Review: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 9 - Serenity - Princess

Tuxedo Mask jumps in the way of Kunzite's attack, meant for Sailor Moon. Tuxedo Mask has a premonition that Sailor Moon is the Princess and that in his past life he was known as Endymion. Sailor Moon begins to cry after the loss of Tuxedo Mask. She finally awakens as Princess Serenity.
From her tears, the Legendary Silver Crystal is formed. The power of the crystal is so strong it begins to bring life back to the planet. A sliver of it falls into Tuxedo Masks body and the crystal loses its light.

Beryl shows up to help Kunzite get the crystal. The senshi fight back to try and prevent it. Beryl's power is too strong and she manages to kidnap Tuxedo Mask. Kunzite and Beryl retreat back to the Dark Kingdom.

Power returns back to the city and the girls return to the command center. Sailor Venus reveals she was a decoy for the real Princess and that she is the leader of the team. Artemis then reveals to the senshi about their past lives and how they protected the Princess. Metallia brainwashed everyone to attack the Princess and Endymion. Everyone had their memories sealed and then were sent into the past to relive their lives and hopefully stop the disaster from happening. Serenity passes out from all of the stress.

Back in the Dark Kingdom, Beryl tries to find a way to get the Silver Crystal again, but this time possibly using Tuxedo Mask in her plan.

Back in Tokyo, Minako, Makoto, Rei, and Ami go to visit Usagi at her house. Usagi's memories have caused her to begin to look more like the Princess as her hair has grown out. The girls help Usagi by fixing her hair back to how it used to look. Usagi worries about becoming someone else after her memories were awoken. The rest of the senshi comfort her and tell her they will help find Endymion. Luna then brings up they need to go to the Moon to see if there are any clues to their past lives that may help them defeat their enemy. Usagi vows to never be a tragic princess again and that they must venture out to the Moon to find the secrets it holds.

Act 9 marks the climax of this story arc. We learn tons of secrets and there is a ton of exposition. Fighting was limited in this episode, as it should be at times cause this isn't a shonen series we are dealing with. I found this episode to be very well handled in terms of pacing. Usagi seemed a bit more of a crybaby in the anime then the manga version, but it made up for it as her character developed a lot over the course of this one episode. One minute she needs to be saved, the next she knows she has to be the Princess who needs to stand up for her future so she can see her love, Endymion again.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 8 - Minako - Sailor V

Sailor V, or Sailor Venus, finally reveals herself to the other girls, along with her very own white cat, Artemis. Artemis then reveals to the girls that she is also the Princess of the Silver Millennium and heir of the Silver Crystal. Now that the five senshi have finally gathered together, Sailor Moon's tiara transforms again. Zoicite, still alive, retreats back to the Dark Kingdom and Tuxedo Mask takes off. Sailor Venus then introduces herself to all of the other girls before powering down to reveal her identity as Aino Minako.

The girls all go back to the Arcade's Command Center where Minako fills everyone in on her adventures solving crime in Tokyo (read the Sailor V Manga for more). She also reveals a bit more information about the Dark Kingdom and that Beryl is really just a pawn and is trying to obtain the crystal for Metallia and how the two of them are responsible for destroying the Silver Millennium. The girls all depart to go home,

Usagi has another dream of a man who looks like Tuxedo Mask fighting people in the Silver Millennium. He keeps yelling out for Princess Serenity, while she yells out for Endymion.

The next day Usagi runs into Mamoru at a park. Mamoru apologizes for not being able to protect her against Zoicite. Usagi tries to return Mamoru's watch, but he tells her to keep it because he still has her handkerchief and they should exchange it during their next meeting.

Back in the Dark Kingdom, Metallia learns that all five senshi have assembled and that they must lure out the Princess. Beryl sends out Kunzite, the last of the four generals. Kunzite immediately sends a message to Minako to go to Tokyo Tower alone or everyone in Tokyo will die. On her way, the other girls run into her and ask if she can hang out, but she refuses and heads to the tower. Kunzite causes an entire city black out, draining all the energy from everyone.

