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iariaWe’re Getting Married!
I did enjoy this. It was silly and fun and there was a lot about it that I really liked – which makes me sad to say that it actually really disappointed me as well. And that’s not just a couple things here or there, or things not dealt with that disappointed me but that as a whole I was disappointed. Most of the disappointment is pretty much down to the Senshi and how they were all handled.
• In reviews for the series after Act 49 several people complained about how it seemed as if the senshi weren’t as close in PGSM as they were in both the anime and manga and that they felt more like they were simply friends because they were senshi (rather then being actual friends). That was not a feeling I ever had. I would have liked a lot more of them being BFF of course, especially with regards to Minako being a part of the group, but I loved what we did get and I very much got the sense throughout the series of the girls love for Usagi and hers for them, and theirs for each other. They didn’t feel like tacked on friendships at all. Except... with this special act for the first time it kind of did. That just makes me sad. And mad actually.
• I haven’t looked it up but I’m sure Rei’s absence during a lot of the special had to do with the actress’s availability, or so I hope, but while Rei’s absence for so much of the episode was a part of the problem it certainly wasn’t all of it or even most of it. Okay, her absence during the sword pulling and fight scene really bugged the hell out of me.
• But an even bigger issue for me was how the senshi were scattered and the several moments and lines that indicated that they didn’t see or talk to each other often anymore. While I could see their love for each other I really got the sense that over the last four years (since Act 49) the four of them had moved on and started separate lives of their own, with each of the others ending up as just ‘old friends’. That sure as hell is not how it is supposed to go, damn it. I would actually be fine with Minako off touring, and Ami off working in America as long as I got the sense that they were all still central in each other’s lives and that they communicated all the time but I didn’t get that and it made me so sad. That is not my senshi, thank you.
The fact that we got so little senshi interaction this special as a whole made me really unhappy. This show is called Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon and it’s about the Senshi, and I almost didn’t feel like it in this episode. I think that even if I knew there was another season after this one I would still be disappointed because of what it implied about the senshi and their friendship over the last four years. When act 49 ended with them finally all together, exactly what I’d wanted over the whole series, I just knew that the five of them were going to be together forever and nothing would ever split them up. Sigh.
I was envisioning... I don’t know. Phone calls/texts/e-mails between those separate by continents and constant visits/lunches between those still in Tokyo. When it showed Usagi taking Mamoru dress shopping with her I was going ‘no, no, no!’ because that is what she should have been doing with the senshi. In fact since it was about Usagi’s wedding to her prince I wanted to see all the girls involved and supporting and giggling with Usagi. That’s entirely possible even with them all separated – Ami sending her e-mails of American wedding fashions, Minako using her connections/money to get her into a high class wedding gown maker, Makoto and her going over flowers, Rei and her going over good luck charms. There could be a scene with Usagi, Rei and Makoto running around doing last minute shopping together, laughing and having fun, and Makoto could be texting Ami (we could see her laughing at a picture Makoto sends her, perhaps of Usagi and Rei being goofy), and Rei could be getting Minako’s opinion over the phone and she and Usagi could end up fighting over it. This is what I was expecting throughout this episode. This is what I wanted. This is what I envisioned them to be.
• There was also a lot of disappointment because we never really got Minako fully as part of the girls’ friendships – her hanging out with them, teasing and having fun – and I was expecting to finally get that here. I wanted the five of them together. But not only didn’t we really get that we also didn’t get any Rei/Minako interaction which is just as bad. Minako died and Rei was devastated and when they next met we didn’t get any follow through on that. They came face-to-face at the end of the last act but that was about finding Usagi again, and I’m not sure just how clear their memories of ‘before’ were right then. I really wanted something between Minako and Rei considering how they’d ended in the last life. A hug even!
• “That time... is truly over.” Usagi says this sadly at the end of her wedding, after having reminisced about their time during the series, and I think that pretty much encapsulates my biggest issue with this episode. Those times are never over, truly or anything. Those times are always now, are always the past and the future, and every step of all their lives. That is the whole point, the whole centre of this entire series, no matter its incarnation. Usagi/Serenity and all her Senshi: together, always and forever. So to have that thrown out – to have them growing apart, moving apart into new lives, may be realistic (whatever) but it’s not Sailor Moon and it’s not the Senshi. It irritates me so much.
