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everythingsinred · 3 years

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Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Natsume (pt. 12)

Oof, the long-awaited Christmas Ball arc has finally arrived! Let's get into it!

What does it look like to see Natsume at his most selfish? One needs only to look at Chapter Fifty.

Chapter Forty-Eight

The Christmas Ball is finally here!

Natsume has to begin the ball just like he has to begin the festival, sitting on stage with the other Principal students, as if he’s some kind of representative. When he catches Mikan looking at him, he sticks his tongue out at her, and she’s taken aback and offended, but he’s trying to be cute. When Natsume is around Mikan, they always bicker and argue. She’s someone he can argue with, something he can’t do with most people. He can’t argue with the people in the DA class because he’ll get punished. He can’t argue with Ruka because he already causes him enough stress. With Mikan, none of the arguments are deep. She forgives and forgets easily, and he can act freely act like a little kid. In the last chapter, even, he smiles at her when they’re in the midst of an argument, because just the freedom of being able to bicker makes him happy.

He's trying to be cute, so go easy on him, Mikan.

He sticks his tongue out at her, acting silly and childish, because she’s special and he can act silly and childish around her.

For most of the ball, Natsume is content to sit in the tree, minding his own business and keeping away from the commotion. He does notice Mikan, though, because he always does, when she acts as Trash Santa to help Youichi play with Mr. Bear. He doesn’t say anything, and he’s only present for a couple panels, but it’s obvious she stands out to him.

Chapter Forty-Nine

Natsume is eating a good piece of cake when he meets with Ruka, who is overcome with guilt for kissing Mikan on the cheek a few minutes ago. Ruka knows that Natsume likes Mikan too, but he doesn’t understand that Natsume has jumped that ship before it could even leave the dock. Natsume gets that Ruka is conflicted about something, so he playfully squeezes Ruka’s nose to assure him in his own way. Natsume’s love language is physical touch even if it is awkward, whether it’s ruffling Ruka’s hair or squeezing his nose. That’s how he comforts people, particularly Ruka.

It apparently does make Ruka feel better, because when he next sees Mikan, he doesn’t freak out like she does. He’s calmed down a bit, isn’t quite as guilty. So he does his own version of what Natsume did for him at the alice festival closing dance. He gets Mikan to dance with Natsume. It’s his way of evening the score, giving Natsume the same chance he got. Either he doesn’t understand that Natsume isn’t playing the game at all, or he’s trying to convince him to start.

He walks away and Natsume and Mikan are left standing there without their masks. There’s a moment of awkwardness, where they stand around and don’t say anything, but Natsume has a moment of resolve. He takes her hand and pulls her close. It starts off proper and gentle, like a dance is supposed to be. They dance and Natsume notices that Mikan is not happy to be with him at all. She’s quiet and frowning. He’s seen her smile while dancing before, because she always catches his eye, so he knows she’s capable of it. She’s danced with Ruka, Tsubasa, Narumi, and all sorts of people, and she’s had a big grin on her face for all of it. For some reason, that smile is absent when her partner is Natsume.

Natsume got upset and hurt when Mikan said she would never want to dance the last dance with him. He’s hurt now that she seems so reluctant to dance with him in a zero-stakes dance at the Christmas Ball. He will be hurt in the future too, because he has a low self esteem. This girl that he likes may see him as a friend, but she gets so uneasy around him, and only him. Natsume thinks he cares so much more about her than she does about him, and it’s moments like these where he gets the feeling more than ever, and it hurts. He thinks it’s a given. He’s helped make it happen on purpose. But he still wishes deep down that it wasn’t that way.

He's doing everything right and she's still upset to dance with him! What's her deal? (heheheh)

And so he argues with her. Why isn’t she smiling with him, huh? He’s doing it all right, the way he’s supposed to. He’s dancing normally and she seems to hate it. He turns to insults because it’s his most reliable technique, and suddenly Mikan is energetic.

To avoid making a scene, they bicker and insult each other under their breaths, dancing just the same as they had before, but with a new aura around them. He twirls her and she’s smiling now. And his eyes get soft, because that’s all he wanted. One moment of selfishness for him to keep in his memories, where they danced and she actually liked it.

The moment ends when they get shoved and fall over, Mikan landing with her teeth on Natsume’s lip.

They’re both tense and uncomfortable with what just happened in front of so many people. Natsume hates that he tripped in front of everybody, so his mood has suddenly soured. If this had been a proper kiss, he wouldn’t have gotten so angry, and he won’t, spoiler alert. He was actually having a nice time, only for the moment to be so abruptly stolen from him. He fell down and now his lip is bleeding. Her teeth hitting his mouth also could be the closest he’ll ever get to a kiss with Mikan, and she looks horrified. Being under so many watchful eyes, all nervous about what’s about to happen. He has very few options, really. He can walk away, or he can cause upset. Natsume isn’t in the mood to run away, since he’s already embarrassed himself by tripping, so he tells her that she’s bad at dancing and kissing, even though he obviously very much likes dancing with her.

He is a problem child.

Chapter Fifty

Mikan is enraged that he had the audacity to call what happened a kiss. There’s also the trouble of Ruka, who had been nice and arranged for them to dance in the first place, only for this to happen.

Now it’s Natsume’s turn to feel guilty. It was an accident, of course, but Natsume already messed up by calling it a kiss, so now Ruka is upset. The only thing he can say to comfort his friend is to downplay it, acting as if everyone is making a big deal over nothing.

Don't worry about it, man. It's a whatever situation.

Natsume’s admirers take that as some sort of confirmation that he’s the man, probably going around kissing all the time. This really meant nothing, because it’s just one kiss of many. It’s far from the truth: Natsume has never kissed anybody before. This kiss doesn’t mean anything only because it was an accident.

Natsume escapes. He feels horrible for hurting Ruka, and probably let down that the teeth-kiss is the closest he’ll ever get to the real thing, least of all with Mikan. He stays in his tree, safe and isolated, alone with his thoughts. He has no intention of returning to the party.

In fact, it’s Mikan who finds him, when she climbs up the tree to find someone to comfort her. She’s looking for Tsubasa or Hotaru or Ruka or Iinchou. Not him. She admits that she’s just settling for him (or at least that’s the way it comes off in the TokyoPop version), and not being one of the people she can count on is something that he sadly resigns himself to.

Still, even if she’s only venting to him because there’s nobody else around, he listens to her whole story.

Just like with the Christmas Ball prep, he insults her and it somehow works. The worry leaves her face and she grins.

Forgive me. These scans leave much to be desired. Apologies.

Natsume is a bit preoccupied. He’s had some time to think and he has a lot on his mind, so he reminds her that she was angry at him just a bit ago, reviving her rage. It’s short-lived, though, because then he asks what happened between her and Ruka. Mikan shuts down, then tries to change the subject, mentioning all the gossip about his many kisses, suggesting Natsume talk about himself before demanding to know other people’s business, which leads him to the conclusion that she’d kissed Ruka.

They argue a bit more, but then she insists that the accident before didn’t count as a kiss, so he decides to fix that.

Natsume’s selfish acts are still in the single-digits, but this belongs on the shortest list in the world. Keep in mind that Natsume is convinced that Mikan and Ruka kissed already. They did, but that was a cheek kiss, and not on the same level. He has no idea. They’re arguing, so it won’t seem romantic or mushy at all, especially when compared to whatever Ruka surely did (though he did not do anything at all, in fact) and she won’t get the wrong (right) idea. It seems like a low-consequence move, like something he could do, so that he could have it for the rest of his life and then die with it. He doesn’t dare assume it’ll mean something to her.

He pulls her into a kiss, in any case.

She pushes him away, gasping for breath.

He explains that he did it because she said it wasn’t real before. An easy excuse. Then he muses, “So that’s what kissing is like…” and essentially answers her question from earlier, about all the rumors that he has plenty of experience kissing. He says it’s no big deal and then jumps from the tree.

"Wow! That sucked! Let's do more of this next year!"

To him, it is a big deal.

He says things aren’t a big deal when he wishes he could do them, like competing in the alice festival and now with kissing. Things are a big fuss over nothing when he can’t do them but wants to. Just like the alice festival, this is something he can’t look forward to. This is done, and it’ll probably--definitely--never happen again. Being selfish once is one thing. He wouldn’t do that to Ruka.

Downplaying it is supposed to comfort her. It’s no big deal after all, so she can just move on and keep kissing Ruka, which she probably prefers anyway. It obviously meant a lot to him, since in about a year he’d ask for more and more kisses, but for now, he’s content with one. It’s all he can ask for, and all he needs. Just one kiss, to know what it’s like to kiss the girl he loves. And now he’s done.

His post-kiss behavior is all for her sake, acting casual and blase about it so that she doesn’t catch on that it meant something more to him. “Huh, whatever,” is an easier kiss to get over than a romantic and sappy one, in his mind.

Besides, she’s not like him. It’s not like she’s never kissed somebody before.

Chapter Fifty-One

It’s post-Christmas cleaning day in Class B and the kids are gathering in a circle to tell scary stories on their lunch break. Koko calls Natsume over to make a demon fire for the atmosphere. Ruka and Natsume catch Mikan’s gaze and she runs to avoid them both.

