Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Crystal episode 9

I just want you to know out there in the anime world when it came to Sailor Moon episodes I usually watch and mostly blogged the entire episode the day it debuted. Wait is that a word? Anyway I would feel guilty about the other episodes I had set aside for Sailor Moon and then...well you know...this happened. YAY ME!

Knock on wood?

But now that I am almost caught up with everything I can post this episode without feeling guilty. I think anyway. Up now is Sailor Moon cia 2014 episode 9. Spoilers for...not too much happening. Again.

Thanks Liar Face Scout. I remember now.

Episode Summary de Tenchi Style: Mamoru takes a blast from Kunzite that seems to last 5 minutes rather than 5 seconds. During this freefall into Sailor Moon’s lap Mamoru realizes that the Princess he has been looking for all along is Sailor Moon and he is this Endymion person he has dreamed about. He reaches up to touch Usagi…and passes out/dies. All the other Scouts have their shocked faces on as Usagi screams and cries for Mamoru. Suddenly Usagi turns into Princess Serenity as Sailor Venus is just..Sailor Venus. Kunzite waits off to the side as Usagi stares at the broken watch going back in time and she remembers being the moon Princess. Mamoru was Prince Endymion and rules Earth and she fell in love with him despite it being forbidden. Things were okay for about 4 minutes until Queen Metalia told the Earth to rebel and steal the Crystal. This ended with Endymion being slightly stabbed by who will become Queen Beryl. Usagi is upset at the fact that they were reborn to just lose each other and cries her head off. Her tear becomes the Silver Crystal and…it looks like a piece of it enters Mamoru. In the now Queen Metalia and Beryl are like MOG GET THE CRYSTAL! Because you know Kunzite was taking a break from attacking. Minako is like please don’t do this Kunzite!!! He attacks and all the Scouts can do is protect Usagi. Queen Beryl appears and with Kunzite they steal Mamoru and disappear. Usagi scream about a million times for them to give him back. They manage to get Usagi to the arcade hideout as Usagi cries on a strategically place bench. For the THIRD time this episode it is explained (this time to the other Scouts) that Sailor Venus was the decoy and Sailor Moon was the Princess. Everyone served her happily in sparkle land and she fell in love with Endymion the Earth Prince. But then the entire planet of Earth turned against the Moon and Endymion got stabbed. Luna and Artemis were frozen and sent to Earth to aid Usagi when she eventually showed back up. Usagi is like…I want Mamoru back now and passes out. Everyone screams Princess a million times and we get to see what Queen Beryl is doing. She thinks that the Crystal is mostly inside Mamoru now so she is ordering him kept alive. Kunzite is joined by the rest of the Kings who all think Mamoru looks familiar. Kunzite starts to have feelings and pushes them away. Usagi is at home resting which includes having millions of nightmares of Mamoru dying. Luna is in command feeling like she somehow let Usagi down and Artemis cheers her up. Everyone decides they are sad without Usagi so they go and visit their sad friend because clearly that will make them happy. There is a super awkward scene with Usagi glowing like an inch worm thing with her never-ending Princess growing hair. The other Scouts cut and style it back to normal for their Princess and Usagi is like stop with this Princess stuff, I am Usagi. Rei is the first one to agree Usagi should be Usagi. Usagi almost loses her mind at the mention of Mamoru because really was that girl going to cheer up? There is a group hug to comfort Usagi and Luna is like….lets go to the moon. What? Luna decides that all the answers that they are looking for including where the Dark Kingdom are lie at the moon so….yeah everyone decides it is Moon time. Especially Usagi who has her fond memories of the place and is vowing not be a tragic Princess again. But not until next episode. THE END!

Not me Usagi, not me.

WAI FOLKS! Wai indeed! I had the grandest of plans of making this summary only 4 sentences long. That is how it felt to me, this episode. 4 seconds/minutes of new content. So how did I manage to type all of that above? No idea. I am made of crazy and long windedness or something.

Shocked faces for all!

So when we last saw our heroes Kunzite was blasting Sailor Scouts left and right and since Usagi had been flung previously off the tower she wasn’t close to the other girls. She was heading to protect them and Mamoru/Tuxedo Mask was like nope I am going to protect you instead. But since Mamoru is Mamoru and not Daryl Dixon his idea of protection is to take the blast for the girl. To be fair that seems to be a lot of people’s idea for protection as well. Usagi was doing the same thing as well. Personally I rather find a way to hurt the person trying to hurt my friends instead of taking the noble way out. Tuxedo Mask takes the hit and I am going to pretend that he finally remembered who he was as his brain’s dying way of sorting things out. Like oh now I see. All the things that were repressing me and what not have died and my memories are flooding into my brain now, at a useless moment because I am dead and this information might have been better like 5 days ago. Like the kind of death that is so painful you stop feeling pain and enter a dream like state. Only Mamoru was in a memory like state as he reached up to a now heartbroken Sailor Moon.

