Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Crystal episode 3

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Or go through it. Same thing.
Post...err...8 I think in terms of anime? I think. I think folks. Don't count me on it. I might be a night owl but my body is like no please lets go to bed instead so we can't keep track of things. Kira, come keep track on your little toes. Or you know....drink my water from my cup when I am not looking because only my water is tasty. Not the water in your dish but my water. We see cat we see. In any event enjoy this slightly late Sailor Moon episode. Episode 3 without all the filler episodes means it is Sailor Mars time. Or you know..Usagi's second girl crush? So many crushes in this show I am surprised the world gets saved with all the moon eyes going on in it.
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Did someone mention fun?!
Episode Summary: Queen Beryl is pretty pissed that her minion Jadeite has failed twice. Clearly he is a loser. He tries to make excuses while his two co-workers of evil Nephrite and a 10 percent more manly Zoisite add to the peanut gallery. They eventually ask what the heck the Silver Crystal is and Queen Beryl gives the most generic answer ever. She then orders Jadeite to kill the Sailor Scouts or else. Elsewhere we see a shrine maiden (Rei) praying and getting weird vibes from a fire. She is then seen saying goodbye to a little girl that often plays at her shrine. Rei watches as the girl runs off to the nearest bus stop. The next day Umino tells all his friends about some mysterious bus that stops nears a shrine at 6 pm everyday...then disappears with the passengers. Everyone is freaked out but Usagi who is busy napping. Luna wakes her up to inform her of a meeting with Ami that will take place at the arcade. The meeting is basically Ami asking Luna what their mission is. Um to find the Princess and protect the Silver Crystal that no one knows where it is DUH. Usagi is busy playing the Sailor V game again and wins a pair of bracelets. She later gives one to Ami. After this most productive meeting Ami invites Usagi to her cram school. When that is a bust she invites the girl at least on the bus to see a really pretty girl that often rides. Since Usagi is not a lesbian this greatly interests her. The pretty girl turns out to be Rei who Usagi openly stares at. When Rei sees Usagi she gets a vision, one that Usagi and Mamoru get about some castle. When Rei gets off at her bus stop Usagi follows with hearts in her eyes. Rei must have gotten a 10 minute head start walking as she is already changed into her robes and having visions in her shrine. She thinks something evil is coming and hears her pet crows having a fit. She chants and throws the doors open, flinging a charm as she does. It hits Usagi square in the face. Rei apologizes and says the crows usually don't act so weird, that they all felt something. Usagi seems to accept this apologize since Rei is pretty. As they introduce themselves they see three women praying near the front. One of the women is the mother of the little girl that Rei was friendly with yesterday. Apparently the kid went missing and the mother thinks Rei might have answers. The two women whisk the mother away, whispering that Rei is a strange girl with mysterious powers. Usagi watches them leave and Rei explains that the nearby stop is the 6 o clock Demon Bus or whatever.
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And all the other missing people too?
The next day at school Usagi is more aware of what other students are saying, that many people have been reported missing due to this bus. Ami and Usagi have an actual meeting to talk about this bus stop and that it needs to be investigated. Luna also thinks that they need to look into Rei as she meets the requirements of the Princess they are looking for. Usagi goes alone to the shrine as Ami is always at cram school. She talks to Luna on the bus until she sees Mamoru and his creepy always around self. She thinks he is in junior high because clearly he is not 17 and in high school. Except that he is. They spend the rest of the bus trip