It's the penultimate episode of Moon Makeup for the first season of Sailor Moon, as we get two steps closer to the final battle with the Dark Kingdom! First it's the last filler episode of the season, #43 Usagi Abandoned: The Falling-Out of the Sailor Guardians. Usagi comes up with a kind of nonesensical plan to try and sneak into the Dark Kingdom and we're just kind of dropped right into the middle of the plot and expected to figure things out on our own time, but the episode is so fast-paced it actually kinda works despite itself. Then it's the beginning of the end in #44, Usagi's Awakening: A Message from the Distant Past. An entrance to the Dark Kingdom is finally discovered as the girls rush off to confront Queen Beryl, but before they can get very far Kunzite tries to send them to another dimension (?) that's also the past (??) but gets foiled by the weirdly sentient moon stick (???) that sends them to the Moon Kingdom instead. Sure, whatever. In the SILVER MILLENIUM we get basically an extended flashback of past events that we already learned about ten episodes or so ago (when Usagi first found out she was the Moon Princess), but it's still kind of fun to see all those events animated. There's also one kind of massive plot hole, however; you'll have to listen to find out what. It's not all flashbacks though, as there's also the last battle with Kunzite! Once that's out of the way, it's time to head deeper into the Dark Kingdom, so we'll wrap up the first season next week with the last two episodes as well as our picks for favorite & least favorites of the season! See you then!

Timestamps

0:58-4:16: Introduction

4:52-22:42: Episode 43, "Usagi Abandoned: The Falling-Out of the Sailor Guardians"

23:18-45:38: Episode 44, "Usagi's Awakening: A Message from the Distant Past"

This week on Moon Makeup we continue our path to the end of season 1 of Sailor Moon! But first we start off with a brief report from Anime NYC, a big anime convention that took place in our hometown this past weekend, and specifically some major Sailor Moon news from Viz Media. Once that's done we turn our attention to our next batch of episodes, starting with #40, The Legendary Lake Yokai: The Bond of Usagi's Family. Usagi's family takes a vacation to a hot spring, but they happened to pick the same hot spring where an ancient monster was sealed away. What a coincidence. Queen Beryl sends Endymion to investigate but he makes a mess of it, as usual for him in his Dark Kingdom service. Then in episode #41, I Won't Run Away from Love Anymore: Ami vs. Mamoru, she gives him another task: to recapture the Seven Great Monsters (from the Rainbow Crystal arc earlier this season!) so they can be used to form one uber-monster! That plot sounds awesome but sadly it's much less so in practice, as it's just the background for a pretty boring Ami-centric episode about her equally boring love interest Ryo. Finally we wrap things up with episode #42, Sailor Venus' Past: Minako's Tragic Love. We finally get to see a glimpse of what Minako was getting up to as Sailor V before she joined the team, as we flash back to her in England about six months ago where she meets a man she falls in love with and an Interpol cop who looks after her like a little sister, and inadvertently brings them together. The Dark Kingdom has turned her evil of course, and then turned her into a giant butterfly because why not. Enjoy some of the last few episodes of season 1, this week!

Timestamps

0:59-12:16: Introduction

12:52-31:40: Episode 40, "The Legendary Lake Yokai: The Bond of Usagi's Family"

32:16-53:13: Episode 41, "I Won't Run Away from Love Anymore: Ami vs. Mamoru"

53:49-1:16:45: Episode 42, "Sailor Venus' Past: Minako's Tragic Love"

