and I don't know how to put into words what I feel right now. It's one thing for a season to end badly by gradually pittering off into nothing and then resetting everything (like the final arc of the first season) but it's another thing entierly to have it end by almost being completely amazing, but then abruptly ending the drama and having everything work out strangely for reasons that are left completely ambiguous.
I was fine with this for the first half of episode 126, as it was interesting to see most of the characters deal with the fallout of everything, but it's the second half that really let me down with the way the characters' moral worldviews were handled. The outers make the point that Usagi's actions were dangerous and could have resulted in the destruction of the world, a perfectly valid point given what they knew at the time and how naively Usagi acted. Usagi then conceeds that there is truth in this, that her actions were potentially horrific and that it would have been wiser to not give up the grail. I would have been more then happy for the outers to reciprocate and take it from there. However, instead of having the characters be sympathetic towards each other and honestly try to be genuinely moral, the writers decide that there has to be a fight in this episode and that everyone is going to become far more stubborn then they normally are for no God damn reason in spite of their actions and motives over he course of the past arc being wholely selfless.
This really pissed me off, as insead of actually examining and synthesizing their moral viewpoints the outers just made themselves look like assholes in a way that was completely out of character, made their own views seem harsh and rigid dispite being entierly valid and forced Usagi to stubbornly defend an attack on her values instead of maturely accepting the possibility of all potential outcomes. That they actually end up initiating a physical fight over this after the fact (which Tux actually supports by throwing a rose at the Senshi!) which they happen to lose makes the whole thing feel even more ridiculous, everyone ends up effecively making a case against their own values. I mean, I love episodes 124 and 125 and everything they entail, but the outcome of the final conflict was so abstract as to be meaningless and caused the choices made by the characters prior to it to lose their impact.
Seeing Sailor Moon step out completely doe eyed holding a baby, implying the most profound horror, love and sacrifice, prehaps the most powerful moment in the series, was then dismissed as if nothing; treated the same way everything else in the series seems to be. Instead of progress, everything reverts back to triviality and nothing deeper is understood. Her giving up the grail turns into no concrete thing in particular, plot and character development are once again usurped by magic.
I love what the S season attempted and I love Hotaru as a character, but I also love the idea of Usagi gaining the maturity to be truely heroic and facing the consequences of her own actions; seeing it come so close to happening only to have it borderline denied is just so frustrating. I have so much hope resting on the new series and the potential it has.
I was fine with this for the first half of episode 126, as it was interesting to see most of the characters deal with the fallout of everything, but it's the second half that really let me down with the way the characters' moral worldviews were handled. The outers make the point that Usagi's actions were dangerous and could have resulted in the destruction of the world, a perfectly valid point given what they knew at the time and how naively Usagi acted. Usagi then conceeds that there is truth in this, that her actions were potentially horrific and that it would have been wiser to not give up the grail. I would have been more then happy for the outers to reciprocate and take it from there. However, instead of having the characters be sympathetic towards each other and honestly try to be genuinely moral, the writers decide that there has to be a fight in this episode and that everyone is going to become far more stubborn then they normally are for no God damn reason in spite of their actions and motives over he course of the past arc being wholely selfless.
This really pissed me off, as insead of actually examining and synthesizing their moral viewpoints the outers just made themselves look like assholes in a way that was completely out of character, made their own views seem harsh and rigid dispite being entierly valid and forced Usagi to stubbornly defend an attack on her values instead of maturely accepting the possibility of all potential outcomes. That they actually end up initiating a physical fight over this after the fact (which Tux actually supports by throwing a rose at the Senshi!) which they happen to lose makes the whole thing feel even more ridiculous, everyone ends up effecively making a case against their own values. I mean, I love episodes 124 and 125 and everything they entail, but the outcome of the final conflict was so abstract as to be meaningless and caused the choices made by the characters prior to it to lose their impact.
Seeing Sailor Moon step out completely doe eyed holding a baby, implying the most profound horror, love and sacrifice, prehaps the most powerful moment in the series, was then dismissed as if nothing; treated the same way everything else in the series seems to be. Instead of progress, everything reverts back to triviality and nothing deeper is understood. Her giving up the grail turns into no concrete thing in particular, plot and character development are once again usurped by magic.
I love what the S season attempted and I love Hotaru as a character, but I also love the idea of Usagi gaining the maturity to be truely heroic and facing the consequences of her own actions; seeing it come so close to happening only to have it borderline denied is just so frustrating. I have so much hope resting on the new series and the potential it has.