looking at each other and being surrounded by sparkles. By the time Usagi makes it to the shrine the three women are back from yesterday and go from asking Rei for help finding the missing girl to accusing her of making said little girl disappear. When Usagi tries to defend Rei the women accuse Usagi of helping make the kid disappear. Rei makes the women leave and Usagi offers to help find the girl. Rei starts getting emo about her powers and thinks that Usagi should not have anything to do with her anymore. Usagi and Luna then leave accomplishing nothing. Rei goes inside and gets an instant vision of Usagi being kidnapped by Jadeite. Rei panics and runs down the road to warn Usagi only to be kidnapped by Jadeite himself. As Usagi...I guess walks home she sees the bus carrying Rei drive slow mo into a wall. Usagi has the time to transform into a flight attendant before going after said bus. When Usagi jumps Luna falls into Tuxedo Mask's arms and both are left outside...wherever the bus ended up. Luna runs away and Tuxedo Mask is like ERRRP what could be going on. Luna get a hold of Ami and reveals the matching bracelets are really communicators. Jadeite explains his amazing plan to a non believing Nephrite that capturing all these victims will surely lure the Sailor Scouts to him. Jadeite then tries asking out an unconscious Rei. Usagi uses the time to cry and communicate with Ami and Luna. Both girls transform and use the energy of their transformations to transport Ami to this...place. Both girls are like we will punish you in the name of the moon. Jadeite is like aha my plan has worked and quickly side steps Ami's attack. He starts using his own attack to....very slowly freeze Ami and Usagi. Rei wakes up and realizes that Sailor Moon is Usagi because she has eyes. She starts fighting Jadeite because she is a badass with her own powers. Luna throws her a pen and is like transform now. Poof Rei is Sailor Mars. Jadeite waits until Rei is done transforming before he attacks again. But Rei and Usagi combine attacks to send Jadeite running for the hills. Then POOF all the victims are transported outside and the little girl reunites with her mother. Ami and Usagi tell Rei they are happy she is a Sailor Scout with them and Rei seems thrilled to belong to a group now. Luna is like woohoo time to find that Princess and Silver Crystal. At an airport nearby an important looking man arrives carrying something that looks super important. HMMM what could it be? THE END!
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Yay for making new friends!!!!
Woohoo! I watched this episode very recently thus it is very clear in my mind. Unlike all those other episodes that I watched a million years ago. Of course it would make more sense to blog all the other episodes first and then watch new things. But...but...it is Sailor Moon. It has to come first even if I am a million other episodes behind. My first love and all.
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Dude look like a dude now!
First things first. We got to start off the episode with Queen Beryl yelling and bitching. Give me results. It has been TWO episodes now and no Silver Crystal and Sailor Scouts are multiplying! Why can't you predict that these new “enemies” are appearing?! Why can't you find something you have no idea what it is?! Fired. Fired. You know who should be fired? The person who gave Queen Beryl that dress. If she isn't the main baddie in her universe why is she Queen? Anyway some more minions decided to come out of the wood work today to make fun of Jadeite and his two failures. We got Nephrite and his still tragic hairstyle making fun of Jadeite and how he chooses to make evil...without anything to back it up. Then we got Zoisite looking slightly more manly this time around asking the obvious questions. Like um I am going to maybe support Jadeite because if he fails and I have to step up to the plate I have no idea what I am supposed to do either. In true Queen Beryl fashion she explains the Silver Crystal is a crystal with a lot of power. WOW. Thanks. And diamonds are shiny. WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?! 


