<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/2014-11-16vol2-cover.jpg">
<b>Review of Sailor Moon Crystal - Episodes 9 - 10 Streaming by darkstorm</b>
<em>This review will contain spoilers.</em><br>
Mamoru suffers a lethal blow from Kunzite, and Usagi’s tears bring forth the Legendary Silver Crystal, revealing the not-really secret that she is in fact the Moon Princess. Traumatised by the events, Kunzite takes advantage and steals Mamoru, and also (he thinks) the Legendary Silver Crystal. As Usagi and the other Senshi plan to go to the moon to find answers to their past, the Shitennou begin to question their existence as they recognise Mamoru’s face.<br>
Episode 9 is leaps and bounds better than Episode 10; not only is the writing more delicately handled but also the character development. Not much happens in Episode 9 but it works all the better for it; the first half contains lots of flashbacks that really connect us with Usagi’s previous life, her love and inevitable tragedy. We see it from Mamoru’s and Usagi’s perspectives, and the affections between them come full circle with him sacrificing himself to protect her whilst she uses her newly found god-like powers to save him.<br>
After they barely escape the battle, Usagi hides herself in her room and struggles to come to terms with her royal role. Her trauma and tears feel authentic, she’s clearly reeling from the events and when the inner Senshi come together to comfort her, the girls feel like a genuine team and FRIENDS for the first time in this series. You also have the Shitennou, who are all still alive at this point (unlike the manga) and begin to think for themselves for once as well. They see Mamoru and know something is amiss; it starts to feel that finally there is a purpose to them still being alive.<br>
Sadly, Episode 10 loses a lot of the positive feedback from Episode 9 as it tries to do too many things at once. Despite the episode being called ‘Moon’ the girls spend a grand total of 10 minutes there. They go to the moon, the Queen briefly explains the back story (some of which we already knew from flashbacks in Episode 9) and then the Senshi zap back to Earth. In the original manga, a fair amount of dialogue is the same, but there’s a lot more emotion. The Queen is clearly overjoyed to see her daughter once more but also incredibly sad about what has come to pass and that this is their last chance to communicate. None of that comes through in the anime; the deceased mother is just a plot exposition device, which is such a shame. Even Usagi, who showed legitimate emotion and character development before, seems completely separate from events during her reunion with her mother.<br>
The second half of Episode 10 is spent with the Shitennou who find out their true identities but before we can gauge anything from them, whether they’re happy or sad, their memories are wiped again. And then the mother lode is dumped in the next scene; the subtle building of the Shitennou and/or inner Senshi recognising each other comes to a head in the battle scene (which admittedly is brief, but nicely choreographed with each Senshi getting a move in there). Minako bursts out at an inappropriate moment with the fact that the Senshi were in love with the Shitennou in their past lives, apparently after ONE meeting when they decided to follow Serenity down to Earth randomly. The most interesting thing about the new adaptation has been treated the most poorly with terrible writing. The Senshi have little personality in this anime to begin with, the Shitennou even less, so the one line explaining their apparent love and the girls' quick acceptance of it just does not work on any satisfying level. The sudden change in the battle from protecting the princess to not being able to attack just comes across as lazy matchmaking, a neat and tidy solution to making everyone paired up with someone. It does not feel believable or natural. Not to mention that Minako, who seems more serious and courteous here than in previous anime incarnations, decides to drop that mid-battle, it just seems out of character and only serves to give the enemy an opening to attack them.<br>
Episode 9 is one step forward, and Episode 10 is two steps back for Sailor Moon Crystal. Too much going on in Episode 10, coupled with poor writing has stripped the quality and hype to much lower levels than expected for this anime. The last three episodes of this arc will have to do something quite spectacular to recover from the damages done here.<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: 6 out of 10</b>
<b>Additional screencaps</b>
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2014-11-16sailor_moon_crystal_act_10_queen_serenity-1024x576.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2014-11-16sailor_moon_crystal_act_9_the_sailor_guardians_protecte_princess_serenity_and_tuxedo_mask-1024x576.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2014-11-16sailor_moon_crystal_act_9_jadeite_nephrite_zoisite_and_kunzite-1024x576.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2014-11-16sailor_moon_crystal_act_10_the_sailor_guardians_in_silver_millennium-1024x576.jpg">
