Sailor Moon SuperS episodes 132 and 133 are now available on Hulu

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Adam

This morning Sailor Moon SuperS episodes 132 and 133 were added to Hulu and Neon Alley. With that we get a couple of hilarious episodes focusing on the fragile nature of rock solid relationships which it turns out aren’t actually fragile at all. First Mamoru and Usagi’s relationship is put to the test and then Luna must deal with Artemis’s illegitimate kitten he seems to have had with some random stray! As expected we did not get the Sailor Moon SuperS Special which takes place between episodes 131 and 132. You can read more about that special in last week’s write up. There is currently no indication as to when, if at all, the Sailor Moon movies and specials will be released.

Episode 132, The Perfect Couple: Usagi and Mamoru’s Love, is not an episode about how Usagi and Mamoru are the perfect couple. It’s about the relationship, or lack thereof, between Saori and Kobayashi, two of Mamoru’s friends. Kobayashi loves Saori. Saori loves Mamoru. Mamoru loves Usagi. Usagi loves Mamoru. Chibiusa loves Mamoru. Tiger’s Eye targets Saori. It’s a whole intricate web of attraction! When Saori and Kobayashi are having a chat at Mamoru’s the conversation is a bit awkward, and it just gets worse when Usagi and Chibiusa show up. Chibiusa does nothing to reduce the tension when she flat out asks Saori what her intentions with her Mamoru are! Chibiusa is rightfully concerned that Mamoru may end up with Saori because if he does she may never be born in the first place! This concern is passed on to Usagi who can’t help but imagine Mamoru straying with this more mature woman. Does anyone actually ship these two together? This relationship reminds me of Hina and Mamoru in the live action series. They are the same age and theoretically compatible but tragically Mamoru has no interest because he loves Usagi. Tiger’s Eye targets Saori in this episode. This is a bit odd as I’m having a lot of trouble figuring out where him and Hawk’s Eye draw the line between young woman and older woman. Hawk’s Eye, who prefers older women, went after Reika, Motoki’s girlfriend who appears to be roughly Mamoru’s age. Saori is Mamoru’s school mate and appears to be roughly the same age but is targeted by Tiger’s Eye who generally pursues younger women. Ultimately during the inevitable combat Saori sees Mamoru call Sailor Moon Usagi and so she sees that she can’t possibly come between the two. Does this leave Kobayashi the winner of the covered silver medal, the runner up consolation prize of the woman who can’t have the man she wants? We will never know as they are never seen again.

Episode 133, Artemis Is Cheating? Enter the Mysterious Kitten, is an interesting follow up to the Sailor Moon S movie. This episode features one of the most hilarious scenes of the series. When asking for help with her homework Chibiusa tries to convince Mamoru that if he doesn’t help her she’ll do poorly in school, be mocked by her friends, never get married and end up old and alone. Her imagination of this shows a white haired old lady Chibiusa sitting with her cat watching the Sailor Moon anime on a TV. Does the Sailor Moon anime exist in the world of Sailor Moon? We’ve only ever seen the Sailor V series to date, but this seems possible. Artemis gets busted in this episode staring lovingly at a Nun. He later confesses he was just in awe because he dreams of getting married in a church some day. Is this a feasible goal for a cat? The Catholic Church does not consider animals to have souls, so I think they would have a bit of trouble reconciling the love between a couple of alien cats from another solar system. Suddenly a cute grey kitten with a crescent moon on her head shows up calling Artemis father, and Luna assumes the worst. Clearly the only logical explanation, given the causal nature of the universe, and that Luna has never given birth to a talking kitten with a crescent moon on her forehead, is that Artemis impregnated a real cat at some point fathering this kitten. The insinuation is simple. Artemis, having sexual needs, has been having sex with one or more cats. There is some room for a non cheating relationship to have caused this prior to the events of the Sailor Moon S movie when Luna and Artemis’s relationship became formalized. Prior to that Artemis was free to do as he pleased while Luna was being pursued by Rhett Butler and transforming into a human to make out with her space man. Luna is understandably upset, but so is Minako! She is not upset for Luna but for herself! Minako and Artemis have a strong relationship! Well it turns out it was just a misunderstanding. Diana is simply Luna and Artemis’s daughter from the future, and now everyone is back to being happy. Artemis laughs it off but sympathizes with Mamoru’s situation, having his future daughter around cramping his relationship with his girlfriend and future wife.

