Forum - View topicEpisode Review: Sailor Moon Crystal
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mewpudding101
Industry Insider
 Posts: 2205 Location: Tokyo, Japan |
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As one of the biggest fans of the manga who grew up with the first anime, I'm actually not blinded by nostalgia.
I love the new anime. It adapts the manga very well. I also don't think it's fair that people are like WHY ARE THE GUYS GETTING SCREEN TIME... But in fact, Sailor Moon is both about romance and friendship. Also, Takeuchi had planned the 4 senshi x 4 guardian couples from the start, but didn't have enough time to implement the idea. It has shown up in MANY MANY incarnations of the series, such as the first reboot musical and the video games, and even in some parts of the manga (Mars' special chapter, Code Name Sailor V). I've been a fan of these romances for years, and to finally have them implemented in animation like they were supposed to be made me scream when I saw last night's episode. |
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tygerchickchibi
 Posts: 1448 |
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Need some crackers with that salt? Holy fudgecakes. In any case, I'm pretty pleased. Wasn't extremely eventful, but then again, that's how the comic went. |
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H. Guderian
Posts: 1255 |
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I wouldn't call what they've been up to as animation. So many shots were stiff with mouth-flap only. The fight was...servicable? Beryl and Usagi are the only people that seem to have some sort of effect on events. There are a lot of flashbacks and a whole lot of still images in said flashbacks where someone tells you that they were friends. Star Wars Episode II was kinda like that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPC5rxGne_A Congrats Sailor Moon, you went from being a pioneer of your genre (much like Star Wars) to being on Par with the Star Wars Prequels but without the effort or budget. |
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whiskeyii
 Posts: 2245 |
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Woah, simmer down there! By filler, I meant "episodes that don't/ do very little to further the plot". If you have a different definition, that's fine, but a majority of the AtLA fandom viewed/view that episode as filler--good filler, mind you, but still filler. (Though I find your implication that you are the kind of person to paint things in broad strokes confusing. Those are the kinds of "people" I was referring to.)
I'm hoping (and damn near expecting) that the whole Four Kings romance will be wrapped up in a similar vein to "We loved you once, but we love Usagi more!!". |
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HaruhiToy
 Posts: 4118 |
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lol -- I'm going to make use of that line. Anyway, the guys in this anime are all so much prettier than the girls. So why shouldn't they get more screen time? |
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SailorTralfamadore
 Posts: 499 Location: Keep Austin Weeb |
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A lot of what frustrates me about how the Senshi/Shitennou stuff is discussed is how much it goes into "true fan" stuff.
Like: I've read the entire manga, I've seen most of the old anime, and I've even seen the live-action series. I'm pretty sure I'm as Moonie as Moonie gets, but--that doesn't mean I'm going to like every story decision that Naoko Takeuchi ever made. I don't know whether the Sen/Shi thing wasn't implemented in the manga out of her changing her mind or lack of space, but I was glad of that because I thought it was inconsistent with what she'd written about her characters (like, the fact that Mars had made a pledge of celibacy to Princess Serenity*) and about the Usagi/Mamoru romance, and was also just contrived and silly. I know I'm not the only person who feels that way among "people who've experienced the Sailor Moon franchise in as many ways as possible and are hugely dedicated fans", either. If you like the Senshi/Shitennou pairings, that's cool! But when people always talk about it as though they feel that way because they're "bigger/biggest fans" or other true-fan terms, it gets a little frustrating for those of us who are just as invested in the series as you are. Why a fictional romance does or doesn't work for you is pretty idiosyncratic and doesn't necessarily have much to do with how much you have or haven't seen of a particular series, how long you've liked it, etc. There are plenty of equally-devoted fans who feel differently. And honestly, I'd really like to know why people are into these pairings, since I've never understood it, so explaining it beyond true-fan stuff would be helpful! Hearing that Naoko really did intend for these pairings honestly just solidifies my long-standing feelings that the first-anime creators handled a lot of details and plotting better than Naoko Takeuchi did originally. Like, if "we followed Princess Serenity to Earth, saw a bunch of hot guys and INSTANTLY fell in love with (not just crushed on) them, and there was somehow no overlap in which ones we fell for on first glance!"--then, wow, that's just poor writing no matter how you slice it. But that hardly convinces me that I'm wrong to prefer the unfaithful adaptation to the faithful one. *P.S. for those who want more detail on what I mean here, here's a Tumblr post that explains it pretty well. |
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Shenl742
Posts: 1524 |
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Man...while I really agree with Gabriella about how the gender issues are being handled over in her Fate/Stay Night reviews, it really feels like for SMC she's doing an enormous amount of projecting and seeing problems that aren't really there.
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Wildcat17
 Posts: 54 Location: Portugal |
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I don't know why some people claim about the new anime not being 100% faithful to the manga, when this slight changes can improve or differentiate both medias. In my perspective, a story doesn't have to be exactly equal to the original material to be faithful to it.
