Shit, this was supposed to be short again!
► TUMBLR:
(Shame? What's that? Sounds like I don't need that.) I've started posting on my sunshinebright tumblr because, well, where else was I going to have a small Gundam Wing revival. Any fanart of the girls would go on the usual tumblr, but it is super hard to find art of them. ;__; Also, Junjou Romantica because I've been kind of dying to do art recs omg.
► FARMVILLE:
Not much new on Farmville since last time, but I see they're rolling out the second wave of St. Patrick's Day gear! I'm not particuarly fussed about any of it (I am not buying a shamrock pony for 26 FV$, Zynga. I might have thought about it if it were a shamrock mare or shamrock stallion, but a pony? No way. Though, the little flying birds are super cute, I'll give you that.) and the one thing I did want--the shamrock wall/fence--are 10,000 coins each. That's a bit steep, Zynga.
Cityville, on the other hand, has made me very ;___; today because they're apparently limiting how much you can have of certain things in the inventory? Screw you guys, I liked having 125 +3 Energy in there! But now I'm limited to being able to stock only 15?? Do not want. D:
P.S. There better be a second set of things you can buy with the Pot of Gold, Zynga. I know you did it that way with Valentine's Day and it kind of bugged me, but I let it pass because, whatever, everyone makes a misstep sometimes. (Really? A swan for 500 Valentines? Like I care enough about swans when I can't even breed ducks.) But I want something good for St. Patrick's Day! (Also, the Stouffer's Farm is cuter than I expected it to be. ....still. A macaroni tree? Really?)
► POKEMON:
Current Game Time: 6:03
→ My team is basically the same as last time, except maybe a little more leveled and I got to drop Otamaro and Dokkora, finally! Sure, that means I've only got three right now, but, whatever.
→ I haven't registered on the wifi yet, so I don't have a friend code, I WILL GET TO IT TODAY, I SWEAR.
→ Ugh, I'm a genius. The reason I'm not that much further along is because I went to fight the second gym leader, Aloe (Lenora), and won on my first try! Ah! I guess I'm sufficiently leveled then! But a lot of my pokemon fainted, so I'm going to try this over again, hopefully spread the xp out over more than just Janovy.
CUE RETRYING THIS GODDAMNED FIGHT LIKE TWENTY TIMES (along with some grinding in the Yaguruma Forest) BEFORE I FINALLY FUCKING BEAT HER AT ABOUT THE SAME LEVEL AS BEFORE, ARGH. So, only Javovy really got any xp for that battle, but, whatever. I AM BEYOND THE POINT OF CARING.
→ lolololol, Team Plasma stealing a dragon pokemon's head from the museum. THAT TOTALLY MAKES SENSE AS A WAY TO FURTHER YOUR CAUSE. (I'm sure the reason why will be revealed later, but for now, I'm laughing.)
→ Yes, yes, it's totally an excellent idea to leave the museum in the hands of two children who literally just walked up to you and you've never met before! AWESOME PLAN. I love that Cheren is basically in agreement with me there, is it really all right to just leave them in charge here...? lol, Pokemon games, NEVER CHANGE.
► ANIME:
(I originally wrote this several months ago, but I've picked up the Sailor Moon anime again recently, so it's still relevant! Whatever, shut up!)
In the last couple of weeks, I have learned something: all things do eventually come back around, even my interest in anime. And, well. Eventually I was going to have to make a nerdy post about SAILOR MOON.
The problem, of course, is that I have so much I want to say and I have this writhing mass of feeeeelings inside me every time I think about the series, that it usually ends up as a screeching mess of keyboard mashing to show my love. But that's a little hard to read. So, here! An attempt to be vaguely coherent! (While I'm focusing on the episodes to about halfway through R, I know all the spoilers and I'll be talking about at least through the end of R, but probably into S as well. Not that you can really be spoilery about a series that's almost 20 years old now.)
There's not a lot left to surprise me with when it comes to this series. I've been a fan for long enough that I'm really well-aquainted with the material and I know everything that happens, so this time around, it's really more about the little details. And reaffirming my love for two things:
- This is a series that's genuinely about the girls and their friendships and their fights, that it is their story
- I love Mamoru with a passion that is ridiculous and that's only grown as I rewatch the series
Part of me sort of wants to write this big essay on Mamoru's character because he's actually a really interesting character, except that I recognize that the point very much isn't on Mamoru in a series that's all about the female characters. But it was in one of the early episodes, where you see the Tuxedo Kamen transformation force itself on him that my interest was piqued all over again.
Granted, the anime is not exactly very clear on how the powers work in this series and it's further confused by changing things around from the manga--which makes me grumpy, even if I find it incredibly difficult to complain about a series taking away from a male character's role in a series to put focus back on the female character's stories. It's just. I miss the Golden Crystal being in Mamoru! I miss the Shittenou being his Generals! I miss him actually having a role!
But you can see hints and potential implications. I noticed, during the rewatch, that Mamoru was often put up against the Shitennou of any given episode, that he had signifigant interaction with each of them. You saw it most clearly with the rivalry with Zoisite and his forced interaction with Kunzite later in the series, but Jadeite and Nephrite were there, too.