It's all ice, all the time, this week on Moon Makeup! We get three episodes of mostly filler (except for the big reveal of LUNA'S MYSTERY VOICE BOSS), and two of them are both about ice and snow for some reason! First though we get the one that doesn't fit the theme, Episode 37, Let's Become a Princess: Usagi's Bizarre Training. Kunzite tries to enlist an English countess in a fairly clever trap designed to find someone who CAN'T pass their princess training (since they know that Sailor Moon is, in their own words, "unclouth") but CAN toss a frisbee well just like Sailor Moon can toss Moon Tiara Magic. But then in Episode 38, The Snow, the Mountains, Friendship and Monsters we get to the snow and ice! There's some kind of Moon Princess contest held on the slopes every year that Kunzite turns into his latest trap, as we get an odd homage to Speed Racer down the slopes with this week's monster throwing traps at our heroes as they race down. Finally we wrap it up with Episode 39, Paired with a Monster: Mako, the Ice Skating Queen. We learn that ice skating was the most popular sport on the Moon Kingdom back in the day, which Kunzite plans to use to his advantage as he enlists two Olympian skaters to set up a trap. However, Endymion is mad at Kunzite's tactics of involving innocent civilians and uses this filmsy excuse to come rescue Sailor Moon as Tuxedo Mask once again, as we get a two-on-two ice skating battle. It's an icey cold bowl of filler, this week on Moon Makeup!

Timestamps

1:01-5:44: Introduction

6:20-23:40: Episode 37, "Let's Become a Princess: Usagi's Bizarre Training"

24:16-40:00: Episode 38, "The Snow, the Mountains, Friendship and Monsters"

40:37-57:31: Episode 39, "Paired with a Monster: Mako, the Ice Skating Queen"

This week on Moon Makeup we give Zoisite the goodbye he deserves! Yes, it's finally time for our favorite general to kick the bucket, but at least he gets to do it in a big time two-parter (really a three-parter if you count the final episode from last week, as it bleeds right into this one). First it's episode #34, The Shining Silver Crystal: The Moon Princess Appears, as Mamoru falls right into a trap like a complete idiot and we finally learn the very mysterious identity of the moon princess. Yes, here on Sailor Moon. Very mysterious! It goes right from there into episode #35, Returning Memories: Usagi and Mamoru's Past, with some flashbacks to the Moon Kingdom, the aforementioned tragic death of our Best Gay, Sailor Moon gets the Silver Crystal by crying, and Mamoru getting whisked away by the Dark Kingdom. He re-emerges in episode #36, Usagi's Confusion: Is Tuxedo Mask Evil?, as we start our next filler arc with the Dark Kingdom searching for Sailor Moon's true identity so they can recover that Silver Crystal. The Wheel of Obvious Traps lands on "famous hair salong giving out expensive treaments for free", but more importantly Tuxedo Mask is back, and this time he's BAD! And he's not actually Tuxedo Mask at all, now he's Endymion, a commander of the Dark Kingdom! So why is he still wearing that Tuxedo Mask outfit, you ask? Well, uh, good question. All this and more, this week!

0:59-8:25: Introduction

9:01-27:10: Episode 34, "The Shining Silver Crystal: The Moon Princess Appears"

27:46-48:04: Episode 35, "Returning Memories: Usagi and Mamoru's Past"

48:39-1:09:53: Episode 36, "Usagi's Confusion: Is Tuxedo Mask Evil?"

This week on Moon Makeup we have an interesting mix of good filler, bad filler, and some huge movement in the plot! First it's Episode #31, Love and Chased: Luna's Worst Day Ever, as Luna gets wrapped up in some kind of weird STRAY CAT TURF WAR that makes no sense and gets saved by another cat that's in love with her. It's all very cat-focused. Oh, and there's a lot of references to Gone with the Wind, which John had no idea about until Nicole told them because they've never seen that movie! Then it's episode #32, Umino's Resolve: I'll Protect Naru, as Umino gets really creepy in his efforts to win over Naru's love. Finally we have episode #33, Enter Venus, the Last Sailor Guardian, as we actually move this plot along a little bit here! There's a fake Sailor Moon subplot that actually kind of goes nowhere, Kunzite fights the Sailor Senshi for the first time, and Queen Beryl sees Tuxedo Mask's face and is very surprised by who he is (for reasons that are not yet revealed). But of course the main story here is that we finally are introduced to the fifth Sailor Senshi (NOT the final one, despite the episode title here...), completing the team of Inner Senshi 33 episodes into the season! Hurray! This also kicks off a kind of 3-part ending to the Zoisite/Rainbow Crystal saga that will conclude next week, so stay tuned!