As all these Kings of Darkness listen to Queen Beryl of Nondetails we met a new person. And because magical girls look different from their real life personalities everyone will be shocked later when this girl turns out to be a Sailor Scout. So shocked indeed. This girl's name is Rei and she works at a local shrine near Usagi. Well I say near but it requires a bus trip and what not. Lots of temples everywhere but I am sure this one is special as Rei the shrine girl actually has mystic powers and isn't some teenager trying to pay her way into college. Or a shopping trip. She senses evil and what not. Maybe she should own a TV though as she sends her little kid friend off on a bus that is clearly on the news about being a demon bus and making things disappear. Her powers aren't that powerful so she can't see exactly what is happening.
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Step one: Don't get on the bus.
Usagi seems to not own a TV either as she never knows what is happening in what looks like a normal size town. Maybe she doesn't need to listen to said news because she has the town gossip as a friend in her classroom? That and naps are super important. This is counterproductive though when the nap is taking place DURING the town gossip's speech on what is currently going on in the town. Being Sailor Moon is hard work though. Anyway Umino is talking about how something creepy is happening in their part of town. Every day at 6 pm if you board a certain bus you are gone for good. It just disappears. A demon bus. Now maybe no one in this town owns a damn TV because hello if everyone disappears at 6pm....stop showing up then! Don't be near the street then. Like how hard is that? This might have worked back in the day but 20 years later and everyone has instant access to news. This would have gotten around. Crazy people. Where are the police?!
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And what is she the princess of exactly?
Luna calls a meeting together for Usagi and Ami. That might be a little much as they go to the same school and nothing really happened at the meeting anyway. Well Usagi did win the communicators so...I guess that was helpful. Maybe she should have won three more. But Luna is still all hush hush about what their mission really is. Like find the Princess and crystal and other scouts. OH OKAY. Let me get on that with such limited information. Perhaps getting Usagi and Ami into shape and teaching them new attacks would be a better use of their time since they are on the defensive in these attacks. Instead we get Usagi playing video games because Luna isn't saying anything new anyway.
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Usagi is creating her own harem here folks.
Ami probably didn't have time for a real meeting anyway since she is cram school queen. It is important she goes every single day otherwise she wouldn't be the super smart student anymore. Life might end as we know it. She invites Usagi along but that was obvious an empty promise. Ami then at least tricks Usagi onto the bus as she promises there is a cute girl who rides the bus too. Um did I miss the memo where Usagi likes girls? I like pretty people as much as the next person but I am not going to go out of my way to pay for a ticket to see someone attractive that is a normal person and the wrong sex of people I am typically interested in. Really it was just a weird way to get Usagi on the bus. It worked obviously and Rei IS pretty. I just feel as if...it was odd and maybe they could have been taking the bus back to a mutual stop for both the girls and Rei just happened to be on.
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So I need to be best friends with her now yes?
Since Usagi is dust in the wind she blows around the most interesting thing she is near. Thus she follows Rei home. And by follows I mean she and Luna must have taken 20 minutes to get from the bus stop to the station to allow Rei to get home, change, and get into a vision having kind of mood. It was a bit eye rolling that Rei assumed that Usagi was...dangerous. We know that Usagi is Sailor Moon so I am guessing she is somewhat powerful and that might be detectable by some but evil? Crows attacking her? A bit much indeed. Usagi is quick to forgive the girl but maybe she be a bit more on asking the questions. Or making herself less noticeable? Like oh you thought I was evil....why? Instead they quickly got distracted by a woman claiming her kid has been missing and it happened near Rei's temple and the demon bus. Surely Rei can help right because she has visions and see things. I know the two other ladies just wanted to help their friend and are worried for the little girl but damn. Can't be asking for favors on one side of your mouth and insulting the girl on the other half. Overall this interaction was very...rushed I believe. Too much going on at once. Might have been easier to just have people disappearing near Rei's temple and going on from there.
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Pay no attention to the girl behind the cat.
Now that Usagi has been made aware of this situation she is able to recognize it is all that anyone in town is talking about. People who have TVs and such. One would assume that the cops could just...oh I don't know, post people at the bus stop at 6 and tell people not to ride that bus AT ALL until things are taken care of. But the people in this town aren't that smart and rather gossip and not take advice. Luna tells Ami and Usagi that they are smart and they got to handle things. Since the bus stop is right next to Rei's temple and nothing else that would be a great place to start. Surely she is connected. Luna has other reasons too, thinking that Rei is either a Scout or a Princess because of the way she is acting. No one else in town is graceful and elegant and mysterious. I say town because no one else in the world can meet these qualifications. XD Ami of course cannot make this investigation meeting because cram school. Usagi chooses to go alone with her talking cat on a different bus and talk about the mission in front of other passengers. This would have been okay if they were sitting next to stupid town people but they were sitting next to the tuxedo wearing guy that seems to be everywhere Usagi and Sailor Moon is. We learn his name folks! Mamoru it is. I think he looks much more...boyish this time around which is good since he is 17 folks!!!!! I do like his casual clothes better in the original anime as the tuxedo look is a bit much for everyday wear. Anyway there are blushy faces and Mamoru wondering why this cat is always around and Usagi is talking to it. Who could be be indeed folks!
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Clearly to feel terrible about yourself.
Since Usagi was slightly distracted by Mamoru and his nonTuxedo wearing self today she didn't make it in time to the shrine to catch Rei as she got out of school. Not that it would matter anyway since Usagi stopped to talk to Ami and Rei gets changed at the speed of fast. Not to mention this has to happen near 6 pm for obvious reasons...man they get out late for school. Anyway by the time Usagi makes it to the shrine Rei is already being yelled at by the mother of the missing girl and her two angry friends. Like look we know you are the neighborhood freak with your powers but now we need you to use them for us. And since your powers are random and not super powerful we will assume you are saying no because you kidnapped the little girl yourself. Right because Rei is kidnapping other random people on a bus. And so is Usagi when she defends Rei. Her logic could have been better (Rei is too pretty to do these things) her heart was in the right place. These people aren't thinking straight and are upset. CALL THE POLICE! Rei is obviously hurt and pushes Usagi away since being around her is dangerous. The girls act really dramatic about it though, as if they were life long friends or even recent friends. They had about a 5 minute conversation yesterday so technically Usagi leaving Rei alone should be easy but it really isn't. Insert sad faces here.