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whiskeyii
Posts: 2245 |
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I'm not sure if I agree with her about the amount of screen time the male villains get, but I think she's spot on about the other scout's characterizations--and lack thereof. |
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SailorTralfamadore
Posts: 499 Location: Keep Austin Weeb |
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Another reminder that the Senshi/Shitennou thing didn't actually happen in the manga, it was an artbook illustration and actual manga canon kinda contradicts it:
http://crystalquality.tumblr.com/post/102808681396/but-in-the-manga-it-was-highly-implied-that The other sources people cite for this usually only implement one of the four couples. The Sailor V manga only confirms Minako/Kunzite, and the musical people include iirc only has Ami/Zoisite (though perhaps there are other ones, I only know of one like that). I think pairing only one of them off with one of the Shitennou is a world of difference from all four of them. I mean, a lot of what people dislike about it is the contrived "miracle romance" way it all perfectly lines up, so if that's not the case and it's just one and they have actual build-up, the complaints vanish! (Though, I still prefer Zoisite/Kunzite to any of that. But I'll admit that I have a pretty strong bias toward same-sex over opposite-sex romances. Especially when it comes to Sailor Moon, considering how pivotal reading the manga and revisiting the anime in college was in coming to terms with my own sexuality. I think that's a big part of why the "true fan" language over preferring the Senshi/Shitennou pairings to Zoi/Kun irks me so much.) |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Good time to remind people of two pertinent lines from the opening song: ~we will fight on our own without leaving our destiny to the prince~ ~we are not helpless girls who need the protection of men~ And yet, despite the girl-power message that the show pretends to champion, all the girls are now essentially defined by their pre-ordained love interests. Mamoru has saved Usagi so many times it's not funny, doing so twice in two minutes in episode eight. And the other four senshi couldn't have cared less about the four generals, but as soon as they remember their past lives all four girls get weak at the knees and refuse to fight anymore. Heck, they don't even bother to dodge the attacks, as if remembering a love that happened thousands of years ago has made them completely helpless and lovestruck damsels rather than powerful warriors who are supposed to be defending the entire planet. |
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SailorTralfamadore
Posts: 499 Location: Keep Austin Weeb |
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Yep. As much as people like to criticize the old anime for Tuxedo Mask "saving" her, I've found in revisiting it as episodes are released on Hulu that he really acts like more of an "assist" to Sailor Moon and the other Senshi. When she or her friends are frustrated and losing ground--but usually not when they're completely helpless--his rose will come soaring in to distract the villain for a moment by, say, cutting their face. But he doesn't actually "save" them, because they're still in danger. He just helps out for a moment to allow Sailor Moon and friends to collect themselves and get back on their feet, which is usually followed by the villain's defeat at the hands of one of their attacks.
So I'd say that's a world of difference away from how a lot of this has played out in Crystal, where it's often that these characters would have been in serious trouble if not for Tuxedo Mask's intervention. And the way that all four Senshi just completely give up when they realize they used to have a thing for the Shitennou, is just unbelievable. Well, it would be more unbelievable if they had any sort of characterization whatsoever, but even what they do have--fierce warriors devoted to protecting Sailor Moon and their planet--is inconsistent with what happens there. Blecch.
I usually agree with this, but I think in this particular case you're putting the cart before the horse a little. A lot of the defense for some of the poorer story decisions in Sailor Moon Crystal has been that it's "like the manga/what the manga intended." If that's actually not true, that's fair to say so--even if the underlying assumption is still bogus (because bad writing is bad writing regardless of whether "Naoko intended it" or not). That said, Sailor Moon Crystal is intended to be the manga-faithful version, to tell the story that mangaka Naoko Takeuchi wanted the anime to be in the first place. This was made very clear from early on in the series' marketing. So if it's trying to tell that version of the story and not succeeding, or missing fundamental parts of what made it work--again, a fair thing to bring up that doesn't mean you think "like the manga" makes it automatically superior in the first place. This series was made for Sailor Moon super-fans who've read the manga; it wants you to be comparing them. |
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Wildcat17
Posts: 54 Location: Portugal |
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@SailorTralfamadore
It was never said that it would be exactly like the manga. It was said that it would be faithful to it, but with some slight changes... [EDIT: Please don't over-quote. -TK] |
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Chrno2
 Posts: 6171 Location: USA |
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Well, I'm still staying the course for the most part. Though I do feel like I'm missing something and I guess it's the animation part. As mentioned by folks above about each character getting sort of the attack of the week. But as a person who really wasn't much into the older series I'm pretty much immune to the over "nostalgia" that plagues older fans. Trust me I wholly understand this. My only small gripe is that while it does follow the manga I can still see small tweaks from the manga as well. But I am enjoying it. It is growing on me. Now I may have to go back and look over the earlier volumes for comparison. But now since it's getting a new series will things pick up? Sometimes that happens.
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whiskeyii
Posts: 2245 |
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This arc ends in two more episodes, right? Maybe it's just me, but I feel like I'm missing a lot of the gravitas that the path to the finale should be building up to.
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