Rainbow Chara X
Impossible to gauge!
- 129
- Posts
- 8
- Years
- Age 27
- Shiny Hunting in Sinnoh
- Seen today
Never fear, the citizens of Tokyo - a group of magical teenagers in sailor uniforms will save the day.
... Saying that out loud makes me realize just how weird the magical girl genre is as a whole, but that's also probably why I love it.
[font=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter #2 - Looming Threat[/font][font=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
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[Current OST: File Select]
[Usagi walks into the scene]
: "Hey, everybody! Transform! Daimons have appeared again!"
Last time on Another Story, Usagi fought an enemy that should have been gone by now and that's definitely some cause for alarm.
: "I wonder what happened. Have the Death Busters been revived?"
This is Makoto Kino, also known as Sailor Jupiter. She's the tough guy of the Inner Senshi and attacks with electricity. (yes, there's two groups of Sailor Soldiers - Inner and Outer. The only difference are the planets they're named after and some uniform differences, along with the Inners being Usagi's closest friends.)
Makoto is an amazon with the face of a thug, but she's also a sweetheart that always fawns over her "senpai" aka. her old boyfriend... To the point where new guys she meets will remind her of him. Yeah, it's a bit silly.
I'll cover the stats of the Senshi when we get them as real playable characters, including Usagi. (We'll also just slide the Death Busters under the carpet until they're important.)
"Are you sure you didn't dream that?"
This firebrand is Rei Hino, the civilian identity for Sailor Mars. She goes to a private school and works as a miko (aka. shrine priestess) for Hikawa Shrine. Rei has the power of precognition and reads fortunes, so she's able to see the future in a sense.
Also, as Usagi is about to say:
: "Oohh, you're so mean, Rei-chan!"
This is not undeserved because Rei is... kind of a bitch at times, but Usagi's been friends with her for as long as they can remember so it's all cool.
[Usagi turns around]
: "Ami-chan believes me, right?"
Only to see, hey, nobody's there. Oops.
[A blue-haired girl walks in]
: "Sorry, I came as fast as I could. I just talked with Urawa-kun."
This is Ami Mizuno, aka. Sailor Mercury. She's the water one and originally starts off as a shy, collected bookworm with genius-level smarts but gradually grows to become confident and self-assured as the series goes on.
She wants to become a doctor when she grows up and is the technical pacifist of the Inner Senshi in that she wants to avoid fights as much as possible.
The girls go inside of the house to talk about stuff, but not what you'd think.
As much as I really want to transcribe all the dialogue, all they talk about for the majority of this is just Ami's "crush" and not the impending danger that looms over everyone's head.
I get that they're teenage girls and all, but Usagi literally started this off with "hey guys, monsters are appearing again maybe we should do something!??"
Urawa came to Tokyo for the holidays and Ami wants to go to the library with him to practice for some national exams.
This disappoints everyone, even Luna the cat for some reason.
Usagi, Rei and Mako tease Ami about going on a date with her "boyfriend", but she's just like...
I keep forgetting that, even with all the superpowers these girls have, they're still technically in middle/high school. Our saviors, ladies and gentlemen.
[A girl with long blonde hair walks in]
"What's wrong, Ami-chan? Your face is all red."
Say hello to Minako Aino, the final member of the Inners and Sailor Venus. Minako is a love-crazy ditz that loves video games and plans to become an idol in the future, but that's nothing compared to her second secret identity as... Sailor V.
Yeah, before Sailor Moon even started (both chronologically and in real life), Mina starred in a prequel manga called Codename: Sailor V. It was originally a one-shot manga that inspired Ms. Takeuchi to make Sailor Moon, so how about that.
Essentially, Mina got famous for using a superhero version of her Senshi identity and got a ton of merch for it, including an in-story movie. She's also canonically the first person to get their powers as she's been fighting monsters before Usagi even became Sailor Moon.
This fine fellow is Yuuichirou Kumada, a bum that fell in love with Rei the instant he saw her. So, to be able to see her more often, she decided to become an apprentice shrine priest.
He was actually a son from a wealthy family that ran away to improve himself, but that's about it for his character arc.
All he does in this scene is compliment Rei on her appearance, tells everyone to take it easy and leaves.
Usagi pokes at her and Rei just straight up asks Usagi who her boyfriend is.
"We'll be like this forever... He's kissed me already!"
[Usagi blushes]
: "Kyaa! I shouldn't have said that!"
: "Thanks for that."
Thank you, Rei.
Minako and Mako both admit that they're jealous of all the boyfriend stuff going on (they're mega thirstin') but Ami realizes that she has to go.
... Prompting Mina to want to stalk one of her best friends.
: "That's... really mean."
Mean isn't quite the word I'd use, but yeah.
Everyone leaves to go sneak on Ami. Makoto is initially like "nah fam, I'd rather not" but quickly changes her mind with "okay, maybe this once."
[A bus comes along and picks Ami up]
See, she does want him after all.
Alright, I don't know how buses work in Japan, but this one comes to pick them up immediately after the last one.
Ah right, video-game convenience. Never question it.
"... Ah! Ami-chan's right there!"
[Screen scrolls up to show Ami looking around. Mina walks in front of Usagi]
: "Usagi-chan, hide!"
[Everyone but Mako hides behind something]
I find it funny because she's actually the third fastest of the group, so oops.
You can't go forward without talking to the girls first, so alright.
Rei asks how old Urawa is, but I decided to show this one off because Minako really is crazy enough about love to ask this.
"I hope Urawa-kun's alright.
"
Oh boy, that Luna-P tells me something bad's about to happen.
[Various NPCs walk by]
: "Those two must be having a wonderful reunion.
"
: "Yeah... hm? Doesn't something seem funny?"
Makoto has super-vision and saw the Luna-P from here!
[Current OST: Suspense and Illusion]
[NPCs run by, but Mako stops one]
: "Wait a second, what's happened?"
Man in suit: "T... There's a monster in there! Get out of the way!!"
[The man runs past the girls]
: "Monster...!?"
[Another NPC runs up to Usagi]
Guy in a brown jacket: "The monster trapped a boy in there! Get the police!"
I find it extremely surreal to remember that police are a thing in Sailor Moon's universe with all the magic monster shit that happens per episode.
: "Everyone!! Let's go check it out!"
[Current OST: Mysterious Happening]
She's not even curious as to how we got here so fast? Oh well, at least she's not going to yell at us for stalking her.
: "Huh!? I can feel so many different auras."
: "Everyone, transform!"
: "Mars Star Power!"
: "Jupiter Star Power!
: "Venus Star Power!"
: "Moon Cosmic Power!"
Oh yeah, all the girls have a different transformation phrase from Usagi, complete with "Make-Up!". Make-Up seems to come out of nowhere, but their items are based off of beauty accessories to begin with.
Fun fact: A voice clip of "Make-Up!" plays every time we get into a battle regardless if the girls are transformed on the overworld or not.
Here's a video showing all the Star-level transformations.
Damn, the crew is lookin' fine.
This is arguably the best formation we can have for now. Mars and Jupiter go in front because they're the brawlers while Moon currently goes in the center because she's iconic.
Mercury and Venus get the back end because they need to keep us up with support.
While we're at it, let's have some stats!
-
(Sailor Moon) -
* HP: **** (Bad)
* Attack: ***** (Average)
* Defense: ******** (Good)
* Speed: ******** (Good)
* Evade: ********* (Excellent)
* Moveset:
- Moon Tiara Action (1 MP - weak one-enemy attack)
- Moon Healing Escalation (2 MP - heals ally for half HP)
- Moon Spiral Heart Attack (3 MP - strong attack)
- Crisis Make Up (Use MoonCup1 to become Super Sailor Moon)
- Rainbow Moon Heartache (6 MP - strong attack that hits all enemies. Super Sailor Moon only.)
