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Old 07-22-2015, 08:51 PM   #51
Lindz
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Its been awhiles but the "end" is here!

First I gotta blame Toei for derailing this series hype train. Bi-weekly was kinda bad but doable. But there was like what 3, 4 occasions in which it took 3 weeks for an epsiode to appear? That was just really awful. This was exclusively a 'net broadcast which means that at least in terms of airtime there shoulda been no scheduling delays >_<

Anyways the series was faithful to the manga in almost every regard. Characters, development, story, pacing. There were some lil changes but all in all if they set out ta bring the manga to life well mission accomplished! For those who never read the manga but watched Crystal I'd say ya haven't missed out on anything an that there's really no need to go check out the manga now. What ya watched is what ya'd read.

The final ep ended with "See you soon" which goes with the talk of at least the S/Infinity series being adapted. I mean everyone getting new powerups and Chibi-Usa coming back for training is obvious continuation bait just like it was in the manga. Why's it not ready right off the bat? Will they continue at the same pace or try adding some "filler"? I dunno but I eagerly await more!

btw I've read that Viz's dvds/blurays continue to be of awful quality even below that of ADV's releases meanwhile the japanese ones are waaaaaay better. Totally shameless.

Last edited by Lindz; 07-22-2015 at 09:00 PM.
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Old 07-24-2015, 08:51 PM   #52
Talon87
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Finished this today. Will dive into a series review. Points are based on 2015 sentiments; I am not trying to score Crystal based on the landscape of the early 1990s.

Plot: 5/10 This was a pretty mediocre story about a teenage girl who discovers she has superpowers, makes friends with other girls in town whom she was fated to meet, falls in love with an older guy (not much older), and takes on various evils that threaten to destroy the world. A word like "mediocre" suggests "bad," but I don't think Sailor Moon Crystal's plot is bad, exactly. It's just kinda ... bare. It's a very simple plot -- one that reminds you at nearly every turn that it was written for young girls, not adults -- and in between the simple plot points there isn't much fabric. Yes, to use the tapestry analogy, I would compare Sailor Moon Crystal with a tapestry framework where we have ... I dunno, ten or so fibers running vertically ... and these fibers are very sturdy, very strong, but very simple ... a standard red, a standard green, you won't find exotic hues here ... and then in between these ten or so fibers you'll find absolutely nothing. So to call it a "tapestry" is a bit of a joke: the plot is more akin to a framework which has a few plot points (here represented as threads in our analogy) that thread along to make a ... "story," he says with strained voice. ^^;

The Dark Kingdom half of the story is much worse in this regard than the Dark Moon half. The Dark Kingdom (or first) half may be what set the stage for all the magical girl mangas and animes that were to follow, but it's really terribly simplistic. Heroes and villains alike feel like cardboard cutouts and the plot doesn't really take any bold turns, not even for a child audience. (The youngest in the audience could be forgiven for being surprised by the Tuxedo Mask identity reveal, but ...) The Dark Moon (or second) half of the anime appealed more to the adult in me. Though I suppose this had more to do with the characters than the plot they drove, so more on that below.

Characters: 5/10 If we're being completely honest here, I would have to give the characters a score of 4/10 or worse for the first half of the series but could independently award a score of 6/10, possibly even a generous 7/10, for the newly introduced characters in the second half.

I'm not sure how much of this is to blame on Crystal and how much of it is to blame on the source material, but the Inner Senshi sans Usagi are utterly devoid of personality compared with their depictions in other media. I fell in love with Kitagawa Keiko's Hino Rei in the live-action Sailor Moon series, and I know many fans adore the characters from the original cartoon series. But here in Crystal's Dark Kingdom arc, anyone not named Usagi has pretty much no personality at all. Even a Power Ranger had more personality than these girls. But Rei is just "the token fire ranger," Ami is just "the token water ranger," etc. Oh sure, the episodes in which each of the girls is introduced provided some semblance of personality, of character. We learned that Ami's a brainiac, that Rei mistrusts men, that Makoto has a senpai she's nursed a crush on, and that Minako assumes a leadership role and doesn't want Usagi putting herself in harm's way. But aside from smidgeons of personality introduced in these welcome mat episodes, we get nothing.

