Anime - A Rollercoaster of Emotion

[majestic]

5 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

(e: ninja-ed literally as I hit post)

Ninjagi'ed!

[Bartimaeus]

Today I learned that Usagi was designed after Mickey Mouse.

Edited February 19, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Today I learned that Usagi was designed after Mickey Mouse.

I can't believe I didn't see that before. 

[InsaneCommander]

3 hours ago, majestic said:

That's because her original name is Mizuno Ami, she was Amy in the original English dub.

What's the name of the other characters in your dub?

Serena, Lua, Ami/Amy, Rei. The boy with glasses is Kevin and the teacher is Monica. The bad guy is Jadeite and his assistant is Maligna (the Portuguese word for malign/evil).

I don't remember the name of Tuxedo Mask being mentioned yet and I don't remember others.

[majestic]

I just watched the final episode. Gee, I remembered how it ended but not the episode all that much.

Spoiler

Except that Usagi spends half it naked and has angel wings.

Ending narration:

Spoiler

I'm Usagi Tsukino. I'm 16 years old and go to Juban High School. I'm a bit of a klutz, and get teased for being a crybaby. But the truth is...I'm the pretty guardian who fights for love and for justice. I am Sailor Moon.

Final thoughts perhaps a bit later. I'll say one thing for now, while the final episode heavily draws from elements already established prior in various mythology (particularily Usagi's looks and the enemy she's fighting), the entire ending arc seems to have had a more widespread influence than I realized, considering its original air date in '97.

Although that's hard to say, much of it could be concidence and rely on the same mythological core concepts.

  

22 hours ago, KaineParker said:

I haven't watched as much Sailor Moon as expected because of power issues, and now Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan dropped so I'll watch that instead and do c-c-c-combo breakers in this thread.

I, uhm, tried the first two episodes of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. I have to admit, it is aptly named.

Edited February 20, 2021 by majestic

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

9 minutes ago, majestic said:

I, uhm, tried the first two episodes of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. I have to admit, it is aptly named.

It certainly is.  And you haven't even scratched the surface. 

 

What did you think about the stone mask?

Edited February 20, 2021 by KaineParker

[Bartimaeus]

10 hours ago, majestic said:

Well, so here we go. Seven episodes to go, and per usual that means the final episodes are almost purely storyline, traditionally the weakest part of the season for me (major spoiler: It is in this one too!).

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I have to admit that something about this show touches me on an emotional level like barely any other. With Mamoru gone almost the entire season and the storyline stuff kicking into full gear, watching Usagi sit at home and repeatedly call his answering machine just to hear his voice stings.

Aww.
 

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Rei visits Usagi to tell her that she should tell Seiya that she isn't interested. Usagi finally can't take it any more and tells Rei that Mamoru hasn't responded to any of her letters. Rei asks, completely calm, why the hell she would keep something like that to herself.

You know, just in case there was ever any doubt just how much Rei cares for Usagi.

 

Man, this story arc is really undermined by this ridiculous conflict between Haruka and the Sailor Starlights. They've proven to be stubborn as hell if they want to be back in Sailor Moon S, but this really is ridiculous. I don't know guys, maybe listen to the queen you've sworn allegiance to?

 

 

Spoiler

There are a number of odd and forced conflicts throughout the show's run that...just didn't need to be there, that didn't really make anything better for any particular character and it makes you wonder why they bothered. Or why Naoko Takeuchi bothered, whichever.

Rei's face there, though - almost about all worth it just for that. Yeah, there's something special about the cast of characters that make you care more than you should about a plot and premise that's nonsense. It's an attribute that most every show desperately wants to have, but for their lives - literally a lot of the time - can't find a way to do so.

 

Edited February 20, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

  

1 hour ago, InsaneCommander said:

Serena, Lua, Ami/Amy, Rei. The boy with glasses is Kevin and the teacher is Monica. The bad guy is Jadeite and his assistant is Maligna (the Portuguese word for malign/evil).

