Watch Sailor Moon R episodes 87 and 88 on Hulu

Sailor Moon R episode 87 -

The two final real episodes of Sailor Moon R are now available on Hulu and Neon Alley. This week we wrap up the story of the Black Moon Clan, Chibiusa and Crystal Tokyo with episodes 87 and 88. There is in fact one more episode left in Sailor Moon R but next week episode 89 is just a clip show which is a complete waste of time. The important thing is that you can now watch the whole Sailor Moon R season on Hulu.

Sailor Moon R episode 87 -

Episode 87, Believing in Love and the Future: Usagi’s Decision, wraps up the Black Moon Clan’s story. First we get a rare look at Naru. Remember her? She’s still around! Though she doesn’t give any specifics it seems from what she says in this episode that she has an idea that Usagi is Sailor Moon or at least somehow involved in the various crazy things that are happening to her city. The gang transform and Sailor Moon faces off against Prince Demande who proceeds to use his mind control to try to rape kiss her. This is pretty much completely terrible but he quickly redeems himself when Wise Man tries to kill Sailor Moon and he takes the lethal blow for her, seemingly killing Wise Man as well. As Demande dies in Sailor Moon’s arms she promises to free the rest of the people of Nemesis. I wonder if Neo Queen Serenity followed through with this promise when all was done. Does she actually remember having promised this or did that occur in a new timeline 30th century Neo Queen Serenity has no memory of? You would think a Neo Queen Serenity with full knowledge of what happened in present day Tokyo could have simply prevented all of this from happening in the first place, but I don’t think time travel works that way in this show. Well Wise Man isn’t actually dead as he puts himself back together in a flash! Ready to fight in the final battle in the next episode!

Sailor Moon R episode 87 - Demande sacrificing himself for Sailor Moon

Sailor Moon R episode 88 - Princess Chibiusa

Episode 88, The Final Battle Between Light and Dark: Pledge of Love for the Future, is the final real episode of Sailor Moon R. First we have to deal with the Black Lady situation. The cure for this is love, as the Silver Crystal is used on her to give her positive memories bringing her back to reality and her normal young self. The family is back together but Wise Man is still making trouble. That’s okay because we have the Silver Crystal and… what’s that? A second Silver Crystal? Chibiusa finally remembers what happened. She took the Silver Crystal which disappeared inside her body and now she’s able to use it to get a cool princess dress and fight Wise Man! This is where she would be turning into Sailor Chibi Moon in the manga but they don’t do that at this point in the anime. Wise Man is easily defeated. What follows the next day is a tearful farewell between Chibiusa and her friends. Usagi and Chibiusa cry while holding each other at which point Chibiusa calls Usagi mamma and departs to the future. Back in the 30th century everything is fine. I guess the sun finally came back up! Peace is restored as is Neo Queen Serenity. What does a proud mother have to say to her young daughter who traveled through time to fight evil and literally save the world in two timelines? “Welcome home.”

Sailor Moon R episode 88 - Usagi and Chibiusa

Episode 88 features the song “La Soldier” during the fight with Wise Man. This is the main song from the Sailor Moon Musicals. I wondered why I couldn’t find it on any anime soundtrack for years until I realized it was simply on Musical soundtracks.

This wraps up Sailor Moon R! Chibiusa sure did seem like a brat at first but given all she’s been through it’s hard not to have some sympathy and respect for what she endured and accomplished. We won’t be seeing her for a while. In the manga she came back nearly as soon as she left, cementing herself as a permanent character in the show. This is not the case in the anime as she will be gone for some time and won’t actually be staying until the end. Chibiusa haters think she dominates the story too much but in reality her appearance in the anime is much less than what it is in the manga. She does not have a considerable role in anything but Sailor Moon SuperS from now on, but this is a while away.