• And damn it Mars should have been in that fight! I can’t believe TPTB managed to keep the five of them from fighting together yet again.
• I also feel like this Special had the makings of a very interesting plot and story that never really came together in any coherent way. A huge issue I had with the final act was the whole Silver Crystal having ‘shattered’ which I thought was stupid when it happened and still think is stupid. (It’s the fricking Silver Crystal! It’s the source of all the various Serenitys’ powers! It can’t be destroyed! Grr.) So I actually really thought that much of this act would be Usagi having to find/put back together the Silver Crystal.
Serenity tells Luna and Makoto: “Furthermore, the Princess’ heart is scattered. ... But that is a problem the Princess must solve herself. For now the senshi must do their best.” which I took to be about the Silver Crystal. It has apparently always been a part of her and so ‘Princess’s heart = Silver Crystal’ isn’t really that much of a leap. I found myself thinking that Usagi was going to find that the Silver Crystal wasn’t destroyed after all but merely sealed away inside her. The whole thing about her ‘heart scattered’ and it being a problem she had to solve would be Usagi having to find the Crystal/strength/power inside her again and accessing it again (and also becoming whole again). That makes so much more sense as an explanation for both what happened to the Silver Crystal but also for what Serenity meant in this sentence. Instead she was apparently talking about Usagi’s issues with Mamoru and... eh? It makes me go ‘really’ and I don’t think that last line about the senshi fits with that at all.
- Then you get Mio’s return which is given no explanation whatsoever. I’d explain it so: When Endymion killed Mio she absorbed a bit of Metaria and when Mio was reborn with the rest of the world that piece of Metaria was still there. Over the last four years a Metaria possessed Mio has slowly been growing in power but because it was only a small piece of Metaria in her Mio gets decreased power but more control. So Metaria's desires (destroy the world) end up conforming more to what Mio would want (to rule the world, Mamoru, to hurt Usagi). The final battle would have Mio transforming, something like how she did at the end of this act, with Metaria taking her over and the Senshi defeating her once and for all. I think Mio returning with Metaria inside her is no more difficult to explain/strange then Mio returning with random powers to be the bad guy. Metaria-Mio showing up as the bad guy would also tie back to the Silver Crystal and Usagi having to find it. A big thing in the latter half of the season was how the power of Metaria and the Silver Crystal was so similar so having her return would tie back to the return of the Silver Crystal along with giving us a more impressive ending to her that we didn’t really get.
... wow, that got long. I really did enjoy the episode! So, the final Awards - I am not going to bother trying to narrow it down to just one for each.
Awards
Hottie Of the Week
Makoto. She looked fabulous throughout (though really they all did). I especially thought she looked gorgeous during her first phone call with Usagi (I loved the glasses!) and then at the wedding she looked stunning. Having her hair up is a good look for her.
Also sticking out to me was:
Usagi looked beautiful at her wedding (especially when she was watching the others).
Rei looked spectacular when she was checking out the abandoned building (the suit and heels and new hairstyle – attractive and grown up all together).
Ami looked fantastic when she was sitting in the cab.
Minako was lovely when she kicked youma ass in the parking garage.
Oh, also: Queen Serenity – so pretty!
Best Shibby Moment
1) When Mio stated she wanted Mamoru to marry her he does this – sigh/eye-roll, like ‘oh, not again’ and he’s already so bored by the whole thing – and it was hilarious (and perfectly played).
2) When he saw Usagi looking all pensive after the wedding and he gets this smile on his face and puts his arm around her and it made me awww.
3) His smile when he revved his motorcycle at the end – he had this sort of day-dreaming look on his face as if his mind was elsewhere and it was somewhere nice (I wonder what he was thinking of!)
Funniest Moment
1) Rei throwing off her suit and being in her full Mika outfit, like she’s superman or something, was ridiculous and funny.
2) “This is the way to Japan!” – Ami. Heeee. That just really amused me.
3) Zoisite’s kicking feet after Mamoru dropped the banner on the Shitennou made me laugh.
4) Jadeite clapping enthusiastically (like a seal) in the background when Usagi confirmed that the wedding was on.
