Anime Hajime Review: Sailor Moon R (Part 2 of 6)

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Sailor Moon R. Read discretion is advised.***

Season Synopsis - Sailor Moon R

With the Dark Kingdom defeated, Usagi and the Sailor Scouts no longer have any memory of who they are; allowing them to live normal lives once again. Sadly, these new peaceful days do not last.

From the deep reaches of space, lovers Ail (voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa) and An (voiced by Yumi Touma) have come to Earth in search of energy. Not for themselves, but for the ancient Hell Tree. The pair begins to wreak havoc, thus forcing the Sailor Scouts to return to battle.

Unfortunately, Ail and An are only the tip of the iceberg, for an even greater threat looms on the horizon.

One day, Usagi meets a child also named Chibiusa (voiced by Kae Araki). Chibiusa says she is searching for the Silver Crystal to save her mother. However, it appears she is not the only one searching.

The Black Moon Clan have come in pursuit of the person they call have dubbed the Rabbit. Their goal is not only to capture their target, but also destroy the Silver Crystal as well as the mysterious city known as Crystal Tokyo.

Season Positives

Somebody got a bigger budget. The animation for this season two was much more fluid, vivid, and overall better in quality.

Regarding a continuation, though, Sailor Moon R succeeded, and it didn’t fall into the trap of merely rehashing the first season. Granted, many of the same exact elements got used, but it was in the presentation that helped differentiate the two installments.

This was, unquestionably, a progression of the series.

The Hell Tree Arc: Ail and An

The Hell Tree Arc consists of the first thirteen episodes of season two and what a way to start.

Sailor Moon R managed not only retained the elements that made the first season fun but it also significantly improved upon one of its most glaring issues. Ail and An were perfect antagonists for this series, and I’m so thankful that the word “antagonist” exists.

I refuse to call Ail and An villains because they weren’t; or at least, they weren’t really. Although the did some villainess things, the motivation wasn’t all evil for the sake of evil. They weren’t taking energy to resurrect a powerful deity or to plunge the world into chaos. Instead, they did what they did out of survival. The issue was, these two went about their business like spoiled brats who didn’t know any better.

Unlike in the last season where the Dark Kingdom consisted of one not personalities, in Sailor Moon R got to know Ail and An.

These two weren’t serious all the time. They weren’t above having fun. They goofed around. They got embarrassed. They got jealous. They had emotions more than just bad. Along with that, I bought these two as lovers. But it was also clear that they had only been them for a long time. Therefore, when Ail fell for Usagi and An for Tuxedo Mask, it made sense why they got mad at each other despite doing the same exact thing.

Throughout Ail and An’s arc, they had no interest in killing anyone. As their story moved forward, they became desperate. This led them to create a strong tunnel-vision interpretation of their end goal.

Ail and An’s predicament was quite tragic. By the end, I didn’t want the Sailor Scouts to defeat them. I wanted the Sailor Scouts to save them.

The Black Moon Clan Arc

The remainder of Sailor Moon R was the Black Moon Clan Arc. Unlike Ail and An, this group was a better fit for the moniker of villain. And just like Ail and An, these characters were far more interesting than the Dark Kingdom ever was.

Well, the female members of the Black Moon Clan were gripping. The guys kind of sucked.

With season one, besides being dull, the Dark Kingdom never felt like a threat. The Sailor Scouts never struggled to win and for them, simply showing up was often enough. Then when the climax of the last installment tried to get serious out of nowhere, it didn’t work.

Had the Sailor Scouts “died” in season two, though, then that would have been much more believable.

Although every encounter with the Black Moon Clan was still relatively easy, the girls got a bit banged up. For the first time, they didn’t always leave a fight unscathed. Not only did this make each episode more fun, the situations felt like actual threats and not annoying inconveniences.

Plus, each Sailor Scout victory affected the villains. The Black Moon Clan got frustrated and went into each next encounter a little more prepared. There was a lot less underestimating the Sailor Scouts during this season.

All this went toward a climax that was exciting at first, and excellent by the end.

Season Negatives

The villains of Sailor Moon R may have been better than season one’s, but that didn’t prevent them from still being pretty stupid.

Why can nobody figure out who Sailor Moon is? I mean god damn it, at least Clark Kent has a pair glasses.

