Please keep all discussion for this episode here! Be warned of spoilers 

They kept the kiss! But I'm not surprised they did, since it's important for Usagi's character development. I also bought it was nice that they kept the part where Usagi and Chibiusa slept over at Mamoru's place. Dr. Tomoe's voice really creeps me out. I'm still used to the crazy, cackling scientist voice from the 90's anime, but his voice now is so cold and monotone, it's not hard to believe he's no longer human and his body has been taken over by an alien. ^^;;

I did notice that the animation quality dropped a bit this week, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the third episode of SMC season one. It was noticeable, but not distracting enough for me to be too bothered by it. What I found more distracting was the jump between the first half and the second half. I didn't notice the jump when I read the manga, but when they started talking about Rei's birthday it did make me go "huh?" for a second, even though I knew it was coming.

I still don't really understand the point of the kiss, but oh well.

I'm glad they didn't show everyone's transformations again, and that we're seeing a lot more of the senshi's personalities than before. It still feels kind of slow (I guess because of the two part splits), but I'm looking forward to Minako's episode with Mimete already cause that one's gonna be awesome.

I miss 90s Tomoe, obviously, but I don't mind this one. Manga Tomoe was never as fun as 90s anime Tomoe. ♥

Alright, I'm really ticked off not seeing Eudial's Daimon form from the manga. I know it's a scary appearance, but so were the earlier Daimons. Besides, they could've just watered it down instead of outright removing it completely. Heck, they could've shortened the transformation scenes, had Mars and Jupiter fight Eudial in human form for two minutes, then have the transformation where Sailor Moon needed to help them.

As for the episodes, it kinda dragged on a little much. I know it's following the manga more closely but frankly, I feel like I feel like I have more patience when reading the manga than I do watching the episode.

Sailor Mercury wrote:

I still don't really understand the point of the kiss, but oh well.

Same.

---

1. Hotaru is sooooo adorableeee <3
2. Hotaru's smile so damn cuuuuteeeee
3. Kaolinete design has a little of the old one, that makes me happy
4. Usagi and Chibi-usa sleeping in Mamoru's appartment. THANKS FOR DOING THIS SCENE.
5. Less funny unnecessary funny scenes. thank you.
6. I liked the crazyness of '90's Tomoe. this one creeps me out. good job.
7. Oh right, Happy Birthday Rei!
8. KEEP THAT DESIGN, REI LOOKED VERY CLOSE TO LAST SEASON DESIGN.
9. Bye Eudial, it was nice to see you for 2 episodes. next.
10. I still don't understand the purpose of that kiss...
11. Next weeks episode =D

I've loved the Haruka/Usagi kiss since I first read the manga years ago and always wanted to see it animated and I'm so excited to see it included in Crystal.  I didn't really notice that much of a drop in animation quality and I liked some of the interesting camera direction they did with that whole zooming in thing during certain scenes.  I love we're getting in some one on one time with the other Inners besides Usagi and Mamoru and I love the extra focus on Makoto and Rei here.  I find it interesting since in the 90s anime Makoto was always paired up with Minako but in Crystal Makoto is being paired with Rei.  I loved seeing Mars Snake Fire being animated for the first time and it reminded me a lot of Fire Soul Bird from the Doom Tree arc in the 90s anime.  I wonder if that was an intentional homage?  I was glad they cut out the speeches and didn't show the transformations for the rest of the girls this time and I felt it helped improve the pacing.  I also love how Crystal is handling the mystery of Haruka's identity and I loved that scene of Makoto and Haruka at the judo.  I'm also glad we're continuing to see Mamoru apart of the Sailor Soldiers' meetings and even though we still haven't seen Tuxedo Mask yet in action in this arc, it still makes it seem like Mamoru is more part of the team than in the 90s show where Mamoru just always showed up at the end to give a cheesy speech.  I'm really looking forward to next week's episode as the Mimi Hanyu concert is one of my favorite acts from the manga.

Haine wrote:

8. KEEP THAT DESIGN, REI LOOKED VERY CLOSE TO LAST SEASON DESIGN.

That's exactly what I said the last episode.

