Sailor Moon Mondays: Sailor Moon S: Episode 109:
Said it before but I will say it again, it is episodes like this that really elevated the season of Super to the highest heights it is known for far and wide. Oh sure, previous seasons certainly have done well with melancholy inevitability but it never been as layered or as complex up to this point. Hakura and Michiru are a really good case study in actually how to do characters with a edge to them but without going into the territory of the absurd. Something that modern anime tends to struggle with immensely. Kill la Kill, Akame Ga Kill and especially Sword Art Online all come to mind in this regard where they have blood and goofy dialog but they lack the emotional content and depth of character to actually pull off the goals they set to accomplish. The first half of this episode is reiterating the themes surrounding the dynamic duo the passion of not only their love but their desire to give up everything and everybody for the sake of the word, the purity of the mission of the heart is apparent and why they desire for another path they believe to be bound by fate to do terrible things for the cause. They are flawed individuals though in spite of how perfect they are casted a good 90 percent of the time since their single mindedness and difference in philosophy cause them to be antagonistic towards the Inners and push them away at the best of times. Such is the case in this episode where strip Sailor Moon of her powers so she will not interfere and I swear one day there is going to be a continuity where the Inners and Outers engage in a full on civil war. At any rate the trap is sprung and the truth is learned and also in spite of trying to repress any and all feelings for the sake of the mission it turns out that Hakura and Michiru are actually human and their innate protective feelings get the better of Michiru and the first talisman is revealed and that leaves Hakura to apologizes a bit to Sailor Moon before showing she was true to her word and sacrifices herself for her mission. Leaving us on a cliffhanger with a transposed Sailor Pluto in civilian guise showing up at god damned last. Right, one of the best episodes of the series and highest recommendation to watch.
Sailor Moon Mondays: Sailor Moon S: Episode 110:
Right, so leaving where the last episode left off, Hakura and Michiru made the ultimate sacrifice for ultimate destiny on as it turns out they pulled a Princess Bride and are only mostly dead for the moment. The Outers quickly go into mourning mode and lose the eye on the prize which leaves Eudial to grab the talisman weapons and make a run for it. After some chasing and some hijinks we have Sailor Moon and Eudial fight in battle that is actually kind of dynamic and interesting since it isn't bound by the usual rules of combat. Also, you know a power up is on the way when the finishing move de jour is actually blocked such is the case here. All seems hopeless until Setsuna appears in full Sailor Pluto regalia and does more in this one episode then she did in the entire R season. I need to rant more about how this show wasted Sailor Pluto all points one day. Anyway, though her deus ex machina talisman powers she revives the fallen and they get their power up for the season the Talisman Weapons and the Holy Grail appears and we get the first instance of of Super Sailor Moon who defeat Eudial but does not kill her outright. In fact, she gets killed by the next point girl Memete in quite frankly a rather cold blooded fashion for something like Sailor Moon actually. Anyway, you would think that all well that ends well but through contrivance Sailor Moon gets tried and everyone decides to instantly declare her not to be the Messiah because the season must continue to the next phase. Overall, not as good as part one but still a damn fine effort and highest recommendation to watch.