We’re almost done with the Infinity arc of Sailor Moon Crystal. The latest episode aired on Japanese TV on Monday June 20th at 11pm Japan Standard Time and was available to stream immediately afterwards starting at 10:30am Eastern Time on Crunchyroll, Neon Alley and Hulu. Act 37, Infinity 11 – Infinite – Judge, is all about the appearance of Sailor Saturn! This was a long time coming. More on that later in the review!
The episode starts out with a ton of repeated footage. This happens occasionally as the first scene repeats the last few seconds of the last episode but it was for two and a half minutes this week! This is a build up to a new attack, the Rainbow Double Moon Heart Ache, performed simultaneously by Super Sailor Moon and Super Sailor Chibi Moon. Another new attack! Too bad it doesn’t do much but feed Mistress 9!
Mistress 9 merges with Pharaoh 90 which is kinky and sort of terrible. It’s not really clear what this does instead of just making the gang fight Pharaoh 90 now. We didn’t really see what he was capable of before this. The two grow and grow with power the more they get attacked. It absorbs power so we need to really give it a lot more power to kill it! I guess that makes some kind of sense. Sailor Moon doesn’t often distinguish between energy helping and nourishing something and destroying it. A source of electricity can power a building but if you stick your tongue on it you might end up electrocuted! So everyone joins in and attacks. We even get Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber which is always fun.
This isn’t working, and Sailor Moon decides she needs to take the Holy Grail right into the belly of the beast and release it. She smiles to her friends and dives in. There’s something so inspiring and tragic about this look she gives. She knows what she has to do and doesn’t hesitate. As far as we can tell she dies in there.
Sailor Saturn. At long last. I don’t hide that Sailor Mars has always been my favourite but I also have a fondness for Sailor Saturn. Unfortunately we see so little of her in the original anime that we are always left wanting to see more of her! No transformation sequence, very few attacks. Now is the time for that to change! Finally Sailor Saturn in Sailor Moon Crystal! We don’t really get a transformation sequence, but what we see is like the tail end of one. This was more than I expected so I’m happy to see it! Sailor Saturn looks so bad ass and I love her attitude. She’s come to destroy the world and doesn’t seem to be concerned with the mild inconvenience this may cause for everyone around!
Sailor Saturn makes an interesting comment. She says that history is twisted. She insinuates that Hotaru should have died during her accident, but was allowed to survive as a cyborg which somehow seems to have been a fundamental change to the timeline. What is that about? Did something happen here that went against the causal fabric of the universe? I’m a determinist so as far as I see it things are playing out the way they always would have and always will. The one thing which could interfere with this of course is time travel, as we had last season, but that does not apply here. What order of events led to the lab accident which would have lead to Hotaru’s death but did not lead to Professor Tomoe resurrecting his daughter as a cyborg? These two events are linked. The Death Busters showed up afterwards. Is that some sort of unaccounted for outside influence? Saturn states that Professor Tomoe attracted the Death Busters. Why does Professor Tomoe go against the causal fabric of the universe? Does he and only he have free will, while the rest of the inhabitants of the Earth do not?
Sailor Saturn mentions that what drew the Death Busters to this area was also that it was the chosen land. This area would be where the Crystal Palace would be in the future. During the Black Moon story arc I mentioned how it was interesting that images of Tokyo Bay seemed to show the palace on reclaimed land that seemed to be a new island in the bay. Since Mugen Academy and the surrounding area was built on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay, this seems to add up! This specific placement of the Crystal Palace was not originally included in the manga version of Crystal Tokyo but it actually aligned itself well with what was mentioned here, a tie which I did not think of until rereading this chapter recently.
Another new attack with a questionable name! Sailor Saturn uses Death Reborn Revolution but it is referred to as Death Ribbon Revolution. The two names sound so alike that one can easily see how they might get confused. Additionally this attack uses a bunch of ribbons to destroy the world! A SuperS fighting game has an attack Death Ribbon Revolution. Is this meant to be the same attack or something different with an almost identical name? I tend to think this all has to do with inconsistent interpretations of this move and how it should be spelled in Japanese kana and then translated back into English. That said I do believe that the correct name should be Death Reborn Revolution.
And so Sailor Saturn destroys the world. What a great way to end the episode! Sailor Moon is lost, probably dead, and Sailor Saturn just used her attack which destroys the planet. Fade to white, just like Total Recall. Series finale! Thanks for watching! If you enjoyed this program you should watch 48 and a half episodes of the live action series now!
I kid of course. Next week is Act 38, Infinity 12 – Infinite – Journey. How to survive an attack which really should destroy the world without destroying the world! Next week’s episode will be the last for a while but hopefully not the last ever!
Keep reading for more screenshots from this episode and the next episode preview for Act 38.
