Tag: Minako Aino

Super Recaps: Sailor Moon Episode 27 (Crushing On Ami: The Boy Who Can See the Future)

~ Matt Vetrano ~ 2 Comments

Sailor Moon and all the images you see in this recap are owned by Toei Animation and licensed by Viz Media

Episode directed by Takao Yoshizawa

We’re back with another episode of Japanese Rainbow Brite!  So far the Rainbow Crystal arc has actually been pretty solid with stories that focus more on characters and the other Scouts rather than only Usagi fighting whatever overly designed punching bag the bad guys see fit to throw at her.  It really seems to be what the Nephrite era SHOULD have been but didn’t really manage to live up to.  Can the show continue to make the most out of what can be accomplished with the new arc they’ve set up?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with a meeting in the bowels of Hell Corp as Queen Beryl is demanding a progress report from Zoisite and Kunzite; neither of whom have much to show for their efforts as Zoisite managed to lose one of the Rainbow Crystals and Kunzite hasn’t done shit.

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“I assure you my queen that we are doing everything in our power to get the Rainbow Crystals.”     “Do I look like an idiot to you?”     “I beg your pardon.”     “It’s a simple question.  When you look at my face, do you think that it belongs to that of an idiot?”     “…No?”     “Then why are you lying to me as if I don’t know how often you update your Facebook page?”     “…Well, I mean…”     “SEVENTEEN UPDATES IN ONE HOUR, KUNZITE!!”

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Super Recaps: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 38 (Infinity 12: Infinite – Journey)

~ Matt Vetrano ~ 3 Comments

We’re back with another episode of Sailor Moon Crystal, but it’s not just ANY episode!  We are at the end of season three which had one stated goal of winning back fans after the less than stellar first two seasons!  Did they manage to not only  succeed in surpassing the first two seasons but in also outdoing their finales?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins by recapping what had happened at the end of the last episode, mainly that Sailor Saturn was about to nuke the planet to kill General Smooze (also known as Master Pharaoh 90) and no one was particularly happy about that.  Sailor Moon is still somewhere inside General Smooze’s goop of evil, but I’m sure she’ll be just fine!  I feel like I’m starting to repeat myself…

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“We know that already!”

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Super Recaps: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 37 (Infinity 11: Infinite – Judge)

~ Matt Vetrano ~ 1 Comment

We’re back with another episode of The Saturn Seal!  When we last left our heroes, they had just managed to get one over on Mistress 9 due to the fact that Chibi Moon has now become SUPER Chibi Moon with the help of Hotaru’s ghost!  Still, there’s the matter of General Zod on the planet below trying to break free of the barrier put up by the Outer Senshi so that he can finally take over the world for reasons that I’m sure make perfect sense to him, so that’s something they’ll have to deal with eventually though I’m still convinced this guy is kind of a pushover.  I mean, a puddle?  Just get some giant paper towels or a Moon Powered blow dryer!  So will the Scouts’ new found source of ULTIMATE POWER be enough to stop the space tyrants once and for all?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with the Monstrous Mistress 9 barreling towards the Scouts with everything she’s got left, though it may not be enough as Sailor Moon AND Chibi-Moon have both gone Super Sailor Guardian and are preparing to stop her in her tracks; firing off one last blast together as mother and daughter in the hopes of saving the world from certain doom.  Kind of reminds me of something, but I can’t quite put my finger on it…

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“Release it Chbi-Moon!  Release everything!  Remember all the pain she’s caused!  The people she’s hurt!  NOW MAKE THAT YOUR POWER!!”     “I’m DOING it already!  Quit hassling me!”

