Back when SAILOR MOON CRYSTAL first came out, I wrote a piece about how my expectations may have been set a bit too high for the series. Remembering things through the Nostalgia Filter™, I was not particularly enthralled by what I was seeing so much as I was the ideas I knew were going to be at play.
And unfortunately it only got worse. Janky animation, an unclear setting and weird themes made it feel further and further from what I was expecting. This lack of quality is only compounded by the show’s release schedule; when you wait two weeks for a new episode it’s doubly disappointing when it sucks. Especially when the show rarely deviates from the source material, which by the way finished the story over 15 years ago.
== TEASER ==
So it was with jaded expecations that I fired up the latest episode, featuring the introduction of Makoto, AKA Sailor Jupiter. I’m happy to report that things might finally be on track here. I even thought the animation looked solid (transformation sequences notwithstanding, of course).
I was actually surprised to find myself charmed by Usagi behaving like some sort of squirrel and begging for food from Makoto, despite owing her for saving her life twice that day. But Usagi cares about the quiet new transfer student who’s been ostracized by her peers, and befriends her out of a combination of indebtedness, sympathy, and the dumb luck that she’s another Sailor Guardian.
And the Monster of the Week – the Ghost Bride – is a dark reflection of what Makoto went through at her previous school, where her heart was broken when her crush went steady with someone else. A creature of envy, the Ghost Bride harvests the energy of grooms-to-be for Nephrite. The Bride even uses Makoto's current crush Furuhata (also known as Cute Arcade Boy) to entrap her. It’s when Makoto overtakes the Bride, overcoming the loneliness of her heartbreak and accepting her new friends, that she starts majorly kicking ass as Sailor Jupiter.
Oh, and Tuxedo Mask is still a creeper. He appears at Usagi’s window and, without saying so much as a word, beckons her to leave her bed in the middle of the night. That’s… really freaking weird, man. And unfortunately it casts a dark cloud over the next episode, entitled “Tuxedo Mask”.
But for now, I’m feeling much more optimistic about CRYSTAL. I’d feel more optimistic if the show could be delivered once a week, like how JOJO’S BIZARRE ADVENTURE (another show where the source material is long since complete) is, but I’ll take what I can get.
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About the Author
Matt Murphy is a freelance nerd who has contributed to many nerd websites. You can reach him by going to where the light meets the shadow, by sending out zeta-brainwaves or by following him on Twitter @Murphix. |
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