Act 1: Usagi - Sailor Moon
This is the origin episode. It is pretty much the same in any incarnation of "Sailor Moon" you find. Usagi Tsukino, a clumsy cry-baby, meets a cat named Luna. Luna gives Usagi a brooch to transform into Sailor Moon and tells her that her mission is to find the princess and fight against enemies. She also meets Tuxedo Mask when he saves her.
I was so excited to see the new animation and see Sailor Moon in action again. This episode is very special to me, because it was the first time that this new beginning of the series felt real to me.
Act 2: Ami - Sailor Mercury
In this episode, we meet, Ami Mizuno, a smart and shy girl that goes to Usagi's school. Luna senses that she could be a Sailor Guardian. Ami goes to a cram school to study but doesn't realize that the energy of all the students is being drained. The instructor is a youma sent by Jadeite in disguise. Luna gives Ami a pen which allows her to transform into Sailor Mercury.
The Crystal version of this episode is slightly different from the 90's anime. In the old anime, they thought Ami was from the Dark Kingdom since they found the brainwashing disk that she left behind.
Sailor Mercury was my first favorite senshi, so she always holds a special place for me. The new animation makes her look beautiful, so I really liked this one.
Act 3: Rei - Sailor Mars
Rei is a beautiful young maiden at the Hikawa Shrine, which is ran by her Grandfather. Rei is a very serious person and doesn't really have any friends. The bus that runs by the Hikawa Shrine at 6:00 keeps disappearing. Usagi and Rei investigate, Rei then awakens her powers as a Guardian and with the transformation pen, becomes Sailor Mars. (Usagi also has her 2nd encounter with Mamoru and learns his name.)
I'm not the biggest Rei fan, but a large part of that is because of how she was portrayed in the original anime. I think I'm going to like her better in "Crystal".
Act 4: Masquerade Dance Party
Luna overhears Usagi's classmates talking about Princess D and how she will be exhibiting a special treasure from the kingdom of D. Luna thinks it might be related to the princess and the Legendary Silver Crystal. Usagi, Ami, and Rei go to the masquerade party to investigate. Usagi is caught off guard when Tuxedo Mask asks to dance with her. Ami and Rei find that the princess is being controlled by a youma. Usagi falls off a balcony and is caught by Tuxedo Mask. She transforms into Sailor Moon and defeats the enemy then falls asleep from exhaustion. Tuxedo Mask attempts to kiss Sailor Moon while she sleeps but Luna stops him and makes him stay away from her.
I liked this episode, but the relationship between Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask seemed to develop a little too quickly. It is, however, more close to the manga.
Act 5: Makoto - Sailor Jupiter
One day, Usagi is saved from being hit by a car by a girl wearing another school's uniform, who is revealed to be a transfer student named Makoto Kino. Although the others in Makoto's class are too intimidated by her assumed superhuman strength to approach her, Usagi easily befriends her and takes her to the arcade, where she becomes entranced by Motoki due to his resemblance to an upperclassman she knew. Later, Usagi and the others hear about a bridal shop that is said to be cursed by a possessed mannequin that seduces grooms and kidnaps them. That night, Tuxedo Mask appears before Usagi, leading her and the others to Makoto as she is cornered by Motoki, who has been possessed by the "cursed bride" monster commanded by Nephrite. Feeling betrayed by Nephrite's manipulation of her feelings, Makoto regains her spirit when Usagi tells her to believe in love, gaining the power to become Sailor Jupiter and defeating Nephrite and his monster. With Makoto joining the Sailor Guardians, Luna brings out a new magical item, the Moon Stick, to give to Usagi, assigning her as the leader of the group.
Holy Cow! I love this episode! Sailor Jupiter is my favorite Guardian! She's tough, feminine, a good cook, beautiful, kind, and my favorite color is also green. The animation got a lot better with this episode and I was happy with Jupiter's transformation.
Act 6: Tuxedo Mask
Tuxedo Mask announces that he has committed various crimes in search of the Legendary Silver Crystal to discover information. That night, Luna explains that she was sent from the Moon Kingdom to awaken the Sailor Guardians, search for the Moon Princess, and protect the Legendary Silver Crystal, which is said to have enough power to destroy an entire planet, while Usagi, hearing a voice from the Sailor V arcade game, ponders if Sailor V is also one of their allies. The next day, Zoisite uses the media to hypnotise citizens into searching for the Legendary Silver Crystal, sending the city into chaos. Luna takes the girls to her secret base underneath the arcade, managing to locate the source of the controlling signal, but Usagi runs off on her own when Luna implies it may be Tuxedo Mask's doing. As the other guardians confront Zoisite, Usagi comes across Tuxedo Mask, who apologises for things turning out like this and states that he desires to search for the Legendary Silver Crystal despite lacking any special power of his own. After Zoisite overpowers the guardians with his attacks, Queen Beryl arrives and prepares to turn the Earth into part of the Dark Kingdom. Knowing of Usagi's identity as Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask encourages her to use her own special power to help her friends. Usagi's desire to protect everyone allows her to use the Moon Stick's Moon Healing Escalation technique to critically damage Zoisite, forcing him and Queen Beryl to flee, and restore the citizens to normal. After exhausting her energy, Usagi wakes up the next day in Mamoru's apartment, learning his true identity as Tuxedo Mask.
This episode didn't really stand out to me. I thought the "Moon Healing Escalation" part was good. I didn't think much of this episode was vital to the story.
