<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/2015-02-07SMC cover 2.jpg">
<b>Review of Sailor Moon Crystal - Episodes 14 - 15 Streaming by darkstorm</b>
<em>This review will contain spoilers.</em><br>
Sailor Moon takes up her Moon Stick and strikes Queen Metalia with all her might, to destroy her once and for all. With the last of her strength she succeeds, but what now? Where will Usagi, the Sailor Senshi and Mamoru go from here?<br>
Episodes 14 and 15 are, thankfully, good episodes. It seems that with one story arc closing and the additional Shitennou story now played out, the series is more focused on getting the right elements of <em>Sailor Moon</em> balanced and correct.<br>
Episode 14 concludes the first arc and begins the other; my biggest worry was Toei trying to cram in the finale and rush into the next story before the break, but wisely it doesn’t, or at least it doesn’t feel like it whilst watching. Sailor Moon’s final attack on the enemy doesn’t have the same emotional punch that the 90s anime excelled at as it wraps it up too quickly to do so, the follow-up however is handled well with Sailor Moon recovering emotionally from the centuries-long struggle with the Dark Kingdom. Her reunion with her friends is touching, despite what has gone before, and the little moments with Mamoru – as they're finally able to live out their lives together – also hits the right emotion to bring this arc to a satisfying conclusion. Usagi has one last moment with her mother as well, and chooses to live out her life on Earth with those she loves. The choice and her resolve show true character development for Usagi; she started out as an unsure little girl, then we see her confusion with her past life’s struggles coming back, but now she can finally grow up into the woman we’ve seen shine through and know that she’ll become in the future.<br>
The episode plays out like the manga note for note aside from one deviation, which fortunately comes across as a pleasant surprise rather than unnecessary. There’s a brief moment where Luna, praying to the Moon Castle to help Sailor Moon, transforms into her human self, which in the 90s anime and manga we do not get to see until much later on. It’s a brief moment but it helps get the manga’s original point across much more strongly and it feels like an Easter egg, a wink to the audience who have loved <em>Sailor Moon</em> for so long.<br>
The episode ends with Chibi-Usa falling from the sky, and then Episode 15 continues right from there, dropping us straight back into a new story arc. Episode 14 has a slower pace to allow for the emotional moments to breathe, Episode 15 on the other hand is much faster, as if it’s on a rollercoaster to get us to the next Big Bad. Despite the jarring pace, the episode makes good use of it, and not just to allow time for the Senshi transformation sequences. We get an adorable scene of Usagi and the inner Senshi hanging out at a milkshake place, and genuine time with Rei’s character with a decent period spent in her school environment and we see how she’s learnt to open up since meeting Usagi and the others. The episode would have been stronger if it wasn’t in such a hurry to get to the big first fight with the Black Moon gang, but thankfully most of the episode was devoted to Rei’s character. Toei knew where its priorities should lie and went with it, therefore it came out far more enjoyable and stronger than some of the earlier episodes.<br>
Interestingly enough, the first of the Ayakashi Sisters is eliminated just as fast as she is introduced, like in the manga. So it seems that Toei don’t plan on doing anything unique with the Black Moon clan and keeping them alive like they did with the Shitennou. This may be beneficial in the long run as their handling of the Shitennou storyline fell apart by the end, and considering how much more involved the Black Moon arc is, they certainly don’t need more material to juggle. But is this a case of learning lessons from before, or hanging on until later on to put their unique spin on it? Only time will tell.<br>
The animation is still not reaching the highs it should do for this day and age, but it's not hitting the lows like before either. The quality is consistent at least and there are fewer obvious errors. It’s a shame, however, that they don’t go the extra mile that we’ve come to expect from <em>Sailor Moon</em> when it comes to the elaborate transformations and opening sequences. Both remain largely the same when moving onto the next arc; the opening has a few seconds of brand new footage to reflect the change in enemy, and there’s a tiny fixture on the Sailor Senshi’s faces too, but that’s it. Sailor Moon doesn’t even get a new transformation with her new brooch which is a huge shame. But considering that the series in the 90s anime was much longer and therefore got much more usage out of each attack and transformation, it’s understandable that 13 episodes for one transformation doesn’t seem like a good use of budget. One design choice I do question, however, is to give Chibi-Usa actual lips, as they look very odd on a child (I know she’s not ACTUALLY a kid but adult lips on a child character model is still weird to look at). <br>
<em>Sailor Moon Crystal’</em>s journey into the new arc is going smoothly so far. The episodes aren’t strong enough to undo the sins committed previously but they’re good enough to keep those who are still tuning in happy. Keep it up Toei!<br>
<em>Watch the latest episode with English subtitles on the Nico Video site now;</em> <em>http://ch.nicovideo.jp/sailormoon_English</em><br>
<b>Final score: 7 out of 10</b>
<b>Additional screencaps</b>
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-02-07SMC ep 14-2.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-02-07SMC ep 15-1.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-02-07SMC ep 15-4.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-02-07SMC ep 15-3.jpg">