* Preferred Gemstone/Equipment: Diamond
Sailor Moon is a good at taking hits due to her high defense/evade, but suffers from having low HP and no multi-hit move unless she transforms into Super Sailor Moon.
Despite being the person to take out all the monsters in the show, Moon has at best average attack. Fancy that shit. She's good at support and while Rainbow Moon Heartache hits real hard, it's also the only attack she has in that form... so it's either you overkill or waste MP.
I should mention that nobody "learns" skills in this game - you start out with everything but it's only the lack of MP that holds you back from using them all at once. I'll cover the other Senshi later because they actually get their own unique solo chapters (and also so I won't just fill this with Senshi profiles).
Name: Combater
HP: 50
Attack: 5
Defense: 1
Speed: 3
EXP: 26
Yen: 400
Item Drop: Life Water (Revives with 200 HP)
Monster Type: Youma
Based off of: Nothing in particular
This big boy is Combater, a monster they made just for the game. He's a little tougher than the Cenicienta Moon fought earlier, but he's still not enough to take down an entire group of Senshi.
You can absolutely humiliate him if your formation is well-made, and there's nothing he can do about it.
WOW! That's a lot for this early in the game.
They really wanted to prepare you for what happens later on, jeez.
We get a second one on top of that... it's almost as if he's a living present box at this point.
We hit him with Moon Spiral Heart Attack and end him with 86 damage. Well, we took out the bad guy and saved the hostage - good job, team.
: "Mi... Mizuno-san..."
So he's able to recognize her through the disguise? Either he recognizes her voice or my disguise theory was just proven wrong. I hope it's not the former.
: "Urawa-kun! Hang in there! Just hang on!!"
: "It's okay, he's only unconscious."
: "A youma... Surely, Queen Beryl has been revived..."
(The game mistakenly shows Usagi's civilian portrait here instead of Sailor Moon. I dunno what's up with that.)
Beryl was the queen of the Dark Kingdom and ruled over a legion of demons called the Youma. She destroyed the original Moon Kingdom and killed all of its inhabitants, including the original Sailor Senshi and the royal family.
Usagi and pals are their reincarnations, complete with looking exactly the same as their past lives.
: "Yes, I'm alright now. Well, Mizuno-san... I had a vision in my dream. The past and the future changed places... "
: "What?"
I swear I'll never stop finding the blatant "what" reactions funny. It summarizes how I feel without me having to say anything!
: "I don't understand it very well, but... History... No, Destiny will change."
Oh boy, I'd better take a shot for that one.
: "Destiny... So, the future has been replaced?"
: "No. The past has also been replaced."
: "The past!?"
I find it amazing that this exposition is coming out of a person that would otherwise have no bearing on the story. I mean, we did just save him, so this is all a bonus.
[Current OST: Hikawa Shrine]
"KATSU--!!"
[The fire intensifies]
: "That's...!? Who is it? An enemy?"
Sin is like the most obvious edgy name for a bad guy but in this context it actually stands for the Mesopotamian God of the Moon. Aw shit son, you can tell where we're going with this.
[The figure in the fire opens their eyes]
"This is merely a greeting!"
[The fire explodes in front of Rei's face, charring her body]
... Hell of a greeting, jeez.
"I'm all covered in soot."
: "What was that?"
: "I don't know." [Cough-cough]
: "Hey, Rei-chan. Your face is pitch-black."
: "Oh, shut up."
Thank you, everyone, I'll be here all night.
: "Yeah, I'm fine. My clothes are all dirty! I'm gonna go take a bath." [Cough cough]
[Rei walks offscreen]
: "Sin... hmm, that's what it said."
: "Who is it? A new enemy?"
I assumed it was the name of the pizza man, see.
[Telephone ringing SFX]
: "Ah, I'll take the call for her!"
Haruka is actually another Sailor Senshi, but I'll save my thoughts for her when we actually see her.
This fine Grand Dad is Rei's grandfather, a nice but perverted old man that runs the Hikawa Shrine. The only other thing about him is that he turned into a Youma called Jiji during the course of the show, but that's about it.
: "Ahh, Odango. Something terrible has happened. Hotaru's fallen ill."
This is a woman, folks. Haruka is about as butch as you can get on this show - to the point where everyone mistakes her for being a dude at first.
Odango is a prominent nickname for Usagi due to the ball-shaped hair buns she has. It's named after a dumpling that you skewer on a stick, so hurray for Japanese culinary jokes.
: "Huh? Is she sick?"
: "No... this is... The doctors don't know either, but this could be... If you don't come here, I can't tell you. So come to the Juuban Hospital right away."
Ominous... It has to be some real shit if we have to go in person.
: "What's wrong?"
: "Something's happened to Hotaru-chan."
: "Huh? Hotaru-chan?"
: "I just have to go to Juuban Hospital for a while."
For the un-initiated, Hotaru is Japanese for firefly... I think it's a pretty name.
"I wonder what in the world is beginning to happen..."
Me too, Ami. This game's already getting pretty crazy.
"Usagi-chan, I have to check out a few things."
: "Okay, then."
: "If something happens, contact me."
[Luna scurries off]
Interesting, but the only thing she'd be able to do is to contact the other Senshi. Luna's not that good a fighter, see...
This bell is used for donations and notifying the gods or something. You can be a yutz and ring it for no reason, but I don't think Rei would let it slide.
I finally found the hospital after wandering around the town for a bit.
How does the Luna-P always appear where trouble is going to happen? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.
[Current OST: Mysterious Happening]
"Are you awake, Hotaru-chan? Odango's come to see you."
Talking to either Haruka or her green-haired friend will activate the cutscene, but now that we brought up Usagi's hair buns I can't help but be bothered by them.
How does she get them like that.
: "Huh? Why has Hotaru-chan grown into a child!? Hotaru-chan, are you okay?"
: [Coughs] "It only stopped hurting a while ago. I'm fine since you got here."
This cutie is Hotaru Tomoe, otherwise known as Sailor Saturn. She's arguably the most powerful Senshi due to her control of life and death, but using her powers could have disastrous consequences to herself, so of course.
She's the daughter of the leader of the Death Busters, an underground facility that created the Daimons and the main villains of Season 3. Despite this, Hotaru didn't even know about the group's existence for a while.
: "What could have happened?"
: "She just started stumbling."
This is Michiru Kaioh, Haruka's beloved (yeah, they're lesbians. The original English dubs tried to censor this due to having them as cousins, as stupid as that sounds.) and Sailor Neptune.
She's an accomplished violinist and elegant to the point where she makes everyone else look bad, although she can get a little snobby sometimes.
: "She transformed back right in front of our eyes."
While we're at it, Haruka is Sailor Uranus. They were originally rogue Senshi with one mission - to obtain the Talismans and stop the Death Busters from getting them at any cost, even if it meant people would get harmed in the process.
They were initially opposed to the Inners due to them being "weak" and coldly told them to solve their problems by themselves, but Usagi and pals gradually won them over as the series passed.
Haruka was kind of a douche and actively picked a fight with Sailor Jupiter, but even she got her humble pie as time passed.
: "Yeah... but it was so painful..."
I don't know if it was a mistake or not, but they kept Haruka's portrait here for some reason. I got so confused as to who was talking that I'm still not sure if it was done on purpose.
: "And the Infinity Academy has been revived recently too..."
The Infinity Academy is a private school that acts as the headquarters of the Death Busters, so you know that's messed up.
"Yeah! Hotaru, have you ever felt this kind of pain before?"
: "It was like when I was under the influence of the Taioron Crystal. Usagi-san's Silver Crystal seemed to help relieve the pain."
The Taioron Crystal is a manga-exclusive item that held all the power of the main villain of that arc, Pharaoh 90... a tremendous Elder God from the Tau System that ate everything that came his way.
To let you know how powerful he is, we never get a clear shot of what he's supposed to look like. That's terrifying.