Why bring Diana in now and not two seasons ago? In the Sailor Moon Manga Diana shows up in Crystal Tokyo, like she did in Sailor Moon Crystal, in what is the equivalent of Sailor Moon R in the anime. We never see her at this point and when Chibiusa returns in Sailor Moon S, she returns alone. It’s not really clear why the anime writers chose not to include her but at this point they manage to throw her in for a very brief appearance before she is to be swept under the same rug Chibiusa disappears under during SailorStars.

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The S. H. Figuarts “Impostor Version” of Zoisite dressed as Sailor Moon will be a San Diego Comic-Con exclusive

Posted on July 2, 2015 by Adam

A while back we got a look at an odd choice for a Sailor Moon S. H. Figuarts figure with Zoisite dressed as Sailor Moon from episode 33 of the original Sailor Moon anime. This figure, with slightly different colours, a boomerang and a mean looking face, was Zoisite’s trap to lure in Tuxedo Mask. We have now learned, via the Sailor Moon official site, that this figure is a San Diego Comic-con exclusive. The figure is referred to in Japanese as “Nise Sailor Moon” which means a fake or imitation Sailor Moon. Like with other high quality Figuarts figures it comes with a number of replacement pieces and even a custom Luna with weird surprised eyes.

Pictures of the packaging also surfaced and have been included above. San Diego Comic-con will be held next weekend, July 8th to the 12th, where the figure will sell for $45. A limited number of these figures will be sold via lottery in Japan as well. There has not been any mention of this figure’s availability following the convention. Are any of you attending San Diego Comic-con this year? If so, please drop me a line if you’re able to pick me up a figure and I’ll be sure to compensate you for any costs.

Image source: @donato_denny76 on Twitter (1, 2) and the Sailor Moon Tamashii Nations site

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A Human Luna Pullip figure is coming in August

Posted on June 27, 2015 by Adam

The latest Pullip doll has been announced on the official Sailor Moon site. It’s Human Luna! Luna is usually a cat but in a few instances she appears as a human. Most fans would know this form best from the Sailor Moon S Movie, which is based on a standalone manga story “The Lover of Princess Kaguya”. Her human form also appears at other times in the manga. Most recently in Sailor Moon Crystal we briefly see an image of Human Luna while she is praying on the Moon.

Pullip dolls are high quality, though somewhat expensive, dolls with disproportionately large heads. This doll will retail for 180,000 yen, almost $150 US. A more expensive Premium Bandai exclusive version of these dolls is usually made, which will often have school uniforms for most of the Sailor Guardians. What could the Premium Bandai exclusive outfit for Human Luna be, given she only ever appears in these clothes? Human Luna’s adult form does not resemble the younger Sailor Luna from the live action series enough for that to be the obvious choice, though that would be a great exclusive.

Dolls for many of the Sailor Guardians as well as Princess Serenity, Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Chibi Moon have been released or announced to date. Human Luna is a bit of a surprise given a lot of prominent characters have still not been released and so little Human Luna merchandise had been made to date. There has still been no announcement for Sailor Pluto or Sailor Saturn pullip dolls or any villains from the series. One has to wonder if we’ll get Shingo, Rhett Butler and Sailor Luna before getting the often neglected Sailor Pluto!

Support the site by buying some Sailor Moon pullip dolls using the links below.

“Moon Wars” Sailor Moon/Star Wars t-shirt on sale at OtherTees

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Adam

There’s a great shirt on sale this week at OtherTees which features a Sailor Moon/Star Wars crossover. It is a take on the original Star Wars movie poster. Sailor Moon takes the place of Luke Skywalker while Tuxedo Mask is sitting at her knees, as Princess Leia does in the original poster. The face of Queen Beryl replaces that of Darth Vader in the background. Luna and Artemis replace the droids R2D2 and C3PO off to the side.

The shirt sells for $11 but you can save $1 on it by using the promo code SailorMoonNews at checkout. As with many shirt sites this is a limited time sale ending at 5pm Easter Time on Thursday May 7th so be sure to pick it up while you have a chance. The design is by DiHA who has made a number of other shirts we’ve mentioned on the site before. Check out her RedBubble store, Deviant Art and Facebook pages for more of her work.

Keiko Han, the voice of Luna, and Amanda Miller, the voice of Sailor Jupiter, to appear at Animazement May 22nd to the 24th in Raleigh, North Carolina

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Adam

North Carolina Sailor Moon fans will have a chance to meet voice actors from Japan and North America at Animazement at the Raleigh Convention Center in Raleigh, North Carolina this coming May 22nd to the 24th! The convention will feature Keiko Han, who voiced Luna in the original Sailor Moon anime and the live action Sailor Moon series, as well as Amanda C. Miller, the voice of Sailor Juipter in Viz’s new dub of the original Sailor Moon anime.