I don't remember the name of Tuxedo Mask being mentioned yet and I don't remember others.

Oh, so that's a new set of names. This is going to be super confusing in the future.

So for the record:

• Tsukino Usagi - Sailor Moon
• Mizuno Ami - Sailor Mercury
• Hino Rei - Sailor Mars
• Spoiler

  Kino Makoto - Sailor Jupiter

   

• Spoiler

  Aino Minako - Sailor Venus

• Luna - Usagi's cat
• Spoiler

  Artemis - Minako's cat

   

• Naru - Usagi's friend from school
• Umino - Nerd kid with the hypnotic glasses
• Sakurada Haruna - Usagi's teacher
• Chiba Mamoru - Tuxedo Kamen / Tuxedo Mask

Plus various others, but we'll cross that bridge when and if you come to it.

57 minutes ago, KaineParker said:

It certainly is.  And you haven't even scratched the surface. 

  Reveal hidden contents

What did you think about the stone mask?

 

Spoiler

I'm an easy man to get interested, and the mask certainly is curious enough to at least finish the adventure or season, or whatever that is separated into.

I had to snicker a lot watching this because I kept thinking how much @Bartimaeus would despise that anime. it liberally ticks off checkboxes from his "why I don't like anime" list from earlier in the thread.

Oh, and @Bartimaeus turns out I was wrong, our Netflix has only the fourth season of Steven Universe available. My brain can't handle starting a show right in the middle, so I'll have to look into, uhm, how to watch the first season. Shucks.

Edited February 20, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

Man, screw Cartoon Network, .

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

32 minutes ago, majestic said:

  

  Reveal hidden contents

I'm an easy man to get interested, and the mask certainly is curious enough to at least finish the adventure or season, or whatever that is separated into.

I had to snicker a lot watching this because I kept thinking how much @Bartimaeus would despise that anime. it liberally ticks off checkboxes from his "why I don't like anime" list from earlier in the thread.

Spoiler

Season 1 is split between two parts, Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency. After that each season is a new part, and it gets more bizarre.

Yeah, I recommended it to him based on him talking about how much he loved Sailor Moon or being crazy, but it's a very different kind of crazy.

31 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Man, screw Cartoon Network, .

I have said this so many times over the years.

[majestic]

29 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Spoiler

 

There are a number of odd and forced conflicts throughout the show's run that...just didn't need to be there, that didn't really make anything better for any particular character and it makes you wonder why they bothered. Or why Naoko Takeuchi bothered, whichever.

Rei's face there, though - almost about all worth it just for that. Yeah, there's something special about the cast of characters that make you care more than you should about a plot and premise that's nonsense. It's an attribute that most every show desperately wants to have, but for their lives - literally a lot of the time - can't find a way to do so.

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

There's a number of scenes in the finale that really hit in the feels. First sub-spoiler is relatively safe to look at.

Spoiler

 

The biggest issue this time around is the pacing, and the second to last episode showing that Usagi was right all along, and none of the terrible things that have happened in the past five episodes would have happened if everyone had just listened to her. This was probably intended to make a point about teamwork, but what it does in reality is going the extra mile to highlight how contrived the conflict between them was in the first place. It's also something that already happened in Sailor Moon S and was better done there to boot (although that felt no less forced at times).

Warning, major spoiler, click on your own discretion:

Spoiler

 

No, I mean it!

Spoiler

Sailor Galaxia showing Usagi how she killed Mamoru and her reaction to it was not very pretty.

 

 

 

 

12 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Man, screw Cartoon Network, .

Ah, there's always a way. *cough*

[InsaneCommander]

46 minutes ago, majestic said:

  Oh, so that's a new set of names. This is going to be super confusing in the future.

Don't worry, I'm familiar with the original names. I will use them from now on.

[majestic]

Oh, and lest I forget to post this for the umpteenth time.

