Sailor Moon Crystal: Act 8 - Minako, Sailor V - Review 

Sailor Moon Crystal: "Act 8: Minako - Sailor V" Review

You know what the best part of "Minako - Sailor V" was? Minako, Sailor V.

She\'s a super cool crime fighter, has an array of knowledge (thanks to being the only Sailor Guardian with her memories intact) and wields spiffy powers. It was great to see her finally debut along with Kunzite, the last and strongest of Queen Beryl\'s henchmen. Unfortunately, his battle with the Guardians wasn\'t as exciting as Zoisite\'s showdown with them in Act 7. Yet as the cliffhanger ending suggests, the fight is only just beginning.

As I mentioned, the best part of this episode was Sailor Venus. I love that she\'s less of the butt-kicking video game heroine we\'ve come to associate her with, and more of a world-weary warrior with real life problems. It\'s obvious from her conversations with her cat Artemis she\'s keeping a lot of secrets. Secrets that weigh heavily on her mind. It\'s sad she can\'t share these secrets with her friends, but at least she told them more about Queen Metalia and the fall of the kingdom known as Silver Millennium. It\'s a nice bit of story exposition that helped tie up a few loose plot threads, while still leaving plenty of mysteries for the Guardians to unravel. (For example, how did Queen Metalia manage to destroy an entire kingdom? And how are the Sailor Guardians supposed to permanently seal her away?)

so secretive made her public announcement that she\'s the lost moon princess rather suspicious. Not only does it conflict with the strange dreams that Usagi and Mamoru are having, but it doesn\'t make sense given the fact that the Guardians are supposed to protect her. Why then, would she run off to try and fight Kunzite on her own? He only shows up after hearing her proclaim her royal lineage, which leads him and Queen Beryl to surmise she knows where the Legendary Silver Crystal is. Shouldn\'t Sailor V let her Guardians, you know...guard her at that point?  On the other hand, her reluctance to ask for help might be tied to the "secret mission"she\'s on (more secrets!), so her heroic stoicism is somewhat understandable.

stepped up her game this week. She showed a lot of moxie confronting Kunzite (twice!) and even gave Tuxedo Mask a big old smack on the lips before running into the heat of battle. No tears. No drama. No damsel in distress. As Mamoru observed, she was all strength and determination. I absolutely loved it, since it made her leadership role so much more believable.

Tuxedo Mask wasn\'t too shabby, either. No, he didn\'t throw a punch like last time (which was easily the best and most effective thing he\'s done all series long). Instead, he saved Sailor Moon from a scary fall off the top of Tokyo Tower, then took a direct hit for her. He may not be an ideal swordhand, but I\'m starting to think he makes a great shield. (Literally. Poor guy.)

Sailor Moon Crystal: English Subtitled Trailer

I wish I could lavish an equal amount of praise on the other Sailor Guardians, but  they barely got to do anything. Yes, they threw a few spells. Yes, there was one fast save by Sailor Jupiter...but that\'s about it. Nothing they did seemed to faze Kunzite, whose only role was to hover in the sky and look smug. Hopefully we\'ll get to see more of what he can do in the next episode. Or should I say, I hope we get to learn more about

. Sailor V\'s allusion that he wasn\'t acting like himself was certainly intriguing. Perhaps the Four Heavenly Emperors aren\'t just a bunch of random chumps with magical powers, after all.

By the way, the art direction and music were great this week. I really liked the nighttime shots of Tokyo Tower, and the music for Sailor Venus was appropriately dramatic without being over the top. The only technical nitpick I have with Act 8 is over the subtitles. They seemed...odd at times. Queen Beryl speaking normally then super informally in the same scene points to a clumsy translation. I\'m not sure what was going on, but it\'s something I noticed from time to time.

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This week\'s Sailor Moon Crystal wasn\'t quite as exciting as Act 7\'s action-packed showdown between Zoicite and the Sailor Guardians, but it was still fun to watch. We finally got to meet Sailor Venus, learned a little more about Queen Metalia and the Moon Kingdom, and watched Sailor Moon fearlessly charge into battle. Act 8 served as a nice set-up for what will hopefully be an epic showdown between the Sailor Guardians and the Dark Kingdom in the next act.

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Sailor Venus makes her exciting debut on this week\'s Sailor Moon Crystal.  RT

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