It seems that the animators are finally arriving at a "sweet spot" whereby the animation is slightly updated, but not to the point where this season of Crystal looks like a completely different adaptation of the series. I've noticed that the eyes have been less shiny. Frankly I found that to be distracting in the first couple of episodes. Also, ChibiUsa doesn't have angry eyebrows as she does in most of the promotional art. 

magic713 wrote:

Alright, I'm really ticked off not seeing Eudial's Daimon form from the manga. I know it's a scary appearance, but so were the earlier Daimons. Besides, they could've just watered it down instead of outright removing it completely. Heck, they could've shortened the transformation scenes, had Mars and Jupiter fight Eudial in human form for two minutes, then have the transformation where Sailor Moon needed to help them.

I think that may have been intentional to some degree (unless they're going to include it on the Blu-Ray), namely to build up suspense concerning the Witches 5. It's only later on that we get a big reveal regarding what they actually are. I think doing it this way builds up some suspense for when we actually see one of them regress into daemon form. There's also that showdown later on within the manga, but I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't actually read it.

east02west wrote:

magic713 wrote:

Alright, I'm really ticked off not seeing Eudial's Daimon form from the manga. I know it's a scary appearance, but so were the earlier Daimons. Besides, they could've just watered it down instead of outright removing it completely. Heck, they could've shortened the transformation scenes, had Mars and Jupiter fight Eudial in human form for two minutes, then have the transformation where Sailor Moon needed to help them.

I think that may have been intentional to some degree (unless they're going to include it on the Blu-Ray), namely to build up suspense concerning the Witches 5. It's only later on that we get a big reveal regarding what they actually are. I think doing it this way builds up some suspense for when we actually see one of them regress into daemon form. There's also that showdown later on within the manga, but I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't actually read it.

Alright, I guess that makes sense. There's another opportunity for it to happen, but I won't give my hopes up for it.

magic713 wrote:

east02west wrote:

magic713 wrote:

Alright, I'm really ticked off not seeing Eudial's Daimon form from the manga. I know it's a scary appearance, but so were the earlier Daimons. Besides, they could've just watered it down instead of outright removing it completely. Heck, they could've shortened the transformation scenes, had Mars and Jupiter fight Eudial in human form for two minutes, then have the transformation where Sailor Moon needed to help them.

I think that may have been intentional to some degree (unless they're going to include it on the Blu-Ray), namely to build up suspense concerning the Witches 5. It's only later on that we get a big reveal regarding what they actually are. I think doing it this way builds up some suspense for when we actually see one of them regress into daemon form. There's also that showdown later on within the manga, but I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't actually read it.

Alright, I guess that makes sense. There's another opportunity for it to happen, but I won't give my hopes up for it.

Fair enough.

I just think that the ambiguity of who the Witches 5 are, and who these "renegade" undisclosed Sailor senshi are helps build some suspense. They're all still discovering these things with each episode.

I do wonder why Luna and Artemis don't have a more active role in informing them of things which occurred back during Silver Millennium. At this point shouldn't they have regained most if not all of their memories from Silver Millennium? How many blocks did Queen Serenity place on them? It seems to be hinted at in this episode (at least I think so) that Artemis, or Luna might recognize Neptune and Uranus. At least that's what I saw hinted at within the command center. 

Things are going to get interesting when we finally see Pluto, given that the manga introduces a HUGE continuity issue. Hopefully we'll get some filler around what she says to the Inner senshi.

It's possible that Luna and Artemis don't know about the Outers since they were stationed so far away near the outside of the solar system. They both didn't know about Pluto's existence either.

I ACTUALLY LOVED THIS EPISODE
Episode 27 had a friendship focus on Mako and Minako and now this one was focused Mako and Rei. I'm happy to see episodes dedicated to friendships between all of the characters, not just revolving around Usagi and her interactions. 
I really don't mind all this excessive cuteness because we all know things are gonna get really dark really quickly. 

But seriously, they hiked up a mountain to throw Rei a party. I'M FEELING THE LOVE

Spoiler:

I just finished watching it, so here are some of my thoughts. 

Does anyone know if the Judo scene was in the manga, cause I don't remember it and I'm not able to check right now. 

