(L+CR) Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal

[PreSage]

Originally Posted by JagdPanther

... that wasn't enough in the character development department.

If I recall, I never really got the impression that there was much character development in the manga. SM was never really good in that department, especially with the supporting characters.

[Stark700]

Meh series overall, actually quite underwhelming even for the finale. I actually kinda like the way the show started but the story didn't really work out for me in the end. Sure, it's faithful but it lost the feeling that I had expected.

As far as the future announcement goes, I wouldn't be too surprised if they announced another season...

[Sageblink]

Originally Posted by JagdPanther

So... I guess they didn't hint at covering the S arc quite as obviously as was done in the final episode of SMR back in the day..

Like with a new broch, a new wand and Chibi-usa coming back and being in training with them ?

[Faerie]

Originally Posted by Sageblink

Like with a new broch, a new wand and Chibi-usa coming back and being in training with them ?

Given that this show was meant to adapt the manga 'faithfully' -this is exactly what happens in the manga. The only actual hint is the 'see you soon message'.

[Sageblink]

Originally Posted by Faerie

Given that this show was meant to adapt the manga 'faithfully' -this is exactly what happens in the manga. The only actual hint is the 'see you soon message'.

You're talking to someone who watch and read the stuff back in 95.
Moreover, i'm french so I do get the "A bientot".

It's was just some teasing regarding the obvious hitting.

I know it wasn't really an henshin sequence but the animation part for Chibi-Moon was better that all the CGs together... Please pretty please, keep it that way in S !

[JagdPanther]

Originally Posted by Sageblink

Like with a new broch, a new wand and Chibi-usa coming back and being in training with them ?

I guess I shouldn't have expected something like the final episode of SMR since SMC was supposed to be (and, to a fairly large degree, was) very faithful to manga. But, SMR does end with an episode that is basically a preview of the S arc.

Originally Posted by PreSage

If I recall, I never really got the impression that there was much character development in the manga. SM was never really good in that department, especially with the supporting characters.

I know, but I chalk that up to manga being a medium where you don't have a lot of space or time for character develop. Anime gives you a lot more room to work with.

[Faerie]

Originally Posted by Sageblink

You're talking to someone who watch and read the stuff back in 95.
Moreover, i'm french so I do get the "A bientot".

So did I Well, actually a few years later, I think... was a bit young in 95, lol. I don't really get your comment, sorry.
I don't understand, are you upset that I said it in English??

Just saying that's not a hint, it's just how it was meant to end. Not even sure the message is a real hint at all, since that's what it said at the end of PGSM as well, which led nowhere.

That said, one of the hacks who worked on this did post on twitter to keep an eye on the site, so I guess that tweet counts as the real hint here

[chaos_animagic]

so.. ep 26's the end?

they won't have that "chibi chibi" like in the first anime?

overall, not bad, got a lot more actions than the first anime.

[JagdPanther]

Originally Posted by chaos_animagic

so.. ep 26's the end?

they won't have that "chibi chibi" like in the first anime?

overall, not bad, got a lot more actions than the first anime.

Chibi Chibi is from the Stars arc.

This covered only the 1st and R arcs. Then there is S, Super S, and Stars.

[Guido]

Minna-san, glad to be back at this thread again after my long, long absence.

Towards the end of 2014 I fell to a sluggish slump and stopped watching episodes from anime previous three seasons, and right now I'm marathoning shows to catch up with the current episode's pace.

Last time I caught with Sailor Moon Crystal episodes was at twenty-first one.

Today, I'm glad to announce that I concluded this show.


I'll keep my thoughts personal and without being influenced from what I've read previously in other blogs.

I cannot help but to compare this current incarnation of Sailor Moon with the previous anime, because both are TV shows.

As lots of people already have discussed, Crystal retells the manga story using a different approach, however, that is driven by plot and the narrative, unlike the first show which was driven by the characters themselves.
Nevertheless, I feel and know that the Crystal anime took some artistic liberties along the way, since the animation staff still knew and marketed this show for kids.

Regarding the Dark Kingdom arc there were unnecessary bits and details that did not help much to progress the plot, and while the Black Moon crystal kept a steady and tight pace I felt the last showdown against Wiseman-Nemesis resulted too anti-climatic for convenience sake, though being a magical-girl show pulling out the Deus Ex-Machina trope is to be expected always.

Finally, the main topic of contention amongst fans the animation itself along with Usagi's voice. For the latter point I do not have complaints on Kotono-san going back to the same role she played over twenty years ago. On the other hand, the animation turned out not always pleasant for me to watch, and those moments shone mainly with the CGI transformation sequences.
However, the animation could have been much worse for me, since I recall the first series changing animators from episodes to episode, and I recall the very crappy animation displayed for most of the Sailor Moon SuperS season.

If I like to score Crystal, I would rate above average for some of the points discussed above, and also because the new soundtrack was pleasant to hear.

Hope, we can get the other three story arcs from the manga animated and released sooner in a second Sailor Moon Crystal anime.

[Strike105X]

I watched Sailor Moon Crystal and damn, was it hard to watch... it was horrible... i had to force myself to sit through it.... I did not want to compare it to the Original Sailor Moon animation, but i couldn't help it, as i kept watching my mind kept thinking "ah the original did that better"...

Sailor Moon is probably the most special anime for me, while its not quite the first anime i've seen (that's either Macron 5 or voltron), it is the show that opened the world of anime to me and made me realize that at least for me anime is special and there's more to it then meets the eye, that anime can be an interesting world that does very well in portraying feelings, emotions and characters. Sailor Moon is probably the anime i've rewatched the most in my life as well, seen it at least 5 times on the local tv station, it was the first anime i've seen/rewatched when i got internet, and since then i've rewatched it at least once a year so i guess that makes it around at least 15 rewatches...

