Sailor Moon R episode 57 review

This episode bizarrely starts in the middle of a Sailor Guardians battle, and they finish off the battle, then go running to school. Usagi is late and causes a ruckus, and her teacher (fresh off having relationship problems with her man) punishes her for it and makes her stay after class. Natsumi stays too, and then we get this insane storyline of Ail and An both using the Monster of the Week for different purposes, but the same goal: split up Mamoru and Usagi, even though they’re not even really together.

I wrote this up and forgot to explain the plot, so here goes: Usagi and Natsumi stay after class for detention, and every time Usagi looks the other way, Natsumi tries to kill her. Meanwhile, Ail keeps using the “cardian” to try to attack Mamoru, but it goes and does its own thing. Eventually, the other Guardians team up to beat the “cardian,” then Usagi finally gets involved when it shows up at her school. Why is she still there? Her teacher got a call from her love and they went off on a date!

The best part of this episode comes when the girls are at a movie, and they have to get going to fight. Rei stalls by saying that they’re getting to the best part of the movie, but reluctantly leaves. Then Luna and Artemis get zipped up in a bag and Minako takes them away! I wish there was more substance to this episode than that humorous part, but there isn’t, so we’ll just have to live with Rei acting as immature as Usagi, and skating by because, well, she’s Rei and she is the true star of this show.

Best Sailor Guardian of the episode: Mars (4)

Episode rating: 6/10

Sailor Moon R episode 56 review

In this episode, there’s a Snow White play coming up, and all the girls fight over who’s gonna be Snow White. This brings us to the hilarious line that Makoto gives, that she should because she has the biggest boobs. Of course, in the original dub, that line was never heard. Instead, Makoto claimed to be “the one with the most talent.” Makoto brags about her looks at least two, if not three times in this episode. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters.

The whole thing is a ruse for An to try to steal a kiss from Mamoru, yet it never happens. Then the Monster of the Week shows up, and the Sailor Guardians are forced to battle it while on stage. Predictably, everyone thinks it’s part of the show and cheers loudly. There’s nothing wrong with this trope, but The Three Stooges did it so well 90 years ago that I wonder if its shelf life might be up by now. In any case, a funny but pointless episode.

Best Sailor Guardian of the episode: Jupiter (3)

Episode rating: 7/10

Sailor Moon R episode 55 review

The best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, right? Or something like that. Well, Makoto tests that theory by feeding the bad guy (Ail) while his sister (An) gets jealous. Those two, holding “codenames” Seijuro and Natsumi, respectively, are plotting something as this goes on. Seijuro/Ail doesn’t even like human food, which is why he kind of passes off Makoto. Meanwhile, Makoto’s trying to figure out if Seijuro is actually Moonlight Knight, the Tuxedo Mask wanna-be who started showing up at the start of this season. Then Natsumi/An gets too jealous and attacks, and then they call out the Monster of the Week for Sailor Jupiter to attack. Enter Moonlight Knight and Sailor Moon, and the episode ends the way you’d expect.

This episode was actually quite entertaining; lots of funny stuff here. Makoto acting boy-crazy is probably the best part of the episode, because you can’t tell whether she’s being serious or silly, or both at the same time. Kudos to your efforts, Makoto, to save this episode from being forgotten like many of the others.

Best Sailor Guardian of the episode: Jupiter (2)

Episode rating: 7/10

Sailor Moon R episode 54 review

This was one of my favorite episodes as a kid! Rei (whom Rei Ayanami is named after, not the other way around) is the queen of her all-girls school festival, and she shows off her bossy side by ordering around minions to set things up perfectly. The other girls, who were taking her position as shrine maiden as she prepared for the festival, show up to hear Rei sing. But as she does, the Monster of the Week attacks, and Moonlight Knight comes in to save the day, with Sailor Moon finishing things off as always.

What I found most notable in this episode is that they had Rei’s voice actress Cristina Valenzuela sing an actual song… but not the song from the original dub. That one was named “Oh Starry Night.” Perhaps this one was more faithful to the lyrics of the Japanese version of the song. Either way, Valenzuela gives a great performance for the little bit of the song we did get to hear, and Queen Rei gets her time in the spotlight.

Makoto’s turn next episode.

Best Sailor Guardian of the episode: Mars (3)

Episode rating: 9/10