Sailor Moon R episode 88 - Future Crystal Tokyo restored

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Sailor Moon Crystal Act 16, Abduction – Sailor Mercury, Review

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 16 - Ami and Berthier playing chess

The latest episode of Sailor Moon Crystal, Act 16, Abduction – Sailor Mercury, is now available to view for free on Crunchyroll, Hulu and Niconico. This week’s episode is tons of fun with the Tuxedo Mask puppet, some fan service in the form of swimsuits, young Ami and her daddy issues and of course Berthier who may or may not have been an inspiration for Elsa from Frozen.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 16 - Sailor Mercury and her visor

This episode had a number of differences from it’s original manga version, in changes, omitted scenes and in added content. That said, it also had a lot in common and like the rest of Sailor Moon Crystal is a very faithful adaptation.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 17 - Sailor Moon mad at Chibiusa

In the opening scene of the episode Usagi gets upset at Chibiusa but what she doesn’t do is raise her hand threatening to hit her as she did in the manga. This sort of changes the tone of the next scene where Usagi feels a sense of guilt but not about raising a hand at Chibiusa but instead about not protecting Sailor Mars who is now kidnapped.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 16 - Tuxedo Mask Puppet and ventriloquist Luna who Chibiusa already knows

Chibiusa runs off and, as usual, hides in the park. Mamoru takes her home and talks to her with his Tuxedo Mask puppet. This puppet has been in the original manga, original anime and even in the latest musical, Petite Étrangère. All of a sudden I wonder just where he go that thing. Is Mamoru such a megalomaniac that he built a puppet of himself? Maybe he found it in a store and finds it so bizarre that products of his alter ego exist that he had to buy one. He uses his ventriloquism to make the puppet talk and also makes the excuse that this is why Luna seems to talk. But why doesn’t Chibiusa expect Luna to talk? We will later learn that one of Chibiusa’s good friends in the future is Diana, a talking cat herself and daughter of Luna and Artemis. Chibiusa also travels with Luna P which looks just like Luna who she must surely know in the future. While Chibiusa has trouble recognizing her mother and father why would she also have trouble with this cat that looks so much like her ball and why would she be at all surprised to hear one talk?

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 16 - Berthier of the Ayakashi Sisters

Enter Berthier! She uses dowsing to find water and help with her chess game. Dowsing is not real. This whole arc is riddled with pseudoscience. I understand that within the context of the story these people can use magic but just like UFOs and to a greater fortune telling were the nonsense in the last show dowsing is the nonsense this week. Historically it’s just something that used to be used to find water or minerals underground using items such as a divining rod but when there are modern dowsing products which claim to do things like detect bombs, directly contributing to a loss of lives in war zones, I feel people can do with being reminded that dowsing has no basis in reality.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 16 - Usagi, Naru and Ami in swimsuits

Those who read the comments on this blog will note that one particular commenter has been asking since the beginning just when we will be getting a beach episode, particularly desiring that we see some of the characters in two piece suits. Well his day has come. This week we see Ami, Naru and Usagi in swimsuits at the pool. In the original manga version we see these three only wearing simple one piece suits but they have been updated a bit for the show. Ami’s suit as seen from the pool seems like a simple one piece, though when seen from behind the design doesn’t appear to be that consistent. This is fitting with how she is usually portrayed in the original anime as well. Naru’s suit is the most interesting as it looks quite a bit like the bikini she wore in episode 23 of the original anime. While Sailor Moon Crystal is frequently manga based it only occasionally takes cues from the original 1992 Sailor Moon anime. This suit also bears a bit of a resemblance to the dress that Naru wears to the ball. Finally we have Usagi’s suit which goes from a one piece in the manga to a two piece bikini here in Sailor Moon Crystal. This seems like blatant fan service as Usagi wears her towel on her head. An awkward thing to do when your goal is anything but exposing your bare midriff to your fans. Apologies for speaking entirely too much about such a silly thing, but if the comments are any indication there are people who consider such things to be quite important.

Sailor Moon episode 23 - Naru's swimsuit

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 16 - Ami and Naru swimming

Another anime original thing which makes it into this episode is Usagi’s inappropriate cheering at a chess tournament. In both the original anime and Sailor Moon Crystal she makes a spectacle while cheering for Ami and is told to be quiet. One background character in this scene looks a bit like Yusuke from Yu Yu Hakusho, written by the husband of Sailor Moon’s creator Naoko Takeuchi.