Now by no means it is a perfect shows it does have a lot of flaws, to many reuses of the same attack, the main heroine at the start is weak, basically they dumbed her down to much at the start, to many filler episodes and same old monster of the week fights... And while this flaws are not present in Sailor Moon Crystal, some actually turned against the show... Anyway lets get started....

The visuals in Crystal are horrible, the artwork of the manga was decent, for the manga that is, i had no problems with it but the transition to animation is horrible, just because the artwork worked for the manga doesn't mean it will work once animated.... and the use of CGI really made it even worse... Also while not the best form of artwork even for its time, the original Sailor Moon anime artwork and animation did a better job giving life to the characters, with that form they felt alive and you could see visually they're happiness and pain. Next up is audio, script and even story, their obsession in keeping things as similar to the manga as possible turned against them imho, the characters feel, empty, lifeless, and the only feeling you get every time they talk is "hey look there's some people delivering lines over this animated characters" it does not feel like its coming from the characters themselves. To better put it its like you would be looking at the manga and while you reached the dialogues for each character some else one would read each of characters line... The music is pretty weak as well, the original had way of a better music selection and it fitted a lot better with each moment giving scenes a lot more of an emotional punch.

As examples:

first of the op of Crystal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VkJtiClT9Y

now the op of the original:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGQCPOMcYJQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3hMTupPnOE

Maybe its just me but the original seems superior in every way....

Even when looking at the transformations it looks worse in Crystal (especially due to the heavy use of CGI):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIlSzs8bIbo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk55-Oc8N6w

So anyway, as i said i did take a small look at the manga and i didn't had a problem with it. But translating it as an animation for it to work out changes have to be made, and in the initial animation they made many sound choices for those changes, of course like said it wasn't perfect, like to many monster of the week fights which can get tiresome and repetitive, using same old attack patterns, there are also times where you can't help thinking "why the heck is this monster giving them trouble when they did better against tougher opponents", or of course the famous trope that just because they changed costumes nobody recognizes them.... Despite those things overall it does do a better job. In the classic Sailor moon animation Usagi as a character at the start of the show is more horrible then the one in Crystal but by the end of only the first season her growth as a character is more impressive and better done then in Crystal, in crystal many times it feels like all of her friends are nothing more then stepping stones for her to be together with Mamoru, it feels like she doesn't give a crap about everyone but herself.... Like i said by the end of the 1st season in the classic animation of Sailor Moon Usagi's growth was impressive, and in Sailor Moon R she kept this growth, she still had her silly side, but when it mattered she was responsible and caring, and while she did had some childish jealousy moments over Chibiusa they weren't over the top and as ridiculous as in Crystal and her love for Chibiusa showed...

Spoiler:

her getting jealous over chibusa after finding out she was there daughter in Crystal is down right ridiculous and stupid ffs, and actually if this is how it was done in the manga its stupid there also.

Also while the many monster of the week fillers have their issues there is also some good that comes from them, mainly the interaction and the daily lives of the characters, you can understand where that strong bonds and love comes from, plus there is even character growth, those things are simply missing from crystal and it makes their so called "friendship and love" feel fake a shallow.... In crystal it also feels like they take things to far, the command center thingy felt absolutely ridiculous and out of place some times it felt more like i was watching power rangers... all that was left was them to summon the megazords... Characters like Chibiusa and Usagi also get irritated over nothing and nag when they shouldn't.

Here is also an example of a scene that felt totally out of place in the anime but would work in the manga:

Spoiler:

ignore the dub and just jump to minute 3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvPjGN1_xB4

Almost a whole freaking minute they just stand their in the same pose not being affected by any law of physics and force with the sword stuck in the same position to the necklace in a out of place/ridiculous position, Beryl not being affected at all (ex. like being pulled by the neck or something), i know this is fantasy but that whole scene is so unnatural and unbelievable that it feels to damn stupid. But if we where to see something like this in a manga with still images it wouldn't be a problem it wouldn't feel as unnatural, its because it was animated that changes had to be made...

Now with all the complaining done i have this to say, the original author of Sailor Moon said that Crystal was done in the vision she thought it would be done right, unlike the original/classic animation, so i got only this to say: thank god for whoever got it "wrong" in the original animation, because Crystal is down right horrible, many things in it just seem to stupid, forced , conveniently layed out and unnatural, for the drama effect especially, while the classic is much better balanced out.

PS: Venus's chain in Crystal feels ridiculous like she has anal beads for a weapon...

PS2: Criticizing it heavily while not watching it completely felt sort of wrong, but damn was this hard to watch, i wasted 2 days trying to watch this thing, and to think sunday i watched 37 worth of episodes in one go without an issue (basically two shows), but i sure wont watch anymore of this crystal even if it gets new seasons.

[kk2extreme]

HOLY CRAP!!!

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...busters/.93487

[RDNexus]

Now... The millionaire question... Is it gonna be 1 or 2 cours?

[ShiroiRyu]

The best part is :
This artwork is so beautiful.
And i will see my Sailor Uranus ! \o/

[JagdPanther]

Originally Posted by xrick

Now... The millionaire question... Is it gonna be 1 or 2 cours?

More like... "Can they improve?"

[Strike105X]

It was a complete let down so I'll probably end up ignoring the crystal series from now on, I already regret the time I spent looking at the current 26 episodes...