Anime Mary Sue Power, Make Up!
OK, I'm trying to watch this with a straight face, I really am. But watching episode 22 just made me feel suddenly "Why am I watching THIS again?"
I do acknowledge this is basically a faithful adaptation of the source material, but let's face it: the source material is not perfect. In fact, it is quite badly written.
Let's start with my most disliked aspect of the show: Sailor Moon is a Mary Sue. Every other senshi is basically useless, they serve no purpose on the show other than to get hurt and wait for Sailor Moon to save their asses. Sailor Moon is able to get a whole new wand by TOUCHING her boyfriend's hands and kill every enemy with one blast, while her fellow "warriors" can barely scratch them, even with their new attacks (Actually, their new attacks on the Black Moon Arc never accomplished anything).
Secondly: The massive inconsistencies and plot-holes. So, Sailor Moon stabs herself with the most powerful sword in the universe that can break through the hardest of the stones ever found by the human man... And she's saved by a clock. Yes, she had rammed half of a sword through her stomach and she fell uncounscious. But a CLOCK saved her. Oh, let's not forget: Chibi-Usa always knew Usagi was her mom, that's why she held her at gunpoint, tried to steal her Silver Crystal and did other nasty things to her. And the 900 years thing? Who the hell are they trying to fool?
Thirdly: Bad characters. Usagi doesn't care about anyone or anything, the only thing she ever cared about was Mamoru. Screw her friends, screw her family, screw the fate of the world. If anything happens to Mamoru, she's gonna kill herself. Her jealousy towards Chibi-Usa is no better, she's completely paranoid that she's gonna grow up and steal her boyfriend. Like, she's YOUR DAUGHTER... Yeah, it kinda happens later, but still... And Chibi-Usa herself? In this series, she's so EMO, she can't bare to see Pluto smiling to someone else other than her and will try to kill herself immediately. And of course, there are characters that are presented on one scene, like they're important or something (Momo/Diana) and simply vanish the next one.
Finally: Boring and predictable battles. I'm not gonna lie, I felt the MOTW battles were better than the ones against the big bads. Queen Beryl's death was a joke, so was Esmeraude's & Rubeus'.
Anime Disappointing
(Note: I'll refrain from comparing Crystal to the 90s anime and the manga; the former because it has a completely different format, and the latter because I think an adaptation should be able to stand on its own merits.)
PROS:
- The music is great. I've heard people complain that it's "not memorable", but I personally found most of the tracks fantastic. Really helped set the mood.
- Gorgeous animation, when the show actually bothers to try. The BDs are a boon too, of course, and they fix much of the oft-reviled lineart.
- Good voice acting. Kotono especially, but the others play their parts very well. Beryl's VA is a standout.
- Many sweet and/or touching moments - Chibiusa's backstory, Mako's intro episode, and pretty much everything about Pluto, for example.
CONS:
- Rather silly plot developments. The Holy Sword makes no sense, as discussed in another review below. The Sailor V game hands out magical items and is conveniently placed right on top of a secret base. Usagi is genuinely worried that an eight-year-old will steal her boyfriend. The show crams in no less than eight instances of brainwashing and three Silver Crystals. And so on.
- The Inner Senshi are laughably ineffective, especially in the Black Moon arc, and have little personality beyond their focus episodes. Other supporting characters are borderline pointless (looking at you, Asanuma).
- Villains lack motivation and are defeated anticlimactically.
- A lot of padding, usually in the form of drawn-out conversations, and copious MotW action in the early parts of both arcs. Sitting through five consecutive transformation sequences doesn't help much.
- Bad animation - individual frames don't bother me too much, but the show is constantly hampered by jerky movement, bizarrely Off Model episodes, and poor cinematography.
- The Senshi/Shitennou "subplot" was, frankly, a horrendous affront to all eight characters involved. I'm not opposed to the ship on principle, but a 10-second montage does not qualify as believable romance.
Despite the various issues above, I do find the show enjoyable, and I hope it eventually covers the rest of the arcs (with a bigger budget, heh). If you like the manga, Crystal is worth a shot - if not, it probably isn't going to improve your opinion.
Anime Sailor Moon is Pretty...and thats about it.
SMC follows very faithfully the manga, to much so in some places.