She’s an anxious mess because of the Christmas Ball, unable to look either of them in the eye.

Natsume and Ruka both join the group anyway, and once Mikan is thoroughly spooked, Natsume scares her even more with Yo-chan’s help. It’s not that he wants her to suffer, but he wants to seem as unaffected as possible. See, he’s right back to normal, so there’s nothing to worry about. She doesn’t need to freak out about what happened, because ultimately, nothing happened. It was no big deal, a big fuss over nothing.

Jinno then separates the class into smaller cleaning groups, and Mikan is stuck with Natsume and Ruka. She’s awkward and anxious, Ruka’s embarrassed and doesn’t know what to say, and Natsume’s not the type to talk much anyway.

He isn’t really the kind of person who fixes things, but it’s on him now, because the other two sure as hell won’t. So first he teases Mikan by scaring her. She gets a little upset, so he tells her to quit ignoring Ruka. He makes it about Ruka, because he’s okay being the one ignored. Again, he’s never considered himself in the running for Mikan’s affections. He’s Team Ruka, all the way.

Ruka is touched, and there’s obviously no hard feelings about the accidental kiss at the ball. That doesn’t mean that they’re talking much, or that there’s no tension. They both know that something happened with the other in regards to Mikan, and broaching that topic is uncomfortable. They’ve been letting it sit for so long untouched--months even, since the very start of it all--and it’s only gotten bigger and bigger.

Before they can have an actual conversation, though, the lights go out.

They’re all sitting against the wall, Ruka and Natsume on either side of Mikan.

They’re both aware that Mikan is easily scared and that she’s particularly afraid of the dark, and so they both independently decide to hold her hand in an attempt to comfort her. Natsume remembers how afraid she’d been when they were trapped together in the haunted house, and how all she’d wanted at the time was to hold his hand, because if they’re touching, they’ll be warm and less scared.

Don't overthink it, Mikan. You might figure him out.

For now, it’s not about being selfish, just being helpful, because he wants to reassure her and comfort her. He’s learning ways that he can be comforting to Mikan, that don’t necessarily involve insults and getting her mad.

But then he looks up and he and Ruka notice each other, see what the other is doing, and after all this built-up tension and awkwardness and lack of conversation, it only makes sense that…

They start laughing. They start talking, suddenly so honest, because the hardest part is over. They got to skip over the confrontation and now they can just talk about it with each other. They’ve known the truth about each other all along, but now they don’t have to pretend to hide it anymore.

And Ruka feels free to tease Natsume, and Natsume can tease Ruka, and that’s amazing too. Even before Mikan came to the academy, Natsume and Ruka had a lot left unsaid. They didn’t communicate well, and their talks never involved bickering or friendly teasing. It’s like all the tension that had accrued between them for years has suddenly lifted, and they can laugh about it now.

There's so much honesty here now.

Natsume can tease that Ruka has terrible taste in women, Ruka can shoot back that that means Natsume does too, and Natsume can scold him for putting himself on his level.

If anything, this was good for their relationship. They’re in a place now where they can communicate about their feelings somewhat. Natsume is never really that emotionally open, even at his most communicative, and he’ll continue to keep his secrets, but the wall that has built between them has been more or less knocked down.

This moment doesn’t seem romantic at all to Mikan, but romance is intrinsic to their conversation. Ruka swears he won’t lose, and Natsume scoffs that he’d never intended to win in the first place.

And just like that, without even including Mikan in their conversation, everything is back to normal, or even better than normal. The Christmas Ball tensions have officially been eliminated. The feelings may still be there, but the problems are gone.

But it’s still dark and scary, and now it seems that a ghost has joined them in the hall, wielding scissors--so Ruka and Mikan run away. Natsume is not so easily spooked, so he sticks around long enough to see that the ghost in question is Nobara.

Chapter Fifty-Two

Natsume starts his conversation with Nobara by reminding her of an off-screen (off-page?) conversation, where he told her to stay away from Mikan. Nobara explains that she came to see him, because she was watching Mikan for the entire Christmas party and has something to tell him. Though it’s a bit creepy, the lengths Nobara went to in order to watch Mikan (including special opera glasses that catch sound), she says she saw something strange.

At first, Natsume thinks she’s going to mention the kiss, and he’s uncomfortable that Nobara probably knows about it. First, she’s still just as untrustworthy to him as before, because she’s loyal to Persona. That their kiss might get back to Persona could be potentially quite dangerous, and he might face serious punishment as a result. Secondly, he’s also capable of getting embarrassed, and the idea that this girl was watching when he had no idea at all, especially during such a vulnerable moment, is a little off-putting.

But Nobara isn’t talking about the kiss. She’s talking about the fact that the person who danced with Mikan and upset her by making her mask fall was probably the ESP. She tells Natsume because she’s seen the way he looks at her and she knows that he cares about her. She can even tell that Natsume forbidding her from talking to Mikan is his way of protecting her, even though she must not be a fan of such a rule. She’s a middle-schooler, and not as close to Mikan, but Natsume is in her class. He’s her partner and he cares about her, so he is the best person to have protecting her. Because he will, no questions asked.

Natsume remembers the warning he’s been given, that he should continue isolating himself or bad things will happen to his loved ones, so we can tell that he finds himself somewhat responsible for the ESP upsetting Mikan. More than that, he’s understandably concerned that this is merely the first move of many, and that the ESP will continue to antagonize her and even put her in danger, and that it would all be his fault.

In any case, Natsume is kind of stuck regarding his options.

He can go back to trying to avoid her. He was never that great at it in the first place, but it’s bound to be even harder now. But he also has to protect her, and that will be harder to do from a distance. Besides, the damage seems to have already been done. Whatever happens, he’s willing to take all the punishment in her stead, as long as she’s safe.

Conclusion

Natsume has done all he intends to do: he got a kiss from Mikan and now he'll more or less step aside. Or will he? The plot thickens! But in any case, he's up to face some serious repercussions for his actions so far, and his punishment will be any day now...

Also, sorry, I couldn't find full scans for Chapter Fifty-Two, so there's no pics. It's okay, I wouldn't have done much for it anyway, because Natsume's only around for a few pages.

Hope y'all are having a nice day! Thank you so much for reading this far!

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joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh · 5 years

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So I just watched the last 3 episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal season III. And first of, I want to apologise that this is as late as it is, I mean technically it’s early since I jumped ahead of the 1 a day schedule so many times but like, ignoring that we’re later than I wanted to be. And second, for the first time in any of these posts, I actually just watched all 3 episodes back to back, not taking a break to write anything in between. As such, my thoughts are gonna be on an entire 3 episodes rather than giving each individual episode its usual dues, which I know isn’t a big deal and honestly I imagine most people don’t even care, but it still does stick out a little compared to the like 230+ other episodes that do have my thoughts on a per-episode basis. So like, sorry about that.

But yeah apologies aside, these last 3 episodes were just, just brilliant. Hotaru’s resistance against Mistress 9 makes her feel like a stronger and more compelling character for these last few episodes, and I also found Saturn’s usage here to be a lot better and more impactful than it was in the 90s anime, especially since they really drill home how absurdly powerful Saturn is, she fucking destroys Pharaoh 90 with so little effort where the combined powers of everyone else couldn’t even touch him. And I do think that’s pretty epic.

And fucking hell if she doesn’t look incredible too. Saturn easily has the best design of any of the Sailor Soldiers imo.

About Pharaoh 90 by the way, him attempting to like, fuse with Earth in a way that parallels how Daimons work here, that’s really sick, it establishes a way more meaningful connection between the villain and its grunts than has ever been the case, likewise for Mistress 9 having her Daimon-esque form too, were it not for the ugly purple texture it’d be a really cool design as well. Just in general way more’s done to make these two feel like the final bosses than was the case in the 90s anime and I respect that.

And speaking of things being done better than in the 90s anime, it’s actually Usagi’s power as Super Sailor Moon that awakens every other soldier (sans Saturn who looks exponentially better before Super anyway and Chibiusa who does it on her own which works too) to their Super forms. Granted Chibiusa’s the only one who does shit with it, we get a pretty cool Rainbow Double Moon Heartache with some awesome special effects animation, but I still think it just narratively makes more sense for the Princess of those Soldiers to power them up while her own daughter powers up on her own, rather than, a horse for Chibiusa, that same horse for the Inner Soldiers but way later, and then Hotaru for some reason for the rest. Maybe that’s my bias against Helios at play but I liked this more at the end of the day so who cares. I also feel like just in general, I’ve liked Chibiusa a lot more in Crystal and especially this season of Crystal than I did in the 90s as a whole, and again that could just be SuperS souring my view of 90s Chibiusa, but she was really good here. Everyone just was.

Also, the ending as a whole is done a lot better, with Hotaru’s revival. A plot point I thought was stupid and unearned in the 90s anime just has the context around it changed and suddenly it’s great again, the quick TL;DR is just Saturn, the separate entity from Hotaru, is all “yo I gotta destroy shit so hope and rebirth can begin anew” and then Hotaru’s rebirth is like a thematic thing, albeit still literal of course. It just fuckin, works way better, and since Hotaru’s real dad’s dead anyway we can have the Outer Soldiers adopt her no problem about it. And then their ending’s better too because we don’t deal with the “oh they challenge Usagi to a fight at the last minute” thing for no reason. We don’t get that beautiful shot of them driving off into the sunset unfortunately, but otherwise it’s better in about every way.

