It was an okay episode for me. For something that we waited three weeks for I expected better. Guess the Mako ep set the bar high.

I really enjoyed the girls in Ami's apartment - it was the first real characterization we've seen of them in their interaction. Minako carrying that big-ass sword around and then being all "Do I look suspicious?" was ALMOST like the Minako we used to know.

But of course that entire scene lasted for just like five seconds.

And then half the episode was filled with full transformations of everyone sans Jupiter AND their full speeches. Please stop being lazy, Toei.

Accidental hilarious yet appropriate reaction: Usagi realizing Tux was not real Tux because he hurt Luna. THE REAL MAMO-CHAN WILL NEVER HURT A CAT.

I quite enjoyed seeing all the character moments in the first half, especially Minako with the sword and breaking the diamond, and Rei chastising Usagi for being embarrassing !! However I understand there's not a lot of room for it with 20 minute episodes. I feel as though they did the full transformations and speeches because the next three episodes will be thundering to the end of the first arc and we probably won't see them again until the second arc begins. So in that sense, I feel it served it's purpose of being the last "regular"-type episode before the essentially 3-part finale.

Oh yeah! A new SMC episode...

*Goes to watch*

i thought this episdoe was interesting. I dislike Endo so much but his seiyuu is doing an amzaing job. I also give props to Kotono for this episode. I feel like this one was paced the fastest though, thats just my thoughts.

3 weeks and we get this? 

That's all I have to say about it. 

I feel like for Crystal's standards it was a good episode, nowhere near as good as Mako's, but still bearable. It is starting to get annoying hearing her constantly think of Mamoru though.    And yes the scenes with the senshi were nice!

I hate cliffhangers, lol!

On a serious note, I thought it was nice to have all their transformations (except Mako, awww D: ) and I can see from both sides why that's lazy/filler and how that's a way to build up to the finale.

I did like the little bit between Usagi and Luna at the beginning and towards the end. Poor Luna though. :'C

I can also see why it's annoying for Usagi to constantly think about Mamoru so often. I mean, I understand she worries for him and if he's still alive but...I dunno, the episodes in general are very fast-paced so I shouldn't be surprised?

We'll just see what happens. *shrugs*

I personally enjoyed this episode.  I thought it was a nice break from all the action for some much needed character interaction between the Senshi and Usagi.  I loved the scene of the Inners at Ami's apartment.  I miss they cut out the scene where Minako drops the sword but I loved the cute line of her asking if it makes her look suspicious.  I don't think that line was in the manga?  I love that they're keeping Minako's goofiness aspect while still making her a serious leader as opposed to PGSM where she was made to be almost too serious.  Was I the only who kept thinking of Code Geass whenever Endo used the evil eye thing?   I loved the confrontation between the Inners and Evil Endymion but I wish Endymion had the Shittenou with him instead of using Motoki.  I would have loved to see Endymion and the Shittenou fighting together which is something they haven't done yet in any version of Sailor Moon as far as I'm aware.  Still, it's a good episode and I'm looking forward to the next few episodes which are going to be epic.

PGSM they fight together. ♥♥♥

I'm mad that "Endou" wasn't wearing his cow print vest or his pixel shirt. -_- The transformation sequences were a bit long. But we got to see Venus' speech! I would have preferred the inner transformations to be instant, with full speeches, and Moon to have her full transformation. But I loved where Minako asked if she looked suspicious and had tears in her eyes when she broke Ami's watch. Usagi brought A LOT OF SNACKS. Like 4 full grocery bags? O_O

Wow, this episode was great for me!
So many great scenes. 
I loved them in Ami's apartment! Although there wasn't the Minako ruining the floor scene, the other things were so cute and heart-warming. <3 The scene that she thought she looked suspicious made me so happy! lol
And I totally understand Usagi. She's so believable in Crystal to me. She's really hurt, but she's trying her best to be energetic and happy, but there are times that it's simply not possible, and she ended up hurting Luna because of it. Of course, Luna was the star of this episode! 
Venus Love-Me Chain... YESSSS! WORK IT, GURL! I loved how she handled it and the impact it had on Motoki. It was the best Love-Me Chain usage so far ever imo. I also thought it was really nice they found a way to make Mercury and Mars attack as well. 
Next episode is so intense. Can't wait!

