Sailor Moon R (Season 2)

Sailor Moon's first season was great and it told a complete story, but between taking a while to establish the whole cast and the very thin antagonists, there are things that a potential second season could improve on even more. Personally, I thought Sailor Moon R does actually improve on the first season in a lot of ways, but seeing as it was divided up into two storylines, I have a lot to say about both...

Makai Tree Arc: So remember when I said filler was primarily when an anime makes their own original storyline to buy time to catch up with the manga, well that's what this entire arc was meant to do. However, the Makai Tree arc being filler doesn't necessarily make it bad, I actually found it to be pretty fun! This storyline is primarily about two aliens named Ail and An (that's such a stupid pun, I love it) who go to Earth in the hopes of stealing life energy from humans so that they don't die. I love these two, they're way better antagonists than the Dark Kingdom. Their motivations are more interesting and even sympathetic, and seeing them struggle to interact with the humans on Earth is genuinely charming and funny. Ail and An aren't quite as menacing as the Dark Kingdom, they're much more comedic villains, but that's not much of an issue to me since they're just flat-out better characters. There's just a bit more depth in the conflict and I couldn't help but want the Senshi and the aliens to find a solution that'll work for everyone.

There's a lot more going on, though. Obviously, the Senshi had to have regain their memories after the events of last season, which means Usagi has some trauma to work through after... you know... seeing all her friends die. However, Mamoru still doesn't have his memories, and there's a mysterious new figure named Moonlight Knight who, despite looking and acting like Tuxedo Mask, showed up in the same room as Mamoru. I knew Mamoru was Moonlight Knight from the start but this was a pretty solid mystery that left me engaged. As you can see, despite being "filler", this arc has a lot of material to work with, and at a light 13 episodes, I found the arc's pacing to be fantastic, striking a nice balance between fun episodic stuff and plot progression without feeling like it drags. Each of the Senshi even get an episode that develops their character, ending with them learning a new power, it's really cool! 

However, my one big gripe with the arc is that you can really tell there were some cuts in the animation, with plenty of scenes where you can tell the animators had to take some shortcuts either for a lack of budget or time. It definitely gives the arc a bit of a cheap feel at times. But when my only complaint is the animation (and the admittedly weak babysitting episode), that's a testament to how strong this first arc is, in spite of being "filler". It does a good job of dealing with the events of Season 1's finale, boasts a fairly complex storyline with fantastic antagonists, fleshes out the cast, and has strong pacing to boot. It's as I always say, just because it's filler, doesn't mean it's bad.

4/5 Stars

Black Moon Clan Arc: Oh boy, do I have a lot to say about this one, both good and bad. The Black Moon Clan arc involves the titular villains, who start the arc trying to go after the Silver Crystal as well as who they call the "rabbit". The rabbit in question is a mysterious little kid who claims to be named Usagi, so the Senshi tries to protect her from the clan. I'll be honest, this arc doesn't make a good first impression on me, especially in its first two episodes. Chibiusa starts the arc by pointing a gun at Usagi, gaslighting her family and friends, and drugging multiple people, how the hell was I supposed to care about her? And then in the episode after the premiere we get the start of the infamous breakup arc, where Mamoru breaks up with Usagi right after getting together after getting visions of the future where she dies, and he doesn't tell her about it. I don't have patience for characters who refuse to communicate with each other, and it made this breakup plot a slog. In hindsight, I think that was the point. This arc is partially about the importance of teamwork and these storylines contribute to that theme, but it doesn't make them any less frustrating. Thankfully, this frustration doesn't go on for too long. As a matter of fact, I think that once Sailor Moon gets that awful dinosaur episode off its chest, this arc goes from pretty bad to genuinely pretty great.

As time goes on, we learn that Chibiusa is actually Usagi and Mamoru's daughter from the future, and that the Black Moon Clan is also from the future, a group of exiled rebels who don't like Usagi's eventual rule. These two reveals turn this arc into a legitimately awesome time travel storyline about the future of the Senshi, with fantastic villains that balance the cruelty and darkness of Beryl and the depth of Ail and An. There's nothing quite like an antagonist with differing ideals than the protagonist and having them fight about said ideals. Chibiusa still frustrated me quite a bit, but she never did anything nearly as immoral as in her debut, and her very tragic backstory helped me at least understand her a bit more. You can tell everything that's happened to Chibiusa messed her up, and she develops enough throughout the season that I really started to feel for her in the arc's second half. Meanwhile, Usagi and Mamoru get back together at the halfway point as well, fixing the last of the arc's issues, and allowing for the rest of the season to stay pretty consistently fantastic. And that final stretch of episodes was probably the best in the show to date, between the Black Moon Clan tearing itself apart, Chibiusa's intense Black Lady storyline, and the many fantastic emotional sequences. 