3 seconds after Usagi leaves (because you know how she and Luna were going to investigate the demon bus and maybe Rei being the Princess/Sailor Scout) Rei has a vision. She wasn't lying about not being able to help the little girl though. She gets visions when she gets them so lay off her people. But this time she had a vision about Jadeite kidnapping Usagi. She doesn't know he is a baddie but kidnapping sorta have a universal look so off Rei goes. This lead to her running into the demon bus and Jadeite riding it...without a bus driver uniform. Psht so much for realism. It made a little more sense that Jadeite made Rei come on the bus via mind control verses picking her up at the bus stop. Maybe he did that for everyone and no one after the first couple kidnappings were on purpose. People were being careful and aren't as dumb as I thought.
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But...but...the bus....
So in an attempt to save her 5 minute friend from being kidnapped Rei is taken on the demon bus and driven pass Usagi and Luna who were on their way to investigate said demon bus. They watch in dramatic shock as the bus turns into a building AKA distorted space. The bus must have been driving very slow as Usagi had enough time to change into a flight attendant (to help passengers) and then jump on the bus. SLOW MO guys. While jumping though Usagi loses Luna. Have no fear Stalker Tuxedo Mask is here. Why? What does this have to do with the Silver Crystal? Also why hasn't he put two and two together. The cats look the same. He knows that Sailor Moon can transform now. So...he should know the girl on the bus is Sailor Moon. Unless he is dumb. In the original anime Tuxedo Mask aids the kidnapped victims by driving the bus. It was pretty funny actually. But since we are following the manga it is mainly about the girls and Tuxedo Mask is busy not being important. Not until R anyway.
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This is no time to get involved with your hostage!
As Usagi and her flight attendant self looks for help or an exist we see Nephrite being all bitch assness towards Jadeite. Hommie go get a haircut or something. Jadeite's magical plan all along was to lure the Sailor Scouts here to this magical dungeon that only he and other baddies can get to. Maybe he saw how dumb all the townies were and thought that the girls were just going to hop on the 6pm bus without calling the cops or something. Since he had all the time in the world to sit around and do nothing he took the time to look at Rei and be all creepy. I am drawn to this beautiful girl indeed. Rei just must have something special in her that allows people to lose all reason around her. What a lucky girl. Wake up and kick his ass now.