Things improve in the Dark Moon arc, thankfully. I have often heard tell that the fandom despises Chibi Usa. But me personally? I loved her. I thought she was great to have around, I thought she was cute as a little brat, and I thought she was:

Spoiler: show
super sexy as the age-progressed akuochi femme fatale

I think her character development was weakest somewhere vaguely in the middle of the Dark Moon arc, but her introduction was good and the final third of the Dark Moon arc had me really diggin' her. Before I forget to mention it: one of the things I liked with Chibi Usa was her strong Elektra complex. It was so strong as to seem absurd, but since the story took it seriously we all had to take it seriously too -- which made for some bold viewing compared with the timid storytelling of Dark Kingdom. I liked how it was actually used as a plot device too, and as we neared the series' climax to boot, rather than just being this weird character quirk that never really went anywhere.

Next up we have Pluto. Pluto was a wonderful character. Her feelings for {you know who} made this story so much more entertaining to watch than the previous one. It was handled really well by Toei too, presented in just such a way as to be painfully obvious to adults watching but hidden in plain sight before all the blissfully ignorant children watching the show. I could write on and on but here's not the place: I enjoyed Pluto a lot, and I only regret that each of the Inner Senshi couldn't have had even half the richness of character that Pluto had.

Animation: 6/10 I'd like to give it a 7, but that's because of all the times my mind turns to where the show really deserves a 7. There were lots of other times too, though, where it plainly deserved a 5, so I think a 6 is a fair compromise. "The animation was fair." I think that's an accurate description. I know a lot of viewers took issue with the character animations in some of the earlier episodes, but I never noticed anything amiss, and I'm wondering if that's because I might have been watching the later video stream rather than the earlier one. No idea whether I was or was not. In any case, I thought the show looked a great deal better than most of Toei's other recent animations (that I have seen) but it only did this from time to time; for 60-70% of the shots, I'd say it looked like any other Toei-produced animation. To be honest, though? I think that fit Sailor Moon pretty well. Not if you were a 30-year old man who grew up loving Sailor Moon and wanted the Urobuchi Gen's Fate/Zero of Sailor Moon adaptations, but if you were someone waxing nostalgic for the '90s series OR if you were a newcomer of the age of 10, then I think Toei's animation was just right.

Music: 6/10 It was fine. OP and ED never really won me over. Background music in the series was generally forgettable but had a few pleasant tracks that I could identify upon hearing them but that I wouldn't go out of my way to download and listen to as stand-alone MP3s.

Replay Value: ??? No idea. Sailor Moon Crystal aired weirdly, airing only once every two weeks and sometimes every three. Consequently, I didn't digest it the way I would most anime. Might it be better if marathoned in one or several sittings? Maybe. No way to know until I do it, if ever. So for now I'll just leave this score blank, I guess. If I had to say, though, I think I'd put the replay value at around a 6/10 (which you could call Medium).

OVERALL: 6/10 Sailor Moon Crystal was okay. It was pleasant to watch a modern animation of one of the most legendary franchises in the history of anime, but I don't feel that this legend has held up well over time. I think Sailor Moon was specially suited to its time and place of release, and that now that the world is a very different place it's not going to be the sort of tale that magically enchants viewers like it was back then. While it isn't a series I would ever recommend to someone asking me for anime to watch, it is something that I would direct more experienced viewers towards if they still lack formal exposure to the Sailor Moon franchise. Whether you'd be better off reading the manga or watching the original TV series is hard for me to say. But I don't think Crystal is as bad as it is made out to be by its detractors. I think people had too high of hopes pinned on a series that they admired as children and that they can no longer admire as adults. Crystal's main draw is the lack of filler; vice versa, its main deficit is its astonishing lack of character development for any Inner Senshi not named Usagi.
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Old 04-06-2016, 10:55 AM   #53
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Just finished Episode 27 of Sailor Moon Crystal, a.k.a. Episode 01 of Part III. Some brief, spoiler-lite thoughts:

I enjoyed the episode okay. The production values have stayed the same as before with animation and voice acting, but they've slightly improved as far as the writing is concerned. Dorky though they might be, Venus and Jupiter constantly gushing over Uranus is the best example we have of Part III departing from the previous seasons' sterile performance. The sneak peek for Episode 28 a.k.a. 02 likewise feels more in keeping with the '90s cartoon than with the first two seasons of Crystal. This plus the removal of CG transformation sequences in favor of old-fashioned animation seems to me to be a sign that Toei took fan criticisms of Crystal to heart and is trying their best to win old school fans back.