I liked this episode - and I agree with outerharmonie23 that it might be our last chance to see a good transformation sequence, so I didn't mind it. Its not like they are doing it every episode like in classic.

I think i'm gonna give up on Crystal until episode 14. It's supposed to be Sailor Moon Crystal not Tuxedo Mask Crystal but it feels like the latter to me. WHY

Well Crystal is being more faithful to the manga despite some changes. In the manga Mamoru had more focus. Plus SMC is gear toward a young adult female audience than the original anime. So what do most young adult female series have? Romance. Hence why the miracle romance in Crystal is turned up to the max. I enjoy romance series, but I like having character development as well. In Crystal they are failing at both things.

Yeah, I've given up on Crystal until we get to the Black Moon arc. As a young adult(ish), I'm so over the Miracle Romance. Yes, I understand that it's a selling point, but I feel like it's being portrayed for teenage girls, not those of us in our 20's.

innocentvenus wrote:

Yeah, I've given up on Crystal until we get to the Black Moon arc. As a young adult(ish), I'm so over the Miracle Romance. Yes, I understand that it's a selling point, but I feel like it's being portrayed for teenage girls, not those of us in our 20's.

I hate the whole Miracle Romance thing. Sure, it was in the Classic anime but it wasn't constantly in your face

:worship: TOEI

I understand the criticisms about not enough character development, but I'd like to make me perspective clear to help clarify why I'm not as off-put.

I always felt the Inners stopped receiving much real character development (except maybe Minako) after S in the original anime. Sure they would have a focus episode here or there for a power-up or new attack, but I feel like they stopped being very dynamic characters to make way for a tighter focus on Chibiusa, Usagi, and the Starlights. In Crystal, even though the character moments are fewer and very quick, to me it still displays the depth of the characters and shows how they're growing after being saved from loneliness by Usagi even if the pacing is too fast.

That said, I could do with a toning down of the Miracle Romance too though I think the Black Moon arc will be good for that.

I disagree with that. I honestly don't feel a strong bond between the girls at all in Crystal. Yes in the old anime toward the end the Inners were shoved to the side, but the girls' strong bond was still there. I am to believe their bond because the Classic arc took its time with developing the girls and their friendship. In Crystal the only two that have a character is Mako and Minako. Rei and Ami are just there. But that's how I see it.

There will be romance in Black Moon. Usagi and Mamo will have a few bumps in their relationship after all. So the miracle romance will not be gone. Mamo has a bigger presence in the manga.

I gave up on crystal after episode 4 tbh. I haven't seen a single ep and was gonna marathon all of them once the arc finished, but I saw some spoilers on ep 11 and it ticked me off.

This is supposed to follow the manga, right? Even though it was implied in some of the artwork, THERE WAS NO RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE INNER SENSHI AND THE SHINTOUU. I know there are shippers, but there just wasn't any relationship between them in the manga. To have each inner be like "REMEMBER WHO U USED TO BE WE WERE IN LOVE" within the midst of the rising climax to the final battle literally throws the entire thing off balance. 

The one thing that always appealed to me was that they didn't have any relationships outside of usagi and mamoru (and haruka and michiru.) I know sailor moon was a romance but come on! They literally turned the entire premise into a romantic fight. 

So much for "not needing a prince for our protection." >.> I am seriously so upset about that. 

Also, wasn't rei's entire point about not needing men, as revealed in one of the short stories? 

As someone who ships the inner and shittenou, it kind of seems like I'm obligated to be loving what they're doing on this show, but...... I don't know, I'm just not feeling it. I like the idea of past relationships, but at the same time not? The whole "remember who you are, we were lovers" stuff is kinda silly to me and feels like it comes out of nowhere? Like, at least give me some scenes from the past showing the pairs interacting one-on-one or something.

And there's just like a whole lot of romances now floating around. I'm not against those, I'm a pretty big shipper, but I feel like they're taking away from the potential screen time of Usagi and the girls together. A nice thing that the Sailor Moon franchise has is it's strong friendships between female characters, which a lot of stuff lacks. And it's strong characterization for the ladies. But really, the only ones I'm interested in are Makoto and Minako. Ami's really cute but she just seems..... there. And that upsets me because she's one of my favorite characters.