Some of the other things I've noticed that were different from what I expected was the pacing of the series. During the first half of Classic, I was surprised that Jadeite was only around for 13 episodes (which makes sense, given that there were four generals and that's about a regular season's worth) and that Zoisite showed up as early as he did. But also in the individual episodes themselves.
I have strong memories of the show from when I watched it dubbed, since that used to be the only real way to get the series. I remember being bored out of my mind during the fights with the youma, they seemed to go on foreverrrrr when I really just wanted to get back to the bigger plot stuff! I always thought that Sailor Moon was a series that was kind of terribly paced, that it focused too much on the monster of the episode and didn't actually give us much characterization.
I was so pleasantly surprised to be wrong about that! The actual fights with the youma are pretty short and the build-up isn't bad at all! Each episode in the first season did a lot for the overall storyline at the time and for focusing on each of the girls' personalities, to slowly but surely develop each of them into their own distinct character.
This is not to say that the first season wasn't totally on crack, mind. Some of the youma were hilariously WTF and I loved that Kunzite's plans basically boiled down to: What's stuff that a 14 year old girl would like? We'll lay a trap for them at a beauty salon or an ice skating rink or a jewelery store with a sale going on! And it was working. Lolling forever, seriously.
WAIT, NO. I AM GOING TO MERGE ANOTHER SAILOR MOON POST-IN-PROGRESS WITH THIS ONE! WHO NEEDS IT TO BE JOINTED OR WHATEVER.
After the previous post about Usagi and my word vomitting all over the comments, I realize I actually kind of have a lot to say about Sailor Moon! In my rewatch, I'm just starting S and I haven't read the manga (yet!), but I know vaguely of it. I figure there'll be a whole bunch of REALLY NERDY posts about the manga when I finally do. (I am deliberately going slow! I'm taking my time because I am PROPERLY NERDING OUT on Sailor Moon! Shut up!)
But, also, I know a fair amount about the manga and it often colors my view of the anime, both in comparison and contrast.
Let's say SPOILERS for all of Classic and R, I guess. Oh, and the beginning of S!
And bullet point style Sailor Moon thoughts are awesome, I don't know what you're talking about. :|
→ One of the things that I always grump about the anime taking out is that the Shitennou were Endymion's Generals. And generally consider it part of the anime canon, since it never directly contradicts the theory, unlike the whole Golden Crystal thing, which kind of really frustrates me. Not that I wanted the anime be all about Mamoru, but I really do find it frustrating the way they seemed to really dislike the character at times! They continually kept cutting his character development off at the knees (hardly touching AT ALL on how he was basically the warrior of the earth, changing the Golden Crystal to not be his crystal like the Silver Crystal is Usagi's crystal, taking out everything about the Shitennou being Endymion's guards, etc.) and, since most people are more familiar with the anime, I don't know how much I can grump about the anti-Mamoru segment that you'll run into in fandom. It's hard to defend a character that the anime seems to deliberately underwrite!
And yet... how can I really complain about it? For once, an adaptation takes out the MALE character's storyline to put emphasis back on the FEMALE character's story! How often does THAT happen? The anime made it clear that it was a story about the girls and their friendships and... I'm supposed to complain about that??
ANYWAY, THE SHITENNOU. One of the nice things about the way they were portrayed in the anime, re: Mamoru, is that Tuxedo Kamen had interaction wtih all of them; almost all of the fights had Sailor Moon taking care of the youma that was rampaging while Tuxedo Kamen faced off against the Shitennou of that arc. And by the time we got to Kunzite's arc of the Dark Kingdom storyline, there was even more interaction because Mamoru was brainwashed into joining them. (Interesting to note: Metallia does say that Endymion has the same energy wavelengths that she does, implying his deep connection to the Earth.) I can genuinely believe that the anime was semi-hinting at the backstory there, but they never really got into it directly.
I also find the lack of coherency about his powers frustrating. He's often shown fighting off the more powerful minions (the Shitennou in Classic, he didn't seem particularly hard pressed to keep up with Rubeus when he was directly attacking them), but how much of that is being good at offensive fighting versus defensive fighting? How much he is doing damage/weakening the enemy versus just being really good at deflecting their attacks? Because a lot of times it seems like he's doing actual damage?
But I get the idea that Mamoru is more of a defensive type in general. He's the psychic, he's the one connected to healing (at least towards himself, in the manga), he's the one with prophetic dreams, he's the one with psychometry, he's the one who has powers associated with nature. All generally "female" type of powers (and that's actually something I really love), which tend to be more defensive in nature.
You get occasional glimpses of what might be his real powers--in the Classic brainwashing arc, Endymion is a very powerful fighter. He takes Jupiter on easily and Mercury fares not much better. He's shown to be able to teleport, but is that Metallia's power or his own? A combination of the two? In the R movie, he is able to transform to Endymion with just a thought and seems like he's combining his powers with Usagi's when they're trying to take the asteroid back to Earth. (On the other hand, as she's dying, it doesn't seem like he can do much to heal her? Idk.)
