Anime and Manga - ゴゴゴゴ

[Bartimaeus]

The meanest of mugs:

"I've never seen [this child] take to a stranger so quickly before." Uh, right - there were literally about fifteen other mean mugs like these I could've also posted, . I appreciate a good mean mug, and this little girl is a professional mean mugger.

Gainax sure knew how to make some impressive looking stuff before the 2000s - not that these screenshots really show it off in any way. It's less the aesthetic and more that they make complex shots from creative angles with impressive amounts of detail and motion. Well, why spend all that thought, time, and money when you could just...not?

Spoiler

The main character confused the hell out of me. He started off as a complete layabout that didn't care whatsoever and just saw his service as a job...then suddenly he volunteered for the suicide mission seemingly from some newfound sense of patriotic duty...then went all humanistic "bridges are better than warships" out of nowhere. I THINK the relevant events were him meeting wotsherface, because he volunteered right after...and then seeing her house demolished, because then he was suddenly completely done with everything, but if those were the critical events, they didn't do a very good job at tying them together.

And then there's the attempted - attempted! - rape scene @Amentep mentioned. Our main character, whose name I cannot remember even though I literally, seconds ago, just finished watching this film...actually, to be honest, the only name I remember is old mean mug's up there, Manna...has run away from his job and is listless and mutely - he finds wotsherface on the street doing her whole preaching thing and decides to stay with her. He simply lies on the floor doing nothing most of the time...but wotsherface is working late at the desk one night, and it appears she is going to get ready for bed since she goes to change clothes while seeming to presume that everyone else is asleep. Whatshisface is not - something comes over him and he slowly approaches her while she's hidden behind the changing screen, and...yeah, what happens next happens. It thankfully stops when he pauses as he appears to realize what he is doing...and she does the old cranium bash manuever, knocking him out. The next morning, wotsherface tries to initially act like nothing happened, but whatshisface tries to apologize only for her to refuse his apology and gives her own for hitting him before she runs off to do her job. She is clearly not O.K. with the whole thing, and he doesn't really accept her apology because he knows she's obviously got nothing to be sorry about and that it was his fault. Whatshisface immediately leaves to go back to his job, and a short time later ask a friend if they'd ever wondered if they were "not a good guy" and actually "one of the bad guys" instead. The friend gives an explanation of sorts that essentially culminates in "if you were not needed by someone or something, then you would not be here in the first place". One of the more bizarre assassination attempts and subsequent chase scenes I think I've ever seen would immediately follow, presumably for irony given the preceding conversation...also, it sure looks like it would be difficult to run away while wearing a dress like he was.

None of this in any way justifies whatshisface for what he did and was going to do - hating him is fine, nor was that part necessary...it almost never is with these sorts of things by my estimation, and it usually seems to be just for some kind of visceral shock value. That said, however...I would say that the film seems to have justified itself just enough for me not to explosively react in the way that Amentep apparently did, . I especially liked that later, he easily agreed to cut the safety procedures in order to speed up the launch - which seemed right for someone not currently valuing their own life. My advice to Amentep...don't ever watch Neon Genesis Evangelion, made by the same studio, because if you thought Wings was "downbeat" and had a "dim view of humanity"...well, you ain't seen nothing yet - this seemed pretty upbeat and positive to me.

 

Edited March 8, 2022 by Bartimaeus

[Amentep]

Lol, @Bartimaeus, I saw a little of Evangelion when it came out and knew it wasn't for me.  

There's still a modicum of curiosity that crops up about it from time-to-time, but I usually lie down until it passes.  

I wonder how you would have reacted if I hadn't spoiled you re:

Spoiler

Shirotsugh's attempted rape of Requinni?

Anyhow, my friends loved it.  But that bit just ruined the film for, me, personally.

Spoiler

I didn't care he decided to cut corners and would probably die to achieve something he really didn't believe in - I just didn't care what happened to him at that point.

I had forgotten about Manna's hate-face though.  

[Bartimaeus]

16 minutes ago, Amentep said:

I had forgotten about Manna's hate-face though.

Manna was the star of the show for me, for sure - how can you not love such a mean-mugging masterclass like that? Even when she was trying to be polite, she was still mean-mugging...that takes dedication and skill that truly few have.

Alright, do you look up their names every time you have to say them? I literally just finished watching this and...seriously, I just read your message where you listed them, and I still can't remember their names right now. Those are really difficult to remember names, and I don't usually have too much issue with Japanese names.