Besides these Sailor Moon artists this convention will also feature a number of other guests from Japanese and English voices of many anime series.

Sailor Moon Crystal to air in Portugal starting May 2nd. Listen to a preview now!

Posted on April 29, 2015 by Adam

The first country to air a dubbed version of Sailor Moon Crystal will be Portugal! The Portugese dub of the series will begin airing this Saturday May 2nd at 8:30pm local time on BIGGS. This will be the equivalent of 3:30pm Eastern Time, 12:30pm Pacific Time. Check out this link to watch a commercial for the series which features clips from the new Portugese dub courtesy of the Sailor Moon Portugal Facebook Page. There isn’t much talking in this commercial but you can hear Sailor Moon using her “Moon Tiara Boomerang” attack and saying her famous “In the name of the Moon I will punish you” line. You can also hear a clip of Usagi’s classmate Yumiko.

Sailor Moon’s voice in this dub is provided by Raquel Ferreira whose previous anime credits included the voices of Ash Ketchum and Jessie of Team Rocket in Pokémon. She is also a singer who has appeared on Dancing with the Stars. Tuxedo Mask will be voiced by Rogério Jacques who also provides the voice of Nephrite. The voice of Sailor Mars and Luna will be provided by Cristina Cavalinhosas. Fernanda Figueiredo, who was the voice of Sailor Moon in the Portuguese dub of the original Sailor Moon anime, will be voicing Sailor Moon’s mother Queen Serenity.

The dub will be done by 112 Studios who have done many other Anime dubs such as Beyblade, Bakugan and Inuyasha.

Source: Sailor Moon Portugal

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 20, Crystal Tokyo – King Endymion, Review

Posted on April 19, 2015 by Adam

The latest episode of Sailor Moon Crystal, Act 20, Crystal Tokyo – King Endymion, is now available to stream on Crunchyroll, Hulu and Niconico. The gang is in the future city of Crystal Tokyo and now it’s time to have the ghost of King Endymion give them exposition about the story to date, including a bunch of revelations of things we mostly knew about.

We meet King Endymion and with that we learn all about Chibiusa, Crystal Tokyo and the Black Moon Clan. King Endymion appears as some sort of non corporeal projection of the real King who is in another room. In the original anime he is a hologram but in the manga and here it’s not entirely clear what is happening. He’s not stored in a computer like Queen Serenity was on the Moon. It seem more like he’s a sort of ghost. But does that mean King Endymion is dead? More on that later.

Chibiusa is Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask’s daughter from the future. At this point we mostly already figured this out. If we hadn’t we can immediately infer this from the fact that Sailor Moon noticed that King Endymion is the future Tuxedo Mask and that Chibiusa calls him father. We can easily infer that this means Tuxedo Mask is Chibiusa’s father, but Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask do not have their “OMG WTF!!!” reaction until they are blatantly told what is what with Chibiusa. Their embarrassment seems to insinuate that these two have not previously had sex. We know this is likely not the case.

We get a description of what’s up with Crystal Tokyo and it seems that in all it’s glory it was … a bunch of islands? We don’t know a ton about Crystal Tokyo but what we do know is that it is the future city of Tokyo. Tokyo is not a series of islands like the Florida Keys. It’s just a city on the Ocean. So what’s up with Crystal Tokyo? It looks a lot like Dubai, a city on the shore of the Persian Gulf but which is also home to a ton of artificial islands along the coast giving it a somewhat similar look. It’s certainly possible that the inhabitants of Crystal Tokyo built these things on the ocean. They would have the technology, and magic, to make it possible. When Chibiusa travels through time she does not arrive in the past in the ocean or in the future on the main land far from the palace. I always assumed the time travel was tied to a specific place but in a different time but this is never clearly established. Regardless, Crystal Tokyo in the manga or original anime was never portrayed as a series of islands as it is seen here. It wasn’t even shown like this in earlier episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal.

This episode has the introduction of the adorable kitten Diana! She is Luna and Artemis’s daughter from the future. Luna and Artemis seem shocked and embarrassed to learn this which suggests that they do not currently have a relationship. Is their relationship a predestination paradox based on them now seeing they will be in one in the future? The show doesn’t appear to work that way.

