Sailor Moon Crystal: Season III

Episode 39

Oh, Sailor Moon Crystal. You were so close to being far superior to your first two seasons. How could you let things just peter out at the end there? After the arrival of Sailor Saturn and Super Sailor Moon's dive into the center of Pharaoh 90, it seemed as if the season would end fairly strongly, with a possibly enhanced (from the manga) struggle between good and evil, or at least between life and death. Instead, Super Sailor Moon simply activated the Moon Chalice and the Silver Crystal, then walked out of the monster wiping off her hands. Apparently, this somehow made it possible for Sailor Saturn not to destroy the Earth, although that isn't explained satisfactorily enough. Instead, after reassuring everyone about the whole death-and-rebirth cycle, Saturn yells at Pluto to “close the door” and follows Pharaoh 90 into it. As it turns out, the rebirth she was talking about was hers, not the Earth's, as moments after she vanishes, an infant is beamed magically from the sky. Baby Saturn goes off to live with her three moms while the Inner Senshi move on to high school.

Huh. Is it just me, or is that a little anti-climactic?

This is once again a case of sticking too close to the source material, and once again the flaws in the original story shine through. For all of their promise, the Outer Senshi have done almost nothing this season, so sending them off to be mommies feels a little insulting. Not that there's anything wrong with them wanting to raise a child (although I would point out that Haruka and Michiru are both in high school), but since their previous big move was raising and maintaining a barrier, this feels like they were brought in to raise Hotaru. That's probably overstating it, and there's a good chance that parenting will be a wonderful alternative to their previously lonely and recently dangerous lives – it just feels like their potential has been largely ignored. Of course, we could say the same about the Inner Senshi all season.

Things do look up briefly for Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Minako toward the end of the episode. They all start talking about their high school dream clubs, and that gives us a chance to see them as individuals rather than a single color-coded hive mind. Minako does the best here, probably due to her having her own two-volume manga before the main one. She's bubbly and enthusiastic in a way we haven't been able to see for most of the season, and I hope that carries over when the next arc begins.

And it does seem like we're going to have one. There isn't any “See you next time” message, but the episode ends on a pretty big cliffhanger, with Chibi-Usa and Usagi hearing a mysterious bell as they watch the eclipse. Manga readers know what this signifies, and if the Dead Moon arc is in fact animated, we all have reason to be a bit more excited. I think that's one of the stronger stories in the series. (Plus everyone has extra-long butt ribbons now and filmy sleeves – that's gotta count for something, right?) We can also see that Usagi has done enough maturing this season that it should have an impact on the continuing story – she's no longer as jealous of Chibi-Usa, no matter how terrible a mother she grows up to be, and she and Mamoru feel much more stable as a couple now. That bodes well for any future seasons that may appear.

Sailor Moon Crystal was still far from perfect as this episode shows, but it feels like it's moving in the right direction. It still has a lot of glitches from the original manga – shouldn't Tuxedo Mask just be the narrator at this point? – but it also feels like it's trying a little harder. Those of us bearing the burden of Moonie nostalgia will probably never be fully happy with any adaptation, but this show is improving as it goes on, and even if this episode wasn't great, I still think there's hope for a season four.

Rating: C+

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal: Season III is currently streaming on Crunchyroll, Viz.com and Hulu.