Should you watch this, Wiki this, or wait for the next episode’s recap? Watch this.
While Usagi remains trapped within the Black Moon Castle on Planet Nemesis, Tuxedo Mask goes in search of the missing Chibiusa. With the power of the Silver Crystal nullified by the Malefic Black Crystal, can Usagi find a way to transform into Sailor Moon and save the rest of the Inner Senshi – or will Prince Demando and the Black Moon Family finally get what they want from the Sailors?
“Hidden Agenda –Nemesis–” is the twenty second 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 features the first major team confrontation between the Sailors and the Black Moon Family.
“Hidden Agenda –Nemesis–” finally marks an upward trend in the action and stakes for the Black Moon arc. Now that all the exposition is out the way, the story is free to concentrate on its title character and show us just how powerful she is and why she is the main protagonist of the story. It also marks the last story arc for the Black Moon Family portion of the story, where the bad guys get to enact their final plan and all the Sailors are united for the ultimate battle for the future of the 30th century!
Highlights
Sailor Moon’s competency and power
When Sailor Moon finally finds a way to access the Silver Crystal’s power (through her connection with Neo Queen Serenity), you realise just why the bad guys are so wary of her. She single-handedly finds and rescues the other Inner Senshi and almost destroys the Black Moon Castle with the power of the Silver Crystal, and even repels the combined attack of Wise Man and Prince Demando. Glad to see that she can exist longer in the 30th century now though – has that story point been forgotten?
Ties up the captured Inner Senshi plot thread
Finally. They’ve been gone for half of the Black Moon story (and a quarter of the season, I’d wager) and now the Sailors can stop whining about how everyone is captured! With their return, we now have more varied and interesting interactions, and hopefully bigger and better battles against the Black Moon. They’d been captured for far too long, and it was getting tiring.
Appearance of the Black Lady
With her creepy red eyes (this episodes really likes its eyes, check out Sailor Moon and Wise Man’s glowing eyes too) and misty form, the Black Lady is obviously the evil version of a character we know, but with far more bite and presence. Her first action is to murder Rubeus, which comes to her with such ease that we know she’s going to be a formidable foe for the Sailors.
Letdowns
Rubeus’ demise
It’s quite sudden and underwhelming, isn’t it? He dies not in a shower of explosions but strangled to death by two shadowy hands. Although it implies great competency and lethality on the part of the Black Lady, it also depowers Rubeus to the point that he seems useless. Then again, Rubeus was never really estabished as being that competent, and besides for his UFO, he didn’t have anything going for him (definitely not the camo pants).
Sailors fleeing
I really would liked to have see them strike some sort of blow or hurt Prince Demando a bit more for having kept them prisoner for so long. They deflect his attack but don’t actually hurt him before escaping. Granted, they’re not sure if they can actually defeat Prince Demando, and there’s no back up plan for preventing them from being captured again, so it’s actually a strategically intelligent move. In terms of pay off though, I really wanted to see them kick some ass before their hasty retreat.
“Hidden Agenda –Nemesis–” brings Sailor Moon Crystal back to top form, giving us action and character all wrapped up in one package. Prince Demando is a far more interesting villain than the one-note Queen Beryl, and with the mysteries of the future still yet to unfold, the remaining four episodes promise to be a fun rollercoaster ride. Just a question though – isn’t there a grandfather paradox involved in all of this?
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