On the third and final disk of Sailor Moon Season 1, Part 1, we settle in to a pattern of a sort. Usagi gets involved in a situation – and it takes Sailor Moon to get out of it.
Which leads me to think that if the Generals just stopped targeting Azabu-Juuban, they might have slightly better luck. It’s not like Usagi and the others are gonna hop a train to Akita to deal with a monster outbreak….
This series is not fair to Nephrite at all. Jadeite gets two disks worts of screwing up before he’s decommissioned, and as soon as Nephrite steps up, there’s Zoisite up his nostrils. And then Nephrite does something extra idiotic;, he falls for the normalest girl in the series, Naru. We spend slightly more time on this than you might imagine. Naru is able to see through his glamour almost immediately, which in any other series might indicate that she is meant to be part of the team. But not here. Here, Naru represents the Ur-girl. The non-magical, not-extra stupid, extra-smart, extra-psychic girl, and who, perhaps surprisingly, sees the most clearly.
Tucked in between this drama, we digress for a moment back into the nascent Sailor Moon x Tuxedo Mask romance. For those of us watching Sailor Moon Crystal, which, in taking it’s cue from the manga, is almost single-mindedly focused on their romance, this seems like a small enough nod, in between watching Nephrite struggle against his own idiot Queen, his rivals Zoisite and Kunzite and that damned Sailor Moon.
Ratings:
Art – 4
Story – 6 (Naru and Nephrite actually works better for me than Usgi and Mamoru)
Characters – 6
Yuri – 0 Although we don’t really know what Ami and Rei are up to, as they barely have any screen time ^_^
Service – 1 on principle
Overall – 6
The most ironic episode must surely be the one in which we learn all about how much animators care about making a great anime…even as the already stretched-thin budget of this first season hits a low point. ^_^
Previous Reviews of Sailor Moon, Season 1, Part 1:
Sailor Moon Season 1 Part 1, Disk 1
Sailor Moon Season 1 Part 1, Disk 2
Thanks to Viz Media for the review copy and the chance to revisit old friends. ^_^
I remember Naru and Nephrite. I was drawn in and actually surprised when this developed and that I found myself rooting for them.
“the already stretched-thin budget”… I wonder how many of the spoiled fans of today who are so critical and negative about those seasons even know that, among other things.