From: Jet Wolf Newsgroups: alt.fan.sailor-moon Subject: [SPOILERS][Long] In the wake of Sailor Stars Date: Fri, 09 May 1997 00:29:31 -0700 Organization: Crystal Tokyo, Ltd. ** WARNING! ** This message contains massive Stars spoilers. If you haven't yet seen the episodes and wish to save the experience for yourself, then skip this post over and come back to check it out on Deja News or something later. Anyone who was an a.f.s-m regular during the stormy months of January and February while the final episodes of Sailor Moon were airing in Japan is probably quite familiar with my "No Spoilers!" declarations .... often and usually very loudly. I was determined not to know what happened in this season before I saw it. I had spoiled myself in all previous ones, and with the series' cancellation, Stars was my singular last chance to *NOT* know what was happening, to feel as much as possible like I was watching the actual show when it was airing. Throughout all the massive discussions on Stars, I was actually completely ignorant of all major events. Until Friday. No, I don't plan to bitch at anyone because I was spoiled, my ignorance was shattered in the way that I wanted ... I finally got to see the end of Stars thanks to the generous heart of a friend. It was and will be the only Sailor Moon series that I would see in its entirety and in order, the only one where I was left without that knowledge and hope of things turning out alright in the end. This was probably the best series to have this experience with, on reflection, as all the others at least gave me the security of knowing that things MUST turn out alright in the end ... there's the season after to worry about! But as Episode #200 approached, I knew that there would be no more, this was *IT*. There was no guarantee that anything happening to the girls would not be permanent, no added comfort that Usagi really COULD use the ginzuishou this time and be alright. I dunno, maybe I'd just worked myself up into too much of a mental state, but Episodes #195-#200 were three of the most stressful hours I've ever spent, and most of those saw me curled in a little ball in the corner of the couch hugging my pillow. But I get ahead of myself. So why am I boring everyone with this? Well, I'm nothing but ecstatic that I didn't get spoiled (really, you all have *NO* idea how happy I am about that), but I DO feel as though I was cheated to a certain extent in that I missed the big group discussions with my only outlet for SM chatting, that being you guys. Here, then, are some of my thoughts ... probably a lot of my thoughts, since I'm still quite charged (and avidly working on my next Top 100 update) and excited to get what I'm thinking down on paper. So I'll probably babble a lot. But if you can look past all of that, I'm hopeful that there'll be at least ONE interesting thing in here that could spark some conversation. And if not, oh well. I'd have said my piece on the matter and made one of my obligatory on-topic posts. Kill two Starlights with one stone ... Or something very similar. Remember that all things stated here are merely my opinions. There are things that I like and feel very strongly about, there are some that I don't. For those of you that just might NOT know, I'll warn you now: I love the Usagi/Rei relationship. I love Haruka and Michiru. I love the Inner Senshi. I do NOT love Mamoru. I do NOT love the Starlights. Have a nice day. Nephrenia's Return ================== I wasn't even originally going to talk about this, but it just seemed so wrong to start a Stars discussion without it. I've already talked about these episodes since I've had them for quite a while now so there's not a whole lot of new things I can think of to bring up, but this saw the return to what is best in Sailor Moon: A good story, all the Senshi, character development and grounds for more Mamoru bashing. I thoroughly enjoyed this storyline and was expecting great things from the series. All in all, I think that was part of my problem with many of the episodes of the series -- I was expecting too much. But whatever the reason, whether you enjoyed Stars or not, I don't think you can take away from the Nephrenia arc. Actually, the fact that it was one big six-part story makes me think that it could really have been an exceptionally well-done fanfic. ^_^ Before the Trouble Starts ========================= An ambiguous name for all the episodes between #172 and #193. For the most part, just one loooong string