M&M DreamWorks: Sailor Moon Crystal Spotlight: Act 06 Recap!

There you go! The sixth act of Sailor Moon Crystal continues the positive trend of the last episode. A solid performance.

So far it's been going up and down when it came to the episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal. After predominantly positive reactions on Act 5, the question was whether that is a sign of better things or just a flash in the pan. Act 6 gives us a rather solid answer to this question.

Technical Performance

Just like the last Act, the animation looks clearly better and attentive viewers may have spotted slight changes in the opening, contributing both to improvements as well as correction of small details. Sailor Moon now has the Moon Stick in the last group shot and Queen Serenity finally has silver hair again, like we are used to from the old anime and manga cover.

Characters

The first of two Mamoru-centric episodes does not really offer anything new. Of course, it follows the manga fairly stringent again, yet the one or other new thing might have made things better. In fact there is really not much to say here since this act follows the manga almost exclusively. Especially concerning characters there are no noteworthy deviations. Only that Usagi doesn't try to shove Mamoru off on Ami in the beginning, saying that he's a rude jerk. Otherwise I have nothing to complain about in this section.

Practical Performance

There were a few changes in this episode though. Aside from the missing conversation snippet as pointed out above, some dialogue was slightly changed but without being really noteworthy. The biggest change was once again the battle scene, just like in the last act. First of all there is an actual small battle between the Senshi and Zoisite. More importantly, Beryl makes her first appearance. Beryl had her first manga appearance (in front of the Senshi) a good deal later, not even to mention an actual physical one. With the Generals still living, the change fits in well though. It remains to be seen what consequences this will have.

The changed battle scene, however, also indirectly causes the one real negative highlight of this episode. In the manga there was barely any delay between Tuxedo Mask's motivation speech for Usagi and her using the Moon Stick. Now the Moon Healing Escalation is marred by a changed motivational monologue which does not only appear uninspired but also self-demeaning. "I'm a crybaby... but give me some power." Who exactly thought of that line? The original motivation which caused the release of the Moon Stick's power was to save the unconscious people and fit much better. This sounded more like old anime Usagi at her worst.

Oh, and finally, a first glimpse at Sailor V/Venus and Artemis. That's always good.

Conclusion

A solid episode. The good quality of the last Act continues and allows us to hope for a more permanent upturn for Sailor Moon Crystal. The expansion of the battle scene is okay but did not have quite the pep of Jupiter's appearance while Usagi's monologue before the Moon Healing Escalation was entirely uninspired. Still, this anime is getting on the right path.

Score: 4.5/5