Part I begins with a shot of the Sun slowly being eclipsed by the new moon. In the background we hear a narration by Chibiusa of her letter to NQS announcing that she’s going to return to the 30th Century. We see a quick montage of the finale of the Death Busters arc – Saturn defeating Pharaoh 90, Usagi as Neo Queen Serenity reviving the planet, baby Hotaru, the girls in their high school uniforms, etc. Once the Sun is completely eclipsed, we cut to Usagi and Chibiusa who hear the sound of a bell. They turn around and see Pegasus who calls out to them and then vanishes.
Cut to Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako also watching the eclipse and discussing their own dreams.
While Usagi and Chibiusa have a (comical) fight over whom Pegasus was referring to as “maiden,” Mamoru says he also saw Pegasus. Moreover, a strange ship with haunting circus music playing descends down into Juuban.
With all of the crowds in the park, Mamoru thinks it’s impossible for Chibiusa to go back to the 30th Century. Suddenly, a colorful flier floating in the wind gets stuck onto Usagi’s face. It says “Dead Moon Circus” Grand Opening.
TITLE: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal the Movie – Part I: Eclipse Dream
Opening Credits:
The opening credits is a montage similar to the ‘90s Sailor Moon movies. A new catchy song plays in the background while Usagi, Chibiusa and Mamoru look around the Dead Moon Circus shops. We see Ami and the others at the shopping district too, Rei peers suspiciously at everything, while Minako and Makoto goof off. The OP ends with Mamoru buying the Kaleidoscopes for Chibiusa and Usagi.
After the credits, we go straight to Mamoru’s apartment. This scene plays out exactly like in the manga. Usagi and Chibiusa argue whether it’s better being a child or being an adult. Chibiusa tells a story about the new moon. Blah blah blah.
We get a quick introduction of the Dead Moon villains and the Amazones Quartet.
Chibiusa dreams about meeting Pegasus and flying over Juuban and notices that the part occupied by the circus is abnormally pitch black. She wakes up and decides to leave for the 30th Century on her own.
After Chibiusa realizes her space-time key does not work, a tiger escapes the Dead Moon Circus and becomes possessed by the Lemures and attacks civilians in Juuban.
Usagi and Chibiusa transform into Super Sailor Moon/Chibimoon without the grails and it’s gorgeous and animated by Shida. Chibiusa summons Pegasus with her bell and he transforms their kaleidoscopes into weapons. They use “Moon Gorgeous Meditation” – which is beautifully animated taking some cues from the original ‘90s anime, but with brand new choreography and just the two girls flying around with lots of colors. The attack drives out the Lemures and heals the tiger, but suddenly a blue orb surrounds the animal and floats away.
During this time, Mamoru appeared as Tuxedo Kamen but feels a pain in his chest.
PallaPalla then suddenly uses her orb to switch Usagi and Chibiusa’s ages.
The next few scenes play out almost exactly like the manga. Everyone meets Ami’s mom at the hospital. Teen!Chibiusa goes back to Usagi’s house (I don’t know if I’d want Ikuko to appear in this movie considering her VA recently passed away). She talks with Pegasus who reveals a curse has been placed on her. Chibi-Usagi stays with Mamoru who is ill in bed. Chibiusa goes back to Mamoru’s apartment, but decides to not interrupt their “moment” and talks with Diana at the swing.
This is where the film starts to depart with the manga’s sequence of events.
After we get that scene with teen!Chibiusa on a swing, Lemures appear and start attacking random civilians. Pegasus leaps out of Mamoru’s mirror (just like in the manga) only this time he lets Mamoru and Usagi know that the enemy is attacking once again. Usagi finds Chibiusa and they transform together (no stock footage this time as their ages were switched) which reverses PallaPalla’s spell. Sailor Moon uses “Moon Gorgeous Meditation” and defeats the Lemures.
Chibi Moon then realizes that Usagi is the maiden Pegasus is searching for and runs off crying until Pegasus kisses her and transforms into Helios.
Back at the Circus, Zirconia chides the Quartet for failing and mentions Queen Nehellenia. Devising a new plan, the quartet use their orbs to transform a fish, a hawk, and the tiger that was previously defeated by Sailor Moon and Chibi Moon into Fisheye, Hawk’s Eye and Tiger’s Eye respectively.
That night, Chibiusa thinks about her encounter with Pegasus and her kiss with Helios. Usagi asks if she wants to visit Mamoru’s apartment, but Chibiusa declines… Much to Usagi’s shock. Chibiusa decides that she’s going to ask Makoto advice the next day.