We learn some interesting things about Nemesis in this episode. King Endymion mentions that it’s orbit is impossible to calculate. Indeed Nemesis is based on a real non existent planet. Many have searched for a planet which explains some inconsistencies in the orbits of other planets. These inconsistencies can better be explained by other phenomenon, but in the Sailor Moon world this is a real planet. In one shot we see the Black Moon Clan on Nemesis with a Moon in the background. This is a first. The Moon is even illuminated in such as a way as to highlight the crescent Moon that is seen on the foreheads of the Black Moon Clan. We have not seen a Moon around Nemesis in any other Sailor Moon canon.

The gang must travel to the past because Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask are disappearing. The excuse given is that Sailor Moon is disappearing because she’s in the same time as Neo Queen Serenity and that she’s occupying a space too close to her. This is fair as she’s lying right near them. Why then is Tuxedo Mask disappearing? Supposedly for the same reason, but this does not occur in the manga. Only Sailor Moon is seen as disappearing. Still King Endymion’s body is not far away so this makes some sense.

We learn that Chibiusa and Diana were the only two to survive the attack by the Black Moon Clan but that they don’t know why. The reason it turns out is that it was because Chibiusa had the Silver Crystal on her, and that she was holding Diana. Too bad we don’t actually see Diana in Chibiusa’s arms when she is attacked. This creates a bit of a plot hole as compared to the manga when Diana is clearly shown with Chibiusa’s at the time of the attack.

This episode also introduces us to Sailor Pluto’s crush on King Endymion! She immediately blushes when she sees him. Perhaps this is why she was so quick to try to kill Sailor Moon earlier! Eliminate Sailor Moon in the past and future King Endymion is all of a sudden back on the market! King Endymion asks Pluto to give Sailor Moon a Key of Space-Time, which she does. This whole exchange seems totally charged as no doubt Sailor Pluto is envious of the relationship Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask have and will share in the future.

What follows is just a ridiculous amount of time traveling. It was taboo to do so last episode but now we go back, spend a quick nap time in the past, then we fly back to the future like it was nothing. Mamoru doesn’t even sleep in his bed. Chibiusa is in the bed and he sleeps on the floor. This makes us wonder where exactly he and Usagi had sex earlier when Chibiusa was in the bed. Did they just do it on the floor? Not very dignified for the future royal family!

Back in the future we see Diana sleeping with future Luna and Artemis. She’s in a room with the bodies of the Sailor Guardians, who are said to have taken the brunt of the attack on Neo Queen Serenity, as well as King Enydmion. So what is up with these people? They appear to be pretty much dead, which would explain the state of King Endymion’s ghost. This isn’t really explained but they are at best near fatally wounded and at worst corpses like the rest of the city.

The enemy this week is Esmeraude and her ridiculous multi arms! This reminds me a lot of Queen Beryl’s hair. This is actually something which happens in the manga though then she has even more arms! She’s seen chocking Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Venus and Sailor Moon with two arms each in the manga though we don’t really see where each arm comes from. Here in Sailor Moon Crystal we have an arm awkwardly coming out of the back of Esmeraude’s neck which just looks weird.

Sailor Moon tries to use her Cutie Moon Rod which doesn’t go that well. It looks a lot like it did when it failed last episode. Actually it’s the exact same image only they fixed the weird half uncoloured animation error they had. Otherwise it is identical as can be seen above. The reason for the failure given is that her Crystal doesn’t work in the future, because you can’t have two Crystals in the same time. Oh that’s nice I guess we won’t have another Sailor Guardian running around the present with the 30th century’s Silver Crystal…

Luckily Tuxedo Mask saves the day with a Double Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber which he performs with the help of the ghost of King Endymion! This is yet another thing from this episode which did not occur in the original manga and for a good reason. If King Endymion’s ghost is fully capable of using his powerful Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber attack isn’t he vastly superior to physical King Endymion? Let’s just get all of the Sailor Guardians running around as ghosts using their attacks without being vulnerable to attack by the bad guys! The Black Moon Clan would really be on the ropes if that happened!

Next up is Act 21, Complication – Nemesis. Sailor Moon is kidnapped so I guess now we actually have to do something! With the previous three kidnappings rescuing them was a priority but now that Sailor Moon is actually gone what are we to do? Sailor Moon is the prisoner of Prince Demande. We will finally see what’s up with the other Sailor Guardians and some big changes may begin for Chibiusa!

