'Sailor Moon Crystal' Episode 12 Review: Death, Sacrifice & Events Leading To The World's End [VIDEO]
Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 is quickly becoming a fan favorite, simply because of the fact that it seems to embody the best of the 90's anime and the two seasons before it. With better production values than its predecessors and still sticking very close to the manga, the third season of Crystal is definitely Sailor Moon at its finest.
A great example of this lies in the 12th episode of Season 3, where the Inner and Outer Sailor Scouts, together with Tuxedo Mask, battle the seemingly invincible Pharaoh 90. Though the beginning of the episode was essentially a recap of the previous week's events, the plot quickly picks up pace, with the Inner Senshi attacking the massive glob of evil energy that Pharaoh 90 has already become.
Though a number of these scenes included stock footage of the Senshi's attacks, the quality of the animation was consistent throughout. Unfortunately for the Sailor Scouts, their attacks simply strengthened the already overpowered enemy, and they were quickly laid to waste.
It was at this point that this previous episode really shone. Indeed, the scenes immediately following the defeat of the scouts were heart-wrenching and intense. If any, the scenes showed Usagi, who was more of a comic relief in the 90s anime, as a mature fighter who knows what is at stake and what she needs to do, regardless of the price.
Apart from Usagi's characterization, her daughter Chibiusa's relationship with her was also expanded pretty well. In the final moments, the little guardian, knowing that her future mother was about to do, finally calls her "mom." Such a scene was simply inconceivable in the original anime.
Perhaps the star of the episode, however, was the emergence of the Soldier of Silence and Death, Sailor Saturn, who emerges from the depths of Pharaoh 90's body in possibly one of the best sequences ever in a Sailor Moon anime. Indeed, her emergence, as well as her introduction, has been heralded by fans as one of the most iconic scenes in Crystal so far.
True to form, however, the episode ends with a cliffhanger, as Sailor Saturn prepares to bring down her Silence Glaive and end the world, with the little Chibiusa screaming for her mother.
Indeed, Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3, Episode 12 is one of the best in the series so far. With stakes raised very high, it is one episode to definitely remember.