Things are a bit different from the manga and anime so in this episode Ami was able to use Luna's special computer and the energy of her transforming to get to where Usagi was. Because folks. I am trying to think and I know this happens during the last episode of this season (if there are more). Well not last episode but on the way to the last episode. But other than that the girls get really good at walking. Like a special tool that is quickly forgotten because it is way too powerful. I momentarily forgot about this and I was calling foul on this episode but I was like no this is more like the manga so I recovered. So it was Ami and Usagi against Jadeite. Curse you girls for ruining my plans TWICE and making me look like a chump. I think they needed to lay off Jadeite as he wasn't being a slacker but he was extra mad today so onward he went to killing the Scouts. I wonder if their dead bodies will tell him where or what the Silver Crystal looks like. XD Usagi and Ami try their best to fight Jadeite but since he is a real person and not some pile of clay it was a bit tricky. You know standing there and saying one spell wasn't cutting it. It did cut it when Jadeite used some magic to freeze them so slowly though. Very slowly. Beyond slow. Like um less paying attention to others and more killing and that would be helpful to the baddies. Why do the baddies always have to wait until the heroes are ready to attack?
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I will punch you in the face!
While Usagi and Ami AKA Sailor Moon and Mercury were....well trying to attack Jadeite and losing very slowly Rei began to wake up. And since she has magical powers she could see that Usagi and Sailor Moon looked alike. And since she and Usagi were 5 minute friends she was especially enraged that this was happening. Do not mess with my friends!!! So Rei straight up attacks Jadeite with her bare hands. Bare hands folks! And Jadeite didn't win automatically. I mean he is rather slow on attacking so....that might not be saying much but you would think he could instantly freeze her and call it a day since she was being all normal human on him. But wait? What is that magical talking cat Luna? Rei isn't a normal girl? You have a pen that matches Ami's and you want Rei to have it? What could be happening now?!
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Her speech pose is quite disastrous sadly.
Rei morphs into Sailor Mars. Of course she is a Sailor Scout DUH! Plus she is a fire scout which kinda goes well with fighting against ice Jadeite. She seems to have more powers than the other two. Like she can do things without calling out attacks. She is in fact a mysterious girl after all. I think I kinda like that. Rei acts like she has been a Sailor Scout forever. Given the fact that these girls keep having flashbacks and what not that may be the case. She gets Usagi to help out and together they are able to send Jadeite packing. In the manga Jadeite is actually killed in this chapter but it appears in this episode he runs away as I didn't see Nephrite going all I WILL AVENGE YOU. You know, since the two are bosom buddies. They are so close, this Dark Kingdom business. I am going to assume that Jadeite is still alive though and he will turn up in the next episode. But for all purposes the Sailor Scouts, party of three, won this round.
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You know...pretty!
WOOHOO! There are three Sailor Scouts now. They magically transported all the victims outside including the little girl whose mom needs better friends and all is well. No one seems to question why the three girls are looking much better than the other victims but that is okay. Just stay behind the police tape as the magically transported people get their bearings and everything all situated. Rei seems to be like Ami and hasn't had many friends in her life. Because she is WEIRD and all I suppose. So....yeah she seems okay with this being kidnapped and fighting evil as she gains friends in the meantime. Usagi seems happy because that means there are more targets to get hit when things get bad. KIDDING....maybe. Anyway the girls are like woohoo we are all friends forever. We will certainly find that crystal and stop all the baddies. But next time though. Next time with the airplane and important looking briefcase that must be carrying the crystal yes?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hello @Christina
I read your thoughts about Sailor Moon Crystal episodes #2 & #3, and I find myself disagreeing on a few points.

Episode 2:
I know I criticized Tuxedo Mask for being useless in the original anime, but why was his design lame? Were you expecting them to revamp his character design completely?

Luna might have been working on limited memory so that could be the reason why everything wasn't explained.

I was actually glade they updated from floppy disks to modern computers. I think going VR would have been too futuristic.

Episode 3:
Wasn't Usagi bi-curious in the manga? It would explain her constant crush on every attractive thing in the show.

Jadeite and the other dark kings might have cast a spell on the area. It would explain why no one except the sailor guardians (resistance to magic) could see the bus entering the portal or Jadeite's non-bus driver uniform.

Like Ami, Rei was lonely due to her powers. I think the "five minutes" friendship could be explained by Rei being glad to meet other people like her; it's normal to look for companionship.

Overall: I'm a bit confused about your stance on this remake. Are you truly glad that they are following the manga closely? Or a bit upset that it's not completely like the original anime via fillers? I get the feeling that you're a little disappointed. Could you clarify your opinion a bit more?

Also, here's an awesome music video on the Sailor Moon Crystal opening! :D

It has some spoilers but you probably know about them since you read the manga.
Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0Va228UhRs

That's all