Sailor Moon R episode 71 - Usagi's inappropriate cheering

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 16 - Usagi cheering inappropriately and Yusuke from Yu Yu Hakusho

Berthier is shown to be the the 3rd ranked chess player in the world. Later in the episode Ami beats her. Does this make Ami the 3rd ranked chess player in the world? You would think someone with such a skill would do more than just occasionally play on their iPad! I guess she does have world saving to do. Berthier’s clothing is ridiculous. It’s a full on super villain costume. That’s cool for fighting the forces of good and all but the way she just wears these clothes to a chess tournament like it was nothing is a bit silly.

Berthier from Sailor Moon and Elsa from Frozen

Speaking of the way Berthier dresses, some have mentioned similarities between her and Elsa from Frozen. See the image included above that explains the parallels between the two. This seems a bit far fetched to me. The controlling of the power and similarities in her relationship to Koan aren’t really the same. She does not encase herself in an ice tower. The similarities are mostly cosmetic and even that could be a coincidence. Elsa and Berthier both have ice powers, and so they dress in blue, a colour associated with cold. They also have white hair or light hair which is also natural for someone with ice powers. The braid is really the biggest similarity going on here. All considered I think Elsa bares more of a passing resemblance to Rosalina from Super Mario Galaxy. Why not just get the Elsa Disney Infinity figure instead of the Rosalina Amiibo which has been so hard to find?

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 16 - Young Ami with a chess board

This is a fairly Ami centric episode, as she is the one to get kidnapped this time around. One big addition to the story not in the manga was the inclusion of young Ami and showing more of her father. Young Ami is quite cute and shown being abandoned by her father who is a painter. She is also shown having an interest in playing chess. Sailor Mercury uses a new ability Shine Snow Illusion. This isn’t enough to save her from getting kidnapped. Who will be next?

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 16 - Shine Snow Illusion

The next episode is Act 17, Secret – Sailor Jupiter. The episode preview shows some shipping between Makoto and Ittou Asanuma. His scenes were cut from episode 16 but we’ll be seeing more of him next time.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 17 -Ittou Asanuma

A couple of visually interesting things are seen in the next episode preview. Usagi has no nose in one shot and Chibiusa is wearing a short sleeved version of her blue school uniform. This seemed off to me and a post on the moonsisters.org Facebook page made me realize what is what. Chibiusa’s white school uniform is normally the one that has short sleeves while her blue school uniform has long sleeves.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 17 - Usagi has no nose

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 17 - Chibiusa in her incorrect coloured uniform with Luna-P

Keep reading for more images from this episode and the next episode preview.

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Sailor Moon R episodes 81 and 82 are now available on Hulu

Sailor Moon R episode 81 - Momoko and Kyuusuke

The latest episodes of Sailor Moon R have been added to Hulu and Neon Alley. This week we very slowly make the decision to go to the future as Chibiusa decides to go back to Crystal Tokyo and then we take an entire episode to chill in limbo trying to get there.

Sailor Moon R episode 81 - Droid Chiral and Achiral

Episode 81, The Dark Gate Is Completed? the Targeted Elementary School, introduces us to Chibiusa’s school friends Momoko and Kyuusuke. Momoko is presented as Chibiusa’s good friend, as she will be later in the series. Kyuusuke is kind of along for the ride and will later be seen as having a crush on Momoko. We haven’t gotten much of a look at her circle of friends outside of the main characters from the show but it would seem that part of Chibiusa’s plan to get the Silver Crystal and save the future involves enrolling in the local school and attending each day. We learn in a bit of a flashback to Chibiusa’s first day at school that Kyuusuke gave her the nickname of Chibiusa while teasing her for being small. Chibi is a slang term to mean small person or small child in Japan, so this fits. The Usa part is simply short for Usagi, the name which she got from her mother, whoever that will turn out to be. Esmeraude has filled Chibiusa’s school with evil energy, causing children to hilariously attack each other. This brings us to our villains Chiral and Achiral. These two appear as members of the Black Moon Clan in the manga. Sailor Moon kills them with her Moon Princess Halation which would, if they are humans, be the only people she kills in the entire season. While Sailor Moon kills many Droids she has a great record when it comes to humans this season. She heals the Ayakashi Sisters one by one. For liability purposes it is fire and less so Esmeraude that kills Rubeus. Without getting into spoilers Esmeraude is not technically killed as a human and then Saphir and Demande do not die by Sailor Moon’s hand. So what are these characters? They have gems on them which indicates that they may be Droids, but are not clearly referred to as such in the episode and we do not see them created or get turned into a pile of ash like other Droids. I pondered this question for years until finally I saw the Sailor Moon R Memorial. The Memorials are single season summaries narrated by Luna which were released on video. In the Sailor Moon R Memorial all of the season’s Droids are listed including, as the caption in the image below shows, Droid Chiral and Achiral. Indeed, Sailor Moon’s hands remain unsullied by murder for the Sailor Moon R season! As the episode wraps up Chibiusa decides it’s time to go back to the future and save her family.

