Sailor Moon Crystal

Episode 11

This episode is dedicated to the fallout of the Senshis' visit to the moon and Mamoru's turn to evil. Last wee- err, three weeks ago (ugh, this show's release schedule does it no favors) ended with Mamoru kidnapped and brainwashed by the Dark Kingdom. Oddly, this made him smarter, as he's immediately able to decipher Sailor Moon's identity and the location of their headquarters. However, he's not smart enough to cover his tracks beyond magicking Arcade Guy to think they're bros, so the Senshi discover him. Even when obviously evil-ized, Usagi is having trouble confronting her boyfriend, so she cowers while her friends fight. They're losing until Tuxedo Mask makes the mistake of hurting Luna, which pisses off Usagi. She vocally commits to her efforts to protect her friends yet again, transforms, and tries to take him out, only to be stopped by Queen Beryl, who makes off with the Silver Crystal for real. Then it's revealed that Usagi somehow hadn't known that obviously-Mamoru is Mamoru, thinking instead that he's some guy who looks and sounds exactly like him except a jerk, and her reluctance sets in again. Can we make no progress in this show?

This is the fourth or fifth time Usagi has had to recommit to her desire to support her friends, and at least the third time it's been about Tuxedo Mask. It's a fine conflict that needs to happen, but it's just happened so often that it's lost all potency. It's getting hard to take Usagi's declarations of eternal friendship seriously when I know that during the next major fight she's just going to watch her friends nearly get killed again before realizing that it's time to fight back. It would be nice if there were some consequences for this. Maybe the Senshi could get angry at her for once so she's forced to make a real decision between them and Mamoru? They're just so endlessly supportive that the show becomes an unrealistic depiction of "healthy" friendships. It undermines Sailor Moon Crystal's stronger early episodes, where Usagi first encountered the Senshi as maladjusted teens and brought them into the group through a reciprocal emotional exchange. Usagi's special power is supposed to be friendship, but she consistently gets sidetracked by a boy. This episode alone, she falls asleep while her friends discuss strategy and sneaks out to spend time with fake real Mamoru instead of them. This is supposed to be Sailor Moon, not Wolf Girl and Black Prince.

The problem goes deeper than that, however. Sailor Moon Crystal is generally incapable of portraying realistic humans. The Senshi's individual character traits (Ami as the shy nerd, Makoto as the tough girl with a hidden soft side, Rei as the temperamental and standoffish ojou-sama, Minako as the confident combat veteran) mostly vanished the second they were accepted into the fold. The villains are all interchangeable, and Usagi and Mamoru's romance seems based on obligation. None of them except for Usagi pass the “describe a character without mentioning their appearance or occupation” test anymore, which is a shame, because a lot of people were originally drawn to Sailor Moon by the vibrant personalities.

This wasn't one of Sailor Moon Crystal's worst episodes, which says a lot about its overall quality by now. It had some momentum, the emotional moments weren't entirely ineffective (turns out I have built up some affection for Luna), and some of the directorial choices worked, but it's all too little, too late. This show might get interesting again if it stops treading water, but I don't expect that to happen until the Queen Metallia arc ends and we get into the Chibiusa stuff. Overall, this arc has failed to keep me engaged, and the only thing that might improve Sailor Moon Crystal at this point is a clean slate.

Grade: C

Sailor Moon Crystal is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Gabriella Ekens studies film and literature at a US university. Follow her on twitter.