[TV Review] “Final Battle –Reincarnation–” – Episode 13, Season 1 of Sailor Moon Crystal

Sailor Planet Attack! ("Final Battle –Reincarnation–" - Sailor Moon Crystal S01E13)
Sailor Planet Attack! (“Final Battle –Reincarnation–” – Sailor Moon Crystal S01E13)

Should you watch this, Wiki this, or wait for the recap? Watch this.

With Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask down, it falls to the Inner Senshi to stop Queen Metalia from conquering the entire planet. But with the power of the Silver Crystal inside her, will the combined might of the Inner Senshi be enough to stop her? And how will they be able to rescue the incapacitated Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask? The fate of the world hangs in the balance!

Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask sucked into Queen Metalia. ("Final Battle –Reincarnation–" - Sailor Moon Crystal S01E13)
Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask sucked into Queen Metalia. (“Final Battle –Reincarnation–” – Sailor Moon Crystal S01E13)

“Final Battle –Reincarnation–” is the thirteenth 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). It is the second last episode of the first story arc, and is actually just one long fight with several flashbacks and cutaways interspersed. But in actuality, it probably took only about 15 minutes of real world time.

The thing about all these long finales for anime is that they usually take place over the course of a long, singular battle. While it makes sense, story-wise, for the heroes to be near death at the beginning, winning in the middle, and then losing again at the end, fridge logic makes all this seem a little… strange. How are the Sailors able to keep getting up when they suffer near-fatal blows each time Queen Metalia hits them?

Tuxedo Mask and his Shitennou.  ("Final Battle –Reincarnation–" - Sailor Moon Crystal S01E13)
Tuxedo Mask and his Shitennou. (“Final Battle –Reincarnation–” – Sailor Moon Crystal S01E13)

Highlights

Return of the Shitennou

So we thought we saw them die in the previous episode – but they’re back! Not in a very useful form, though, but just to give some closure and resolution to their own character arc. It would have been nice to have given each of them a more distinctive personality, but then the focus of this series is on Sailor Moon, so I suppose it couldn’t be helped. Still, good to see them back!

Power of the Inner Senshi

The Inner Senshi are show to be pretty powerful, and if it had been Queen Metalia by herself (as opposed to being powered up by the Silver Crystal), they might very well have won using their Sailor Planet Attack. Alas, the Silver Crystal is the ultimate MacGuffin in this story, so for story purposes, they will never be able to defeat the power of the Silver Crystal.

Power of friendship!

One of the core themes of Sailor Moon is that she wouldn’t be able to win without her friends, and that comes out even more strongly in this episode. Personally, this is one of the main reasons I like the franchise so much – it’s the sense that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, thanks to the power of friendship, that the Sailors can overcome impossible odds. Also, the power of friendship usually creates more superpowers, which is always a good thing.

Queen Metalia is truly a threat

I think the previous series never really established Queen Metalia as a threat – just some amorphous smoke monster that never encountered the Sailors, and could very well have been defeated by even Sailor Mercury if she ever came upon the chamber. Also, she had to fuse with Queen Beryl to fight the Sailors. Here, she is the really the ultimate threat, and it becomes apparent why even someone like Queen Beryl has to obey her – she is just that formidable.

Queen Metalia.  ("Final Battle –Reincarnation–" - Sailor Moon Crystal S01E13)
Queen Metalia. (“Final Battle –Reincarnation–” – Sailor Moon Crystal S01E13)

Letdowns

Cop out on how Tuxedo Mask & Sailor Moon avoid their deaths

It’s already a stretch that Tuxedo Mask’s watch protected Sailor Moon from death (why would she collapse, in that case), but to also have Tuxedo Mask’s death prevented by the gems of the Shitennou (why is he even having those glazed over eyes if the blow never hit, and how come his tuxedo suit isn’t ruined?) just stretches this into realms of disbelief. It makes their dual deaths a waste of time and just feels like a filler event.

Too much screaming

It is a shoujo anime, yes, and they are going through tremendous torture as Queen Metalia attacks… but guys, come on. Less screaming. You don’t all have to take turns screaming. Screaming in pain as a group is OK. Screaming one by one to draw out the agony makes it look perverse at times.

Slightly draggy

Because of the aforementioned reasons, it feels some of the story beats could have been omitted for say, more character development for Queen Metalia or even the Shitennou. As a result, once most of the revelations are in, you realise that a large part of the episode has been cheating a fair bit of time and emotions.

Inner Senshi and their magical items. ("Final Battle –Reincarnation–" - Sailor Moon Crystal S01E13)
Inner Senshi and their magical items. (“Final Battle –Reincarnation–” – Sailor Moon Crystal S01E13)

“Final Battle –Reincarnation–” is where the bulk of the final battle lies (given that the next episode will also help to set up the second series arc), and provides a fun series of battles with all the heroines taking turns to defeat Queen Metalia. Don’t mind the plot holes though!

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