Timestamps:

0:55-5:40: Introduction

6:16-34:06: Episode 31, "Love and Chased: Luna's Worst Day Ever"

34:42-55:48: Episode 32, "Umino's Resolve: I'll Protect Naru"

56:25-1:15:07: Episode 33, "Enter Venus, the Last Sailor Guardian"

This week on Moon Makeup we're joined by a special guest for the very first time! The self-proclaimed "podcast Tuxedo Mask" Dylan Harris (@DylanZeroSky) of wrestling podcasts Eastern Lariat and Lucha Talk joins us to discuss three more episodes of the original Sailor Moon, as we continue the Rainbow Crystal saga. First it's Episode #28, The Painting of Love: Usagi and Mamoru Get Closer, as Usagi and Mamoru see themselves in the dreams of a mousey painter and agree to model for her next work. But of course, she's this week's Rainbow Crystal holder. Then in episode #29, Total Chaos: The Messy Love Rectangle, we meet Motoki's girlfriend for the first time and he and Mamoru have a heart-to-heart in one of the funniest scenes in the entire series. Finally we wrap things up with episode #30, Grandpa Loses Control: Rei in Danger, and indeed Rei's Grandpa turns out to be our latest hidden monster! Plus we meet Yuichiro for the first time, who falls in love with Rei at first sight (and honestly, can ya blame him?). We hope you enjoy our first ever Moon Makeup with a special guest!

Timestamps

0:57-4:58: Introduction

5:34-32:38: Episode 28, "The Painting of Love: Usagi and Mamoru Get Closer"

33:14-1:01:30: Episode 29, "Total Chaos: The Messy Love Rectangle"

1:02:05-1:25:52: Episode 30, "Grandpa Loses Control: Rei in Danger"

We finally meet our fourth Sailor Guardian this week on Moon Makeup, and it happens right out of the gate in our first episode of three! In Episode #25, Jupiter, the Powerful Girl in Love our titular hero jumps right into the action, kicking some major ass and showing off her super strength. We also get introduced to this arc's format, as Zoisite begins searching for the seven Rainbow Crystals that are each imbedded in a different monster (reborn as a human; yes, it's kind of complicated!). Our first target turns out to be a crane game cheater who reminds our new Guardian Makoto of her sempai (though as we will quickly learn that is not an exclusive category). Next in Episode #26 Restore Naru's Smile: Usagi's Friendship we circle back around to see how Naru is handling the death of her love interest (and previous Dark Kingdom general) Nephrite, and the answer is "not great". We also meet a priest who turns into a chicken-legged boxer, for some reason. Finally in Episode #27 Crushing on Ami: The Boy Who Can See The Future we meet Ami's on-again, off-again love interest Ryo Urawa and learn that he's destined to strip Sailor Mercury of her clothing. Yes, really. Join us on the beginning of our very colorful Rainbow Crystal journey, this week on Moon Makeup!

*Timestamps: *

0:56-10:01: Introduction

10:37-37:53: Episode #25, "Jupiter, the Powerful Girl in Love"

38:30-58:59: Episode #26, "Restore Naru's Smile: Usagi's Friendship"

59:35-1:21:13: Episode #27, "Crushing on Ami: The Boy Who Can See The Future"

