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「Moon -月-」 (Moon –Tsuki-)
“Moon”
I’m still amazed by how different this original version of Sailor Moon is compared to the original anime. I have this mindset that characters should behave a certain way or events should take place in a certain order but they don’t and then I’m honestly surprised by the outcome of the episode. Some differences irk me, but for the most part, I’m liking the new direction of Sailor Moon Crystal. I like seeing Sailor Venus play a more centric role (and that might be because she’s still a new character) but she seems to have a great head on her shoulders and she’s almost like the second-in-command. Unfortunately that means that Sailor Mercury, Mars and Jupiter, all start to blur in the background and hearing their voices once or twice an episode just doesn’t do anything for me. I have the same complaints about Queen Beryl and her “henchmen”. While I’m sure they each have their own distinctive personalities, we don’t really see much of them except for Kunzite who seems to be in charge. This is one of the pitfalls that I find with such a large cast and a very fast-paced plot. I remember really liking Sailor Jupiter too (back in episode 5) so it’s a shame that she doesn’t get much of a chance to shine.
If there was a theme for this week’s episode, tragedy is one that strikes me as the most prominent. Although, I’m not particularly sad or upset to any degree (I must have such a heart of ice); even though there was momentum building up to the revelation of the Moon Kingdom and what ultimately happened. When Sailor Moon and friends arrived on the moon, there was nothing left; except for this very shiny Excalibur-like sword sitting in the middle of the ruins. Then Queen Serenity (Koyama Mami) appears as a hologram and starts to reveal what happened in the past to the Moon and Earth Kingdom. I think this is supposed to be the tragic part of the story because everyone dies, Usagi kills herself and the Queen sacrifices herself to banish this “evil force”. I see this Romeo & Juliet-type reference here as Endymion dies and Usagi does too… but then I thought to myself, why?! Why are you killing yourself?! It made sense when Juliet killed herself after seeing Romeo (and everything else) dead around her, but why would Usagi abandon her Kingdom because the love of her life sacrificed himself to – by the way – save her life? I’m so confused. I’m not bashing Usagi for her decision because I’m sure all first loves are fragile and this is supposed to be a sad scene, but really?! In my mind, I played that storyline out better; perhaps Usagi killed herself because she didn’t want to fall into the hands of the enemy and told everyone else to flee. That sounds like a much less selfish action.
I’d have to say that I like the opposition between the Sailor Scouts and the Dark Kings much more this week since it adds a little more history between them. Although I find it cheesy that the Sailor Soldiers fell in love at first sight, it brings a richer story to the Dark Kings (other than being known as just “henchmen”). It’s also revealed that they use to work for Endymion in their past lives which I thought was interesting, but doesn’t really serve any purpose for them now that they’re brainwashed. In the original Sailor Moon series, they were killed off one by one so I’m actually intrigued to find out if they’ll also get the same fate in this rendition. I somehow doubt it; but does that mean they’ll stick around for another arc? I’d appreciate it if they played a bigger role in the story – as male counterparts for the Sailor Soldiers and also their significant others. The original Sailor Moon never really gave the other girls a “boyfriend” per say, so that’d be a modification that I’d be excited to see. Finally, I’m not bothered or blown away by the fact that Tuxedo Mask comes back to life brainwashed. I sense lots of tears and “power of love” actions coming but that’s not anything new and definitely shouldn’t be a surprise for this genre.
Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: So many Romeo & Juliet references in this episode, but I love those types of romance stories <3 #SailorMoonCrystal
So many full-length images this episode: 06, 08, 10, 17, 18, 28, 34.
Preview
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we very close to the end of the dark kingdom arc 3 episodes left and i cant wait for the diffrence between the original anime final battles and crystal final battle
By the way, whole storyline with Dark Kings is anime original. In the manga they were killed even more quickly than in old anime (except Kunzite they didn’t even get a proper characterization) and with this episode they all should be already dead. New anime keeps them alive and for for first time develops Takeuchi’s idea about romances between Sailor Scouts and Four Kings. Will be interesting to see how much they will incorporate them into original storyline and whether they let live beyond Dark Kingdom arc.