of events that were, possibly, supposed to make me feel anything other than a growing dislike for the Starlights. If so, it failed miserably. Now I know that there are some Starlight fans out there, and I respect that. But the saturation of these guys throughout the series just made my skin crawl. I hated the way the girls would fawn over them (and when I say "hated", that doesn't really break the surface on the vast ocean that is my loathing) and I hated the insinuation that Usagi could be unfaithful. And I hated their song. We must've been looking at one-hit wonders here. I nearly fell out of my chair when I heard a DIFFERENT song at one point. And does anyone else think that for supposed big rock stars they performed *far* too often in one place? But I digress. Seiya, Taiki and Yaten. Ick. I realize that the appearance of new Good Guys almost guarantees that they'll be in it a ridiculous amount. Look at SMS. Haruka and Michiru turned up in the darndest of places to appear in that episode, and when Hotaru showed up she ate even more screen time. But the difference here was in fact that they're interesting. I didn't so much mind the fact that seeing more of them meant less screen time for the others for the most part. But the Starlights aren't even close to the Outer Senshi and their continued spot-light hogging, taking it away from those who I actually WANTED to see, only served to continually agitate me. And don't get me started on my reaction to the picture of the Inners being replaced by a picture of the Starlights on the Bandai screens ... As for their Princess ... Hell, I just couldn't care less about her. You didn't even really get the *chance*. Perhaps, though, this isn't all their fault. Am I alone in thinking that if you had to pick one singular word to describe Stars it would be "rushed"? You KNOW that they're running out of time in an episode when several go by and you don't even see Sailor Moon transform. And the MotW? There were *youma* who had more screen time than these guys. If it wasn't for the fact of the show's formula, I'd wonder why they even bothered. They certainly could've saved money by not trying to come up with a new Victim of the Week and a new Monster design every episode. But anyway, back to the Starlights and their Princess. I just didn't like them. Seiya was the only one who came across with any real personality to me, and I didn't even like it half the time. I do admit that he was beginning to grow on me a little bit before the series was over (I think that would probably be around the Date episode), but not anywhere near to the extent that I actually wanted to see him as much as I was. (Ready for one thought that actually shocked myself when I realized I'd just said it? During Seiya's unknowing impersonation of Cape Boy, I ... actually hoped it was Mamoru. That's how bad things had gotten. ^_-) Chibi-Chibi =========== I came into this series fully expecting to hate this kid. Kawaii isn't usually my thing, and as we all are well aware, Chibi-Chibi sets new standards for "cute". Up to this point, the only pictures I'd seen of her were on my calendars and in UPN's OW! portrait of Belial. Ich, "cute" was definitely the word to describe the child. So I figured I'd hate her and didn't give it much thought. Imagine my TOTAL shock and surprise when I found that I DID like her! And a LOT, too! Maybe it's because she wasn't forced down our throats (several episodes actually went by where she either didn't appear at all or wasn't the focus in the least, which was a nicely refreshing change) or because of Mitsuishi Kotono .... I have no idea. But I loved this little kid, even if I have no idea why she had to become Sailor Chibi-Chibi Moon. And I will never be able to hear OW!'s Chibi-Chibi the same way in my head *EVER*. Sailor Animates =============== Okay, so the MotWs sucked for the most part. We find redemption for Stars villains in the guise of Sailors Iron Mouse, Aluminum Siren, Lead Crow and, yes, even Tin Nyanko, the Sailor Animates (which is the name I prefer and it's easier to type, so I'll use it). A group of girls who were extremely cool, even if you couldn't guess it by their names. For the most part, the Animates were silly on a Witches 5 level and they get bonus points for completely breaking the rules of speech-making and leaving either during or immediately after the customary "Ai to seigi no ... " introduction (a trick which never failed to make me laugh). There is a lot of untapped potential