Spoiler

Anyways, I totally get not caring about what happened to him after that - I did, but in the opposite way: I kind of wanted to see him blow up. Given your message about the film's outlook on humanity being "crap", I genuinely expected to see him just explode and was prepared to cheer and clap. Sadly, no - most likely, he just expired from being stuck in orbit with nowhere to go or nothing to do. I guess that's fine, too.

I didn't love it, but I enjoyed it enough and thought it was good even if it lacked critical appeal to me. As far as "movies with male protagonist wherein the male protagonist attempted to rape somebody", that's pretty high praise from me. Definitely not quite "I want to pull out my hard drive from my PC and stomp it to death" levels of hating it, .

 

Edited March 8, 2022 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

8 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Alright, do you look up their names every time you have to say them? I literally just finished watching this and...seriously, I just read your message where you listed them, and I still can't remember their names right now. Those are really difficult to remember names, and I don't usually have too much issue with Japanese names.

You should really try Attack No. 1 at some point. There's a whole class of girls and outside of Kozue and Midori, I can't seem to retain any of the names. Well, no, not right, there's this Tsutomu guy, but who cares about Kozue's first half of the show's romantic interest.

[Amentep]

Yeah I look the names up.  I can't remember the name of 90% of the people I meet in real life, though.

Its a lot easier to pull out a VHS and stomp it than a hard-drive (at least for me).

[HoonDing]

I'll get back to anime. Currently rewatching Road to Avonlea.

[Bartimaeus]

On 3/8/2022 at 9:11 AM, Amentep said:

I wonder how you would have reacted if I hadn't spoiled you re:

I was thinking about this some more yesterday, and I'm not really sure. I was also thinking about why the scene was there in the first place. Spoilers for second half of the movie, @majestic, since you're still in the process of watching it:

Spoiler

The conversation between whatshisface and his friend that followed shortly after would seem to imply that you're not really supposed to believe that just because he's the main character, he must be good - just the opposite, our main character could be, as he said, "one of the bad guys". But...outside of thematic purposes (which do help at least partially justify the film but certainly not the character!), what was it really supposed to mean for our protagonist in the actual context of the story? Up until this point, our protagonist's most major negative trait, in my opinion, was that he did not really seem to respect or even tolerate wotsherface's beliefs to any meaningful degree and yet he clearly still remained interested in her, which is a major conflict/juxtaposition of motivations that I really dislike pretty universally in both fiction and real life. You have to be able to at least tolerate a (potential) spouse's beliefs, IMO - instead, he seemed to see her beliefs merely as obstacles in his way. Did that really need to be pushed even farther by having him sexually assault her? Ick!

So nothing seems to really come of it, and it appears to be ultimately forgotten by the film in the face of him having accomplished exactly what he was trying to do. Maybe that's exactly the point - that less than stellar people often accomplish good or even incredible things? That'd be totally true, but I'm not sure if that's actually the intended message because of how weakly it comes across - and again, it does all seem thematically appropriate for the film as a whole, so I'm not super bent up about it like I would be with something much dumber than Wings just randomly sticking a gross and meaningless assault scene as some kind of screwed up idea of fan service like is so often the case...but also, as always, I care much more about characters than I do themes, so these sorts of things do prevent me from seeing a film like this as being great like I ideally would. Good thematic justification can be enough for me to not hate a film for including something like this, but I'm going to need more than that if you want me to actually forgive the character and love the movie in question. Perhaps once majestic finishes the film, he may provide some additional insight/context that I was unable to understand.

P.S. Two more episodes of Emi. If all you're doing with your magical powers is basically doing a job so your family can keep doing theirs, is that really in the spirit of the magical girl genre? No monsters or enemies, no end of the world or even regional crises, not even trying to become stronger...just using your magic and alter-ego to fix small-time personal issues when you can. Mind you, this is not a bad thing - I actually really like it. This seems like a better and more balanced version of Eriko, which was always so deadly serious about everything all the time, and had such a pinpoint focus on music/singing/performing as a central part of Eriko's life. This is much more lighthearted in comparison, but isn't silly or lacking ground by any means...I don't know, it's just been very comfy and enjoyable to watch, really. More shoujo than magical shoujo in my estimation, though.

Spoiler

The fifth episode was really cute: It revolved around Mai's little brother overhearing Mai pray that she could be less clumsy so that she would be more talented at being a magician - as herself, and not as Emi. He would desperately try to help her by searching for some magic of his own.

 

22 hours ago, HoonDing said:

I'll get back to anime. Currently rewatching Road to Avonlea.

