[DreamSword]

Act 30

A story is more than just its message.

If there's one commonality that I've seen when it comes to people who review tokusatsu, it's that they'll typically focus on the message and nothing else.

And as someone himself who's done that with specific episodes of shows he's talked about, I get it. When you see a show really speak to your personal philosophy, it's easy to feel seen and enlightened.

But if all you care about is the message, go to a seminar.

I watch TV shows primarily for entertainment. Not to get preached to, not to advertise my own personal philosophy, not to prove how smart something is.

Not to mention, I've always felt that, if the message really is the most important thing in the eyes of the viewer, shouldn't the execution also matter? People can preach how bad it is to kick puppies all they want, but if they're kicking a puppy while doing so? Kind of a bad look.

Case in point, this episode has a message that puts it ahead of its time: Showcasing the dangers of mob mentality and blind faith in someone of fame. As well as just how rabid fandom can be.

Sure enough, I really dug that aspect of it. But it came at the major cost of Serena being out of character in order to not only make it work, but also continue to drag on the plot with the manipulative idol come the episode's' resolution. Yeah, Serena is empathetic and naiive, but not to the point that she'd turn a blind eye to very blatant wrongdoings.

Yeah, I liked the overall episode well enough, but plot should almost never come at the cost of characterization, and it's the sort of mistake I'm not used to seeing in Kobayashi's' works. Yet, this version of Sailor Moon has had multiple examples now, and typically for the sake of melodrama. It's the sort of thing I moreso expect from Inoue; who in alot of ways I see has Kobayashi's' opposite in terms of style.

So, yeah. It's the sort of episode wherein you need to choose which aspects you want to prioritize, and it leaves me with some mixed feelings.