When I first watched this episode, it was on a VHS rip with possibly the worst quality of all time, so much so that I had to skip it due to the sound cutting out halfway through. This means that this rewatch is a personal first for me! This episode begins the conclusion of Nephrite's short-lived tenure as seasonal villain, to be replaced by Gay Jadeite (Zoisite) in a few episodes time, which is a shame as I really did quite like Nephrite.
We start off with Naru explaining that "age means nothing if it's love", which is really just a fantastic start to the episode. This show had it absolutely out for any sort of healthy relationship, with the only ones that aren't weird and stupid being Haruka/Michiru and Seiya/Usagi - no surprise then that they come from the best two series in the show. Nephrite gets threatened by Gay Jadeite that Queen Beryl is gonna kill him, so he resolves instead to try and find the Silver Crystal directly to avoid that. He does this by spawning a black soul gem to soul trap Naru in to lure out the silver crystal, which is a really good plan.
Cut to some hot T4T Evil Gays action, with Gay Jadeite rubbing his head affectionately on Turquoise Daddy. This is the highlight of the episode to me and I'm not sure I really care about anything else after this. Usagi goes to the arcade to talk to Motoki and Mamoru about Naru's relationship, who very helpfully give her conflicting advice (and Motoki folds instantly like the bitch he is). I think Motoki and Mamoru should fuck. Just saying.
Usagi gets the courage to go tell Naru that Nephrite is an SS officer, and in true Usagi fashion just fucks off immediately which Luna calls her out on for being so useless. Naru acts 100% rationally and decides that he may be a nazi, but he's a damn good looking nazi, so it doesn't really matter. Nephrite then calls her up to ask her to meet him in the murder park whilst a Jaws-level orchestral hit starts playing, and eventually gets her to steal the "silver crystal" from her mother's jewellery shop. Usagi then ends up confronting Nephrite in the park... but when Usagi goes to attack, Naru jumps in front!
Whilst Nephrite emotionally manipulates Naru into stealing the "silver crystal", we get this shot of moths being attracted to and eventually being killed by a fly trap, then a nicely animated shot of Usagi and Luna searching the town whilst semi-transparent. Despite being an Ando episode, this part is animated really well! The blue/black and white segment near the end is also a surprisingly artistic style choice for a Sailor Moon episode of all things. I'm impressed. Unfortunately, the rest of the animation is in the typical horrific Ando art style.
On one hand, the plot of this episode is absolutely predictable all the way to the very end. On the other hand, Nephrite shows a lot more emotional complexity than Jadeite ever did; he shows a desire to get closer to his victims and manipulate them to gather their energy rather than just showing up and being evil for the sake of being evil.
I give this episode a 3.5/5... now to see what the next half of this essentially a two parter holds.
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