With the departure of the Sailor Guardians introductions we are treated to a slightly different episode.  This was probably the best one we’ve had so far as it takes the three Guardians– Usagi, Rei, and Ami against Nephrite.  Great development between Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon adds to the drama here.  Mutsumi Ito the writer of this episode knows how to create fluffy atmosphere– I only say this because of how well done all the action is in this.  None of it is intense, gory, or kills off characters for the sake of being interesting this show uses a very simplistic approach with the drama genre.  Good to have a writer whose worked on the Precure series maintain a light momentum to get the story going, and here it jumps ship from the formula!  The Sailor Guardians try to get ahold of the treasure that Princess D is set to be unveiling at the masquerade party.  Not does the background allow for Usagi the hide in from the crowd but this also builds upon the suspicions of Tuxedo Masks’ identity further.  Nice contrast between Nephrite and his shadow hidden inside of Princess D.  Once again this adds to the drama in a fairly delicate way.

For those that don’t know this show will be a 2-cour run for every two weeks– it’s hard enough to wait each week for another episode let alone two! Since BLEACH ended, Naruto and One Piece are about the only long-running adventure series airing right now it would be great to see this series run along that crowd.  The manga is fairly solid and has an interesting premise, so it would be nice to see this show at least get the same treatment the FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood series got– 64 episodes.  Talk about a faithful adaptation of a manga.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: 7/10

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