I've read a bit throuh the manga by now, and Sailor Moon might just be one of rare instances of an adaptation elevating* the source material. If you ever stop and wonder why the villains in the anime are a little on the underdeveloped side, wonder no more. They all get like 20 pages (30 if they're lucky) and then die in the manga. To put that into perspective, chapters tend to have 45 or so pages (and that includes the title and an opening drawing), and an entire arc has between 11 and 13 chapters or so.

So yeah, having villains with even less personality? Sure possible. Count your blessings, I'd say.

*The other major one that comes to mind is Alan Rickman's Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies. Rowling even wrote the character in the later books with Alan Rickman's portrayal in mind because she thought that he did a better job at being Snape than her actual Snape did. So far the anime characters are all doing a better job at being actual characters than their manga counterparts.

Not going to lie, I'm not looking forward to trying Sailor Moon Crystal. But try I will. From the clips I've checked out the problems there are more than just the art style and CGI used. The framing of the scenes is weird, there's a lack of attention to detail compared to the first anime, and all that probably on a better budget. Huh? How did that happen?

edit:

Naoko Takeuchi and J. K. Rowling share something else too. They've both managed to create endearing characters in a magical setting, but their storytelling and writing is a bit, let's say, lacking.

Edited February 20, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

Yeah, I kind of got the feeling that the anime elevated the series in some ways. I'd be more interested in reading Codename: Sailor V since there shouldn't be any overlap, so less to compare. Plus...well, you know, it's Minako, although I would *presume* she's not quite as crazy as the protagonist in her own original story compared to being one of four deuteragonists.

Sailor Moon Crystal just sounds totally not for me from everything I've heard (although the animation style looks more acceptable by the time you get to...oh, just the post-season 3 movie). I'll wait to hear what you say, but I'm not expecting too much.

Spoiler

Usagi might not be too smart on a lot of things, but she knows her power of love and friendship, guys. There's a reason she eventually ends up the queen - quit doubting her on that one!

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I watched the first episode and a bit of the second of Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan and relevant to this thread is that the main character collects Sailor Moon figurines. lmao

As to the show itself, like the main JoJo anime it is almost pure translation of the manga with very little adaptation. I don't think this is a bad thing in this case as the manga is strong, but the downside is you see very little fluff/filler that expands on the characters like we get in Sailor Moon. Given that the premise of this anime is one-shot stories with a single main character in common though, getting attached to characters is probably not intended the same way it is for series with a regular main and supporting cast. I really like the way the animation rolls and the coloring feels very bright without being gaudy. Episode 1 does a good enough job of setting up the story and executing it, the closest thing I can compare it to is an episode of The Twilight Zone but if everyone did acid and had outrageous fashion styles they could just roll with in public.

All in all I'd recommend it if you like short horror stories that are very weird, while it does have a lot of references to JoJo (particularly Diamond is Unbreakable) you can enjoy it without knowing anything. In terms of artstyle it looks different enough from parts 1 - 3 of JoJo so if muscle dudes is a big turn off this may work better for you.

[majestic]

I just watched the first episode of Sailor Moon Crystal.

It's... uhm. Yeah. Honestly, please, stop using CGI and go back to a shoestring budget. This looks wrong, plus every scene feelts kind of flat, the framing is boring and the backgrounds are somewhat lifeless and lacking and detail. Maybe that'll get better, who knows.

I'll try to explain one thing by comparing the original anime to what happens in Crystal (and the manga, more or less).

In Crystal, Usagi doesn't forget her lunch and mindlessly runs down the street and steps on Luna's tail. She removes the band aid from her head after Luna scratches her. In the original anime she forgets her lunch, comes back for a funny scene, and then sees three kids torturing Luna and intervenes even though she's already late for school, and removes the band aid, no scratching.

See, adding a scene like that to pad out the running time immediately also adds character development.

Spoiler

The first episode of Crystal adds padding in the way of making Usagi dream of Prince Endymion, obviously something the original couldn't do at this point.

We see Usagi help an innocent cat by chasing away three terrible kids, and forget her lunch. I'll leave you to decide what does a better job at showing us her personality, but...

