Sailor Moon Crystal Liveblog Chat Thingy: Episode 7

Sorry this is up so late. Plans were disrupted by the need to go to the ER. I'm fine, but probably going to need surgery in the not too distant future, so I'm opening up calls for the week or so of guest posts I'm likely to need. 

Also, I finally updated the Kill la Kill chat post from Saturday with the log.

01[14:55] <Froborr> Hullo.
[14:55] <FoME> Hi.
01[14:55] <Froborr> So it looks like I've got one ad after the opening credits, one before the ending credits, and only one actually during the show, which is good.
01[14:55] <Froborr> On the other hand, given the way crunchyroll usually works for me, those'll each be three consecutive ads.
[14:56] <@Sylocat> Okay, pre-loading...
[14:56] <@Sylocat> Great, two episodes in a row named after the guy
[14:56] <FoME> I've got the same setup.
[14:56] <@Sylocat> Ah well... the last one got better at the end.
01[14:56] <Froborr> Yeah, I'm not enthused by this episode title.
01[14:57] <Froborr> That's true.
[14:58] <@Sylocat> (I linked you all to Nostalgia Chick's "hottest animated guys" list, right?)
[14:58] <FoME> Yup.
01[14:58] <Froborr> Yep.
[14:58] <Arrlaari> Yeah
[14:58] <Arrlaari> She doesn't have a lot to say about this guy because she didn't really watch the show
[14:58] <@Sylocat> I know, but several of the other picks say a lot
[14:58] <@Sylocat> Okay, 1 minute
[14:59] <@Sylocat> (and he's still less obnoxious than in the first anime)
[14:59] <@Sylocat> (not that that's a high bar to clear)
[14:59] <@Sylocat> Click
[15:00] <@Sylocat> Is that Speedy Gonzales in Toei's logo?
[15:00] <@Sylocat> Oh, we pick up right where we left off
01[15:00] <Froborr> No, it's Puss in Boots.
[15:00] <FoME> It's not a transformation. There's an actual tuxedo. That's kind of hilarious.
[15:00] <@Sylocat> Hahaha
01[15:01] <Froborr> That WOULD explain why he's a non-teleporting loser.
[15:01] <@Sylocat> "How could I not have noticed?"
[15:01] <Arrlaari> There was a transform in the old anime and tbh I think this fits him better
[15:01] <FoME> It's a very good question!
[15:01] <@Sylocat> Even SHE thinks she should have figured it out
01[15:02] <Froborr> Though to be fair, she's met his secret identity, what, twice?
[15:02] <Arrlaari> The obvious explanation is that she had a negative first impression of his civilian identity and a positive impressioin of his costumed identity and motivated reasoning
[15:02] <@Sylocat> Good points all
[15:02] <FoME> Indeed. Also, ad.
01[15:02] <Froborr> Also he may be doing a posture thing like Christopher Reeves as Superman.
01[15:03] <Froborr> Ad here, too.
[15:03] <@Sylocat> Of course, he slouches like Supes
[15:03] <FoME> I'm back.
01[15:03] <Froborr> Still an ad here.
01[15:03] <Froborr> Back.
[15:03] <Arrlaari> Also, it's notable that apparently flimsy masks do spoil immediate recognition. People are often not recognized when they start or stop wearing  glasses.
[15:03] <Sylocat> Phew
[15:04] <Sylocat> Right... it's a "Nuking the Fridge" moment, where something that is actually plausible strikes the viewers as wrong
[15:04] <FoME> Tuxedo Mask and the Crystal Skull? There's a mental image.
[15:04] <Sylocat> (did I miss the "ad over?")
[15:05] <FoME> Yes.
01[15:05] <Froborr> Yeah, you did.
[15:05] <Arrlaari> It's more of an issue for long-running stories where there's an opportunity for close examination
01[15:05] <Froborr> Hmm, no superpowers, dead parents, obsession, entitled asshole... so Batman, basically.
[15:05] <Sylocat> Except not rich
[15:05] <Sylocat> So he's got that going for him
01[15:05] <Froborr> True.
01[15:06] <Froborr> On the other hand he's quite a bit more rape-y than Batman, so.
[15:06] <FoME> "I'm looking for the MacGuffin because it will resotre my lost memories." "My cat told me to." Oh, Usagi.
[15:06] <Sylocat> Ah, so THAT's why the episode is named after him
[15:06] <Sylocat> Well, depends on the Batman writer
01[15:06] <Froborr> True, ASBAR Bats is basically a child-molesting kidnapper.
01[15:07] <Froborr> Usako?
01[15:08] <Froborr> Wait, does Sailor V outrank Luna?
[15:08] <FoME> "Rather inexperienced"? She was the first one! Other than V.
[15:09] <Sylocat> Until last episode, Kyubey outranked Luna AFAIWC
[15:09] <Arrlaari> ko at the end of a word generally indicates child, so "Usako" is a rabbit child. Diminutive nicknames are coded romantic, both here and in Japan.
01[15:09] <Froborr> Oh, I like how Metalia has a forehead star, like a dark mirror of a Sailor Scout.
[15:09] <Sylocat> Wait, I'd forgotten that Luna was actually in contact with Sailor V
[15:09] <Arrlaari> I don't remember seeing that before this episode either
01[15:09] <Froborr> Wait, the Dark Kingdom is on Earth?
[15:10] <FoME> Actual regret from Beryl?
01[15:10] <Froborr> I just assumed they were on some other planet or alternate dimension or something!
[15:10] <Arrlaari> Yeah, near "D-point" same as in the old anime
