Tag: Naoko Takeuchi

Super Recaps: Sailor Moon Episode 8 (The Girl Genius Is a Monster: The Brainwashing Cram School of Horror)

~ Matt Vetrano ~ 3 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 Junichi Satou

We’re back with another episode of Sailor Moon: The Full Screen Years!  Now the last episode was pretty much a disaster in my opinion, but then one before it was one of the better ones in no small part due to the interesting villain.  Things are about to change though as this episode will introduce us to Ami Mizuno, also known as Sailor Mercury.  Will this be a great introduction to the character, and how does it compare to what they did with this story in Sailor Moon Crystal?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins, in the main office of Hell Corp (also known as Dark Kingdom) where the two senior managers of the organization determine what their strategy for evil will be in the coming work week.  They actually do come up with something quite dastardly (and a little too real) which is to exploit the public school system for profit!  THOSE BASTARDS!!

SM8-1
“We’ll convince them that college is the most important thing to being a successful person, and then force them to run up incalculable amounts of debt at such a young age!!  MWA HA HA HA HA!!!”

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Super Recaps: Sailor Moon Episode 4 (Learn How to Be Skinny from Usagi)

~ Matt Vetrano ~ 3 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 Harume Kosaka

Oh good!  I was hoping we’d run into some dated nineties storylines at some point!  We all knew we were going to reach this point eventually.  You can go back to pretty much anything from any time period and find stuff that’s woefully outdated, especially when you think of how fast things have changed with the onset of social media.  Still, we can allow ourselves to overlook some less than ideal moments if everything else in the episode manages to pick up the slack.  Can this episode succeed despite it’s less than precise handling of the subject matter?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with Usagi realizing that she gained a few pounds since her last weigh-in and she’s having a panic attack over it.  Rather than her parents telling her that it isn’t a big deal or Luna telling her the weight she gained is probably due to the muscle she’s built since starting her career as a warrior for justice, everyone around her gives her shit about it.  Her parents TRY to reassure her but fail miserably at it, and Luna seems intent on giving her Body Dysmorphia!

“I’m thinking Sailor Chubs.  Fatty Moon maybe?  I could really use your input here Usagi!”
“I’m thinking Sailor Chubs.  Fatty Moon maybe?  I could really use your input here Usagi!”

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Super Recaps: Sailor Moon Episode 3 (The Mysterious Sleeping Sickness: Protect the Girls in Love)

~ 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 Kazuhisa Takenouchi

We’re back with another episode of Sailor Moon Origins!  The last episode was by no means perfect, but it did show that just because they weren’t working directly from a story in the manga doesn’t mean they can’t make the filler in this show enjoyable.  Can this episode keep up with the level of quality we saw last time around, or are we already headed for a downward spiral until Sailor Mercury shows up in this?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with Jadeite’s performance review in which he embellishes his accomplishments I’m the last two episodes.

“Our energy collection efforts are up three percent!”     “You lost two highly trained demons in the process.”     “I like to think of it as creating new openings for fresh faced monsters to hone their skills and become valuable members of our organization!”
“Our energy collection efforts are up three percent!”     “You lost two highly trained demons in the process.”     “I like to think of it as creating new openings for fresh-faced monsters to hone their skills and become valuable members of our organization!”

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Super Recaps: Sailor Moon Episode 2 (Punishment Awaits: The House of Fortune Is the Monster Mansion)

~ 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 Sailor Moon Classic!  With the first episode out of the way, we are now plunging headfirst into the filler episodes which Sailor Moon Crystal did not choose to use, so we won’t have anything really to compare it against and we’ll have to see how it holds up on its own.  Will this episode give us what was so desperately missing in Sailor Moon Crystal, or will it just go to show that Crystal was right all along to streamline series the way it did, even if it did so poorly?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with… a recap of the episode we’re about to see?  What!?  Yeah, it’s that thing they usually put at the end of the PREVIOUS episode to get you excited for the next one, but they put it at the beginning of the episode its advertising!  Not only that, but it has some serious spoilers in it!!  Oh, and after THAT is a recap of the previous episode where Usagi, after just explaining what she’s GOING to do as Sailor Moon, tells the audience that she is in fact… SAILOR MOON!!  I’m assuming this is going to be the case every episode, but I’m only going to complain about it here.  Is this how the original dub or the original Japanese version was done!?  It’s just so out of place to put these two things back to back like this at the very beginning of the episode and just starts things off poorly.  Anyway, the episode begins with a group of women lining up around the block to see a fortune teller.  Apparently this guy is famous and has been on TV, but he still operates from a card table in an alley.  Does he have a permit for that!?

“I hear this John Edward guy is the real deal!”
“I hear this John Edward guy is the real deal!”

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