Minako arrives at Tokyo Tower and transforms into Sailor Venus. Sailor Venus attacks Kunzite, but he counters with a much stronger attack. Sailor Venus tells her not to attack, he is not his true self. The other Senshi arrive to help out Sailor Venus. Kunzite attacks the girls, but they counter with their abilities. It doesn't stop Kunzite from trapping Mars, Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury in a bubble, and knocking Sailor Moon off the tower, but Tuxedo Mask arrives just in time to save her. Sailor Moon kisses him for the first time and then goes back into battle with the other senshi to stop Kunzite. As Kunzite is about to give Sailor Moon a final death blow, Tuxedo Mask jumps in front of her.

This episode is surprisingly very much an exact copy of the original chapter. The only difference that I noticed was the senshi originally all go to the tower together. The fight scenes were again exceptionally well done and for the most part, better then the original source material.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 7 - Mamoru Chiba - Tuxedo Mask

Usagi wakes up in Mamoru Chiba's bedroom and finally realizes that he is Tuxedo Mask. Mamoru finally reveals to Usagi why he became Tuxedo Mask as well as why he needs to find the Legendary Silver Crystal because he does not remember his past. He remembers being in an accident as a child, both of his parents perishing, and it is only the Silver Crystal which can help him remember what happened before that. Usagi promises to keep his reasons a secret between them. Usagi leaves Mamoru's apartment to meet back up with Luna.

Back in the Dark Kingdom, Beryl requests an audience with Queen Metallia. Beryl gives Metallia all the energy they have collected so far, but it is not enough. Metallia demands the Silver Crystal. Beryl reveals that the Sailor Senshi who sealed her away in the past are being revived in the present day. Beryl then has a flashback of the day she released Metallia in the past and vows the rest of the senshi will not be revived. She then sends Zoicite out again to look for the Silver Crystal.

Rei is walking home when she notices a strange man walk into her coming out of a video store. She suspects the enemy may be working from this new ship.

The next day at school; Usagi, Ami, and Makoto discuss the possibility of Sailor V being one of the Sailor Senshi. Usagi realizes she accidentally took Mamoru's watch with her when she left his apartment. Mamoru also has the handkerchief from the night of the Masquerade in his possession as well.

Usagi meets up with Naru at the end of the school day to walk home with her, when she finds out that Naru and all of her classmates are all being possessed by a strange DVD. Usagi takes one of the DVDs back to the arcade. Luna and Ami analyze the disk and they learn the enemy is behind this.

Usagi, Makoto, and Rei are all in different parts of town when people begin to riot the streets looking for Sailor Moon. Usagi transforms and uses her Moon Stick to transform a group of her friends back to normal. Zoicite attacks her right after. The other senshi show up but Zoicite is way to fast and strong for them. Just as Sailor Moon is almost beat, Tuxedo Mask arrives and saves her. Tuxedo Mask attacks Zoicite, but he retaliates and knocks back Tuxedo Mask with an energy field. Zoicite is about to throw a huge crystal shard at Sailor Moon when the mysterious warrior from the previous episode shows up. Sailor V finally arrives!

I was very impressed with the overall content of this episode. It wasn't a huge chapter in the manga, so it was able to pull off everything very well. The fight sequences were also presented better in this version then the original manga chapter. My only real complaints were this is the chapter Sailor Moon uses her attack Moon Twilight Flash, which was completely omitted from the episode. Also it should have been the last episode we see Zoicite, but as I said before the anime likes keeping the generals alive longer for some reason.

Rating: 6/10

Review: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 6 - Tuxedo Mask

Sailor Moon receives her new weapon, the Moon Stick, and is declared the leader of the other senshi in their quest to find the Legendary Silver Crystal and the Moon Princess.

Mamoru wakes up from a dream about his past life and the Legendary Silver Crystal. He is also in search of the Princess.

Usagi meets the girls in town on their way to school where thy run into Mamoru. The usual speech begins on how she must be careful. Makoto notices Usagi blushing because she may like him, while Ami notices where he is going to school.

News begins to spread fast about Tuxedo Mask going to be on TV that night to talk about the Silver Crystal. He will try to find as much information as he can this way about the crystal.

