Sailor Moon Crystal Act 15 Review :: Infiltration, Sailor Mars
Sailor Moon Crystal Act 15, the continuation of the “Black Moon” arc, is a breath of fresh air for the series. Seriously, it’s like Toei has listened to all of our complaints from “Dark Kingdom” and resolved to fix them! Except the animation… that’s still a little shoddy. But we can’t have everything, so let’s dig into what made this episode shine as part of our ongoing reviews of Sailor Moon Crystal! Remember, spoilers ahead, so either watch the episode or get over it.
The episode starts where we left off last time- with this mysterious pink-haired girl holding a gun to Usagi’s head. With Usagi refusing to hand over the Legendary Silver Crystal, her assailant pulls the trigger. Fortunately, it turns out to be a toy gun, and Usagi is unharmed. Though I do wish her reaction was closer to the manga…
Seriously, moments like this are exactly what Crystal is missing.
Instead, we get the typical demure, doll-like response we’ve come to expect on Crystal. No, Usagi’s not lying on the ground, foaming at the mouth like the manga, in Crystal she faints like the delicate lady-flower she is. People can also avail AR-15 Rifles these days online.
But at least we got a little emotion out of it, I guess.
The opening song gets a slight update, replacing Beryl & the shitennou with the Black Moon Clan – our first look at them. Then cut to Prince Demande congratulating Saphir on locating the Legendary Silver Crystal; toasting their success with Rubeus and Esmeraude. Prince Demande calls forth Wiseman, who tells the group that the Silver Crystal must be found and destroyed. Rubeus offers the help of his minions, the Spectre Sisters. It’s Koan who volunteers to attack first, sensing the power to command an control flame from Sailor Mars and wanting to challenge her.
This, I love everything about this.
I have to say, I love everything about this scene. Everything in each character’s design, from their eyes to their posture, personifies evil. The shadowed environment only increases the effect, making it one of the best scenes we’ve seen on Crystal to date.
Back on earth, Usagi has woken from her fainting sequence and both her and Mamoru rush off in search of the “Chibi Usagi.” They find her crying on a swing in a park. Mamoru reaches out to her, asking if he can take her home. As she has no home, the couple bring her to Usagi’s.
Here, Luna greets them, apparently seeing nothing wrong with speaking in front of a strange child. Conveniently, the rest of Usagi’s family assembles on the front lawn, so Chibi-Usa can brainwash them into thinking she lives there. Luna saves Usagi and Mamoru from the spell, but the rest of the Tsukino’s welcome the girl into their home.
Back inside, Usagi demands that Chibi-Usa return her family to normal. The girl petulantly replies that she can’t do that and runs from Usagi’s room. As she exits, Luna catches a glimpse of Chibi-Usa’s necklace, holding a key and something that appears to be the Legendary Silver Crystal. Concerned, she asks Usagi about the whereabouts of the LSC. Usagi’s response makes you swell with pride that Crystal is actually taking character development seriously: She tells Luna that it’s in her brooch as normal, and she’s put a damper on it’s power so that no one should be able to detect it unless she transforms. *Sniff*, they grow up so fast!
The next day, the senshi gather for a scene rarely seen on Crystal: one where the girls chill, hangout, and you actually believe they’re friends! Rei teases Usagi that Chibi-Usa is her illegitimate love child, Ami claims she might be a long-lost sister, and Minako teases Makoto for frequenting the cafe to meet up with Asanuma, a junior high student at Mamoru’s school. Amongst the banter, the girls also get new transformation pens and communicators, and vow to protect Usagi from whatever evil they might face.
We’ll just ignore the obvious animation flaws here and go with, “YAY FRIENDSHIP!”
Later, there’s a carnival at Rei’s school, where Koan launches her attack. The senshi leap into action, and for once don’t get thrown to the ground. Instead they launch attack after attack, taking down Black Moon mannequins, and showing off their overall badassitude. Unfortunately, the same doesn’t go for Mars, who goes head-to-head with Koan, loses, and ends up in a fiery vortex. Fortunately Moon and Mask’s combined powers created the Moon Rod, and Sailor Moon’s new “Moon Princess Halation” attack kills Koan.
At this point I breathes a sigh of relief, as we’re saved an unnecessarily drawn-out plot like the last arc. Looking at you, shitennou.
Koan’s flames don’t end with her demise, however, and Rubeus appears to finish the job. He’s stopped by Prince Demande, who orders Mars be brought to their lair. Rubeus complies, and whisks Mars aboard his UFO.
Recap!
It’s nice to see Crystal stop taking itself so seriously. After the melodrama from the Dark Kingdom arc, it’s refreshing to see the girls be normal girls, Usagi’s less-than-demure fights with Chibi-Usa, and bad guys being actual bad guys. I can’t wait to see more, and if we get more expressions like Rei’s reponse to UFOs, it’s going to be awesome.
