(L+CR) Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal

[BloodyKitty]

Really ave to agree with people here that Kotono's voice this time is so unbearable even to someone like me who was indifferent towards it before. Too bad that if we could have a better new VA then this episode could have hit on a lot of good notes...

And Faerie just has to mention Magic Kaito, which has a current remake show that I really enjoy even more than its original source. Just thinking that something as big as Sailor Moon should deserve much more effort than every other shows in the same season makes it even sadder... I'm lenient on animation most of the time, but I wish they could have better scriptwriter to improve on the flaws of the manga, like the senshi's lack of personality and development after their introductions, the break-neck pacing, and some suspense of disbelief (which for some reason, the changes the writers have been making to the show left even bigger suspense of disbelief than the manga).

[HandofFate]

With the script having her cry for 20minutes straight. I put the blame on the script writer than the voice actress. I don't think I could handle even my favorites Hanakana or Yukari Tamura sob for an entire episode.

[akumaten]

Not to defend the current Kotono nay-sayer, but I think Ms. Kotono's voice as Usagi worked with the 90's Sailor moon with the comedic moments and with the serious moments.
I'm trying my best to get a feel of the series, but it feels..off.

[orion]

Originally Posted by HandofFate

With the script having her cry for 20minutes straight. I put the blame on the script writer than the voice actress. I don't think I could handle even my favorites Hanakana or Yukari Tamura sob for an entire episode.

Well...she did lose her true love after she finally remembered him and partially revived him. It is a 90's show so....she has to come full circle and not be a tragic princess anymore as she put it summing up her past self probably and looking forward to doing things differently. I thought the crying was pretty effective showing past Usagi and current and more mature Usagi.

People are going to be crying for a lot longer if they lose a loved one irl.

[RDNexus]

And now people are talking about the sort of things I was asking about, the plot/scriptwriting issues SMC's having so far...

Taking that remake of Magic Kaito (which I'm not watching) into account, how could you make do in SMC's case?
That's the sort of stuff I wanted to get from the lot of you.

[Faerie]

@orion: except they ruined that and made her say that serenity was the strong one and she's just a girl who wants a boyfriend and that's all.
That's a grave mistake in my opinion.

@xrick: in addition to what I said...: remove amateurish or outdated story flaws the way Magic Kaito did. The manga was a very early work of Gosho's and thus the writing was a bit rough around the edges, plus it's outdated. That's ok, it does not reflect badly on the source, but it has to go. So the smart writer changed these things to appeal to a more demanding and current audience. The same needed to happen here.
Sailor Moon should not (and wasn't, really) be a codependent, boy-crazy, one-note whiner who has no interests except finding a boyfriend who declares herself as weaker than her former self, negating the point that Usagi will follow a different, less helpless path.
We actually saw a glimpse of good points to Usagi before Mamoru and he princess came into play. Heck, even when she still thought she wasn't the princess, she was great. But bring the boyfriend into the equation and all is lost.
There needed to be more character development instead of less, and the senshi should shine without glorification of the princess figure who does not merit the attention she receives. Look at Akatsuki no Yona for a princess that deserves respect. That's the sort of development and strength I personally expect a naive, whiny princess to come up with. That's awesome. Not crying that all you want is a boyfriend and you can't live up to your (totally pathetic btw) former self.
It's ironic for the titular character of a show that professes "girls need to men to save them" to be the complete opposite of that statement half the time.
On the upside, she seemed to get a bit of a grip towards the end of the episode, but this comes after almost 20 minutes of screaming and crying and total Bella Swann-esque blank pages. Awful. This episode properly felt like the anime version of Twilight in that regard.
I do cut her slack, as a lot was dumped on her there, but this was absurd. It wasn't even about her situation, it was all about Mamoru this Mamoru that. Nothing else. Most her development relating to Mamoru is terrible.

I also expected deeper background on the moon kingdom- why are they the most important, how come the princesses of the planets serve these guys, etc. instead of the empty gushing over "princessu" and blind acceptance I'm getting. This might actually still happen to be fair. Just doubt it.

The show kind of feels very devoid of real emotion right now, with little investment in the cast and a somewhat shallow, not quite thought out plot. It's not funny but it's hard to take seriously either. So what is it meant to be?
I get a feeling Naoko wouldn't let them change too many things, so we ended up with a rather half hearted effort that naturally seems rather off.

Hah, I was trying not to make such a long, negative post, but since you keep insisting, there you go that's my take anyways.

[Baldurkai]

Originally Posted by Faerie

On a positive note: while the plot and voice acting is taking a dip, the animation has been pretty good. Even the bad frames look more like standard type bad frames rather than something scary coming for you at night xD
Just flipping though some screens, you can see the notable difference in quality and style. I might not agree with the choreography at times (the floating and teleporting lol), but the animation itself has come a good long way since the first few episodes.