Also interesting is his unlimited supply of roses which seem far stronger than regular roses. They can block attacks and pin monsters down? My best guess is that, given his connection to the earth, that maybe he's growing them right before he throws them, that he calls on his power to make them bloom into existence.
I also find it interesting that a) he had the transformation sequence forced on him at first and b) he seems to have a psychic connection to Usagi, knowing when she's in trouble automatically. While I do find it a little frustrating that the anime changed the pacing so that they found out about their past lives BEFORE they were all the way in love (you can't tell me there wasn't an attraction there the whole time, not with the way they bickered and just could not leave each other alone), and I understand that the manga had them finding out about that AFTER they were firmly in love with who they were now (at least I think so?), I have to admit that there's some romanticism to the idea of a connection that deep into the soul.
→ R is never going to be my favorite season. I think a lot of it comes down to pacing issues, which is a little surprising, considering it was less about the monsters of the week than Classic was and yet... I think they were trying a little too hard at times. The first 13 episodes were of the Makaiju (Doom Tree) arc and they were kind of terrible. They had some amazing moments with Usagi (being happy that her friends were doing well! yet relieved when they remembered, too! the storyboard to try to get Mamoru to remember the two of them! the laser tag episode with Mamoru being kind of REALLY COMPETITIVE!) but overall? Enh. The finale was wonderful as always, but it just could not compare to Classic.
I'm not sure if they tried to cram too much in (the Makaiju arc, then the Ayakashi Sisters, then the Black Moon clan, then Black Lady, then Death Phantom...) or if they pushed Chibi-Usa a little too much (except the Chibi-Usa episodes were the strongest, I felt) or what. But the pacing was definitely off, making it not nearly as strong as Classic or S, imo. Not to mention, we spent all of Classic waiting for Usagi and Mamoru to get back together, only to have them pushed off with the amnesia storyline again! Then they get together! For about five minutes! Then Mamoru is pushing her away again! For practically the whole season!
That said, I can forgive a lot because, hey, the pushing Usagi away thing actually had a couple of really great results. The episode where Sailor Moon is unconscious and only he can wake her up from the dream she's in? Despite that he's trying so hard to push her away (saying that he doesn't like weak girls or that he just doesn't feel that way about her anymore), he races towards her when she needs him to save her life. Can't help still calling her "Usako", can't help rushing to her side and kissing her awake to save her. Even if he pushes her away again, you can see just how much he loves her and, okay, the whole arc is kind of silly, but. Still worth it for that storyline.
The other thing that makes it okay for me? Knowing why all of this is happening. Knowing that it's all going to work itself out in the end. I know that Mamoru is sending the dreams back to himself, that he's doing it in the name of giving them yet another obstacle to overcome to make sure they really love and trust and believe in each other. And I know that Chibi-Usa is their daughter, so they're going to work through everything someday or she wouldn't exist. And I want to think, ugh, what a dumb reason and a lame way for the show to shove more angst in there and try to keep them apart just for THAT? I want to think, UGH, HOW LAME!
But I can't.
Because? Lololololol I love that Endymion is STILL KIND OF A DICK even in the future and TO HIMSELF.
One of the best parts of Classic is the way Mamoru is kind of a hilarious dick sometimes! He was always fucking with Usagi, teasing her to get her riled up, and being hilarious about it! A lot of that drops away in R (except for maybe in the laser tag episode where he says, I don't usually get into these kinds of things, but when I do, I REALLY WANT TO WIN) and even more in later seasons, but that one storyline! To show that he's an evil fucker EVEN TO HIMSELF, makes the whole thing ten times more hilarious and easier to take.
Plus, the R season is a lot easier to swallow when you know that Mamoru pushing Usagi away isn't going to last forever and the bonding he does with Chibi-Usa is because some part of him (given that he's psychic in some way or other) recognizes her as his daughter. Protecting her isn't about choosing this little girl over Usagi, it's about a father recognizing his daughter on some level, it's about an orphan himself recognizing someone who is very lost and very alone and very scared.
→ LOOK, I HAD TO GET THE MAMORU DISCUSSION OUT OF MY SYSTEM, SHUT UP.
→ You know what one of the most interesting episodes of R was for me? The Minako and Makoto are still kind of hung up on their previous loves one. They are not necessarily two characters I would have thought to base an episode on (though, I imagine all Inner+Inner dynamics are eventually covered in a series that has 200 episodes) but it struck me that they are the two Senshi who aren't over their past loves.
The best part is that they clashed with each other, each trying to get the other out of their mindset of pining for their lost love, being sensitive about their own lingering feelings, which makes them argue. But they only do it because they care so much about each other and want each other to be happy! OH MY HEART. ♥
→ Ever since the comment that S' (well, it was a comment about SuperS, but I think it could apply to S as well) monster attacks (when they tie someone down and pull their heart crystal out) were basically a fun new rape metaphor every episode, I... have been unable to get that thought out of my head. I'm kind of wondering if it wasn't intentional by the anime, though, because the way some of the people scream or how they look when they're tied down.... I mean, I'm not saying it's a bad decision on the storyline's part, but more that... it's certainly effective!
