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1. The Usagi-Mamoru Romance emotion_kirakira
Honestly, the best episode of Sailor Moon MUST include romance between these two, IMHO. The long-awaited kiss between Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen! It's lovely to hear his thought process about being useful in a fight, but what's most endearing about this kiss is that Sailor Moon takes the initiative - and Tuxedo Kamen is just delightfully flabbergasted emotion_hug . I love that Usagi is taking charge of her love, I love that Mamoru is conscious of being honestly in love with all of her, and I love that they are progressing in their relationship!!

2. Crystal Minako is the BEST representation of "love" yet. emotion_yatta emotion_bigheart
And by that, I mean that THIS Minako is proving herself to be the embodiment of the best of love: a self-sacrificing love, without selfishness or vanity. The Original Anime Minako was more about falling in love with boys, giving love advice, and wanting love and adoration as a famous idol. The PGSM Minako was incredibly self-sacrificing, but didn't display much affection. Even in the manga, Minako didn't have much time with the reader.

THIS Minako is serious in her love, but this love is for Serenity and her fellow Senshi. Her every action is to try and protect them from harm, encourage them all, and show some seriously beautiful inner-beauty through her personality and character depth. I LOVED the looks she gave them as they met- it felt like she was taking in the moment of meeting them, seeing their old forms as they talked (especially with Sailor Moon! The satisfaction and joy in those eyes!). I love her excitement at meeting them, like she's pleased to be with them. Her discussion with Artemis reveals that she has been watching them and gauging them as a leader - or an older sister. She's got a kind word for all of them, even Luna. She's proud of them, but she knows they're not fully ready to take on the enemy. So she's going to stubbornly risk her life to make sure they've got every chance to continue the mission - and that Sailor Moon stays safe. I won't be a bit surprised is she has the most fans as the series continues. emotion_yatta

At the same time, there's the slight discomfort of being "the Princess." The mixed feelings she has of allowing them to "protect" her, at the same time that she bests protects them by appearing to step back, make her so richly complex! emotion_kirakira

3. emotion_kirakira HELLO KUNZITE. emotion_kirakira
First off, "it's finally time to be of use to" Queen Beryl? Does this mean that you are the most mass-destructive, or that your gorgeous counterpart has finally interested you in battle emotion_kirakira ? Whatever, V-chan has your number. In fact, that scene you have with her took my breath away. emotion_awesome Sailor Venus is going to try to help you remember - and you're possibly confused by her words, but you're a man with a mission. And that mission seems to include Increasing Sexual Tension. emotion_dealwithit I am OK with this. ShitennouXSenshi make a great episode!

4. The Park Scene emotion_kirakira
Double UsagiMamoru romance scenes? Yes please! And Luna lets them have a lovely chat~! I love Crystal Luna - gently worrying, but doing the Right Thing.

(Sidenote: I was mis-read the line Artemis says to Luna, "We reduced your burden." I read it the first time through as, "We reduced your BRAIN." emotion_zombie I freaked out a little before going back and double-checking. )

5. The Girls Are a Protective Mini-Fandom emotion_kirakira
This is the sweetest addition to the canon! The girls all came together and specifically brought dinner to walk and get to know their Princess! I love, love, LOVE this little merry band! Can you imagine what their phone conversation was like? "Hey, we need to be with the Princess as much as possible. emotion_c8 " "Yeah, let's walk her home. emotion_kirakira " "Better yet - let's get her to dinner with us! emotion_awesome " "I'll make it! emotion_dowant " And then general excitement and giggles and fun.

6. Kunzite and Minako can telepathically communicate. emotion_awesome
OMG, I think I just heard the fandom start furiously creating smutty fanfic about these two mind-thoughting each other. emotion_dowant

7. The Jupiter Bubble emotion_jawdrop
emotion_kirakira Special never-before-seen powers!?! YEAH! Why not Merc? Or is it more of a Jupiter has atmosphere-related powers, and has some control over the air? Dunno, but if Makoto is creating it, it's going to be strong and get the job done. Also, she'd probably get a freshner in her bubble. Make it rose-scented. Ya'know. emotion_yatta

8. Artemis has a sexy voice. Yes, I said it. xd
In fact, all the male voices are sexy and gorgeous, and Artemis is just keeping the standard high.

9. V-chan has her own special secret transformation. cool
Because let's not give her identity away, or anything. It's silent! Yay for logic!

10. When Usagi makes a connection with Minako. heart emotion_kirakira heart
And then everyone joins in with the "we're in this together" feel good moment! Yay friendship!

11. The Final Blast (That Begins Everything, Really) whee
This is a minor pet peeve, but in the manga and the Classic anime... I was always weirded out by the fact that the blast that is aimed at Sailor Moon never seems... well, aimed at Sailor Moon. The manga blast seemed too high to hit her confused ; the Japanese Classic seemed to imply it was aiming for her by showing her back, but then Tux stupidly goes AROUND her to get in the way, rather than yank her out of the way (which would have been easier and more believable, right? stare ); and the American dub pretty much butchered the scene to make it appear Sailor Moon was never the intended target in the first place. stressed Which kills any ounce of romance. (Yeah, the American version hardly counts as canon, but it's worth mentioning to prove my point).

The Crystal blast? Unavoidable situation. The blast is big and powerful, they're in mid-air to limit mobility, and this is the only thing he can do. Logic makes this powerfully romantic! emotion_kirakira

12. The fact that this ends on an impossible peak of emotion is as irritating as it is brilliant. emotion_donotwant
Don't do this to me again, Crystal, because you might turn me into an M. I don't want to go there.

So there you have it? Any other reasons I missed?

Feel Free
To Disagree

But I'm stickin' to my guns on these points. At least, until episode 9 comes out. heart heart

And this is not to say that all my wishes for this episode were fulfilled. I would have loved more Silver Millennium, a slightly more romantic Park Bench Scene with some extra Usagi/Mamoru, but I'm super happy with all that the episode contained.

Episode 9 in TWO WEEKS! When we finally get - HOPEFULLY - the Silver Millennium story, TONS of ShitennouXSenshi (Minzite! Maybe even Reidite, Amisite, and/or Makophrite!?) and some tearful truths between the girls! Maybe some super sad realizations for the Shitennou! Maybe some sympathetic girl power!? Definitely a whole lot of awesome!

I just watched episode 8 and I agree with all of that ^_^

I have been yelling at my screen: "Come on kiss already" for the last 2 acts and they finally did heart Usagi is awesome, i love the development she has been getting, i hope we get more seasons past this one to see further development of the other senshi

tumblr to your rescue
http://tuxedopiplup.tumblr.com/post/100573260929
and

WELCOME TO MY THREAD OF FAN-GIRL SPEAK.

ALL WE DO IS SAY, "OMG" "AGHHH!" AND "I CAN'T EVEN." WE DON'T SPEAK IN FULL SENTENCES USUALLY.

IT SOUNDS LIKE MONKEY, BUT WE ALL UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER. emotion_dowant

Thats Moonie speak, man.
Its universal. xD;