And then with the final battle over, we do some setup for the next arc. Which we do now know to be the 2 Eternal movies which I am very much looking forward to. But the setup, yeah it’s fun, pretty standard just, we gonna send Chibiusa off, oh but here’s that eclipse, and then Usagi and Chibiusa here some bells, the end. Does its job fine enough. And then that entire sort of epilogue section also has some major changes, in particular, Usagi and the gang have moved up to high school already. That’s pretty interesting given the 90s anime let that happen in its very last season. But I like this change too. Assuming that Crystal adapts Sailor Stars, we’ll have 3 seasons in middle school and 2 (functionally) in high school, and that’s a bit of a better balance. Plus it’ll also mean we’ll be more accustomed to the status quo by the time Stars rolls around so the introduction of all those new characters should be more easily digested. Really looking forward to the Eternal movies and I really hope we can get Sailor Stars afterwards.

And that’s Sailor Moon Crystal season III, which I would give a very strong 8/10, emphasis on “would” because MAL’s still down so I actually can’t right now oops. I think this season of Crystal told a great story, I think the presentation was strong enough to really tell that great story, the character writing was all around stronger than in Crystal seasons 1 and 2, and the narrative is tightly paced without being rushed, a problem those first 2 seasons really struggled with. But moreover, as I’ve said multiple times throughout this season, there have been a lot of things I preferred here than in the 90s anime, and I mean, a lot. Moreover, without any of the other drawbacks that the first 2 Crystal seasons had, it’s actually hard to say for sure whether I liked this more or less than the 90s Sailor Moon S anime. Yeah, incredible, right? I came out of a Crystal season able to say I maybe preferred it to anything from the 90s? Honestly I think I probably would place this as better than S, S had just bad enough filler episodes and weak enough villains + poorer utilisation of Saturn to where this just feels like a more fully realised version of that story. And while S also did the Inner Team better than Crystal s3 did, other seasons of the 90s anime did those same girls even better so it’s hardly something that unique to S. Fuck as I’m typing this I’m honestly thinking to myself, Sailor Moon Crystal season 3 might be the single best season of Sailor Moon, 90s and Crystal. I would say I prefer the 90s anime as a whole but per individual season? This kinda, edges most of them out. Well, god damn if that isn’t the highest praise I can give this.

And moreover, that’s Sailor Moon. I have once again reached a point in which I can say that I’ve finished Sailor Moon. With the 2 movies coming out, that won’t be the case for long, but for now at least, this quest I’ve been on since June 30th of last year finally comes to a close. At long last, I welly and truly finished Sailor Moon. Won’t deny that I shed a tear, it’s hard not to be sentimental about this. I know I said this when I finished the 90s anime too but, thank you so much for reading. I mean, I’m not sure who’s actually reading this, if anyone, but still, thank you.

It’s been a journey I’ve been glad to make, and I hope you were able to enjoy reading my ramblings on the hundreds of episodes of the 2 anime adaptations of a shoujo manga from the 90s about a normal girl called Usagi.

#sailor moon #18.2.20

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docholligay · 5 years

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How powerful do you headcanon the Silver Crystal to be? (ex. a senshi can only be revived from death once)

Ah, the Silver Crystal, a truly hated geegaw. Who knows what it actually does? It is, canon wise, pretty unclear, other than acting as the Agent of Narrative Convenience. But, I mean, a lot of things in Sailor Moon don’t really hold up to scrutiny, it was a 90s children’s cartoon and selling toys was among its chief missions. But, we, as fine adults, don’t have to accept that. WE ARE THE FANFICCERS, WE TAKE WHAT IS OURS.

So one of the things I’m working with currently is my Talismans AU, wherein I basically try to puzzle out how I can have Michiru and Haruka die in the cathedral, and be revived, without annoying myself and everyone on the planet with a series of consequence free necromancy happenings on Usagi’s part.

(Spoilers for my Talismans Au follow. I don’t know that anyone is so invested as to care about that, but if you are, don’t read on)

So for that, the Silver Crystal IS the geegaw, and it IS a one time thing but not because the Silver Crystal has like, a ticket puncher and everyone gets one ride, but because there’s a choice made, and it warps and affects what was MEANT by Serenity to happen. It gives Usagi a choice in how her future goes.

If you think about it critically, there’s no reasons Usagi should be Sailor Moon, there was no Sailor Moon in the Moon Kingdom, there’s no logical reason you would put the princess you’re meant to protect as your literal front line, and while I can believe the Moon Kingdom was pretty stupid, that’s a bit beyond the pale for me.

So the Talismans Au takes place in a way that makes more sense to me: The Senshi are all awakened (Hotaru excluded,) they are searching for the princess, they know that bringing together the talismans will reveal the princess. Usagi is just Rei’s hilarious, dumb, incredibly well meaning friend. She hangs around the other girls because the other girls are around Rei, and she comes to be thoughtful with them in a very (AND I WOULD LIKE ALL THE MEDALS FOR THIS) positive Usagi sort of way.

When Haruka and Michiru die, for they do die, because Uranus and Neptune were a coward and a traitor respectively, and them being only a vessel for a talisman, meant to be broken and discarded, Usagi is awakened as Princess Serenity. Big power boom, everything, floating in the cathedral as Pluto offers the helpful exposition that this was as foretold, that Uranus and Neptune would die, and Princess Serenity would rise. That the girls will be meant to be her guardians, until the final defeat of Galaxia.*

And Usagi says no.

As the course of incredible power grips her, she refuses to let them be dead. If this power to seal the Talismans into them was the Queen’s, she must be able to mend the part of them that required it to survive. If the old ruler offered a punishment, the new ruler can pardon it. And she does it. Through this miracle moment, she rejects that she must become Serenity to be princess, and she rejects that someone had to die because someone they were not committed a crime. That’s not how her Kingdom works, if she’s going to be forced to take it. So they revive. It’s painful, it’s awful, it’s a lengthy recovery, but they live. And Usagi forces that power down into the crystal and she takes the crown into her hands and twists it into the same tiara her soldiers wear. She’ll fight with them.

No matter how bad an idea Minako says it is. No matter how inept she is at something she was never born to do.

But that flow of massive power that was her awakening is a one shot deal. It was a rush and a change, and it will never come again. Now if you die in Sailor Moon, you die in real life.

Which isn’t to say I think she has nothing, I think the Crystal still imparts some healing ability to her, and I think she would be delighted as anything to sort of be the medic by way of magic for the team. She can lend them strength to help them pull through, until their own bodies take over, but if someone is hurt too badly or too quickly, it’s still curtains.

So that’s my take--raising someone is a very specific event that is not repeatable and thus, remains special, but she still has use of it to aid and comfort her team. There’s no healing minibosses or anything, because I am on the “Sometimes you gotta kill people, man” train.

Thank you for the question!

*The Talismans Au is part of what I consider my personal “core canon” which ends up going all the way through to the AU of Mystery and Shadow/Bachelorette Exploits of the Widow Kaioh

#creative ask day #Anonymous

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usaghinanami99 · 7 years

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Answering some unasked Sera Myu questions

…I know, no one actually tagged me or asked to do this meme, but @sailorzakuro invited anyone who wants to take part in this challenge and I’m very eager to, so let’s start!

1) You are a Myu fan since…? Short answer: since 2012, aged 13. Long answer (beware, when I say long, I mean very long): you can find a fully detailed axplanation of how I got into Myu somewhere in this post, in the second reblog https://usaghinanami99.tumblr.com/post/170867407508/myucornerorg-usaghinanami99-myucornerorg

2) The first musical you saw? I always watch and read things in strict chronological order, so that was Gaiden. I think you can see how I went on.

3) Your favourite musical? OMG Eien Densetsu Kaiteban is the best musical ever, it’s got such a great soundtrack and the Senshuraku recording is especially touching!

4) Your favourite Sailor Moon actress? QUEEN ANZA FOR LIFE!!!!111!!1

5) Say one positive thing about every Moon actress. Anza: OMG QUEEN I mean: best singer, best actress, best everything… Should I really go on? Fumina: A nice singer and perfectly in-character for a post-manga Usaghi, very calm and compassed compared to others. Miyuki: If there is a queen in Myu (see before), then Miyuki is the princess, she’s so good at everything she does and I love her dearly… and of course I miss her so much! ;( She’s just so skilled that I think of her as a performer who would definitely deserve to be #1, if only there weren’t someone who is even better… this is without diminishing Miyuki’s ability at all! Plus, she’s the one who made me undestand that nasal voices aren’t necessarily terrible, quite the contrary with her case. Marina: WOW like was she really 12 when she started? I could think of many ways to praise her singing, but the most important thing I think about Marina is just “too good for her age” XD Satomi: I respect her very much because I think she’s the one Myu actress who improved awesomely during the course of time. I mean, I have to admit I’m not a fan of her singing and acting from LR through UNV, but when she returned in LMF she literally blew me away and I couldn’t believe she was the same person considering how much she improved. Hotaru: I can really see how she put her whole heart into her performance and that she loved it to death. I find her very relatable because she’s so fangirly she low-key reminds me of myself!

