Should you watch this, Wiki this, or wait for the next episode’s recap? Wait for the recap.
Usagi finds herself trapped in the Black Moon Castle on Planet Nemesis, where Prince Demando recounts the history of the Black Moon to her and explains his fascination with Neo Queen Serenity. Meanwhile, Sailor Venus, Tuxedo Mask & King Endymion learn the origins of the Black Moon and its founder, Death Phantom. Chibiusa attempts to rescue Usagi on her own, but finds herself lost and trapped in Wise Man’s mysterious dimension…
“Complication –Nemesis–” is the twenty first 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). This episode continues the second story arc and explores more of the Black Moon Family’s history.
“Complication –Nemesis–” follows the previous episode’s style in providing even more background for the current situation that the Sailors find themselves in, and giving us the motivations and reasons for the Black Moon Family’s attack on Crystal Tokyo. It even manages to give us another glimpse of Sailor Pluto, although she’s really only reduced to just speaking roles at this point (when will see her fight again!) (and when will see her SH Figuarts toy?), which is a little disappointing. Still, there’s little reason for her to fight the Black Moon Family at this point.
Highlights
Backstory for the Black Moon Family provided
OK it’s not so much the family itself, as we’ve already seen the basis for their rebellion. But it elaborates more on the events that led to the inciting incident of Chibiusa fleeing the future to find Sailor Moon for help. They’ve been around for centuries, apparently, and this sort of accounts for the kind of power that the Malefic Black Crystal has been able to amass by this point. Of note is Prince Demando’s initial encounter with Neo Queen Serenity, which leads on to his strange obsession with Sailor Moon.
Chibusa’s history fleshed out
Until now we’ve never really seen what Chibiusa’s insecurities are – we only see her as a little girl that adds as a foil of sorts to Usagi. It’s interesting and touching to see that she looks up to her mother and wishes to be as graceful and powerful as her, in the same way that Usagi also looks up to her future self, Neo Queen Serenity. This gives her more relatability as a character, and humanises her beyond a pink haired kid-friendly mascot.
Prince Demando’s characterisation
Before this he seemed like as stereotypical maniac, but this episode adds one more descriptor to his character – pervert. His voyeuristic tendencies when it comes to Sailor Moon/Neo Queen Serenity are incredibly disturbing, when what he’s effectively doing to her is giving her a date rape drug. Fortunately he hasn’t done anything that crosses the line yet, but still, it increases his threat level as a villain and builds the personal animosity needed between himself and Usagi.
Letdowns
Lack of action
We see no fights here, no transformations, nothing! Granted, all the exposition in this episode is necessary for the story to have the desired payoff by the end of the season, but still, that’s no excuse for not giving us any physical conflicts. Prince Demando & Wise Man’s attacks on Usagi and Chibiusa hardly counts as any sort of action, and it’s quite sad that this aspect was left out.
Sailors are too passive
While it’s all well and good to have the remaining crew research on the Black Moon Family, the fact is that they aren’t taking the fight to Nemesis and they’re doing the dramatic equivalent of wringing their hands and being the expository choir. Surely some sort of incursion, no matter how easily repelled, could have been included to showcase Venus’ leadership qualities?
“Complication –Nemesis–” isn’t a bad episode by any means – it’s just that there’s way too much talking and way too little doing in this episode. While we do get an exploration into Prince Demando’s perverted tendencies, there’s not much else to look forward to in this episode that isn’t going to be recapped later on.
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