Another weird thing was how everyone suddenly referred to their friend as 'princess'. Makes sense for Minako, I suppose, but it was weird for the rest to do. I do wish they'd put in more effort into rethinking the weaker parts of the plot though

I'll have to agree with you, the Animation and art has improved over the recent episodes, there are still those really weird moments where things just look like its dont by amateurs or they just couldnt be bothered to refine the small details like eye spacing or something like that. But yea, they IMO have quite the way to go till its normal, as you rightfully put it, they are looking more like the standard type bad frames ^^^.

Also I didnt really understand the instant swap to 'Princess' calling either, im sure if my friend told me they are really a princess, id still call them by the first name. guess im an anomaly ??

Originally Posted by Faerie

If it's okay to add ipads and making other changes, what's so hard about giving the villain's a brain and updating things today's viewers might find objectionable. Magic Kaito is doing it... and it's for the better. Did Naoko not let them?

I like the fact that other shows are updating the anime to me its a nice touch, and the little things they did in Magic Kaito did not change any of the actual story to my knowledge (as limited as it might be). Its a shame they did not try this with Sailor Moon. Giving the Villains a brain would have made this much more interesting than the typical - give them plenty of time to regenerate their Health and strength so they can kick you to the curb after -- I rather like the Villains in sailor moon.

Originally Posted by orion

Well...she did lose her true love after she finally remembered him and partially revived him. It is a 90's show so....she has to come full circle and not be a tragic princess anymore as she put it summing up her past self probably and looking forward to doing things differently. I thought the crying was pretty effective showing past Usagi and current and more mature Usagi.

Originally Posted by Faerie

@orion: except they ruined that and made her say that serenity was the strong one and she's just a girl who wants a boyfriend and that's all.
That's a grave mistake in my opinion.

I do cut her slack, as a lot was dumped on her there, but this was absurd. It wasn't even about her situation, it was all about Mamoru this Mamoru that. Nothing else. Most her development relating to Mamoru is terrible.

I do get the points that Orion are bringing up, I guess some people would have a mental breakdown and what not. but at the same time Im like memories - of a life you could of had (might not even be yours I mean magic and all right?) - would you not be more confused rather than focused on this 'Endy' guy who again might not have been Mamoru (its not like they have the same name or anything). Again another old plot fail for me I guess. But as Faerie states, personally i find they sacrificed Usagi to try to make serenity seem like a better person.... all i saw was a princess who only cared for 'love' rather weak female imo if that is all she is ...

[BloodyKitty]

@xrick: I did mean to answer you at some point, but then timezone difference and the fact that I'm not frequent on this forum as much as I want to so I must have read your question late...

Pretty much what Faerie said, and some more things I would like to expand on:

- Usagi/Mamoru romance: I want them to focus on making the two characters building their relationship as being their current identities instead of keep using that "drawn to each other 'cos DESTINY" card all the time, which makes their relationship so hard to relate on my part.
- The Inner Senshi: I want the senshi to be written more as characters with their own personality traits and different beliefs interacting with each other, rather than the current too much focus on Usagi and reduce the Inner Senshi as flat characters who only purpose of being there is just to put more focus on Usagi's "awesomeness" (which is hard to swallow with the current writing).
- Mamoru: Surprisingly I don't have that much beef with the guy as of now, I have somewhat better opinion on him than the old anime's version, though they could have outrightly made Tuxedo Mask a phantom thief who steals crystals as night to go with his declaration in ep 6 that he committed crimes for the Silver Crystal, given how people actually took his words seriously and featured the Silver Crystal on news and paper. Also remove all the kiss scenes while Usagi is sleeping because clearly people nowadays are uncomfortable with them.
- The Shitennou: If they want to keep these guys around longer than the manga, at least give each of them their own personality and different specialties, they have been pretty one-dimensional if not for their different appearances.

While writting these, I found that I really like Beryl as a character who is not fully obedient of Metalia but has her own thoughts and desires as well, though the anime just have to change things around to make some of her actions in front of the Senshi somewhat foolish (like running away while clearly having the upper hand in the situation, as some people pointed out).

[RDNexus]

@Faerie:
I think that with this series there's no amount of criticism that may excuse the way it's been going, if I preferred the Manga over the original series, now it's more noticeable the many flaws the Manga had, mostly because of the era in which was written and the rushed production it suffered because of those idiots at Toei and maybe other reasons I know nothing of...

@BloodyKitty:
I may have not noticed your reply to my request, thanks anyway.
Just like I stated to Faerie, even if the first arc isn't over yet, one can already notice the many flaws the Manga had and which this new series is keeping for whatever stupid reasons there may be since it should be easy to notice those flaws and correct them while updating the setting of the whole story while keeping it's essence.

And let's take into account that this all related to the story so far, with the first arc yet to be done... So many hopes I had for this series, totally wasted.

[orion]

Originally Posted by Faerie

@orion: except they ruined that and made her say that serenity was the strong one and she's just a girl who wants a boyfriend and that's all.
That's a grave mistake in my opinion.

Like it or not, it's prob a good chunk of what 14 yo girls actually think about. Cool guys, getting a boyfriend.

She wanted a normal existence. She got her girlfriends, she lost the "cool guy". Result is lots of tears.