→ One thing I was kind of surprised to see was the beginning of S, where Sailor Moon gets her new wand (but not her new outfit yet) and it comes from Serenity and Endymion, a combination of their powers!
→ The whole Black Moon family arc was... really short. Rubeus seemed to get the most time spent and, okay, Esmeraude was in the background a lot, but it felt like she herself was only around for a handful of episodes! And SAPHIR MY DARLING. (Who still looks a lot like Mamoru and I can still mix them up sometimes.) AND DIMANDE. ♥ It's... it's not wrong to want to ship them, r-right? (I could never really buy Saphir/Petz, it felt like it came out of nowhere. I can buy that she cared for him, but Saphir was kind of really focused on Dimande. A lot.)
Also, I know Rubeus was a total dick, but... jfc, he was hot. I can't help being interested in him!
→ You know what one of the best episodes of R also was? Rei's fight against Koan, where she keeps protecting Yuuichirou (who tried to protect her first!) and eventually gets through to her! Rei gets to be hardcore and compassionate! She's really come a long ways from the early episodes of the series where she was initially reluctant to have female friends because they were always so flighty and getting into fights.
This is one of the ways Usagi has helped Rei, I think. Because Rei is very abrasive at times, she's very bossy and sharp-tongued, which can really burn people. But Usagi still keeps coming back because she knows Rei-chan is a good person! Because Rei is her friend. Through that, Rei has finally found someone that can get past her tough shell and actually be her friend, to help her open up to the other Senshi as well. It's one of the reasons that the Usagi/Rei friendship is one of my favorites among the Inners! (One of the other reasons that I have to adore the R season? Rei basically forms a cultural festival AROUND THE SONG SHE WROTE HERSELF. Which... really reads like a song about Usagi. .... ♥)
► In a bit of a weird coincidence, I was browsing around for horror anime recs (probably on MAL or TVTropes or something) and decided to snag the first season of SHIKABANE HIME. I might have put it off for awhile longer, but inkstone mentioned it in a post and how she really liked it, so I shot the first three episodes up on my priority list. She was absolutely right that the first episode was kind of slow, but it kind of explodes into CREEPY AS HELL horror after that.
And the main character is a bit of a cypher in that he has zero real personality I've found, but that doesn't matter because Makina (the lead female character) is more that awesome enough for two.
The animation is fairly low-budget and looks like an older series, but it's hardly bad by any means. (Or maybe it's just that I find Ouri's character design super bland and Keisei (the other regular male character with an important role) is only marginally better. I really enjoy Makina's character design a lot, though. Also, she has dual machine guns that she weilds to destroy the Shikabane that wander around.
Dual machine guns.
Do I have any greater weakness than hardcore anime women who get their shit done with automatic weaponry? PROBABLY NOT.
(There will be some mild spoilers here, along with some screencaps, but I'm only three episodes in and I won't spoil the ending of any given storyline. Except for the first episode, but that is super predictable, so I don't feel it counts.)
EPISODE 01:
First of all, when I got to the villain of this episode, you don't know how hard I laughed when I realized who he reminded me of:
(Dist from Tales of the Abyss, my darling OTT idiot sweetie.)
I laughed and laughed and laaaaaughed.
Then Makina got serious.
There's an immortal vampire Shikabane running around killing people and it's up to her to stop it because, as she says, only another Shikabane is really up to the task of killing another Shikabane. It tries to taunt her with how strong and immortal it is.
Makina doesn't give a shit.
Yes. Yes, that is her whipping out her machine guns to unload a couple of clips directly in its face. That was all I really needed from this show to love it.
Not that it was done being awesome at me yet.
EPISODE 02:
In the second episode, there is a mass accident and several children died. This is one of the little girl's funerals.
And that is lightning and thunder booming in the background, that is the picture of her falling off its perch to crack ominously, that is the coffin lid shuffling ajar, that is a tiny little hand clawing its way out.
AND THEN HOLY MOTHER OF FUCK THAT IS A LITTLE GIRL PEERING BACK OUT AT YOU, JESUS.
That's just the start of the episode! I was really surprised at how far the show went into creepiness, because the first episode was so standard! But episode two is really disturbing at several points and then EPISODE THREE IS EVEN WORSE. (Imagine my total lack of surprise, after watching the first three episodes, to learn it's a Gainax series, lolololol, I SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED THIS THEN.)
The review from Star Crossed Anime Blog (you can tell I like them, given how often I link to them, huh?) has this to say about the Gainax part of this series and why you shouldn't let it turn you off (if you're the type to let a Gainax series turn you off):
MAN, I LOVE HORROR ANIME. :D :D :D
(Shame? What's that? Sounds like I don't need that.) I've started posting on my sunshinebright tumblr because, well, where else was I going to have a small Gundam Wing revival. Any fanart of the girls would go on the usual tumblr, but it is super hard to find art of them. ;__; Also, Junjou Romantica because I've been kind of dying to do art recs omg.