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

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A Sailor Moon x Isetan Special Collaboration offers many expensive purses, accessories, jewellery and clothing in Japan

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Adam

As announced on the Sailor Moon Official Site a large number of Sailor Moon themed items are available in Japan as part of a Sailor Moon and Istean Special Collaboration. These items including some fairly expensive, and therefore supposedly high quality, purses, wallets, phone cases, jewellery, charms, watches and all kinds of clothes. These are on sale now in Japan as well as online.

First are a number of bags and purses from Samantha Vega. The Moonstick leather bags are fairly normal looking leather bags coming in white, pink, red and blue with a Sailor Moon pattern on the inside. These are fairly expensive selling for 48,600 yen, over $400 US. I guess Kobe beef isn’t the only way to buy really expensive cow pieces in Japan!

If you’re not a snob for real leather, or care about the suffering of non human animals, why not just get the Luna fake leather bag or Artemis fake leather bag for 21,600 yen, about $180 US. These fun looking leather bags have little cat ears and are much more obviously Sailor Moon themed than the more subtle Moonstick leather bag.

But wait. What about the rich students? They don’t need a purse. They need a
Moonstick Rucksack. What’s a rucksack you might ask? That’s what Japanese people call back packs. This school supply will set back students 30,240 yen, about $250 US. What else were you going to spend that money on, books?

So you have a bag but still need somewhere to put all of that money you have because you’re obviously rich if you’re buying these. Why not shove all those yen in the Sailor Guardian long wallets which cost a mere 21,600 yen, about $180 US each. These come in 6 designs. Two for Sailor Moon and one for each of the other Sailor Guardians.

Sure you’ve got a fancy purse and wallet but what to do with your cell phone? You can pick up a Sailor Guardian Mini Multicase for a mere 19,440 yen, about $163 US. Like the wallets these also come in 6 different designs.

Great! Now how about some cool charms to add a bit of bling bling to all of these things. The Sailor Guardian Elementmarc Charm are 6156 yen, about $50 US. There are 6 charms included. A crescent moon, a heart, and the symbols for Sailor Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus.

Casio is making a Baby G Watch. This sells for 17,280 yen, a bit over $100 US. It comes in a nice looking case that looks like the Crystal Star brooch, Sailor Moon’s transformation item from Sailor Moon R.

Sailor Moon is also teaming up with Honey Bunch to make a number of items. Many of them don’t really seem to have all that much to do with Sailor Moon but others, like this the Chibi Moon Crystal Carillon shirt are pretty Sailor Moon themed. At 8640 yen, over $70 US, this may seem cheap when compared to some of the items for sale but that’s a pretty expensive t-shirt.

There are also some Sailor Moon x Secret Honey clothing items which have some Sailor Moon references on them.

The Sailor Moon x Riccimie clothing items look fairly plain but upon closer investigation have things like Sailor V masks, Luna and other Sailor Moon designs on them.

Finally we have the Anna Sui Meets Sailor Moon items. These range from unimpressive phone cases, t-shirts and mugs to jewellery such as a replica Silver Crystal and Key of Space-Time (17,280 yen or about $150 US). Many items like t-shirts and folders just have an Anna Sui meets Sailor Moon logo but others like the jewellery have a bit more Sailor Moon related flair to them. The more expensive bags and jewellery in this collection cost hundreds of dollars like this bag which costs nearly $320 US.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 17, Secret – Sailor Jupiter, Review

Posted on March 10, 2015 by Adam

The latest episode of Sailor Moon Crystal, Act 17, Secret – Sailor Jupiter, is now available on Crunchyroll, Hulu and Niconico. This week we get introduced to Petz as she faces off with Sailor Jupiter. This gives us a chance to delve into Makoto’s tragic past.

This episode has been changed from the next episode preview. As I mentioned in the review of the last episode, Chibiusa was seen wearing a short sleeve dark blue uniform which does not match what is usually seen in the manga or original anime. Chibiusa has two main outfits. This new short sleeved uniform is from her new school and has a white top. Her original blue uniform which she brings with her from the future has long sleeves. Whenever the blue uniform is seen with short sleeves this is a mistake. This has been updated in this episode to reflect the correct colours. I feel like this must have been a last minute correction as can be seen in these comparison shots between the original blue inform from the episode preview at the end of Act 16 and the updated white uniform from Act 17.

There is still one instance of the incorrect colours that comes through in this episode. When Chibiusa is walking through the street she is seen wearing a white top at first and as she leaves the frame her top turns blue. No doubt all of this confusion is because the animators sometimes see blue as white, as occurred during dressgate.