Spoiler

It was the original anime, clearly.

Oh, and Crystal has Usagi immediately develop a crush on Mamoru, because she monologues how her heart is still racing from seeing a snobby stranger in a tux on the street who insulted her. Oh, right. Mamoru's actually wearing a tuxedo in front of the jewelry store. Yeah. Just so you don't miss the hint that he's Tuxedo Mask. Beause, yeah. Uhm. You somehow could miss that, for some reason. Uhm. Yeah.

Sigh. At least it's only 39 episodes.

 

[Bartimaeus]

@KaineParker How short we talkin' here? More and more these days, I'm a big fan of short things. This animation style still makes my brain melt to look at, but hey, if it's only a few hours, maybe I could take it.

@majesticSo one of the things I've heard multiple times about Crystal (spoilered just in case someone...I guess InsaneCommander right now is as painfully dumb as I was when I was watching the first season)

Spoiler

is that it focuses a lot more on Usagi and Mamoru, at the expense of the other girls. And I'm like...............dude, no, don't do that. Anyone with an adult brain that watched the original show should've seen that that was already one of the more troubled parts of the original show, since they had trouble writing for Mamoru (particularly beyond the first season, since he could no longer just be a clever and charming wisecrack that could "secretly" rescue Sailor Moon while she was still learning how to fight - that was a perfectly fine role for him, but for obvious story reasons, it needed to grow or change after a certain point...and, well, they weren't really able to do it well)

.

And then...the animation. Yikes. I saw some side-by-side comparisons of each characters' introductions - do not want. And now you throw in general writing problems...and then you think, well, the original show had some writing problems, but they're clearly mostly forgivable ones by and large (outside of S4)...is Crystal going to make them better, or is it going to follow the trends of everything else and just make it even worse?

Episode 27 of S:

Spoiler

Guess who wears a french beret? Uh-huh. Guess who has always had a life-long irrational hatred of french berets? Yeah. ...But hey, at least they had some actual fun this episode. Hotaru even collapsed for a moment and no big deal was made about it and things moved on in just a few seconds - if you're gonna have a character constantly collapsing, that's the kind of progress I want to see! Also, Mamoru actually got to interact with someone that is not Usagi or Chibi-Usa in a non-serious business manner! He really needs/needed more of that.

Mimete is so worthless compared to Eudial - The Professor has to hold her hand to do anything and everything. He literally had to give her a direct lead to a specific person this episode. Although her trying to take the initiative of instead targeting Mamoru was clever and true to character...and then Mamoru absolutely slayed me with his "nope, they're my future wife and daughter" line. Because that's how that works...and bears absolutely no introspection on the part of Mimete, who's too dumb to even catch it.

lmao at this Kazumi gardener guy screwing over Mamoru - that's a rare moment for a rando to be able to get a good joke in on a main character's expense. Of course, then he started nailing a wooden board into a BROKEN GLASS WINDOW, and the nail was going directly into the EMPTY SPACE LEFT BY THE BROKEN GLASS WINDOW, so he might not be all that clever after all. Although it apparently worked, so maybe he knows something I don't about nails. Wait, no, actually, a few minutes later, it fell and nearly landed directly on his face, so yeah, get bent.

Holy crap, Hotaru just melted the other lady while going all Satanic. Hell yeah. ...I'll be referring to her as Sailor Satan instead of Saturn or Suicide from now on. No melodrama, either - nice going, girl!

...Is this the first episode since Ami was introduced that none of the other girls showed up at all in? I would've assumed this would've been a bad episode from that, but it was actually pretty good.

 

Edited February 20, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

I'll see soon, I guess. At this pace the storyline reveal will happen in episode 4 or 5 (maybe 6?), and then I'll see just how much...

Spoiler

This really becomes about the destined couple.

Anyway, the second episode isn't playing fair, Ami joins the team. Can do no wrong with her, right? I mean...

Or maybe you can...

