So… Sailor Moon Crystal is finally over.  Let’s wrap this thing up.

No major complaints about the animation, except Chibi-Usa’s face is sometimes drawn a little too old.  Consistency, people!

We continue where the last episode left off with everyone in Nemesis about to battle Death Phantom.  What started off as a promising final battle quickly degrades, as Nemesis proves to be yet ANOTHER illusion (damned Mesmers)!  Everyone is back at Crystal Tokyo while Sailor Moon seems to have been sucked into the real Nemesis.  Tuxedo Mask has a glowing power that I HOPE is hinting towards the Golden Crystal, and he teleports to Sailor Moon.

Neo Queen Serenity wakes up, forgives Chibiusa for nearly dooming the entire planet, and sends her off to help Sailor Moon.  The other Senshi ask if they can also be useful characters, and the queen flatly denies their request.  She is a harsh ruler.

So, Sailor Chibimoon shows up, does her own pose (which is actually a legitimately appropriate, almost epic moment), and she and Sailor Moon combine their powers to destroy Death Phantom… rather handily.  I gotta say, I like how we didn’t have any of that lame beam struggling.  Just…. boom, we destroyed a planet.

With Nemesis destroyed, Neo Queen Serenity just… waves her hand and brings everyone back to life.

Everyone returns to their own time, Chibiusa leaves, comes back to train in the present, and we close out the series with an “A biento,” which basically means “see you next time!” but doesn’t mean anything definite.

This was a pretty OK episode that could have been better.  I have exactly one complaint about it: it’s kind of a slap in the face for the Inner Senshi.  Neo Queen Serenity prevents them from helping in the final battle, then gives them Planet Powers (but no new sticks).  Now, one thing that could have been done for them was expand on them returning home after this long battle.  The manga kinda glossed over it with three panels: Makoto seeing Asanuma, Minako and Ami seeing Motoki, and Rei seeing Kotono.  The anime chooses to… just awkwardly replicate the panels in the exact place with no segueing or animation whatsover. It was literally the least they could have done.

I still stand by my belief that we’ll get a continuation in about a year.  After Crystal’s TV run finishes.  By then, the art director and writing staff may just be completely replaced, which is the one thing a Crystal continuation desperately needs.

Overall, I’m still glad we got Crystal.  Is it the best manga adaptation we could have had?  Hell no.  Would I rather have it than not?  Hell yes.   Now give us Dreams and Stars.  I want me some animated Sailor Mnemosyne!

The question now is: what do I do now?  Well, when it comes to nostalgic manga adaptations that are long overdue, I’ve got Ushio & Tora.  If nothing else, having no Crystal and no My Little Pony until October means I free up time for the other stuff I’m watching.  I should probably change my Watchening banner though…