Back in the Dark Kingdom, Zoicite and Kunzite watch the chaos gong on in Tokyo. Zoicite has a plan of his own to get both the Crystal and energy. Beryl agrees and sends him out.

Back at the arcade, the girls are discussing what it means if the enemy gets a hold of the Crystal and how much power the Crystal actually possesses. It is revealed that Luna came from the moon to find them and help them locate the Crystal and the Princess and then they will be fully awakened. Luna also tells them not to trust Tuxedo Mask as he is also after the Crystal.

Zoicite appears on TV and explains to the world what the Crystal actually means. He possesses everyone who saw the news feed to look for the Crystal at all cost.

The girls meet back up at the arcade where Luna reveals their secret command center underneath the Sailor V video game. They find the source is at the TV-station. Luna brings up Tuxedo Mask as being the enemy again, which upsets Usagi and she leaves the command center. The rest of the senshi go to the TV-station and confront Zoicite.

Usagi is wandering around town when she almost passes out, but she is rescued by Tuxedo Mask. He apologizes to her about all the mess he has caused them, but he is still looking for the Crystal for his own reasons. Sailor Moon admits she is weak, but she will try her hardest to become stronger and help everyone.

Back at the TV-station, Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury are still battling Zoicite and it seems they are outmatched by his power. Queen Beryl reveals herself to the Senshi as the commander of the Dark Kingdom army. She uses her power on the senshi to distort reality and do even more damage to them. Usagi sees something is going on at the TV-station, and Tuxedo Mask encourages her to transform and help her friends. Usagi transforms into Sailor Moon and arrives in time to fight Beryl. She saves her friends with the power of the Moon Stick. Zoicite jumps in the way of the attack. Beryl flees with Zoicite and Sailor Moon passes out in Tuxedo Masks arms. He carries her away as a mysterious new warrior watches from above.

Usagi wakes up in a bed in a strange room with Tuxedo Masks broken watch next to her. Mamoru enters the room and Usagi finally learns he is Tuxedo Mask.

The only real thing in this episode that was changed was Beryl being the enemy in this episode. In the original manga act, the senshi fight Zoicite. They have what appears to be a moment where Beryl's presence is there during the actual fight, but it was not a physical form. My overall opinion of this episode and act are pretty much the same; it is an important part of the story as we get to see the next general, the command center the senshi will be using the rest of the series, and our characters learning who each other really are, but so much content was thrown together in both versions that it seemed very rushed. I'm not saying I completely hate it as there is a lot of stuff in this episode that didn't even make it into the original anime series, I just wished it could have been broken up into an additional Act within both the anime and the manga versions.




Rating: 5/10

Review: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 5 - Makoto - Sailor Jupiter

The episode begins pretty much the same way as the manga, Usagi almost getting ran over by a car walking to school in the rain, and Makoto coming out of nowhere and saving her.

We then go back to Beryl's lair, where Nephrite asks his master to give him another chance at gathering enemy for their leader. She agrees.

Back at Usagi's school, Usagi and her friends are discussing wedding dresses when Makoto runs into them. Umino tells everyone that Makoto is a transfer student who was kicked out of her last school for her temper and superhuman strength. Everyone begins ignoring her, except for Usagi, who still remembers Makoto for saving her earlier. She sees Makoto eating lunch and joins her (more like asking her for her lunch). Makoto agrees though to have Usagi join her for lunch and the two begin a friendship.We also learn here that Makoto is an amazing cook and that she might be related to the Moon Kingdom as she sees a flash of her past life.

After school Usagi shows Makoto around town, mainly the Arcade, where she is amazing at the Sailor V game. Ami meets up with them and notices this as well. Makoto meets Motoki and she reminisces about a past love she had about someone who looked like him. Motoki tells the girls about a weird rumor about a haunted bridal shop nearby. Usagi and Ami go to check it out, along with Makoto. They overhear a few people passing by about how the mannequins come to life after the store is closed.

The girls then go visit Rei, who has a premonition about Makoto when she sees her with the girls. Makoto doesn't stay long and goes home. Luna tells the girls they should go check out the bridal shop.