in these girls as well, and I smell potential fanfics galore here. I, for one, am quite curious to see what life was like on whatever planet they came from and would love to see some background on Siren and Crow. But anyway, the Animates, while never being a particularly large threat in my eyes, were a great deal of fun to watch and I'm glad that they turned out to be so much more than what I originally feared. So now we hit the final eight episodes. Episode #193 ============ Quite enjoyable. I was really hoping that Mako would kick Taiki and Yaten's collective ass, but that was only a minor disappointment; at least she didn't get HER ass kicked. And though the "revelation" (as I'm assuming that's what it was supposed to be) of Usagi's Star Seed being the ginzuishou didn't make me bat an eye, Lead Crow trouncing of the Inners did (" Ow. Ow." etc.) as well as Lead Crow's death. I figured it was coming (she signed her death warrant by figuring out Sailor Moon's identity, after all), but it was still a bit of a surprise and, I admit, a little anticlimactic, but it came so quickly that I didn't honestly expect anything else. But I think probably one of my favourite parts of this episode was with Chibi-Chibi. When she stood up to Tin Nyanko and started 'yelling' (and I use that term extremely loosely for the kid) for her to stop in that precious little voice, I couldn't help but laugh. And then we get Usagi and Chibi-Chibi sucked into the black hole and Chibi saves them both. Most I got out of this was "So she IS Princess Fireball." Then the butterflies converged. "Oh, so she's *not* Princess Fireball, okay." Like I said above, however, 'apathy' would be the word I'd used to describe my feelings on the princess. Sad, really. The episode closes out, the preview comes up, and I start to chuckle despite myself. Anything that has Minako flipping out has *got* to be funny. Episode #194 ============ By this time I had regained a viewing companion. Mike had gone to bed several hours before and I figured I would be watching the rest on my own. But to my total shock and surprise, my mother actually wanted to watch the last ones with me (and she is not an animation fan in the least. I'm still not exactly sure *why* she wanted to watch them, but anyway). That sounded fine to me. While I freely admit that it's more fun to watch them with Mike, I was glad to have someone around to comment with. I mention this only so that when I say what my verbal reactions were to some of the following episodes, you don't all think I'm even more insane by talking to myself. There *was* someone watching them with me. Really. Anyway, Episode #194. Probably the best episode I'd seen since #172 waaaay back at the beginning of the series. Or even #173, as I do admit to liking the first Starlights appearance. Well, whichever, it was the first *really* good episode I'd seen since the beginning of the series. First off, *lots* of plot hints. Sailor Wars (and those were really cool pics of the Senshi with their planets), a look at this "legendary Sailor Senshi" (which confused me at first, because I assumed that "densetsu no seeraa senshi" was pural and meant the Inners), still *more* tension between the Outers and the Starlights, and a rather interesting look at Galaxia with long hair. And that was all within the first five minutes! But next comes the stuff that had me ROLLING. While nothing was particularly funny about Haruka and Michiru's stake out, Usagi sadly calling up Mamoru's answering machine (and looking at the picture which Chibi-Usa had faded out of ... funny how Usagi never noticed that), OR having to hear that blasted Starlights song *again*, there's a plethora of it to be found after the commercial break in the Inner's renewed determination to protect Usagi. Minako and Rei (who teamed up a phenomenal amount this season) acting like little kids trying to get Usagi to go to school was great, although Minako actually pointing out Tin Nyanko as a potential threat was even better. Then, of course, the bit with the whistle. I was expecting half of Tokyo's police force to come bursting into the classroom. To see that it was Rei-chan instead was much more satisfying. ^_- By the time we got to the scene of the Inners standing guard in the bathroom and Minako AGAIN pointing out Tin Nyanko I thought I was gonna die. Of course, then we go from the humourous to the depressing and interesting. And here was where I'm going to figure that my mother also thinks I'm