Sailor Moon Crystal: Act 5 - Makoto, Sailor Jupiter - Review 

Sailor Moon Crystal: "Makoto ‑ Sailor Jupiter" Review

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorn, which Nephrite found out the hard way this week when he decided to tangle with boy-crazy Sailor Jupiter, the newest Guardian to join Usagi’s crew of galactic heroines.

Before we get to the newest Sailor Guardian though, let me just say how impressed I am with Usagi’s character arc. Sailor Moon was always one of my least favorite characters in the original anime due to her incessant whining, but in Sailor Moon Crystal she’s slowly progressing into a fearless, responsible leader.

To wit, she takes initiative to save her new friend Makoto from danger this week without a tear shed or any prompting from Luna to transform into her sailor suit. She also administers a wonderfully earnest speech about believing in the power of love.  It’s pretty inspiring stuff, and it earns her enough respect that Luna officially declares Usagi to be the leader of the Sailor Guardians.

Sailor Moon isn’t just a leader on the battlefield, though. She also has an impressive penchant for making fast friends and bringing people together. Thus, it’s thus no surprise that she immediatly hits it off Makoto, a transfer student to Usagi’s school who is somewhat of an outcast for being unusually tall and athletic for a girl. She’s also rumored to have gotten kicked out of her old school for getting into a fight with another student, which makes people shun her even more.  I love that none of that deters Usagi from trying to get to know her, and sure enough it’s revealed that Makoto is in fact a very feminine girl who left her old school because a boy broke her heart.

Sailor Moon Crystal: English Subtitled Trailer

That inner tenderness makes Makoto one of the most likable characters in the series so far, but it also makes her vulnerable. This vulnerability is quickly exploited by Nephrite, who’s latest scheme to gather human energy involves using a “ghost bride” to seduce men and zap their strength. These men in turn can extract energy from female victims, which is exactly what happens when Usagi\'s friend Furu (whom Usagi always addresses as "Onii-chan") falls pray to the ghost bride and attempts to seduce Makoto.

Why Makoto? As it turns out, she has a crush on Furu because he reminds her of the boy she loved back at her old school. Of course, she has no idea Furu is possessed, and almost falls for Nephrite\'s evil scheme until Sailor Moon and the other Guardians show up and confront him.

Now, at this point I have to go on a bit of rant. The reason Sailor Moon and her friends arrive in time is because Tuxedo Mask leads them to the scene of the crime (the bridal shop where the ghost bride resides). My question is: why didn\'t he help Makoto himself?

the one who sees Makoto in trouble first, but rather than throw a rose at Furu and break Nephrite\'s spell, he jogs off to Usagi\'s house and drags her through the streets of Tokyo in her pajamas. Why does he run off when it means risking Makoto\'s well-being? Why doesn\'t he at least just grab her and run for it?

Ah, well. As I\'ve mentioned before, Tuxedo Mask\'s inepititude makes the Sailor Guardians looks strong, and I enjoyed watching Makoto go from being sweet and vulnerable to angry and butt-kicking after Nephrite\'s smug confession that he\'s been exploiting people\'s feelings to gather energy.

That foolish admission causes Makoto to get angry, which in turn causes her guardian powers to surface. After Luna tosses her a transformation pen, Makoto wastes no time transforming into Sailor Jupiter and blasting both Nephrite and his ghost bride with two powerful spells: Flower Hurricane  (which creates a storm of sharp-edged rose petals),  and Jupiter Thunderbolt (which blasts everything in its path with lightning).  It’s an *ahem* electrifying moment to watch, and by far my favorite part of Act 5 as it quickly establishes Jupiter as the Guardian to never mess with. (Other cool moments include Makoto lifting Usagi out of the way of a speeding car, and catching a fastball with her bare fist.)

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"Makoto" is one of the strongest episodes in Sailor Moon: Crystal yet. It features a cool new Guardian, nifty new powers, and establishes Usagi as a solid leader. There\'s not much progress in the Legendary Silver Crystal story arc (the crystal and the princess guarding it are barely mentioned), but hopefully future episodes will explain more about the crystal soon. In the meantime, I\'m enjoying watching the teenage guardians of the galaxy destroy evil on a weekly basis.

Meghan Sullivan is a database editor at IGN, and loves Sailor Moon and RPGs . You can follow her on Twitter at @Meghan_IGN and IGN at Meghan-IGN.

Sailor Jupiter brings the thunder in this week’s Sailor Moon Crystal.  RT

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