Sailor Moon R Memorial - Droid Chiral and Achiral

Sailor Moon R episode 82 - The Space-Time Door

Episode 82, Journey to the Future: Battle in the Space-Time Corridor, covers our long trip to the future! I remember how excited I was, back in the 90s, having waited so long for new episodes and watching VHS fan subs of Sailor Moon R. I just wanted to see them get to the future already! How exciting that we are finally going, and we spend a whole damned episode just traveling through time! Chibiusa has finally decided to bring the Sailor Team and Tuxedo Mask to the future with her to rescue her mother with the help of the Key of Space-Time. This doesn’t go as smoothly as one would hope. First things first, we see Sailor Pluto! While she had a decent part in the Black Moon arc of the manga Sailor Pluto doesn’t get much attention during this season of the anime, as her appearance is limited to what we saw in a dream and her protecting the Space-Time Door. She tries to attack Sailor Moon, not recognizing her, but stops when Chibiusa interjects. Sailor Pluto sort of exists outside of time so it’s not really clear how old she is or just what time she comes from or goes to, but it doesn’t really matter in this season’s context as she just exists in this vortex which is between time. What follows is a lengthy walk through the Space-Time Corridor where it’s terribly important not to let go of your partner’s hand, only that is exactly what happens. Chibiusa sees a familiar looking face in her mother who turns out to be a Droid. The monster is killed and everything is great until they get to the other side of the corridor. It turns out that really terrible view of Crystal Tokyo we saw in Chibiusa’s dream was actually incredibly accurate. The future really sucks and everything is really wrecked. More on that next week when we actually get to spend a little time in the future!

Sailor Moon R episode 82 - Sailor Pluto and Chibiusa

Sailor Moon R episode 82 - Crystal Tokyo destroyed

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The cast of the new Viz English dub of Sailor Moon R was announced at Katsucon this weekend

Viz Media

This weekend is Katsucon in National Harbor Maryland. On Friday, February 13th, Viz hosted a Sailor Moon panel in which the dub cast for Sailor Moon R was announced. The panel was hosted by Charlene Ingram and included Cherami Leigh, the voice of Sailor Venus, Amanda Miller, the voice Sailor Jupiter, Cristina Vee, the voice of Sailor Mars and Robbie Daymond, the voice of Tuxedo Mask.

Sailor Moon episode 47 - Ail and An

The new actors who will be joining the show for Sailor Moon R are Johanna Luis as the alien An also known as Natsumi Ginga, Brian Beacock as the Alien Ail also known as Seijirou Ginga, Sandy Fox as Chibiusa and Veronica Taylor as Sailor Pluto. Veronica Taylor is likely the best known of these voice actors for providing the voice of Ash Ketchum in Pokémon.

Sailor Moon R episode 75 - Sailor Pluto

You can watch the panel on Ustream below:

The first season of Viz’s new Sailor Moon dub is currently available on DVD and Blu-Ray in two half season sets. Buy them from Amazon using the links below to support the site:

Source: The Fandom Post

Sailor R episodes 75 and 76 are now available on Hulu

Sailor Moon R episode 75 - Sailor Pluto

As with every Monday two more episodes of Sailor Moon R have been added to Hulu and Neon Alley. The episodes are in Japanese with English subtitles by Viz. This week we get a glimpse of things to come and then dive right into some filler with episodes 75 and 76. Having previously seen mostly Rubeus and the Ayakashi sisters we’re now getting a look at Esmeraude, Diamond and Saphir of the Black Moon Clan.