crazy. The rose gets flipped into the ground and the music starts to play. I start perking up, and then debating outloud with myself. "Mamoru?? No, it can't be, it's Seiya. Isn't it? Yeah, yeah, it's Seiya. ...right?" Of course it is (and I felt soooo bad for Usagi), and I then decide that the power to give roses the strength to imbed in concrete is NOT exclusive to Tuxedo Kamen. To close out a very full and satisfying episode is the beginning Tin Nyanko's multiple personality problems and Usagi has a nice crying and screaming fit. And for the first time in a long time, I don't feel cheated by the events in the episode. I felt it was well paced and quite effective. More likely than not, this entire episode will make it into the Top 100. Previews: Hm. Looks like the beginning of the end. And with Galaxia getting hit with Sailor Moon's attack and appearing to not bat a single eye ... Well, probably cause for concern, ne? Episode #195 ============ Rainy night, Rei outside of Usagi's house, Jet Wolf thinking that Chris Davies would probably be loving this ... I won't even bore everyone by saying how much I adore it when these two talk. (But I LOVE it. ^_^ "You haven't heard from him? At all?? Why didn't you SAY something?!") Usagi facing off against Haruka and Michiru from across the street and my mother giving a bit of unintentional foreshadowing: "Those two sure look evil, were they ever bad guys?" Although I *really* wanted the two of them to start fighting with Taiki and Yaten. With the dramatic building up music I thought that they would, too. Shucks. Then, against all odds, we hear ... *gasp!* a few strains of a DIFFERENT song! Of course, closely followed by an extra-long version of the same old thing. I think I owe Tin Nyanko a huge "Thank you" for stopping the concert. (I'll give them this, though ... I like the Starlights transformations, even if do think that "Maker star power make up" is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard.) To my surprise, I actually found myself a bit sad that Tin Nyanko was killed (she was my least favourite of the Animates). It was probably the fact that her cute little bell survived that did it to me. And then the big event of this episode, the death of the Princess. I won't say "snooore", but I DID find myself just not caring in the least. Maybe I was just too worried about what was probably going to Happen Very Soon, or maybe she just never developed enough. Out of curiosity, though, does anyone know what Chibi-Chibi did to her? Besides making her 'feel warm', that is. (Fighter can scream, though, can't she?) Aaaand to close things out dramatically, everyone looks really pissed, cool music plays and the sky takes on such an effect that I turn to my mother and say "Welcome to the Silence." Which she doesn't get, but nevermind. Finally, previews for the next episode. I'm calmly sitting on the couch watching: "Oh, cool, Hotaru!" The title screen flashes up and I think that next ep looks interesting. Appears as though the Starlights might bite the big one! Then ... "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" My mother leaps about five feet off the couch. "WHAT??" "DID YOU SEE THAT??!" "Well, my eyes were open and I was looking at the screen ..." "Ami-chan! Minako-chan! Mako-chan!!" "Ohhhhh." "Well ... well, at least they didn't get Rei-chan!" Sigh. Episode #196 ============ Well, I was in my curled-up state at this point. In a sick and twisted way, I was enjoying having NO idea what was going to happen, but in a way I was hating it as well. If I *HAD* known, I guarantee you I wouldn't have had that huge headache by the time Ep.200 was over. ^_- But I DIDN'T know, so as I anxiously fast forwarded through the opening and lots of happy Japanese children with Disney books, I held onto my breath and the fact that it appeared as though Rei-chan, at least, would make it through the ep. Then Saturn and Pluto reappear and I'm actually pretty happy again. Though I still feel for poor Saturn, never even getting a transformation or a stock-footage attack. DEFINITELY the most under used of all the Senshi. But that's another rant for another time and I assure you that these thoughts were NOT on my mind during the episode. I felt that the entire sequence with Haruka and Michiru walking off (complete with the infamous rose petals!) and then meeting up with Setsuna and Hotaru was VERY well done. We even got to see Haruka with her arm around Michiru, what a treat. I'd also like to say here that