Possibly Related Posts
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Watch Sailor Moon Crystal Act 37, Infinity 11 – Infinite – Judge, June 20th at 10:30am Eastern Time -
Sailor Moon Crystal Act 36, Infinity 10 – Infinite – Upper Atmosphere, review -
Sailor Moon Crystal Act 35, Infinity 9 – Infinite Labyrinth 2, review -
Watch Sailor Moon Crystal Act 35, Infinity 9 – Infinite Labyrinth 2, Monday June 6th starting at 10:30am Eastern Time -
Watch Sailor Moon Crystal Act 34, Infinity 8 – Infinite Labyrinth 1, Monday May 30th at 10:30am Eastern Time
I loved how Sailor Moon was in this episode. I’ve never watched the whole 90’s Sailor Moon but I’ve always felt that this kind of determination to save everyone else at the cost of your own life was somehow missing there, at least most of the time. I love how in the manga and now in Crystal Sailor Moon is strong and somehow shining and not just some annoying crybaby. That “strenght of heart” (let’s call it that now) is what makes me love Sailor Moon so much despite of all its mistakes and shortcomes. And I loved when Chibi-Usa calles Usa “Mama”. She is so far from the brat from 90’s. ^-^
In my opinion the animation was quite nice this episode exept that there was quite a lot of flashbacks and reused scenes. Sort of annoying. Someone should count how much of this episode we had already “seen”. -_-
I don’t know what you’re talking about at all. 90s Sailor Moon had even more strength of character and determination then her manga counterpart. This is really the first time Sailor Moon has been like this straight up in the manga/Crystal, while in the anime she had done this many times.
Compare Dark Kingdom’s finale. Sailor Moon in the manga/Crystal commits suicide because “omg boyfriend dead” and only decides to fight back after ALL her friends die and she confirms that her boyfriend isn’t really dead after all and he talks her through the entire fight. 90s Sailor Moon watches as her friends sacrifice their life for her one by one, watches her boyfriend be killed in her arms and stands up and fights by herself, even refusing to kiss Mamoru goodbye because she thinks it would be unfair on her friends that never got the chance to say goodbye to their loved ones. Can you imagine the Manga’s Dark Kingdom/Black Moon Sailor Moon EVER not making everything about Mamoru?
And God, look at the equivalent scene in the anime. Look at that determination and power. She will do ANYTHING to protect her friends, even Sailor Saturn who she just met. Her determination forces a Super transformation even without the Holy Grail! Definitely equal to her sacrifice in the equivalent manga scene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdhF8VHey6A
It confuses me that so many people remember 90s Sailor Moon as a weaker character then the manga. She could be immature and a crybaby, but my God she was fierce and powerful when she needed to be. And consistently so, too. She was just a layered character.
Not to say this scene wasn’t fantastic. Definitely one of my favourite Usagi moments in Sailor Moon history. “It’s my turn to save them” is a great line. It truly shows how much Naoko grew as a writer from the Dark Kingdom Finale to the Infinity finale. Sailor Moon is no longer a weak girl who’s life completely revolves around her boyfriend, she is a powerful hero that looks to her friends for strength and protects them as much as they protect her.
dose anyone know If they are going into the dream arc after this one or no
I fucking hope so, but I read somewhere from someone who had access to the TV guide in Japan (Nico Nico I believe)and they said that a show called “Danganronpan 3l” will be airing at the time Sailor Moon Crystal airs.
This sucks cause I’ll go back to hating Monday’s again lol but shit if Toei needs a break to proud good quality art and animation, then please take a break.
Chibiusa calling Sailor Moon mama was a great touch. They act like sisters most of the time but when things are really serious and all is on the line, they are like mother and daughter.
That “Mama!” is really intense.
It was definitely an emotional episode.
The feels!
I admit I was teary-eyed during the scene where Sailor Moon dives into Pharaoh 90. The voice acting was spot on.
The flashbacks are a bit annoying, considering how short the episodes are already. I suppose they were just trying to fill time.
Have we had confirmation that this is the series is going on hiatus or is that speculation due to not having news.
Hopefully they surprise us.
Anyone else remember how at the end of Sailor Moon S’s first North American airing there was zero news we’d be getting SuperS and then as soon as S ended, the next day we got SuperS?
That was amazing and a complete shock to me back then.
Maybe that’s how they’ll do this.
Of course, then we had to over a decade for Stars…
The thing that makes me think this won’t happen is purely merchandise-wise. At this point we should be getting news of all the little toys of Super Sailor Chibi Moon and the Inner and Outer Super Forms, plus all the little weapons and gadgets from the Dream Arc. I’m sure we’ll get the Dream Arc, but I think the evidence points towards a break.
You’re probably right. But…as long as we get it, I’ll be happy!
Maybe they will have an even better budget next time.
Didn’t they have a figure with chibi moon and Pegasus that was recently released?
