Anime - the emotional rolercoaster.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

5 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

Now I need to know. You guys are almost convincing me to watch it.

It's part of our plan to harvest your energy. 

[Malcador]

10 minutes ago, KaineParker said:

It's part of our plan to harvest your energy. 

Or make them celibate.

[Amentep]

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

1 minute ago, Malcador said:

Or make them celibate.

That's unnecessary on a RPG forum.

[InsaneCommander]

4 minutes ago, KaineParker said:

That's unnecessary on a RPG forum.

Maybe the vaccines are just a distraction and this is the real plan to sterilize people?

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

26 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

Maybe the vaccines are just a distraction and this is the real plan to sterilize people?

Well it certainly sounds easier than microchips in vaccines.

[majestic]

2 hours ago, InsaneCommander said:

Now I need to know. You guys are almost convincing me to watch it.

[Bartimaeus]

More Sailor Moon mania: I watched the first episode of S. Pretty great opening. Halfway through the episode, I was thinking, "Man, Rei is so great*...they really should have had more Rei-focused episodes...of course, now that I think about it, whenever I see a Minako-focused episode, I say they should have more of those too...and when they have Makoto-focused episodes, I want more of those too...and when they have an Ami-focused episode, I say well we should probably get back to Usagi or Chibi-Usa [note: mostly kidding]. Rei is really great, though."

Spoiler

And then...they killed her. Whoops. ...At least she got better. With the lead-up and aftermath, I legitimately thought for a minute she might actually stay dead for a bit. It's just as well she didn't, though, since that woulda sucked and this ain't a serious drama. Also, cartoons with great characters that are either killed off or...are just ignored because their appearance would be inconvenient for extended periods of time usually make me mad. When you've got a great main cast, please use them appropriately - see Adventure Time for a nearly endless amount of examples of failing to do this by frequently having members, sometimes multiple at a time, of their main cast (6 characters) disappear for months while you instead get really dumb episodes about side-characters nobody cares about).

On a side-note, what the hell happened to Umino and Naru? They got completely hosed in R and barely ever appeared. Both of those characters are great too, so it's kind of sad to see them basically never appear. The teacher which was so present throughout like the first half of season 1 has been MIA for forever as well, not to mention Usagi's family who only ever appeared in R by function of Chibi-Usa basically. I get that the show's a little more serious now, but Usagi still lives at home and goes to school and stuff. Actually, I'd be pretty okay - more than, actually - with having an episode here and there that's literally just fun character nonsense with no threat of any kind, but alas, that's not how the show works...

(*Also, this episode really helped support my theory that Rei and Usagi are actually best friends even though they also fight the most. It was kind of hilarious and cute to see that they had fallen asleep with their heads next to each other on the table while everyone else was still doing homework.)

 

Edited January 30, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[Bartimaeus]

The cousins have finally arrived.

Spoiler

original terrible english dub here within:

 

(e): Season 3 is amazing so far. This is like full mid-season 1 levels of ridiculousness, I'm having to frequently pause because I'm laughing too hard. What the hell was that introduction for Haruka? She is so clearly a woman, but gets the full "this is by far the hottest guy we've ever seen in either of our lives" treatment from both Usagi and Minako (what a great pair to be the ones to do it, they're both so lovably dumb - the show is usually as its absolute best for me when it's those two). What an absolute farce, .

Edited January 30, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

(e): Season 3 is amazing so far.

If Sailor Moon S has a weakness it's that there's not enough screen time for everyone. I'm not sure why it got "only" 38 episodes, it could have done with a couple more.

Spoiler

 

You noticed that happening in R already with Usagi's family and her friends. In S, there's not really any time for Naru and Umino. Adding Sailors Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Saturn to the cast caused side characters to disappear almost entirely, not to mention that after two thirds of the season the focus kind of shifts towards the conflict around Saturn, which from a narrative standpoint makes sense but is still a little disappointing.  

Even Mamoru is barely in it, and by the end some of the Death Busters are given only a single episode.

 

That's why SuperS has a reduced cast size. I'll say this for SuperS, they made sure the girls have more time to be girls in the fourth season.

I'd also like to use this post to give some appreciation to the Death Busters. The Professor is just awesome. Eh, and completely insane.

edit:

The scene from the original English dub about the "Cousins" (boy is that bad, so glad our dub was way better) where Makoto rides with Haruka and Michiru is from episode seven of S. It's probably the best Makoto-focused episode in the entire run of the show.

It usually doesn't show up in any of the "best episodes" guides because it's mostly filler*, i.e. there's no dramatic foward momentum or even any impetus for the main story line that seems to define what great episodes are for people who vote on such things (e.g. looking at IMDB's user ratings), but I think it should be way up there. It has everything and more that you could hope for in an episode of Sailor Moon (and Makoto is great, as always...).

*

Spoiler

All it does is confirm that Makoto has a regular pure heart crystal, to the absolute surprise of no one.

 

Edited January 30, 2021 by majestic

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

It's weird being far behind yall. Day drinking and lockdown will fix that.

I finished the one where they were at a beach resort and ended up fighting a "ghost" that came from a girl being overworked by her obsessive dad that just happened to work at a monster themed hotel where the employees never broke character. Honestly I'm having a blast, this is the closest I've gotten to going into Jojo blind where I have no idea what's going on and every new episode is a complete surprise. Except instead of muscle dudes and blatant homoeroticscm it's teenage girls. Lmao.

[Sarex]

Is Sailor Moon really that good? I'm going to give it a try or at least read a couple of chapters of the manga.