the full transformations for each of the girls worried me (and seemed to take FOREVER, geez). In all honesty, a lot of the events leading up to "the big one" from this point on are kind of fuzzy. I think I was worrying too much. Yes, I AM strange, thank you. I do know that I wasn't in the least bit happy when the Inners did finally materialize in Galaxia's dimension, but they could hardly be expected to turn away, ne? Sooo, I sat and I worried. And then I saw Galaxia step off of her throne and I gave a nervous laugh. And then she glowed, shot out those barbed fireballs at the Starlights and Sailor Moon and then my stomach seized up as I again watched (with sound effects this time, rapture!) as first Ami, then Minako and finally Mako got blasted. And then ... "AWWWWW, **NO**!!" Ohh, 'tis a cruel cruel trick of the creators. If I had watched the preview more closely I would've SEEN that there were FOUR of those things launched, not just three. And I guess I didn't *really* think that Rei would make it through unscathed when the other Inners fell. They're a team, after all. But ... Well, what can I say? Perhaps I should have, but I didn't expect it at all, at least not to happen to her then. They got me. They got me goooood. I find it difficult to sum up what I felt next. I'd had some time to adjust to the fact that the other three were going to get it in this episode, but I'd held on to my belief that my Rei-chan would make it through like a lifeline. Did I burst into tears? No. Besides not really being my style, I wasn't alone. ^_- If I had been, things might have been different. But they weren't so I didn't. But I DID have a death grip on the pillow and I don't think I'll ever forget Rei's goodbye scene. It was ... powerful. But the others ... Their final words should have been to USAGI, not to the friggin' Starlights (WHO WERE STILL ALIVE WHILE MY INNERS WERE DYING!!) >From the point of view of a Rei fan, I was pretty darned satisfied with her death scene. She died protecting Usagi, she got to call her a crybaby and an idiot one final time, she expressed herself in fine Rei-chan fashion, and she went out last, as she should have. >From the point of view of an Inners fan, I felt cheated. They should have had more. Would I have sacrificed what I got with Rei for a better, more average sequence for them all? I honestly don't know. But they DESERVED more. Oh, yeah, and then we find out that Mamoru is dead too. Actually, I'd assumed as much at this point, so it was really only confirmation. I'm sure you can imagine that in my state of mind that Mamoru's death was somewhat low on my list of priorital things to be concerned with. Then we come to the previews. Throughout all of this, I'd completely forgotten the Outers. Seeing them did buck me up, at least a little bit. Though I didn't really figure they would make it through if the Inners were gone. What I was NOT expecting was this image of an *incredibly* evil looking Uranus and Neptune wearing Galaxia's bracelets! Okay, they win. I'm still interested. Episode #197 ============ Gee, I must've really been in a funk, I don't remember hardly any of this. Hm. Anyway, it's been so long since we've seen Tux, he actually looks a little silly. I really wish he'd lose that top hat. Mamoru died rather well, though. And, as always, I feel horrible for Usagi. But as for thoughts when I first watched it, I admit to not having many. I must've *really* been out of it. ^_^ So, let's see what I can remember thinking about this episode then: - Mitsuishi Kotono is awesome as Usagi, whether Mark likes her or not. - "She stopped the Space Sword!" "She CRACKED the Space Sword!!" - "Awww, *WHY* do they have to show us the death scenes again...!" - Galaxia facing down Saturn (and, in fact, intentionally *reawakening* Saturn) is Not A Good Sign. - "She *BROKE* the BigAss Key!!" (Mom had a good chuckle at that one.) I began to snap out of it at that point, obviously, because I vividly remember Uranus and Neptune becoming evil and asking my mother if she had known something I didn't due to her earlier comment. But it's sad. You'd think that I would actually have felt something when Pluto and Saturn died. And I didn't. I also don't quite understand why they just LET it happen, but I wish I had felt more. I also wish I knew WHY I didn't. Was it because I was still feeling the effects of last episode? Because I didn't think they should have just LET themselves be killed? Because they had never been developed