Yes, in the manga Jadeite is killed by Sailor Mars in act 3, Nephrite by Sailor Jupiter in act 5, Zoisite by Sailor Venus in act 7, while Kunzite dies in act 10 by Sailor Planet Attack. The whole romance between the Senshi’s past selves and the Generals doesn’t explicitly exist in the manga either; there are some hints and one official illustration pairing them up, but nothing beyond this. So this is the one major difference between the manga and Crystal and I’m really looking forward to seeing where it’s going. Though I’m sure the Generals are going to be killed off one way or other, otherwise it would too big of a change to the source material. Anyway, we’ll find out soon enough as there’s only three and a half episode of the Dark Kingdom arc left. Too bad the next one is in three weeks though…
Well, theoretically they can let them live for Black Moon arc, because Four Kings have a little appearance here as spirits when they give Mamoru little power up. So instead of spirits they can appear alive and the effect will be the same.
Considering it’s not completely known whether it happened or not in the manga, I could see this as a short-lived thing that doesn’t really pan out. Like the generals re-regain their memories and end up sacrificing themselves to help the Senshi and Mamoru somehow, thus keeping the general events in tune with the manga while still giving a more official nod to the pairings.
That’s a nice tidbit that I didn’t know – since I’m not a manga-reader myself. I wonder how things will work out then because I did think it was odd that they’re not included in later arcs but they’re not dead? So perhaps they do die somewhere along the way in the next few eps… >_> HalfDemonInuyasha also makes a good point though, but that might change the plot up a bit.
Wow, this is getting worse and worse. I hate the Senshi pairing with the Generals cause it makes them look weak, and I was right. I was upset by how Toei made the Senshi act to their former “lovers”. It seems that Minako is the second main character to Usagi. It makes sense cause she predates EVERYONE so I’m not complaining. Still, even with the filler the Original was leaps and bounds better that this travesty. No Love, care, passion, or respect for this show. Doesn’t matter if it follows the manga, it’s about the execution and it has done it with mix results. This show is not for casual anime viewers who want to watch anything out. This is for the hardcore moonies who know the lore, but still is insulting as it can be. First the shitty Blu-rays Viz puts out now this? Why do old school classics like this and Rurouni Kenshin get shitted on for money in Japan?
A friend of mine who is a shojou anime fan loves the current version!
He disliked the original Sailor Moon anime and could never get far into it (he got a bit further with the live action version) but now that Crystal is out, each week he emails me fully of praise for this one, finding the romance more believable and the pacing far superior.
Well to be fair:
1. her love gets killed in front of her while trying to defend her
2. the whole of earth that she fell in love with is being destroyed by rampaging mobs
3. probably her first and only experience with war let alone being smack dab in the middle of it
4. her possible fate being alone, in the middle of people that want to kill her and have already shown a willingness to do so
5. etc.,etc….
I’d argue she had quite a few reasons to take the potentially less painful route.
I just think it’s a very selfish decision on her part although I can agree that she has her reasons for doing so. For a “feel-good” magical girl show, I was hoping it would send a message that tells women to stand up for what you believe in and be strong since you know, target audience being young girls and stuff. I guess that’s a little too cliché, but maybe I’m just watching too much Disney and I like clichés =P
Personally, I think it’s more important for an anime targeted at young children to say that “Yes, you can make mistakes, but that’s OK, because you’ll learn from them and be stronger and wiser afterward.” In fact, I think it sends kids the wrong message if no one makes a mistake and is only shown as being strong and assertive. In real life people have weaknesses, especially young people who have a lot of questions and uncertainties about themselves and e world around them. I think the message SMC (and by extension, the manga) is trying to send is that “you can make mistakes and have been weak in the past (I.e. in a past life) but having realized that, you can become strong in the present”.
*currently letting the eps pile up before maaaaaybe marathoning later*
So… no Kunzite x Zoisite romance? 🙁
Yes, Zoisite is a really different character compare to the original anime. 😉 I pick up “her” bad habit of weaving my hair with my fingers idly as a child. lol
The classic Sailor Moon anime was a staple of my childhood, and I watched it in Japanese.