Cutest Moment
- “Hey, you could have dodged it a little! You scared me.” – Mamoru
“I can tell when you’re serious, Mamoru.” – Usagi
They are so adorable! I loved them doing silent eye communication before he threw the sword, and her trusting him so much that she didn’t even flinch. But his grumpy face when he said that above line and then their smiles at each other – awww.
- Motoki catching the bouquet and being all “I did it, I did it!” Oh, Motoki. I loved Makoto’s smile at him. But then he goes and proposes to Makoto: “Well, I was thinking… why not us next?” Motoki! And then him looking so frightened and actually shaking, and her smile and ‘yeah’ and… awwww! (I just don’t understand why the director didn’t give us a shot of Motoki’s reaction to Makoto’s yes.)
Saddest Moment
The fact that we don’t get a lot of Senshi interaction/bonding and Mars didn’t make an appearance? Oh, fine. But I found that all very sad. Other than that…
1) I found the moment when Queen Serenity turned to look at Usagi just as she was dissolving into light sad. I mean Usagi is a reincarnation but Serenity clearly still sees her as her daughter and she just seemed so sad. I hope that at a future date they get to make contact.
2) The girls’ reactions, especially Usagi, when their transformation bracelets disappeared.
Coolest Moment
- Queen Serenity appears! I was not expecting her at all and it was very much an ‘awesome!’ sort of moment when she first appeared. The casting was excellent! Serenity looked both very regal and very much like Usagi’s actress. “What will happen will happen.” and “Their happiness has been on pause since their past life. There is no point in hurrying things now.” I like her. She seems very calm and serene and collected and wise. Basically she’s exactly what you’d expect for her to be.
- The return of the Shitennou! I thought this even when it appeared that they were brainwashed yet again but it was even more cool when they turned up in the forest to rescue the prince and his princess from their evil doppelgangers. I did a bit of cheering. The last time we saw them they were promising to be there if he needed them despite apparently not being reborn on Earth and they kept that promise (this act is really not considered with the ‘whys’ of things and I’m willing to ignore it in this case. Fanwank: they’re connected to Endymion and felt him in danger, and the connection brought them back.)
- Minako, not looking at all scared or impressed, kicking the sword-wielding youma into and through the cement wall. She shattered it. Awesome. I guess Venus is still there and well!
Best Senshi Moment
- Minako: “Move! (the youma do) Let’s go.” And then she confidently walks past them. Oh, I love that swagger past them. The whole sequence was simply amazing and fit under both Coolest and Best so I divided it up. “Just feeling vigorous” indeed. ♥
- I loved Usagi when she was first confronted by the youma. I like that she wanted to fight. She didn’t run – she tried to direct people away and then saved a child and pushed a clown-youma away in the process. Then when Tuxedo Kamen tried to get her to run I loved her response: “Don’t order me around! I can help!” She gets mega points for that. Of course I was yelling at her to pick up the sword and instead she picked up a random stick (sword! right there!) but it’s the thought that counts!
- I loved Usagi kneeing poor fake-Jadeite in possibly not the stomach, and then turning to find that Mamoru had the same thought. His expression when he saw that she took out Jadeite made me laugh. Even though it turned out not to be Jadeite I still thought that was a pretty awesome move on her part. I love that she is still a fighter. I’d expect it on the part of the others but with Usagi it just makes me really happy.
Best Senshi Interaction
I’m still bitter. There should have been so many possibilities for this category that it would be impossible to pick. Sigh.
I loved the girls during the bouquet toss scene. I loved Rei and Minako standing shoulder to shoulder and both of them getting into it, and then Rei getting a bit too excited and bumping into Minako and the look they shared before looking away and fringing disinterest. It’s probably not how it was meant to be read but I saw it as it being about them. (This was their only interaction in the act but it did nothing to contradict their slashiness). I loved Ami and Makoto standing a bit behind them and their shared look and grin – which could be just about the moment itself or since they’re standing right behind Rei and Minako I like to imagine it’s about their fellow Senshi and how in love they are with each other and their general silliness about not getting excited – I actually really loved this short moment between Ami and Makoto. To me it really felt like it conveyed so much about these two girls and their relationship and I loved it.