The Figuarts Zero had “Sailor Moon Crystal”‘s logo next to it on the sign at the toy show, but it is definitely 90s Chibiusa being depicted on the toy. It’s designed to go with the Princess Serenity, which is also 90s anime.
100% we’re getting Dream Arc. The first two arcs were so bad and they still continued the show. While I haven’t heard any official source talk about the reception of Season 3, Toei is not letting go of this cash cow. The question of whether there will be a break or it goes straight to it- who freaking knows. There’s no making sense of how Toei makes it’s decisions (Deciding later to call Dark Kingdom Season 2). Obviously the hope is that they’ll go straight to it. They’re pretty horrible with their communication over all. And, new merch releases have slowed waaaaaay waaaaaay down. Annoying.
Yes I am going on the lack of confirmation of new episodes to assume we are done at least for the short term. Only season III mentioned. CD sountracks only related to season 3. DVD/Blu-Ray announced with details only for season III. No cast for any new characters. No art. If we’re two weeks away from getting new episodes they’re doing an uncharacteristically good job of not hyping it!
isn’t this 13 episodes? am i wrong?
It is, but remember how they broke it down in the first two episodes?
Infinity 1 was two episodes. Therefore every episode after that was a number behind the actual episode, thus Act 12 is episode 13.
Yes, it is confusing, so don’t feel bad!
They called it “Death Ribbon Revolution”? Anyone with ears can tell it’s “reborn”, not “ribbon”. (And, no – they don’t sound the same in Japanese.)
Yet more proof that Viz is TERRIBLE at this.
Expect Viz is not doing the translation for the subtitles. The translation is being done by Toei themselves. The translation will be different on the home video release. Facts are useful things before ranting.
What happens to Sailor Moon in the next episode?
She’ll be holding someone in her arms, that’s for sure!
XD That’s certainly true.
That’s great.
To explain the whole, how history has been changed, it could be something that all the big bads of Sailor Moon have in common.
POTENTIAL SPOILER:
They’re all “incarnations” of Chaos. Perhaps this connection is what gave Pharaoh 90 access to change the way events were suppose to play out in history.
But did Chaos travel in time? Or does Chaos not follow causality? Chaos didn’t travel back in time. Sailor Cosmos did so only that event should change anything, which would start when Chibi Chibi arrived.
usagi’s birthday is the30th. perfect day for season 4 annoucement!
I hope so! I’ve been so disappointed by these announcements in the past. I feel we’ll just have a few short intros by the new actors and then people chatting about nothing.
About the Professor and Hotaru situation I think what she meant by that is that Hotaru was meant to die, but the Professor went against the natural order by reviving her through scientific means. She dies and was supposed to remain dead because that was always in the cards for Hotaru, I guess. I am assuming all of this of course. Then he brings the world in danger by allowing the Death Busters to work with him and he helps them in their sick plans. Or at least that’s what I’m getting from the situation.
On the episode itself with all those below or average animation quality and off model episodes we finally have a decent episode animation quality wise! For many scenes it was very well animated and beautifully designed character models! There were some bad moments, but overall a complete upgrade from the last episode. Plus no constant blushing for no reason which happened a lot this season. Unnecessary amount of awkwardly placed blushing happened last week and on a few of the episodes that were badly animated.
The only thing I wish they did better was not keep on reusing footage. I hate the recaps they should have sped by some of that but at least it got right to the point, kind of. However, I did not need to see Rainbow Double Moon Heart Ache twice. Once was enough. The second time they could have used a real time attack. That’s been one of the issues this season. They use the stock footage twice in the episode. That is so lazy. They should have used a real time attack instead. I’m glad they showed tuxedo la smoking bomber though. That was pretty good, but it still doesn’t take away from the lack of real time attacks. I feel the outers should have tried attacking too. The Holy Grail should be scaled up at least 2-3 times the size. It literally looked like Super Sailor Moon was holding a cup.
Sailor Saturn’s appearance I was hoping they would stray a little from the manga and give her a real transformation from a normal girl to Saturn being born so of deal. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, but we got some sort of transformation at the very least. I was so psyched since Saturn is my favorite of all the soldiers. Unfortunately, she does barely anything in both the manga and the 90s anime. I liked her attack I was expected something a little better animated and more epic looking to be honest. Going off from the manga it looked cool, but was very boring looking so I was hoping Toei would give it a much more interesting animation of the attack. It was okay, not the intensity I was looking for, but when paired with the music it really set the stage for a intense scene. For the most part this episode in particular and this season in general really brought to life the panels of the manga. It did such great justice to each chapter and added some nice addition. Probably would have been better had they used some more real time attacks. Less reused animation footage of both attacks and just normal scenes would have elevated the series.
Overall this episode was what I had been waiting for since the last couple of average animated episodes that lacked real time attacks, but reused the same animation footage of attacks, battles, normal everyday scenes, professor scenes, and lab scenes. Unfortunately, this is the end of the season now. Just one more episode left.