Kunzite almost killed the Silver Crystal several times over. Actually the whole Dark Kingdom thing...

Kunzite gets an F for bad guying. Or maybe he gets an A. Maybe it is part of bad guy school that you have to allow your enemy/the good guys to have an emotional moment after something happens. Like oh look I have to file my nails. You guys take a moment to cry and regroup. You know, because I am not here to kill you and take home the win or anything. So yeah Usagi got to cry and have her breakdown while everyone looked on. I mean come on the other Scouts and their sudden ability to fly could have fought Kunzite while Usagi had her super sad moment. And dude why was Minako so upset that Tuxedo Mask is hurt? She doesn’t even know him. This is why the original anime is slightly better in that aspect, as there was more time for ALL THE GIRLS to become better friends. But Minako was always last so I guess she still shouldn’t be all OH NO about the situation. She should have been the one to regroup the team better.

The enemy injured one of us? Didn't see that one coming!

So Mamoru got his memories back due to trauma brought on by…you know imminent death. Usagi apparently got her memories back due to trauma brought on by…Mamoru dying in her lap. Like Usagi is known for being a crier that can spark pain and other powers. Maybe I can be a crybaby super hero too since I don’t believe in myself in any other ways. XD But back to the topic at hand. Usagi is screaming and crying and POOF we got some outfit and cosmetic changes. Gone is the crescent moon from Sailor Venus’ head and it goes on Sailor Moon’s. A SHOCKER! Also…Sailor Moon loses her entire uniform and gains a dress. Or as the Sailor Scouts say…her body transforms! She doesn’t change clothes folks, her body changes around the clothes. What does her body change into? Oh I don’t know…the Princess of the Moon Kingdom? Yeah that sounds about right, Sailor Moon being the Moon Princess. And the fact that in Mamoru’s and Usagi’s dream this Princess Serenity looks just like Usagi was missed by both of them. You know… a little too much fog. Anyone could have the same hair gosh!!!!!

I AM SO SHOCKED! Didn't see that coming.

Clearly this show is not about surprises and it couldn’t have been for the audience even if this wasn’t a redo of a 22 year old show. Sometimes Sailor Moon feels very….well for kids despite how mature I think the manga is. Apparently not mature by today’s standards but at the time there was murder and suicide and what not. But then there are other times like where I think this show is geared especially for kids. How could Mamoru and Usagi not question their own obvious dreams. Like we can’t change up anyone’s hair or anything during transformation because how else will the children know?! But yes this is all new to Usagi and it shocks her. All these memories flooded back to her, she being the Princess of the Moon and Mamoru the Prince of Earth. How everything was happy in illegal love land until it wasn’t. So basically Usagi remembered how she lost her love in her previous life just in time to lose him again in this life. I would cry too people.

Don't be such a dumb baddie. Be a smart one!

Only Usagi’s ultimate tears of sorrow (not normal tears) are not just a natural reaction to a horrible situation. No no…maybe Kunzite deserves a medal from both sides. That or Usagi was going to cry out the Silver Crystal anytime after she got her memories back. That was the secret to Sailor Venus’ deception though. The Dark Kingdom might have been accidentally right on trying to get Venus Liar Princess alone if the Princess automatically had the crystal. Of course Kunzite gets his medal taken away now because he was going to KILL Minako instead of making her cry out the crystal so if she had had it….Also there is more medal taking away because Usagi is sitting here crying out the Crystal into her hand and into Mamoru’s dying body with the Scouts quickly moving in to protect Usagi and all the Dark Kingdom can do is kidnap Mamoru? I mean I understand the thinking behind that decision since a piece of the Crystal was just cried into him (in an attempt to keep him alive). But they SEE the object they have been searching for. No doubts, no need for hairbrain schemes. So why not call up ALL THE TROOPS and ALL THEIR MINIONS and get the job done now. Queen Beryl got there instantly, have her transport the other Kings and any mud/clay/stone minions they got laying around and attack all at once. Just BAM all our war. Maybe Beryl might have lost a few troops that way but who cares? She doesn’t? Go all out. Victory is within your grasp. Just….bad guys are stupid.

Look at us being so sneaky!

But Beryl and lone King Kunzite do manage to steal away Mamoru as the rest of the Scouts were too busy protecting Usagi (who was holding Mamoru but details). They leave the crying girl behind despite her holding most of the Crystal in her hand. Because. They take Mamoru back to wherever the Dark Kingdom is hanging out these days and luckily for this dude he has a piece of the Crystal in him. That means he is valuable enough to keep alive. But even then he probably would have been kept alive like a trade. Sailor Moon will want her boyfriend back and returning him one limb at a time might not make this trade happen. So Beryl and Metalia are off going HAHA this is all going according to plan when really they need to be paying attention to the Kings. All the Kings looking at Mamoru like they know him. Something familiar about him. I WONDER WHY. I mean without being spoilery it should be something that Beryl should be aware of. She was the one who stabbed Endymion on the Moon Kingdom. We saw that. So….you know…Beryl needs to be careful. Very careful. For now Kunzite can be in denial and the other Kings can put together Blue’s Clues.