If you watched most of Crystal and have decided not to continue with more Sailor Moon, I would recommend you at least check out the first two episodes (of which only one is currently available). I don't think they're different enough from Crystal to change your mind in the end, but they might be. The evidence is clearly here that Toei is at least trying.
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Old 04-13-2016, 12:40 AM   #54
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If I hadn't known beforehand that CG was out an 2D was in I woulda kept on thinking the henshins were still CG -.-;

Undecided still on the new intro but I like the ending!

First ep was fun even with all the slow dramatic setup alongside it! Usagi getting all dizzy from the racing game is just like her. Venus & Jupiter demolishing the baddie rocked! Could be just me but Haruka looks & sounds alot more convincing compared to the original anime.
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Old 04-14-2016, 09:23 AM   #55
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Two episodes into Part III, I am enjoying it. Not immensely, but that's okay. It's 2 for 2 now as far as improvements over the previous two parts goes. The animation is slightly better. The character writing is slightly better. What I said before still stands: if you enjoyed Crystal Parts 1 and 2 even a little bit, then you should at least check out Part 3 to assess whether it's worth picking up or not.

Episode 28:

Spoiler: show
I have a few spoilers regarding the outer senshi, but aside from that I am unspoiled about this story arc. Thus far, it's been a fun surprise to have Uranus and Neptune be ambiguous in their aims. On the one hand they seem like enemies, what with how they talk to Usagi & Co. and how they don't lend a hand when monsters attack. But on the other hand, they don't interfere with the Inner Senshi either. They don't get in their way or aid the monsters that are terrorizing the city. So it's hard to really classify them as friends or foes. And like I say, that's been a fun surprise for me.

I like Hotaru so far but the way she is in Episode 02 is so very night and day different from the kinds of women I know this one friend of mine likes, and he has nursed a crush on Hotaru for the past ten years, so like ... I am expecting a major personality change once she becomes Sailor Saturn. Maybe it's something like Hotaru is the vessel (and is this shy, sickly girl) whereas Saturn is the avatar that takes over (and is this forceful, no-nonsense herald of destruction).

I enjoy Chibi Usa. I know the DiC anime fandom loves to hate her, but I just don't see it here. Not with Crystal. She's cute, she's fun, and I enjoy most scenes she's in.

For instance, one of my favorite scenes this episode was the opening scene where Chibi Usa is on the phone with Mamoru. As weird as Takeuchi's fixation with Elektra complexes might be, I enjoy the antics the complex brings to the table. It's kinda cute and kinda ehhh ^^;; to see Chibi Usa crushing hard on her daddy, but it's even better to see how insecure Usagi is about the whole situation. Girl! You know the future! You already know that you and Mamoru wind up together, happily, and remain side by side for hundreds of years! Why are you so afraid of your daughter stealing the past version of your man away from you? IT'S ALREADY BEEN WRITTEN THAT IT CAN'T HAPPEN, SO RELAX! OKAY? Gosh. Geez.

Another scene I enjoyed was Chibi Usa's scene with Hotaru. I never imagined these two characters had any sort of special connection, but the OP credits plus this scene seem to hint at that possibility. Maybe Chibi Usa is the sailor scout who will bridge the gulf between the Outer and Inner Senshi. We will see.

Not really feeling the villain too much so far. Feels an awful lot like a copy-paste of Wiseman from the previous arc. I even called Master Galaxy 99 or whatever his proper name is "Wiseman 2.0" when discussing the episode with AK2 over the phone. That stated, I enjoy the Beryl-esque character okay enough for what we've seen so far and I feel like her peons are possibly the best / the most interesting generals we've had so far. We'll see.

I enjoy the OP fine. I quite like the ED though, both musically and visually. I'm surprised by how heavily it focuses on Uranus and Neptune since I've always imagined this arc to be the Saturn arc (because of all my friend has suggested over the years), but man if this ending doesn't make it seem like Part III is very much Uranus and Neptune's show. The melody is a really fun throwback to the 1990s. It has some modern elements to it, but feels unmistakably "'90s anime" too. I love it.
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Old 05-03-2016, 06:57 PM   #56
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Oh wow, haven't posted here in weeks. That's too bad! Because I've been enjoying Sailor Moon Crystal Part III immensely "immensely"'s a strong word, but I enjoyed each episode more than the last up through 04 and I'd say 05 was about as exciting and enjoyable for me as 03 was. Past three weeks I've been actively looking forward to getting the next episode. Characters are developed. Characters have personality. Plot is dare I say good. Animation's great. Action is actually exciting. There has to be a new director in charge. Because it's like both nothing and everything changed at once, entirely for the better. It's pretty great.