: "The Taioron Crystal... T...then, Hotaru-chan, are you going to turn back into Mistress 9?"
Mistress 9 was the "messiah of silence", the chosen one of Pharaoh 90. Season 3 had a lot of biblical analogies, with the Moon Cup that turns Usagi into Super Sailor Moon straight up being called the Holy Grail.
No, seriously.
: "I think it's okay now."
: "Yeah, Hotaru has opened her eyes and is a Sailor Senshi now. She won't turn into an enemy."
That's extremely optimistic, Haruka, but I don't quite think so.
: "When I collapsed, I felt that I was being enveloped by darkness. But that evil power... I felt like my destiny was being influence by something else..."
: "A strong new power..."
Keep in mind this is all pre-Season 4, so everything that happens past that doesn't count.
Still, this whole scenario has to be nightmarish for Sailor Moon and pals after how much they've already gone through... and how it's all coming back to haunt them.
[A nurse walks into the room]
: "Wait a minute! This room should be marked 'No Entry'. Who or what are you?!"
Nurse?: "... Hee, hee hee. I'm gonna get you troublesome Sailor Senshi!"
[The "nurse" throws off their disguise]
[Current OST: Boss Battle]
Name: Palmacon
HP: 95
Attack: 9
Defense: 3
Speed: 12
EXP: 3
Yen: 200
Item Drop: Bandage
Monster Type: Droid
Based off of: Pharmakon
Pharmakon is different from both the Daimon and Youma from before in that she is a Droid, a humanoid robot deployed by the Black Moon Clan. The Black Moon Clan being an organization of people from Nemesis, a forbidden planet with piss-poor living conditions whose inhabitants hold a grudge towards Earth.
The Droids are powered by colored crystals marked with an upside-down black moon crescent and were generally assigned to take over a part of Tokyo. Pharmakon is a nurse robot, with her name being inspired by the Greek word for "drug".
(Sailor Uranus) -
* HP: ******** (Good)
* Attack: ********** (Excellent)
* Defense: * (Worst)
* Speed: ********* (Excellent)
* Evade: * (Worst)
* Moveset:
- World Shaking (3 MP - hits all enemies for medium damage)
- Space Sword Blaster (4 MP - hits one enemy for massive damage)
* Preferred Gemstone/Equipment: Amber
Sailor Uranus is THE strongwoman of the Sailor Senshi with the highest HP and Speed stats in the game, but she's also a glass cannon. All that HP goes away pretty fast, not helped by her horrendous evasion stat.
Still, shoving a laser sword down a monster's throat is always extremely satisfying.
-
(Sailor Neptune) -
* HP: ****** (Above Average)
* Attack: ***** (Average)
* Defense: ****** (Above Average)
* Speed: ** (Awful)
* Evade: ********** (Excellent)
* Moveset:
- Deep Submerge (3 MP - hits all enemies for medium damage)
- Submarine Reflection (4 MP - hits all enemies for massive damage)
* Preferred Gemstone/Equipment: Aquamarine
In a sharp contrast to Uranus, Neptune is more about defense... and that's about it. It fits her level-headed personality and she's definitely great support, but other than that she's not too interesting.
Space Sword Blaster and Submarine Reflection are thanks to two of the Talismans they obtained during the course of Super.
Palmacon eats a Spiral Heart Attack and takes like 86 damage while the two Outers clean up. Normally Droids would just turn to dust when they get killed, but I'm just wondering how different it'd be if they had the all had the that death animation.
That's just pitiful compared to the EXP motherload we got earlier.
"Didn't we once beat that enemy before" - woman you weren't even a part of Sailor Moon R, what are you talking about?
: "This is the second time a Daimon has attacked today."
What? Pharmakon is a Droid. I know all the monsters become increasingly silly Lady Gaga ripoffs after a while but I think you would have noticed if they didn't drop a Daimon Egg upon death.
: "Why are enemies that we've already beaten being revived? I wonder what this could be..."
I dunno man, but it sure it making a great game for me to geek over.
: "If its Destiny was changed the same way as mine, I think it might be possible."
: "The power to change Destiny? That's stupid! I wonder who the heck these enemies are?"
I love Haruka, alright.
[Current OST: Apsu]
Right as she asks that, we get a view of the real villains of Another Story. I find this song to be pretty haunting for a main villain theme, to the point where I listened to it in my own time.
Imagine if this game got a modern touch-up complete with an orchestrated soundtrack. That would be badass.
: "Apsu-sama."
"In a few places, previously beaten enemies have been revived and attacked some people. The Destiny of the Juuban district of the 20th Century has been changed."
How does "changing destiny" work? Are they pulled from an alternate timeline or were they literally taken from the time where Sailor Moon and pals would have otherwise won?
I'm going to go with the former just so my brain doesn't hurt.
: "I have put you through much... Take this as a present."
: "With this, you should become more powerful than the Sailor Senshi. You may step down."
I find it odd that Apsu's face is clearly shown on her overworld sprite and we know her name, but they decide to keep it a secret to us anyway.
: "Thank you very much, Apsu-sama."
: "Ah, our Destines shall certainly be changed."
: "That's what I thought too.
"
: "Are you people satisfied already? I'm still anxious."
These jumpsuit girls are the Opposito Senshi, a group of people who are unsatisfied with Crystal Tokyo for one reason or another and are effectively evil counterparts to Sailor Moon and pals.
In terms of original villains, I like them quite a bit. I love evil foils in fiction to begin with, so them being the villain group of the otherwise non-canon RPG gets me pumped to fight them.
It's also interesting to note that there is no other group like them in the entire series, even from Season 4 onward.
: "Anshar-sama."
They must hold this kid in high respect if they refer to him as "sama".
: "The Sailor Senshi are still not dead. To turn Destiny into what we truly desire, we must retrieve the Silver Crystal from those who possess it. We shall only have a chance if we get the Silver Crystal."
In a stark contrast to the Sailor Senshi's Greek-inspired motif, the Opposito are based off of Mesopotamian entities. I've already covered Sin, the not-Sailor Moon.
Anshar is named after the Sumerian sky god, with his pet Kishar being named after his consort, the Sumerian earth goddess. I adore his design the most out of the new characters, with one exception.
: "That's true. The power of the Silver Crystal is too strong to ignore. So, we have crossed over time protected by the Silver Crystal and arrived in this time."
This would be far much of a drag if I didn't replace "Ginzuishou" with Silver Crystal.
: "This is our chance, our power has become strong too."
: "At the moment, the Sailor Senshi are separated into two different groups."
: "Okay, now is the chance. We can get those girls."
This translation is nice and all but they really need to spice up their script, Ted Woolsey style. I can appreciate a direct translation but come on.
Actually, imagine if Another Story was properly released overseas. I'm not sure how well it'd perform due to a lot of its plot being derived from the middle of Sailor Moon's anime storyline, but a little tweaking here and there would let people enjoy the gameplay if nothing else.
[Four of the five girls vanish]
: "Do not act easy towards the Princess if you do indeed want to change Destiny."
[Sin vanishes, followed by Anshar]
By the Princess, she means Chibiusa. Aww, Anshar has a crush on the Princess. That's adorable.
: "Alright. Perhaps we can find a clue left behind by the enemy."
: "Yeah, ok."
I'm saying the same thing as Usagi but in a more sarcastic way like "how tho".
: "I can feel that something's about to happen... Let's go back to my house to make sure that everyone is safe."
One detail I should have mentioned is that I like how the first thing they do is show concern when something bad happens. Usagi thinks about her family when all this starts happening, and I find that admirable.
???: "Wait! I'm going too!"
[Hotaru runs out of the hospital]
: "I'm a Sailor Senshi too. I can't just rest while everyone fights. I don't want Destiny to be changed anymore than it already has."
Yes, yes, yes, join the team Hotaru please
: "Can't we take Hotaru-chan along too?"
: ".... Alright. Okay, you can come with us."