Sailor Moon R episode 75 - Crystal Tokyo is a dump

Episode 75, The Mysterious New Guardian: Sailor Pluto Appears, gives us a better look at Sailor Pluto and Crystal Tokyo. We still don’t see her in the flesh but she communicates with the Sailor Guardians through Luna P. Previously Chibiusa had been seen communicating with her through Luna P’s eye but the image we saw of her was heavily pixelated to the point where her identity remained hidden. Chibiusa has fallen ill and so the gang must travel into her mind to fight off this manifestation of the Dark Crystal. Although they are in Chibiusa’s mind, it looks like 30th century Crystal Tokyo. Shocked at how terrible it looks Rei reassures them that it just looks bad because it’s a nightmare in Chibiusa’s mind. Um… actually that’s pretty much exactly how Crystal Tokyo looks in the future. It’s a real mess. Chibiusa is actually pretty spot on. Sailor Moon fights off the monster that really isn’t a monster and in the process is able to make Chibiusa fly. So is this a real move or something she can just do because she’s in a crazy dream world where anything goes? Not really clear. In a most ridiculous scene the girls see Chibiusa’s mom lying asleep. They are quite aware that it’s Chibiusa’s mother but Sailor Moon is completely incapable of noticing that she is wearing a dress that’s nearly identical to the one that she wears. The whole gang generally shrug off everything important about this dream as being irrelevant because it’s simply too early, plot wise, for them to have been exposed to this information at this time.

Sailor Moon R episode 75 - Sailor Moon can make Chibiusa fly

Episode 76, Magic of Darkness: Esmeraude’s Invasion, finally gives us a proper look at Esmeraude as the new villain. She’s been kicking around for a handful of episodes but hasn’t actually done anything. Now that we’ve gotten a few plot episodes out of the way we can get right back into the habit of filler for a while! Esmeraude is great for that as she randomly targets spots to stick these Dark Henges into in order to make the future more vulnerable. This week’s plot is all about yummy deserts! The monster attacks people and covers them in various foods like donuts, cakes and frosting. When I was younger I had no idea what the monster’s name “Magipan” meant but it’s actually marzipan, a sweet confectionary. Not to be confused with marzipan castle from the Sailor Moon SuperS movie. Esmeraude laughs loudly and bickers with all of the girls, getting called old and making fun of their lack of hips and breasts. A good time was had by all.

Sailor Moon R episode 76 - Esmeraude

If you’re looking for the difference between this version and the dub which was released back in the 90s you should check out my reviews of episodes 75 (cached version) and episode 76 (cached version) from 1997 on the Sailor Moon Page of Funk!

Sailor Moon R episode 76 - Sailor Venus is a cake

Support the site by buying the first season of Sailor Moon on DVD or Blu-Ray.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 14, Conclusion and Commencement – Petite Étrangère, Review

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 14 - Human Luna

The latest episode of Sailor Moon Crystal, Conclusion and Commencement – Petite Étrangère, was released on January 17th on Crunchyroll, Hulu and Niconico. This season finale of sorts wraps up the Dark Kingdom story arc and teases us about the upcoming second story arc with the appearance of the mysterious Chibiusa! Like many episodes this one was very faithful to the source material, with one major exception which I hope isn’t too much of a spoiler at this point as I’ve included it in the banner image.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 14 - Artemis

Some funny stuff to start out the episode. Sailor Moon is all about praying and remembering her allies! She goes through the whole lot! Luna, Ami, Rei, Makoto, Minako. Yep. That’s everyone, right? What is Artemis doing exactly? No respect. Meanwhile he’s doing a very good job of keeping Luna company on the Moon!

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 14 - Luna praying

This episode is all about Luna. Sailor Moon saves the day? Luna saves the day! They both pray. They are both responsible for restoring the Moon to it’s original splendour and as a special surprise we get a brief glimpse at human Luna! As Metalia is defeated and Luna is praying on the Moon, Artemis gets a short look at her as a full on human. Luna somehow doesn’t notice her wearing clothes, not having fur, having hair, being taller, being in a totally different position, but whatever, it’s still very cool. Anime fans would recognize human Luna from the Sailor Moon S movie. This corresponds fairly faithfully to a manga side story Princess Kaguya’s Lover which centres on Luna and has her turning human. She and the rest of the cats, Artemis and Diana, spend time in their human forms later in the Dream arc of the manga which we may see if Sailor Moon Crystal gets renewed for a second season.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 14 - Human Luna

Following the fight with Metalia there is a bit of a goof as Sailor Moon picks the Moon Stick off of the ground. We see the Silver Crystal clearly in the Moon stick on the ground, then it’s gone when she picks it up, then in the next shot it’s visible again. I’m sure they’ll fix that up for the Blu-Ray release!