far enough in the series to really matter to me? Anyway, next episode previews ... YES!! *Finally*, Haruka vs. Seiya! ...oh, and then it looks like they die. Well, that's just great. Episode #198 ============ My finger slammed down on the fast forward button to get past the opening. The last thing I wanted to see at that moment were happy, alive Senshi eating, cooking and tripping. My first major thought of this episode was: "Why does the bad guy always LEAVE when they almost win?" And whether she was good or bad, when she threw it, I was delighted that Uranus' World Shaking completely obliterated Fighter's Star Serious Laser. And then, of course, a dream sequence whereby all the Senshi come back. I'm still not sure exactly what was said, but I DO know it had nothing to do with empowering Sailor Moon, and for once I was glad. And we got to see Chibi-Usa too! I discovered that I missed the old Flamingo Head. I figure that Project CURE will be after me now. ^_- Gah! And then they were gone! I'm not sure who directed this series, but he or she deserves accolades for the use of music. I think that Stars is the first Sailor Moon series I've seen that *really* effectively utilizes it. (If that makes any sense to anyone.) Yes! The fight scene! And don't you just love how Sailor Moon covered Chibi-Chibi's eyes? But at least SOMEONE got to pop Seiya one before it was all over. That gave me some small bit of comfort. (Although my desire to see Uranus and Neptune rip out the Starlights' spleens was still in place. It was really rubbing me the wrong way whenever I again remembered that all the Senshi were going to be dead before the Starlights.) Suddenly Uranus and Neptune's eyes regain a pupil and I start to cheer. Of course, then I had to try to explain what that meant to my mother, who in the end just kinda nodded and dismissed it, I think, but I was excited. I was MORE excited to hear the return of the Outer's music, though. At least they got to attack with that one final time. And then begins what is easily the second most powerful scene in this entire series, and possibly even beating out Mars' death (as this scene went on longer, you had more time to really get into it). I would never have though to see the day when Haruka and Michiru just GAVE UP. Haruka's was especially moving, since you could physically *see* her trying to get up the will to try again before, finally, her spirit was broken as well. To a certain extent at any rate. As with Mars' death, I will forever remember Haruka and Michiru desperately trying to touch one final time before their spirits had completely fled. Though I'm still not sure which way I would have preferred: The fact that they did manage to reach each other or if they hadn't. Or would that have been just TOO sad? But either way, this was one HELL of an excellent sequence. As with the Talisman episodes, a Must See for any Haruka/Michiru fans. You can keep the rest of the episode, though. The pep talk from the Starlights might have been impressive, but it only served to again remind me that THEY were still alive and well while those that I actually cared about were not. But I did have to wonder how many times they were going to say "one more time" before this whole thing was over. Previews thoughts: Three of them total. (1) "Do the Starlights get it now?? Pleaseohpleaseohplease..." (2) "Hey, Seiya looks good with long hair." (3) "Hm. Deus ex Chibi-Chibi?" Episode #199 ============ Cue a few more involuntary sniffles as we are again treated to Uranus and Neptune's deaths before I once more fast forward through the open ... Well, for the most part I don't recall being overly impressed with this episode. I really think that I was so distraught over the fact that the Starlights had survived while the other Senshi were dead was getting to me. I do remember yelling at the screen when the Starlights combined attack damaged Galaxia ... "Yeah, well, the OTHERS would've done that if they'd had the chance too! One well-placed Sailor Planet Attack and she'd've been hurting a lot sooner!!" I think my mother edged closer to the other end of the couch at this point. New round of minor surprise as Galaxia sliced through this season's marketing ploy, the Eternal Tier, and another of disappointment as, AGAIN, the Starlights made it through (gee, I got rather bloodthirsty during this thing, didn't I? ^_^). But I couldn't find it in me to get too worked up about Sailor Moon losing the ginzuishou yet again. I guess I figured that