[Faerie]

Originally Posted by orion

Like it or not, it's prob a good chunk of what 14 yo girls actually think about. Cool guys, getting a boyfriend.

She wanted a normal existence. She got her girlfriends, she lost the "cool guy". Result is lots of tears.

I think you're really missing the point

And fwiw I wasn't like that, neither were my friends. Even the ones who wanted boyfriends had... Y'know... Aspirations.... And other things they cared about.
I know one person who was like this though, and she was a moron. Her parents were worried she'd hurt herself whenever something happened with her dude. It was pathetic to watch. Hardly healthy to base your entire life around some guy.
But still. Maybe everyone I knew was just particularly smart and well-adjusted and normal 14 year old aren't like that. It's possible. I just don't see the appeal of the Bella type in fiction.
What's their purpose? Reinforce bad attitudes?

[orion]

Originally Posted by Faerie

I think you're really missing the point

And fwiw I wasn't like that, neither were my friends. Even the ones who wanted boyfriends had... Y'know... Aspirations.... And other things they cared about.
I know one person who was like this though, and she was a moron. Her parents were worried she'd hurt herself whenever something happened with her dude. It was pathetic to watch. Hardly healthy to base your entire life around some guy.
But still. Maybe everyone I knew was just particularly smart and well-adjusted and normal 14 year old aren't like that. It's possible. I just don't see the appeal of the Bella type in fiction.
What's their purpose? Reinforce bad attitudes?

14 year olds can be dramatic. And my niece is around Usagi's age and the boyfriend issue is strong among that age group from what I observed. Sex is also an issue. She's being taught to think about other things.

I'm not from the Japanese culture so I think the culture may have a influence on the portrayal of Usagi's behavior. During the episode involving weddings, Sailor Jupiter wasn't even going to pick her bridal gown. She said whatever her husband wanted her to wear.

[TnAdct1]

Originally Posted by BloodyKitty

- The Inner Senshi: I want the senshi to be written more as characters with their own personality traits and different beliefs interacting with each other, rather than the current too much focus on Usagi and reduce the Inner Senshi as flat characters who only purpose of being there is just to put more focus on Usagi's "awesomeness" (which is hard to swallow with the current writing).

This is one thing that the original anime did better than the current one: the handling of the Inner Senshi. Thanks to each season of Sailor Moon being at least three cour in the original anime, each of the Inner Senshi was able to get at least a couple of focus episodes each season, which helped them develop their characters and personalities. With this anime only covering 26 episodes and sticking to the manga (with it very likely covering R as well), this series is losing much of the character development that the Inner Senshi had in the original show as a result of it having more episodes and a "monster of the week" formula.

[RDNexus]

As far as it was mentioned in another Sailor Moon Fanbase Forum, it wasn't like there was character development in the original series but more like character buildup, padding stuff that made their differing personalities more clear to see.
SMC does have character development but it's along the arcs of the Manga, not all at once in a single arc.

[Zoe]

Originally Posted by orion

I'm not from the Japanese culture so I think the culture may have a influence on the portrayal of Usagi's behavior. During the episode involving weddings, Sailor Jupiter wasn't even going to pick her bridal gown. She said whatever her husband wanted her to wear.

That's not what she was saying.

They were talking about traditional (Japanese kimono) versus Western (poofy white dress). She was saying she was fine with either style and would go with the one he would prefer.

[orion]

Originally Posted by Zoe

That's not what she was saying.

They were talking about traditional (Japanese kimono) versus Western (poofy white dress). She was saying she was fine with either style and would go with the one he would prefer.

Which basically means in the end, her husband is choosing the bridal gown.

[Zoe]

Originally Posted by orion

Which basically means in the end, her husband is choosing the bridal gown.

No, it doesn't. She would choose which kimono she wears. She would choose which bridal gown she wears.

[Faerie]

Originally Posted by orion

14 year olds can be dramatic. And my niece is around Usagi's age and the boyfriend issue is strong among that age group from what I observed. Sex is also an issue. She's being taught to think about other things.

I'm not from the Japanese culture so I think the culture may have a influence on the portrayal of Usagi's behavior. During the episode involving weddings, Sailor Jupiter wasn't even going to pick her bridal gown. She said whatever her husband wanted her to wear.

There's a difference between "dramatic" and "cares only about her boyfriend". And hey, you're still missing the point. To refresh: that Serenity, who never got to be anything but an ignorant airhead is being glorified at the expense of Usagi.
Both are terrible role models though, so how much does it even matter?

...
Usagi is not portrayed that way because she is Japanese...... Or because the show is Japanese..... That is ridiculous. She's portrayed that way because that's what Naoko wanted. Possibly for the same reason Bella Swann is portrayed the way she is... and last I checked Stephenie Meyer was not Japanese.

[SeijiSensei]

Rather than repeatedly asking us, why don't you give it a try yourself?

Personally I'm not watching this show for its narrative prowess. It's more curiosity about a cultural icon.

[RDNexus]

You asking for my opinion, SeijiSensei? If yes, I can gladly do so, if I don't mess up my train of thought along the way :P