WTF of the Week
You know, it’s actually kind of reassuring that it was so hard to choose one thing to go here and that in fact the act was filled with moments to go here. It’s pretty much business as usual for this series.
Number 1 will always be the Senshi splitting off. We get some lines here and there indicating that the separation of them isn’t just a temporary thing but something that’s been happening over the four intervening years. Right at the beginning there was Usagi voice-overing about Minako that “though I see her I can’t meet her” and while it could just be implying that Minako is in England/touring and Usagi hasn’t seen her in a little while I kind of got the sense that she meant that she hadn’t even spoken or written to Minako in possibly years. Maybe I was just seeing too much into that. But then we get this:
“It’s been so long since we were all together. I’m really looking forward to it. I want to hurry and see them.” My exact response (ie; notes) was ‘Wait, no, that’s not how it’s supposed to go!’ which pretty much says it all. Again I could just be overreacting. She could just mean that between Ami’s residency and Minako’s touring that it’s been months since all five of them have managed to have face to face time together but it just read as different to me when I first watched and even looking back at it now. I do love how much she wants to see them.
There was one more moment and this is really the one that was the worst: when Rei runs into Luna at the abandoned building her greeting is “Long time no see.” (My reaction was: What?! No! That is not how it’s supposed to be! *throws tantrum*) Now she could be joking/teasing but she didn’t appear to be and Luna’s reaction didn’t indicate that. This is actually so much worse because it’s Rei, Rei who lives in the same town. Luna being shocked at it being Ami or Minako who are out of the country would be understandable, the greeting would be understandable, but not from Rei. From Rei it indicates that they don’t talk all the time, don’t visit, and it shows that they have all for the most part drifted away. So freaking sad!
- A part of the above: we get to see Usagi running to be by Rei’s bedside but we get nothing from Makoto about that, nor Minako or Ami getting calls about it. Rei in the hospital should have had Makoto on the way or already there but instead she appeared to be relaxing at home, and we should have gotten calls to Minako and Ami about it with both of them already planning to return to Japan. I mean Rei had to be seriously injured if she couldn’t make it to the fight.
- Oh, and another part of the above: Not getting to see any of the girls hugging a newly married Usagi or newly engaged Makoto. I wanted hugs, damn it! It felt especially noticeable when Usagi just called out her congratulations to Makoto with a huge grin instead of running to her and glomping onto her in joy which seems much more like a Usagi reaction to me.
Other Things That Made Me Go WTF:
• Mamoru’s proposal to Usagi... *hands* That is not a proposal! After all the build up (several lives) and he does it by placing the ring in her hand and then walking away? Oh, Mamoru, you doofus. I mean he gets points for taking her back to that same beach but the execution gets a D!
• I actually loved the return of Mio as the villain because by the end of the series I was loving her but TPTB put absolutely no effort into actually explaining anything about her return. Such as how was she suddenly alive and with full memories, or where her sudden powers came from. I thought that perhaps it was Metaria possessing her and that we’d finally get that Metaria confrontation that we hadn’t really gotten at the end of the series but then – nothing. Apparently no Metaria, though somehow Mio is able to create youma now, and in the end no explanation for anything. Not where Mio came from and not how she did anything. That was a bit of a letdown.
• I mentioned it above in my rant but I had to put it here as well – Usagi wedding dress shopping with Mamoru. Um, no. Absolutely not. There is no way that Usagi would be taking her groom with her to pick out her wedding dress (and really would she still not have a dress a week before the wedding date? I think not.) It should be Usagi with all the Senshi, or at least some of the Senshi, and that’s what I would have preferred. Possibly with Naru there. Or just Naru, or Naru and Usagi’s other two school friends who were at the wedding but who’s names I never remember, or with Ikuko would have been acceptable as well. Hell, Motoki would have been a hell of a lot better than the groom! Yeesh.
• Luna was given a human form and her ability to henshin by the Silver Crystal – neither of them are natural to her. So why exactly can she still do both even though a) the world/reality was rebooted, b) the Silver Crystal was ‘shattered’?
• “Don’t interfere!” – Endymion Say what? I think being Endymion does bad things to his head. Pride before the fall Mamoru! You have guards for a reason! Idiot. Did he want to prove something to himself or to the Shitennou?