6) Is Sera Myu your favourite version of Sailor Moon? Er… actually, not at all ‘XD While I am absolutely convinced that the manga is the best version of the franchise and the first anime is the worst one, I’m much more torn apart among the other version… It is very hard for me to do a ranking, because I just can’t decide which I love more amongst Crystal, PGSM and Myu!

7) Who is your favourite cast member? ANZAANZAANZAANZAANZAANZAAAA…

8) Are your first favourites your actual favourites? Oh, yes! Anza, Ayako and Yuta have always been my Top 3 and will forever be. I have changed my mind over many actors, in the sense that I’ve come to like many whom I really didn’t care about at first view, but my best favourites will always stay the same

9) If you could say one sentence to your Myu favourite, what do you want to say to him/her? Nothing in particular, really. I’d rather have her sing Usaghi’s lines from Tabidachi for me to enjoy and worship!

10) Which Sailor Moon story do you want on stage? The manga stories which didn’t make it to the stage so far! I get that the short stories would be almost impossible to adapt, but between the Shining Princess’ Lover and the whole of Sailor V there is enough material to go on for at least three years! After that, they could start with some original material… maybe some story set during the Silver Millennium era?

11) Tell me your Top 3 underrated actors. 1: Tomoko Inami 2: Akiko Miyazawa 3: Miki Kawasaki

12) Give 3 actors new roles. Er… Does Anza as Cosmos count? Because, apart from that, I can’t really think of anything else: it’s because the actors I like have always been cast perfectly spot-on, while the ones I don’t… I’d rather have them have no parts at all XD

13) Combine classic and revival Myu: what does it look like? YES YES YES this is actually my greatest fantasy, I would kill to have a musical which combined the strong plotting and characterization of New Myu with the awesome soundtrack and casting of Old Myu

14) Revival Myu song you want in classic myu? Er… None? I’d rather have the exact opposite XD I mean, there are New Myu songs I do like, but they couldn’t ever even dream to compare to the work of goddess Akiko Kosaka.

15) Tell me an unpopular opinion you have about Myu. (Lightly whispering): I actually dislike Yuka Asami both in terms of singing and acting… I have tried to make myself like her to no avail. Now please don’t kill me! Apart from that, there are also some typical fan-favourites like Nao, Yuka and Chieko whom I love but are just number 2 for me because I think there’s someone even better than them… does this count as unpopular?

16) Ai no Starshine or Music of the Spheres? We hear the music of the spheeeeres… Speaking of New Myu songs I enjoy, this is definitely one of the best for me!

17) The Last Change or its XXI Century version? …Can I answer “both”? Lol, this is still another case of two things that are both so good it’s difficult to choose between them… I love both arrangements, Miyuki is QUEEN in both (yes, Marina is also good, but nowhere near her level IMO) and I am both into slow songs and upbeat ones. Actually, this reminds me very much of the issue I’ve got with Dolce Melodia (a song from the Italian dub of Mermaid Melody which you have to listen to NOW), where, after 11 long years, I still can’t understand if I prefer the original upbeat version or the more emotional carillon arrangement… But, while I am a sucker for both genres, slow love songs are definitely my cup of tea - in fact, my best favourite song in the whole freaking world is the main ballad theme from Beauty and the Beast. And while The Last Change is no love song, the original version has go tthis kind of feel to me, so that’s the one I’ll peek… but that’s been a very hard choice! XD

18) Cho Bi Uranus to Neptune or Harsh Saint Cry? Oh, this is much easier? While I do like both very much, the thing is that First Stage >>> everything else IMO ‘XD So it must be Cho Bi.

19) Is that something about Myu that annoys you? THE FREAKING UNRELEASED MATERIAL I freaking want to have tapes of the four unreleased musicals so much that I’d die for them! Not to mention the reunion concert that Anza & Akiko made in 2015… Also yes, the speaking over the fankans. That’s pretty common, but there’s a reason if everyone is deeply pissed off by it. And the fact that some of the performances were only shown in snippets

20) What do you expect from the 2019 musical? A lot of things, lol. Actually this is getting pretty long, so if you’re really dying to read my opinion about this (I doubt it’s the case, but still), I’ve already made a complete list of my hopes on the purpose which you can find following the link up there.

21) How important are dancing abilities of the actors for you? …I actually don’t even pay attention to them, and even if I did, I’m far too uncompetent for it to matter much for me. Sorry for the horrible answer ‘XD

22) Which Myu merchandise do you want? FREAKING VIDEOTAPES OF THE UNRELEASED MATERIAL Also official soundtracks for the New Myu and a more complete collection of the instrumental versions of all Myu songs

23) Are you sad that Luna and Artemis disappeared after Gaiden? You can bet on it! I’m also bitter for this because I was sure they would include them when La Reconquista was announced XD

24) An interesting (non-existing) HaruMichi couple? San’ae x Tomoko is my dream, what with them being the best Uranus and best Neptune for me? As for actually existing ones, my favourite is Shu x Sayaka.

25) Your favourite Moon x Tux couple? Anza x Yuta for eveeeer And I’ve also got this forbidden dream of seeing some Miyuki x Yu, I think they would be perfect together for some reason… sadly that’s not possible :(

26) Your favourite musical-only character? Kyaosu. You can beat me now. Also Space Knight, I wonder how it is possible that it didn’t come to my mind first. And yes, I have that sense of humour.

27) Which character would you play in a musical? …No one. I’m definitely not qualified enough to even dream of something like that XD But if I had to choose, than it would surely be my queen Usaghi

28) Something else you want to say about Sera Myu? Sera Myu is awesome, okay? I love it so much and it’s such an important part of my life and it gives me happiness when I’m feeling down and all those things… I sould probably stop now!

Now that this challenge is officially over for me, I tag @myucornerorg into doing it! :)

#sera myu #sailor moon #pretty guardian sailor moon #sailor moon musical #old myu #new myu

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ainomessage · 7 years

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Le Mouvement Final - Spoiler Free Report *Warning - long ass post. I went to see the musical in Tokyo 4 times this year! I had only planned on seeing it 3 times, but well... 😅 Before my first show I got my nails done at my usual place, Cocotte in Harajuku. I asked for the planets (/moon) for each senshi plus shooting stars for the lights. To see more of Mashima’s incredible work, check out his insta! He paints every tiny detail by hand with itty bitty brushes. Wednesday, September 13 I went to this show by myself, but was able to meet up with the lovely @redcat36 @miniaturephantomprincess and @clockworkangel ! Everyone was super sweet and it was wonderful to be able to share the myu experience with fellow international moonies who were just as crazy for the cast as me.😆 This was also the fateful day in which I made the mistake of buying just enough can badges to get myself hooked. My seat was in the 6th row on the left side (facing the stage) so my view was good other than occasionally having a few things blocked by cast members or set pieces. I’m very glad that I wasn’t alone in how much crying I was doing throughout the show. Everyone around me had tissues out and you could hear sniffling throughout the theater. That evening Hinari played Chibi Chibi, and you could hear the whole theater squeal when she first appeared on stage. TOO. CUTE. 💖 Poor Shuu had a lot of mishaps - she flubbed one line, her suspenders popped off, and she almost missed touching Sayaka’s hand during THAT scene. After the show there was a Starlights + Kakyuu sendoff, which went by WAY too fast. I later learned I could slow it down a bit and am sad I didn’t do this for the Lights, but alas. After the show we waited outside the theater to say goodbye to the cast. Hinari gave everyone high fives (AWW) and the Lights stopped to talk to people for a bit! Saki shook my hand and noticed my Kuma Crafts Star Yell necklace and said my Galaxia + Animamates t-shirt was cool.💚 Friday, September 15 This time I went with my good friend @kaikinapela and once again met up with the other girls. This was one of the “fanclub service days” which I have to say was a disappointment. The possible prizes were a photoshoot with the cast, a signed pamphlet, or... a sticker. As you can probably guess, we all got the sticker. I think they could have done better for a third prize, especially considering the sticker was the same image as the flyer. They could have at least given us an original photo! We did, however, miraculously manage to get first row seats through the fanclub! The picture of the stage above is from that seat. I’m not sure it quite does justice to how crazy close we were. The actresses were all about 2 feet in front of my eyes, it was insane. Several times I got distracted from the show by just staring at whoever was in front of me. This is when I learned that Kobayashi Yuka (Seiren) has a belly button piercing lol. This day I also had AMAZING luck with can badges - I managed to pick two signed ones! Rimo and Kaede💛💚 This night Chise was playing Chibi Chibi and she got just as much of a gasp from the crowd at her adorableness. She’s much smaller than Hinari! During the curtain call I managed to catch eyes with Meiku and Mirai. Airi, who is the most adorable ball of energy on the planet, waved at us twice and made a heart with her hands in our direction.💖 She’s too cute! My friend has been trying to catch Yuga’s rose since 2013, but was sadly thwarted again - she did get an apology look from Yuga in return for her disappointed face, though.😉 Saturday, September 16 Same group of girls for this show! This time @kaikinapela and I were seated in the 10th row in the center (right behind ROOT, the former Jadeite, incidentally). Once again I had crazy luck with can badges - this time I pulled 3! Yume, Satomi, and Saki! I still can’t believe I got my two favorite characters (Venus/Healer) and SATOMI. Yume’s signature says “Thank you very much! Let’s meet again!” and Satomi’s says “Satomi Cosmos.” The others signed their name and did a doodle. 💖 We were back to Hinari for this show. I have to say, she was my favorite (more on this later). Though I loved being so close to the stage for the other two shows, this was the first time I fully appreciated all of the visual effects. I hope everything comes through on the DVD. After the show there was a sendoff from the Inners, and this time I at least managed to properly make eye contact with each of them as we went by. Monday, September 18 This was my bonus show. I hadn’t managed to get tickets for it online, but loved the other shows so much I had to try to get into the Tokyo finale. I waited in the insanely long line for the same day ticket lottery and drew “awaiting cancellation (#5).” This means I was 5th in line to get a ticket if someone cancelled. I thought for sure this meant I wouldn’t get in, but no! I managed to get one of the folding chairs they added behind row 6. It was incredibly uncomfortable but WORTH IT. This meant I was in front of an aisle, which is a good place to be on the last day. During Moonlight Densetsu everyone but the villains, Cosmos, ChibiChibi, and Moon (with her giant wings) ran out into the audience. At first no one was coming down our aisle, but I made sure to hold my yellow light high and Rimo saw! She came down our row for high fives. 💛 Later Mikako made a second pass and came down our aisle too. ♥ When everyone returned to the stage to wave and bow, Rimo pointed at me, waved, and blew a kiss! I almost didn’t believe she was aiming at me since she was on the opposite side of the stage, but I was the only yellow light around. 😭 💛 　That evening the inners + Tux gave short speeches, and I could see Meiku trying not to cry.💔 　Poor little Chise just looked bewildered the whole time. After the show I managed to talk to all 3 of the Lights! I was wearing my signed Healer and Venus badges, so Saki gently patted her own badge and then flicked Venus in the face.😆 Meiku was very surprised when I complimented her singing - she doesn’t seem to be very confident, which is unfortunate because she’s very talented. Riona also noticed my badges and asked if I shipped Yaten/Minako. When I said yes, she said “What about Taiki/Ami?” I told her I love them too, and she wondered if she had forced me to say it (she did not). She asked me to wear a Mercury shirt next time.💙 I also met a few other lovely international moonies that evening, but sadly I don’t know their tumblrs! If you guys see this, message me! Thanks to trading with friends, through twitter, and at the venue, both @kaikinapela and I managed to collect a full set of badges!

