I'm just going to get right to the point. Sailor Moon S is the best season of Sailor Moon to date, by a long shot. Everyone talks about how great it is, I absolutely agree. It's funny, dramatic, clever, thoughtful, complex, character-driven, and generally a ton of fun. Sailor Moon was worth watching for this season alone.
Sailor Moon S starts with the introduction of two entirely new Sailor Guardians, Uranus (Haruka) and Neptune (Michiru), who have the goal of finding three talismans, which an evil professor seems to be after as well. These talismans are hidden in the purest hearts on the planet, but what adds a bit of a wrinkle is the fact that removing said talismans would kill the people who hold them. That's a bit of a dark turn, and it not only creates a compelling conflict between HaruMi and the more idealistic Senshi that deals with whether or not the ends justify the means (I guess Madoka wasn't the first magical girl show to tackle utilitarian themes). It also helps that I really like Haruka and Michiru, for both their ground-breaking relationship and their more flawed and abrasive characterizations. The rest of the cast gets slightly more flawed characterizations as well, as a subplot about their attempts to get into high school brings out the Senshi's insecurities in some really great ways. The first half of S focuses entirely on the hunt for the talismans, and with a consistently strong quality of episodes, my favorite antagonist to date in the hilarious yet highly competent Eudial, and a phenomenal final stretch of episodes that brings all the characters and themes to a head, it's a strong start to the season.
But then Hotaru shows up, and the season gets even better. Hotaru is the professor's daughter, a sickly and sheltered girl who ends up becoming friends with Chibiusa. However, she also happens to be Sailor Saturn (whose appearance beckons the end of the world) as well as possessed by the show's main antagonist, so obviously HaruMi (+ Sailor Pluto) want to kill her. It's with Hotaru's appearance that Sailor Moon S really turns into the most serious thing the show did by a long shot, and easily the most compelling as well. Hotaru is such a lovable yet tragic character who's trapped in such an awful situation, between her possession and her awful relationship with her father, who also ends up being one of the most fleshed-out villains of the series. You want her to make friends and get a happy ending, and her development throughout the season is great. This also ends up reflecting really well on Chibiusa, of all people. I hated her last season but she's genuinely a fantastic character here. Her friendship with Hotaru is adorable and her refusal to let the Outers sacrifice her forms one of the emotional cores of the storyline. Once again, the final few episodes are fantastic, a truly heart-wrenching, intense, and emotional stretch where the Senshi try to save Hotaru while defeating the evil force that's possessing her. My only gripe with this half of the season is Haruka and Michiru, who are a bit more unsympathetic and frustratingly unreasonable compared to the first half, but that's pretty much it. The storyline was otherwise close to perfect.
But in case all that wasn't great enough, S has some of the strongest standalone episodes to date as well, especially in regards to its comedy. Despite how dark this season is, it's also probably the funniest one yet. The Senshi hiding behind a waiter, Usagi and Chibiusa fighting in a teahouse, drunk Usagi, Eudial's car, the Twister game, the comedy this season is all on point, while still not watering down the dramatic elements. I think the villains do a lot to make this season more charming, as we get a lot more slice of life scenes focusing on them rather than the Senshi, treating their villainous job like an actual workplace. In addition, the Monsters Of The Week of this season (aka the Daimons) actually speak and can have actual characterization sometimes, which serves to make them way more fun to watch. And then there's the fact that S also redeems characters that I previously didn't like, particularly Chibiusa and Mamoru. Aside from her great role in the Hotaru storyline, Chibiusa was made to be a lot less bratty and a lot more genuinely charming. Meanwhile, Mamoru didn't appear quite as much as last season, but when he does show up, he's become a lot more laidback and reasonable in his relationship with Usagi. Unfortunately, I don't think this reflects all that well on Usagi herself. While Mamoru and Chibiusa have matured, Usagi is still as immature as always, and those moments where her jealous streak shows felt more frustrating than ever.
Being the most consistently strong season of the bunch, Sailor Moon S has a lot of amazing episodes, more than any season so far:
I Want To Quit Being A Sailor Guardian (Episode 11): Minako is my favorite character, and all of her focal episodes are consistently fantastic, blending comedy with pathos incredibly well. This episode tackles Minako's past once again, as she considers quitting being a Senshi so she can stop sacrificing the normal life she wish she had. It's a really introspective episode by Sailor Moon standards, and has one of my favorite endings in the series, which solidifies Minako and Artemis as the anime's finest duo.
The Stolen Pure Heart (Episode 13): What a phenomenal ending to the season's first arc, genuinely one of the show's best episodes to date. That car ride scene alone, with Ai no Senshi playing in the background, Usagi's realization, and the argument about sacrifice was so freaking good. But then there's also the reveal about Usagi's Pure Heart, Minako's disguise (best character, I swear!), Kaolinte's death (for now), Uranus's change of heart, the heartwarming birthday party, and the Eudial cliffhanger. The Stolen Pure Heart is packed and fantastic.