I did enjoy this. It was silly and fun and there was a lot about it that I really liked – which makes me sad to say that it actually really disappointed me as well. And that’s not just a couple things here or there, or things not dealt with that disappointed me but that as a whole I was disappointed. Most of the disappointment is pretty much down to the Senshi and how they were all handled.
• In reviews for the series after Act 49 several people complained about how it seemed as if the senshi weren’t as close in PGSM as they were in both the anime and manga and that they felt more like they were simply friends because they were senshi (rather then being actual friends). That was not a feeling I ever had. I would have liked a lot more of them being BFF of course, especially with regards to Minako being a part of the group, but I loved what we did get and I very much got the sense throughout the series of the girls love for Usagi and hers for them, and theirs for each other. They didn’t feel like tacked on friendships at all. Except... with this special act for the first time it kind of did. That just makes me sad. And mad actually.
• I haven’t looked it up but I’m sure Rei’s absence during a lot of the special had to do with the actress’s availability, or so I hope, but while Rei’s absence for so much of the episode was a part of the problem it certainly wasn’t all of it or even most of it. Okay, her absence during the sword pulling and fight scene really bugged the hell out of me.
• But an even bigger issue for me was how the senshi were scattered and the several moments and lines that indicated that they didn’t see or talk to each other often anymore. While I could see their love for each other I really got the sense that over the last four years (since Act 49) the four of them had moved on and started separate lives of their own, with each of the others ending up as just ‘old friends’. That sure as hell is not how it is supposed to go, damn it. I would actually be fine with Minako off touring, and Ami off working in America as long as I got the sense that they were all still central in each other’s lives and that they communicated all the time but I didn’t get that and it made me so sad. That is not my senshi, thank you.
The fact that we got so little senshi interaction this special as a whole made me really unhappy. This show is called Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon and it’s about the Senshi, and I almost didn’t feel like it in this episode. I think that even if I knew there was another season after this one I would still be disappointed because of what it implied about the senshi and their friendship over the last four years. When act 49 ended with them finally all together, exactly what I’d wanted over the whole series, I just knew that the five of them were going to be together forever and nothing would ever split them up. Sigh.
I was envisioning... I don’t know. Phone calls/texts/e-mails between those separate by continents and constant visits/lunches between those still in Tokyo. When it showed Usagi taking Mamoru dress shopping with her I was going ‘no, no, no!’ because that is what she should have been doing with the senshi. In fact since it was about Usagi’s wedding to her prince I wanted to see all the girls involved and supporting and giggling with Usagi. That’s entirely possible even with them all separated – Ami sending her e-mails of American wedding fashions, Minako using her connections/money to get her into a high class wedding gown maker, Makoto and her going over flowers, Rei and her going over good luck charms. There could be a scene with Usagi, Rei and Makoto running around doing last minute shopping together, laughing and having fun, and Makoto could be texting Ami (we could see her laughing at a picture Makoto sends her, perhaps of Usagi and Rei being goofy), and Rei could be getting Minako’s opinion over the phone and she and Usagi could end up fighting over it. This is what I was expecting throughout this episode. This is what I wanted. This is what I envisioned them to be.
• There was also a lot of disappointment because we never really got Minako fully as part of the girls’ friendships – her hanging out with them, teasing and having fun – and I was expecting to finally get that here. I wanted the five of them together. But not only didn’t we really get that we also didn’t get any Rei/Minako interaction which is just as bad. Minako died and Rei was devastated and when they next met we didn’t get any follow through on that. They came face-to-face at the end of the last act but that was about finding Usagi again, and I’m not sure just how clear their memories of ‘before’ were right then. I really wanted something between Minako and Rei considering how they’d ended in the last life. A hug even!
• “That time... is truly over.” Usagi says this sadly at the end of her wedding, after having reminisced about their time during the series, and I think that pretty much encapsulates my biggest issue with this episode. Those times are never over, truly or anything. Those times are always now, are always the past and the future, and every step of all their lives. That is the whole point, the whole centre of this entire series, no matter its incarnation. Usagi/Serenity and all her Senshi: together, always and forever. So to have that thrown out – to have them growing apart, moving apart into new lives, may be realistic (whatever) but it’s not Sailor Moon and it’s not the Senshi. It irritates me so much.