<b>Review of Sailor Moon Crystal - Episodes 14 - 15 Streaming by darkstorm</b>
<em>This review will contain spoilers.</em><br>
Sailor Moon takes up her Moon Stick and strikes Queen Metalia with all her might, to destroy her once and for all. With the last of her strength she succeeds, but what now? Where will Usagi, the Sailor Senshi and Mamoru go from here?<br>
Episodes 14 and 15 are, thankfully, good episodes. It seems that with one story arc closing and the additional Shitennou story now played out, the series is more focused on getting the right elements of <em>Sailor Moon</em> balanced and correct.<br>
Episode 14 concludes the first arc and begins the other; my biggest worry was Toei trying to cram in the finale and rush into the next story before the break, but wisely it doesn’t, or at least it doesn’t feel like it whilst watching. Sailor Moon’s final attack on the enemy doesn’t have the same emotional punch that the 90s anime excelled at as it wraps it up too quickly to do so, the follow-up however is handled well with Sailor Moon recovering emotionally from the centuries-long struggle with the Dark Kingdom. Her reunion with her friends is touching, despite what has gone before, and the little moments with Mamoru – as they're finally able to live out their lives together – also hits the right emotion to bring this arc to a satisfying conclusion. Usagi has one last moment with her mother as well, and chooses to live out her life on Earth with those she loves. The choice and her resolve show true character development for Usagi; she started out as an unsure little girl, then we see her confusion with her past life’s struggles coming back, but now she can finally grow up into the woman we’ve seen shine through and know that she’ll become in the future.<br>
The episode plays out like the manga note for note aside from one deviation, which fortunately comes across as a pleasant surprise rather than unnecessary. There’s a brief moment where Luna, praying to the Moon Castle to help Sailor Moon, transforms into her human self, which in the 90s anime and manga we do not get to see until much later on. It’s a brief moment but it helps get the manga’s original point across much more strongly and it feels like an Easter egg, a wink to the audience who have loved <em>Sailor Moon</em> for so long.<br>
The episode ends with Chibi-Usa falling from the sky, and then Episode 15 continues right from there, dropping us straight back into a new story arc. Episode 14 has a slower pace to allow for the emotional moments to breathe, Episode 15 on the other hand is much faster, as if it’s on a rollercoaster to get us to the next Big Bad. Despite the jarring pace, the episode makes good use of it, and not just to allow time for the Senshi transformation sequences. We get an adorable scene of Usagi and the inner Senshi hanging out at a milkshake place, and genuine time with Rei’s character with a decent period spent in her school environment and we see how she’s learnt to open up since meeting Usagi and the others. The episode would have been stronger if it wasn’t in such a hurry to get to the big first fight with the Black Moon gang, but thankfully most of the episode was devoted to Rei’s character. Toei knew where its priorities should lie and went with it, therefore it came out far more enjoyable and stronger than some of the earlier episodes.<br>
Interestingly enough, the first of the Ayakashi Sisters is eliminated just as fast as she is introduced, like in the manga. So it seems that Toei don’t plan on doing anything unique with the Black Moon clan and keeping them alive like they did with the Shitennou. This may be beneficial in the long run as their handling of the Shitennou storyline fell apart by the end, and considering how much more involved the Black Moon arc is, they certainly don’t need more material to juggle. But is this a case of learning lessons from before, or hanging on until later on to put their unique spin on it? Only time will tell.<br>
The animation is still not reaching the highs it should do for this day and age, but it's not hitting the lows like before either. The quality is consistent at least and there are fewer obvious errors. It’s a shame, however, that they don’t go the extra mile that we’ve come to expect from <em>Sailor Moon</em> when it comes to the elaborate transformations and opening sequences. Both remain largely the same when moving onto the next arc; the opening has a few seconds of brand new footage to reflect the change in enemy, and there’s a tiny fixture on the Sailor Senshi’s faces too, but that’s it. Sailor Moon doesn’t even get a new transformation with her new brooch which is a huge shame. But considering that the series in the 90s anime was much longer and therefore got much more usage out of each attack and transformation, it’s understandable that 13 episodes for one transformation doesn’t seem like a good use of budget. One design choice I do question, however, is to give Chibi-Usa actual lips, as they look very odd on a child (I know she’s not ACTUALLY a kid but adult lips on a child character model is still weird to look at). <br>
<em>Sailor Moon Crystal’</em>s journey into the new arc is going smoothly so far. The episodes aren’t strong enough to undo the sins committed previously but they’re good enough to keep those who are still tuning in happy. Keep it up Toei!<br>
<em>Watch the latest episode with English subtitles on the Nico Video site now;</em> <em>http://ch.nicovideo.jp/sailormoon_English</em><br>
<b>Final score: 7 out of 10</b>
<b>Additional screencaps</b>
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-02-07SMC ep 14-2.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-02-07SMC ep 15-1.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-02-07SMC ep 15-4.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-02-07SMC ep 15-3.jpg">