And again it is that time. Act 2 of Sailor Moon Crystal aired this Saturday on our screens at home (or wherever else you were watching) and brought to us the debut of Ami/Sailor Mercury. How good or bad this newest episode fared can be found out in this recap.
Is your enthusiasm still running strong? A bi-weekly rhythm needs some getting used to for sure, right? However, that won't stop a true moonie after all. After the success of Act 1 expectations for this one were running high and mostly remained confident. Yet, even with opinions sure to differ, I cannot merely report positive things about this episode.
Technical Performance (Graphic, music etc.)
Nothing really new here. Personally I did not like Mercury's transformation plus music. While the style is the same as with Usagi, something felt off here. Additionally not sequence for Usagi's transformation with the pen, a bit disappointing.
Characters
And here we are at the crux and the main critic of this episode. Having had mixed opinions about Ami's seiyuu initially, in the end it was the script that ended up rather ruined. In my humble, longtime experience I did not find Ami's character well-realized. The key moments here are her susceptibility for the brainwashing and the resulting fighting scene along with her awakening as a Senshi. Ami seems more like a damsel-in-distress here instead of the strong girl (as Naoko wanted her heroines). Neither in the old anime nor in the manga (which has been so masterfully adapted last time) did this happen. In both versions Ami refused to work with the Crystal Disc and therefore is able to resist the brainwashing. This is an important part of Amis character and the way it is done in Sailor Moon Crystal both her character and her principles are being subverted.
In fact Ami was a bit too emotional for the introduction episode, especially compared to the manga. This does not mean Ami can't be like that, however, for the first appearance of a lonely girl without any friends her reactions were a little overdone.
Practical Performance
Seeing as the episode mostly dealt with the character introduction of Ami, not much more can be said here. The manga was mostly adapted again, however, it was especially the small changes that impacted negatively since they concerned Ami's character – especially the first impression. Positive to note was the small moment of vision when Usagi and Ami touched, yet even that could have been a little more fleshed out.
Further points of critic certainly are the at times extremely high concentration of cutesy moments. One easily got the expression that Usagi and Ami were either blushing or otherwise engaged in similar mannerisms, even a slight touch of Yuri could be interpreted into the scenes here, although I don't want to go that far. These elements were simply a tad bit overdone, especially since the creators robbed themselves of potential character development for Ami.
While it wasn't really clear in the last episode, Act 2 gave a few pointers as to Sailor Moon Crystal's temporal setting. Laptops, flatscreen, CD... All this definitely points towards a more modern setting. Personally I'm of two minds about this modernization since it would impact the manga timeline for Crystal Tokyo and stop its relative closeness with the millennia turn. Of course this would only be interesting for a potential season two.
Conclusion
Even if I have been nitpicking a lot here, Act 2 isn't that bad, but it could have been a lot better. Especially the focus being on Ami's introduction, makes the negative points especially problematic. It surprises me that the episode in this form was sanctioned by Naoko Takeuchi (assuming she really has that much influence), seeing as her motivation was to write about "strong girls" and Ami here holds more the role of the victim. Let's hope Rei will be adapted better, especially since her character in the old anime and manga version is so vastly different.
Score: 3/5
Finally, a small extra. Here is the officially music video to Moon Pride from Momoiro Clover Z. A warning: Many of the scenes have a good bit of possible spoilers in them. If that does not bother you, here is a nice demonstration of the beautiful art we are still getting to see.
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