: "Thanks, everyone..."
Honestly, Hotaru is much safer with the team than she is alone. She'd be far easier to pick off by herself.
(Sailor Saturn) -
* HP: ** (Awful)
* Attack: * (Worst?)
* Defense: ********** (Excellent)
* Speed: * (Worst)
* Evade: ****** (Above Average)
* Moveset:
- Death Ribbon Revolution (1 MP - medium damage to all enemies)
* Preferred Gemstone/Equipment: Fluorite
I know what you're thinking. Only one move and the lowest attack of every Senshi so far? What could possibly make Saturn worth a
emote?
See... Death Ribbon/Reborn Revolution is an inexpensive attack that hits every enemy on screen. There's items in the game that drastically boost attack and speed, so the horrible base numbers don't mean much if you have them.
Saturn effectively becomes a free screen nuke every time her turn comes up, so why not right?
["Make-Up!" SFX]
Wait, what the shit? Why are we going into battle?
[Current OST: Normal Battle Theme]
Oh god Another Story has random battles. I'm so used to the Earthbound style of RPGs where you can see every enemy on screen that I forgot how much I don't like these.
Again, if Another Story got a modern HD re-release with like 3D models or something, that'd be god damn amazing.
I also adore this battle theme for some reason I can't comprehend. It's ridiculously catchy and is one of those songs I always listen to outside of the game itself... something about it just gels so well with the setting of Sailor Moon and the fact we're fighting monsters from the show.
Name: Tesny
HP: 36
Attack: 6
Defense: 3
Speed: 25
EXP: 1
Yen: 200
Item Drop: Nothing
Monster Type: Youma
Based off of: Tesuni
All of these early monsters are based off of the first few Youma Sailor Moon fought in the beginning of the series. Tesuni is a tennis Youma that launches flaming serves.
She sounds devastating, but really isn't... especially when she's the least durable of the bunch.
Name: Garoben
HP: 42
Attack: 6
Defense: 3
Speed: 20
EXP: 1
Yen: 120
Item Drop: Orange Juice
Monster Type: Youma
Based off of: Garoben
Garoben is arguably my shining example for the visual difference between earlier monsters and later ones. While Droids and Daimons onward tended to look like bad fashion models, the earliest Youma tended to be fucking terrifying or at the very least ugly in a monstrous way.
Garoben is an ogre woman that can turn her hands into axes. She ambushed Ami during an exam and was about to spill her brains out (literally) until she turned into Sailor Mercury for the first time.
Name: Jumoh
HP: 42
Attack: 4
Defense: 4
Speed: 9
EXP: 1
Yen: 150
Item Drop: Orange Juice
Monster Type: Youma
Based off of: Jumeau
Jumeau is another example in that she's this creepy doll woman with detachable parts. Sailor Moon has a lot of doll-based monsters, with Jumeau being the second to appear.
She's the fastest monster of this area and I find it strange how both her and Garoben drop Orange Juice when they die. Like... where did they get them from?
The monsters don't drop much when they die, but given how we'll be backtracking quite a bit, I can agree with the low numbers.
The Puzzle Piece is part of an optional sidequest. See, the puzzle option in our menu allows us to see how the picture's progressing and when we complete it 100%, we can get special prizes.
You don't just get pieces in battle, you can also look for them later on and they're missable, so... yeah I'll have to keep a look out for them.
Here's World Shaking and Deep Submerge for you. I love how the attacks look in this game.
I know monsters don't appear near the Shrine itself, but... yeah, great weather we're having today as the town is getting ravaged by monsters.
Here's Death Ribbon Revolution for you. It's a fancy animation and all, but it confuses me as to why it's called Death Reborn Revolution instead.
Oh well, whatever.
I grabbed some earrings, bracelets and chokers now that the jewelry store is open. Now I am the prettiest lady.
Oh yeah, I didn't mention it before but why was Naru's mom's sprite so bad earlier but now it looks fine? She looked like some generic gray woman when we rescued her from Cenicienta.
Oh, then I guess you'd better walk out then.
God damn Space Sword Blaster is cool. Submarine Reflection is nice too.
But isn't the comet in the future? Okay, let's just stop that train of thought right there...
There's a lot of stores in town and the entire place is a faithful recreation of Usagi's town. The Toy shop is kind of a ripoff though because even though the items here restore all of your HP, they cost way too much to be worth anything.
We had fought so many monsters offscreen that this was a normal non-Sailor Moon attack. My kingdom for a Repel.
... A Repel in this context would be pretty hilarious though, if just for the mental image of these big scary monster women running in terror from an aerosol can.
Alright y'all, listen up.
The cosmetics place in this is the best item shop in the game. Toilettes may sound weird, but they're pretty much the Megalixirs of Another Story.
They heal everyone's HP and MP to max, so the fact a shop has them so early is just plain mind-blowing to me. I wish I could get at least one, but I'm too poor.
Enough goofing around though, let's do what we need to.
"It looks like nothing's changed around here."
: "Shingo!? W... wait a sec, what's wrong?"
Give it a second and...
Bingo.
: "A Youma?"
Shingo offscreen: "UWAAAAA!"
: "Oh no!"
: "Everyone, transform!"
What, like we weren't doing that a million times before we got here?
Well then. Shingo is a Nonverbal NPC, but I can't blame him with him being unconscious right now.
How's it going, my demon sister?
"Don't... Don't interfere!!!"
Sorry to disappoint you, but that's not how we roll.
[Current OST: Boss Theme]
Name: CureneyGreen
HP: 200
Attack: 12
Defense: 3
Speed: 23
EXP: 5
Yen: 2500
Item Drop: Bandage
Monster Type: Youma
Based off of: Kyurene
They mangled the name, jeez. Kyurene is a vampire-like Youma summoned by Jadeite to drain energy from music listeners, and honestly she's my favorite Youma design in the entire show barring Castor and Pollux later on.
Her name is derived from Cyrene... the joke being that they're written the same in japanese even though there's nothing vampire related to the pun.
Why is she green though? You got me.
I should note that the episode Kyurene appeared in was not included in the DiC dub for some reason.
Alright. I'm not feeling particularly merciful and I don't think Usagi would be nice either after a Youma just attacked her baby brother.
Let's crank it up a notch.
You get a complete heal when you become Super Sailor Moon, complete with an altered dress. I adore the butterfly motif she got with it, so I'm disappointed to note she loses it in season 4.
Yeeeah, boi!
Christ that's a lot of damage! Kyurene is deceased.
In the game, Rainbow Moon Heartache is basically Luminaire from Chrono Trigger with a heart. No better way to show off the power than that, really. This is what it looks like in the show.
That 200 HP didn't amount to much, did it?
Oh, and Super Sailor Moon even has her own unique ending taunt. That's adorable.
: "It's alright, Shin... gottattatta."
: "Gottatta?"
I dun get it.
: "Anyway Sailor Moon, those people wanted to know where the "Gunzaichou" is."
: "You mean the Silver Crystal...?"
It makes less sense when you translate it into English, but I don't know how make a pun from that.
I'm just amazed Shingo can't recognize his sister, disguise powers or not.
[Beeping SFX]
: "Ah, I'm getting a message from Luna."
: "Sailor Moon, I've found out some info about the enemy. Come to the Hikawa Shrine immediately."
We turn back into our civilian disguises even though there's still danger around. I guess since the townsfolk aren't being actively attacked by the monsters despite them being everywhere, we have to.
(It only took me like what, a few fights to get here?)
: "What do you know about the enemy?"
: "Ah... I looked up some info on the Crystal Palace's computer. It appears to be that the enemy has arrived from the future."
This cool cat is Artemis. Despite the name, he's a boy cat that lives with Minako and has been helping her ever since she was Sailor V.
He's a soldier as opposed to Luna, who's more of a court lady than anything.
These characters steal my reactions. I am not appeased.
"But, the Black Moon is..."
