before they are totally thrown away and forgotten. So yeah SOME filler episodes are great but not an entire arch and what not, friend of the week thing.
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I forgot to take a screenie of Queen Beryl so have a questionable art pic instead.
I think Queen Beryl sucks. I do appreciate that in this anime her position is explained a little better. Well I say that and her position was explained better in the original JAPANESE anime. I have seen every single episode of Sailor Moon but I have seen it more times DUBBED. A tragedy I know. So back in the day Queen Beryl was really acting like the one in charge instead of the middle man. She was second in command of the baddie Universe but she liked to act like she was in charge. But I guess it doesn't matter what version of the show Queen Beryl is in because she is always sounds super vague. Like find the Silver Crystal. Why did you fail at your first attempt? Like um did you see the Silver Crystal there? Oh wait does Jadeite even know what the stupid thing looks like? Yeah he doesn't. Plus some girl was throwing around a tiara killing his mud people. Give the guy a break. What are you doing all day anyway, cackling and waving your hands over your wand? Set your people up for success, not failure.
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How about you explain this Sailor Moon stuff more before you make me commit to it.
Usagi has been Sailor Moon for about 5 minutes and Luna is already on her back. Like bish, it's not like this is Usagi from the original Sailor Moon. This seems to be manga Usagi who isn't...as dumb. Like I would call her a simple, sweet girl instead for a complete ditz who is lucky to be alive in the original manga. So chill Luna. She just got this gig and her friend was attack by a monster that looked like her mother. You are lucky she didn't quit already. It's like Luna went to the Queen Beryl school of explaining things. You are Sailor Moon, find the other scouts, Princess, and crystal NOW. Like um excuse me what is the overall plan here? Princess of what? Scouts of what? What does the crystal look like? Usagi might not be helping my case with her day dreaming about Tuxedo Mask. I would be like um that is a weird super hero outfit Mr. Sitting There Watching My Friend Be Attack dude.
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Clearly life is unfair if your name is not Ami.
So while Luna is researching who might be a Sailor Scout (Ami) Usagi's friends focus on a certain girl in class that always does well on tests (Ami). A total coincidence I am sure. I like how Usagi really has rocks for brains but is nice and wears her heart on her sleeve. She isn't snide or snotty. Umino could have gone that way when talking about Ami. He seems to be the kind of person who would want to be ranked number one in the school and here this genius/rich girl is getting all the glory. But nope Usagi and her friends just talk about how smart the girl is without being TOO catty. They are teenage girls after all. Part of this talk included the Crystal Seminar cram school Ami attends but part of it talks about what kind of person Ami is personally. Ami gets a bit sad as this seems to often be talk in the school. No one wants to approach her so she has no friends which makes her unapproachable. Sad genius is sad.
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Usagi thinks every single girl from here on out is cute. Just an FYI.
Usagi is slowly making her way home as her grades were probably at the bottom of the class when she sees Luna getting ready to jump on Ami. It has to be noted for the rest of the series Usagi is usually seen with Luna, with the cat liking to take a ride on her shoulders. And no one says anything. Like cat in the classroom okay. Cat on a bus okay. Cat in the arcade okay. The cat is just there now folks accept it like anime magic. Anyway Luna jumps on Ami because she is on the hunt for princesses, sailor scouts, and silver crystals so we should start by investigating the people Usagi is currently interested in. Because these things have to be in Japan and no other country. I love cats and if one jumped on me randomly in the street I might have had a moment. Ami seems to take it in stride and pet the silly kitty which gives her brownie points with Usagi and Luna. Loving a cat means you are a good guy duh. This girls Usagi an opening to talk to the girl. Maybe she was feeling....intimidated by the pretty and smart girl and just needed a reason to talk to the girl? I like that she didn't voice one of her reasons for wanting to be friends with Ami, the whole studying thing. It might be nice for Ami to do that but yeah...keep that inside until you are real friends. For now Usagi is all smiles and friendlys.
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I am glad you won a prize but I want one too!
Since Ami was not in a hurry and if she was Steam Roller Usagi is now in the house...it is time for arcade time. Given that there is an arcade on every corner of Japan (at least in the parts we were staying in anyway) Usagi was a bit shock that Ami has never been inside one before and never played a video game before. Maybe that could have been the case 20 years ago but really....really. Ami has never been in before and has never had friends? HMM! Anyway Usagi is nice and seems to want to be friends or can be friends with everyone so she will take this girl under her wing. Or watch as Ami kicks butt at this Sailor V game and win a random prize. I WANT A PEN!!!! I know for a fact you can't really touch the machines like that in Japan so Usagi is rather special herself but hey she won a prize for herself. That 5 minutes of fun really touched Ami's heart but now it really was time to get to cram school. Just being called her proper name by Usagi was enough for her and the hopes of doing this again one day. See ya later friend!
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A COMPUTER?! All fancy with a keyboard and everything?!
Ami makes it to her cram school which is called Crystal Seminar. I think the Sailor Scouts and Luna would have solved these issues a lot faster in the future if they just assumed that anything named Crystal after the baddies moving into town had to do with said baddies. They were not very imaginative were they? Lazy baddies. So back in the year 1239 or whenever this anime first premiered this episode made a bit more sense. In the year 2014...not so much. They are trying to be faithful to the manga and they tried to rework a few lines to make it make sense but Crystal Seminar was....cool because it used computers to study with. REAL COMPUTERS! For every student. Yeah later in the episode Usagi has a laptop guys. So maybe they could have....tweeked a bit of the plot and made it more high tech, like VR kind of study computers to make it make more sense that this was the place to be. But they did get rid of the floppy disk of doom. FLOPPY DISK OF DOOM! Now there is a brainwashing CD. Her Ami, use this magical CD to study with and you will be a doctor one day. Now I will cackle with my super bad wardrobe choices as I make it clear I am the baddie.
