I’m absolutely certain that this episode was animated at roughly the same time as Act 6. The overall animation quality is about the same, though there were a lot less shortcuts and stupid pointless closeups. I mean, there were still a lot, but less of them.
I found it amusing that Mamoru’s backstory was done almost exactly the same as in the 90’s series. At least that’s what my memories told me. Upon going back, it was merely very similar.
The poor animation was actually expected. I thought every single shot in the preview for this episode looked awful, and no changes were made. The closeups of the feet/ankles especially were… bleh.
One of the scenes I was most looking forward to in this episode was the flashback to Queen Beryl finding the Dark Kingdom. I was deeply disappointed that it consisted of a closeup of her arm touching a door. No shots of her face, and her hand already looked somewhat demonic. Opportunity wasted.
One thing I really wasn’t looking forward to…
On the plus side, it’s a shop that rents movies and games, and has a huge catalog. Also, rather than being another energy-gathering plot to draw out Sailor Moon, people were being brainwashed into searching for Sailor Moon. This actually brings a bit of consistency to Zoicite’s powers. Jadeite had clay minions and Nephrite possessed people. We didn’t really get a feel for Zoicite’s specialty, but now he has mass brainwashing. Though Jadeite also kinda did that in the Mercury episode… whoops.
I have to say, I wanted a change, and I got it in the form of the brainwashing to hunt down Sailor Moon plot. I mean, it could have been better, but it’s still an upgrade from the manga.
Fun fact: I actually imagined Zoicite having hologram video panels surrounding him and was disappointed when he DIDN’T have them in the previous episode. I thought it would be natural to show some parallels with Mercury. Also, in the manga he was watching a wall of TVs in the previous chapter, so I thought the best modern upgrade for that was this. I was pleasantly surprised when he actually showed up with them this episode.
For some reason, there seemed to be a hiccup in Sailor Moon’s transformation music. I noticed it last episode, but that was probably due to there being three transformations in a row and they didn’t loop it right. But this time there was just no excuse for that weird extension. I’m not just imagining this, am I?
Mercury again gets the well-animated attack while Mars and Jupiter opt for generic elemental beams.
Biggest surprise was Tuxedo Mask’s involvement in the Zoicite fight. Though, first of all, Zoicite proves himself to be the most competent out of all the Four Kings so far. For the second time in a row he took care of three senshi at once. And it made the TUXEDO PAUNCH all the more hilarious. Turns out Tuxedo Mask’s special ability is sucker punches. To be honest, this was a change that desperately needed to happen to showcase Tuxedo Mask’s resolve to help Usagi even though he has no magical powers.
And Sailor V’s entrance was absolutely perfect. I am disappointed that Artemis doesn’t make the save, but to be fair, Zoisite’s ice blade is considerably larger.
My only complaint is that Minako is clearly in her Sailor Venus uniform just as she was in the manga. But I would have had her as Sailor V, that way she could keep transforming with the Moon Pen and only use the Venus Pen after her identity is revealed. But that’s just how I would do it. Because I desperately want a Sailor V transformation.
If this episode’s preview looked to be disappointing, next episode’s preview looks amazing as hell, as does V’s transformation. The hype for Sailor V is off the charts. Seriously, if the preview is any indication, the next episode looks to be the best-animated episode since the first one.