The Shocking Moment (Episode 20): Hey, it's another Minako episode! And this one might just be her best yet. It's hilarious, especially everyone chasing after heartless Minako. It deals with some very deep themes about selflessness as well as the phenomenon of being jealous for not having to deal with an unpleasant experience that everyone else seems to go through. And biggest of all, it's a huge plot bomb of an episode where the Senshi and HaruMi reveal their identities to each other, setting up...
The Death Of Uranus And Neptune (Episode 21): This episode ranks up with the penultimate episode of Season 1 as the most iconic in the whole anime, and while Haruka and Michiru turning out to not actually be dead in the next episode did mild the impact a bit, this was still an incredibly intense and well-directed episode. From the confrontation in the aquarium, to Michiru's shocking death, to Haruka's mind-blowing suicide, this is easily one of the darkest episodes in all of Sailor Moon.
The Holy Grail's Mystical Power (Episode 22): While a bit of a let-down coming after the previous episode, this was still a satisfying ending to the first half of the season, with Sailor Moon getting a new upgrade, Eudial's shocking death at the hands of Mimete, and the debut of Hotaru.
Higher And Stronger (Episode 28): What should have just been your average filler episode ended up being one of the best of the season thanks to the direction of Kunihiko Ikuhura (the guy who made Utena). His style can only be described as avant-garde, every single frame is unconventional yet manages to convey everything to the viewer perfectly. Higher And Stronger is stuffed with bizarre sight gags that makes for one of the anime's funniest episodes, from Chibiusa's hilarious cheerleading routine, to the literal whistle-blowing guards, to the aforementioned Twister scene.
Battle Inside The Demonic Space (Episode 29): This might just be the greatest Monster Of The Week episode in the series, stuffed to the brim with creative setpieces and clever gags. The first half where Chibiusa, Hotaru, and the rest of the Senshi are hopping across dimensions is fun on its own, but when U-Ikasaman appears and challenges everyone to a bunch of rigged board games, the episode becomes simultaneously hilarious and genuinely tense. And it's all grounded by an important part of Hotaru's fantastic character arc, as well as a bunch of cute gags involving Tomoe's Professor side.
An Invasion From Another Dimension (Episode 31): Mimete is a good side-villain... but she killed Eudial, my favorite side-villain. So I was very happy to see her die in such a cathartic way. But what really surprised was how it happened right in front of the Senshi. Usually when antagonists kill each other in this show, it's on the sidelines in their secret base, so the fact that Tellu pulled the plug on Mimete (get it?) so publicly was kind of shocking in its own way. Oh, and we also get Professor Tomoe's backstory which was way darker than I expected from the anime.
Shadow Of Destruction (Episode 34): When I finished this episode, I only had one thought: "What the actual fuck?!". Even with how dark this season had been, I still wasn't prepared at all for how goddamn bleak this episode would be. Hotaru turned into Mistress 9, Mugen Academy got destroyed, Kaori was betrayed in cold blood by Tomoe, and most shocking of all, they killed Chibiusa! I can't believe I'm saying this given how much I hated her last season, but that scene absolutely crushed me. Oh yeah, and the fight with Cyprine is probably the best animated one in the show to date, so that's pretty sick.
The Coming Terror Of Darkness (Episode 35): I've complained a lot about Sailor Moon's action scenes so I'm very pleasantly surprised to see the animators decide to put in a lot more effort than they usually do, all the fights here were great, especially the one with Haruka and Michiru! While this is very much the first part of the season's climax, this episode was incredibly tense and still did have a bunch of great moments in it, particularly Pluto's sacrifice and Tomoe being freed from his possession.
The Shining Shooting Star (Episode 36): This was the most intense climax of a Sailor Moon season so far, and there wasn't a single bit of action in the episode. We didn't even see Hotaru or Usagi fight Pharoah 90, the entire story was conveyed through dialogue and voice acting, and it worked so damn well. This episode was an emotional tour de force with at least half a dozen series-defining moments contained in its length. The entire confrontation with Mistress 9, Tomoe's appeal to his daughter, Sailor Saturn saving Chibiusa, Hotaru's sacrifice, Usagi's utterly painful breakdown, and that chill-inducing final shot. This is one of the best anime episodes ever, everyone involved did such a phenomenal job here.
Overall, Sailor Moon S is fantastic, absolutely living up to the hype. It perfectly balances some of the best comedy and drama of the show to date, introducing a bunch of fantastic fleshed-out new characters, developing and improving its existing characters, and nailing every single one of its emotional beats with the utmost confidence.
5/5 Stars
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