Can't tell if you're talking about the 1979 Anne of Green Gables anime or the 1990 Canadian live action show. One would presume the former given the thread you're mentioning it in, but I can't seem to find any indication that the show was ever actually called that...and you are HoonDing, after all - Emperor of Absurdistan.

Edited March 9, 2022 by Bartimaeus

[Amentep]

Variety's editor Wilson Chapman ranks the 10 Best Sailor Moon episodes in honor of the show's 30th anniversary.

[majestic]

1 hour ago, Amentep said:

Variety's editor Wilson Chapman ranks the 10 Best Sailor Moon episodes in honor of the show's 30th anniversary.

Well, not every single thing, but more on that later...

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

1 hour ago, Amentep said:

Variety's editor Wilson Chapman ranks the 10 Best Sailor Moon episodes in honor of the show's 30th anniversary.

Honorable Mentions: “Naru’s Tears: Nephrite Dies for Love” (Season 1, Episode 24); “Moon Returns: The Mysterious Aliens Appear” (Season 2, Episode 47); “A UFO Appears: The Sailor Guardians Abducted” (Season 2, Episode 73); “Shared Feelings: Usagi and Mamoru in Love Once Again” (Season 2, Episode 77); “The Labyrinth of Water: Ami Targeted” (Season 3, Episode 97); “The Stolen Pure Heart: Usagi’s Crisis” (Season 3, Episode 102); “The Messiah of Silence Awakens? Stars of Destiny” (Season 3, Episode 119); “Mirrors of Dreams: the Amazon’s Last Stage” (Season 4, Episode 149); “Farewells and Encounters: the Transitioning Stars of Destiny” (Season 5, Episode 173); “The Shining Power of a Star: Chibi-Chibi’s Transformation” (Season 5, Episode 187)

Mirrors of Dreams: the Amazon’s Last Stage” (Season 4, Episode 149)

 

[majestic]

Yes, exactly. Anyone who rates an episode where a pedophile horse rescues three rapists from their well deserved punishment, fulfills their every wish and takes them to watch what he does at his lake where he brings his little girl(s)... even as much as an honorable mention... I don't even... that's just vile, man. Vile.

edit: In all fairness (and that is REALLY hard to do when it comes to SuperS), the episode did do a good job at showing how little agency these three SOBs had over their own "life" and sparked a modicum of understanding for their position and made their sacrifice somewhat meaningful, in the end. Then comes Pegasus and everything falls hard apart. Because, really, even without agency, these three were just terrible people all in all. Could have been a really nice episode if they just stayed dead after giving up their "life" as pseudo-humans to save Usagi.

Edited March 9, 2022 by majestic

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

1 hour ago, majestic said:

Yes, exactly. Anyone who rates an episode where a pedophile horse rescues three rapists from their well deserved punishment, fulfills their every wish and takes them to watch what he does at his lake where he brings his little girl(s)... even as much as an honorable mention... I don't even... that's just vile, man. Vile.

At first I didn't know why you posted the best line from the greatest Star Wars movie of all time. Then I noticed none of the top 10 were from Super S and scrolled down. Yeah, Super S manages to be both mediocre and vile, what a piece of trash.

[majestic]

Here comes the big one, I guess I cannot say no to meat when it so readily presents itself in my lair. No, I'm not doing a creepy impression of a freaking spider swarm in a dark wood. I also have no idea how Aragog managed to procreate, I mean look at the size of that thing, and where's the... never mind, never mind. I tried to read this as unbiased as I could, and I did not get very far into the article before failing. Alas, even as much as the second paragraph confirmed my wildest fears.

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The ’90s “Sailor Moon” anime is by no means perfect. Because it was created concurrently with the manga, premiering only three months after the first “Sailor Moon” chapter was published, it’s a very loose adaptation, with entire character backstories and personalities being altered and key arcs playing out in vastly different ways. At an even 200 episodes across five seasons, it’s also much, much longer than the original manga, which ran for a mere 60 chapters, and a lot of that length is padded by superfluous and forgettable filler.

The filler content in Sailor Moon is a lot of things. In some cases it's frustrating, in some cases it's boring, in some cases it tries to do something and falls flat, however, there is one thing it barely ever is, especially when compared to the non-filler story material: Forgettable - never mind that almost all (and you could make a case for really all) of the best episode of this wonderful anime are, well, filler. Technically, many of the episodes on the list are.

I can agree on it being by no means perfect, but when you look at the source material, even that statement can be looked at in a very different light. It's by no means perfect, but unlike the source material, at least it's not incoherent nonsense at the best of times.