I noticed a bit of a dip in the animation. Noticeably for me, when Venus and Mercury arrived and held Jupiter and Mars, that's where I saw it on the faces also just before Haruka kisses Usagi, its panned out, and their faces look all derpy -__-

Other than that, I really liked the episode!

Addelyn wrote:

Does anyone know if the Judo scene was in the manga, cause I don't remember it and I'm not able to check right now. 

Yeah, the Judo scene was in the manga. This episode was mostly spot on with the manga.

Aurae wrote:

I miss 90s Tomoe, obviously, but I don't mind this one. Manga Tomoe was never as fun as 90s anime Tomoe.

Agreed 100%. 90's tomoe had a bit more friendliness in him.

Haine wrote:

Sailor Mercury wrote:

I still don't really understand the point of the kiss, but oh well.

Same.

---

1. Hotaru is sooooo adorableeee <3
2. Hotaru's smile so damn cuuuuteeeee
3. Kaolinete design has a little of the old one, that makes me happy
4. Usagi and Chibi-usa sleeping in Mamoru's appartment. THANKS FOR DOING THIS SCENE.
5. Less funny unnecessary funny scenes. thank you.
6. I liked the crazyness of '90's Tomoe. this one creeps me out. good job.
7. Oh right, Happy Birthday Rei!
8. KEEP THAT DESIGN, REI LOOKED VERY CLOSE TO LAST SEASON DESIGN.
9. Bye Eudial, it was nice to see you for 2 episodes. next.
10. I still don't understand the purpose of that kiss...
11. Next weeks episode =D

loved usagi and chibiusa in mamo's apartment. such a cute lil family moment.

Addelyn wrote:

I just finished watching it, so here are some of my thoughts. 

Does anyone know if the Judo scene was in the manga, cause I don't remember it and I'm not able to check right now. 

I noticed a bit of a dip in the animation. Noticeably for me, when Venus and Mercury arrived and held Jupiter and Mars, that's where I saw it on the faces also just before Haruka kisses Usagi, its panned out, and their faces look all derpy -__-

Other than that, I really liked the episode!

I noticed the dip in animation too, the faces looked a bit off. nothing like previous crystal, but still.

overall it was a decent episode.

Hmm...well I have the same complaints as ever that its following hte manga too strictly and just not taking any chances. Its missing out on a lot of opportunities by doing this to expand things that the manga failed to do.

I am enjoying the improvements on this season but overall its lacking in the storytelling department yet again. I'm going to keep watching it because the improvements of other things make it worth to watch for me. does that make me shallow for liking the pretties and adorable emoting inners? XD

The point of that kiss was
 

Addelyn wrote:

I noticed a bit of a dip in the animation. Noticeably for me, when Venus and Mercury arrived and held Jupiter and Mars, that's where I saw it on the faces also just before Haruka kisses Usagi, its panned out, and their faces look all derpy -__-

What are you talking about? I see nothing of the sort here! /sarcasm

Was anyone else watching the Crunchyroll version? Look at these horrible subtitles! What were they thinking?

Spoiler:

Other than that, I adored this episode. This new season of Sailor Moon Crystal has been everything I've wanted out of the show. The animation could be better but it's at least on par with most anime these days so I really don't mind it. I do wish they could have updated a few things from the manga like last time but overall it's not a bad package.

ALSO DID ANYONE SEE THAT FRAME IN MARS SNAKE FIRE SO COOL

Mars Snake fire WAS really cool! I am so loving these new attack sequences.

I haven't watched the ep, yet, because it's really too much like the manga, but I'll do anyway as soon as I get some time for myself. However, the skirts' animation/drawing/etc is still so terrible. At this point, the derpy faces don't even annoy me.

Mars' attack looks great though.

OMG. KAOLINITE'S HAIR IS SO VOLUMINOUS. SO IS MICHIRU'S. 

SFASDŠDFSKOPČSDsdfkpojsfdfšk EUDIAL!!!!!  *0*  I wish I could change my clothes like that! ........Oh. Okay then. Bye, Eudial. That fight was super disappointing, (What happened to Eudial's daimon form?) but the attacks looked cool.