WHY IS THIS SO HARD?

It was still mindboggling that this is a thing. Thankfully, discovering Sailor Moon’s identity wasn’t a huge focus this season. Too bad the only way anyone ever figured it out was when Usagi transformed right in front of them.

However, there was one part of this season that was outlandishly ridiculous. It turns out that Chibiusa was Usagi and Mamoru’s daughter from the future. This detail was very heavily telegraphed before the reveal, but that didn’t prevent actual reveal from treated like the huge surprise it wasn’t.

This was even dumber since this season kept showing us very brightly lit shadows of Chibiusa's mother. And while this might come off as a shock, I am, in fact, not a character from Sailor Moon; I have eyes that work well enough.

But to give credit where it’s due, the scene where everyone found out the truth was adorable. As such, I’m inclined to forgive this particular annoyance.

I feel okay in doing such since there are a lot of other things I can talk about.

Choppy Pacing

This problem existed in season one as well, but since it was surrounded by other nonsense, it wasn’t as predominant. When the plot needed to move forward Sailor Moon R, it just did. Sometimes there was almost no progression for episodes, then, BAM, a change, and then the show immediately went back to doing nothing.

The best example, or rather, examples of this were with the Black Moon Clan’s Specter Sisters.

These four were great villains. Over the course of Sailor Moon R, they developed their own identities. Then by the end, they didn’t go away, but they were no longer enemies of the Sailor Scouts. Except, how that happened was beyond quick.

The number of episodes between the Specter Sister’s introduction and when the last one of the four turned good was twelve -- the length of a standard anime. How many episodes did it take for them to start turning good -- three, the last three. And they didn’t even turn as a group.

One episode focused on one sister, the next the second, and the third dealt with the final two. Each switch over had a catalyst, a build-up, and a payoff which was all contained in a single episode. The transition between evil and good always occurred suddenly and with very flimsy reasonings.

And this was just the most blatant instance.

The only time Sailor Moon R, as well as the first season, got its pacing right was during the absolute essential plot points. For the last installment, it was when Tuxedo Mask was being brainwashed, and in R, it was when Chibiusa turned into Dark Lady.

A Glaring Inconsistency

What I’m about to say helped lead to a great climax. Nevertheless, I can’t convince myself to ignore it: mostly because this stemmed from the characters not seeing the obvious.

Chibiusa came from the future to find the Silver Crystal. She ran into Usagi and immediately started investigating whether her future mother had this critical item.

Due to Usagi’s general aloofness, Chibiusa also investigated the other Sailor Scouts for potentially having the Crystal. She, of course, was unsuccessful. So far, there was nothing wrong with this. Therefore, is it not fair to say that Chibiusa knew the identity of the girls? Based on all her actions, it would make sense Chibiusa would know who she was dealing with.

If that were the case, then why the hell was it such a massive shock for Chibiusa when everyone finally transforms in front of her. This wasn’t at the beginning of the season mind you. This happened after the conversion of the Specter Sisters.

If this was such a surprise, then what was Chibiusa doing the entire time? Why would she waste her energy searching for such a valuable object from a person who, to her knowledge, should have had no reason to have it?

This was such a glaring inconsistency. The kind of inconsistency that has not been present in this series up to this point.

Sailor Moon R Finale: Synopsis

Usagi, the Sailor Scouts, and Tuxedo Mask stand up against the evil Dark Phantom who has used the Black Moon Clan for his own nefarious desires. He does not wish for the destruction of Crystal Tokyo, but total eradication of the Earth. Now the only thing standing between him and our heroes is Chibiusa who is has been manipulated into the powerful Dark Lady.

Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask manage to bring their future daughter to her senses. Once again, Usagi calls upon the power of the Silver Crystal to defeat Dark Phantom. Unfortunately, the darkness slowly beings to overtake the light and hope seems to be slipping.

In one last act of desperation, Chibiusa reaches into her own power and manifest the Silver Crystal from her time which was thought to be lost. Together mother and daughter combine their strength to turn to tides on Dark Phantom.

With the crisis finally over, Chibiusa says goodbye to her friends and returns to the future. When she arrives, waiting for her are the Sailor Scouts and her beloved parents.

Thus, ends Sailor Moon R.

Come back tomorrow for Part 3 -- Sailor Moon S.