Wasn't this exiting? =D!!!! 

Not gonna lie, there were some scenes the character design reminded me of the old one, maybe that's the reason I liked this episode so much <3 *fangirls*

---

And now live from my couch I present you act 31 ~ 

1. Rain = bad things will keep happening.
2. So Setsuna is a college/university student and assistant and also from the physics department. cool.
3. Oh Motoki is a college student...
4. I still not used to this opening =(
5. Side story that nobody cares.
6. Kaoline finally started talking to Tomoe again and no just that, she moved places for a while =D
7. Pharaon 90 big introduction and once again the true villain is a giant dark mass of clouds with shiny eyes.
8. Tomoe is sassy xD
9. Tellu's time to shine, gosh her design is so similar to the old one. me happy =D
10. I think someone has a crush on Chibi-usa fufufu.
11. Mistress 9 moment #1 =D
12. In case you forgot the other girls have lives besides being sailor senshi.
13. What in the world...why all of the sudden this senpai has the silhouette of Mamoru? Toei what is wrong with you?
14. Product placement.
15. I love Usagi's dress *-*
16. I don't remember how old is Hotaru but damn she's mature!
17. People still think Chibi-usa can have mature feelings...I still see a kid saying whatever is on her mind which is what a kid should do.
18. Even I was embarrassed Chibi-usa :/
19. Mistress 9 moment #2 =D!
20. Mako's house is similar to PGSM =D
21. Haruka looks very sexy with that outfit!
22. Tellu would be very fun to cosplay tbh
23. Setsuna's awaking! *_*!
23.5 
24. Well Tellu is level 404 so is gonna be hard for you to kill her D:
25. Pink sugar heart attack!
26. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Setuna has her lipctick back yaaay! =D
26.5 

---

This episode has no flaws! except for the Mamoru-Mako's senpai silhouette thing >__> 
I think next week we're having a 'crisis' moment =p

It definitely had VERY good pacing, and provided us with a glimpse into Setsuna's awakening (not even the manga gave us that), but I was disappointed with how little screentime she actually got this episode. The episode was named after her, and we were given more of a cameo and cliffhanger than an actual "Sailor Pluto" episode.

We also got some confirmation on Hotaru's age this episode, as well as seeing one of the Witches go into daimon mode. I suspect we'll see their daimon forms towards the final showdown.

That said, do we ever get an explanation as to why Usagi couldn't obliterate Tellu with the Silver Crystal? I mean nothing rivals the Maboroshi no Ginzuisiho (with the exception of Saturn, and the Chaos Crystal), and yet she couldn't handle Tellu? I mean I'm a huge fan of the Outers over the Inners, but how does Pluto's talisman manage to do what Usagi couldn't? Something about that is off, especially since Usagi's powers were shown to be on par with ChibiUsa's this episode. :$

But speaking of the Outers, I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get an official henshin for Pluto! :O 
We see her awakening as Sailor Pluto for the first time (apparently being in a state of distress is what awakens the Outer senshi), along with implied henshins by Uranus, Neptune, and an offscreen Pluto. I mean sure they were hoping to build up the suspense as the Inners (and apparently the other two Outers?) were unaware of Pluto's presence in this time, but still, we the viewers deserve a bit more than seeing Setsuna in what looked like swaddling cloth. At most we the viewers should have seen her henshin sequence, though I suspect that this will be reserved for next week's episode. :/

Not surprised there wasn't a henshin for Pluto this week, since that was also not shown in the manga (i.e. she didn't shout out her henshin phrase). But there's more opportunities for us to see it in the future, so I'm fine with it. I thought it was funny though that Motoki called Setsuna, "Setsuna-chan". XD I guess they're the same age since they're all in college, but it's just hilarious hearing someone call her that.

I also quite like how they showed how creepy Professor Tomoe is. Before I always thought of him as a bit of a comedic villain, but here it's all ice and unsettling smiles. Hotaru this week also showed signs of Mistress 9 emerging, but I'm disappointed they didn't show her recoiling back in horror as she realized she had an unexplainable desire for Chibi Usa's crystal, and at the other voice in her head.