• And damn it Mars should have been in that fight! I can’t believe TPTB managed to keep the five of them from fighting together yet again.
• I also feel like this Special had the makings of a very interesting plot and story that never really came together in any coherent way. A huge issue I had with the final act was the whole Silver Crystal having ‘shattered’ which I thought was stupid when it happened and still think is stupid. (It’s the fricking Silver Crystal! It’s the source of all the various Serenitys’ powers! It can’t be destroyed! Grr.) So I actually really thought that much of this act would be Usagi having to find/put back together the Silver Crystal.
Serenity tells Luna and Makoto: “Furthermore, the Princess’ heart is scattered. ... But that is a problem the Princess must solve herself. For now the senshi must do their best.” which I took to be about the Silver Crystal. It has apparently always been a part of her and so ‘Princess’s heart = Silver Crystal’ isn’t really that much of a leap. I found myself thinking that Usagi was going to find that the Silver Crystal wasn’t destroyed after all but merely sealed away inside her. The whole thing about her ‘heart scattered’ and it being a problem she had to solve would be Usagi having to find the Crystal/strength/power inside her again and accessing it again (and also becoming whole again). That makes so much more sense as an explanation for both what happened to the Silver Crystal but also for what Serenity meant in this sentence. Instead she was apparently talking about Usagi’s issues with Mamoru and... eh? It makes me go ‘really’ and I don’t think that last line about the senshi fits with that at all.
- Then you get Mio’s return which is given no explanation whatsoever. I’d explain it so: When Endymion killed Mio she absorbed a bit of Metaria and when Mio was reborn with the rest of the world that piece of Metaria was still there. Over the last four years a Metaria possessed Mio has slowly been growing in power but because it was only a small piece of Metaria in her Mio gets decreased power but more control. So Metaria's desires (destroy the world) end up conforming more to what Mio would want (to rule the world, Mamoru, to hurt Usagi). The final battle would have Mio transforming, something like how she did at the end of this act, with Metaria taking her over and the Senshi defeating her once and for all. I think Mio returning with Metaria inside her is no more difficult to explain/strange then Mio returning with random powers to be the bad guy. Metaria-Mio showing up as the bad guy would also tie back to the Silver Crystal and Usagi having to find it. A big thing in the latter half of the season was how the power of Metaria and the Silver Crystal was so similar so having her return would tie back to the return of the Silver Crystal along with giving us a more impressive ending to her that we didn’t really get.
... wow, that got long. I really did enjoy the episode! So, the final Awards - I am not going to bother trying to narrow it down to just one for each.
Hottie Of the Week
Makoto. She looked fabulous throughout (though really they all did). I especially thought she looked gorgeous during her first phone call with Usagi (I loved the glasses!) and then at the wedding she looked stunning. Having her hair up is a good look for her.
Also sticking out to me was:
Usagi looked beautiful at her wedding (especially when she was watching the others).
Rei looked spectacular when she was checking out the abandoned building (the suit and heels and new hairstyle – attractive and grown up all together).
Ami looked fantastic when she was sitting in the cab.
Minako was lovely when she kicked youma ass in the parking garage.
Oh, also: Queen Serenity – so pretty!
Best Shibby Moment
1) When Mio stated she wanted Mamoru to marry her he does this – sigh/eye-roll, like ‘oh, not again’ and he’s already so bored by the whole thing – and it was hilarious (and perfectly played).
2) When he saw Usagi looking all pensive after the wedding and he gets this smile on his face and puts his arm around her and it made me awww.
3) His smile when he revved his motorcycle at the end – he had this sort of day-dreaming look on his face as if his mind was elsewhere and it was somewhere nice (I wonder what he was thinking of!)
Funniest Moment
1) Rei throwing off her suit and being in her full Mika outfit, like she’s superman or something, was ridiculous and funny.
2) “This is the way to Japan!” – Ami. Heeee. That just really amused me.
3) Zoisite’s kicking feet after Mamoru dropped the banner on the Shitennou made me laugh.
4) Jadeite clapping enthusiastically (like a seal) in the background when Usagi confirmed that the wedding was on.
