Sailor Moon: Usagi’s Disaster/Beware the Clock of Confusion Review

Jadeite makes the fairly astute observation that humans expend a fuckton of energy when they’re in a rush, so he puts the whammy on some little clock shop’s inventory and put everything on sale. Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury tackle the problem head on, but find themselves in a time warp where time slows up and speeds down at random. Luckily, Mercury’s brand new kitty turd…dyeh, supercomputer helps them see through the temporal B.S. and save the day!

This is the first episode after Mercury’s arrival and the only one in which the team is comprised solely of her and Sailor Moon, which is unfortunate, because they make an interesting team. I don’t think they could have carried an arc by themselves or anything, but I would happily trade out the weaker pre-Mercury eps for a few more with this pair working together.

Up to this point, Usagi has been making the best out of her new gig as Sailor Moon, and she’s been getting better at it, but let’s be honest. The girl’s only so bright. Having a calmer, cooler, more intellectual sidekick around, one whose attacks are mainly defensive in nature and serve to buy time for our heroine, helps her to shine and adds to her arsenal without upstaging her. By the same token, Sailor Moon’s pointedly potent id is in direct contrast with Mercury’s intellectual and strategic nature. This exchange has an effect in their civilian lives as well as on the battlefield.

The episode opens with Usagi and Ami hanging out at Harajuku Station (OMG! Harajuku Girls!) for a day of window shopping and hanging out, something that would clearly not be Ami’s first idea of recreation. And yet, Ami enjoys herself. She steadies Usagi, and Usagi opens her up to possibilities and experiences she’d never consider on her own. Maturity is a good thing, but too much maturity can dry your youth out like beef jerky… and not even good beef jerky. It may seem like Usagi is encouraging Ami to be a little irresponsible and shallow, mainly because she is, but just a touch of that is what Ami needs and it doesn’t keep her from reining Usagi in when she’s slacking too much.

It’s a great dynamic, and we do see it play out more over the course of the series, but we never again get this distinct flavor of just the two of them working as a team. Would have been nice.

In any event, Mercury does get some small development in this episode and even gets a special item when Luna gives her a micro supercomputer with a synchronized visor.  “Are you sure I can have this?” she asks Luna. “Sure! Usagi would never figure out how to use it.” Plus it’s blue and the Sign of Mercury is already on it.

Okay, I’m willing to suspend my disbelief because Sailor Moon, but where are all these magical kitty turd items coming from and how does Luna access them? Like, if she was about to get hit by a car and backflipped out of the way, would Sailor Jupiter’s henshin pen just pop into existence and land in the street?

Regarding the youma of the week, Rauma, uh… what is up with her makeup? Has she been hanging out with The Misfits? Someone should tell Jem those bitches are apparently a lot more dangerous than they look.

There’s a considerable amount of fan speculation that the blonde girl in the background during the bus scene is actually Minako. Whether this was just a happy accident or a sly little plant is anybody’s guess, but even if it was an accident, I like to think it’s Minako.

That weird pose Mercury strikes on her knees is all over the series. Can someone explain this pose to me? Is it like some kind of gymnastics thing or something?

Tuxedo Mask…okay, I have to ask. What are those fucking roses made of? Titanium? To his credit, this is the first time Tuxedo Mask was actually kind of useful. Points to him for that.

Decent episode, but despite its promise in terms of character dynamics, I felt at several points as though time actually was slowing down. This one was kind of a snoozer and didn’t really accomplish much besides the continuity bullet point of Mercury’s accessories. But it wasn’t bad. Credit where it’s due.

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