Overall Impressions I would rank this as one of the best musicals of all time - including the classic Bandai era. I will admit to being biased because the Stars arc is my favorite, but they really pulled out all the stops. The entire cast was amazing, even those who had small roles. Singing was fantastic across the board - the inners have improved a lot and all of the new cast members were great. While it was sad not having Karin stay for the “last” (last!?) musical, Mirai did a great job and was a strong singer. I think everyone will be especially blown away by Galaxia and Kakyuu (who is once again an opera singer!). If you’ve listened to any of Isuzu Coco’s music through her twitter, her Galaxia voice is so different! Much deeper and more powerful. Poor Sayaka seemed to be sick during the Tokyo shows - her voice got progressively weaker and more hoarse. Hopefully she recovers by the finale! The set and visual effects dramatically improved with Amour Eternal and this musical continues that trend. Hotaru does some impressive running up and down moving stairs in her Eternal Moon costume, all of the attacks are projected, and we again have part of a scene projected as a video on stage. You’ll see all the Sailor Crystals float away, which adds another layer of emotion to those scenes. Both actresses playing Chibi Chibi were adorable, but Hinari won out as my favorite. Being a little older she was able to speak all of her lines clearly (Chise’s speech was muddled) and she showed a lot more emotion in both her movements and expressions. I’m glad she’ll be on the DVD performance. A few things were different each show (details in my spoilery post to come), so I hope some sort of compilation ends up on the DVD! There were lots of throwbacks to the Bandai era as well as a few references to the past Nelke era musicals. I think overall in tone this was a nice blend of the two styles - there was a lot of humor added and plenty of references to specific anime scenes, but the overall plot was manga oriented and gave proper weight to its serious moments. They find smart ways to keep the whole cast involved throughout the show, despite everyone being killed off pretty quickly (I don’t consider that a spoiler since it’s a manga plot point). Everyone is going to LOVE Cosmos. I was seriously shocked by how much Satomi had improved at singing. Taking lessons with Coco and Asami seriously paid off. They found a really touching way to give her a bit more story time than she had in the manga, and I think they’re quite clear about who she really is in this canon. This musical had a TON of original music - only two previously used songs made an appearance, and both in shortened versions. “Celestial Born” was made into it’s own song (it initially was part of “Shuketsu - Yume no Atsumaru Basho” during Amour Eternal) and “Music of the Spheres” is used briefly in battle. They save the throwback music mostly for the post-musical curtain call show, which I appreciated. For the first time since the revival of the musicals I loved ALL of the songs (Amour Eternal comes close). One of my few complaints has been the abundance of “talk singing,” where long lines of dialogue (often ripped straight from the manga) are set to awkward, stumbling melody. There is little to none of that this time, and far fewer songs are interrupted by long bits of dialogue. Hopefully sales of the Amour Eternal CD will be good enough to entice them to release another soundtrack - this time with a lot more music. They weren’t kidding when they said everyone has a moment to shine. I fell in love with Nyanko and Mouse, despite them having such small parts. Miraculously, even with all the dying and with an enormous cast, everyone was given enough to work with that they were able to truly embody their character. If this truly is the last musical, I’m going to be super bummed that this cast doesn’t get at least one more opportunity to show off how amazing they are.

#sera myu #le mouvement final

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keyofjetwolf · 7 years

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Jet Wolf Summarizes Act 38

The manga and I kind of hate each other. This is unfortunate, but still, I’m determined to come out of this with something. Rather than spend energy on a liveblog that’s increasingly negative, I’m reading each manga act (mostly) silently, and then writing up summaries at the end. I won’t pull my punches. There’s going to be criticism and snark about the manga, either wholesale or in details. If that isn’t a thing you feel like reading, please skip this post!

I’ve been desperate for the end of the Infinity arc, having been certain for the past five issues that this one MUST be it, only to be both disappointed and astonished that we were somehow dragging this shit out even more. But one day I had to be right, and this was it! In this issue, we finally see the end of the Infinity arc!

AND THE FUCKING BEGINNING OF SOME WEIRD STARS/SUPERS HYBRID

THE END OF THIS ARC IS LIKE FIVE PAGES OR SOMETHING IT HATES ME IT HATES ME PERSONALLY AS A LIVING CREATURE AND IT CRAVES MY DESTRUCTION 1984 STYLE I WILL HAVE NEVER EXISTED AT ALL

I don’t know how I managed to have enough hope still alive within me, but clearly it was there, because this was so fucking disappointing I heard myself screaming in my own head as the storylines flipped. It’s almost entirely just scrawled drawings of things that are GWOOO or ~glow~, I’m not kidding, there’s no “reading” to be done here, it’s just flipping through about twenty pages of doodles of indistinct things with a sound effect attached.

There’s a bit of angst, but make an educated guess who it’s about. YUP EVERYONE IS FACING THE DEATH OF THEIR WORLD AND EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE THEY KNEW AND ALL THEY CARE ABOUT IS USAGI. In a rare moment, I actually excuse this for Mamoru, because what the fuck else does he have going for him really. But it’s NOT just Mamoru.

And just in case you’re thinking that Haruka’s talking about maybe Michiru or even the earth here, the manga goes out of its way to unambiguous that for you.

This is DEFINITELY the most interesting path to choose.

Anyway Saturn’s doing something, playing Pokemon maybe, I don’t know. Usagi pops back out again like a pinball who just went to super secret ball lock level for a little while, and she’s got ANOTHER power up apparently.

Then ...

Uh.

Stuff. I really can’t tell. Saturn’s going to destroy everything but NQS will rebuild it? Only she doesn’t do that, but still all the dead citizens of Tokyo get revived for the 34uthu2420801tslj98th time. And Pluto’s in this too, and she closes the Time Door, and that saves everything? I mean like if all we needed to do was close a fucking door, I could’ve done that months ago. Usagi still keeps turning into Serenity though, and then crystals start appearing, only they don’t appear to have any notable purpose, and I’m not sure they’re actually there, because nobody fucking comments on them and in like four pages we’re done with the fucking arc and

But first Hotaru’s a baby again, and Michiru’s like “Finally, someone I can have more lines than.” Then she gives Chibs her mirror. NO REALLY.

WHAT THE FUCK YOU COULD’VE BOUGHT A MIRROR AT RITE-AID FOR A BUCK TWENTY-FIVE. Still, I guess Michiru’s basically like “This did absolutely nothing for me in any capacity, so you may as well receive an inflated sense of self-worth from this meaningless faux emotional gesture”, which is about right.

Then the Outers fuck off, and I only regret I cannot do the same.

NEXT DAY: Everyone runs to their apartments. NEXT DAY, mind you, so everyone went to have a good night’s sleep first. They see three helicopters taking off.

