This past Monday I have watched the second part of Act 27, and to make a long story short, the quality of the episode retained its consistency, which is to say it was entertaining to watch. However, due to circumstances such as work and other side projects I've been doing, I've never been able to chime in my own episode review until now (and on the day before the next episode, no less).
So without further ado, let's get on to the summary.
The opener scene for this episode centers around Chibiusa teasing Usagi about Mamoru taking him somewhere, much to Usagi's annoyance. In a bit of surprise, the scene dials back to the humorous roots of the 90s anime, which gave the franchise an additional charm the manga never dabbled on very much. At the same time, it never overstays its welcome and still reminds us it's trying its best to remain as faithful to the manga as possible.
Opening animation ensues.
Luna and Artemis - at the command center beneath the Crown arcade - gather resources on the suspected Mugen Academy, while Kaorinite gathers her underlings - the Witches 5 - to explain their mission, which is to find the Sailor Senshi and kill them.
Soonafter, Usagi and the gang meet Mamoru, Chibiusa, and his fellow underclassman Asanuma at the park near Mugen Academy. Chibiusa, already on the ferris wheel with her friend Momo, has her hat blown away by the wind just as the ferris wheel stops, and she runs to retrieve it, as her foster mother Ikuko gave it to her as a keepsake. The hat blew its way into Mugen Academy, where Usagi and her friends would shortly investigate.
Usagi uses her disguise pen in order to use the academy's uniform to blend in, Later, she and her friends are briefly distracted by a violin being played in the distance by Michiru. Then suddenly Haruka would appear out of nowhere, leaving them with a warning not to get in too deep.
Later that night Chibiusa retrieves her hat, and conveniently finds a seemingly anemic young girl in the academy's school uniform. Concerned about the girl, Chibiusa offers help, but the girl tells her to stay away and leave the academy, as if she were shaken with fear.
At that moment, Eudial plants a Daimon egg toward a stray cat, mutating it into a Daimon. The Daimon lets loose on Usagi and Chibiusa, and are forced to transform and defeat the monster. It is here we witness Chibiusa's full transformation for the first time, with a dual roll-call with Sailor Moon in tow.
Sailor Mars uses the Burning Mandala, Sailor Venus restrains the monster with the Love-Me Chain, and Sailor Moon summons more power from the Silver Crystal in order to use the Moon Spiral Heart Attack, transforming the Daimon back to the cat it once was. The Witches 5, watching them in the distance, disappear shortly after.
Albeit injured in the battle and risking their identity to protect the mysterious girl, Chibiusa tries to calm the girl by convincing them they're not bad people. Hotaru couldn't help but notice Chibiusa's injury and magically heals it with her hand. Sailors Neptune and Uranus could be seen suddenly by Sailor Moon and the gang, and quickly vanish into the night.
While I do admit the decision to stretch Act 27 into a two-parter seemed to drag things on a bit, given the pacing is weekly instead of bi-weekly, it's a little more forgivable. And besides, the new direction being taken for Crystal is a bit more promising, and brings back a bit of the charm which made us fall in love with the 90s anime. It's a perfect blend by far, with none of the blandness that seemed to hold the first two seasons back.
This episode gets a "Worth Watching" in my book.
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