Spoiler

Ami wins her transformation pen at the arcade by finishing the Sailor V game with a high score. What? Uasgi wants a pen too, and her transformation pen also falls out of the arcade machine.

Okay, so Luna having these things in the original anime was a bit strange (Where DOES a cat keep these pens? I'm not sure I want to know!), but it sure beat them falling out of a freaking arcade game.

Good job Crystal by updating the tech Ami works with but not taking care of putting the storyline in a different time. I wonder how that is going to continue. As you all might remember, Ami does study at this new energy collection scheme school Jadeite cooked up, right?

The computers got a nice face lift. Ami sits in front of a sweet 16:9 LCD screen with a Windows 7/10 style task bar and is given the magic disk that should sap her energy, but only this time it is a compact disc (or DVD, BR, etc.). That's fine guys, really. Really... fine. Will the girls have mobile phones now? Why do they go to the arcade to play games when the rest of the computer technology got a boost to our current time?

Am I overthinking this?

Spoiler

Yes clearly I am, but still...

 

26 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Spoiler

 

Guess who wears a french beret? Uh-huh. Guess who has always had a life-long irrational hatred of french berets? Yeah. ...But hey, at least they had some actual fun this episode. Hotaru even collapsed for a moment and no big deal was made about it and things moved on in just a few seconds - if you're gonna have a character constantly collapsing, that's the kind of progress I want to see! Also, Mamoru actually got to interact with someone that is not Usagi or Chibi-Usa in a non-serious business manner! He really needs/needed more of that.

Mimete is so worthless compared to Eudial - The Professor has to hold her hand to do anything and everything. He literally had to give her a direct lead to a specific person this episode. Although her trying to take the initiative of instead targeting Mamoru was clever and true to character...and then Mamoru absolutely slayed me with his "nope, they're my future wife and daughter" line. Because that's how that works...and bears absolutely no introspection on the part of Mimete, who's too dumb to even catch it.

lmao at this Kazumi gardener guy screwing over Mamoru - that's a rare moment for a rando to be able to get a good joke in on a main character's expense. Of course, then he started nailing a wooden board into a BROKEN GLASS WINDOW, and the nail was going directly into the EMPTY SPACE LEFT BY THE BROKEN GLASS WINDOW, so he might not be all that clever after all. Although it apparently worked, so maybe he knows something I don't about nails. Wait, no, actually, a few minutes later, it fell and nearly landed directly on his face, so yeah, get bent.

Holy crap, Hotaru just melted the other lady while going all Satanic. Hell yeah. ...I'll be referring to her as Sailor Satan instead of Saturn or Suicide from now on. No melodrama, either - nice going, girl!

...Is this the first episode since Ami was introduced that none of the other girls showed up at all in? I would've assumed this would've been a bad episode from that, but it was actually pretty good.

 

 

Very strong contender for the best joke of the series. That's such a killer line for this situation.

Edited February 20, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

Episode 28:

Spoiler

Kaolinite doppelganger: Time to laugh at a little girl's expense...and you better watch out, because I'm going to take the time to leave, come back, and ****ing do it again!

Usagi to little girl half her age: "Maybe I should just pull out all your teeth!" Yep. That's our hero.

This...had one of the stranger sequences I've seen in Sailor Moon. Two of them, in fact. And then also...throw in a horrifying heart-stealing sequence. Yikes.

Did the villains really just FINALLY successfully steal a heart crystal...after like an entire season of trying, and then the minion decided to grow a conscience and blow up the entire thing? Wow. Okay.

This show has basically become the Hotaru therapy group session show, .

@Crystal: Overthinking, yes, but also, why change nonsensical writing/design just to make it even more inexplicable and less thematically/functionally-fitting? Luna is the one attempting to find/activate the Sailor Guardians...so it would make a sort of functional sense she has the transformation rods. How did she get them, where is she storing them? ...These are things that can be left to the imagination, especially early on in the show. Having them fall out of a random arcade machine, on the other hand, immediately raises an eyebrow.