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The show changed a lot from the source material, but its versions of Usagi Tsukino (voiced by the great Kotono Mitsuishi) and her team of Sailor Guardians that battle the forces of evil are well-fleshed out characters in their own rights, and the show taps into a fantasy of saving the world with your best friends that anyone can enjoy.

Sweet mother of Jesus, at least read the source material before you post about it. There's no character development in the first two arcs of the manga, and very little in the third. It's not until Dream where the characters get much of a personality even - and by then the anime already did the job. Famously, Naoko Takeuchi hated the changes made, especially to Rei, but Rei in the manga is pretty boring. Harping on about this lost a lot of its fun though, after actually reading her commentary about the manga and the working conditions, so there's that, and I won't say much more, at least for the time being.

Let's go through the list:

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10 "A Handsome Boy? Haruka Tenoh's Secret" (“S,” Season 3, Episode 92)

This is one of the forgettable filler padding. It's one of the funniest episodes, has a whacky monster and Minako and Usagi at their very comedic best, and at the end of the day it toys heavily with gender roles and expectations without being obtrusive and annoying, however, to the manga's credit, that part of Haruka was there too. I can agree with placing this in the top 10, even. We're off to a good start.

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9 "The Dark Queen: Birth of Black Lady" (“R,” Season 2, Episode 85)

So we're doing Black Lady as top 10 episode. If I wasn't convinced that this Wilson Chapman character doesn't know what they're talking about, well, now I'm certain. Granted, the anime version of Black Lady at least doesn't dominate the mind of her father and make out with him in front of her mother (with the implication of much worse having happened) like the manga version did, but it's best to not think too much about this Electra complex stand-in gone too far.

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8 "Death of the Sailor Guardians: The Tragic Final Battle "(Season 1, Episode 45)

This one is hard for me. I absolutely love the episode because if - and only if - you can ignore the nature of Sailor Moon, the impact this potentially has is enormous. On the other hand, it also highlights the very core of the issue of the story episodes in the anime, even in the first season where they are at their most focused and consistently good: They break with the rest of the show so hard you can't fault anyone for either not caring, losing immersion or quite frankly realizing that there's no stake at all to be had, and when you just know everything will be all right in the end, then what does it matter if everyone dies? It won't stick.

In a way, this is also the major contrast between the anime and the manga. The manga is almost always this dour and serious, while the anime only is when it can no longer avoid adapting the manga chapters into story episodes. In a way it's a bit like with the Marvel vs. the DC movies of the recent decade. Many films of the former realize that superheroes are inherentily silly and ridiculous, and the films reflect that, while the latter simply takes itself far too seriously most of the time. You might get some entertainment out of the DC films (the recent ones were supposedly good, but I stopped after being subjected to Batman v. Superman), but if you want to have a good time, you're much better off watching the Marvel films. Before someone tries to bash my head in, I'm not saying the MCU is as good as Sailor Moon.

It is a good episode, I think, but a far cry from top 10 material.

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7 "A New Transformation: Usagi’s Power-Up" (“R,” Season 2, Episode 51)

R's filler arc is certainly a treasure trove of fun, and something that only the complete filler arcs in the series managed to do. However, as a top ten episode, I don't know. It showed Usagi accepting her role as Sailor Moon, but the truth is, we already did that in the finale in the last season, kind of. The finale of the first season had her accepting being Princess Serenity, this one is about her being a defender of love and justice. It works, it's great, but... huh. No.

Also, we're now 2:2 with the filler padding versus storyline episodes.

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6 "For Love: the Endless Battle in the Dark World" (“Stars,” Season 5, Episode 171)

Okay, so for this resident Sailor Jupiter fanboy, it's hard to disagree that this is one whammy of an episode, and the Sailor Stars filler arc is pretty great. Just about the only time Sailor Moon does a story arc that's somewhat serious so well that it doesn't feel alien to the rest of the series, all the characters are more or less behaving the way they should with perhaps the exception of Minako being a more serious leader type for a change (carrying over her manga personality more than her anime one).

3:2 filler versus manga content, by the way. Huh.

Also, there's this gem in the text:

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“Sailor Moon SuperS” is easily the worst season of the show,

Amen. If there's nothing else I could agree with in this list, it's this. This, this, and a thousand times this. SuperS is the worst.