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 14 - The Silver Crystal is missing

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 14 - The Silver Crystal reappeared

Great news! The palace on the Moon is restored! Everyone on Earth is dead, but hey Sailor Moon is the new Serenity so she can rule over her Kingdom! Of course that Kingdom isn’t much at this point. She would rule over what, two cats and a computer simulation of who I guess is now the Queen Mother of Silver Millennium? Not a great deal. Usagi decides she wants to live on Earth, which has roughly 7 billion people on it who are all dead but that is easily resolved thanks to the power of the Silver Crystal. I wonder if Usagi would have been able to instead resurrect the long dead inhabitants of the Moon instead of or in addition to fixing the Earth.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 14 - Queen Serenity, Usagi and Tuxedo Mask

Sailor Moon’s brooch was damaged in the fight with Queen Metalia. Too bad. But it’s okay! There are more toys to sell and so the Crystal Star Brooch makes an appearance! And on it is a small hole just big enough for the Silver Crystal. But the Silver Crystal is all big with that sort of lily flower thing around it. This big version of the Silver Crystal is not meant to fit in the Crystal Star! But lazy animation makes it work! We see Usagi take this huge Silver Crystal and with a simple finger she shrinks it and stuffs it in that hole. Pretty cheap and terrible looking!

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 14 - That won't fit

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 14 - Perfect fit

We have a new brooch. What does it do? Pretty much exactly what the old locket did. Sailor Moon transforms yet again however her transformation sequence is essentially identical to her original one. This is a bit of a disappointment. The only real change is that the new brooch replaces her old one in the clip. With her powers back she heals the people of Earth including her friends and all is good. Minako and Artemis has a nice tender moment as they’re reunited. I’m so shipping these two. The moment of peace is heartwarming.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 14 - Minako and Artemis

Rei has a glimpse of the new villain Rubeus. She prays that peace will remain. Sorry Rei! Your Shinto prayers are useless! If this episode has taught us anything it’s that the only way to get your prayers answered is to make them to the Moon! We’ll soon see that Rei’s prayers were indeed not answered as she’s first on the chopping block.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 14 - Rubeus

This peaceful normal live is rudely interrupted as Chibiusa show up! We had seen a lot of these clips in the trailer for the second story arc of Sailor Moon Crystal. Chibiusa kisses her future father and threatens Usagi asking for the Silver Crystal. Good call, as she actually has it.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 14 - Chibiusa kissing her future Dad

I really enjoyed this episode. A nice end to the first story arc and it was just really good to see some of these things animated. With this behind us, we now move on to the second story arc and what some are calling the second season of the show. As it’s still part of the first year of Sailor Moon Crystal I’ve decided to refer to it as the second phase or second story arc until such a time when a term gets officially adopted.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 15 - Chibiusa and Luna-P

The next episode, Act 15, Infiltration – Sailor Mars, will be released in three weeks on February 7th. A lot of stuff will be happening here. Chibiusa infiltrates the Tsukino family, we see the Black Moon Clan, new transformation items for the Sailor Guardians, the Cutie Moon Rod and much more!

sailor_moon_crystal_act_15_infiltration_sailor_mars

Keep reading to see more screenshots from this episode and the next episode preview.

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Sailor Moon R episodes 73 and 74 are now available on Hulu

Sailor Moon R episode 73 - Chibiusa steals Sailor Moon's Crystal Star Brooch

The two latest episodes of Sailor Moon are now available on Hulu and Neon Alley. This week we get episodes 73 and 74 which may be memorable to many fans from the 90s as the first new episodes of Sailor Moon seen in years. Following the show’s original run of 65 episodes in North America back in 1995 there was a lengthy hiatus before the second half of Sailor Moon R was finally released. The final 17 episodes of Sailor Moon R played on YTV here in Canada starting in September of 1997 and in the US starting in November of 1998, billed as “Lost Episodes” by Cartoon Network’s Toonami.