Three. Helicopters.

Clearly, they’ve learned much about keeping a low profile.

ANYWAY THEN IT’S STARS.

Only it’s also SuperS.

Ah fuck me, it’s SuperS.

Pegasus appears to both Usagi and Chibs, which at least eliminates a season of “Who are you talking to? OH WELL NONE OF MY BUSINESS.” Mamoru also sees him, and I can only hope Pegasus also said to him “Please help me, young maiden”.

But all this suddenly appearing talking horse business distracts them. Oh no, surprise total eclipse!

Remember kids, this coming eclipse in two weeks on the 21st, always use protective eyewear or you’ll cause irreparable damage to your corneas and probably go blind like these three idiots should be! Sailor Moon Says!

#JW reads Sailor Moon #sm manga infinity #sm manga act 38 #jet wolf versus the manga #sm manga supers #because i don't know what this arc is called #I'M FREE FROM INFINITY I'M FREEEE #jet wolf summarizes the manga #a novel by jet wolf

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seirathemoonfairy · 7 years

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How I’d write the treatment for part I of the Dream arc movies

There’s been a lot of controversy over turning the Dream arc into a film duology. I think people’s biggest concerns is how they’ll handle the first half of the manga which deals with a lot of character development for the cast, especially the Inners.

I actually think there’s potential for the movies to be a better adaptation than past Crystal seasons. But it NEEDS to do the following in order for the movies to be any good:

- The first film needs to at least be 90 minutes and the second film should be somewhere between 100-110 minutes.

- It needs to stop adapting the manga panel by panel. In order for this movie to be a good adaption, it needs to be able to rearrange scenes, simplify scenes and streamline the story w/o cutting scenes. Below I will show exactly how the movies can achieve this without losing too much from the manga.

- Crystal especially needs a new writer now as the current one has zero experience writing for movies and at this point Crystal cannot be taking any more risks with inexperienced staff.

- Copying pasting the manga will not work for a movie, at all. But that doesn’t mean the story needs to be changed either.

For fun, I wrote my own treatment for Part I. These are just reflective of my own tastes and probably will end up nothing like the actual movie… But I just thought It’d be fun to imagine and to show it’s not impossible to turn the Dream arc into 2 movies.

Part I begins with a shot of the Sun slowly being eclipsed by the new moon. In the background we hear a narration of Chibiusa’s letter to her mom announcing that she’s going to return to the 30th Century. We see a quick montage of the finale of the Death Busters arc – Saturn defeating Pharaoh 90, Usagi as Neo Queen Serenity reviving the planet, baby Hotaru, the girls in their high school uniforms, etc. Once the Sun is completely eclipsed, we cut to Usagi and Chibiusa who hear the sound of a bell. They turn around and see Pegasus who calls out to them and then vanishes.

Cut to Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako also watching the eclipse and discussing their own dreams.

While Usagi and Chibiusa have a (comical) fight over whom Pegasus was referring to as “maiden,” Mamoru says he also saw Pegasus. Moreover, a strange ship with haunting circus music playing descends down into Juuban.

With all of the crowds in the park, it’s impossible for Chibiusa to go back to the 30th Century. Suddenly, a colorful flier floating in the wind gets stuck onto Usagi’s face. It says “Dead Moon Circus” Grand Opening.

TITLE: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal the Movie – Part I: Eclipse Dream

Opening Credits:

The opening credits is a montage similar to the ‘90s Sailor Moon movies. A new catchy song plays in the background while Usagi, Chibiusa and Mamoru look around the Dead Moon Circus shops. We see Ami and the others at the shopping district too, Rei peers suspiciously at everything, while Minako and Makoto goof off. The OP ends with Mamoru buying the Kaleidoscopes for Chibiusa and Usagi.

After the credits, we go straight to Mamoru’s apartment. This scene plays out exactly like in the manga. Usagi and Chibiusa argue whether it’s better being a child or being an adult. Chibiusa tells a story about the new moon. Blah blah blah.

We get a quick introduction of the Dead Moon villains and the Amazones Quartet.

Chibiusa dreams about meeting Pegasus and flying over Juuban and notices that the part occupied by the circus is abnormally pitch black. She wakes up and decides to leave for the 30th Century on her own.

After Chibiusa realizes her space-time key does not work, a tiger escapes the Dead Moon Circus and becomes possessed by the Lemures and attacks people in Juuban.

Usagi and Chibiusa transform into Super Sailor Moon/Chibimoon without the grails and it’s gorgeous and animated by Shida. Chibiusa summons Pegasus with her bell and he transforms their kaleidoscopes into weapons. They use “Moon Gorgeous Meditation” – which is beautifully animated taking some cues from the original ‘90s anime, but with brand new choreography and just the two girls flying around with lots of colors. The attack drives out the Lemures and heals the tiger, but suddenly a blue orb surrounds the animal and floats away.

During this time Mamoru appeared as Tuxedo Kamen but feels a pain in his chest.

PallaPalla appears and uses her orb to switch Usagi and Chibiusa’s ages.

The next few scenes play out almost exactly like the manga. Everyone meets Ami’s mom at the hospital. Teen!Chibiusa goes back to Usagi’s house (I don’t know if I’d want Ikuko to appear in this movie considering her VA recently passed away). She talks with Pegasus who reveals a curse has been placed on her. Chibi-Usagi stays with Mamoru who is ill in bed. Chibiusa goes back to Mamoru’s apartment, but decides to not interrupt their “moment.”

This is where the film starts to depart with the manga’s sequence of events.

After we get that scene with teen!Chibiusa on a swing, Lemures appear and start attacking random civilians. Pegasus leaps out of Mamoru’s mirror (just like in the manga) only this time he lets Mamoru and Usagi know that the enemy is attacking once again. Usagi finds Chibiusa transform together (no stock footage this time as their ages were switched) which reverses PallaPalla’s spell. Sailor Moon uses “Moon Gorgeous Meditation” and defeats the Lemures.

Chibi Moon then realizes that Usagi is the maiden Pegasus is searching for and runs off crying until Pegasus kisses her and transforms into Helios.

Back at the Circus, Zirconia chides the Quartet for failing and mentions Queen Nehellenia. Devising a new plan, the quartet use their orbs to transform a fish, a hawk, and the tiger that was previously defeated by Sailor Moon and Chibi Moon into Fisheye, Hawk’s Eye and Tiger’s Eye.

That night, Chibiusa thinks about her encounter with Pegasus and her kiss with Helios. Usagi asks if she wants to visit Mamoru’s apartment, but Chibiusa says no… Much to Usagi’s shock. Chibiusa decides that she’s going to ask Makoto advice the next day.

The next half of the film switches gears from focusing on Chibiusa to the Inners.

The girls hang out after school and discuss the Dead Moon Circus. Rei is reading a book on shrine management. The cats appear and announce that they all are going to investigate the Dead Moon Circus tomorrow. The girls then part ways.

Makoto bumps into Chibiusa on her to way to her apartment and they decide to make dinner together. Visiting the grocery story, they meet Hawk’s Eye who is disguised as a merchant looking for exotic spices. Hawk’s Eye reveals they own a herb shop located within the Dead Moon Circus and they are doing market research. They give Makoto “Amazon stone rings” as a present, telling her to come visit their shop anytime. Outside of the supermarket, Makoto, while wearing one of the rings, thinks about her dream of opening her own store and her “secret” dream of being just like Haruka and Michiru.

Cut to the Hikawa Shrine, the sun is setting and Rei is closing shop. Rei sees a broken piece of arrow and we get a flashback of her attending archery club and not being able to focus. She plays fetch with Phobos and Deimos with the broken arrow. Flashback to Rei meeting Phobos and Deimos as a young child. (Note: I’d like to see Grandfather Hino in this scene, but without him appearing in Crystal S1, I have a feeling he’s going to be cut out.).

Night time, and we’re now at Ami’s apartment. She is researching the Dead Moon Circus on her computer thinks about Setsuna. Ami’s mom appears and she gives her a postcard from her father which has a picture of an exotic fish.

I think you guys see what I’m doing here… I’ve basically rearranged all of the scenes from the Inners’ chapters.

That night, Chibiusa stops by Mamoru’s apartment after dinner and gives her one of the rings she got from Hawk’s Eye.

Chibiusa runs into Usagi outside of his apartment. Usagi tells Chibiusa that she’s concerned about Mamoru –flashback to Usagi talking to Mamoru who acts a bit strangely towards her and Usagi noticing blood on her hand. Usagi doesn’t want to bother him as he’s trying to get rest and get better.

At the circus, Hawk’s Eye, Fisheye and Tiger’s Eye sit at a bar together and examine photos of Ami, Rei and Makoto as an homage to the ‘90s anime.

The next day, Usagi, Chibiusa, Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako (w/o Mamoru) go to the Dead Moon Circus to investigate. They split up. Usagi, Chibiusa and Minako go to see the performance together. Ami goes to an aquarium, Rei visits the mirror house and Makoto decides on meeting Hawk’s Eye at the herb shop.

Usagi, Chibiusa and Minako are in a trance while watching the Quartet perform.