I'm still trying to hang on to this show. I'm hoping it will improve in the next arc, but I don't know.

^^^^ YES EXACTLY.  All these new romances are taking away from the girls kicking butt together. I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees this.

Cosmos-Hime wrote:

I gave up on crystal after episode 4 tbh. I haven't seen a single ep and was gonna marathon all of them once the arc finished, but I saw some spoilers on ep 11 and it ticked me off.

This is supposed to follow the manga, right? Even though it was implied in some of the artwork, THERE WAS NO RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE INNER SENSHI AND THE SHINTOUU. I know there are shippers, but there just wasn't any relationship between them in the manga. To have each inner be like "REMEMBER WHO U USED TO BE WE WERE IN LOVE" within the midst of the rising climax to the final battle literally throws the entire thing off balance. 

Crystal is following the manga more accurately but it's also following Naoko Takeuchi's vision of how she wanted the manga to be but was unable to for time purposes or whatever.  Naoko had always wanted to include the Senshi and Shittenou romance in the manga and now she's getting to in Crystal.  The Shittenou/Senshi pairings have long been canon in the musicals, so there has been some precedence for this.

Yamichan16 wrote:

I disagree with that. I honestly don't feel a strong bond between the girls at all in Crystal. Yes in the old anime toward the end the Inners were shoved to the side, but the girls' strong bond was still there. I am to believe their bond because the Classic arc took its time with developing the girls and their friendship. In Crystal the only two that have a character is Mako and Minako. Rei and Ami are just there. But that's how I see it.

There will be romance in Black Moon. Usagi and Mamo will have a few bumps in their relationship after all. So the miracle romance will not be gone. Mamo has a bigger presence in the manga.

Hopefully the romance won't be constantly in your face. If it is i'm still gonna watch every episode but skip past the Miracle Romance stuff

Seriously. I know romance was always an enjoyable part of Sailor Moon, but this is almost dare I say it; Overkill. In comparison to any other adaptation of the series, it's overkill. There. I said it.

How is it that much more overkill than the original anime?  The original anime had the Inners chasing after every guy they saw; Rei was with both Mamoru and Yuuichiro at different points, Ami had Ryo, Makoto and Minako chased after Taiki and Yaten, and Chibi-usa had Helilos and Peruru.  And as I said before, the Inners were paired with the Shittennou in the musicals too.

It felt more natural in the original anime and most of time the boy chasing was played up for laughs. Like Mamoru stepping on Rei's head. XD

To me the romance is over kill because every scene with Usagi is like oh Mamo chan!! It reminds me of Ichigo from Tokyo Mew Mew who constantly thought about her crush in the manga. Thank god in the anime they tone it down a bit. 

@Seren
As InnerxGeneral shipper I feel the same way as well. When I first watched the episode I was super excited then after it sunk in I was like bleh. The pairings were just thrown in there and the girls didn't get to interact with their guy to build up to that moment.  

Crystal really needed to have each arc be 26 episodes. Also it just should have done its own thing because some changes they made do not fit in the manga's pacing. They should have just gave us something new, but keep the manga's storyline in mind.

Sailor Seren wrote:

As someone who ships the inner and shittenou, it kind of seems like I'm obligated to be loving what they're doing on this show, but...... I don't know, I'm just not feeling it. I like the idea of past relationships, but at the same time not? The whole "remember who you are, we were lovers" stuff is kinda silly to me and feels like it comes out of nowhere? Like, at least give me some scenes from the past showing the pairs interacting one-on-one or something.

You hit it right on the head. I don't care if Naoko Takeuchi wanted this content in the original manga, this sort of thing only would have worked had there been time to develop it. The Inners can say that they love the Generals all they want, but we haven't seen a single damn flashback to show for it. It's only characters commenting that they feel something or are in love. I'm not a fan of the shipping myself, but I could at least respect it if Toei put some damn time into it or at least didn't remove content from the manga to exchange for it.

^^^^^ THIS!