From: rwa2play@yahoo.com   
      
   Chris Kern wrote:   
   > Episode 125 - Shining shooting stars! Saturn and Messiah   
   >   
   > This is one of my favorite episodes of the series. I still think the   
   > Stars conclusion surpasses it, but this is a close second. There are   
   > so many good things that come together to make the episode great --   
   > Tomoe, Sailor Moon's increasingly desperate attempts to save Hotaru,   
   > Uranus' shock and anger, Sailor Saturn, etc   
   >   
   > However, as far as I've seen on alt.fan.sailor-moon, this is by far   
   > the most controversial episode of the series (with the next episode   
   > being a close second). There are two main points of controversy. The   
   > first one is simply a disappointment that the battle between Saturn   
   > and Pharoah 90 is not shown. I personally don't think this would add   
   > anything to the episode -- it would just be a scene exactly like the   
   > ones at the end of Classic and R.   
   >   
   > The second criticism which has a little more validity to it surrounds   
   > whether or not Sailor Moon was stupid to give Mistress 9 the Sacred   
   > Cup. The general opinion seems to be that it really was not the wisest   
   > thing to do, but it was in character for her. You do wonder why Sailor   
   > Moon seemed to be so emotionally invested in Hotaru's survival that   
   > she would do almost literally anything (including giving her the   
   > powerful Sacred Cup knowing that she was an enemy, following her into   
   > the vortex knowing she might die).   
   >   
   > The third criticism which is somewhat story external is that the   
   > ending of the series is a writer cheat -- basically there is no   
   > logical reason within the story why the good guys should have won   
   > after Sailor Moon gave Mistress 9 the Sacred Cup. This I do not agree   
   > with. I definitely agree that Sailor Moon did not have a clear picture   
   > of what was going to happen. Her giving up of the Sacred Cup was not a   
   > calculated maneuver designed to awaken Sailor Saturn -- it was just   
   > her increasingly desperate actions designed to try to save Hotaru   
   > above all else. One problem is that it's hard to say just from   
   > watching this episode why Saturn appeared. She doesn't specify; she   
   > just thanks Sailor Moon for protecting her body.   
   >   
   > In any case, my opinion on the conclusion is that the failure of the   
   > Death Busters and Pharoah 90's invasion was sealed when they chose   
   > Sailor Saturn to be their Messiah of Silence. It's not clear how much   
   > help she had from Usagi or Tomoe when breaking out of Mistress 9's   
   > control, but Saturn's awakening and her defeat of Pharoah 90 seem to   
   > have come about separate from Usagi's giving up of the Sacred Cup. But   
   > it's kind of hard to say since there's a lot of stuff in this season   
   > that is never really explained.   
   >   
   > One interesting thing that some people miss is that Pharoah 90 would   
   > not have been defeated if Sailor Moon had not given up the cup   
   > (although of course she couldn't know this either). If they had just   
   > gone in and killed Mistress 9, the invasion of Pharoah 90 would   
   > probably have been stopped, but Pharoah 90 would have still been out   
   > there and could have tried again later.   
   >   
   > Another odd VKLL line -- the subs say "Omega Soldier recovery" which   
   > never made sense to me; but what Uranus actually says is "The soldier   
   > of destruction is going to revive..."   
   >   
   > I said I was going to track what they said about Sailor Saturn -- here   
   > what Saturn says is that she is called the "soldier of destruction"   
   > because she was given the power to destroy planets. This is slightly   
   > different from what Uranus and Neptune were saying earlier; they were   
   > speaking almost as if Saturn was just some mindless destructive force   
   > that would destroy whatever planet she happened to awaken on. Note   
   > that Saturn simply equates her power with the power to destroy   
   > planets. She doesn't say that the only power she has is one attack   
   > that destroys a planet.   
   >   
   > I have never seen the dub of this episode -- I wonder how the dub SM   
   > dealt with the "Crisis make up!" part. Kotono Mitsuishi does such a   
   > good job on this that I'm not sure I want to hear anyone else do it.   
   >   
   > -Chris   
   >   
      
      
   --   
   rwa2play, The Northern Lariat   
   I mark for joshi puroresu.   
      
   "To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are   
   to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and   
   servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the   
   truth should be spoken about    
   him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant   
   or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."   
   --Theodore Roosevelt   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)