Sailor Moon R episode 73 - Puppet Tuxedo Mask

Episode 73, A UFO Appears: The Sailor Guardians Abducted, introduces us to Esmeraude who will be the new villain for the next chunk of episodes, but before we start out with her we need to warp up things with Rubeus! More importantly, Chibiusa now knows that Usagi is Sailor Moon and has seen that her transformation brooch, the Crystal Star, contains the Silver Crystal. Naturally, she steals it. Conflicted at first she uses cognitive dissonance to convince herself that Usagi is a bad person and that this is the right thing to do. She ends up visiting Mamoru who shows her the very awesome Tuxedo Mask puppet, reminding us that despite her somewhat evil actions this is really just a young frightened girl we’re dealing with. Since Usagi doesn’t have her brooch she can’t transform which in the end means that the rest of the Sailor Guardians get abducted by Rubeus’s UFO. Usagi is upset and tries to slap Chibiusa at this point, but Mamoru stops her.

Sailor Moon R episode 73 - Tuxedo Mask stops Usagi from slapping Chibiusa

À suivre! Right away. Having two episodes at a time sure is convenient for two parters like this!

Sailor Moon R episode 74 - Chibiusa parachuting

Episode 74, Defeat Rubeus: The Battle in Space, will be the end of a most hatable character! The Sailor Guardians have been kidnapped but it’s okay as Usagi finally has her brooch back. Rubeus wants the rabbit, known to viewers as Chibiusa, but giving up a (somewhat) innocent kid isn’t what Sailor Moon is all about. What are our heroes to do? Luna and Artemis have a plan! They’ll dress up like Chibiusa and try to trick Rubeus! On second thought that’s a terrible plan. Chibiusa proceeds to jump out of a window and turns herself in. Usagi follows, a big fight ensues and hooray the terrible Rubeus is defeated. But Sailor Moon is being pretty good at this point and not killing a ton of villains so for liability purposes they just kind of leave Rubeus on his spaceship which is blowing up. Esmeraude is more responsible for leaving him to die. Is this horrible? She doesn’t do it because he’s a terrible horrible man. She does it because she’s terrible and just wants him out of the picture. What a dragon! Spaceship explodes, let’s have some pancakes, have a nice day.

Sailor Moon R episode 74 - Luna and Artemis dressed as Chibiusa

Back in 1997 when these episodes first aired on YTV I was all about making a really terrible Sailor Moon site. I guess some things never changed! I like to think my Internet skills have improved since then. For historical purposes, check out The Sailor Moon Page of Funk!, my very old ad ridden Sailor Moon web site which features reviews of dub episodes 66 (episode 73) (cached version) and 67 (episode 74) (cached version) complete with my somewhat thorough list of all of the differences I spotted between the original Japanese version and the dub. The pages are full of broken links and images. The cached version on the Internet Archive has a few less ads and some of those images preserved.

The Sailor Moon Page of Funk!

Sailor Moon R episode 74 - Rubeus dying

Support the site by buying the first season of Sailor Moon on DVD and Blu-Ray. Isn’t this non intrusive Amazon ad better than the assault on your senses that is Angelfire?

Sailor Moon R episode 74 - Subtle religious imagery

Watch Sailor Moon Crystal Act 14, Conclusion and Commencement – Petite Étrangère, starting January 17th at 5am Eastern Time

Sailor Moon Crystal season 2 trailer - Chibiusa arrives

Act 14 of Sailor Moon Crystal will be airing Saturday, January 17th, at 7pm Japan Standard Time which is 5am Eastern Time and 2am Pacific Time on Crunchyroll, Hulu and Niconico. Act 14, Conclusion and Commencement – Petite Étrangère, will wrap up the Dark Kingdom arc and start the next story arc with the introduction of Chibiusa.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 14 - Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask fight Queen Metalia

All hope seems lost as Queen Metalia has killed the Sailor Guardians and is taking over the the planet. It’s up to Sailor Moon to use her powers to defeat her and bring peace to the Earth once again. Will it happen or will everyone just remain dead?

Sailor Moon Crystal season 2 trailer - Chibiusa pointing a gun at Usagi

A quiet peaceful life is short lived. It’s actually so short lived that there isn’t even an episode break between seasons! The Dark Kingdom is barely defeated that we are introduced to a new character. Who is this pink haired girl that drops in on Usagi and Mamoru’s intimate moment at the worst time? Is she a new villain? Will she kill Usagi with that gun she has? Why does she call herself Usagi with such similar hair?

