Should you watch this, Wiki this, or wait for the recap? Watch this.
The mysterious Sailor V appears, proclaiming herself as Princess Serenity, the fabled Moon Princess of the Moon Kingdom! The Dark Kingdom uses this information to blackmail Sailor V into giving them the Silver Crystal, lest they destroy all of Tokyo! Meanwhile, Usagi & Mamoru have a chance encounter which reaffirms their feelings for each other.
“Minako –Sailor V–” is the eight 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). Sailor V appears in this episode, for real! Well, she appears at the end of the previous episode as a cliffhanger, really.
This is one of those episodes where you really wonder what it’s like to be a new fan of Sailor Moon. On the one hand, your knowledge of the show kind of destroys the big reveal that the series is building up to. On the other hand, it’s because you know what happened the first time round, that this new turn of events intrigues you into watching more. Regardless, both audiences are validly piqued by this episode’s events, which makes for pretty good writing!
Highlights
The mystery of Sailor V
For obvious reasons I’m not pointing out the giant spoiler here, but it’s enjoyable to see Sailor V having her own hidden agenda in her debut. She’s definitely not a villain, but she seems to be serving a secret, possibly selfish purpose. Why would Princess Serenity hide so much from her team mates, especially when there’s the world at stake? All will be revealed in the next episode – I hope.
Kunzite’s debut
I had kind of hoped we’d see Kunzite’s boomerang blades, since his green bubble isn’t all that imposing. It’s not like we’ve not seen the other Shitennou do it before. He might be larger and more confident, but Kunzite doesn’t seem to be that much more powerful than the other generals. In any case, Kunzite’s not as easily thwarted as the rest, leading to a tense conclusion next episode.
First appearance of all five Sailors
YES! AT LAST! I’m breaking out my Sailor Moon toys just so I can pose them together and have them battle some fictitious enemy, possibly Megatron or someone else. Do you know how long I’ve waited for this moment? Do you know how long everyone has waited for this moment? Yes!
Theme of friendship and co-operation
At the risk of overrunning (which seems to be the case with this episode’s length), some feel good moments were included which makes the girls seem more like friends than just fellow soldiers. The Sailors appearing and coming to Sailor V’s rescue was a nice touch, especially since Sailor Moon seems to be the galvanising force here. This will make that final reveal all the sweeter, and prove why Princess Serenity is, indeed, the princess.
Letdowns
Repetitive bout of saving lives
So the last Act goes like this – Tuxedo Mask saves Sailor Moon who saves the Sailors who save Sailor V who saves Sailor Moon at the beginning. It gets a bit tiresome, this whole round of saving each other. Another beat needed to be put in, or perhaps less sacrifice and saving of each other.
“Minako –Sailor V–” is a good turning point for the series. With the Inner Senshi assembled, and each of them being pretty powerful in their own right, will we finally see a group battle between the Sailors and the Shitennou?
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