I'm kinda discussed out (because I talked a lot with IRL Friend and AK2 the past few days), but if people want to discuss specifics I'm all ears and maybe some voice box too.
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Old 05-03-2016, 06:58 PM   #57
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That's promising. Is anyone else from your arch-enemy still watching the show?
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Old 05-03-2016, 07:03 PM   #58
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Not sure who you meant by "archenemy" , but all I know of who are watching this are me, my friend in town, and AK2. I assume Adamant and Lindz are watching but I've not heard anything to confirm this.
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Old 05-10-2016, 08:19 PM   #59
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I thought Lindsay was your long-time nemesis. Or am I imagining voices again?
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Old 05-13-2016, 01:46 PM   #60
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
I thought Lindsay was your long-time nemesis. Or am I imagining voices again?
I would say you have some ideas confused there.

Spoiler: show
It would be more accurate to say that Lindsay felt about me the way I feel about both Blastoise and Kairne, all rolled into one. And for me, Lindsay was at one point somewhat Kairne-like. But I always wanted us to get along, and over the years I think things have improved passively. I would be surprised to learn that Lindsay to this day hates me or wants to see me gone. I feel like she and I have positively interacted on numerous occasions over the past five years.

Regardless, she was never my "nemesis." Perhaps I was hers, I don't know.

Alright, with that out of the way, Sailor Moon Crystal ... I'm through Episode 32, a.k.a. Episode 06 of Part 3. I've been enjoying Crystal Part 3 immensely I want to use such language but pull back because it feels too strong. I dunno. Regardless, each successive episode has been a must-see of the week and I've been quite enjoying this story arc, the characters involved, all of it. It's no 10/10 or anything, but it's just ... difficult to explain without writing an essay, but it's like there were a lot of little things that Crystal Parts I & II flubbed that Part III is excelling at and it's making for a night-and-day different viewing experience.

I don't have too much to share right now about the most recent episodes, as I discuss the show with two other people at excessive length and don't really want to spend more time on it going on a third cour of discussion. But I can just share that I am enjoying the story and, as I have previously, I recommend Part III to anyone who watched Parts I and II to completion but then decided to drop the series after that.
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Old 05-25-2016, 10:29 AM   #61
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Through Episode 34. Really enjoying this story arc. The only complaints I have pertain to Crystal's time constraints, e.g. minor villains defeated too quickly. Other than that, I am really enjoying everything. The plot, the characters, the animation, the music ... all good!

Spoiler: show
I was surprised by Dark Hotaru. I always thought that there was Hotaru (human / unawakened Sailor Scout) and then there was Sailor Saturn (lunarian / awakened Sailor Scout), and that Sailor Saturn was the pseudo-enemy that the protagonists all were worried about. So when I saw her dad doing Daimon research with her and trying to get her dark energies to emerge, I figured he knew about Sailor Saturn and was trying to get that to happen. I completely spaced on the possibility that, no, dumb dumb , he was trying to turn Hotaru into a Daimon and now we have Daimon Hotaru, a separate entity from Sailor Saturn but one that's still bad news for our heroes.

Also Dark Hotaru is gorgeous.
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Old 07-04-2016, 01:48 AM   #62
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Been close to a week since the third seasons end so after some thoughts, here's some thoughts!

Wait did that line make sense? Prolly not as much as it should, just like in the show! Alil less then halfway through the subs went to crap lol. Some real questionable strange reading stuff as if the translations were rushed. Maybe it was just the ones I was watching? idk.

S being the series with the second lowest episode count of the original anime (38 eps), it being squeezed down to 13 eps hurt it less than the previous sagas. Felt like the pacing was just about right!

Ending 1 > 3 > 2 > Opening

Glad they brought the first ending back for the finale! The opening I could just not get used to. Good music, ok song, non-fitting imagery for this series tale.

Sailor Saturn is cute ^.^!

Meanwhile Pharoah 90 was actually a character/threat unlike the original anime. Minako steals the show in the end with her eagerness to be Usagi's partner in highschool failure! An as before we're left with sequel bait! Woohoo!
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