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5 "The Death of Uranus and Neptune: The Talisman Appears" (“S,” Season 3, Episode 110)

Okay, so personally I am of the opinion that if you really want any super serious storyline episode in a top ten list, then this is simply the contender for it. Not only the contender, but potentially the only serious mode episode one could potentially put near the very top. It's also the highest rated Sailor Moon episode on IMBD, although that doesn't say too much, like all user ratings (and critical ones to boot, just look at this list).

Minor interesting thing first: This is also filler, because nothing of the sort happens in the manga. The entire talisman storyline is made up for the anime, in the manga verison, they just always have those. While it's a story episode, it's also padding, in a way. What sets it apart is that while it is more serious in tone, it also follows more directly from the rest of the season. Neptune and Uranus were built up the entire season, not just get dropped on you (like, oh, pretty much every evil energy entity behind the villains in like, oh, every season!). It is also the only time any thematic exploration in Sailor Moon really works and it's just heartbreaking to see Uranus and Neptune fail in their promises and their utilitarian outlook, best exemplified when Haruka asks Usagi, of all people, to continue her work.

I absolutely love this episode, but I can also see why one wouldn't, although it cleverly avoids the watcher knowing that none of them will die in the end. They're side characters and sacrifices were a theme before. One that goes through character development even, like with Minako when she wonders if it is all worth it.

Generall, S is by far and large the best season, and some of the best entertainment of all time, period.

Let's bring the counter to 3:3, if only because of the serious nature, and it does advance the basic manga storyline too, in some minor way.

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4 "The Shining Silver Crystal: The Moon Princess Appears" (Season 1, Episode 34)

Yeah, uhm, no, just no. I get it, after like 33 episodes the mythology of the series finally moves a bit, but how is this in a top 10 list. It wouldn't even make a top 10 list limited to the first season, outside of maybe having the most ridiculous DiC dub moment when Usagi finds out who Tuxedo Mask really is. Give me more filler with Naru and Nephrite over this. If you want a serious first season episode, take Nephrite's redemption out of the honorable mentions, and put it... maybe not here exactly, but in the list. Even that can be argued against.

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3 "A Night Alone Together: Usagi in Danger" (“Stars,” Season 5, Episode 184)

4:4 Filler vs. Story now. Considering that there are less story episodes than filler, this is looking good for the story episode, but that's only if you agree with their placements, which I really don't. There's nothing wrong with picking this episode as a top 10, it's a perfect representation of Sailor Stars, makes fun of the neurotic forumla Sailor Moon has by making a mockery of everything, including the secret transformations, and shows how ridiculous Usagi's wings are when in a cramped situation.

Honestly... there's nothing wrong with placing this at #3, outside of the top 5 being reserved for the best character moments of the show as a matter of course, so it really can't be there simply because other episodes are both funny and meaningful, instead of just funny.

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2 "Usagi's Love: The Moonlight Illuminates the Galaxy" (“Stars,” Season 5, Episode 200)

I liked that episode more than most other posters here, I think, but number two? Nope, no dice. 4:5 for Filler vs. Storyline in the list though. Not sure what else to say about this, other than this being an episode that in many ways not only influenced but is directly referenced in Steven Universe and Steven's little tussle with Bismuth. Much of the Sailor Stars story arc is referenced in Steven Universe, not very surprising since it was a major source of inspiration for Rebecca Sugar.

And now for the absulte biggest huh moment:

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1 "The Shining Shooting Star: Saturn and the Messiah" (“S,” Season 3, Episode 125)

Huh? How is this episode any better than the one you put at #5? How? In what way? Once again, I might want to add that I was the least hard on Sailor Moon's story stuff in our watch here, and I probably liked the story culmination of S more than the other season's, but we're talking about the best episode of the show here, and nothing in the final story episode of Sailor Moon S is top 10 material, let alone a contender for the best episode of the anime. I'm not sure if The Death of Uranus and Neptune: The Talisman Appears is, even if the users of IMDB disagree. Final tally 4:6, not too bad for the author's idea of Sailor Moon. In my top 10 that would probably be more like 9:1.