While at the aquarium, Ami notices an an exotic fish looks exactly like the one on the postcard her father sent her. Suddenly, the reflections of the glass starts to show illusions of her mom with another man and then Usagi, Mamoru and Chibiusa together, claiming they don’t need anyone else. The glass shatters as the fish transforms into Fisheye as water floods the place and swallows up Ami.

In the mirror house, Rei sees an illusion of herself as a child. This scene plays out just like the manga out with minimal differences (Except Tiger’s Eye does not turn back into a tiger). Phobos and Deimos circle above the tent.

Makoto visits the herb shop and meets with Hawk’s Eye. Hawk’s Eye makes tea for Mako, and under the influence of the ring she reveals to Hawk’s Eye that she feels like she’s been putting off her dream. Hawk’s Eye reveals his true form and attacks Mako-chan. I think everyone’s see the pattern here….

Just when the Trio seems to have the upper hand with Ami, Rei and Makoto - their respective Sailor Power Guardians (Phobos and Deimos for Rei) appear to save them. Each of the Sailor Power Guardians (and the human crows) give the girls a pep talk and their Sailor Crystals appear almost simultaneously. Ami, Rei and Makoto shout out their transformation via split screen and we get brand new beautiful transformations for each of them.

After transforming, the Trio summon the girls into some dark dimension for a 3 vs. 3 fight. We get an incredibly dynamic fight scene where the girls use their old attacks all in real-time, but despite their power the Trio still have an advantage. The three then remember the Outers and hear their voices. Mercury summons her harp and uses ‘Mercury Aqua Mirage’ to freeze Fish Eye. Mars fires her arrow and impales Tiger’s Eye and Jupiter using her Oak Leaves throws bolts of thunder at Hawk’s Eye. The animation of the new attacks are like a blend between stock and real-time. The trio are annihilated in a big explosion with Mercury, Mars and Jupiter in some kind of badass pose.

Cut to, Usagi, Chibiusa and Minako watching the performance and suddenly Chibiusa’s bell reacting. The girls realize that Mamoru might be in trouble and the two run off to his apartment. Usagi and Chibiusa arrived already transformed and defeat the Lemures.

Back at the circus, Minako runs into Ami, Rei and Makoto who reveal they were able to transform into their super forms again. Rei asks Minako if she was able to powerup as well. Minako realizes she’s the only one who can’t transform.

The movie then adapts the rest of Venus Dream almost panel by panel and ends with the (literal) cliffhanger of Minako hanging from a cliff and Artemis being squashed by a big boulder.

After the end credits, we see a shot of the Outers’ new home foreshadowing the second movie “Part II: Eternal Dream.”

I’ve only decided to do a write-up for Part I as I think the first half of the Dream arc is perhaps the most challenging to adapt into film because it’s more episodic. The back half of the story takes place in a single day which would fit the movie format easily.

#sailor moon crystal #dream arc

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remotecontrolchuck · 8 years

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Toonami Night Review: Zombies, Explosions, and Nostalgia Oh My!

Well tonight was fantastic! Got to see another fantastic episode of Samurai Jack, watched the first episode of a new horror anime I’ve never seen before, and had some fun going down a memory lane filled with retro bumpers and an old Moltar review on one of my favorite video games. We also got to some more bizarre antics on Sand Whale and Me, as well as a sneak peek at the new Ghost in the Shell movie. Overall, I had a really great time!

By the way, I see this on the tag from time to time, but I’ve never really asked about because I feel like I’ll sound dumb for doing so. What does “Hot Pocket Pirate” mean? Does it mean everyone that liveblogs Toonami on Tumblr and says “Ding” when the ad pops up, or a specific group users that’s been liveblogging since the block’s revival in 2012? I might just be over thinking it, but I thought I’d ask since I didn’t know if I’m part of the “Hot Pocket Pirates” or not, or that I’d be rude for saying so if I wasn’t.

Anyway, enough about that, onto the recap before I fall asleep!

Samurai Jack: Having survived his encounter with the Daughters of Aku, Samurai Jack finds a cave to hide himself and treat his wounds. As he recovers, he has another hallucination, which has become even more frightening since last time.

Jack also gets a companion while he was healing, and it was the wolf from the last episode, apparently having survived his fight with those mutant cat things and is now trying to recover as well. After the two recovered, the wolf then leaves Jack before departing further into the woods, and the samurai prepares himself to take on his assassins.

The assassins eventually find him, and Jack soon gives them a chance to surrender, but he ends up killing every one them anyway. Unfortunately after defeating the last one, Ashi, Jack suddenly falls off the mountain as well, ending the episode with another cliffhanger again.

Dragon Ball Super: the God battle continues, with the two possibly ending the universe as we speak. So with that said, follow the old Supreme Kai’s lead, and read some dirty magazines before going out with a bang!

DBZ Kai: Tournament begins, and Krillin sends a really big fat guy flying out of the ring with relative ease. Meanwhile, strange short elf guy Shin scares the crap out of Piccolo with that creepy stare of his.

Next time, Videl goes against some angry roid guy name Spopovich, and from what I see from the other’s posts, this isn’t going to end well.

JJBA: To put it short, it was twist after twist after twist between JoJo and Wamuu in their fight to the death, with the latter about something dangerous that will probably get everyone killed.

Tokyo Ghoul: We are introduced to our protagonist Ken Kaneki who, after a date gone to hell, ends up becoming part ghoul, which is a mutated human that can only eat flesh. Now he’s constantly fighting with himself, with one half of himself trying to retain his humanity, while the other really wants to eat some human flesh.

He later encounters other ghouls as well. Some are nice, some are not. And then there’s one that gets annoyed by him freaking out, and so she shoves some human flesh into his mouth, which will no doubt get him completely addicted to eating humans.

So far the premise looks pretty interesting, and I look forward to seeing the plot unfolds in next couple of episodes. By then I’ll see whether or not I’ll end up liking this series and adding to my favorites.

Hunter x Hunter: Uvogin annihilates the hell of the Shadow Beasts, but the Phantom Troupe member gets captured by Kurapika, who is very much determine to get revenge on every last Phantom Troupe member.

Gundam Unicorn: More mobile suits battles, philosophical discussion, and bizarre newtype stuff. After getting into a brief fight with Suberoa, Banagher tries to convince Loni not to give into her hatred but is unable to, leaving Riddhe to finish her off. Afterwards, before Riddhe can force Banagher to get out of the Gundam, they’re sending ambushed by the arrival of another Unicorn Gundam, but in black and gold.

Naruto Shippuden: We end the filler with Naruto defeating the big bad, Utakata saving Hotaru and everyone else, with the couple soon heading off to a happy ending. Unfortunately that never happens, as Hotaru ends up without a master again, as Utakata is captured by Pain and the Akatsuki. Bummer.

Ghost in the Shell: Section 9 investigates organs being stolen, and soon apprehend three rich medical students behind it, but not before scaring and humiliating them a little.

That’s it for the review, I’m going to bed. I look forward to next week’s exciting run of Toonami, but until then, goodnight and Stay Gold!

#toonami #samurai jack #dragon ball super #DBZ Kai #jojo's bizarre adventure #tokyo ghoul #hunter x hunter #Naruto Shippuden #gundam unicorn #ghost in the shell: stand alone complex

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niteofkaoli · 3 years

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OOC: I’ve been trying to figure out my headcanons for Kaolinite’s own romantic and/or sexual orientation for a while now and..it’s still a work in progress. I don’t have anything completely down yet but I have a few ideas. So let’s talk about what I do have figured out: LOVE LANGUAGES. XD

The only clues I have from the 90s anime’s canon is that Kaolinite had a crush on Dr. Tomoe. It’s heavily implied (if not outright stated enough in Kaolinite’s thought process during the shoulder massage scene) in the anime that Kaolinite seriously appreciated Tomoe reviving her after her first death, even if she mainly acted as secretary/Hotaru’s guardian for him for the rest of her airtime (save for her later on grabbing Sailor Mini Moon to give her pure heart to the Sovereign of Silence of course but you get the idea). She goes as far as checking in on him and getting him tea and/or cookies as snacks, and even gives him a shoulder massage when he mentions having kinks in his shoulders from being hunched over the desk.

This leads me to figure that Kaolinite’s main love language is probably in acts of service to the other partner (hence prepping tea and cookies and shoulder massages!). She likes doing things for the others, and her actions in the anime prove that.

She also mentions, in her thought process during the shoulder massage scene, that she just mainly wants to stay by Tomoe’s side, even if it means not going back on the field of fighting and stuff (though she does eventually do so, mainly to achieve the Death Busters’ overall mission). This implies that she probably enjoys quality time with her partner as well.

I also think she’s into giving gifts as well, but not as heavy as the first two love languages. I unfortunately don’t have any canonical hints where I can argue this point, but I can see her being an occasional gift-giver to her romantic partner(s).

#mun speaks #headcanon in development #headcanon #sexuality/romance headcanon #about kaolinite #love language

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recentanimenews · 6 years

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How The Sailor Soldiers of 'Sailor Moon Crystal' Inspired me

Most of the kids I grew up with watched Dragon Ball Z on a regular basis, but I broke the mold among my friends when I became obsessed with Sailor Moon. As a child, I instantly fell in love with the show's fun characters, gorgeous transformations, cool outfits, and flashy attacks. I received some funny looks from friends and family alike for wanting to be Sailor Jupiter for Halloween one year, but my love for the show never truly deteriorated.

