Sailor Moon Crystal

Episode 24

Sacrifice is a continual theme throughout Sailor Moon Crystal, as well as one of the chief complaints levied against Usagi herself – her second, if not first, solution to the problem is to sacrifice herself. While that often ends up working in her favor, that's not the sacrifice we see this week, and isn't likely to be the feature of the next episode either, although it is mentioned. No, in this episode we see Demande give up his brother after he has been corrupted by Wiseman (something that interestingly enough never actually happened to Demande himself), Chibi-Usa give up her existence by hooking up with her dad before he fathers her, and very nearly the sacrifice of the entire world as a way to get rid of Wiseman and his pernicious influence. And of course we have Pluto's breaking of at least two of the three rules laid out for her by Queen Serenity when she took up the Key as the Keeper of the Door. The results of what Pluto has done won't be seen until the next episode, and Chibi-Usa's incestuous affections for Mamoru don't appear to have any actual bearing on her existence as of yet (although I can't be the only one who considered that particular problem), but Demande's actions certainly do drive this episode. Learning that he never allowed his mind to be taken over by Wiseman indicates that yes, he really was that nasty all on his own, but also shows that he is willing to recognize his errors and try to fix them. Unfortunately for him that appears to mean ending the entire world.

He's actually the character who does the most in this episode. Black Lady mostly cackles menacingly and kisses her father (young version) while Sailor Moon herself spends most of her time praying and channeling the powers of the Legendary Silver Crystal. The Sailor Guardians, as is the norm, are put out of commission almost immediately. In point of fact, there's a lot of just standing around while people make evil faces and outline various schemes for either the world's destruction or its salvation. At first this makes things feel quite tense, and that comes into play again at the end of the episode, but most of the rest of it just feels like sitting there watching people try to freak each other out. Demande and Pluto bring some much-needed action into the story, even with most of Pluto's conflict being interior. She knows there's a problem and she desperately wants to help fix it, but she's bound (she feels) by her duty not to leave the door. The moment she makes her decision isn't quite as powerful as it could be, but there's still a sense of something major happening, and when the episode ends, it feels like a very good thing that someone with the power to control space and time happens to be on hand.

As for Demande, he begins to radiate desperation. He has finally seen that he threw his lot in with the wrong power, and while he still isn't a fan of Neo Queen Serenity and Crystal Tokyo, he also recognizes that he's made a lot of mistakes. His final move of the episode seems less like something inherently evil and more as if it's the only solution he can think of. That it would fulfill his own stated goals as well as defeat Wiseman seems more like icing on the cake. It is also worth considering that he has no one left to live for, so perhaps his choice is a willing sacrifice made in the desperation of sadness and self-recrimination. After all, he's the one who did for his brother at the end, an act which certainly seemed to sadden him.

More amusingly, at one point Tuxedo Mask is ordered to attack Sailor Moon, which he chooses to do with the Moon Rod. The sound effects make it sound like she's being hit with a hard plastic object; while the weapon certainly looks like it's a cheap toy, I didn't expect it to actually be made like one! We also get some weird background sounds in the beginning when Sailor Moon is realizing who Black Lady is; fortunately the rest of the sound design is much better.

The Black Moon story arc is heading into its finale, and it looks like in two weeks we can look forward to Sailor Pluto proving herself the only useful Sailor Guardian. This week started to show the parallels between Usagi and Chibi-Usa, so that gives me some hope that we'll have a strong finale. The conclusion of this plotline is one of the stronger ones and I'm hoping that Sailor Moon Crystal can do it justice.

Rating: C+

Sailor Moon Crystal is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Rebecca Silverman is ANN's senior manga critic.