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Honorable Mentions: “Naru’s Tears: Nephrite Dies for Love” (Season 1, Episode 24); “Moon Returns: The Mysterious Aliens Appear” (Season 2, Episode 47); “A UFO Appears: The Sailor Guardians Abducted” (Season 2, Episode 73); “Shared Feelings: Usagi and Mamoru in Love Once Again” (Season 2, Episode 77); “The Labyrinth of Water: Ami Targeted” (Season 3, Episode 97); “The Stolen Pure Heart: Usagi’s Crisis” (Season 3, Episode 102); “The Messiah of Silence Awakens? Stars of Destiny” (Season 3, Episode 119); “Mirrors of Dreams: the Amazon’s Last Stage” (Season 4, Episode 149); “Farewells and Encounters: the Transitioning Stars of Destiny” (Season 5, Episode 173); “The Shining Power of a Star: Chibi-Chibi’s Transformation” (Season 5, Episode 187)

Naru's Tears is a fine episode, and one of the more serious ones you could easily place in a top 10 list if you wanted one of those in them. The season two episodes, well, no, not really. The Labyrinth of Water: Ami Targeted is honestly one of the best episodes of S even if you don't like Ami all that much, and therefore one of the best in the series, and I'd place it in a top 10 list, probably. Along with all the other Sailor Moon S character focus pieces except the one that explores Uranus and Neptune's past. That was a fine idea in theory that didn't work out in practice.

Mirrors of Dreams: the Amazon’s Last Stage I already complained about, Farewells and Encounters: the Transitioning Stars of Destiny is nice, but there are better Sailor Stars episodes. The Shining Power of a Star: Chibi-Chibi’s Transformation is the one with Usagi and Seiya playing softball, and for that sequence alone it deserves a spot in the list, not just one in the honorable mentions.

Well, so not everything the author said was wrong. Just most if it!

Also, there's clearly ONE thing that's wrong with Sailor Moon, and that is it doesn't have enough...

Just because I can.

Edited March 9, 2022 by majestic
Formatting a little off and all that.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I knew the "Tiddes! What Else?" man was coming back lmao.

I would have to look it up to remember specific episodes and I'm not a fan of Top X lists. But, I dunno, the moments that stood out for me in Sailor Moon weren't Black Lady and throwaway Saturn/Uranus episodes.

[Bartimaeus]

I would really want to know the methodology by which these were ranked. In random articles like this, there's usually some kind of angle - some combination of the most famous episodes, the "best" episodes as considered by the fandom, episodes that promote some particularly important themes or ideas, and personal favorites on the part of the author. It's not clear to me what the idea here was, but the results were...mixed to say the least. I'd also like to know if the author watched the series themselves, and if so, did they watch it as an adult or as a child/teen, because IMO that could really affect your perception of the series and what the best episodes were. The main story episodes were by and large not very strong for any of us as adults, but it might be a different story if you watched it when you were younger.

Edited March 10, 2022 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

4 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I would really want to know the methodology by which these were ranked.

I honestly have no idea. That's just random stuff strung together without any rhyme or reason as far as I can see. I have no idea how old the author is, but I'm guessing having seen Sailor Stars in teenage years is kind of out of the question if they're about as old as one would expect an editor at a magazine to be, unless they were serious anime nerds and watched fansubs of Stars and had both the internet access necessary to get the episodes as well as the know how. It's not impossible though.

Or maybe they're really young, that could explain a thing or two. Although, why would you let someone who just recently watched the series for the first time write a 30 year nostalgia piece. That seems silly.

4 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I'd also like to know if the author watched the series themselves, and if so, did they watch it as an adult or as a child/teen, because IMO that could really affect your perception of the series and what the best episodes were. The main story episodes were by and large not very strong for any of us as adults, but it might be a different story if you watched it when you were younger.

I can confirm that in part. My perception of certain things in Sailor Moon certainly changed during the recent rewatch, most notably my intense dislike for Chibi-Usa disappeared, and my appreciation for Hotaru as woobie dropped a little. My overall favorite season stayed the same with Sailor Moon S, the second place once again went to Sailor Stars (but it's close, so close, in spite of all the problems of Sailor Stars), but Sailor Moon R dropped a bit. SuperS is dead last now and something I barely remember from the first watch, so I'm going to assume it was dead last too.

The biggest surprise (which really wasn't not hating Chibi-Usa ) of the rewatch was that I really enjoyed the first season, more so than parts of R, but overall they're kind of equal now. As far as the storyline episodes go, back when I was a teenager, I really liked the S storyline, and the end of Stars, in the sense that I didn't really think they were strange or out of whack with the rest of the show, nor did the inconsistencies bother me all too much. R was a mixed bag even then, the Doom Tree arc I thought was thoroughly enjoyable (never mind making sure that I actually fell in love with the show), the DEATH PHANTOM storyline was so-so - the middle parts were fine, the ending was a tad too silly. Now, as an adult, the R storyline at the end is complete pants, while I actually liked the middle parts, or some of it, at least. The redemption of the Spectre Sisters, for instance, or how effortlessly the show made me feel bad for Saphir and especially Petz.