Another thing I think this arc did well was the animation. Where the Makai Tree arc was pretty obviously a low budget affair, the Black Moon Clan arc generally looks a lot better. While there aren't as many obvious scenes of character stills replacing animation, the episodes as a whole look a lot more fluid. Even the fight scenes are probably the best they've ever been, even compared to Season 1! Overall, the Black Moon arc makes a bad first impression with a frustrating arc that relies on miscommunication and one of the worst debuts a character could have, but as it goes on, it evolves into the show's most complex storyline to date, a fun and deep time travel storyline with great character development, neat twists and lore reveals, and a damn solid set of villains. While this arc's lows are pretty low, its highs are absolutely soaring.

3/5 Stars

With a lot more going on this season, there was a lot more episodes that I felt were worth highlighting:

A New Transformation (Episode 5): While a bit standard at first, the second half of this episode was absolutely fantastic. From the reveal that Usagi was losing her powers because she's still shaken by the events of her reincarnation to her reunion with Serenity, culminating in the debut of Sailor Moon's new transformation and rod. That whole episode built up to that scene, and it left me with goosebumps when it happened.

Steal A Kiss From Mamoru (Episode 10): Easily one of the funniest episodes of Sailor Moon to date, Steal A Kiss From Mamoru revolves entirely around the cast (plus An) making a Snow White play. And as you'd expect with An taking the helm, it goes awry. From Umino's costumes, to the fights over casting, to An trying to get a kiss from Mamoru whatever chance she can get, the whole play is a disaster and it was a joy to watch it fall apart.

True Love Awakens (Episodes 13): If there's one thing Sailor Moon knows how to do, it's end an arc. While the Makai Tree arc was mostly pretty light and comedic, this episode has plenty of fantastic emotional moments, between An's breakdown and subsequent Disney Death, Ail's realization about love, and the Makai Tree's backstory. Usagi and Mamoru finally start dating (for all of two episodes), the Moonlight Knight reveal was pretty sick, and I like how Ail and An get a fairly happy ending.

Protect Chibiusa (Episode 22): "She's precocious, mischievous, and pretty annoying, and yet I can't seem to hate her". Well, that just sums up Chibiusa in a nutshell. I'd say this episode marks the point where the Black Moon arc becomes legitimately great, with a decent serving of plot and lore bombs that helps to make Chibiusa a slightly more sympathetic character. But what really got me was the entire final third where the Senshi fight to protect Chibiusa, proving how much they're there for her, all as Ai No Senshi plays in the background. It's just peak Sailor Moon.

Defeat Rubeus (Episode 28): The good thing about having a frustrating storyline is just how satisfying it can be when the characters learn from their mistakes and grow, and this happens with Usagi and Chibiusa. Usagi admits to her lack of maturity, and Chibiusa finally takes responsibility for something and realizes that the Senshi were just trying to help. That latter one is especially important, since Chibiusa's development here was what caused me to actually start to really like her. And that's not even talking about the plot, which packs in a hostage situation, Usagi breaking the laws of gravity through sheer force of will, Chibiusa actually being useful, and Rubeus getting the most karmic death a villain could get. 

The Last Five Episodes (Episodes 38-42): I meant it when I said the ending of R is absolutely phenomenal. It's dark and emotional but ultimately very satisfying. Wiseman is such a great villain here in the way he systematically kills off the entire clan, and I love how the Black Lady balances entertaining hamminess and plenty of devastating scenes where Usagi has to fight her own daughter. Every single episode here has at least one amazing moment in it:
  Wiseman's Evil Hand (Episode 38): Esmeraude's tragic death
  The Dark Queen (Episode 39): The Senshi vs the Black Lady
  Saphir Dies (Episode 40): The return of the Spectre Sisters, Saphir's sacrifice, and Demande turning against Wiseman
  Believing In Love And The Future (Episode 41): Demande vs Wiseman
  The Final Battle Between Light And Dark (Episode 42): Chibiusa and Usagi vs Wiseman, Chibiusa's goodbye
What an amazing way to end a season. What? There's also a recap episode? Let's just pretend that didn't exist, shall we?

Overall, I really enjoyed Sailor Moon R, probably even more than the first. While having two separate storylines makes it disjointed, and it suffered from a rough stretch of episodes at the start of the Black Moon arc, this season generally improved on a lot of my issues with the first season. The villains were more interesting, the storylines were more complex, the characters were all established from the start, and the pacing was a bit tighter, and at its best, this season had some fantastic episodes.

3.5/5 Stars