: "No, these enemies are from beyond the time of the Black Moon. They have the power to manipulate time. They've used the Time-Space Door to get here. It seems they've come to the past."
How? ~Villain magic.~
: "If we tell Serenity about this event... Then surely the enemy will just close the Time-Space Door."
Where the hell is Sailor Pluto in all this? She's the one in charge of the door! (Also, we'll get to her later.)
: "They must be planning something in the future as well."
: "This is one of the enemies that are blocking the Time-Space Door."
[Screen scrolls to the right, with a hologram of Sin appearing]
"Huh? The computer's making some strange sounds."
... Holy shit I just realized Artemis is a real keyboard cat. What have memes done to me?
: "What?"
: "Well... The computer must be broken."
Why did I flinch when he said that?
: "Oh, let me have a go!"
: "Ah! It moved!! That's really clever, Luna!"
: "Huh? But I haven't done anything yet..."
Oh boy, here we go.
: "Wait! There's something weird about this!"
"One of the Senshi who change Destiny. I shall kill you annoying Sailor Senshi. I completely rule 'Her Destiny'. Take a look at this!"
[Current OST: Suspense and Illusion]
[Sin shows off holograms of the other fallen Senshi]
Damn, she got everyone! This isn't good.
: "If you want Lady Serenity and the other four Senshi back... Come to Juuban Junior High School. We'll be waiting, Sailor Moon."
That's pretty cold-blooded, Sin. But you might regret this in the future...
"Everyone... Chibi-Usa..."
: "Sailor Moon, that's definitely a trap."
Luna speaking the most sense.
: "But they've got everyone. Are we just going to abandon them?"
: "I didn't say that. We should just check out our enemy a little more."
: "I agree with Luna."
"It's too dangerous to accept their invitation."
I mean, I'm kinda cheating by having a guide, but...
She is absolutely correct. We're basically rushing off to enemy territory with only a bare idea of what we're getting into, so this level of caution is necessary.
: "No, I don't think so. If there' s a trap, we can just destroy it as we go in, right?"
: "Uranus, but..."
Haruka, I know you're reckless and the strongest soldier yet, but that's practically suicidal.
: "I'm going to go help Chibi-Usa."
: "Sailor Saturn..."
Pretty sure Saturn can tank everything they throw at us, so no worries honestly.
: "... Even when saving the world, I can't just abandon my friends. A universe without the other Senshi... I won't accept it!"
Usagi is a great friend, even if her judgement isn't always right.
: "Sailor Moon..."
: "What'll you do, Neptune?"
: "... Not my loss."
That's ice cold, son.
: "Hmph... Okay, we've decided. Well, let's go to Juuban Junior High!"
Excellent.
We're gonna mess them up, dudes.
Next time on Sailor Moon: Another Story, we're going to brave the school and rescue our friends and I'm not gonna let any two-bit demon get in our way.
See you then.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Team Set-Up:
(Sailor Moon, level 7,
, Inner Senshi) - "Rainbow Moon Heartache is far stronger than I remembered, wow..."
(Sailor Uranus, level 5,
, Outer Senshi) - "I don't think there's anything in there that'll give us any real trouble, honestly."
(Sailor Neptune, level 5,
, Outer Senshi) - "True, but it's better to have some form of caution at least."
(Sailor Saturn, level 5,
, Outer Senshi) - "Ugh... I haven't really fought as a Senshi until now. This'll take a bit to get used to."
-
~Fun Sailor Moon Fact~:
Moon Spiral Heart Attack is the most commonly deflected attack in the entire show. It was blown away by flamethrowers twice, shot down by a Daimon called U-Estern and straight up palm-blocked by a villain called Hawk's Eye in Season 4.
... Saying that out loud makes me realize just how weird the magical girl genre is as a whole, but that's also probably why I love it.
[font=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter #2 - Looming Threat[/font][font=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/font]
Spoiler:
[Current OST: File Select]
[Usagi walks into the scene]
Last time on Another Story, Usagi fought an enemy that should have been gone by now and that's definitely some cause for alarm.
This is Makoto Kino, also known as Sailor Jupiter. She's the tough guy of the Inner Senshi and attacks with electricity. (yes, there's two groups of Sailor Soldiers - Inner and Outer. The only difference are the planets they're named after and some uniform differences, along with the Inners being Usagi's closest friends.)
Makoto is an amazon with the face of a thug, but she's also a sweetheart that always fawns over her "senpai" aka. her old boyfriend... To the point where new guys she meets will remind her of him. Yeah, it's a bit silly.
I'll cover the stats of the Senshi when we get them as real playable characters, including Usagi. (We'll also just slide the Death Busters under the carpet until they're important.)
"Are you sure you didn't dream that?"
This firebrand is Rei Hino, the civilian identity for Sailor Mars. She goes to a private school and works as a miko (aka. shrine priestess) for Hikawa Shrine. Rei has the power of precognition and reads fortunes, so she's able to see the future in a sense.
Also, as Usagi is about to say:
This is not undeserved because Rei is... kind of a bitch at times, but Usagi's been friends with her for as long as they can remember so it's all cool.
[Usagi turns around]
Only to see, hey, nobody's there. Oops.
[A blue-haired girl walks in]
This is Ami Mizuno, aka. Sailor Mercury. She's the water one and originally starts off as a shy, collected bookworm with genius-level smarts but gradually grows to become confident and self-assured as the series goes on.
She wants to become a doctor when she grows up and is the technical pacifist of the Inner Senshi in that she wants to avoid fights as much as possible.
The girls go inside of the house to talk about stuff, but not what you'd think.
As much as I really want to transcribe all the dialogue, all they talk about for the majority of this is just Ami's "crush" and not the impending danger that looms over everyone's head.
I get that they're teenage girls and all, but Usagi literally started this off with "hey guys, monsters are appearing again maybe we should do something!??"
Urawa came to Tokyo for the holidays and Ami wants to go to the library with him to practice for some national exams.
This disappoints everyone, even Luna the cat for some reason.
Usagi, Rei and Mako tease Ami about going on a date with her "boyfriend", but she's just like...
I keep forgetting that, even with all the superpowers these girls have, they're still technically in middle/high school. Our saviors, ladies and gentlemen.
[A girl with long blonde hair walks in]
"What's wrong, Ami-chan? Your face is all red."
Say hello to Minako Aino, the final member of the Inners and Sailor Venus. Minako is a love-crazy ditz that loves video games and plans to become an idol in the future, but that's nothing compared to her second secret identity as... Sailor V.
Yeah, before Sailor Moon even started (both chronologically and in real life), Mina starred in a prequel manga called Codename: Sailor V. It was originally a one-shot manga that inspired Ms. Takeuchi to make Sailor Moon, so how about that.
Essentially, Mina got famous for using a superhero version of her Senshi identity and got a ton of merch for it, including an in-story movie. She's also canonically the first person to get their powers as she's been fighting monsters before Usagi even became Sailor Moon.
This fine fellow is Yuuichirou Kumada, a bum that fell in love with Rei the instant he saw her. So, to be able to see her more often, she decided to become an apprentice shrine priest.
He was actually a son from a wealthy family that ran away to improve himself, but that's about it for his character arc.
All he does in this scene is compliment Rei on her appearance, tells everyone to take it easy and leaves.
Usagi pokes at her and Rei just straight up asks Usagi who her boyfriend is.
"We'll be like this forever... He's kissed me already!"
[Usagi blushes]
Thank you, Rei.
Minako and Mako both admit that they're jealous of all the boyfriend stuff going on (they're mega thirstin') but Ami realizes that she has to go.
... Prompting Mina to want to stalk one of her best friends.
Mean isn't quite the word I'd use, but yeah.
Everyone leaves to go sneak on Ami. Makoto is initially like "nah fam, I'd rather not" but quickly changes her mind with "okay, maybe this once."