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 14 - Conclusion and Commencement - Petite Étrangère

As I’m traveling this week I will be late in watching and posting my review for this upcoming episode. That should be coming Monday or Tuesday evening.

Sailor Moon R episodes 71 and 72 are now available on Hulu

Sailor Moon R episode 71 - Beruche vs. Sailor Mercury in a chess game

The latest two episodes of Sailor Moon R were added to Hulu and Neon Alley this Monday morning. This week we see episodes 71 and 72 which deal with the fate of the rest of the Ayakashi sisters Berthier, Petz and Calaveras. These episodes were the last two included in DiC’s original dub of Sailor Moon. Following these was a lengthy break of a couple of years before the next episodes were finally dubbed. For a lot of people who watched Sailor Moon in the mid 90s and grew out of it, these were probably the last episodes they watched!

Sailor Moon R episode 71 - Beruche freezing herself

Episode 71, For Friendship: Ami vs. Bertheir, is all about chess. Ami has been hanging out as this chess tower which is shaped like a giant rook. Berthier, of the Ayakashi sisters, who happens to have a very similar power as Sailor Mercury also happens to have a similar interest in chess! It made a bit more sense that Koan happened to face off against Sailor Mars twice since she simply attacked the shrine she lived and worked at twice but the coincidence of Berthier encountering Ami twice is a bit silly. Regardless, a fierce all or nothing chess game is played and amped up with some magical chess pieces that freeze the loser. Sailor Mercury wins, since she’s incredibly smart, and Berthier gives up on life. Having learned from the last episode that she can be healed, Sailor Moon heals Berthier and she’s happy with her sister Koan once again! Hooray!

Sailor Moon R episode 72 - Chibiusa watching Sailor Moon transform

Episode 72, Rubeus the Heartless: The Tragic Sisters, takes care of the last two Ayakashi sisters. The first event isn’t really relevant to the episode itself but has some importance in the next few episodes. As Sailor Moon and the rest of the Sailor Guardians transform Chibiusa is shoved in a closet type thing and sees them all transforming. This is a huge revelation for her as she always liked Sailor Moon but hated Usagi. Hard to reconcile these two things! Such are the perils of a secret identity. Finally when Chibiusa sees Sailor Moon use the Silver Crystal later in the episode Chibiusa realizes that she needs to get a hand on that thing to go back to the future to save her mother. The main plot of the episode has Petz and Calaveras fighting over this magic wand thing, nearly killing each other, and of course getting healed! Ultimately all four of the Ayakashi sisters are reunited and they open up “Beauty Quartette”, a small shop which sells beauty supplies. I’m not sure the business model is rock solid, as one person would easily have been able to run this small shop, but now these four are splitting the profits not to mention being stuck in 20th century Tokyo with no credit history, valid ID or a past. It won’t be easy making a life for themselves, but it’s probably better than trying to live on a dead, desolate prison planet.

Sailor Moon R episode 72 - The Ayakashi Sisters' Beauty Quartette

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Stephanie “Sugar” Lyn Beard, the voice of Rini, to appear in Seth Rogen and James Franco’s film Sausage Party

Sausage Party

What is Sausage Party? It’s an R rated CG animated film starring the voices of Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Kristen Wiig, Danny McBride and Craig Robinson, amongst others. Also appearing in this film is Sugar Lyn Beard, known to Sailor Moon fans as the voice of Rini and Sailor Mini Moon in the original English dub of Sailor Moon S and SuperS. Sugar will be playing a Baby Carrot! It is not clear at this time if she will be a legitimate baby carrot or one of the more common baby cut carrots which are often found in grocery stores.

Sailor Chibi Moon

The film is about sausages in a supermarket which need to get back to their aisle before the Fourth of July! This is a movie intended for adult audiences by the people who brought you fantastic films such as Pineapple Express, This Is The End and the hilarious yet controversial The Interview. During an interview with Howard Stern Seth Rogen mentioned that the film would include a food on food sex scene!

We’ll be sure to share more about this film as we learn it.

Source: IMDB and Bubble Blabber