01[15:10] <Froborr> Beryl's human!?
[15:10] <Sylocat> I assume "Legendary Silver Crystal" sounds more badass in Japanese
[15:11] <FoME> Beryl was human once. Now? It's up for debate.
01[15:11] <Froborr> The evil rental store is called "Dark."
01[15:11] <Froborr> They're not even trying anymore.
01[15:12] <Froborr> Okay, he knows who she is and is just trolling, right?
[15:12] <FoME> Oh dear god what.
[15:12] <Arrlaari> At no point have Sailor Moon villains been known for suble deception
[15:12] <Sylocat> Ooh, I have a video rental place here like that
[15:13] <Sylocat> Hahah
01[15:14] <Froborr> Blaaarrrrghh
01[15:14] <Froborr> Ad.
01[15:14] <Froborr> Also, ewwww he is SMELLING her HANDKERCHIEF.
01[15:15] <Froborr> Gross.
[15:15] <FoME> Likewise.
[15:15] <Sylocat> I hope that's not supposed to be symbolic
[15:15] <FoME> Ironically, Crystal plays up the "miracle romance" angle far more than the version where that was in the theme song.
[15:15] <Arrlaari> I think he's kissing it, which is framed to mirror Usagi kissing his watch
01[15:15] <Froborr> Possible, Arrlaari.
01[15:15] <Froborr> Back.
[15:15] <FoME> As am I.
01[15:16] <Froborr> Significantly less gross if true.
[15:16] <Sylocat> And now I'm only 15 seconds behind rather than 2 minutes
[15:16] <Sylocat> I'm surprised they haven't figured out that something's wrong with their classmates
[15:17] <Sylocat> They rent out DVDs in CD cases?
01[15:17] <Froborr> Lots of video stores used to use their own boxes.
[15:17] <FoME> And the arcade machine has a DVD slot now.
01[15:17] <Froborr> Makes it harder to steal and resell the product.
[15:17] <Sylocat> Sailor V can talk through the game! Just like Dr. Zola in Captain America: TWS!
[15:18] <Sylocat> "Why did I tell her all that?" Because she's the main character, moron
[15:18] <Sylocat> This episode has taken a left turn into scarytown
01[15:20] <Froborr> Man, that multi-target status-cure spell of hers is potent stuff.
[15:20] <FoME> And then Sailor Moon was a legendary Pokémon.
[15:20] <Sylocat> Wait, it's that easy to do a mass remedy now?
[15:20] <Arrlaari> Moon Healing Escalation is primarily an exorcism move
[15:21] <Arrlaari> In the old anime it was introduced to defeat humans who had been transformed into Youma without vaporizing them
[15:21] <FoME> Wow. This is certainly a deviation from previous versions of Zoicite.
01[15:21] <Froborr> It'd be awesome if Sailor V showed up now instead of Tuxedo Mask.
01[15:21] <Froborr> ...Nope. Darn.
[15:21] <Sylocat> No such luck
01[15:21] <Froborr> I guess Zoisite is weak to Fighting type moves?
[15:22] <Sylocat> Makes sense, I suppose
[15:22] <FoME> He is a Dark-type, after all.
[15:22] <Arrlaari> From the comments: "It's nice to see Tuxedo Mask throwing punches instead of roses" and yet the old anime Tux had seen a lot more action by this point in the plot than this Tux
[15:22] <Sylocat> Ahahah
[15:22] <Arrlaari> That has something to do with how many more episodes the old show had, admittedly
[15:23] <Sylocat> Wow, he almost becomes less of a douche
[15:23] <FoME> Secret identies? What are those?
[15:23] <Sylocat> Where are the other... ah, there they are
01[15:23] <Froborr> Oh shit, guess I called it again!
[15:23] <Sylocat> Wait, that was LUNA?!
[15:23] <Sylocat> Oh, no, it was Sailor V
01[15:23] <Froborr> Man, I'm on a roll today.
[15:24] <Sylocat> Yes, yes you are
[15:24] <Arrlaari> So, Sailor V appeared to assist the other senshi in the middle of Episode 33 of the old anime
[15:24] <Sylocat> She pronounces it "Sailor Vwee?"
[15:24] <FoME> "V" is a weird sound in Japanese.
[15:25] <Sylocat> I assumed it was just the Katakana "Bii"
[15:25] <Arrlaari> They have real difficulty with sounds that don't appear in their own language
01[15:25] <Froborr> Doesn't actually exist, for starters.
[15:26] <Arrlaari> I do like how when Tux goes for a second punch, Zoicite is just like "nope"
01[15:26] <Froborr> Yep. Basically Tuxedo Mask's only power is that he's too much of a loser to be worth noticing, so he gets a surprise round.
[15:27] <FoME> Rogues are never as good on the second round.
01[15:27] <Froborr> Eh, they're fine as long as they can get flanking.
01[15:28] <Froborr> Anwyay, any final thoughts?
[15:28] <Arrlaari> They are really burning through the main plot of this show and a lot of the secondary characters are suffering for it
[15:28] <FoME> They're trying to cram several dozen episodes of romantic development into less than ten, and it shows.
[15:29] <Arrlaari> By this time in the old anime, Naru had got a major subplot and Umino got a couple of focus episodes
[15:29] <Sylocat> How much of that was in the manga?
[15:29] <Arrlaari> I don't know the manga well enough to say
[15:29] <FoME> Nor I.
[15:30] <Arrlaari> Although I recall reading that Naru's subplot wasn't in the manga
01[15:30] <Froborr> I'm sure we'll find out in the comments.
[15:31] <FoME> The enormous stabby crystal was familiar, though.