Still took me a while to figure out Zoisite was male, though. In fact, that was probably how I first came upon the concept of homosexuality… Sailor Moon is educational! 😀
Spoiler tag there ukulelembo for your second post. Not everyone has read the manga. 😉
https://randomc.net/image/Sailor%20Moon%20Crystal/Sailor%20Moon%20Crystal%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2026.jpg
Artemis and Luna are just cute together. That’s another ship I route for actually.
There were very small hints of Jadeite and Nephrite’s attraction to Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter respectively. And so with Kunzite and Sailor Venus. (That just leaves Zoisite with Sailor Mercury). Which didn’t come as a big revelation for me that this is the route the anime will take on.
As for the Four Knights/Dark Kings, if they are added to the storyline as good guys at the end, I don’t know how a second season will fare. Will they be friends with Tuxedo Mask and help fight crime or something?
Though I always thought the first season of Sailor Moon was the best of the entire series anyways, so a continuation isn’t necessary in my preference.
If they do survive I’m betting on amnesia, so that they don’t have any memories of the past and that the live a normal life.
A do-over route like amnesia is too anticlimactic for me. I hate for all that prior drama to be just erased like it had no meaning.
I’m amazed they stated that the senshi and dark kings were romantically involved since the it’s always been hinted at in the manga. Makes me wonder if that decision was made for the die-hard fans who are aware of that fact, I feel like old fans who only watched the anime would feel mixed since the senshi have sort of remained single for the most part. I wished they stuck to not stating it outright though, I prefered speculating on that part of the series.
It’s nice that crystal is viating from the source material regarding the dark kings, since I’ve always felt bad for them after learning that just like the senshi they were reborn to find their prince but were brainwashed and then killed by their past life lovers.
Although I’m pretty sure they’ll die by the end of the dark moon arc anyway. Hoping it will be done in a glorious way.
this decision of the kings romance with the senshi was of naoko becouse it was somthing she could not add to the old manga becouse it was on going back then
“In the original Sailor Moon series, they were killed off one by one so I’m actually intrigued to find out if they’ll also get the same fate in this rendition. I somehow doubt it; but does that mean they’ll stick around for another arc? I’d appreciate it if [the Shittenou] played a bigger role in the story – as male counterparts for the Sailor Soldiers and also their significant others. “
as male counterparts for the Sailor Soldiers
NOPE. NOPE NOPE NOPE. As hackneyed and cheesy as this shoehorned-in romance is, the idea that the Shitennou would become some kind of male adjuncts to the sailors is outright repulsive, and would destroy the whole appeal of the series as one where the FEMALES are the ones with the power, females are the ones who are active and heroic. Listen again to the lyrics of Moon Pride. Now would you really want the Sailors to be upstaged by men?
Of course, that might actually be taking the direction Crystal has chosen to its logical conclusion, as this version of the story has committed to ruining everything people liked about the original anime. Filler episodes? Cheesy bad guys? Monsters of the week? Guess what, people liked those. The appeal of the original Sailor Moon anime was that it was a combination of shoujo and the sentai action format.
As someone said already, Crystal is not for people who didn’t already care about Sailor Moon. (It’s not really for them either if they actually liked the original anime.) If it it wasn’t already a famous franchise with history and influence, Crystal would be just another mediocre anime soon to be forgotten. It has none of what made the original a worldwide phenomenon.
I’d say Crystal is first and foremost for the fans of the original source which is THE MANGA. Believe it or not, quite a lot of people had waited for years for the manga to finally get a proper and faithful adaptation, the way it was originally intended to be by the author and creator of Sailor Moon (which basically means: no fillers, unchanged storyline, unchanged personalities of the characters and relationships between them, no cut out plot points and/or characters). Crystal may have its faults but it’s been following the manga faithfully act by act they way it’s been expected to. You may like the first anime better than the manga/Crystal, that’s your choice and your preferences, but remember that if it wasn’t for the manga, which Crystal is so heavily based on, there would be no 90’s anime and no ‘worldwide phenomenon’ known as Sailor Moon at all. And if you want to criticize Crystal, you should do it in relation to the source it’s based on (the manga) and not the first anime, as it has hardly anything to do with it.