Also, am I the only one who thought Mako-chan's old sempai looked a heck of a lot like Mamoru? I didn't watch the first season of SMC, so I don't remember if her old crush did in fact look like Mamoru. o_o

east02west wrote:

It definitely had VERY good pacing, and provided us with a glimpse into Setsuna's awakening (not even the manga gave us that), but I was disappointed with how little screentime she actually got this episode. The episode was named after her, and we were given more of a cameo and cliffhanger than an actual "Sailor Pluto" episode.

We also got some confirmation on Hotaru's age this episode, as well as seeing one of the Witches go into daimon mode. I suspect we'll see their daimon forms towards the final showdown.

That said, do we ever get an explanation as to why Usagi couldn't obliterate Tellu with the Silver Crystal? I mean nothing rivals the Maboroshi no Ginzuisiho (with the exception of Saturn, and the Chaos Crystal), and yet she couldn't handle Tellu? I mean I'm a huge fan of the Outers over the Inners, but how does Pluto's talisman manage to do what Usagi couldn't? Something about that is off, especially since Usagi's powers were shown to be on par with ChibiUsa's this episode. :$

But speaking of the Outers, I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get an official henshin for Pluto! :O 
We see her awakening as Sailor Pluto for the first time (apparently being in a state of distress is what awakens the Outer senshi), along with implied henshins by Uranus, Neptune, and an offscreen Pluto. I mean sure they were hoping to build up the suspense as the Inners (and apparently the other two Outers?) were unaware of Pluto's presence in this time, but still, we the viewers deserve a bit more than seeing Setsuna in what looked like swaddling cloth. At most we the viewers should have seen her henshin sequence, though I suspect that this will be reserved for next week's episode. :/

I loved everything about this episode!
I must say that the artwork in this episode was very high. 
There were a lot of scenes that were very detailed. 
As east02west mentioned, the pacing was also very good. 

The power imbalance between the senshi was something that I also noticed but since I'm not picky about those things I didn't mind as much. (I'm more worried about the quality of the character design and such but you make a great point!)

Something else that I'd like to add: 
That "Dead Scream" at the end. 
-DEAD-

Some screencaps I made for this week's episode.

I couldn't get the Pluto symbol that appeared on screen straight. :/

Also, whose voice was that which urged them to awaken?

RE: Senshi power differences.

Well, the Outers are stronger than the Inner senshi by reason of their posts, but I still don't understand how Usagi was not a match for Tellu considering that she wields the Maboroshi no Ginzuisho. How does  a talisman outdo Usagi? How could Usagi be seen to have powers on par with ChibiUsa?

I know what this episode is meant to be buildup for, but still, how would she have fared had this been Kaolinite? Does she really need a powerup to defeat her? 

This might be going off topic, but it seems that Pluto is the only Senshi left without a Witches counterpart, unless Kaolinite is her counterpart, with Mistress 9 being Usagi's. Just a hunch.

I really liked this episode!

The Sailor Moon reference in Sailor Moon, that made me chuckle!

Chibiusa not wanting to give her art project to Mamo because it was unfair to Usagi. I am so glad that she's so sweet and not the unbearable brat from the original series.

-Also Hotaru is so cute in this episode, and yeah really mature for not wanting to take Chibiusa's gift from the parents who helped her make it. Her being drawn to Chibiusa's Ginzinshou and Mistress Nine's voice behind it was so creepy. Uh-oh, Kaorinite knows about it.

Usagi meeting Dr. Tomoe in a dark hallway, creepy!

Those students better not pick on Hotaru or they might find themselves expelled by Dr. Tomoe at best, or turned into Daimons at worst!

-The whole Minako hanging out with Makoto scene was cool.

-Usagi trying to get Haruka to listen about them being allies.

Also the fact that Haruka and Michiru can sense danger for the other senshi.

I Like that they kept the whole "baddie turning into a monster" this time, it makes the episode even darker than before. And I really like that as the minions get stronger, they're harder to defeat unless the Outers are there. I think that will cause they lack of cooperation to come to a head.

Ugh, cute pink hearts for Chibimoon "Pink Sugar" attack. I am not loving these CGI hearts for Moon and Chibimoon. I wish they had made them more....beam-like and powerful.