Sure, the graphics are mindblowing and CGI tolerable, but what made the previous series so much fun for me is lacking in this series; characterization. No one really changes, at least, we don't see anyone change.
Besides Usagi, every other senshi is a joke; they serve no purpose beyond screaming for the heroine and dying, beyond their introductory episode. When Mars got kidnapped, my first thought was "Wait, when was her last important scene?"
The original series, even though it followed a monster of the week formula, at least let the audience get to know these girls and when they died I genuinely cried, because I identified with Amy, I wanted to be like Makoto or Rei.
When Usagi cried about being alone, I felt her grief and was inspired when she killed her mind-controlled boyfriend and continued on because she had a planet to save, with the implication she will join him AFTER her remaining family and friends are saved.
In Crystal, its a disgrace against the feminist vibe Sailor Moon has always had that the moment her boyfriend dies, she kills herself and basically DOOMS the rest of the planet just because she can't be with her love.
Growing up, Sailor Moon was a favourite because it showed young women overcoming challenges, mundane and supernatural through love, friendship and teamwork. even the live-action version, which has only 10 or so more episodes than Crystal, still had enough time to develop the relationships between the girls, so I call bullshit on them not having enough time.
Why couldn't they focus on that, instead of tacking on a romance between the girls and the Generals that leads NOWHERE, because unless your name is Usagi, you don't get a happy ending? If you are going to put something new in it, at least let it go somewhere!
Basically, what I am saying is that Crystal is all style and no substance - it might as well be Miracle Whip Lite, I can't even get a guilty pleasure from it.
The original Sailor Moon may have had a few issues, but it's still the better of the two. This wasn't made for fans of the original series or manga (though they would be the only ones to follow this pathetic excuse for characterization); this was made in order to get money.
If you'll excuse me, I'm going to watch DV Ds of the better series!
Anime Third Arc is Completed
So, Third Arc wrapped up recently, if it's really adapting the whole manga it's going to go up to the fifth arc.
As everyone, both people who love it and people who hate it will tell you, Sailor Moon Crystal is VERY faithful to the original Manga as opposed to the 90s Anime which was definitely was not.
I personally love the Sailor Moon Manga and so love Sailor Moon Crystal. In fact most of my complaints about Sailor Moon Crystal are about the few things they DID change from the manga (Though Tuxedo Kamen punching Zoisite in Crystal will forever be hilarious to me). I hear about Crystal's animation being bad....honestly the animation has never really been a thing I care much about and the claims seem exaggerated anyway.
I personally am rather enjoying it though, I think Crystal is really good. It's hard to compare to the 90s Anime because it's just much shorter obviously (39 episodes compared to 127). Just in first 3 arcs, the 90s Anime had bigger highs then Crystal (Nephrite and Kunzite Sub-Arc Conclusions, Season 1 Ending, Battle with Saphir and Demando, Certain episodes in Season 3) but also had lower lows (The Horrible Break-Up arc between Usagi and Mamoru, the Makaiju Arc which I found dull, the seemingly endless filler, The End of Season which is one of the most blatant deus ex machinas I have ever seen) etc.
Crystal is more consistent I would say. It has it's highs (Last few episodes of each season in particular) and it's lows (killing the Shittenou all at once, ....that's about it really). It's quality doesn't ebb and flow as much as the 90s Anime does.
I know a common complaint is that the Guardian Senshi don't do anything or have character which I strongly disagree against. I have read the Manga many many times and there is character development for them and they do in fact do things, it's just these are much more subtle in Crystal due to less time.
The other complaint is that it's somehow against feminism. As a Female Anti-Feminist, I'm sure you can guess how much water that holds with me, but nonetheless I really don't see even from a feminist lense what is so wrong with it. God Forbid Usagi not be a perfect demigoddess that needs no man. (Of course people are also calling Usagi a Mary Sue I don't even know what to make of that).
Overall I rather like Crystal, my only request would be it stick closer to the manga. I am excited for Fourth Arc and am SUPER excited for Fifth Arc (Fifth Arc is my favorite arc in every version). I like it about on par with the 90s Anime, comparing just the first 3 arcs. I also think critics are more vocal then supporters right now, as while I keep hearing about the complaints, I don't think I've spoken to a Moonie that doesn't like....meh.
4/5