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She was so different in the 5 minutes we talked yesterday....
Since shows like this focus on one thing at a time it is no surprise that one of Usagi's friends is suddenly enrolled in Crystal Seminar as well. The place that was super hard and expensive to get into is now able to take on Usagi's friend and later advertise in the street at reduce cost. Again anything popular and new that pops up in Usagi's neighborhood Luna should suspect is the enemy. This friend muttering to herself really doesn't cause Usagi that much cause to worry but hello they were going to get ice cream! Ice cream is way more important than school. Usagi might have heard people whispering about Ami and all the gossip but she really is a sweet girl. She knows the girl is a bit lonely so she goes out of her way to invite Ami to the ice cream date. No talk of helping her study yet, just a gesture of friendship. One point of Usagi. Maybe she should use it as extra credit. She really does need it you know. Ami being the lonely girl she is happily accepts but the nagging voice of her poorly dressed teacher rings in her head. She wants to be a doctor. And at the age of 14 if she doesn't spend every waking minute studying with this special disk who knows what will happen. Since Usagi and Luna have known Ami for 10 minutes they automatically know something is up and must investigate this Crystal Seminar school. Oh look Ami left her disk behind....
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I wouldn't be worried about talking cats as much as your poor fashion sense but you know.
While Ami is being slowly brainwashed by the fashion victim Teacher Usagi and Luna decide to walk out in the open to the Crystal Seminar. Like lala we will just go as is and not wait til nightfall. I know that Usagi is a 14 year old girl with cream puffs for brains but Luna? Also Luna might want to stop talking in public so much. Because when Usagi goes to litter some more with the Crystal Seminar fliers she hits Mr. Tuxedo guy in the face again. It's like he is everywhere now, just like the enemy HMMMM. But since he has ears he heard Luna talking which freaks out Luna and Usagi as they rush home. Home to where Usagi has her own laptop computer and she can investigate the CD on her own. Not too magical and the brainwashing wasn't very well hidden. One would think it would be a bit more subtle and would affect someone over time. Instead it was like welcome to Crystal Seminar GIVE US ENERGY! Time to investigate this more and see poor Ami who surely must be suffering.
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I am sure this makes sense on some level.....
Remember the amazing pen that Usagi “won” when Ami was playing the video game? Well it turns out it is from Luna. Luna has obviously changed this game to give out prizes to her Sailor Scouts because handing them to the girls is way too boring guys. Way too boring indeed. I guess that is a nice change. Especially since Luna is a cat and doesn't have a backpack. This magical pen changes Usagi into anything she wants to be so when she goes undercover she can look totally different. Like she looks different when she is Usagi and then Sailor Moon. TOTALLY different. So to investigate this Crystal Seminar Usagi transforms into a doctor. Because people can literally study to death. Literally. Well in this case that almost happened. All the energy was being sapped out of all the students so technically they did need a doctor. Any other day though it would have been a weird thing to transform into. Also Usagi was a doctor for about 5 seconds and then it was transforming into Sailor Moon time anyways. XD
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Slowly though. Very, very slowly so there will be time to save you.
Before Usagi came to save Ami Ami was trying to save herself. In the original anime Ami stopped using the FLOPPY DISK because writing notes was better for her. In this show she was more brainwashed so the teacher needed a better reason to get all up in her face. Clearly that pen near Ami was keeping her from studying oh okay. Eye rolling. Since that is the magical pen she and Usagi earned together brainwashed Ami tried to retrieve it. Then Usagi and her Sailor Moon self came in to not really save the day. I mean she has been Sailor Moon for 5 seconds. Her screams helped last time but they didn't work on fashion victim baddie. Plus this was a close space and the baddie was able to pin her down pretty fast. It made Usagi look pretty useless but that is something that often happens in Sailor Moon so you know. If only she had an ally. Someone who could help her out. Someone who also got a special pen this episode...
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Her transformation was so amazing it broke my download and I had to go elsewhere for screenies. Take my word for it, it was awesome.
Instead of helping Usagi Luna goes straight to Ami and gets awake enough to realize a talking cat wants her to take a sparkly pen and shout out some weird phrase. Like say this Ami now or your precious friend you made yesterday will die. FRIEND!? I need my friend. So poof Sailor Mercury was born. I love her transformation sequence better than Usagi's if that's possible. Apparently transforming helped Ami get less brainwashed because she was like BAM attack. How do they know these things? I mean we know why but WHY?! She was all confident and amazing and was able to tell Usagi what to do too. WE shall double team this super weak baddie who took way too long to kill Usagi. I mean she was slicing furniture but pinned Usagi to the wall. I would have suggested slicing her too. But either way Ami transformed, saved her precious friend, and Usagi did the finishing blow with her magical tiara. GO TEAM!
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About....what?
I think that was about it. I did forget to mention Tuxedo Mask did come and save Usagi at the last second before she was diced but then it was all about Ami and yay friendships we can do this woohoo! For a girl who was all about studying two minutes ago Ami sure bounced back fast. Like yeah having a friend finally in life is great but now you got to fight evil and all that jazz. It sounds slightly dangerous. So we should...run off into the sunset to plan a meeting? Oh Ami. She is super onboard to get Usagi into an amazing Scout of justice. Luna must be pleased. Until next time! XD

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