As I started to re-experience the show with Sailor Moon Crystal, I was reminded of all of my favorite characters and moments that I grew up with. It then began to dawn on me just how much the Sailor Soldiers reflected in my childhood, and what I've taken from each of them as I grew up. They ended up having a major influence on the person I am today, so I've decided to take the time to talk about each Soldier and the lessons they taught me that I still abide by.

The Sailor Soldiers were an enormous and influential part of many a millenial's formative years, so I'm sure I'm not the only one who saw themselves in these pretty soldiers.

Usagi Tsukino - Sailor Moon

The eponymous leader of the Sailor Soldiers hardly exhibits any desirable leadership qualities. Usagi Tsukino is clumsy, lazy, and prone to crying fits. If she had it her way, she'd eat junk food, read gag manga, and sleep through any responsibility she had -- whether it be her homework or saving the world. As the future queen of the Moon Kingdom and a fighter responsible for getting rid of monsters in Tokyo, she's certainly not anyone's first choice for a hero.

Even so, she has a few shining moments when her courage bubbles up and she becomes determined to save the day. When innocent people are in danger, she'll never hesitate to help them out. In the past, she's even made enormous sacrifices in order to help others. She might mess up and she'll most certainly need someone to lend her a hand, but she'll always try her best to get things done.

I've taken that with me into my adulthood. After I graduated college, it was a struggle to search for a job and try to make something of myself. Even with a steady place of work, the daily load would sometimes be overwhelming. But I remembered what Usagi went through, and realized that no one around me was living as a perfect adult either. We're all just people trying to plod through the day, but we only need a few bursts of courage to see us through some of the hardships, even if it's just for a moment. Sailor Moon taught me that people don't have to be at their best all the time, and that we can be when it counts.

Ami Mizuno - Sailor Mercury

Dedicated to her studies and preferring to spend her time with books, Ami Mizuno grew up shy and isolated from other people. It didn’t help that her peers were often put off by her intelligence and thought of her as arrogant and snobbish, not realizing how often she struggled. The opinions of others impacted her strongly, to the point where she began relying on them to quantify her self-worth.

After meeting Usagi, who greeted her intellect with wonder and friendliness, she started gaining more confidence. She became less dependent on what other people thought of her and became expressive with her own feelings, gaining more friends in the process. As a student and even as the strategic Sailor Mercury, Ami became a confident and formidable young girl.

Confidence is always something I could use in abundance. It’s not always easy for me to write or talk to others or express myself honestly, and I’ll sometimes obsess over people’s opinions instead of allowing myself a little faith in my skills. Sailor Mercury taught me that becoming more confident is a gradual process, but that it’s always possible to believe in yourself. We don’t need to thrive on other people to find worth in ourselves, and we’re capable of accomplishing so much more than others expect.

Rei Hino - Sailor Mars

As a practitioner of Shinotism at her grandfather’s shrine, Rei Hino is dedicated to her craft. That dedication has made her disciplined and practical in all her ventures, whether she’s trying to manage her shrine or stretch her music-making skills. She can even be a bit stubborn at times, often butting heads with Usagi at every turn. But she never forgets her duties and remains focused on what’s more important. The fiery Sailor Mars can always work together with her fellow soldiers.

One thing I can say I appreciate about Sailor Mars is that she’s strong-willed. In both her hobbies and her duties, she tries to see each of them through with a fiery passion that I could use more of myself. She maintains an effortlessly charismatic demeanor and carries herself elegantly in ways I still wish to attain, and her complete and utter dedication to her craft makes her inspiring.

Makoto Kino - Sailor Jupiter

When one first meets Makoto Kino, they might be a little intimidated. She’s tall, tough, and could easily overpower anyone in a fight with brute force. She stood out among her fellow students with the demeanor of a delinquent, and was plagued by rumors that she was expelled from her old school before transferring. No one took the time to get to know her because they were afraid.

When Usagi and friends met her, they discovered a far different girl than what rumors suggested. They met a girl who loves to cook and garden, and wants to own a cake and flower shop when she grows up. Sure, she could still kick your butt, either as the shockingly strong Sailor Jupiter or even just on her own, but she balances her masculinity and femininity without sacrificing either of them.

On my path to becoming a transgender feminist, one important step I took was unlearning the bias of restrictive gender roles. I started on that at a relatively young age thanks to two people. One of them was my mother, a hard-working doctor who remains the breadwinner of my family. The other was Sailor Jupiter. Among my fictional role models, she was one of the first who helped me shatter the ideas of gender roles all together. She helped me discover that no one should have to be beholden by whatever society expects of them, especially when it comes to gender. As one of the most masculine AND the most feminine members of the Soldiers, Sailor Jupiter truly laid the foundation for the kind of person I want to become.

Minako Aino - Sailor Venus

Minako Aino is talented, friendly, and a hell of a diva. She dreams of being a famous celebrity, and lives her life in the spotlight as she chases down auditions. Minako also has a tendency to flaunt her nuanced relationship advice, despite being desperate for her own real romance. Her dates may go awry, but she remains persistent in her romantic endeavors. She’s as dedicated to her own life as she is to being Sailor Venus, taking the helm for the team as they protect their future queen. No matter what she does, Minako goes hard.

That unabashed dedication she has is nothing short of commendable. She fulfills her duty as a Sailor Soldier with fervor, but she still remains committed to her own life and her own goals. She’s a testament to the idea that people never have to give up on their own dreams, even when other responsibilities have to take priority every now and then. Sailor Venus knows what she has to do and never forgets what she wants to do.

Setsuna Meioh - Sailor Pluto

An anomaly among the Sailor Soldiers, Sailor Pluto stands guard at the Gates of Time and doesn’t initially have a human form. She’s simply dedicated to her role as the Guardian of Time. After a tragic end, she is eventually revived as high school student Setsuna Meioh, and simply tries to exist in the human world while assisting the Inner Soldiers as needed.

It’s hard to gauge what I learned from Sailor Pluto, as she isn’t terribly present to begin with. She has a few shining moments where she puts her life on the line to fulfill her duties to her kingdom, and she tries her best to humanize herself when interacting with the other Soldiers. If anything, I admire her stalwart commitment to her duties.

Haruka Tenoh and Michiru Kaioh - Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune

Haruka Tenoh is a race car fanatic who embodies her masculinity and femininity with pride and style. Michiru Kaioh is a genius and a violinist who lives life on a runway as she dazzles her world with grace and finesse. Together, they make the ultimate lesbian power couple. The two of them together are unstoppable, both as lovers and as the formidable Outer Soldiers of Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. The two of them ooze confidence and charisma in everything they do, and they remain awesome pillars of empowerment and representation.

Uranus and Neptune deserve a section together for the world they introduced me to. I grew up with a dub that called the two of them cousins, but I knew better, and a little research revealed that they were a lesbian couple. They were my first introduction to the realm of LGBTQ+, and opened up my concepts of romance and identity. Growing up male, I mistook Uranus as a male Sailor Soldier, which made her a role model for me and kicked off my childhood dream of becoming one myself. Then I learned her identity was much more nuanced than that. She embodies and identifies with both her masculinity and femininity with a complete disregard for resignment to any one gender expression.

If Sailor Jupiter began deconstructing gender roles for me, Sailor Uranus shattered them. And her relationship with Sailor Neptune was eye-opening for me. In a lot of ways, these two Soldiers were my awakening of sorts. They were my first look into a world that ended up becoming a huge part of my life, and I’ll be forever grateful to them for that.

Hotaru Tomoe - Sailor Saturn

Yet another interesting case among the Sailor Soldiers, Hotaru Tomoe is quite literally marred by a tragic past. After an incident that took her mother and nearly killed her, Hotaru was made into a cyborg by her maniacal father and was made to host an evil entity. In her subsequent isolation, she made friends with Chibiusa and tried regaining her humanity little by little.

Eventually, she is revealed to be Sailor Saturn, an all-powerful Soldier responsible for destroying the Moon Kingdom for it to start anew on Earth. Her immense power over life and death was feared by all the Soldiers, especially when she very nearly destroyed the planet upon her awakening.

I’ve always admired characters who are able to overcome shyness and hardships in their lives in order to accomplish new things, and Sailor Saturn is one of those characters. Despite a father who scarred her, a spirit who violated her, and a fate that overwhelmed her, Sailor Saturn rose above many of her demons into order to live her own life. Her ultimate fate might be bittersweet, but I like to think it was due to her regaining a sense of humanity that allowed her to achieve the end that she did. After all, as a Sailor Soldier whose purpose was to bring about death and destruction, she was able to conquer that pretty well.

Overall, I've learned a ton from the Sailor Soldiers and even if you've never experienced the series before, I recommend giving Sailor Moon Crystal a try!

Did you grow up with the Sailor Soldiers as role models? Which one was your favorite? Comment and let us know!

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Carlos is a freelance features writer for Crunchyroll. Their favorite genres range from magical girls to over-the-top robot action, yet their favorite characters are always the obscure ones. Check out some of their satirical work on The Hard Times.

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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