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Super Recaps: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 36 (Infinity 10: Infinite – Upper Atmosphere)

~ Matt Vetrano ~ 1 Comment

We’re back with another episode of The Hotaru Whisperer!  After the Scouts had finally escaped the labyrinth of Mugen Academy (some by way of explosion), the final battle between good and evil is set to begin!  The bad guys may have some tricks up their sleeves for the Scouts, but then there’s also the wild card of Ghost Hotaru seemingly remaining within Evil Hotaru’s subconscious who in the end may be the key to undoing the Death Busters’ evil scheme.  Will the Scouts triumph over the ultimate evil once again (for at least the third time), or will they triumph over evil NEXT week?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with the entire planet PRESUMABLY about to be boned as Evil Hotaru is ready to go on the offensive, but then again I’m not sure how much danger the planet is in as we have no idea what kind of power she actually has.  She had enough to sucker punch a child, and after eating The Silver Crystal she got a power boost, but then I think that power boost went away or something.  At the very least, she has enough power to blow up a building which she demonstrates to the audience.  Not what I would call enough to cripple all the standing armies of planet Earth, but at least it’s a start.

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“One building down, about a hundred million more before the world collapses!  We’ll get there eventually!”

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Super Recaps: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 35 (Infinity 9: “Infinite Labyrinth” 2)

~ Matt Vetrano ~ 1 Comment

We’re back with part two of the Sailor Scouts in the tragically Bowie-less Labyrinth!  When we last left our heroes, they had managed to kick the Witches5 asses AGAIN and were trying to find their way to wherever the hell the bad guys were before it was too late to save Chibi-Usa as well as the world!  Now the last episode has some really great ideas in it, but didn’t really come together very well which left things a bit disappointing at the end.  Does this episode manage to pick up the slack as they work their way through this maze, or is it just as underwhelming as the last one turned out to be?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with Evil Hotaru feeling the effects of eating the Future Silver Crystal, which are significant indeed.  She seems really happy about this development.  Like… REALLY happy…

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The lily opens!

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Super Recaps: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 34 (Infinity 8: “Infinite Labyrinth” 1)

~ Matt Vetrano ~ 2 Comments

We’re back with another episode of Grey’s Moon-atomy!  The last episode ended on quite the cliffhanger with Hotaru turning into Evil Hotaru and then proceeding to rip the crystal right out of Chibi-Usa’s uniform; leaving her in a coma and the Sailor Moon absolutely distraught.  Now that Usagi has to face the consequences of letting her daughter fight bad guys while still in grade school, she must decide how she should handle the new Hotaru moving forward.  Will she stick to her guns and refuse to let someone else’s death be an acceptable sacrifice for the rest of humanity, or will she listen to the great Mr. Spock and realize the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with Chibi-Usa in the hospital after getting attacked by the full grown Evil Hotaru and her wicked hair.  We’re not sure exactly how we got from the fight to here (did the Scouts just run away?  Did Haruka teleport herself to General Zod?), but that seems a bit inconsequential considering that Chibi-Usa is… well…

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“Gee doc.  You think we should DO something about that?”

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Super Recaps: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 33 (Infinity 7: Transformation – Super Sailor Moon)

~ Matt Vetrano ~ 1 Comment

We’re back with another episode of Sailor Moon Z!  The last episode managed to really kick the story into high gear which was good considering that several of the episodes prior to that ground everything to a screeching halt as we circled around the same plot points with no real forward momentum.  Ironically, the show that is known for going too damn fast ended up slowing things down TOO much.  Does this episode finally find a happy medium between the two, or is the concept of a properly paced episode of Crystal as likely as Uranus’s and Neptune’s actions actually making any sense?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins where the last one left off, mainly with the non-royal family members beating the hell out of each other and the Doublemint Twin Witches bragging about it.  Fortunately, the Holy Grail has just materialized and has the power to release the Scouts from the mind control spell the witches had cast on them.  Not only that, but the Outer Senshi’s talismans (Aqua Mirror, Space Sword, and Garnet Orb) are all reacting to the Holy Grail and getting a significant power boost!  Yeah, Sailor Moon would only get in the way MY ASS!!

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“You’re Welcome!”