 

Edited February 20, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

Episode 28:

  Hide contents

Kaolinite doppelganger: Time to laugh at a little girl's expense...and you better watch out, because I'm going to take the time to leave, come back, and ****ing do it again!

Usagi to little girl half her age: "Maybe I should just pull out all your teeth!" Yep. That's our hero.

This...had one of the stranger sequences I've seen in Sailor Moon. Two of them, in fact. And then also...throw in a horrifying heart-stealing sequence. Yikes.

Did the villains really just FINALLY successfully steal a heart crystal...after like an entire season of trying, and then the minion decided to grow a conscience and blow up the entire thing? Wow. Okay.

This show has basically become the Hotaru therapy group session show, .

@Crystal: Overthinking, yes, but also, why change nonsensical writing/design just to make it even more inexplicable and less thematically/functionally-fitting? Luna is the one attempting to find/activate the Sailor Guardians...so it would make a sort of functional sense she has the transformation rods. How did she get them, where is she storing them? ...These are things that can be left to the imagination, especially early on in the show. Having them fall out of a random arcade machine, on the other hand, immediately raises an eyebrow.

 

 

Spoiler

 

The part about wondering where Luna keeps the pens (they're actually pens in Crystal) was more to make a silly joke than anything. It doesn't matter, it's obviously a magic cat. But yes, it dropping out of the Arcade machine is a massive "Huh?" moment that is completely unecessary, but that was taken directly from the manga, I just checked... oy. So the writing in the manga starts out, uhm, weird, and doesn't really get any better later (at least in Dream). Oh, and the CD is really a CD in the manga too. Only a diskette in the first anime. But okay. Still leaves the LCDs and Windows 10.

Oh, right, Mimet the other Witches playing Twister is really bizarre. As is the Professor watching them. He sure seemed to like what he saw. I'm not sure what the writers were tripping on, but that must have been some damn good acid.

Oh, right, and that security guy at the stadium, holy crap, freakiest animation ever.

 

edit:

The manga explains Usagi's crying as ultrasonic sound waves when it shatters glass and defeats enemies.

 

Edited February 20, 2021 by majestic

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

3 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

How short we talkin' here? More and more these days, I'm a big fan of short things. This animation style still makes my brain melt to look at, but hey, if it's only a few hours, maybe I could take it.

Assuming all episodes are the same length as the first, about an hour and a half. And every episode looks to be an independent one shot.

Edited February 20, 2021 by KaineParker

[majestic]

Moar Crystal.
 

Spoiler

 

Luna explains that she hid the transformation pens in the arcade game. Why? Well, who knows. On the hunch that Ami might just win the game and Usagi throws a tantrum and beats the machine until the second one drops out. Never let any silly contrivance stop you.

She also hid their communicators in there. Usagi and Ami have state of the art ultrabooks to use, but they need a Knight Rider style watch to talk to each other. Ami and Luna also have an interdimensional teleport they can use instantly and on their own. Okay. In the manga they can fly too, I wonder if that comes up in Crystal. Probably.

Jadeite is burnt to a cinder (by Rei, just in case that isn't obvious, and presumably, he catches fire but there's no cinder to be seen, but yeah, you get the idae), after having been given a combined 3 minutes screen time (very generous estimate here) in three episodes. Luna just gives Rei her transformation pen. I guess it is kind of hard to get it from an arcade Sailor V game when you're stuck in a weird dimension with Jadeite and a bunch of kidnapped children.

edit. Jadeite got better. At least for now. I know he will be killed off by Rei... apparently just not yet.

Spoiler

Both Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury get a very mild upskirt drawing in the manga in this chapter after being knocked on their asses by Jadeite.