So many new details folks.

While Beryl is gluing Mamoru back together the Scouts get Usagi back to headquarters so their Princess can cry on a random stool in peace. Like there is nothing else in the place with that kind of style. Actually all you see is nothingness and the control panel. Then poof here is some poofy chair. Princesses always need something to throw themselves on and cry. Here in the Scout Land is where we get the THIRD flashback of the episode. To be fair the Scouts weren’t getting these dreams so maybe more of this was a shock to them. It was just a bit much since the audience was being told the whole story all along and in the same episode we get it spoon fed to us for a third time. Like snooze I waited 2 weeks for this? I think I would have liked to see the Scouts asked more questions. I guess there isn’t too much betrayal from Minako since she just joined 2 days ago so her lies were really pointless. Not too much invested in them. I might have asked more about where the Dark Kingdom came from. Like who is behind it and why did they use the Earth to get the Crystal? That might have been a super indirect way. Speaks volumes about their power level. Instead it mainly became about Usagi and Mamoru’s past love and how everyone needs to say the word Princess a million times. That is really going to grate on my nerves. There is a Japanese word for Princess, use it! Usagi of course was not up for any conversation and soon passed herself out because life sucks.

But home doesn't have this random chair. :(

The girls must take Usagi home because she is seen waking up from another nightmare. I say another because…well she says it herself. The enemy has her almost boyfriend/past boyfriend so of course she is going to assume the worse. Not sure what her mother thinks is going on but she has allowed her daughter to stay home from school and have a moment to herself. Usagi has matured in a short amount of time otherwise mom might have assumed Usagi was being sneaky. I am sorta disappointed in Luna not being at the house with Usagi. She is off having her own pout and pity party for some reason. For some reason she seems to think she has let Sailor Moon down? How is that possible? Because she didn’t get her memories back before Minako? She still doesn’t know all that happened. All anyone seems to know (except maybe Minako and Artemis) is the Earth tried to get the Crystal and Endymion died in the process of protecting the Moon and Usagi/Serenity. SO MANY NAMES. They also know that they were successful in sealing the enemy…for a bit but there is more to know. Luna and Artemis got sent to Earth but why would they need to be sent to Earth at all or why is everyone reincarnated? There are a lot of missing puzzle pieces and Luna seems to think her not knowing everything is her fault. Like hmmm how did you let this girl down? If anyone let Usagi down it would be Minako who knew about the other Scouts yet let them grow alone. In any event Artemis and the other Scouts tells Luna to buck up because they are feeling sad without Usagi’s smile so they are going to go visit her now.

Then get back her boyfriend? Because otherwise it is Tears City.

Yeah folks they really said that. I am not sure what crazy world they are living in. Maybe Ami, Makato, and Rei are rusty at having friends but when your happily bubbly friend is down because their boyfriend is maybe dead…you don’t feel bad for yourself because there are no smiles in your life. You need to run and take care of your formerly smiling friend and glue her back together. Like….it sounded insane right? We can’t smile without Usagi around. Well bishes I don’t think going to see Usagi in this state is going to make you smile either. I am guessing she is doing a lot of crying…alone…because you know….she has no friends to support her during this hard time. Can we get some Naru up in here?

I don't even know what this is all about. So creepy.

So the Scouts all showed up after who knows how many days and find Usagi in a state of sadness and hair. That scene was really…..odd with the hair. It didn’t translate well from the manga and Usagi pausing like some crazy glowing statue. Just no. Thankfully the scene moved on pretty fast to Usagi’s tears and everyone handing out hugs because they are super best friends after knowing each other for a month. Plus you know….they knew each other in the now not Moon Kingdom. They can get through this horribleness together. Maybe. Poor Mamoru being kidnapped and all yes? We can get through this because you brought us all together without meaning to and are our dear friend/Princess.

Haven't people been to the moon before? And nothing was there?

Without prompting Luna is like…lets go to the Moon. The girls want to save Mamoru and probably want the missing pieces of the puzzle. So clearly going to a place that no longer exists will unveil those answers. Obviously. Like if they sealed the enemy away so well what the heck happened to this Kingdom and why didn’t the astronauts tell the rest of the planet what they saw? It doesn’t matter though because Luna wants to prove herself to Usagi and take care of her girl. And her girl wants answers and the only place that had the answers is the Moon. So to the Moon they will go. Step aside tragic Princess of five minutes. We are going to hop on a rocket ship and travel at the speed of fast into space. Or you know…hop in their new Sailor Bubble of flyingness and off they will go. Until next time…Moon Pride!