[DreamSword]

Act 41

This is episode felt a bit all over the place.

It's mainly due to it juggling three separate character arcs at once, and while I don't totally dislike the result, I do feel it could've used some fine tuning.

We've got Serena struggling with her powers and revealing her secret identity to Molly, Lita's' growing relationship with Motoki(and also secret identity reveal), and... some weird Nephlite x Amy hinting?

Admittedly, the last bit of that is the one given the least focus, so I don't really need to say much other than I don't really approve of the ship. When it comes to the other two though, I kinda have opposing feelings; partly due to my own personal viewers and also my lingering memories of years ago.

When it comes to Serena, her bit actually got me excited, because if memory serves me right, I actually really liked where this particular bit with Molly ends up going later on in the show. Meanwhile, with Lita, I ended up with some mixed feelings. On one hand, her relationship with Motoki is kind of a given at this point, but on the other, I'm not liking the phrasing or emphasis put on it.

I get it, the show is from the early 2000s and has a big emphasis on romance. But I just don't like the implication that any woman(or anyone for that matter) absolutely must be in a romantic relationship to achieve happiness, and that it's inherently better than being single. To give the show some credit, it hasn't forced Amy or Raye into any sort of relationship as of yet, but the angle being pushed for Lita still kinda rubs me the wrong way.

But if nothing else, I do still like Lita and Motoki as characters, so I'm willing to just kinda roll with it, despite my grievances.