Nice sequel, not quite as good

**Contains spoilers**

2 months after the first series (Sailor Moon Classic), the Sailor Soldiers are back when aliens appear unexpectedly. Again the aim of the bad guy is to claim energy from innocent humans, and of course there are new silly monsters (this time called Cardians). But this isn't the same as the first series by a long shot.

This is only the start though, as the R series begins with a 13 episode mini-plot (read the Wikipedia article for information on this). I found the end of this subplot very sweet, though I'm glad we got rid of the Moonlight Knight and Mamoru's memories of Usagi were finally returned.

The Moonlight Knight is just a bit weird and confusing. Although it was good to keep the audience wondering about his identity and how it was a possibility right up to the end of the mini-plot. I've seen a lot of fans conplain about him, because really, he doesn't make sense and is out of place as a character. Thankfully he is only around for the 13 episode run though, and Tuxedo Mask makes a come back for the rest.

And... Sailor Moon finally gets a new transformation scene and a new weapon! This is definitely a nice change as any watcher of the series will know their attacks get a little old after 50-odd episodes. The other warriors get their own slight new additions through the series with their old attacks making appearances every now and then.

In the second half of the series we are finally introduced to Chibi-Usa and some new enemies (and some of these enemies even have a vocabulary further than their own name for once)! As with Sailor Moon Classic the story can be a little obvious to the viewer (while the characters resume their oblivious attitudes to the most obvious details), but I still love it. One thing that bugged me about the series though was the Usagi-Mamoru relationship. It just became a little too on/off with them for me, plus
when you think about it it is a little wrong (thats the 14 year old and 20-odd year old detail again).

The very last episode (89 in the whole Sailor Moon chronology) is a bit pointless really. All it does is round up what has happened in the R series and shows a few spoilery clips of the next series (Sailor Moon S). It doesn't add anything to the show at all, but I watched it anyway.

A good series, but not quite as good as the first. :) I'm eager to start watching the third series out of the five!

8/10