[A bus comes along and picks Ami up]
See, she does want him after all.
Alright, I don't know how buses work in Japan, but this one comes to pick them up immediately after the last one.
Ah right, video-game convenience. Never question it.
"... Ah! Ami-chan's right there!"
[Screen scrolls up to show Ami looking around. Mina walks in front of Usagi]
[Everyone but Mako hides behind something]
I find it funny because she's actually the third fastest of the group, so oops.
You can't go forward without talking to the girls first, so alright.
Rei asks how old Urawa is, but I decided to show this one off because Minako really is crazy enough about love to ask this.
"I hope Urawa-kun's alright.
Oh boy, that Luna-P tells me something bad's about to happen.
[Various NPCs walk by]
Makoto has super-vision and saw the Luna-P from here!
[Current OST: Suspense and Illusion]
[NPCs run by, but Mako stops one]
Man in suit: "T... There's a monster in there! Get out of the way!!"
[The man runs past the girls]
[Another NPC runs up to Usagi]
Guy in a brown jacket: "The monster trapped a boy in there! Get the police!"
I find it extremely surreal to remember that police are a thing in Sailor Moon's universe with all the magic monster shit that happens per episode.
[Current OST: Mysterious Happening]
She's not even curious as to how we got here so fast? Oh well, at least she's not going to yell at us for stalking her.
Oh yeah, all the girls have a different transformation phrase from Usagi, complete with "Make-Up!". Make-Up seems to come out of nowhere, but their items are based off of beauty accessories to begin with.
Fun fact: A voice clip of "Make-Up!" plays every time we get into a battle regardless if the girls are transformed on the overworld or not.
Here's a video showing all the Star-level transformations.
Damn, the crew is lookin' fine.
This is arguably the best formation we can have for now. Mars and Jupiter go in front because they're the brawlers while Moon currently goes in the center because she's iconic.
Mercury and Venus get the back end because they need to keep us up with support.
While we're at it, let's have some stats!
-
* HP: **** (Bad)
* Attack: ***** (Average)
* Defense: ******** (Good)
* Speed: ******** (Good)
* Evade: ********* (Excellent)
* Moveset:
- Moon Tiara Action (1 MP - weak one-enemy attack)
- Moon Healing Escalation (2 MP - heals ally for half HP)
- Moon Spiral Heart Attack (3 MP - strong attack)
- Crisis Make Up (Use MoonCup1 to become Super Sailor Moon)
- Rainbow Moon Heartache (6 MP - strong attack that hits all enemies. Super Sailor Moon only.)
* Preferred Gemstone/Equipment: Diamond
Sailor Moon is a good at taking hits due to her high defense/evade, but suffers from having low HP and no multi-hit move unless she transforms into Super Sailor Moon.
Despite being the person to take out all the monsters in the show, Moon has at best average attack. Fancy that shit. She's good at support and while Rainbow Moon Heartache hits real hard, it's also the only attack she has in that form... so it's either you overkill or waste MP.
I should mention that nobody "learns" skills in this game - you start out with everything but it's only the lack of MP that holds you back from using them all at once. I'll cover the other Senshi later because they actually get their own unique solo chapters (and also so I won't just fill this with Senshi profiles).
Name: Combater
HP: 50
Attack: 5
Defense: 1
Speed: 3
EXP: 26
Yen: 400
Item Drop: Life Water (Revives with 200 HP)
Monster Type: Youma
Based off of: Nothing in particular
- If applicable, what was their debut in the show/manga: N/A
This big boy is Combater, a monster they made just for the game. He's a little tougher than the Cenicienta Moon fought earlier, but he's still not enough to take down an entire group of Senshi.
You can absolutely humiliate him if your formation is well-made, and there's nothing he can do about it.
WOW! That's a lot for this early in the game.
They really wanted to prepare you for what happens later on, jeez.
We get a second one on top of that... it's almost as if he's a living present box at this point.
We hit him with Moon Spiral Heart Attack and end him with 86 damage. Well, we took out the bad guy and saved the hostage - good job, team.
So he's able to recognize her through the disguise? Either he recognizes her voice or my disguise theory was just proven wrong. I hope it's not the former.
(The game mistakenly shows Usagi's civilian portrait here instead of Sailor Moon. I dunno what's up with that.)
Beryl was the queen of the Dark Kingdom and ruled over a legion of demons called the Youma. She destroyed the original Moon Kingdom and killed all of its inhabitants, including the original Sailor Senshi and the royal family.
Usagi and pals are their reincarnations, complete with looking exactly the same as their past lives.
I swear I'll never stop finding the blatant "what" reactions funny. It summarizes how I feel without me having to say anything!
Oh boy, I'd better take a shot for that one.
I find it amazing that this exposition is coming out of a person that would otherwise have no bearing on the story. I mean, we did just save him, so this is all a bonus.
[Current OST: Hikawa Shrine]
"KATSU--!!"
[The fire intensifies]
Sin is like the most obvious edgy name for a bad guy but in this context it actually stands for the Mesopotamian God of the Moon. Aw shit son, you can tell where we're going with this.
[The figure in the fire opens their eyes]
"This is merely a greeting!"
[The fire explodes in front of Rei's face, charring her body]
... Hell of a greeting, jeez.
"I'm all covered in soot."
Thank you, everyone, I'll be here all night.
[Rei walks offscreen]
[Telephone ringing SFX]
Haruka is actually another Sailor Senshi, but I'll save my thoughts for her when we actually see her.
This fine Grand Dad is Rei's grandfather, a nice but perverted old man that runs the Hikawa Shrine. The only other thing about him is that he turned into a Youma called Jiji during the course of the show, but that's about it.
This is a woman, folks. Haruka is about as butch as you can get on this show - to the point where everyone mistakes her for being a dude at first.
Odango is a prominent nickname for Usagi due to the ball-shaped hair buns she has. It's named after a dumpling that you skewer on a stick, so hurray for Japanese culinary jokes.
Ominous... It has to be some real shit if we have to go in person.
For the un-initiated, Hotaru is Japanese for firefly... I think it's a pretty name.
"I wonder what in the world is beginning to happen..."
Me too, Ami. This game's already getting pretty crazy.
"Usagi-chan, I have to check out a few things."
[Luna scurries off]
Interesting, but the only thing she'd be able to do is to contact the other Senshi. Luna's not that good a fighter, see...
This bell is used for donations and notifying the gods or something. You can be a yutz and ring it for no reason, but I don't think Rei would let it slide.
I finally found the hospital after wandering around the town for a bit.
How does the Luna-P always appear where trouble is going to happen? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.
[Current OST: Mysterious Happening]
"Are you awake, Hotaru-chan? Odango's come to see you."
Talking to either Haruka or her green-haired friend will activate the cutscene, but now that we brought up Usagi's hair buns I can't help but be bothered by them.
How does she get them like that.
This cutie is Hotaru Tomoe, otherwise known as Sailor Saturn. She's arguably the most powerful Senshi due to her control of life and death, but using her powers could have disastrous consequences to herself, so of course.
She's the daughter of the leader of the Death Busters, an underground facility that created the Daimons and the main villains of Season 3. Despite this, Hotaru didn't even know about the group's existence for a while.
This is Michiru Kaioh, Haruka's beloved (yeah, they're lesbians. The original English dubs tried to censor this due to having them as cousins, as stupid as that sounds.) and Sailor Neptune.
She's an accomplished violinist and elegant to the point where she makes everyone else look bad, although she can get a little snobby sometimes.
While we're at it, Haruka is Sailor Uranus. They were originally rogue Senshi with one mission - to obtain the Talismans and stop the Death Busters from getting them at any cost, even if it meant people would get harmed in the process.
They were initially opposed to the Inners due to them being "weak" and coldly told them to solve their problems by themselves, but Usagi and pals gradually won them over as the series passed.
Haruka was kind of a douche and actively picked a fight with Sailor Jupiter, but even she got her humble pie as time passed.
