Review: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal - Episode 10

After the revelation that Sailor Moon is Princess Serenity, the Sailor Guardians travel to the moon to restore the memories of their past lives. On the moon they meet a hologram of the departed Queen Serenity who recounts the story of the downfall of the Silver Millennium. Back on Earth, the Shitennou have covered Tokyo in ice and are ready to battle the Sailor Guardians upon their return.

After the lacklustre execution of the past couple of episodes, "Act 10 MOON" promised to provide the exposition that had been hinted at from the series' debut. Through a narrated flashback from Queen Serenity, we finally get to see a fuller glimpse of life during the Silver Millennium. Sadly, she doesn't tell us much more than what we already know. One of the few revelations made is that Princess Serenity committed suicide after Prince Endymion's death. This is largely implied, which is in contrast to the manga where her death is quite graphic. The impact of her death is largely robbed of most of its meaning due to the rushed nature of the flashback. Unlike in the previous anime, this episode spends very little time on the Silver Millennium and doesn't give us an epic battle that leads to the destruction of the Moon Kingdom. In this case, Crystal does way too much telling and not nearly enough showing.

Once the curtailed sequence on the Moon is finished, the Sailor Guardians head back to Earth where they face off against the Shitennou. This sequence features a brief, but very effective four-against-four battle. A particularly memorable shot depicts Sailor Venus dodging a blast from Kunzite by scaling a wall. Tragically, the confrontation gets abbreviated much like the scenes on the Moon. It is here that Sailor Venus reveals that the Sailor Guardians loved the Shitennou, prompting her team to regain their memories of this fact. With this knowledge, the Sailor Guardians give up the fight out of love for their past loves. The problem with this isn't that they give up, but rather that the writers don't provide enough context for it. Yes they loved these men, but we need to emotionally connect with that to understand why. Once again, it's a case of telling instead of showing.

In previous reviews, I have criticized Crystal for its slow pacing and lack of action. In this episode, it's the complete opposite. The writers rush through the entire episode, jamming a the Moon sequence in with a battle against the Shitennou. The pacing was so frantic that it disconnects the viewer from the content. In other words, the writers needed to spend more time developing life on the Moon and provide viewers with an extended flashback that would have pulled people into that world. Personally, I think it would have been wiser to make the entire episode a flashback and reveal the Shitennou and the Sailor Guardians' connections to one another that way. Sadly, Sailor Moon Crystal is not quite living up to its potential.