Aurae wrote:

I miss 90s Tomoe, obviously, but I don't mind this one. Manga Tomoe was never as fun as 90s anime Tomoe.

Same! 90s Tomoe knows how to have a good time. XD

magic713 wrote:

Alright, I'm really ticked off not seeing Eudial's Daimon form from the manga. I know it's a scary appearance, but so were the earlier Daimons. Besides, they could've just watered it down instead of outright removing it completely. Heck, they could've shortened the transformation scenes, had Mars and Jupiter fight Eudial in human form for two minutes, then have the transformation where Sailor Moon needed to help them.

Omg, yes I was so pissed about that too! I wish they would have included it. I loved the daimon fights in the previous two episodes. ;__; The daimons looked so cool when they moved about!

Small Lady wrote:

Hmm...well I have the same complaints as ever that its following hte manga too strictly and just not taking any chances. Its missing out on a lot of opportunities by doing this to expand things that the manga failed to do. I am enjoying the improvements on this season but overall its lacking in the storytelling department yet again.

Small Lady wrote:

I'm going to keep watching it because the improvements of other things make it worth to watch for me. does that make me shallow for liking the pretties and adorable emoting inners? XD

No. XD I'm watching with the hope that it will somehow encourage them to release a Death Busters Petit Chara set.//slapped

Sailor CJ wrote:

Was anyone else watching the Crunchyroll version? Look at these horrible subtitles! What were they thinking?

I was watching the one on VIZ and it had the same errors. Is the Crunchyroll one streamed through Hulu too?

The episode was fantastic. I loved it. My only real complaint was the kiss, I guess. I know it was in the manga, but it really didn't seem very consensual to me, especially since in the next episode preview Usagi was worrying about how she kissed someone other than Mamoru. Just my two cents, I guess.

At the pace they're going, we'll probably get to see the transformation sequence of Neptune and Uranus in two weeks. Eep! I'm so excited!

I love Hotaru!  She's so adorable! 

However, I prefer 90's Tomoe to this one.

Hotaru is super cute. I can't wait to see how her friendship with Chibiusa is expanded upon.

I think the kiss is one of the reasons I never really took to Haruka as a character outside of her being a senshi.

She had this "I could care less." sort of attitude that lent itself to being reckless and indifferent to others.

east02west wrote:

I think the kiss is one of the reasons I never really took to Haruka as a character outside of her being a senshi.

She had this "I could care less." sort of attitude that lent itself to being reckless and indifferent to others.

See this is very much Haruka's outer personality that she shows to the world. She comes off as "I could care less" but in all honesty, she cares TOO much, but she knows her duty as a soldier and her mission. Haruka is incredibly driven and will complete her mission at all cost, even if it involves pushing her Princess away.

Addelyn wrote:

east02west wrote:

I think the kiss is one of the reasons I never really took to Haruka as a character outside of her being a senshi.

She had this "I could care less." sort of attitude that lent itself to being reckless and indifferent to others.

See this is very much Haruka's outer personality that she shows to the world. She comes off as "I could care less" but in all honesty, she cares TOO much, but she knows her duty as a soldier and her mission. Haruka is incredibly driven and will complete her mission at all cost, even if it involves pushing her Princess away.

But she just met Usagi and threw her a curve ball.

Usagi never quite expressed an interest in her, and here comes Haruka stealing a kiss from her when she well knows that Usagi and Mamoru are together.

Frankly, that was way out of line.

Had it been any which other character, we'd all thin that it was out of line.

east02west wrote:

Had it been any which other character, we'd all thin that it was out of line.

Exactly. If it was anyone else, especially a guy, everyone would go postal. Whether it's relevant to the story or plot, it was extremely tacky, especially since Usagi didn't give consent.

StarlightSlayer wrote:

east02west wrote:

Had it been any which other character, we'd all thin that it was out of line.

Exactly. If it was anyone else, especially a guy, everyone would go postal. Whether it's relevant to the story or plot, it was extremely tacky, especially since Usagi didn't give consent.

This might be veering off topic, but I agree.

However, that does bring up the issue in relation to Mamoru's first kiss with Usagi, and Black Lady's kiss with Mamoru.