Sailor Moon Crystal - Act 3 Rei - Sailor Mars - Episode Review

"Act 3: Rei - Sailor Mars"

The episode opens with Jadeite apologizing to Beryl, Nephrite and Zoisite comes in. Nephrite says Jadeite's monsters failed because they were made of clay, he wants to get the crystal. Zoisite says the Senshi will get in the way.  Beryl says the crystal has immense power, whoever obtains it will rule all. She tells them that their mission is get rid of the Senshi. Rei has a premonition at her temple.  Later Rei says bye to a little girl named Mii. Students at Usagi's school talk about the 'Demon Bus,' people get on and don't get out. Usagi is sleeping, Luna wakes her up in school, telling her they have a meeting at the arcade, which wakes her right up. Ami tells Luna at the Arcade she can't believe she is a Senshi. Luna tells her their mission to protect the Princess and find the Silver Crystal.

 Usagi win two watches. Later, they are on a bus stop. Usagi is upset Ami is going to cram school. AMi tells Usagi she sees a beautiful girl that goes to T.A. Girl's Academy. They see her, Usagi stares at her. Rei gets a glimpse of the Moon Kingdom when looking at Usagi. Rei steps off the bus and Usagi does too. They head into the shrine. Rei feels a demonic atmosphere and sends her crows after Usagi and does her 'Evil Spirit, Taisen' gimminck on Usagi. Later she apologizes and asks if she is okay. Rei says her crows don't attack humans. Usagi thinks she is cool. Rei goes up to Mii's mom, who says Mii is missing. They leave and Usagi if Mii is her friend, Rei says Mii plays at the shrine waiting for the bus. They talk about the Demon Bus. Usagi and Ami put on the matching watches at the school. Luna says Rei has mysterious powers and might be the princess. Usagi says she is beautiful enough to be it. Later Usagi and Luna talk on the bus.

 

Luna tells her that the watch is a communicator. Luna freaks out and they bump into Mamoru again, who says they bump into each other. Turns out Mamoru is in his second year of High School. She asks him if he heard of the Demon Bus, he says yes. He catches her looking at him so she hides her eyes with Luna. Mii's mom wants Rei to use her power to find Mii. Rei says to go to the police. The other women blame Rei. Usagi defends her. Rei tells them to leave. Later, Rei and Usagi tak about how people treated her because of her powers and asks why must she have these powers. Usagi wants to help her to find Mii. She tells her not to be involved with her anymore. Usagi leaves as there is nothing they can do. Meanwhile, Rei stays focus mediating to the fire. She pictures Jaedite grabbing Usagi. She runs to her aid. She bumps into Jeadite running a bus. He makes her faint. They pass Usagi and she sees her in the bus.

 

 The bus goes into a wall/other dimension. Usagi transforms into a flight attendant (to save the passengers) and enters the hole. Tuxedo Mask comes in and saves Luna. Luna runs off and tells Ami. In the other dimension, Nephrite briefly visits Jaedite as he says he is luring the Senshi. There is the victims everywhere sleeping, including Rei. Usagi bumps into a column saying she doesn't have Luna nor Tuxedo Mask to save her. Her watch rings and she screams in it. Ami and Luna track her through a laptop and tell her to transform so they can track her location. Ami finds it and transforms. Ami and Usagi transform at the same time. Jadeite says he is attracted to Rei (referring to their relationship in the past in the manga). Sailor Moon and Mercury present themselves. Ami does her mist and Usagi looks for the victim. Jadeite blasts ice at them. Rei wakes up and recognizes Usagi. Usagi denies it but then tells her she is a superhero. Luna sighs. Rei is surprised she has powers as well. Rei grabs Jadite. He tries freezing her but she says she has powers too and it burns off.

Her symbol glows on her forehead, Luna throws her the pen and she transforms into Sailor Mars. Sailor Moon ties up Jadite with the Tiara Boomerang. Mars does Evil Spirit Taisen and burns Jadite. Later, Mii and Rei reunite around the police near the bus stop. Mii reunites with her mom. Rei smiles and walks to Usagi and Ami. Usagi is happy she joined them. Ami says they were looking for someone like her. Rei smiles. Meanwhile, paparazzi take pictures of a man carrying a case in an airport. Next week has to do with a crystal they think is the Silver one and a Masquerade party which was in the Manga and was repeated in the original Anime and the Live-Action version.

 

Review:

It was a surprise to get Zoisite so soon, it wasn't a surprise to see Nephrite though. I liked that they added the little girl Mii to Rei's story, that it wasn't like the original Anime ep that included Jaedite. I did like that Rei is more receptive of Usagi's friendship than in the past. Even though the Live-Action version is closer to the Manga in respects that Rei wasn't boy-crazy (the original Anime made her boy-crazy), the Live-Action version still had her initially being cold to Usagi and Ami. In this version, she seems to be more cooperative to the idea of teamwork. I also like that Rei was able to tell that Usagi was Sailor Moon. Not sure if Tuxedo Mask really was able to tell if Usagi was Sailor Moon but I guess we'll find out. I also like the sort of 3-D effects of the Henshin sequence. Also, interesting they are adding the past relationship of the Shittenou and Sailor Guardians which is an idea Naoko Takeuchi had but never explored in the Manga. In Act 3 of the manga, Jadeite looked at Rei's unconscious form and mused upon her beauty. This was only an attraction as noted in this episode that he was attracted to her.