Hurrah, Pluto's back! I hope we'll get to see a transformation and attack for her.

I liked this episode. It was very well paced.

-I liked how cute it was when Chibiusa told Usagi that it wouldn't be fair to give Mamoru the Holy Grail sculpture because it wouldn't be fair since Usagi wouldn't have a gift and they both helped her make it.

-Man, it was such a relief to see Tellu actually transform into a Daimon this time. I was slightly worried since Eudial didn't change before.

i'm glad chibimoons attack is not a joke like it was in the frist anime.  also.. Puu's back 

I loved this ep. I was laughing when it sowed Mako's senpai, because it looked like mamo-chan to me. So happy Chibs got her attack and finally my love pluto is back on the scene.

I really enjoyed the new episode and the animation was so beautiful. I loved seeing Sailor Pluto back in action as she's one of my top favorite of the Outers. I loved that we got to see Setsuna interacting with Reika and Motoki and getting to see more of the side characters on their own besides everything centering around the main girls. It's really making up for the character development issues of the first season. And it's just nice to see Setsuna being an ordinary person with an ordinary life as opposed to the 90s anime where it seemed like she was always in mission mode all the time. Professor Tomoe is very different from the 90s anime but I think his Crystal incarnation is just as creepy and twisted in his own way. I was glad they toned down Kaori's over the top persona from the 90s anime. She's still creepy but it feels more subtle as opposed to having her bully poor innocent goldfish in the 90s show. It makes her scarier that way. I love Chibi-usa and Hotaru's relationship and they've done a really good job of building up Hotaru's mysteriousness. Haruka's outfit looks so cool and one thing I really love about Crystal is how even 20 years later, Naoko's fashions still look really trendy and look like something you could get away with wearing in the 21st century and still look cool. Even though it's all the same, none of Naoko's fashions ever feel out of place in modern times as opposed to some of the really horrible outfits they had in the 90s anime. I also loved how cool Dead Scream was and I'm really glad Toei has finally mastered the art of doing multiple transformation scenes at once without dragging the whole thing out. I thought Tellun was a very creepy villain and I loved the whole fight wit her. If I had any criticism of this episode, is it just me or does it seem like Chibi Moon's attack was a lot weaker in Crystal? I seem to remember it actually working against Tellun in the manga. 


One of the things I really loved about the manga was how much more powerful Chibi Moon was so I'm a little disappointed they seem to be making her weaker in Crystal and it felt a bit out of place with an otherwise serious scene. Also why does Makoto's sempai looik like one of Naoko's many Mamoru clones when season one already gave him his own character design? Is season three retconning the first two seasons? But I generally loved the episode and I thought Setsuna's awakening was really beautiful and it reminded me a lot of their power upgrade in episode 167 of Sailor Stars in the original anime

Neon Genesis wrote:

Haruka's outfit looks so cool and one thing I really love about Crystal is how even 20 years later, Naoko's fashions still look really trendy and look like something you could get away with wearing in the 21st century and still look cool. Even though it's all the same, none of Naoko's fashions ever feel out of place in modern times as opposed to some of the really horrible outfits they had in the 90s anime.

If I had any criticism of this episode, is it just me or does it seem like Chibi Moon's attack was a lot weaker in Crystal? I seem to remember it actually working against Tellun in the manga. 

One of the things I really loved about the manga was how much more powerful Chibi Moon was so I'm a little disappointed they seem to be making her weaker in Crystal and it felt a bit out of place with an otherwise serious scene.

Actually, Toei changed Haruka and Michiru's outfit for the scene where they were running away from Usagi. In the manga they were both wearing something else (in fact Haruka's outfit reminded me of gym clothes XD;, but I agree that her outfit here in Crystal looks boss!

Chibi Usa's attack also didn't do much in the manga except to make Tellu change into her Daimon form. And to my own surprise Sailor Moon's attack also did nothing to Tellu in the manga, so being level 404 really does count for something.

This has been coming for a long time but now I am totally confident to do what must be done.

I must retire the SMC Hate Train...

and convert it to the SMC S1/S2 Hate Train! AHA! The hate never ends!

