Should you watch this, Wiki this, or wait for the recap? Wiki this.
Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask discover each other’s true identities as Usagi and Mamoru, leaving them confused and conflicted about their relationship. Meanwhile, Zoisite has recovered and sets up a new plan to get humans to hunt down Sailor Moon. Just as he has Sailor Moon on the ropes, however, a new Sailor appears…
“Mamoru Chiba –Tuxedo Mask–” is the seventh episode of the first season of Sailor Moon Crystal. It’s Japanese anime and I watched it with English subtitles (I don’t speak Japanese, though I would like to at some point). Here sees Usagi finally learning that Mamoru is Tuxedo Mask, something we learnt about many episodes ago, of course.
This is by far the least connected of all the episodes. It’s as if this was meant to be a standalone episode, which is rather ironic considering that the ending is a cliffhanger. There’s absolutely no nod to continuity, and this is probably one of the most lazily written episodes, if not the laziest, in the series.
Highlights
True tension and angst between Usagi & Mamoru
Although it might seem a little awkward at times, by the end of the episode, the romance between Usagi & Mamoru has taken on this tragic tone. It’s got this sense of forbidden love, although it’s not entirely clear who is forbidding it and why. And since Mamoru’s rationale for wanting the Silver Crystal isn’t evil, and Usagi is pining away for him, why can’t they be together? See. It has me convinced.
Zoisite is formidable
While the previous episode had Zoisite dodging attacks and then getting fried by Sailor Moon, this time round he manages to ambush her and then take down the other three Sailors by deflecting their attacks. He might not have actually upgraded in power, but at least he’s fighting tactically and showing us why he’s such a threat. And it’s only when your villains are an actual threat that true dramatic tension occurs.
Appearance of Sailor V
It’s more fan service than anything, especially to older fans, but finally! Sailor V! I didn’t realise she wielded a crescent boomerang, but the other reason I’m keen to see her in action is to see how her attacks have been rendered in this remake.
Letdowns
Episode changes pace rather abruptly
So suddenly it’s romance, then it’s a ditzy everyday scene, then some random cuts to Zoisite’s plot, and then to the bad guy, a random romantic scene in the middle of a fight – it seems that the characters are completely oblivious to their surroundings and the events that have happened prior to the scene. This results in strange pacing and a severe slap to the verisimilitude of the whole episode.
No resolution of last episode’s conflict between Usagi and the girls
How did they suddenly become friends again? This is another rather weird resolution. How did they go from storming off to being friends and fighting with each other again? And how come nobody asked her about Mamoru or where she went?
“Mamoru Chiba –Tuxedo Mask–” isn’t a terrible episode, but it seems that it was written in isolation from the other episodes because there aren’t any indications that some noteworthy events happened in the previous episode, or even in this episode itself. As such, it’s probably more worth it to Wiki the events than to watch it.
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