Sailor Moon Crystal: Act 9 - Serenity, Princess - Review 

Sailor Moon Crystal: "Act 9: Serenity - Princess" Review

Since the beginning of the series, we’ve been teased about a big reveal involving the whereabouts of the Silver Crystal and Princess Serenity. This week it finally happened.

Of course, it wasn’t too hard to figure out that Princess Serenity and Usagi are one and the same. I mean, there aren’t many girls out there who wear their hair in super long ponytails. Thus, Mamoru’s dreams of a princess with that exact hairstyle begging him to find the Silver Crystal was pretty much a dead give away. The bigger surprise was the location of the Legendary Silver Crystal, which was

Sailor Moon Crystal: English Subtitled Trailer

Unfortunately, its sudden appearance (along with memories of her past life) came at the expense of Usagi’s sanity. She\'s basically now suffering from PTSD after watching Tuxedo Mask get impaled and kidnapped by Kunzite. Kotono Mitsuishi (the voice of Sailor Moon) did a tremendous job here; the actress really captured Usagi\'s hysteria and despair over losing Mamoru to the Dark Kingdom.  It’s painful to watch, especially since we learn through a series of flashbacks that this has all happened once before.

Luckily, Usagi has a great group of friends that she can lean on when times get hard. One of my favorite scenes in the entire series was watching the Sailor Guardians comfort their princess after her nervous breakdown. There was something so sweet about them doing everything they could to cheer her up:  styling Usagi’s hair, giving an inspirational speech, and finally giving her a big group hug. It’s exactly what Usagi needed, because by the end of the episode she was more determined than ever to stop the Dark Kingdom. As they say, friendship is magic.

I also enjoyed the flashbacks of Usagi and Mamoru\'s past life together, although I wish we had learned a little more about their relationship. All we were told is that Prince Endymion of the Earth Kingdom (Mamoru\'s past incarnation) and Princes Serenity of the Moon Kingdom (Usagi\'s past incarnation)  fell in love and had a forbidden liaison before Queen Metalia destroyed both their kingdoms. It\'s both romantic and tragic, but it\'s hard to get emotionally invested when we\'re somewhat hurried through the details.

Animation wise, Toei really stepped up their game this week. Colors were lush and vibrant, and you could see tiny details on a character\'s clothes or body.  I appreciate that the studio gave more time and attention to such an important episode. I also liked the occasional nod to the original source material. There were a few directional shots pulled right from the manga, like the one where Sailor Venus is looking up at Tokyo Tower during the fight with Kunzite. That particular panel in the comic was always very striking to me, so it was great to see it appear here.

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Act 9 was the most emotionally gripping episode of Crystal to date. We learned about Usagi\'s tragic past, and watched her have a complete nervous breakdown over Mamoru\'s kidnapping. The good news is that Usagi has the unwavering support of her friends, and more motivation than ever to go after the Dark Kingdom. Hopefully we\'ll see her give Queen Beryl a big old heap of Moon Healing Escalation soon.

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This week we learn about Usagi\'s tragic past, and the location of the Silver Crystal.  RT

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