Cutest Moment
- “Hey, you could have dodged it a little! You scared me.” – Mamoru
“I can tell when you’re serious, Mamoru.” – Usagi
They are so adorable! I loved them doing silent eye communication before he threw the sword, and her trusting him so much that she didn’t even flinch. But his grumpy face when he said that above line and then their smiles at each other – awww.
- Motoki catching the bouquet and being all “I did it, I did it!” Oh, Motoki. I loved Makoto’s smile at him. But then he goes and proposes to Makoto: “Well, I was thinking… why not us next?” Motoki! And then him looking so frightened and actually shaking, and her smile and ‘yeah’ and… awwww! (I just don’t understand why the director didn’t give us a shot of Motoki’s reaction to Makoto’s yes.)
Saddest Moment
The fact that we don’t get a lot of Senshi interaction/bonding and Mars didn’t make an appearance? Oh, fine. But I found that all very sad. Other than that…
1) I found the moment when Queen Serenity turned to look at Usagi just as she was dissolving into light sad. I mean Usagi is a reincarnation but Serenity clearly still sees her as her daughter and she just seemed so sad. I hope that at a future date they get to make contact.
2) The girls’ reactions, especially Usagi, when their transformation bracelets disappeared.
Coolest Moment
- Queen Serenity appears! I was not expecting her at all and it was very much an ‘awesome!’ sort of moment when she first appeared. The casting was excellent! Serenity looked both very regal and very much like Usagi’s actress. “What will happen will happen.” and “Their happiness has been on pause since their past life. There is no point in hurrying things now.” I like her. She seems very calm and serene and collected and wise. Basically she’s exactly what you’d expect for her to be.
- The return of the Shitennou! I thought this even when it appeared that they were brainwashed yet again but it was even more cool when they turned up in the forest to rescue the prince and his princess from their evil doppelgangers. I did a bit of cheering. The last time we saw them they were promising to be there if he needed them despite apparently not being reborn on Earth and they kept that promise (this act is really not considered with the ‘whys’ of things and I’m willing to ignore it in this case. Fanwank: they’re connected to Endymion and felt him in danger, and the connection brought them back.)
- Minako, not looking at all scared or impressed, kicking the sword-wielding youma into and through the cement wall. She shattered it. Awesome. I guess Venus is still there and well!
Best Senshi Moment
- Minako: “Move! (the youma do) Let’s go.” And then she confidently walks past them. Oh, I love that swagger past them. The whole sequence was simply amazing and fit under both Coolest and Best so I divided it up. “Just feeling vigorous” indeed. ♥
- I loved Usagi when she was first confronted by the youma. I like that she wanted to fight. She didn’t run – she tried to direct people away and then saved a child and pushed a clown-youma away in the process. Then when Tuxedo Kamen tried to get her to run I loved her response: “Don’t order me around! I can help!” She gets mega points for that. Of course I was yelling at her to pick up the sword and instead she picked up a random stick (sword! right there!) but it’s the thought that counts!
- I loved Usagi kneeing poor fake-Jadeite in possibly not the stomach, and then turning to find that Mamoru had the same thought. His expression when he saw that she took out Jadeite made me laugh. Even though it turned out not to be Jadeite I still thought that was a pretty awesome move on her part. I love that she is still a fighter. I’d expect it on the part of the others but with Usagi it just makes me really happy.
Best Senshi Interaction
I’m still bitter. There should have been so many possibilities for this category that it would be impossible to pick. Sigh.
I loved the girls during the bouquet toss scene. I loved Rei and Minako standing shoulder to shoulder and both of them getting into it, and then Rei getting a bit too excited and bumping into Minako and the look they shared before looking away and fringing disinterest. It’s probably not how it was meant to be read but I saw it as it being about them. (This was their only interaction in the act but it did nothing to contradict their slashiness). I loved Ami and Makoto standing a bit behind them and their shared look and grin – which could be just about the moment itself or since they’re standing right behind Rei and Minako I like to imagine it’s about their fellow Senshi and how in love they are with each other and their general silliness about not getting excited – I actually really loved this short moment between Ami and Makoto. To me it really felt like it conveyed so much about these two girls and their relationship and I loved it.