The next half of the film switches gears from focusing on Chibiusa to the Inners.
The girls hang out after school and discuss the Dead Moon Circus. Rei is reading a book on shrine management. The cats appear and announce that they all are going to investigate the Dead Moon Circus tomorrow. The girls then part ways.
Makoto bumps into Chibiusa on her to way to her apartment and they decide to make dinner together. Visiting the grocery story, they meet Hawk’s Eye who is disguised as a female merchant looking for exotic spices. Hawk’s Eye reveals they own a herb shop located within the Dead Moon Circus and they are doing market research. They give Makoto “Amazon stone rings” as a present, telling her to come visit their shop anytime. Outside of the supermarket, Makoto, while wearing one of the rings, thinks about her dream of opening her own store and her “secret” dream of being just like Haruka and Michiru.
Cut to the Hikawa Shrine, the sun is setting and Rei is closing shop. Rei sees a broken piece of arrow and we get a flashback of her at archery club and not being able to focus. She plays fetch with Phobos and Deimos with the broken arrow. Flashback to Rei meeting Phobos and Deimos as a young child. (Note: I’d like to see Grandfather Hino in this scene, but without him appearing in Crystal S1, I have a feeling he’s going to be cut out.).
Night time, and we’re now at Ami’s apartment. She is researching the Dead Moon Circus on her computer thinks about Setsuna. Ami’s mom appears and she gives her a postcard from her father which has a picture of an exotic fish.
I think you guys see what I’m doing here… I’ve basically rearranged all of the scenes from the Inners’ chapters.
That night, Chibiusa stops by Mamoru’s apartment after dinner and gives her one of the rings she got from Hawk’s Eye.
Chibiusa runs into Usagi outside of his apartment. Usagi tells Chibiusa that she’s concerned about Mamoru –flashback to Usagi talking to Mamoru who acts a bit strangely towards her and Usagi noticing blood on her hand. Usagi doesn’t want to bother him as he’s trying to get rest and get better.
At the circus, Fisheye, Hawk’s Eye and Tiger’s Eye sit at a bar together and examine photos of Ami, Rei and Makoto as an homage to the ‘90s anime.
The next day, Usagi, Chibiusa, Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako (w/o Mamoru) go to the Dead Moon Circus to investigate. They split up. Usagi, Chibiusa and Minako go to see the performance together. Ami goes to an aquarium, Rei visits the mirror house and Makoto decides on meeting Hawk’s Eye at the herb shop.
Usagi, Chibiusa and Minako are in a trance while watching the Quartet perform.
While at the aquarium, Ami notices an an exotic fish looks exactly like the one on the postcard her father sent her. Suddenly, the reflections of the glass starts to show illusions of her mom with another man and then Usagi, Mamoru and Chibiusa together, claiming they don’t need anyone else. The glass shatters as the fish transforms into Fisheye and water floods the place, swallowing up Ami.
In the mirror house, Rei sees an illusion of herself as a child. This scene plays out just like the manga out with minimal differences (Except Tiger’s Eye does not turn back into a tiger). Phobos and Deimos circle above the tent.
Makoto visits the herb shop and meets with Hawk’s Eye. Hawk’s Eye makes tea for Mako, and under the influence of the ring she reveals to Hawk’s Eye that she feels like she’s been putting off her dream. Hawk’s Eye reveals his true form and attacks Mako-chan. I think everyone’s see the pattern here….
Just when the Trio seems to have the upper hand with Ami, Rei and Makoto - their respective Sailor Power Guardians (Phobos and Deimos for Rei) appear to save them. Each of the Sailor Power Guardians (and the human crows) give the girls a pep talk and their Sailor Crystals appear almost simultaneously. Ami, Rei and Makoto shout out their transformation via split screen and we get brand new beautiful transformations for each of them.
After transforming, the Trio summon the girls into some dark dimension for a 3 vs. 3 fight. We get an incredibly dynamic fight scene where the girls use their old attacks all in real-time, but despite their power the Trio still have an advantage. The three then remember the Outers and hear their voices. Mercury summons her harp and uses ‘Mercury Aqua Mirage’ to freeze Fish Eye. Mars fires her arrow and impales Tiger’s Eye and Jupiter using her Oak Leaves throws bolts of thunder at Hawk’s Eye. The animation of the new attacks are like a blend between stock and real-time. The trio are annihilated in a big explosion with Mercury, Mars and Jupiter in some kind of badass pose.
The movie then covers the rest of Jupiter & Venus dream.