► FARMVILLE:
Not much new on Farmville since last time, but I see they're rolling out the second wave of St. Patrick's Day gear! I'm not particuarly fussed about any of it (I am not buying a shamrock pony for 26 FV$, Zynga. I might have thought about it if it were a shamrock mare or shamrock stallion, but a pony? No way. Though, the little flying birds are super cute, I'll give you that.) and the one thing I did want--the shamrock wall/fence--are 10,000 coins each. That's a bit steep, Zynga.
Cityville, on the other hand, has made me very ;___; today because they're apparently limiting how much you can have of certain things in the inventory? Screw you guys, I liked having 125 +3 Energy in there! But now I'm limited to being able to stock only 15?? Do not want. D:
P.S. There better be a second set of things you can buy with the Pot of Gold, Zynga. I know you did it that way with Valentine's Day and it kind of bugged me, but I let it pass because, whatever, everyone makes a misstep sometimes. (Really? A swan for 500 Valentines? Like I care enough about swans when I can't even breed ducks.) But I want something good for St. Patrick's Day! (Also, the Stouffer's Farm is cuter than I expected it to be. ....still. A macaroni tree? Really?)
► POKEMON:
Current Game Time: 6:03
→ My team is basically the same as last time, except maybe a little more leveled and I got to drop Otamaro and Dokkora, finally! Sure, that means I've only got three right now, but, whatever.
→ I haven't registered on the wifi yet, so I don't have a friend code, I WILL GET TO IT TODAY, I SWEAR.
→ Ugh, I'm a genius. The reason I'm not that much further along is because I went to fight the second gym leader, Aloe (Lenora), and won on my first try! Ah! I guess I'm sufficiently leveled then! But a lot of my pokemon fainted, so I'm going to try this over again, hopefully spread the xp out over more than just Janovy.
CUE RETRYING THIS GODDAMNED FIGHT LIKE TWENTY TIMES (along with some grinding in the Yaguruma Forest) BEFORE I FINALLY FUCKING BEAT HER AT ABOUT THE SAME LEVEL AS BEFORE, ARGH. So, only Javovy really got any xp for that battle, but, whatever. I AM BEYOND THE POINT OF CARING.
→ lolololol, Team Plasma stealing a dragon pokemon's head from the museum. THAT TOTALLY MAKES SENSE AS A WAY TO FURTHER YOUR CAUSE. (I'm sure the reason why will be revealed later, but for now, I'm laughing.)
→ Yes, yes, it's totally an excellent idea to leave the museum in the hands of two children who literally just walked up to you and you've never met before! AWESOME PLAN. I love that Cheren is basically in agreement with me there, is it really all right to just leave them in charge here...? lol, Pokemon games, NEVER CHANGE.
► ANIME:
(I originally wrote this several months ago, but I've picked up the Sailor Moon anime again recently, so it's still relevant! Whatever, shut up!)
In the last couple of weeks, I have learned something: all things do eventually come back around, even my interest in anime. And, well. Eventually I was going to have to make a nerdy post about SAILOR MOON.
The problem, of course, is that I have so much I want to say and I have this writhing mass of feeeeelings inside me every time I think about the series, that it usually ends up as a screeching mess of keyboard mashing to show my love. But that's a little hard to read. So, here! An attempt to be vaguely coherent! (While I'm focusing on the episodes to about halfway through R, I know all the spoilers and I'll be talking about at least through the end of R, but probably into S as well. Not that you can really be spoilery about a series that's almost 20 years old now.)
There's not a lot left to surprise me with when it comes to this series. I've been a fan for long enough that I'm really well-aquainted with the material and I know everything that happens, so this time around, it's really more about the little details. And reaffirming my love for two things:
- This is a series that's genuinely about the girls and their friendships and their fights, that it is their story
- I love Mamoru with a passion that is ridiculous and that's only grown as I rewatch the series
Part of me sort of wants to write this big essay on Mamoru's character because he's actually a really interesting character, except that I recognize that the point very much isn't on Mamoru in a series that's all about the female characters. But it was in one of the early episodes, where you see the Tuxedo Kamen transformation force itself on him that my interest was piqued all over again.
Granted, the anime is not exactly very clear on how the powers work in this series and it's further confused by changing things around from the manga--which makes me grumpy, even if I find it incredibly difficult to complain about a series taking away from a male character's role in a series to put focus back on the female character's stories. It's just. I miss the Golden Crystal being in Mamoru! I miss the Shittenou being his Generals! I miss him actually having a role!
But you can see hints and potential implications. I noticed, during the rewatch, that Mamoru was often put up against the Shitennou of any given episode, that he had signifigant interaction with each of them. You saw it most clearly with the rivalry with Zoisite and his forced interaction with Kunzite later in the series, but Jadeite and Nephrite were there, too.