while they obviously didn't have a problem with killing off all the Senshi before the end, they wouldn't go completely against form and do in the star before the Big Battle. Though I have to admit that that would have been one hell of a shocker. Once I'd gotten over the sheer gaul of doing such a thing, I just might've had to have given the creators a pat on the back. Or killed them, one of the two. Anyway. So, Chibi-Chibi is the 'light of hope', eh? Hm. And a final comment before the episode ends: "They really should bottle and market Odango Tears, those things can do *any*thing." As always, we move on to the previews, and once more I had three thoughts occur to me: (1) "GODS she looks like Neo-Queen Serenity!" (2) "That's one of the shortest previews I've ever seen." (3) "This had better be good. (And I'd BETTER get them back.)" Episode #200 ============ Okay, in reality I was confused for most of this episode. Very dialogue intensive and my Japanese is not what I wish it was. Which made conversations with my mother during this episode a great deal of fun. "What's going on?" "I don't know." "Who is that?" "I don't know." "What is she doing?" "I don't know." "Is she the little Chibi thing?" "I don't know." "Can everyone see her? Is she real?" "I don't know." "Well you're a big help." "Arigatou." "What?" "Never mind." If my mind hadn't been obsessively concerned about what the outcome of this episode would be and my head hadn't been pounding, I probably would've figured out that the "angel" we see is Chibi-Chibi all grown-up. However, in my addled state, my best guess was either Queen Serenity or Neo-Queen Serenity. You can see this made life even more difficult in terms of following the plot. Okay, I thought a sword-wielding, winged Princess Serenity looked COOL. So now Chibi-Chibi's the SWORD. Ooookay ... @_@ (You all have no idea how confused I was while watching this thing..grin) While puzzling all of that out, I kept thinking about how the animators had strategically placed Usagi's hair and wings in various ways for the sake of modesty, and then I thought of Pook!, and then I decided that I had gone insane. Luckily I kept *this* train of thought to myself. But then we get something that I can perfectly understand ... THE FINAL BATTLE!! I'll sum this up for you into two lists, as I just love making lists. ^_^ Things I Didn't Like -------------------- - Usagi naked throughout the whole thing. I dunno, I guess I just really like seeing her in her Princess Serenity dress. - It wasn't an overly exciting sequence in that the scenes didn't change very much. A lot of black, a lot of red ... this wasn't the most colourful of seasons, I suppose, and there wasn't a whole lot else they could show. - I couldn't understand 95% of what was going on. :P - There were no flashbacks to other events in the series. I felt that there were plenty of places where some quick flashbacks would have served very well and been a nice touch, especially since the Senshi weren't around themselves. Things I Did Like ----------------- - A nod to the first season in that the Big Battle used the full version of the opening song (which is rather nice, I might add.) - The Starlights had NOTHING to do with the final victory! HA-HA! - The *OTHER* Senshi had nothing to do with the final victory! (Yes, believe it or don't, I liked this. While it worried me immensely, it was *such* a refreshing change to not hear a chorus of "Sailor Moon!"s from the others before Usagi beat the bad guy, and it also didn't make the battle too much like the one between Beryl/Metallia.) - The reappearance of the Star Seeds (which sent me into a babbling frenzy as I regained my death grip on the pillow and sat on the edge of the couch saying, "Oh PLEASE say this means they come back! Pleasepleasepleaseplease!!") - The final defeat of Chaos. I thought that was well done (again, good use of the music, this full version of the song worked well), the clasping of hands worked for me. I also liked how it was NOT the usage of the Silver Crystal that did it. It was, at least, different. And then, like that, it was over. Galaxia and Usagi are chatting as they float above everyone's heads, the Star Seeds still visible and me gnawing on my pillow in anticipation. Galaxia turns into a beam of light and disappears. The Star Seeds turn into beams of light and disappear. Jet Wolf turns into a quivering mess and throttles her pillow some more. Then I'm struck with the similarity between the floating Usagi and the picture in the puzzle in the end credits and remind myself that such trivial things are just REALLY not the point at the moment. "Hitori ja nai yo." *gasp!