Re: Sailor Moon Crystal 4
Aug. 16th, 2014 09:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
akinoameThank you.
Seriously, I loved this episode. What quite honestly felt like filler in both the manga and the first anime really shone this time, and really for two reasons:
First was building on Usagi and Mamoru's relationship. Like in the manga, by this point, he's learned who she really is, and like in both versions (and I'd imagine in the toku version too), Luna really isn't sure if Usagi should trust him. You see he's drawn to her, and it hasn't changed now that he knows who she is. He's fallen in love with her, just like she's been falling in love with him as Tuxedo Mask. But at the same time, even he isn't sure if he's going to end up fighting her one day. All of that romantic tension leads to an actual dance between them--and a good one, at that. But Luna keeps scaring him off because he knows she doesn't trust him, and she doesn't know how to tell Usagi to keep her guard up around him. Usagi's feelings for Mamoru led to something I'd been waiting to see: the Moon Twilight Flash tiara. It's one of my favorites, partly because I'm a sucker for romance at times, and it's a really awesome design and power. While the anime version of the tiara doesn't look quite as much like a heart--I'd imagine to make it easy on stock footage, like the opening--it's still lovely, and it reflects moonlight into a frickin' laserbeam. The whole episode (and the issue of the manga it's adapted from) is meant to build up to the tiara and to Tuxedo Mask finally just giving into his feelings and kissing her, before having to admit to Luna that he might honestly be their enemy, if they're both after the Silver Crystal. It's funny how less screentime makes me like him more--I think it adds to the sense of mystery he's really supposed to have, it doesn't give him enough opportunities to turn you off by acting like an utter asshole, and when you see that he's just a guy in a tux sneaking around everywhere, it's actually kind of cool. He doesn't have powers. He's in way over his head, so he doesn't try to fight. He's basically using the Senshi to fight the bad guys, and when the time comes, he'll take the Silver Crystal--or so he's telling himself and Luna believes.
The second reason why I really liked this was a major divergence. First, Jadeite survived. I was a little surprised at this because Jadeite always dies. He's going to get incinerated with a tiara and a blast of fire, or he's going to get hit by a plane and then trapped in crystal for all of eternity. Instead, he survived, and...the Four Heavenly Kings stuck together. Where I've always seen them willing to stab each other in the back all the time, here, they're going "Nope, there's magical girls who are getting too close to killing Jadeite. We'd better stick together," and Nephrite's attacking while Jadeite recovers, and they all appear together to the Senshi, giving them the sense that shit's getting real. Loyalty--I love it. It gives me hope that we're going to see all of the Heavenly Kings fight together at some point against the Senshi, probably when Mamoru inevitably gets brainwashed. But I doubt Zoicite and Kunzite's relationship is going to remain, which is a shame, because it really was good in the first anime--the only sense of true emotion among them. And Zoicite was just such a fun character--I love him.
Again, the story is fantastic--it builds on what's already there. Yeah, again, it's irritating when they're saying, "Oh, we need to find the Princess," when it's obvious to anyone with two braincells to rub together who the Princess is, but it's a danger of all adaptations. I'm happy to see that Rei's original personality is intact, and I can't wait to see Makoto next time.
Seriously, I loved this episode. What quite honestly felt like filler in both the manga and the first anime really shone this time, and really for two reasons:
First was building on Usagi and Mamoru's relationship. Like in the manga, by this point, he's learned who she really is, and like in both versions (and I'd imagine in the toku version too), Luna really isn't sure if Usagi should trust him. You see he's drawn to her, and it hasn't changed now that he knows who she is. He's fallen in love with her, just like she's been falling in love with him as Tuxedo Mask. But at the same time, even he isn't sure if he's going to end up fighting her one day. All of that romantic tension leads to an actual dance between them--and a good one, at that. But Luna keeps scaring him off because he knows she doesn't trust him, and she doesn't know how to tell Usagi to keep her guard up around him. Usagi's feelings for Mamoru led to something I'd been waiting to see: the Moon Twilight Flash tiara. It's one of my favorites, partly because I'm a sucker for romance at times, and it's a really awesome design and power. While the anime version of the tiara doesn't look quite as much like a heart--I'd imagine to make it easy on stock footage, like the opening--it's still lovely, and it reflects moonlight into a frickin' laserbeam. The whole episode (and the issue of the manga it's adapted from) is meant to build up to the tiara and to Tuxedo Mask finally just giving into his feelings and kissing her, before having to admit to Luna that he might honestly be their enemy, if they're both after the Silver Crystal. It's funny how less screentime makes me like him more--I think it adds to the sense of mystery he's really supposed to have, it doesn't give him enough opportunities to turn you off by acting like an utter asshole, and when you see that he's just a guy in a tux sneaking around everywhere, it's actually kind of cool. He doesn't have powers. He's in way over his head, so he doesn't try to fight. He's basically using the Senshi to fight the bad guys, and when the time comes, he'll take the Silver Crystal--or so he's telling himself and Luna believes.
The second reason why I really liked this was a major divergence. First, Jadeite survived. I was a little surprised at this because Jadeite always dies. He's going to get incinerated with a tiara and a blast of fire, or he's going to get hit by a plane and then trapped in crystal for all of eternity. Instead, he survived, and...the Four Heavenly Kings stuck together. Where I've always seen them willing to stab each other in the back all the time, here, they're going "Nope, there's magical girls who are getting too close to killing Jadeite. We'd better stick together," and Nephrite's attacking while Jadeite recovers, and they all appear together to the Senshi, giving them the sense that shit's getting real. Loyalty--I love it. It gives me hope that we're going to see all of the Heavenly Kings fight together at some point against the Senshi, probably when Mamoru inevitably gets brainwashed. But I doubt Zoicite and Kunzite's relationship is going to remain, which is a shame, because it really was good in the first anime--the only sense of true emotion among them. And Zoicite was just such a fun character--I love him.
Again, the story is fantastic--it builds on what's already there. Yeah, again, it's irritating when they're saying, "Oh, we need to find the Princess," when it's obvious to anyone with two braincells to rub together who the Princess is, but it's a danger of all adaptations. I'm happy to see that Rei's original personality is intact, and I can't wait to see Makoto next time.