Some of the other things I've noticed that were different from what I expected was the pacing of the series. During the first half of Classic, I was surprised that Jadeite was only around for 13 episodes (which makes sense, given that there were four generals and that's about a regular season's worth) and that Zoisite showed up as early as he did. But also in the individual episodes themselves.
I have strong memories of the show from when I watched it dubbed, since that used to be the only real way to get the series. I remember being bored out of my mind during the fights with the youma, they seemed to go on foreverrrrr when I really just wanted to get back to the bigger plot stuff! I always thought that Sailor Moon was a series that was kind of terribly paced, that it focused too much on the monster of the episode and didn't actually give us much characterization.
I was so pleasantly surprised to be wrong about that! The actual fights with the youma are pretty short and the build-up isn't bad at all! Each episode in the first season did a lot for the overall storyline at the time and for focusing on each of the girls' personalities, to slowly but surely develop each of them into their own distinct character.
This is not to say that the first season wasn't totally on crack, mind. Some of the youma were hilariously WTF and I loved that Kunzite's plans basically boiled down to: What's stuff that a 14 year old girl would like? We'll lay a trap for them at a beauty salon or an ice skating rink or a jewelery store with a sale going on! And it was working. Lolling forever, seriously.
WAIT, NO. I AM GOING TO MERGE ANOTHER SAILOR MOON POST-IN-PROGRESS WITH THIS ONE! WHO NEEDS IT TO BE JOINTED OR WHATEVER.
After the previous post about Usagi and my word vomitting all over the comments, I realize I actually kind of have a lot to say about Sailor Moon! In my rewatch, I'm just starting S and I haven't read the manga (yet!), but I know vaguely of it. I figure there'll be a whole bunch of REALLY NERDY posts about the manga when I finally do. (I am deliberately going slow! I'm taking my time because I am PROPERLY NERDING OUT on Sailor Moon! Shut up!)
But, also, I know a fair amount about the manga and it often colors my view of the anime, both in comparison and contrast.
Let's say SPOILERS for all of Classic and R, I guess. Oh, and the beginning of S!
And bullet point style Sailor Moon thoughts are awesome, I don't know what you're talking about. :|
→ One of the things that I always grump about the anime taking out is that the Shitennou were Endymion's Generals. And generally consider it part of the anime canon, since it never directly contradicts the theory, unlike the whole Golden Crystal thing, which kind of really frustrates me. Not that I wanted the anime be all about Mamoru, but I really do find it frustrating the way they seemed to really dislike the character at times! They continually kept cutting his character development off at the knees (hardly touching AT ALL on how he was basically the warrior of the earth, changing the Golden Crystal to not be his crystal like the Silver Crystal is Usagi's crystal, taking out everything about the Shitennou being Endymion's guards, etc.) and, since most people are more familiar with the anime, I don't know how much I can grump about the anti-Mamoru segment that you'll run into in fandom. It's hard to defend a character that the anime seems to deliberately underwrite!
And yet... how can I really complain about it? For once, an adaptation takes out the MALE character's storyline to put emphasis back on the FEMALE character's story! How often does THAT happen? The anime made it clear that it was a story about the girls and their friendships and... I'm supposed to complain about that??
ANYWAY, THE SHITENNOU. One of the nice things about the way they were portrayed in the anime, re: Mamoru, is that Tuxedo Kamen had interaction wtih all of them; almost all of the fights had Sailor Moon taking care of the youma that was rampaging while Tuxedo Kamen faced off against the Shitennou of that arc. And by the time we got to Kunzite's arc of the Dark Kingdom storyline, there was even more interaction because Mamoru was brainwashed into joining them. (Interesting to note: Metallia does say that Endymion has the same energy wavelengths that she does, implying his deep connection to the Earth.) I can genuinely believe that the anime was semi-hinting at the backstory there, but they never really got into it directly.
I also find the lack of coherency about his powers frustrating. He's often shown fighting off the more powerful minions (the Shitennou in Classic, he didn't seem particularly hard pressed to keep up with Rubeus when he was directly attacking them), but how much of that is being good at offensive fighting versus defensive fighting? How much he is doing damage/weakening the enemy versus just being really good at deflecting their attacks? Because a lot of times it seems like he's doing actual damage?
But I get the idea that Mamoru is more of a defensive type in general. He's the psychic, he's the one connected to healing (at least towards himself, in the manga), he's the one with prophetic dreams, he's the one with psychometry, he's the one who has powers associated with nature. All generally "female" type of powers (and that's actually something I really love), which tend to be more defensive in nature.
You get occasional glimpses of what might be his real powers--in the Classic brainwashing arc, Endymion is a very powerful fighter. He takes Jupiter on easily and Mercury fares not much better. He's shown to be able to teleport, but is that Metallia's power or his own? A combination of the two? In the R movie, he is able to transform to Endymion with just a thought and seems like he's combining his powers with Usagi's when they're trying to take the asteroid back to Earth. (On the other hand, as she's dying, it doesn't seem like he can do much to heal her? Idk.)