* That voice...! A Seed! Eight Seeds! And materializing .... "*YYYYYYEEEESSSSS*!!!" she cries, throwing the abused pillow across the room and inadvertently whacking her mother in the face with it before collapsing back onto the couch in exhaustion. "GODS I have a headache!" ("It's just a cartoon, dear." "Nevermind.") (This just occurred to me ... how is that they're all floating? You'd think gravity would kick in and they'd be plummeting to Earth at this point. :P) Ah, yeah, and then Mamoru showed up again too. Oh well, gotta take the good with the bad, I suppose. No, I admit it. For Usagi, I was glad to see him back. And while I'm admitting things, here's another: I know she couldn't have been, but I wish that Chibi-Usa had reappeared with the others. It just seemed wrong somehow to leave her out. Princess Whatsis reappeared too, although my only thought then was "Good, take those gender-altering freaks and LEAVE!" Methinks the Starlights incurred my wrath a great deal during those hours, what sayth you guys? >From there, a good-bye scene which actually turns out to be the last scene we have with the Inners altogether. When I discovered that, I was highly disappointed. Now the Outers got a GOOD last scene, I enjoyed that completely. But I felt the Inners' was really lacking something. Oh well, at least I got a bit of another Rei/Usagi fight before it ended. And now, the final, absolutely last Sailor Moon scene. Usagi and Mamoru. Contrary to what I bet everyone might be thinking, I didn't hate it. While I don't know if the Moon could EVER look that big from Earth, I didn't hate it. Add in the final dialogue, and I LOVED it. "I'm Tsukino Usagi, 16 years old and in my first year of high school. I'm a little clumsy and a bit of a cry baby. But really I'm the sailor suited warrior of love and justice ... Sailor Moon." As if following the moon itself, we have come full cycle and returned to where we started. Some things are the same. Some things are different. But either way, this chapter in the story has been told. When all is said and done, it was one hell of a ride. Doomo arigatou gozaimashita, Takeuchi-sama. But wait! We're not quite done! =============================== Yeah, okay, so I'll go into the end credits too. ^_^ Kudos to the return of "Moonlight Densetsu" (the Moon Lips version, too!) and I'm afraid that I'm always a sucker for 'snapshots'. Although I DO wish that there had been more of them. And as with the final battle, I could've gone for some scenes of events from the previous series, but that's being really nit-picky, and I've done enough of that, I think. And so, that was it. I sat in silence as I listened to our girls say their final goodbye to the audience, and then thought that this witch I was watching in the commercial that came up immediately after the show was just really ruining the mood, so I stopped the VCR and sat in silence while staring at a blue screen instead. My mother, probably as surprised as I was that she'd actually sad through all of this, said, "Well? What did you think?" To which I replied with a huge grin, "I got Rei-chan and the others back." "Yes, I gathered you were pleased on that count. What about the rest of it?" "I'll need to read some synopsis, figure out just what was going on." "What about the rest of it?" I paused for a moment. "I'm not really sure. I'll have to gather my thoughts." And that's what I've done (to a certain extent, anyway. ^_^) If you actually read this far, then I'm impressed. I had my doubts about half-way through that this would be interesting to anybody other than myself in the least, but you know, once you've done about 18K of work on a post, you kinda hate to trash it out of fear of low readership. So pushing onwards, I present to you my own thoughts on the final series of Sailor Moon, finished at 12:34am on the Friday morning a week after I received these episodes. Comments, minna-san? -=Jet Wolf Whew! -- =================================================================== JetWolf@ix.netcom.com -=- "Confuse, annoy, and DEE-STROY!" ** http://www.netcom.com/~jetwolf/slrmoon.html ** ** for the Sailor Moon Fandub Homepage! ** -= Random Quote Du Jour =- "If *Eternal* Sailor Moon DOES somehow die, should we sue for false advertising?" ===================================================================