I don't know if it was a mistake or not, but they kept Haruka's portrait here for some reason. I got so confused as to who was talking that I'm still not sure if it was done on purpose.
The Infinity Academy is a private school that acts as the headquarters of the Death Busters, so you know that's messed up.
"Yeah! Hotaru, have you ever felt this kind of pain before?"
The Taioron Crystal is a manga-exclusive item that held all the power of the main villain of that arc, Pharaoh 90... a tremendous Elder God from the Tau System that ate everything that came his way.
To let you know how powerful he is, we never get a clear shot of what he's supposed to look like. That's terrifying.
Mistress 9 was the "messiah of silence", the chosen one of Pharaoh 90. Season 3 had a lot of biblical analogies, with the Moon Cup that turns Usagi into Super Sailor Moon straight up being called the Holy Grail.
No, seriously.
That's extremely optimistic, Haruka, but I don't quite think so.
Keep in mind this is all pre-Season 4, so everything that happens past that doesn't count.
Still, this whole scenario has to be nightmarish for Sailor Moon and pals after how much they've already gone through... and how it's all coming back to haunt them.
[A nurse walks into the room]
Nurse?: "... Hee, hee hee. I'm gonna get you troublesome Sailor Senshi!"
[The "nurse" throws off their disguise]
[Current OST: Boss Battle]
Name: Palmacon
HP: 95
Attack: 9
Defense: 3
Speed: 12
EXP: 3
Yen: 200
Item Drop: Bandage
Monster Type: Droid
Based off of: Pharmakon
- If applicable, what was their debut in the show/manga: Sailor Moon R (Season 2, episode 32)
Pharmakon is different from both the Daimon and Youma from before in that she is a Droid, a humanoid robot deployed by the Black Moon Clan. The Black Moon Clan being an organization of people from Nemesis, a forbidden planet with piss-poor living conditions whose inhabitants hold a grudge towards Earth.
The Droids are powered by colored crystals marked with an upside-down black moon crescent and were generally assigned to take over a part of Tokyo. Pharmakon is a nurse robot, with her name being inspired by the Greek word for "drug".
* HP: ******** (Good)
* Attack: ********** (Excellent)
* Defense: * (Worst)
* Speed: ********* (Excellent)
* Evade: * (Worst)
* Moveset:
- World Shaking (3 MP - hits all enemies for medium damage)
- Space Sword Blaster (4 MP - hits one enemy for massive damage)
* Preferred Gemstone/Equipment: Amber
Sailor Uranus is THE strongwoman of the Sailor Senshi with the highest HP and Speed stats in the game, but she's also a glass cannon. All that HP goes away pretty fast, not helped by her horrendous evasion stat.
Still, shoving a laser sword down a monster's throat is always extremely satisfying.
-
* HP: ****** (Above Average)
* Attack: ***** (Average)
* Defense: ****** (Above Average)
* Speed: ** (Awful)
* Evade: ********** (Excellent)
* Moveset:
- Deep Submerge (3 MP - hits all enemies for medium damage)
- Submarine Reflection (4 MP - hits all enemies for massive damage)
* Preferred Gemstone/Equipment: Aquamarine
In a sharp contrast to Uranus, Neptune is more about defense... and that's about it. It fits her level-headed personality and she's definitely great support, but other than that she's not too interesting.
Space Sword Blaster and Submarine Reflection are thanks to two of the Talismans they obtained during the course of Super.
Palmacon eats a Spiral Heart Attack and takes like 86 damage while the two Outers clean up. Normally Droids would just turn to dust when they get killed, but I'm just wondering how different it'd be if they had the all had the that death animation.
That's just pitiful compared to the EXP motherload we got earlier.
"Didn't we once beat that enemy before" - woman you weren't even a part of Sailor Moon R, what are you talking about?
What? Pharmakon is a Droid. I know all the monsters become increasingly silly Lady Gaga ripoffs after a while but I think you would have noticed if they didn't drop a Daimon Egg upon death.
I dunno man, but it sure it making a great game for me to geek over.
I love Haruka, alright.
[Current OST: Apsu]
Right as she asks that, we get a view of the real villains of Another Story. I find this song to be pretty haunting for a main villain theme, to the point where I listened to it in my own time.
Imagine if this game got a modern touch-up complete with an orchestrated soundtrack. That would be badass.
"In a few places, previously beaten enemies have been revived and attacked some people. The Destiny of the Juuban district of the 20th Century has been changed."
How does "changing destiny" work? Are they pulled from an alternate timeline or were they literally taken from the time where Sailor Moon and pals would have otherwise won?
I'm going to go with the former just so my brain doesn't hurt.
I find it odd that Apsu's face is clearly shown on her overworld sprite and we know her name, but they decide to keep it a secret to us anyway.
These jumpsuit girls are the Opposito Senshi, a group of people who are unsatisfied with Crystal Tokyo for one reason or another and are effectively evil counterparts to Sailor Moon and pals.
In terms of original villains, I like them quite a bit. I love evil foils in fiction to begin with, so them being the villain group of the otherwise non-canon RPG gets me pumped to fight them.
It's also interesting to note that there is no other group like them in the entire series, even from Season 4 onward.
They must hold this kid in high respect if they refer to him as "sama".
In a stark contrast to the Sailor Senshi's Greek-inspired motif, the Opposito are based off of Mesopotamian entities. I've already covered Sin, the not-Sailor Moon.
Anshar is named after the Sumerian sky god, with his pet Kishar being named after his consort, the Sumerian earth goddess. I adore his design the most out of the new characters, with one exception.
This would be far much of a drag if I didn't replace "Ginzuishou" with Silver Crystal.
This translation is nice and all but they really need to spice up their script, Ted Woolsey style. I can appreciate a direct translation but come on.
Actually, imagine if Another Story was properly released overseas. I'm not sure how well it'd perform due to a lot of its plot being derived from the middle of Sailor Moon's anime storyline, but a little tweaking here and there would let people enjoy the gameplay if nothing else.
[Four of the five girls vanish]
[Sin vanishes, followed by Anshar]
By the Princess, she means Chibiusa. Aww, Anshar has a crush on the Princess. That's adorable.
I'm saying the same thing as Usagi but in a more sarcastic way like "how tho".
One detail I should have mentioned is that I like how the first thing they do is show concern when something bad happens. Usagi thinks about her family when all this starts happening, and I find that admirable.
???: "Wait! I'm going too!"
[Hotaru runs out of the hospital]
Yes, yes, yes, join the team Hotaru please
Honestly, Hotaru is much safer with the team than she is alone. She'd be far easier to pick off by herself.
* HP: ** (Awful)
* Attack: * (Worst?)
* Defense: ********** (Excellent)
* Speed: * (Worst)
* Evade: ****** (Above Average)
* Moveset:
- Death Ribbon Revolution (1 MP - medium damage to all enemies)
* Preferred Gemstone/Equipment: Fluorite
I know what you're thinking. Only one move and the lowest attack of every Senshi so far? What could possibly make Saturn worth a
See... Death Ribbon/Reborn Revolution is an inexpensive attack that hits every enemy on screen. There's items in the game that drastically boost attack and speed, so the horrible base numbers don't mean much if you have them.
Saturn effectively becomes a free screen nuke every time her turn comes up, so why not right?
["Make-Up!" SFX]
Wait, what the shit? Why are we going into battle?
[Current OST: Normal Battle Theme]
Oh god Another Story has random battles. I'm so used to the Earthbound style of RPGs where you can see every enemy on screen that I forgot how much I don't like these.
Again, if Another Story got a modern HD re-release with like 3D models or something, that'd be god damn amazing.
I also adore this battle theme for some reason I can't comprehend. It's ridiculously catchy and is one of those songs I always listen to outside of the game itself... something about it just gels so well with the setting of Sailor Moon and the fact we're fighting monsters from the show.