Chibiusa is seen using Luna P for all sorts of trivial purposes such as cheating at the crane game or making an umbrella with a bunch of birds. She also excels at the Sailor V game. Makes sense since she’s from the future and has more experience with games than people who were, by the original ages shown in the manga, born in the late 70s. We get to see a Tuxedo Mask doll in the opening scene, the puppet from last week’s episode, as well as a couple of Sailor V dolls. How odd it must be for these people to live in a world full of merchandise made after themselves.

A URL is seen on a poster for the Sailor V video game. The complete URL is not seen but we can see the partial URL “orV.gamecenter_news.jp”. This is either part of a URL along the lines of http://sailorv.gamecenter_news.jp or an e-mail address ending with a similar domain name. Whatever it might be this is an invalid URL or e-mail address. An underscore is not a valid character in a domain name. These must include only letters, numbers or dashes.

We unfortunately do not see a glimpse of Sailor Pluto in this episode. The manga shows a very brief look at her as Chibiusa thinks back to Abracadabra, the words which activated Luna P. We will have to wait until Act 19 to get a proper look at her. Another character who does not appear once again is Motoki’s sister Unazuki. Although she appeared in a cameo in Act 3 all of her subsequent appearances in the manga have been omitted from Sailor Moon Crystal.

We do get to see Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion who look just like Usagi and Mamoru. There seems to be less of an attempt to mask their identity here than there was in the original Sailor Moon anime. It can easily be inferred from this episode that Chibiusa is in fact Mamoru and Usagi’s daughter.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 17 - Makoto's father was Brock from Pokémon

Makoto brings Ittou Asanuma back to her apartment and tells him about how her parents died in a plane crash. We get to see a picture of her parents. Her father bears a striking resemblance to Brock from Pokémon. Included above is a drawing of Brock I made back in the 90s. One difference from the manga is that Ittou Asanuma doesn’t mention Mamoru’s super powers, as he overhears him talk about sensing Chibiusa’s thoughts and feelings through touch. He did catch Luna talking, which was only a matter of time since she doesn’t do a great job of hiding the fact that she can talk! Makoto seems to very easily share her secret about being a super hero to him, then gives him a fairly innocent kiss on the forehead.

This episode’s enemy is Petz, the third of the Ayakashi Sisters. The pseudoscience this time around is crop circles. For whatever reason this story arc is riddled with pseudoscience, previously covering fortune telling and dowsing, now touching on crop circles. The paranormal explanations, and the one given in this series, is that crop circles are the result of alien crafts. In reality no such elaborate explanation is necessary as crop circles have been quite definitely proven to be man made.

As with other episodes we wrap up with a Sailor Guardian being kidnapped and an Ayakashi Sister being killed. Sailor Jupiter is now a prisoner of the Black Moon Clan and Petz is now dead.

Coming up next, on March 21st, is Act 18, Invasion – Sailor Venus. This episode will introduce us to Chibiusa’s class mate Momoko. The enemy will be Calaveras who is channeling Rubeus, following in the tradition of the Black Moon Clan practicing things which are no supported by science. Unlike previous episodes however it seems like her channeling of Rubeus is nothing more than an elaborate scam to con the general public. This is consistent with the real world where channeling is not real and used exclusively by charlatans and delusional people.

Keep reading for more screenshots from this episode and the next episode preview for Act 18.

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

Posted on February 22, 2015 by Adam

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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?

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.

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.

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

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Sailor Moon News

Bringing you the latest news about the new anime series Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal and all things Sailor Moon.

Tag Archives: Luna

Sailor Moon SuperS episodes 132 and 133 are now available on Hulu

The S. H. Figuarts “Impostor Version” of Zoisite dressed as Sailor Moon will be a San Diego Comic-Con exclusive

A Human Luna Pullip figure is coming in August

“Moon Wars” Sailor Moon/Star Wars t-shirt on sale at OtherTees

Keiko Han, the voice of Luna, and Amanda Miller, the voice of Sailor Jupiter, to appear at Animazement May 22nd to the 24th in Raleigh, North Carolina

Sailor Moon Crystal to air in Portugal starting May 2nd. Listen to a preview now!

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 20, Crystal Tokyo – King Endymion, Review

A Sailor Moon x Isetan Special Collaboration offers many expensive purses, accessories, jewellery and clothing in Japan

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 17, Secret – Sailor Jupiter, Review

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