In all seriousness though, if you would have told me around this time last year that Sailor Moon Crystal was going to be this incredible of an adaptation in its third arc, I would have never believed you. From clever dialogue cuts, to nice touches like including Setsuna buying a plant (which wasn't in the manga), this series is great. Is it perfect? Hell, no, but it's damn respectable and I have no qualms about buying future U.S. Blu-Rays of this series of this third arc and future arcs if the quality continues.

Toei Animation... thank you for listening. I can finally be proud to call myself a moonie again.

Am I the only one to get the impression that the same person who directed and animated episode 25 (or was it 26?) of crystal was the same one to animate and direct this particular episode?

Perhaps that person is a secret Pluto fan?

Wow, this episode really impressed me! Is it just me or was the animation turned up a notch? Like nothing felt really off or awkwardly drawn for once? (Save the weird Mamo-look a like for Mako's sempai, i so remember him looking a bit different in S1 xD)  Though I wonder why they brought up her sempai here but its never really brought up again...i guess it was meant to be a Mako development thing but it kinda cuts itself short, which is too bad. Another missed opportunity I guess.

Regardless, this episode was lovely. I think its the best one so far out of all of SMC for

@east02west When watching the episode, i was keeping your thoughts about the power differences in mind. I have a feeling the reason Pluto's attack worked on Tellu was because she caught her by surprise and from behind, Tellu had no defense there as she was focusing on Moon and Chibimoon. The only reason I think Moon was unable to do it was due to Tellu's defense magic she was using. I wonder if she would have been able to block Pluto's attack had she not been caught by surprise.  Another thing is I don't think Moon is using her full potential and at this point in the manga is a bit weaker than the Outers until she powers up into Super Sailor Moon, but I don't really know all that for sure.


Also speaking of attacks, I love how Chibimoon got her rod but it was all for naught anyway xD Poor Chibimoon.

@Small Lady:


But even then we see Villuy being defeated head on by Uranus' Space Sword Blaster in one blow.

Personally, I hold that the Outer senshi are by default stronger on account of the forces they deal with on the outskirts of the galaxy. After all, they never penetrate the Inner solar system for good reason.

That said, it made me question what the point was for the power upgrades of the Inner senshi by Neo-Queen Serenity. With the exception of Mars, none of the Inners have demonstrated powers on par with their Witches 5 counterparts. So I wonder if it really only just granted them access to other abilities that they previously didn't have.

As to Usagi's powers, I'm not sure. After all, she's not drawing on her power in the present, but rather she is summoning the power of Neo-Queen Serenity from the future. I want to argue that this has to do with the use of the talismans being a more concentrated extension of their heart crystals (Which this last episode made me question. Are they still using henshin wands? Do we get an explanation for that? Are they going to edit them out of the first couple of episodes where we saw them? I noticed that Mercury's henshin this episode featured it, but that might have to do with recyclicng the transformation sequence.). However, Usagi has her own "talisman" in the form of her various wands, so I'm not quite sure what's going on here.

I'll create another thread to explore this and other related issues.

Small Lady wrote:

Also speaking of attacks, I love how Chibimoon got her rod but it was all for naught anyway xD Poor Chibimoon.

LITERALLY ugh... but that sequence was so cute, even though that cuteness was turned down as quickly as the other attacks

Small Lady wrote:

Also speaking of attacks, I love how Chibimoon got her rod but it was all for naught anyway xD Poor Chibimoon.

Yeah, I'm not exactly sure why the attack had to fail. Why couldn't it be like the manga and the attack just forced Tellu to shed her human appearance and become a Daimon. It could still send the point across that she's so powerful that it could've been implied that the attack could've killed her if she weren't so powerful. Though I am glad there was a transformation to show the Death Busters are no longer humans, especially the more powerful they get.

I suspect that we'll see the regressed daimon forms towards the end of the series, but I don't want to spoil the surprise for those who haven't read the manga.

Pluto's entrance was so epic and beautiful. It was well animated, well executed and a dramatic cliffhanger. I was thrilled with this episode!

I agree that Pluto's attack caught Tellu off guard. The flash of light hit her from above and it was really quick. It also seemed to be an attack made of pure destruction (it's called dead scream lol) so even if Tellu was expecting it, perhaps she couldn't have absorbed it like she absorbed Sailor Moon's "magical" energy from the silver crystal. However, I feel that the silver crystal would have been strong enough to avoid absorption if she had already been Super Sailor Moon at this point. 