 

 

Edited February 20, 2021 by majestic

[majestic]

I've also been trying to put my thoughts on Sailor Moon Sailor Stars and Sailor Moon as a whole into perspective. The problem here is simply because I loved the final season and I'd like to post about it, but I know from experience this is exactly the type of season that often gets hate from fans of the earlier ones, and I am not oblivious to the fact that it has a few glaring issues that can rightfully turn people away. In a way, Sailor Stars feels like watching the later seasons of How I Met Your Mother (although Sailor Moon is much better as a whole).

Even started to watch some reviews on YouTube, but they all seem to be made from one extreme point of view: Either from pure hate (mostly because filler and changes from the holy grail that the source material apparently is, it is too campy, it is too comedic, Rei sucks in the anime because she doesn't hate men, you get my point here, I guess) to utter and unthinking adoration ("I promise you these villains have great arcs!").

If I had to pick one side then I'd have to let nostalgia take over and pick the extreme unthinking adoration, because that source material is... not very strong. I'm sorry. This probably really is because deep down inside I am a toxic male and just love the fanservice in my shojo anime. Or... whatever else the guy whose review I just watched would have said had I not shut it off prematurely*. Seriously. Sits there and claims the 90ies anime has no character development in the filler episodes to make them worthwhile. What? Tuned out after the first season, did you? But even in the first season. Geez.

It has far, far more character development than the manga has. It just happens naturally. it is SHOWN to you, not TOLD. That's not to say that the anime doesn't suffer from pacing issues. I guess if you actually really cared about the storyline of the first season, then you'd be deep in the poopie when watching the original anime. Try as I might, I do not understand these people at all. The "storyline" of the first story arc in the manga is EVIL B*TCH QUEEN looking for Magical McGuffin, sends her four commanders to be brutally murder-death-killed by 14 year old girls who plow through them easily and without batting an eyelash or even a hint of second guessing.

Spoilered for IC mostly:

Spoiler

Unless of course people are once again confusing plot with world building, in which case yes, the middle part of the first season was fairly interesting in terms of showing the past lives of our main characters in the Silver Millennium.

But that has nothing to do with the story as it unfolds.

And it is even worse for side characters. The manga, like the anime, tells us that Naru is Usagi's best friend in the world, and then after Usagi finds some magical friends she ditches her like a hot potato, almost never to be seen again. Well how's that for love and friendship?

Spoiler

The anime was at least nice enough to pair her up with Umino, give her an entire arc with Nephrite and have her figure out who Sailor Moon really is and tell Usagi that it is okay for her to not have enough time to devote to their friendship any more with everything that is going on and even then she sometimes shows up.

Jesus, what was my point now?

Yeah, I need some more time to figure things out before I post something more concrete on Sailor Stars.

Or maybe I'll just wait for all of you to catch up.

* Well, my fault, I guess. Should have known better than to  check out a channel called Magical Unicorn. Guy's probably a fan of

Spoiler

Pegasus.

edit 2:

Spoiler

Oh, look, turns out I was wrong. Jadeite survived being set on fire by Rei in Crystal. He might make it to three minutes runtime yet.

edit 3:

Spoiler

Okay, so Tuxedo Kamen finds a sleeping Sailor Moon and decides to kiss her. Way to go dude.

 

Edited February 20, 2021 by majestic
Added an edited bit about Crystal where I got a wrong impression earlier. Huh.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I'm glad my biggest issue with Crystal was the gangly limbs and that I never got past the first episode.

[Bartimaeus]

Spoiler

Setting? World-building? Plot? What series are we talking about again? The setting is about as generic as could possibly be, and there's precious little world-building ever done for it - 99% of the series happens within the same one square mile that the villains inexplicably and obsessively refuse to ever stop attacking even though the majority of them are evil aliens or equivalent that could attack literally anywhere on the planet. The only world-building the series ever did were basic details around each character's lives (school, the arcade, the shrine, Usagi's home, etc.) and some very broad and basic details about the Silver Millennium in the past and Neo-Tokyo in the future. The only reason any of that stuff manages to be even slightly interesting is because of the characters themselves. And as for the plot...well, nothing needs to be said about that, .

 

Edited February 20, 2021 by Bartimaeus