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**Contains spoilers**
Sailor Moon S is the third series of Sailor Moon, taking us up to the 127th episode in the Sailor Moon saga in total, and the Sailor Soldiers have progressed to the 9th grade. This is one reason why I prefer anime to conventional cartoons: Time passes (Usagi even has a birthday!). Instead of the old stealing of energy game, this series has more of a focus on hearts and love ("pure hearts" are being stolen this time). New characters this time around include two new Sailor Soldiers, Uranus and Neptune, and the new bad guys - evil scientists mixing magic with science.
The prominent new Sailor Warriors, Uranus and Neptune, are a wonderful addition to the Sailor Moon storyline, though I think it is a bit strange that lesbian undertones were brought into a (part) childrens series, but it is great. (It does make you wonder if this was one of the reasons the whole series was never included in the American dub too.) Chibi-Usa also returns, but thankfully there is a bit of a break from her for a good few episodes into the series. Her entrance was hilarious though. In the previous series she was a more than a little bit annoying but I think at least some of that is left behind with this series.
I found the monsters (Daimonhs) a bit more interesting this time around, though the first set of them did seem to like semi-flashing their victims. Over the first and second seasons there is a clear evolution of the opposition to the Sailor Soldiers. A big difference is the monsters ability to form actual sentences! Wooo!
One thing about the series that I am not as keen on is the new transformations and Sailor Moon's new "attack". All that spinning just makes me dizzy and puzzled at how flexible a clutz like Usagi can be... It is definitely a wee bit over the top. It is made up for though as not only are the transformation scenes cut out a bit more but I liked Haruka and Michiros ones as the music was a nice addition to the series (stings!).
It is a wonderful series, almost as good as the first, but for me I doubt anything can beat the splendor of that first series which was part of my introduction into anime. The characters and plot are much fuller than before, and this development works very well. I hope the fourth series will be as good. :)
8/10