WTF of the Week
You know, it’s actually kind of reassuring that it was so hard to choose one thing to go here and that in fact the act was filled with moments to go here. It’s pretty much business as usual for this series.
Number 1 will always be the Senshi splitting off. We get some lines here and there indicating that the separation of them isn’t just a temporary thing but something that’s been happening over the four intervening years. Right at the beginning there was Usagi voice-overing about Minako that “though I see her I can’t meet her” and while it could just be implying that Minako is in England/touring and Usagi hasn’t seen her in a little while I kind of got the sense that she meant that she hadn’t even spoken or written to Minako in possibly years. Maybe I was just seeing too much into that. But then we get this:
“It’s been so long since we were all together. I’m really looking forward to it. I want to hurry and see them.” My exact response (ie; notes) was ‘Wait, no, that’s not how it’s supposed to go!’ which pretty much says it all. Again I could just be overreacting. She could just mean that between Ami’s residency and Minako’s touring that it’s been months since all five of them have managed to have face to face time together but it just read as different to me when I first watched and even looking back at it now. I do love how much she wants to see them.
There was one more moment and this is really the one that was the worst: when Rei runs into Luna at the abandoned building her greeting is “Long time no see.” (My reaction was: What?! No! That is not how it’s supposed to be! *throws tantrum*) Now she could be joking/teasing but she didn’t appear to be and Luna’s reaction didn’t indicate that. This is actually so much worse because it’s Rei, Rei who lives in the same town. Luna being shocked at it being Ami or Minako who are out of the country would be understandable, the greeting would be understandable, but not from Rei. From Rei it indicates that they don’t talk all the time, don’t visit, and it shows that they have all for the most part drifted away. So freaking sad!
- A part of the above: we get to see Usagi running to be by Rei’s bedside but we get nothing from Makoto about that, nor Minako or Ami getting calls about it. Rei in the hospital should have had Makoto on the way or already there but instead she appeared to be relaxing at home, and we should have gotten calls to Minako and Ami about it with both of them already planning to return to Japan. I mean Rei had to be seriously injured if she couldn’t make it to the fight.
- Oh, and another part of the above: Not getting to see any of the girls hugging a newly married Usagi or newly engaged Makoto. I wanted hugs, damn it! It felt especially noticeable when Usagi just called out her congratulations to Makoto with a huge grin instead of running to her and glomping onto her in joy which seems much more like a Usagi reaction to me.
Other Things That Made Me Go WTF:
• Mamoru’s proposal to Usagi... *hands* That is not a proposal! After all the build up (several lives) and he does it by placing the ring in her hand and then walking away? Oh, Mamoru, you doofus. I mean he gets points for taking her back to that same beach but the execution gets a D!
• I actually loved the return of Mio as the villain because by the end of the series I was loving her but TPTB put absolutely no effort into actually explaining anything about her return. Such as how was she suddenly alive and with full memories, or where her sudden powers came from. I thought that perhaps it was Metaria possessing her and that we’d finally get that Metaria confrontation that we hadn’t really gotten at the end of the series but then – nothing. Apparently no Metaria, though somehow Mio is able to create youma now, and in the end no explanation for anything. Not where Mio came from and not how she did anything. That was a bit of a letdown.
• I mentioned it above in my rant but I had to put it here as well – Usagi wedding dress shopping with Mamoru. Um, no. Absolutely not. There is no way that Usagi would be taking her groom with her to pick out her wedding dress (and really would she still not have a dress a week before the wedding date? I think not.) It should be Usagi with all the Senshi, or at least some of the Senshi, and that’s what I would have preferred. Possibly with Naru there. Or just Naru, or Naru and Usagi’s other two school friends who were at the wedding but who’s names I never remember, or with Ikuko would have been acceptable as well. Hell, Motoki would have been a hell of a lot better than the groom! Yeesh.
• Luna was given a human form and her ability to henshin by the Silver Crystal – neither of them are natural to her. So why exactly can she still do both even though a) the world/reality was rebooted, b) the Silver Crystal was ‘shattered’?
• “Don’t interfere!” – Endymion Say what? I think being Endymion does bad things to his head. Pride before the fall Mamoru! You have guards for a reason! Idiot. Did he want to prove something to himself or to the Shitennou?
