I’m still loving this new incarnation of Crystal much more than the previous seasons, but I was reminded how much I miss Moon Pride.  While the opening theme is quite lovely, it doesn’t pump you up like Moon Pride did.  Am I also sensing less vivid colors during the transformation sequences?  I might be crazy.

I do love this arc, and thus am loving getting to know our new characters– an oddly masked & caped Sailor Uranus, a beautiful violin playing Michiru (whose eyelashes look way less weird this episode), and a hyperventilating-then-magical-healing Hotaru.  We also meet some fancy color-coded new villains too– the Witches 5!  We finally see Kaorinite too.

One qualm: I was seriously so excited for a cat-villain.  In my beloved original anime, I would’ve watched this cat turn into a feline monster.  Instead, we get the same generic ghost that makes Sailor Moon exclaim, “an atavism!”  What?

Anyway, we peep Neptune and Uranus for the first time and I am excited to see the inner senshi meet the outer.  I also enjoyed Chibiusa announcing her secret identity to a girl whose name she hadn’t bothered to ask.  This is going to be a fun one.

Thoughts?!