I still get the feeling that having watched this much earlier makes me less negatively disposed towards the storyline episodes, even though it's very plain to see how much of a break they represent compared to the other episodes. There's also something else to consider. For instance, the pacing issues of the Sailor Stars finale aren't as bothersome when you're on a TV station controlled watch schedule and they just air one episode a day. You watch that for 20 minutes, are glad that there's Sailor Moon on TV and that's about it. Having control over when you want to continue, you suddenly run into the issue that the finale of Stars is mired in issues that kind of make you want to not click on "next episode" - something that never even could up during the regular TV watching.

It's probably even more different for a weekly schedule like Japan had.

Overall, I think my impressions of the story episodes would change again on another rewatch, mostly because I now read parts of the source material and watched Crystal, and it's really hard not to appreciate how much effort the writing team of the anime had to put into making a passable anime adaptation at all, never mind one that's semi-coherent, has consistent characterization (outside of SuperS of course) and produced some of my most favorite anime moments of all time. The writers for Crystal did nothing of that, and the result was a disaster. Crystal was way worse than the manga, which is interesting overall because it was rather faithful (not in all things). That also harkens back to the manga being a monthly issue. Reading it all at once reveals an immense amount of issues that one would be more willing to forgive when you read the 20 or so pages an issue has after a month.

[Bartimaeus]

The creators of Magical Emi clearly knew what the future held for Star Trek, . Yes, you are seeing that correctly - it is a racist-looking Asian caricature of Spock under text that says "Star Trick", which is probably what they should've named Discovery.

Episode 7 was all about home ec. Mai is mocked pretty mercilessly by the boys in her family for getting a D in it, while nobody cares that her friend, who is a boy, gets one as well. This enrages Mai right off the bat because it's completely unfair, but it does encourage her to start paying attention to what the other girls of her family, particularly her mother, actually have to do in order to keep the household functioning...and she becomes both disgusted and concerned when she realizes how hard her mom actually has to work while the men know and do little to nothing...or worse. It's all turned around on everyone when her mother falls ill and suddenly it's up to Mai and her father to take care of everything, and we start to learn that oh yeah, it's actually very important for everyone to learn home ec, . Simple premise but it's well-executed, particularly because it allows Mai an opportunity to grow while also not letting the boys get away with putting it all on the girls - verily, I am certifying this as a good shoujo show. I don't know about great yet, but definitely good.

It's totally not at all startling to be woken up like this.

9 hours ago, majestic said:

I still get the feeling that having watched this much earlier makes me less negatively disposed towards the storyline episodes, even though it's very plain to see how much of a break they represent compared to the other episodes. There's also something else to consider. For instance, the pacing issues of the Sailor Stars finale aren't as bothersome when you're on a TV station controlled watch schedule and they just air one episode a day. You watch that for 20 minutes, are glad that there's Sailor Moon on TV and that's about it. Having control over when you want to continue, you suddenly run into the issue that the finale of Stars is mired in issues that kind of make you want to not click on "next episode" - something that never even could up during the regular TV watching.

Yeah, watching episodes weekly is such a different experience from being able to watch episodes at the exact pace you like. Some shows can actually benefit from the weekly pace (particularly shows that have repetitive elements or weak/error-filled plotting that you'd quickly start to notice when watching episodes back to back), while some shows can really hurt because of it (Steven Universe comes to mind as one where it really hurt for those who watched it live...).

9 hours ago, majestic said:

appreciation for Hotaru

Edited March 10, 2022 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Hey, what can I say, at the time I really liked broken goth people. Teens gonna teen, ey?

Heh.

[Gorth]

Thanks to YouTube and it’s obscure algorithms I ended up watching a few minutes of something called Gleipnir… looked weird enough that I dug up the first episode and watched. Truly bizarre and fun. I might watch more of it 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

2 hours ago, majestic said:

Hey, what can I say, at the time I really liked broken goth people. Teens gonna teen, ey?

Heh.

 

[Amentep]

1 hour ago, Gorth said:

Thanks to YouTube and it’s obscure algorithms I ended up watching a few minutes of something called Gleipnir… looked weird enough that I dug up the first episode and watched. Truly bizarre and fun. I might watch more of it 

I'm currently reading the manga. It's pretty nutty. I think so far only one season of the anime was completed and a second series hasn't been announced.

