'Sailor Moon Crystal' Season 3 Finale Review: Just A Few Strands Shy Of Being Perfect [VIDEO]

As much as the third season of Sailor Moon Crystal was well-received by fans, it brief, 13 episode run has come to an end. Thus, with Season 3 of the popular anime remake now concluded, it is now time to evaluate exactly how well Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 was able to live up to fans' expectations.

Immediately noticeable from the first episode of the third season was the evident animation bump from the first two seasons. Indeed, from the first scenes alone, it was evident that Toei Animation truly listened to the franchise's fans' critiques of Seasons 1 and 2. This is, of course, proven more so during the finale of Season 3, as the harbinger of doom, Sailor Saturn, prepares to wipe out all life on Earth.

Perhaps what makes the last episode of Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 so satisfying is the fact that it was able to do proper justice to the manga. Sticking as close to its source material as possible, the creators of the anime were able to properly show the pervading tone and themes of the manga.

Thus, when Sailor Saturn does bring down the Silence Glaive on Pharaoh 90, the third season's main antagonist, the world does indeed seem like it was going to end. However, the anime was able to exhibit precisely why Saturn's emergence was needed.

In a sense, the final episode of the third season focused on the duality of death and rebirth, as symbolized by Sailor Saturn's Silence Glaive and Sailor Moon's Silver Crystal. Hence, while Saturn, together with an assist from Pluto, did manage to destroy the big bad while practically causing the death of the Earth, it was Sailor Moon's powers of creation that ultimately served as the perfect antithesis to all the chaos that ensued.

In the end of the episode, both Inner and Outer Senshi get their almost obligatory power upgrades, and the season teases the next arc that is set to be explored. Overall, the finale of Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 is fully on point.

In fact, the only weakness that could be pointed out in the episode is those rooted in the source material itself, such as Saturn's OP nature and the 11th-hour transformations. However, as an anime, Episode 13 of Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 was extremely close to perfect.