Also interesting is his unlimited supply of roses which seem far stronger than regular roses. They can block attacks and pin monsters down? My best guess is that, given his connection to the earth, that maybe he's growing them right before he throws them, that he calls on his power to make them bloom into existence.
I also find it interesting that a) he had the transformation sequence forced on him at first and b) he seems to have a psychic connection to Usagi, knowing when she's in trouble automatically. While I do find it a little frustrating that the anime changed the pacing so that they found out about their past lives BEFORE they were all the way in love (you can't tell me there wasn't an attraction there the whole time, not with the way they bickered and just could not leave each other alone), and I understand that the manga had them finding out about that AFTER they were firmly in love with who they were now (at least I think so?), I have to admit that there's some romanticism to the idea of a connection that deep into the soul.
→ R is never going to be my favorite season. I think a lot of it comes down to pacing issues, which is a little surprising, considering it was less about the monsters of the week than Classic was and yet... I think they were trying a little too hard at times. The first 13 episodes were of the Makaiju (Doom Tree) arc and they were kind of terrible. They had some amazing moments with Usagi (being happy that her friends were doing well! yet relieved when they remembered, too! the storyboard to try to get Mamoru to remember the two of them! the laser tag episode with Mamoru being kind of REALLY COMPETITIVE!) but overall? Enh. The finale was wonderful as always, but it just could not compare to Classic.
I'm not sure if they tried to cram too much in (the Makaiju arc, then the Ayakashi Sisters, then the Black Moon clan, then Black Lady, then Death Phantom...) or if they pushed Chibi-Usa a little too much (except the Chibi-Usa episodes were the strongest, I felt) or what. But the pacing was definitely off, making it not nearly as strong as Classic or S, imo. Not to mention, we spent all of Classic waiting for Usagi and Mamoru to get back together, only to have them pushed off with the amnesia storyline again! Then they get together! For about five minutes! Then Mamoru is pushing her away again! For practically the whole season!
That said, I can forgive a lot because, hey, the pushing Usagi away thing actually had a couple of really great results. The episode where Sailor Moon is unconscious and only he can wake her up from the dream she's in? Despite that he's trying so hard to push her away (saying that he doesn't like weak girls or that he just doesn't feel that way about her anymore), he races towards her when she needs him to save her life. Can't help still calling her "Usako", can't help rushing to her side and kissing her awake to save her. Even if he pushes her away again, you can see just how much he loves her and, okay, the whole arc is kind of silly, but. Still worth it for that storyline.
The other thing that makes it okay for me? Knowing why all of this is happening. Knowing that it's all going to work itself out in the end. I know that Mamoru is sending the dreams back to himself, that he's doing it in the name of giving them yet another obstacle to overcome to make sure they really love and trust and believe in each other. And I know that Chibi-Usa is their daughter, so they're going to work through everything someday or she wouldn't exist. And I want to think, ugh, what a dumb reason and a lame way for the show to shove more angst in there and try to keep them apart just for THAT? I want to think, UGH, HOW LAME!
But I can't.
Because? Lololololol I love that Endymion is STILL KIND OF A DICK even in the future and TO HIMSELF.
One of the best parts of Classic is the way Mamoru is kind of a hilarious dick sometimes! He was always fucking with Usagi, teasing her to get her riled up, and being hilarious about it! A lot of that drops away in R (except for maybe in the laser tag episode where he says, I don't usually get into these kinds of things, but when I do, I REALLY WANT TO WIN) and even more in later seasons, but that one storyline! To show that he's an evil fucker EVEN TO HIMSELF, makes the whole thing ten times more hilarious and easier to take.
Plus, the R season is a lot easier to swallow when you know that Mamoru pushing Usagi away isn't going to last forever and the bonding he does with Chibi-Usa is because some part of him (given that he's psychic in some way or other) recognizes her as his daughter. Protecting her isn't about choosing this little girl over Usagi, it's about a father recognizing his daughter on some level, it's about an orphan himself recognizing someone who is very lost and very alone and very scared.
→ LOOK, I HAD TO GET THE MAMORU DISCUSSION OUT OF MY SYSTEM, SHUT UP.
→ You know what one of the most interesting episodes of R was for me? The Minako and Makoto are still kind of hung up on their previous loves one. They are not necessarily two characters I would have thought to base an episode on (though, I imagine all Inner+Inner dynamics are eventually covered in a series that has 200 episodes) but it struck me that they are the two Senshi who aren't over their past loves.
The best part is that they clashed with each other, each trying to get the other out of their mindset of pining for their lost love, being sensitive about their own lingering feelings, which makes them argue. But they only do it because they care so much about each other and want each other to be happy! OH MY HEART. ♥
→ Ever since the comment that S' (well, it was a comment about SuperS, but I think it could apply to S as well) monster attacks (when they tie someone down and pull their heart crystal out) were basically a fun new rape metaphor every episode, I... have been unable to get that thought out of my head. I'm kind of wondering if it wasn't intentional by the anime, though, because the way some of the people scream or how they look when they're tied down.... I mean, I'm not saying it's a bad decision on the storyline's part, but more that... it's certainly effective!