[majestic]

Futari wa Pretty Cure, episode 22. I recently didn't have the time or, ah... inclination to watch that series, and now here we are. The episode was, uhm, yeah.

Spoiler

Honoka has a dog (technically he's her grandmother's dog), and he finds a lost puppy. Honoka and Nagisa try to find the owner, as do the two dogs. For some reason the two dogs speak Japanese with each other. It's a bit baffling, Honoka's dog (Chuutaro) even complains about the young dog addressing him too casually, causing the smaller dog to use honorifics.

Chuutaro is running around alone in the city, and neither Honoka nor Nagisa are bothered by that. They think he'll be fine. Is it? The episode of course also found a way to get an attack on the girls going, can't have one without that. The silly magical girl pets talk a bit too much and the bad guy leaves after having found out where they hide the stones they colllected so far.  I was almost going to say Honoka took the potential death (off screen deaths never count unless explicitly confirmed...) of her almost-boyfriend pretty well, but then the episode ends with her crying her heart out.

Bad guy just leaving without finishing the two girls off seems like a mistake he shouldn't have made. That wasn't the best moment. Ah, well, can't all be great episodes.

Eh. I dunno why, but even in a magical girl series with talking weirdo magical animal companions, two regular dogs talking to each other like it's nobody's business is weird. Overall it was okay.

 

[Bartimaeus]

Emi, episode 8...the beach episode. Of course, no anime can be complete without a beach episode, can it? Well, sort of: it was really just an excuse for Mai and her family to visit a different city so that she could become friends with a local group of boys...without those boys having to join the cast, presumably. It was a nice episode, especially because it culminated in those boys wanting Mai, and not her alter-ego Emi, to do magic - the first time something like that's ever happened.

8 hours ago, majestic said:

Bad guy just leaving without finishing the two girls off seems like a mistake he shouldn't have made.

Didn't that already happen with the first guy? If they're mindlessly ripping off Sailor Moon wherein Jadeite refused to stand and actually fight when Usagi started off so weak and pathetic, I think it worked in Sailor Moon better because Jadeite never seemed too interested in direct combat - he preferred to use magic to make other stuff fight for him, so once whatever/whoever he was using was defeated, he usually retreated. It's a pretty different kind of situation when you have villains actually winning and then just...stopping for no reason.

Edited March 12, 2022 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

4 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Didn't that already happen with the first guy? If they're mindlessly ripping off Sailor Moon wherein Jadeite refused to stand and actually fight when Usagi started off so weak and pathetic, I think it worked in Sailor Moon better because Jadeite never seemed too interested in direct combat - he preferred to use magic to make other stuff fight for him, so once whatever/whoever he was using was defeated, he usually retreated. It's a pretty different kind of situation when you have villains actually winning and then just...stopping for no reason.

Oh, no, that was a bit different. So far, while I didn't like some of the villains and found their reasoning stupid, they were at least consistent with their characterization. Shounenpads already defeated the girls and could have just killed them, but the endless mockery of his compatriots about being weaker than a pair of 14 year old girls made him give them back their transformation devices in order to defeat them in fair, "honorable" combat to prove that he is indeed the stronger fighter. He lost and died. Predictably, because he didn't have a chance in any of the fights before. It was still perfectly in character for him.

Dumb-as-rocks was just dumb and had little to show other than brute force. The lady villain was smart about everything and came really close to defeating or even killing the girls, and would have, if the other boy on the villain squad didn't interfere. She was eventually pushed into a direct confrontation and, well, lost. Kiriya, meanwhile, just liked Honoka more than he should have, and with Honoka refusing to fight him at all, he just gave up and left. 

The last, pretty creepy guy on the squad is the only one so far who held his own in a fight with the two. So far they've always just been stronger than the villains or could rise to the occasion, unless being tricked or separated. I mean, that's one of the more consistently nice things about this show, the way the villains aren't complete morons and realize the position they are in. Creepy mage guy was already beaten in an episode prior, but only just barely, and he surprised them in this one.

Leaving after having gathered the knowledge where the stones are isn't as senseless as I made it out to be, perhaps, but it's inconsistent, he should have at least tried to push his advantage while he had it, but the episode runtime was out... granted he'd just have lost becaues how else would this go, but still, yeah. 

[InsaneCommander]

On 3/10/2022 at 9:24 PM, Gorth said:

Thanks to YouTube and it’s obscure algorithms I ended up watching a few minutes of something called Gleipnir… looked weird enough that I dug up the first episode and watched. Truly bizarre and fun. I might watch more of it 

I googled it and this image appeared.

Ok...