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Sailor Moon Crystal: Episode 9 Review
by Mikari

In this episode, we learn the story of Endymion and Serenity. He was the prince of Earth and she the Moon princess. Usagi is revealed as Serenity and her memories are restored when Mamoru, who was Endymion, is injured. The Silver Crystal appears, apparently it was sealed inside Usagi rather than broken. At this point it's pretty clear that the rainbow crystal plot isn't going to happen. Too bad, because I actually enjoyed it, especially the episode with Hercules the cat. Queen Serenity, the mother of the princess' past incarnation isn't mentioned, at least not yet.

In the past the Earth tried to take over the moon influenced by an evil force. Endymion tried to stop them and was declared a traitor. He was killed by an earthling who looked a lot like Beryl. It's been years, but I thought that in the original, queen Serenity sealed Beryl in the Negaverse and sent the Sailors to be reincarnated. It is unclear how it happens in the new version, does the princess cause Beryl to be sealed and the reincarnation? What about Jedite, Nephlite, Zoicite and Malachite? In the manga they were supposed to be on Endymion's side in the past and it looks like the remake follows that concept. How did they get to be on Beryl's side?

There are still many questions without answers, but the anime isn't even half way done. It seems pretty clear that it'll only be the first season though, no outer senshi or Rini/Chibi Usa. There aren't enough episodes to fit all that. The aliens Ann and Allen are filler I think, a pity that we don't get to see them in shiny colors, they're awesome. One thing the two anime have us common is that Tuxedo Mask is captured and taken by Beryl. He'll probably be brainwashed like in the original.

The silver crystal is diamond shaped instead of round. I wonder if it'll still fit into the moon wand. Usagi wanting to be different from her past self, yet at the same time acknowledging her feelings for Mamoru, past and present, reminds me if the doom tree saga in the original anime. Usagi wishes to be a normal girl as Luna gives her back the memories that were sealed after Beryl's defeat, out of the necessity of facing a new threat. She still takes on her role as Sailor Moon again and the whole plot with the Moonlight Knight, a Tuxedo Mask look-alike takes off, but she initially discourages Luna from awakening the other sailors as if not wanting to burden them, though they all end up returning. The situations are different, but we see the theme of wanting to let go and wanting to hold on all at once.

The episode ends with the sailors planning to go to the moon, by teleportation maybe? I'm more curious about Beryl's past than I thought I would be, maybe because I know less about her from the original series and the SNES RPG, Sailor Moon: Another Story, isn't really her official past, though part of me still looks for similarities.

I didn't watch the preview for episode 10 until after I had written this review. It looks like queen Serenity's spirit will be in it. I'm still curious about how the details after Mamoru's death in the past went. I had thought Mamoru and the girls were barely alive after the battle, and queen Serenity sent them away to be reborn because their home was destroyed, but that was unclear, so they might have been dead.

Another detail that caught my attention, other than Luna and Artemis' absolute cuteness, was the short scene with Usagi talking to Minako right after they retreat, after Mamoru is taken. They talk about love, but it's not Usagi and Mamoru that I thought of, but rather Minako and Kaito Ace from the Sailor V manga. Albeit I haven't read it, I've seen information on fansites and it looks like there's a point where Venus has to choose between her destined battle and love, or is told she cannot have both, something along those lines. Even if this was unclear, I could still perceive a certain determination from Minako to protect Usagi's happiness even at the cost of her own, even if it meant dedicating her life to protecting the princess rather than her own personal goals. Though I'm not a fan of a romance in general, I do enjoy themes of friendship and loyalty, which I think need more time in the spotlight than they're usually given. This makes me wish even more that when Crystal ends it turns out to be successful enough to motivate the studio to make an anime of Sailor V.