Name: Tesny
HP: 36
Attack: 6
Defense: 3
Speed: 25
EXP: 1
Yen: 200
Item Drop: Nothing
Monster Type: Youma
Based off of: Tesuni
- If applicable, what was their debut in the show/manga: Sailor Moon Classic (Season 1, episode 14)
All of these early monsters are based off of the first few Youma Sailor Moon fought in the beginning of the series. Tesuni is a tennis Youma that launches flaming serves.
She sounds devastating, but really isn't... especially when she's the least durable of the bunch.
Name: Garoben
HP: 42
Attack: 6
Defense: 3
Speed: 20
EXP: 1
Yen: 120
Item Drop: Orange Juice
Monster Type: Youma
Based off of: Garoben
- If applicable, what was their debut in the show/manga: Sailor Moon Classic (Season 1, episode 8 )
Garoben is arguably my shining example for the visual difference between earlier monsters and later ones. While Droids and Daimons onward tended to look like bad fashion models, the earliest Youma tended to be fucking terrifying or at the very least ugly in a monstrous way.
Garoben is an ogre woman that can turn her hands into axes. She ambushed Ami during an exam and was about to spill her brains out (literally) until she turned into Sailor Mercury for the first time.
Name: Jumoh
HP: 42
Attack: 4
Defense: 4
Speed: 9
EXP: 1
Yen: 150
Item Drop: Orange Juice
Monster Type: Youma
Based off of: Jumeau
- If applicable, what was their debut in the show/manga: Sailor Moon Classic (Season 1, episode 18)
Jumeau is another example in that she's this creepy doll woman with detachable parts. Sailor Moon has a lot of doll-based monsters, with Jumeau being the second to appear.
She's the fastest monster of this area and I find it strange how both her and Garoben drop Orange Juice when they die. Like... where did they get them from?
The monsters don't drop much when they die, but given how we'll be backtracking quite a bit, I can agree with the low numbers.
The Puzzle Piece is part of an optional sidequest. See, the puzzle option in our menu allows us to see how the picture's progressing and when we complete it 100%, we can get special prizes.
You don't just get pieces in battle, you can also look for them later on and they're missable, so... yeah I'll have to keep a look out for them.
Here's World Shaking and Deep Submerge for you. I love how the attacks look in this game.
I know monsters don't appear near the Shrine itself, but... yeah, great weather we're having today as the town is getting ravaged by monsters.
Here's Death Ribbon Revolution for you. It's a fancy animation and all, but it confuses me as to why it's called Death Reborn Revolution instead.
Oh well, whatever.
I grabbed some earrings, bracelets and chokers now that the jewelry store is open. Now I am the prettiest lady.
Oh yeah, I didn't mention it before but why was Naru's mom's sprite so bad earlier but now it looks fine? She looked like some generic gray woman when we rescued her from Cenicienta.
Oh, then I guess you'd better walk out then.
God damn Space Sword Blaster is cool. Submarine Reflection is nice too.
But isn't the comet in the future? Okay, let's just stop that train of thought right there...
There's a lot of stores in town and the entire place is a faithful recreation of Usagi's town. The Toy shop is kind of a ripoff though because even though the items here restore all of your HP, they cost way too much to be worth anything.
We had fought so many monsters offscreen that this was a normal non-Sailor Moon attack. My kingdom for a Repel.
... A Repel in this context would be pretty hilarious though, if just for the mental image of these big scary monster women running in terror from an aerosol can.
The cosmetics place in this is the best item shop in the game. Toilettes may sound weird, but they're pretty much the Megalixirs of Another Story.
They heal everyone's HP and MP to max, so the fact a shop has them so early is just plain mind-blowing to me. I wish I could get at least one, but I'm too poor.
Enough goofing around though, let's do what we need to.
"It looks like nothing's changed around here."
Give it a second and...
Bingo.
Shingo offscreen: "UWAAAAA!"
Well then. Shingo is a Nonverbal NPC, but I can't blame him with him being unconscious right now.
How's it going, my demon sister?
"Don't... Don't interfere!!!"
Sorry to disappoint you, but that's not how we roll.
[Current OST: Boss Theme]
Name: CureneyGreen
HP: 200
Attack: 12
Defense: 3
Speed: 23
EXP: 5
Yen: 2500
Item Drop: Bandage
Monster Type: Youma
Based off of: Kyurene
- If applicable, what was their debut in the show/manga: Sailor Moon Classic (Season 1, episode 6)
They mangled the name, jeez. Kyurene is a vampire-like Youma summoned by Jadeite to drain energy from music listeners, and honestly she's my favorite Youma design in the entire show barring Castor and Pollux later on.
Her name is derived from Cyrene... the joke being that they're written the same in japanese even though there's nothing vampire related to the pun.
Why is she green though? You got me.
I should note that the episode Kyurene appeared in was not included in the DiC dub for some reason.
Alright. I'm not feeling particularly merciful and I don't think Usagi would be nice either after a Youma just attacked her baby brother.
Let's crank it up a notch.
You get a complete heal when you become Super Sailor Moon, complete with an altered dress. I adore the butterfly motif she got with it, so I'm disappointed to note she loses it in season 4.
Yeeeah, boi!
Christ that's a lot of damage! Kyurene is deceased.
In the game, Rainbow Moon Heartache is basically Luminaire from Chrono Trigger with a heart. No better way to show off the power than that, really. This is what it looks like in the show.
That 200 HP didn't amount to much, did it?
Oh, and Super Sailor Moon even has her own unique ending taunt. That's adorable.
I dun get it.
It makes less sense when you translate it into English, but I don't know how make a pun from that.
I'm just amazed Shingo can't recognize his sister, disguise powers or not.
[Beeping SFX]
We turn back into our civilian disguises even though there's still danger around. I guess since the townsfolk aren't being actively attacked by the monsters despite them being everywhere, we have to.
(It only took me like what, a few fights to get here?)
This cool cat is Artemis. Despite the name, he's a boy cat that lives with Minako and has been helping her ever since she was Sailor V.
He's a soldier as opposed to Luna, who's more of a court lady than anything.
These characters steal my reactions. I am not appeased.
"But, the Black Moon is..."
How? ~Villain magic.~
Where the hell is Sailor Pluto in all this? She's the one in charge of the door! (Also, we'll get to her later.)
[Screen scrolls to the right, with a hologram of Sin appearing]
"Huh? The computer's making some strange sounds."
... Holy shit I just realized Artemis is a real keyboard cat. What have memes done to me?
Why did I flinch when he said that?
Oh boy, here we go.
"One of the Senshi who change Destiny. I shall kill you annoying Sailor Senshi. I completely rule 'Her Destiny'. Take a look at this!"
[Current OST: Suspense and Illusion]
[Sin shows off holograms of the other fallen Senshi]
Damn, she got everyone! This isn't good.
That's pretty cold-blooded, Sin. But you might regret this in the future...
"Everyone... Chibi-Usa..."
Luna speaking the most sense.
"It's too dangerous to accept their invitation."
She is absolutely correct. We're basically rushing off to enemy territory with only a bare idea of what we're getting into, so this level of caution is necessary.
Haruka, I know you're reckless and the strongest soldier yet, but that's practically suicidal.
Pretty sure Saturn can tank everything they throw at us, so no worries honestly.
Usagi is a great friend, even if her judgement isn't always right.
That's ice cold, son.
Excellent.
We're gonna mess them up, dudes.
Next time on Sailor Moon: Another Story, we're going to brave the school and rescue our friends and I'm not gonna let any two-bit demon get in our way.
See you then.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Team Set-Up:
-
~Fun Sailor Moon Fact~:
Moon Spiral Heart Attack is the most commonly deflected attack in the entire show. It was blown away by flamethrowers twice, shot down by a Daimon called U-Estern and straight up palm-blocked by a villain called Hawk's Eye in Season 4.