If anyone found my statement confusing, by ‘no 90’s anime’ I meant Sailor Moon only and not anime in general.
Yeah, I’m not really sure who Crystal is marketed towards. I’m a huge manga fan, but not huge enough to overcome Toei’s animation and production gaffs. They are just too distracting to really appreciate the series. It goes good for a while, and then it pauses on some horrible frame that shows how terrible their staff really is.
Also, the Sailor Moon manga is old. From its artwork to its story, it’s old shoujo. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but the story is pretty thin in spots. I grew up reading it so I have a lot of fond memories, but I also see it for what it is. I’d say one of Toei’s greatest faults is directly translating the story almost frame-by-frame and not putting any creative thought behind interpreting the manga sequences. It definitely could have stood some fleshing out in parts.
I feel like a huge part of the fanbase for this new series is the fanatical manga fanbase who frothed at the mouth over every little tweak or change. I would have liked to have seen it go to a different animation studio who would add just a little flesh to the bones and add a few transitional touches that would have allowed it to take a middle ground.
Wow, this episode was so amazing!
I’m loving how Crystal is making the Sailors actually worth something. In the old anime, as Sailors, the girls were almost always useless. Their powers stood for nothing, they weren’t able to hold their own against the enemies, and Moon was the only one who could defeat them (with one exception here and there in 200 episodes.) This time around, it’s good to see the girls are getting stronger and stronger and they can use their powers freely, without much ballet (I actually LOVE those, but I don’t really like when they can ONLY fight using them, let they use their powers in other forms!)
The bad point of Crystal to me is that the girls, as humans, are not getting that much exposure and development. That’s understandable because the manga has this very fast pace, and I’m okay with that, although I’d like to see more of their daily lives thrown here and there.
I’m very happy to see that the Shitennou are still alive. They seem to be very interesting and they never got to be properly developed the way they should be, imo. Even though I want them to turn to stone at the end of this arc, it’s nice to see them as counterparts of the Sailors here on Earth. I like the idea of past love interests, but in the present, it’s probably not gonna work… I WANT MAKO-CHAN WITH MOTOKI!!!!
in my opinion we fans have become what I like to call “open-mindedly shallow”. Sure we’ve become more accepting of orientation but also shallow in our acceptance by way of conforming. by saying to Taheuchi-sensei;”if you don’t make every female character conform to the way we believe two female characters’ relationship should be then we hate you”. Besides Uranus and Neptune are already a representation why can’t some of you be satisfied with that? why do you have to try to make every other girl be gay just for the sake of it?. Some of the greatest anime out there had straight relationships and no one was complaining like trigun, code geass, cowboy bebop, rurouni kenshin, fma, outlaw star, gundam wing, tenchi muyo, bleach, Naruto, one piece, fairy tail, black lagoon, eva, and sword art online. So why complain now with Sailor moon?
I dont see her committing suicide as selfish or weak. If Im not completely wrong (stereotype alert) in Japan suicide is jugded a bit differently from how its seen in our countries. Some philosophers in the west really thought of it as cowardly and selfish, but doesnt it have a more positive connotation in Japan, like saving your honor and being courageous to give up on your life? At least there was a time suicide was seen that way (The novel Shougun said so;) So I dont see her suicide as something negative.
It’s official. Some downs aside, this is much better then the series from the 90’s. It makes me wonder why they did not do it like this in the first place, instead of turning something that could be done with 50-60 eps into a 200 ep long behemoth composed mostly of boring and useless fillers.
I’m trying so hard to like this series…
The original anime was being made at the same time that the manga was being published so I’m guessing filler episodes also allowed the manga to catch up. In Crystal’s case the source material is complete so there’s no need for filler plots.
That said the manga differs pretty significantly from the original anime and while I do like the original anime I’m actually preferring crystal more. Granted, I always preferred the manga over the anime so I like that they’re sticking to the original source material.
I like it but Im not feeling the *meat* of the series, when are you supposed to start caring?
This adaptation following the manga was obviously better beforehand, just saying “following the manga”.
OTOH, pacing is still a little too slow, just 1 episode per chapter… Uhm… Not the best. But whatever, nice to watch.
Go on, SM 😀
Well Venus was second in command in the manga.