M&M DreamWorks: Sailor Moon Crystal Spotlight: Act 07 Recap!

Sailor Moon Crystal cannot quite keep the level of performance of the last episodes. Act 7 comes with no real big strengths but some negative highlights.

It was time for part 2 of the Mamoru/Tuxedo Mask episodes. The last two acts made us hope since a definite upward trend could be seen since the first appearance of Sailor Jupiter. Yet could Sailor Moon Crystal keep this standard? Let's find out.

Technical Performance

Since I don't want to talk about animation quality again, a word about the BGM perhaps since it was somewhat obvious in this episode. We don't have to talk about Opening and Ending, but I clearly miss a strong emotional support in the music. The background music in Sailor Moon Crystal is... okay. Meaning: It's there but not notable. A real support of the scenes is missing. This is something that could definitely use some work. Reaching the level of the first anime's soundtrack is probably impossible, however, a little more effort would be appreciated.

There has also been rather embarrassing picture error in this episode. At the presentation of Venus, she was first seen from behind in her Sailor V outfit (blue) and then as Sailor Venus (orange) from the front.

Characters

To be honest... I start to fear the creator's are starting to make Mamoru unappealing to the audience again. I am speaking especially about the altered battle scene. While the manga mostly underlines his helplessness, the short successful punch made a rather... strange impression. The entire scene felt forced, as if the creators wanted to give Mamoru something more to do than in the manga, although that was exactly the point of showing his lack of power in the beginning. The dialogue with Zoisite also felt forced and lacked any sort of inspiration. This level of scripting is really undermining any effort to bring new material to the series and makes it worse instead.

Which is a sad thing. If one wanted to expand on Mamoru's character, then there would have been other ways than the half-hearted additions to this scene.

Practical Performance

Unfortunately, Act 7 follows the bad expansion of the battle scenes with that. While I actually agree with the attempt, this was the second episode in a row now with uninspired, new dialogue. One would wish that if it is too difficult to script new material, the creators should rather stick to the source material.

The same goes for most of the other small changes in this episode. The scene with handkerchief and clock doesn't really work anymore. In the manga this scene happened right after Usagi left Mamoru's. Here the scene was pushed to the end of the talk about Sailor V, following just right after a truly failed and unnecessary attempt at a humoristic scene. Not only does the change destroy the order of events but also the emotional mood and effect. I do not know why the split screen of the manga was not kept in this scene but that clearly was the final nail in the coffin of one of the most beautiful scenes this act had to offer in the manga.

That aside, a few small curiosities. Mars' attack still does not have a name. Why? This definitely happened in the manga at this point. Also, more modern technology. DVDs and... Oh my god, a tablet?! Yep, we are definitely deep into the 21st century.

The only real ray of hope: V-chan is here!!!

Just... After seeing the preview, it seems to be continuing in accordance with the manga. Still no new episodes... Will Crystal actually go beyond the first arc after all? The best chances for character development have pretty much been missed with these last 3-4 episodes. From now on, it will be hard to add new material convincingly. At best more expansion on the Silver Millennium could happen and would definitely be desirable.

Conclusion

Even if I have been criticizing a lot, this episode wasn't utterly terrible. Unfortunately, the creators altered unnecessary scenes which did not need to be altered and it was done in such a uncreative way that actually hurt to watch. For an episode with a rather strong emotional tone, Usagi and Mamoru's relationship further developing, no real atmosphere was felt. This act misses its key goals, in a rather unnecessary fashion, without adding anything really positive in the process.

Score: 3/5