→ One thing I was kind of surprised to see was the beginning of S, where Sailor Moon gets her new wand (but not her new outfit yet) and it comes from Serenity and Endymion, a combination of their powers!
→ The whole Black Moon family arc was... really short. Rubeus seemed to get the most time spent and, okay, Esmeraude was in the background a lot, but it felt like she herself was only around for a handful of episodes! And SAPHIR MY DARLING. (Who still looks a lot like Mamoru and I can still mix them up sometimes.) AND DIMANDE. ♥ It's... it's not wrong to want to ship them, r-right? (I could never really buy Saphir/Petz, it felt like it came out of nowhere. I can buy that she cared for him, but Saphir was kind of really focused on Dimande. A lot.)
Also, I know Rubeus was a total dick, but... jfc, he was hot. I can't help being interested in him!
→ You know what one of the best episodes of R also was? Rei's fight against Koan, where she keeps protecting Yuuichirou (who tried to protect her first!) and eventually gets through to her! Rei gets to be hardcore and compassionate! She's really come a long ways from the early episodes of the series where she was initially reluctant to have female friends because they were always so flighty and getting into fights.
This is one of the ways Usagi has helped Rei, I think. Because Rei is very abrasive at times, she's very bossy and sharp-tongued, which can really burn people. But Usagi still keeps coming back because she knows Rei-chan is a good person! Because Rei is her friend. Through that, Rei has finally found someone that can get past her tough shell and actually be her friend, to help her open up to the other Senshi as well. It's one of the reasons that the Usagi/Rei friendship is one of my favorites among the Inners! (One of the other reasons that I have to adore the R season? Rei basically forms a cultural festival AROUND THE SONG SHE WROTE HERSELF. Which... really reads like a song about Usagi. .... ♥)
► In a bit of a weird coincidence, I was browsing around for horror anime recs (probably on MAL or TVTropes or something) and decided to snag the first season of SHIKABANE HIME. I might have put it off for awhile longer, but inkstone mentioned it in a post and how she really liked it, so I shot the first three episodes up on my priority list. She was absolutely right that the first episode was kind of slow, but it kind of explodes into CREEPY AS HELL horror after that.
And the main character is a bit of a cypher in that he has zero real personality I've found, but that doesn't matter because Makina (the lead female character) is more that awesome enough for two.
The animation is fairly low-budget and looks like an older series, but it's hardly bad by any means. (Or maybe it's just that I find Ouri's character design super bland and Keisei (the other regular male character with an important role) is only marginally better. I really enjoy Makina's character design a lot, though. Also, she has dual machine guns that she weilds to destroy the Shikabane that wander around.
Dual machine guns.
Do I have any greater weakness than hardcore anime women who get their shit done with automatic weaponry? PROBABLY NOT.
(There will be some mild spoilers here, along with some screencaps, but I'm only three episodes in and I won't spoil the ending of any given storyline. Except for the first episode, but that is super predictable, so I don't feel it counts.)
EPISODE 01:
First of all, when I got to the villain of this episode, you don't know how hard I laughed when I realized who he reminded me of:
(Dist from Tales of the Abyss, my darling OTT idiot sweetie.)
I laughed and laughed and laaaaaughed.
Then Makina got serious.
There's an immortal vampire Shikabane running around killing people and it's up to her to stop it because, as she says, only another Shikabane is really up to the task of killing another Shikabane. It tries to taunt her with how strong and immortal it is.
Makina doesn't give a shit.
Yes. Yes, that is her whipping out her machine guns to unload a couple of clips directly in its face. That was all I really needed from this show to love it.
Not that it was done being awesome at me yet.
EPISODE 02:
In the second episode, there is a mass accident and several children died. This is one of the little girl's funerals.
And that is lightning and thunder booming in the background, that is the picture of her falling off its perch to crack ominously, that is the coffin lid shuffling ajar, that is a tiny little hand clawing its way out.
AND THEN HOLY MOTHER OF FUCK THAT IS A LITTLE GIRL PEERING BACK OUT AT YOU, JESUS.
That's just the start of the episode! I was really surprised at how far the show went into creepiness, because the first episode was so standard! But episode two is really disturbing at several points and then EPISODE THREE IS EVEN WORSE. (Imagine my total lack of surprise, after watching the first three episodes, to learn it's a Gainax series, lolololol, I SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED THIS THEN.)
The review from Star Crossed Anime Blog (you can tell I like them, given how often I link to them, huh?) has this to say about the Gainax part of this series and why you shouldn't let it turn you off (if you're the type to let a Gainax series turn you off):
- There’s actually a lot to like about this series. First of all, it unites Gainax, one of the most un-subtle animation studios in existence, with Masahiko Murata, the director of Gilgamesh, which was in its turn incredibly subtle. The result is a very interesting combination between those extremes: a lot of quiet moments, expressive characters, combined with fast-paced and gorgeously animated action-scenes, all coated in a horror-ish atmosphere.
MAN, I LOVE HORROR ANIME. :D :D :D