Act 7: Mamoru Chiba - Tuxedo Mask
Mamoru explains to Usagi that he needs the Legendary Silver Crystal to regain his memories, which he lost in a car accident that killed his parents, asking her to keep his identity a secret. Meanwhile, Beryl meets with her master, Queen Metalia, recalling when she first released her from the seal the Sailor Guardians previously placed upon her. Beryl then dispatches Zoisite once again to steal the Legendary Silver Crystal. The next day, as Usagi and the others do some research on Sailor V, they soon discover that a DVD rental shop set up by Zoisite is brainwashing citizens into searching for Sailor Moon. After Usagi uses her Moon Healing Escalation to cure the brainwashed citizens, she is attacked by Zoisite but is rescued by Mamoru, realizing his true wish is to protect her. Zoisite singlehandedly knocks out Mamoru and Usagi is saved from certain death by Sailor V and her white cat companion.
A LOT happens in this one! We find out about Mamoru's past, and we see him actually make a real attempt to save Sailor Moon. My favorite part was when we saw Sailor V!
Act 8: Minako - Sailor V
As Sailor V's partner Artemis claims her to be Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom, Usagi's tiara suddenly changes shape, showing her a brief glimpse of a forgotten memory. After both Zoisite and Mamoru retreat, Sailor V, who introduces herself as Minako Aino, explains about the Dark Kingdom's ambitions to gather energy from innocent people and conquer Earth and her mission to seal Queen Metalia once again. The next day, after having a dream about a man named Endymion, Usagi runs into Mamoru, who offers to trade Usagi's lost handkerchief for the return of his pocketwatch some time, while Artemis reveals to Luna that she had some of her own memories sealed. Later that night, Kunzite demands that Minako bring the Legendary Silver Crystal to him alone or else everyone in Tokyo will be killed, causing a blackout in the city and draining energy from everyone. The other Sailor Guardians soon catch on and join Minako in fighting against Kunzite, but when he launches an attack at everyone, Mamoru steps in to take the hit and to protect Usagi who tries to protect her friends from Kunzite's attack.
I love Minako! She is exactly what I wanted out of this new series. I also love that they kept her Sailor V transformation pen!
Act 9: Serenity - Princess
In his dying moments, Mamoru comes to realise that his true identity is Endymion, the first prince of the Earth, who was reborn to reunite with the true Serenity, Usagi. Usagi's sorrow over Mamoru's death transforms her into the true Serenity, regaining memories of her past life in the process, showing how she fell in love with Endymion, despite there being laws against people from the Earth and Moon seeing each other. When the Earth Kingdom attacked Silver Millenium, Endymion sacrificed himself to protect Serenity. Usagi's tears bring forth the Legendary Silver Crystal, the power of which drips into Mamoru's body. Just then, Queen Beryl arrives and she and Kunzite take Mamoru back to their realm, leaving Usagi devastated. Afterwards, Minako reveals she is the true leader of the Sailor Guardians, Sailor Venus, while Artemis shows the other guardians their past lives. Some time later, the girls visit Usagi, whose hair has been rapidly growing since that day, and assure her that she doesn't have to walk the same tragic path as Serenity. In order to locate the Dark Kingdom where Mamoru is being held, the group decide to travel to the moon and learn all the truth.
This is my least favorite episode so far. I hated all the crying coming from Usagi. I mean, I get she's been through a lot and she loves him, but still. It was really annoying. So yeah, I will probably skip this episode when I do a marathon viewing of the series.
Act 10: Moon
After a few days of preparation, Usagi and the others land on the moon, soon arriving at the ruins of Silver Millenium. Upon pulling out a sword that was lodged in a stone in the castle's prayer room, the girls are greeted by a hologram of Princess Serenity's mother, Queen Serenity, who shows them their past lives in Silver Millenium. She reveals it was an evil force that brainwashed the Earth Kingdom into attacking Silver Millenium, with Princess Serenity committing suicide after Endymion died trying to protect her. The Queen then assures Usagi that Mamoru is still alive, as she had willed the Legendary Silver Crystal to save him, and asks her to think about the true power of the crystal before her time runs out. Meanwhile, the Four Dark Kings, who had been eavesdropping on Beryl speaking with Queen Metalia, learn that they were once righteous knights who served under Endymion in their past lives, but had been used by Beryl before they had regained their memories. However, they are discovered by Beryl and once again put under her control, sending them to Earth to freeze Tokyo and obtain the crystal from Usagi. Recognizing the four knights' true identities, Minako and the other Sailor Guardians combine their powers into the Sailor Planet Attack in order to try and free the knights from Beryl's control, but they escape before they can be purified. Meanwhile, Beryl uses her power to put Mamoru under her control, sending him to kill Usagi.
This episode was the most epic and vital one yet! We learned about the Silver Millenium AND they finally got to put the senshi and shittenou pairings that we have seen in plenty of artwork. :)
Overall, this series is great! It's allowing us fans to relive "Sailor Moon" all over again. I think it's great that they brought Kotono Mitsuishi back to play Sailor Moon. I wish the senshi had a little more screen time, but I'm sure that's to come. It has been officially announced that they are going to do the R story arc! I am so excited to see that!
I hope you all are enjoying the show! Please follow my blog. ( This ariticle, I borrowed some summaries from the Sailor Moon Crystal page on wikipedia.org )
Love and hugs!
~Jewely