Later that night as Motoki is closing up the arcade, the Bridal Ghost shows up and possesses him, The possessed Motoki finds Makoto and hypnotizes her. Mamoru sees this and pursues them as they walk off.

Usagi has a weird dream with Tuxdo Mask coming to her room and pulling her away, however it is not all a dream as Luna sees her fleeing her room. Luna calls Rei and Ami; the three girls end up outside of the bridal shop. The brid ghost shows up on top of the roof and reveals her plan to the girls. Usagi, Ami, and Rei all transform and battle the ghost bride. The ghost bride grabs Makoto and Nephrite shows up. Makoto has a flashback of her and an upperclassman named Kino who said he liked her, but lied and was already in a relationship. Sailor Moon gives a speech of encouragement to Makoto about love. Nephrite attacks them. Makoto breaks free of the ghost bride and learns she is Sailor Jupiter. Makoto transforms and our four Sailor Senshi fight together to eliminate the ghost bride. Nephrite however gets away.

The girls have a reunion that they have finally found Sailor Jupiter. With the four united, Luna gives Sailor Moon the Moon Stick, and declares her the leader of the team.

Overall, this episode has probably the most noticeable changes so far from the original manga. The manga has quite a bit more to do with the Dark Kingdom. We also have an extra transformation sequence in the manga, as Usagi should have used her disguise pen to transform into a groom before confronting the ghost bride. Also the manga had the bridal shop story, but there was no real enemy, except for Nephrite. I feel they added an actual enemy for the senshi to fight because this would have been Nephrite's last episode (made a mistake last review, they killed Nephrite's spirit), but for some reason the Crystal series seems to be extending the four generals lives. We also get our first real glimpse at Zoicite and Kunzite the manga, who were completely absent altogether in the anime version.

Rating: 5/10

Sailor Moon Crystal Dark Kingdom Review Schedule!

So I have laid out a plan for how these episodes will be done. I am currently rewatching all of Sailor Moon Crystal, just to give me a bit of a refresher (which I probably don't need since I have read the manga completely about five times growing up). As of now, I just finished Act 4 - Masquerade - Dance Party, so you should expect something from me later today. So here is what I have planned out for the course of the next couple days!

• 5/13/2015 - Sailor Moon Crystal Act 5 & 6 Review
• 5/14/2015 - Sailor Moon Crystal Act 7 & 8 Review
• 5/15/2015 - Sailor Moon Crystal Act 9, 10, & 11 Review
• 5/16/2015 - Sailor Moon Crystal Act 12 & 13 Review
• 5/17/2015 - Sailor Moon Crystal Act 14 Review

That will conclude the Dark Kingdom Arc of the series. This leaves me with 7 more episodes still to do after, which starts the next Story Arc, Dark Moon. With this much amount of new stuff I have in the works, I may not do any other reviews inbetween since it is technically 9 reviews in 5 days. I may however use the following week to just post random other reviews from other shows I am watching in the meantime before getting back to more Sailor Moon Crystal. 

I'm Back!

Sorry for the extremely long delay in posting pretty much anything. I have been very busy in real life and now I hope to have finally found some time to return to this blog and start posting again. I will be mainly trying to focus on Anime, Manga, and Comic Books solely from now on. I will possibly do a few movie reviews, but it is not guaranteed.

First order of business... I have updated the side bar with current stuff I am currently watching, reading, and will do my best at reviewing! I have made a commitment to do reviews for all of Sailor Moon Crystals - Dark Kingdom series. This will be the remaining episodes up to episode 14, as it is where we transition into the Dark Moon series. If I am up to doing it, I will continue to try and play catch up with the remaining episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal Season 1 and hopefully finish before the season finale in July...

I do not want to only do Sailor Moon stuff, so I will probably throw a few other stuff in there as well. I am trying to rewatch Sword Art Online Aincard, so I may do a review of the individual episodes of that series. There are quite a few other series I want to review as well, but I will not make promises until I fulfill what I am trying to accomplish first.

That is all for now... See you all soon!