It is true that the outers are stronger than the inners in this arc, but we also have to remember that the outers aren't even supposed to be on Earth. Previously they each had to defend a large part of the solar system/time space, all by themselves, so of course they have abnormally large power. Additionally, they are older and more mature than the inners which is reflected in their fighting style. They attack quicker and have better timing than the often over-confident and rash inners.
 
This problem is fixed when everyone gets their eternal power-ups (which doesn't happen in 90s anime), when all the senshi become incredibly powerful. By then, they are on more equal grounds with the exception of Moon. But right now, in the 3rd arc, it is still important for the outer senshi to be significantly more powerful because they are somewhat the mysterious anomalies of the story. 

I feel like the episodes just keep getting better and better every week and I can't wait for next Monday!!

Hearts all around @ this episode! SMC is at it's best when I am weeping at climatic moments, and I did so when Chibimoon got her rod and Pluto's attack at the end.

Andi's thoughts (99% nerd rage, 1% plot-related again XD; ):

+I see more science... Setsuna's gravity anomaly software. Friggin' GravCAD. *bittersweet Geophysics nostalgia*

+
No it isn't, you liars! Omfg but they seriously just made a real world reference to the APS Journal “Physical Review Letters?” YESSSSSSS....*this nerd dies*

+Also LOL at the passed-out guy on the left hand side.

+KAOLINITE'S POOFY HAIR. Gimme.

+Either Daimon don't know how to English/Japanese or these subtitles have horrendous grammar. XD;

+Professor, it's about time we make “contact.” //bricked

+

Lmao Kaolinite's face is like “WTF. How can you even tell?” He's just a voice and a pair of floating eyes in a stardust cloud positioned over a crystal.  

+ALCHEMY. I don't know when it happened, but that witch staff went from being wooden to being made of gold.

+Tellurrrrvvvvvv!!!

+Phys Ed. Dude, I would kill to see Tellu play dodge ball.

+Poor Hotaru.

+Uh oh... Mistress 9 Moment.

+Lmao Kaolinite's face. She's just not having it today.

+Wait... Did Kaolinite really need to go outside to eavesdrop? xD This woman is an enigma.


+Oooh I love the texture on the Tellun leaves! *_*

+Wait, it took them how long to react to the Telluns? "The Botanical Garden is our enemy." What. Y'all planning to fight the building or something? xD

+OMG I love that Tellu's dress is actually a petal dress in this version. Omfg it makes me want to go sew her dress right now. XD;


+Haruka, quit dressing and looking like Indira Levak. You're killing me girl! * 0 *

+Okay, girl, we get it. You're Level 404. How do they keep track of this level BS? Do they gain EXP like Pokemon or something? XD

+Also gotta love how the villains blab on and on about their masters/leaders, terminology, and ranking systems like the senshi know wtf they are even talking about. XD;

+Mandragora Buster...wasn't that originally vines? Or am I thinking of a different attack?

+YES WAY, Sailor Moon. She's Level 404. Geeze. Pay attention.

+PINK SUGAR HEART ATTACK!

+Yay. They didn't cut out Tellu's Daimon form! The transformation seemed kinda random/forced though.

+"Dead...Scream." XD Nice one, Pluto.

Haine wrote:

22. Tellu would be very fun to cosplay tbh

Hellz yeah! I totally have her on my list. I was originally going to cosplay Tellu last year (because the convention in my area has an interactive cosplay thing where you get a yellow ribbon and you gotta be IC whenever people approach you. I totally wanted pass out origami telluns to random people as flower shop Tellu), but I couldn't get past her hair lol. ;___;

Animation on point...Check!
Pacing on point...Check!
Character Development on point...Check!
Pluto coming in like a BOSS...uh... CHECK!

Seriously guys, best episode to date! XDDDDD

The facial expressions are just amazing in this episode/season. I can feel the determination of these girls. I was so disappointed in the first season, and gave up on Crystal, but this season has been wonderful!

Pluto still has no henshin....