<b>Review of Sailor Moon Crystal - Episodes 9 - 10 Streaming by darkstorm</b>
<em>This review will contain spoilers.</em><br>
Mamoru suffers a lethal blow from Kunzite, and Usagi’s tears bring forth the Legendary Silver Crystal, revealing the not-really secret that she is in fact the Moon Princess. Traumatised by the events, Kunzite takes advantage and steals Mamoru, and also (he thinks) the Legendary Silver Crystal. As Usagi and the other Senshi plan to go to the moon to find answers to their past, the Shitennou begin to question their existence as they recognise Mamoru’s face.<br>
Episode 9 is leaps and bounds better than Episode 10; not only is the writing more delicately handled but also the character development. Not much happens in Episode 9 but it works all the better for it; the first half contains lots of flashbacks that really connect us with Usagi’s previous life, her love and inevitable tragedy. We see it from Mamoru’s and Usagi’s perspectives, and the affections between them come full circle with him sacrificing himself to protect her whilst she uses her newly found god-like powers to save him.<br>
After they barely escape the battle, Usagi hides herself in her room and struggles to come to terms with her royal role. Her trauma and tears feel authentic, she’s clearly reeling from the events and when the inner Senshi come together to comfort her, the girls feel like a genuine team and FRIENDS for the first time in this series. You also have the Shitennou, who are all still alive at this point (unlike the manga) and begin to think for themselves for once as well. They see Mamoru and know something is amiss; it starts to feel that finally there is a purpose to them still being alive.<br>
Sadly, Episode 10 loses a lot of the positive feedback from Episode 9 as it tries to do too many things at once. Despite the episode being called ‘Moon’ the girls spend a grand total of 10 minutes there. They go to the moon, the Queen briefly explains the back story (some of which we already knew from flashbacks in Episode 9) and then the Senshi zap back to Earth. In the original manga, a fair amount of dialogue is the same, but there’s a lot more emotion. The Queen is clearly overjoyed to see her daughter once more but also incredibly sad about what has come to pass and that this is their last chance to communicate. None of that comes through in the anime; the deceased mother is just a plot exposition device, which is such a shame. Even Usagi, who showed legitimate emotion and character development before, seems completely separate from events during her reunion with her mother.<br>
The second half of Episode 10 is spent with the Shitennou who find out their true identities but before we can gauge anything from them, whether they’re happy or sad, their memories are wiped again. And then the mother lode is dumped in the next scene; the subtle building of the Shitennou and/or inner Senshi recognising each other comes to a head in the battle scene (which admittedly is brief, but nicely choreographed with each Senshi getting a move in there). Minako bursts out at an inappropriate moment with the fact that the Senshi were in love with the Shitennou in their past lives, apparently after ONE meeting when they decided to follow Serenity down to Earth randomly. The most interesting thing about the new adaptation has been treated the most poorly with terrible writing. The Senshi have little personality in this anime to begin with, the Shitennou even less, so the one line explaining their apparent love and the girls' quick acceptance of it just does not work on any satisfying level. The sudden change in the battle from protecting the princess to not being able to attack just comes across as lazy matchmaking, a neat and tidy solution to making everyone paired up with someone. It does not feel believable or natural. Not to mention that Minako, who seems more serious and courteous here than in previous anime incarnations, decides to drop that mid-battle, it just seems out of character and only serves to give the enemy an opening to attack them.<br>
Episode 9 is one step forward, and Episode 10 is two steps back for Sailor Moon Crystal. Too much going on in Episode 10, coupled with poor writing has stripped the quality and hype to much lower levels than expected for this anime. The last three episodes of this arc will have to do something quite spectacular to recover from the damages done here.<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: 6 out of 10</b>
<b>Additional screencaps</b>
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2014-11-16sailor_moon_crystal_act_10_queen_serenity-1024x576.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2014-11-16sailor_moon_crystal_act_9_the_sailor_guardians_protecte_princess_serenity_and_tuxedo_mask-1024x576.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2014-11-16sailor_moon_crystal_act_9_jadeite_nephrite_zoisite_and_kunzite-1024x576.jpg">
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2014-11-16sailor_moon_crystal_act_10_the_sailor_guardians_in_silver_millennium-1024x576.jpg">