This week on Moon Makeup we say goodbye to Nephrite! Before we get into three more episodes of the original Sailor Moon though we have a slightly longer introduction than normal, as John talks about a truly awful anime con experience in New York from this past weekend, brought to you by New York Comic Con and Anime Expo. Thanks for nothing guys! Once that's out of the way we start with Episode #22, Romance Under the Moon: Usagi's First Kiss. An unspecified princess has come to town with an unspecified treasure, and both sides of our ongoing conflict are SUPER convinced this must make her the Moon Princess carrying the Silver Crystal around. You can guess how that goes, I'm sure. Then we begin the 2-part tale of Nephrite's demise with Episode #23, Wish Upon a Star: Naru's First Love. Poor Naru is hopelessly in love with a villain, and most of this episode is dedicated to Usagi trying to break that very upsetting news to her. We also get a pretty prime example of "be careful what you wish for" with Usagi's titular wish at the end. Finally we wrap things up with Episode #24, Naru's Tears: Nephrite Dies for Love, which uh, kind of gives away most of the plot right there in the title! Zoisite makes his big move to steal Nephrite's new toy, Nephrite repeatedly declares how much he doesn't care about Naru while also repeatedly saving her, and then, yeah, he pretty much dies for love while Naru cries about it. It's one of the saddest endings of any Sailor Moon episode, but only one of the two hosts are moved by it. See if you can guess which one, this week on Moon Makeup!

Timestamps:

0:53-12:30: Introduction

13:05-39:51: Episode 22, "Romance Under the Moon: Usagi's First Kiss"

40:27-1:00:49: Episode 23, "Wish Upon a Star: Naru's First Love"

1:01:25-1:22:11: Episode 24, "Naru's Tears: Nephrite Dies for Love"

It's a very mixed bag of Sailor Moon episodes this week on Moon Makeup. First we begin with one of our favorite episodes of the season so far, Episode 19 Usagi's Joy: A Love Letter from Tuxedo Mask. It's a big plot-moving kind of episode, as Sailor Moon and Tuexdo Mask have some of their longest scenes together and really have an actual conversation for the very first time. Plus the Senshi learn the identity of Nephrite's human cover and Naru begins a very unfortunate love story. But from that we go to the very definition of filler in Episode 20, The Summer, the Beach, Youth and Ghosts. The Dark Kingdom can't even bother to show up for the first of many swimsuit episodes, but honestly this one isn't really even that good at fan service either. It's just a very boring, very nonsensical story about a tiny child psychic and her abusive dad. Things get a little better in that at least the Dark Kingdom is back for Episode 21, Protect the Children's Dreams: Friendship Through Anime, but this is still mostly filler. We meet two animators, one of whom of course gets turned evil and comes up with the world's dumbest plan to somehow force an animated film director to kill off a character against their will simply by drawing it. Yeah, uh, that's not how that works! So hear us like some stuff, hate some stuff, and be kind of ambivelant about some stuff, this week on Moon Makeup!

Timestamps

0:58-5:04: Introduction

5:39-32:30: Episode 19, "Usagi's Joy: A Love Letter from Tuxedo Mask"

33:06-49:08: Episode 20, "The Summer, the Beach, Youth and Ghosts"

49:44-1:08:09: Episode 21, "Protect the Children's Dreams: Friendship Through Anime"

This week on Moon Makeup we have three episodes that focus in on Usagi trying to take on three very different roles! First in episode 16, A Girl's Dream: Usagi Becomes a Bride, we see her trying desperately to win the first contest in Juban district history that ISN'T an elaborate energy scheme in disguise. She wants to win a contest where you sew your own wedding dress and get a lavish wedding reception at some undetermined point in the future, except she doesn't actually know how to sew, so you can probably guess how that goes for her. Then in episode 17, Usagi's a Model: The Flash of the Monster Camera we see her trying desperately to become a model while dealing with maybe the least supportive family in the history of Japan. Finally in episode 18, Shingo's Love: The Grieving Doll, she finally finds a role she can actually play succesfully: a loving and supportive big sister to her little brother Shingo, a little jerk who in no way deserves it. Aww. That's kind of adorable right? It's quite the three-episode journey for her this week on Moon Makeup!

Timestamps

0:47-4:44: Introduction

5:22-26:13: Episode #16, "A Girl's Dream: Usagi Becomes a Bride"

26:54-48:15: Episode #17, "Usagi's a Model: The Flash of the Monster Camera"

48:56-1:09:33: Episode #18, "Shingo's Love: The Grieving Doll"