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Super Recaps: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 32 (Infinity 6: Three Guardians)

~ Matt Vetrano ~ 3 Comments

We’re back with another episode of Quantum Pluto!  When we had left our heroes, the latest member of Team Outer Senshi had fully awakened to their powers and is ready to help them save the world!  The last episode suffered from having no real direction and continuing to hammer home points that had already been addressed in prior episodes with no real advancement; bringing the show to a standstill as none of the subplots were ready to move forward just yet.    Hopefully now that everything is starting to be out in the open, the show can finally give us something new.  Do we get it this time, or are we still gonna have to deal with problems we saw the solution to several episodes ago?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with Chibi-Usa running to greet the apparently reincarnated Sailor Pluto who showed up at the end of the last episode to finish off the witch who was about to chop the young Scout’s head off.  Pluto remembers Chibi-Usa and explains that she was reborn by Neo Queen Serenity to fulfill some important mission.  It’s not clear whether or not she had lost her memories up to this point, but I think the more pertinent point is that NEO QUEEN SEREINTY CAN RAISE THE DEAD!!  They don’t explain how she was able to do it, but that seems like a pretty useful power to have at your beck and call; especially to use on a Sailor Guardian who can go to whatever time they want.  Presumably the “bring back to life” process is a form of reincarnation like it was for the other Sailor Scouts which means it takes a good fifteen years to get going (or more like twenty in Pluto’s case) so it’s not something she can use as a plan B, but it’s still pretty useful!  Wait… now I’m confused.  Can Neo Queen Serenity go back in time too without the aid of Pluto to… I guess imbue an unborn baby with Pluto’s genetic code?  How does bringing her back to life in the past affect the events in the future?  Why didn’t she send a message to her younger self letting her know to keep an eye out for the reincarnation!?

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“You probably have a lot of questions.  The answer to all of them is MAGIC.”

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Super Recaps: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 31 (Infinity 5: Setsuna Meioh – Sailor Pluto)

~ Matt Vetrano ~ 1 Comment

We’re back with another episode of The M-Files!  Unexplained and terrifying things keep happening at this school, and yet no one seems to have dropped out yet. I guess despite the numerous horrors to befall its students, it still gets them a kick ass reference!  Still, the strange stuff only got stranger last week when the formerly dead Scout (Sailor Pluto) showed up in what I can only assume is a reincarnated form; similar to what happened with the rest of the Scouts.  Does this episode manage to explore the true nature of Sailor Pluto’s return in a satisfying and compelling fashion, or is her reappearance merely a stab at fan service to keep the fans’ collective attention span from waning?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with Not Sailor Pluto (Setsuna Meioh), or at least Not YET Sailor Pluto, working in one of Mugen Academy’s science labs that also looks like a greenhouse.  Actually, it looks a bit more like an office than anything else, but she said in the LAST episode that she’s a student.  If that’s the case, then how did she manage to get her own office!?

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“I swear, if this is leading to ANOTHER joke about my plants…”

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Super Recaps: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 30 (Infinity 4: Haruka Tenoh, Michiru Kaioh – Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune)

~ Matt Vetrano ~ 2 Comments

We’re back with another episode of The Women from M.O.O.N!  Uranus and Neptune are still keeping tight lipped about what they plan to do, but hopefully now that everything is out in the open things will FINALLY progress without this massive roadblock that’s slowing the plot down to a crawl.  Can we actually move past the mystery of whether these two are bad guys, or are we gonna have to watch as all the other Scouts slowly realize this over the course of the season?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins right after Uranus and Neptune’s grandiose introduction to the Sailor Scouts; all of whom are slacked jawed as if they had just sat through a production of Springtime for Hitler.  Despite introducing themselves as Sailor Guardians and letting them know exactly what planet and power they represent (on top of making it completely clear EXACTLY who they are outside of the costumes) they CONTINUE to tell them to get out of their lives and that none of this concerns them.  I’m sure they’ll invite them to dinner at their apartment, and take them go karting before asking them to go away and never see them again right before THEN planning their summer vacation together.

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“Except for now, and those other times.  We’re serious!”     “TOTALLY serious!”

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