Welcome back to more Sailor Moon reviews! This time I have four of them, because two I just found not that interesting to talk about, haha.
EPISODE #183:
Yes, with seventeen episodes to go, it’s time for a BEACH FILLER EPISODE! Except this one at least features our villains, as Aluminum Siren tries to find a Star Seed and our Victim of the Week “Phage-ifies” in the opening moments, thus leading to our episode-wide plot- the girls have gone to a vacation spot, but a “monster” is terrorizing the other campers. And HO HO- the Three Lights are here and want to play a prank using the props from the “Power Rangers”-like suit-show they’re doing! I’m sure you can see where this is going- the real monster and the fake one get mistaken for each other while the girls model swimsuits.
Thankfully, Sailor Mars recognizes his human quirks- it’s her cousin, the temperamental artist! The pendant he’s staring at is the one he made for her (he was about to break it, but a young Rei cried because she liked it, so he softened up and gave it to her)! She blasts at his tummy so he can’t shoot any more clay pots at them, and the day is saved! Pretty generic “filler” episode, but at least it humanizes the prank-pulling Lights and gives Mars a more compassionate edge this late in the game- it might be her final Focus Episode!
The reason this episode is famous. The entire cast crammed into one room.
EPISODE #184:
A portentous episode, as neighborhood breakins (in JAPAN?) have led Usagi, who is housesitting by herself, to get Seiya to help her out. Usagi appears to have no idea how untoward this could get, leading the other girls to cry “no fair!” and Luna to warn her that “Men are animals, driven by instinct!”, and to expect shenanigans! Seiya of course has romance on his mind (pushing down a picture of Mamoru that Usagi keeps on her table), but also confesses the deeper purpose of the Lights’ signing- to call out to that “one special person”. He’s about to confess to being a Sailor Starlight, but Usagi thinks he’s about to mack on her, then the awkwardness gets cut by Chibi-Chibi popping in out of nowhere and smashing him with cake. So he has to take a shower, and OF COURSE that’s when the other girls arrive to check in on them (worried for Usagi’s honor, I guess… plus fangirl out over Seiya), so they see him saunter in all shirtless, wearing a tiny towel! Naturally this leads to the imagined blushing faces and shocked looks.
In the kitchen, the girls actually have some disparate opinions- Mako is openly worried: “if we hadn’t come in just then…”, while even AMI thinks the worst, but is being passive-aggressive and weird about it. But have no fear! Yaten & Taiki are here to join in the fun! So what was billed as an Usagi/Seiya episode is now just “eight Sailors in a room”, which is a much more fun episode to me anyways. Especially with Ami & Taiki fight-flirting over a card game while Luna & Artemis act thankful that “this is so wholesome that it’s scary”, lol. But then HARUKA & MICHIRU show up, owing to being nearby with car trouble, and it’s complicated by Haruka’s hatred of Seiya. But now THAT gets hilariously awkward, as Haruka reacts passive-aggressively, Usagi points out that “Haruka doesn’t like GUYS”, but Michiru corrects her “Haruka doesn’t like POPULAR guys”, sending Haruka’s annoyance through the roof.
Oh and now there’s a TV crew running in, having selected the house at random for interviews, so it’s getting even MORE nuts, but the Lights try to hide to avoid a scandal (them being in a teen girls’ house at night), at which point the ANIMA-MATES attack, spoiling Seiya’s chance to come clean to Usagi! Usagi can’t transform, since there’s Lights hidden all over her house, but Uranus & Neptune arrive! But Aluminum Siren is shocked that they’re standing on the table, stunning them with the realization of their own rudeness for long enough to let the Anima-Mates escape. But now “Sailor Sommelier” arrives to attack, and EVERY SAILOR TRANSFORMS to fight him, only the kitchen is too small to have a real fight, and everyone tries to prevent the Starlights from attacking and wrecking the room while Sailor Moon’s giant wings are knocking stuff off of tables. The Phage gets annoyed at them ignoring it, resulting in a “stay out of it!” backhand from Star Fighter… and that’s the distraction needed for Sailor Moon to beat it.
Very fun “wacky stack” episode with an increasingly-awkward house party going insane, with a lot of great character animation (especially from Usagi) and so much going on that I’d swear Ikuhara (the director infamous for his love of wild comedy) was still on the show. A real crowd-pleaser, though it gets more mileage out of “LOL aren’t there so many people in here now?” than real character interactions after a point, which would have provided just as much good stuff, and things more necessary to showcase these characters.
EPISODE #185:
This one’s about an adorable little sick girl who SO desperately wants to meet Taiki, who can’t help but being aloof about everything, in addition to his frustration over nobody hearing their message to their princess. He’s particularly annoyed at girls only cheering because of their looks and not even listening to the lyrics… which are literally all just generic stuff about love, so I dunno what HE’S so arrogant about- ain’t like they’re deep, son! In any case, young Misa loves the meeting, but refuses to share her art. Turns out her illness (which of course, per anime rules, is never mentioned by name) is so severe that a famous American doctor has to come to perform her surgery, and she’s scared and lacks confidence about it.
Taiki, already annoyed by their fans and their Princess never hearing the message in the Lights’ songs, is friendly to Misa but refuses to sing or anything, then tries to bail on a Lights concert, causing Seiya to SLUG him! While Taiki is glowering over this, he learns that Misa has collapsed, and comes running- and when he sees her drawing, he realizes it’s literally their Princess! Misa claims to see this image whenever she hears their songs, confirming to Taiki that their plan is working… but Misa says it’s stopped, Taiki realizing it’s because he stopped singing with conviction! This naturally causes his own understanding, and he convinces Misa to be strong and have faith in herself, as he runs back to perform “just for you!”.
Meanwhile, the doctor is attacked by Sailor Aluminum Siren, becoming Sailor Doctor… who misses with his needle-arm and is immediately beaten by a double-team. The subsequent scene where the surgery takes place, everyone prays, the Lights come running in to check, and the Doctor silently comes out and gives a thumb’s up, is really well done, especially when he gives the opposite of the Doctor-Droid’s Revenge of the Sith speech about the will to live, stating that Misa was fighting the whole way and the reason everything went well.
EPISODE #186:
This episode is focused around Chibi-Chibi, who is getting candy from a mysterious place. God the animation here is weird- wild eyes, strange poses, etc.- must be an oddball director. First, Usagi & Luna follow her around, but then the rest of the gang stumble upon them, and it’s a series of sight gags and unexpected humor, as Chibi-Chibi deftly avoids harm while running through traffic and seeing a huge dog, while the girls behind her are terrified. And it turns out she’s been hanging out at the home of an extremely wealthy businessman. He apparently dotes on this mystery visitor, and regards the girls (and Three Lights, who of course have stumbled by, too) as a delight as well, but of course he’s attacked. Sailor Antique is dealt with handily (Sailor Moon actually stops his sword with her BARE HANDS), as Chibi-Chibi repeatedly trips him up. He starts tossing around antiques to Sailor Moon’s horror, and summons a horse, but Star Sensitive Inferno burns him (and a chandelier, which falls on him), and we’re done.
Entirely a Comedy Filler episode, but alright. Very little character stuff and more Usagi being a dope, though. This episode is the final appearance of Usagi’s mother Ikuko, though the rest of the family has long since disappeared from the narrative, being pointless to the story a while ago, sadly). This is also the last time Sailor Moon uses the “Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss”, as they pimp it out even MORE in the next episode.
And that’s all for now! Fourteen more episodes to go! I’m mostly annoyed that the last “Focus Episode” for Rei is just some Beach Filler episode, and we’re still doing too much filler for a show that’s in it’s final stages.
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