Sailor Moon R - The Rewatch - Pt. 2
Part 2: Not just ham, but heart-shaped ham
While watching this set of episodes, I read that this arc was not in fact in the manga. Instead, these 13 episodes were made so that Takeuchi Naoko had time to finish up the next one. And you can kinda see that in the show.
Although not quite so much in the first 7 episodes, the last 6 lean really heavily on the themes of love and romance. These, granted, are themes present in the show, Guardian of Love and Justice and all that, but I feel it also shows in how the characters are presented. It's not obnoxious in this, but often in these kinds of situations, the characters are reduced to their most recognisable characteristics. Which according to an episode about putting on a Snow White play, for Makoto is boobs. Now that I think about it, Usagi cries even more during these episodes and there are more shots of just her face while she cries.
Anyhow, back to love. What we mostly get is stuff like making food for someone you like or getting a kiss from them as a part of a play. This is all filler inside a filler arc and it doesn't really show anything important except how Ail and Ann are drifting farther apart. This finally comes to a head when their Cardians seem to stop taking their orders and Ail wonders if something is about to happen soon.
Worry not, Ail, it is. In the second to last episode, it is revealed that the Doom Tree is not accepting their energy anymore and might even be sentient. This is confirmed when the Tree breaks free from the baddies hideout and seemingly starts to spread to the surrounding city, ready to consume all of its energy.
I was rather excited by this point. The baddies had hinted at the Doom Tree being something more than even they knew for a couple episodes. I thought that maybe something greater is trapped inside and wants now to get out.
I wasn't complete off, as it turns out. The Doom Tree I guess is a Love Tree, that lives off the energy of love. And who just wants that Ail and Ann love each other. So much that it kills Ann to teach them about love. But only because it loves them.
And then they do learn to love each other again and with the power of love, Ann returns to life. Then the two go off to find a planet where they can love each other. Yeah... If the baddies hadn't been so likable before this, I might even been a bit disappointed. But filler is what filler does.
Something of significance this filler does give us is Mamoru getting his memory back. Again, this is significant only in the anime since as far as I know, in the manga no-one lost their memories. This also means the end for Moonlight Knight who, shock of shocks, is a fragment of Mamoru's memories and will to help the Senshi. When the Knight rejoins Mamoru, we seem to get a quick spirity kiss between the two.
And that wraps up the first arc of Sailor Moon R. I remember that the proper arc of the series will feature Chibi-Usa but not too much about the baddies.
Sorry that this entry into the Sailor Moon R - The ReWatch wasn't too high effort. I'm actually feeling pretty sick so I wanted to get it out of the way so I'd have less to worry about while I feel dizzy and cold in my tiny apartment. But stay tuned for next time when I might or might not be dying.
And check out the first part if you already haven't.
Although not quite so much in the first 7 episodes, the last 6 lean really heavily on the themes of love and romance. These, granted, are themes present in the show, Guardian of Love and Justice and all that, but I feel it also shows in how the characters are presented. It's not obnoxious in this, but often in these kinds of situations, the characters are reduced to their most recognisable characteristics. Which according to an episode about putting on a Snow White play, for Makoto is boobs. Now that I think about it, Usagi cries even more during these episodes and there are more shots of just her face while she cries.
Anyhow, back to love. What we mostly get is stuff like making food for someone you like or getting a kiss from them as a part of a play. This is all filler inside a filler arc and it doesn't really show anything important except how Ail and Ann are drifting farther apart. This finally comes to a head when their Cardians seem to stop taking their orders and Ail wonders if something is about to happen soon.
Worry not, Ail, it is. In the second to last episode, it is revealed that the Doom Tree is not accepting their energy anymore and might even be sentient. This is confirmed when the Tree breaks free from the baddies hideout and seemingly starts to spread to the surrounding city, ready to consume all of its energy.
I was rather excited by this point. The baddies had hinted at the Doom Tree being something more than even they knew for a couple episodes. I thought that maybe something greater is trapped inside and wants now to get out.
I wasn't complete off, as it turns out. The Doom Tree I guess is a Love Tree, that lives off the energy of love. And who just wants that Ail and Ann love each other. So much that it kills Ann to teach them about love. But only because it loves them.
And then they do learn to love each other again and with the power of love, Ann returns to life. Then the two go off to find a planet where they can love each other. Yeah... If the baddies hadn't been so likable before this, I might even been a bit disappointed. But filler is what filler does.
Something of significance this filler does give us is Mamoru getting his memory back. Again, this is significant only in the anime since as far as I know, in the manga no-one lost their memories. This also means the end for Moonlight Knight who, shock of shocks, is a fragment of Mamoru's memories and will to help the Senshi. When the Knight rejoins Mamoru, we seem to get a quick spirity kiss between the two.
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| Gay selfcest. Huh. Pretty niche. |
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| But the real question: does Usagi like? |
Best episode
This honour goes to the second to last episode, "True Love Awakens: The Makai Tree's Secret". By this point, the Doom Tree has started to show signs of intelligence and we aren't really sure whose side it's on. There is still the air of threat and mystery in the air before everything goes totally ham on love biscuits.And that wraps up the first arc of Sailor Moon R. I remember that the proper arc of the series will feature Chibi-Usa but not too much about the baddies.
Sorry that this entry into the Sailor Moon R - The ReWatch wasn't too high effort. I'm actually feeling pretty sick so I wanted to get it out of the way so I'd have less to worry about while I feel dizzy and cold in my tiny apartment. But stay tuned for next time when I might or might not be dying.
And check out the first part if you already haven't.
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