[Malcador]

Where are you all watching it ?

[majestic]

  

1 hour ago, Sarex said:

Is Sailor Moon really that good? I'm going to give it a try or at least read a couple of chapters of the manga.

In my opinion: Yes, it is.

The first season takes a couple of episodes to find its footing, but after that it is, if nothing else, great entertainment. You could watch the first episode, then 8 and 10 to gather the early team (the rest shows up way later) then skip to 13 and continue normally. This skips most of any early awkwardness, takes the first and arguably most boring of the antagonists out of the picture and begins the arc were the show really starts to shine in its very unique way.

But the episodes are short enough, more so if you actively skip stock footage, and given the show's shoestring budget and time constraints so skipping 10 out of the first 13 episodes isn't much of a timesaver. You just see a lot less of Usagi crying.

The first anime (Sailor Moon Crystal is the new one, and more closely based on the manga) and the manga are supposedly somewhat different. Legend has it that some of the showrunners and Naoko Takeuchi hated each other's guts (she particularily hated them turning Rei into somewhat of a mild tsundere). I have never read the manga, so I don't know, but I do plan on watching Sailor Moon Crystal, even though I really don't like the way it looks.

Sailor Moon S (third season) is, I think, the show's absolute high point. It's not just the high point of Sailor Moon, but up there with 90ies anime in general - just don't expect any Evangelion level commentary on human existence.

All that is, of course, with two "minor" caveats: First, it's silly. By far and large, it is mostly silly. There's drama, action, some social commentary, it is occasionally heartbreaking (to be honest, the first time I saw that season one finale I cried. Sure didn't tell that to my friends at school, but eh, yeah), but at the end of the day it is... silly. Assuming you can appreciate the abject silliness of the show you'll get a lot of laughts out of it.

Second, and that also needs to be said, it also is a magical girl sentai shojo anime. One of the first of its kind, I think. To quote Mike Stoklasa here: It broke new GRROOOOOOOOOOOOUND! I mean it unironically though, and there's a reason why it became popular beyond all the wildest dreams of its creators. Even though it was made for young girls, the only people I know that watched Sailor Moon were guys, and we were mostly in our mid to late teens at the time. Huh.

Oh, and has a really minimalistic artstyle that I think is super gorgeous, but it was noticably different from other anime at the time.

edit: Wow, forum software just ate my precious edit.

@Bartimaeus I agree with your theory.
 

Spoiler

 

Rei and Usagi are the closest of friends in the (first) anime. It shows most in their reactions when the other is attacked. For all their bickering, they genuinely care. In the manga, from what the Wiki told me, it's different, there Rei is a lot different as a character (in a way that would make not like her, I guess) and it's Minako and Usagi that are the best friends.

I think it's a good change. Minako and Usagi are a riot together, but it makes for better storytelling and drama to have close friends that are a bit less..., say, similar than Minako and Usagi are.

 

 

Edited January 31, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

27 minutes ago, Sarex said:

Is Sailor Moon really that good? I'm going to give it a try or at least read a couple of chapters of the manga.

I think it's my third favorite show all-time, and it's honestly not that far behind the next two (and I say this as someone who, while I do love cartoons, has never been able to even kind of get into an anime show). It can be a little odd at times and it's definitely always stupid, but it's also hilarious, cute, pretty wholesome, and just overall a very fun watch.

@KaineParker I think right around there is pretty close to when I consciously realized "oh no...I think I actually genuinely love this show!". What started as a sort of ironic meme watch had turned completely unironic. That particular episode is even more filler-ish than usual...but it doesn't stop it from being so good.

@majestic I legitimately thought at first the Professor was like a...from-the-future Umino at first (which I'm pretty sure he's not at this point...pretty sure). He has that same kind of wacky nerd vibes. If you have a list of "best episodes" that you think is particularly good, feel free to post - I'd be greatly curious to see how it lines up with what I think are the best episodes.

Also, what're you talking about? Re-writing them into being cousins was a brilliant masterstroke. How else are you going to get the coveted Alabama market in the U.S.?

[majestic]

33 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

@majestic I legitimately thought at first the Professor was like a...from-the-future Umino at first (which I'm pretty sure he's not at this point...pretty sure). He has that same kind of wacky nerd vibes. If you have a list of "best episodes" that you think is particularly good, feel free to post - I'd be greatly curious to see how it lines up with what I think are the best episodes.

Also, what're you talking about? Re-writing them into being cousins was a brilliant masterstroke. How else are you going to get the coveted Alabama market in the U.S.?

Hahahaha. That gave me almost as good a laugh as the epsiode of SuperS I just watched, even if that season still irks me for its unevenness. I'll put an example in the spoilers, it's probably not going to mean much to KP or Sarex at this point, but fair is fair.

And no, I have no such list so far. Maybe I'll make one when I'm done with the rewatch. Even then it's probably better to do a top 5 by season, rather than an overall. But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, and I'm not going to expect my list to be similar with anyone else's. I've noticed a long time ago that no matter what (music, tv, cinema, etc) my lists are different. Heh. To give you an example, I think Men in Tights is Mel Brooks' best film. Or, uhm, at least his funniest, I mean, we could split between serious film and parody piece here, but anyway, it serves well enough as an illustration.
 

Spoiler

 

Early in SuperS' run, Usagi has two episodes where her relationship with Mamoru is examined (nope, this is SuperS) made fun of. In the one, she is completely fine with Mamoru spending time with his classmate from college who is, by far and large, more mature, prettier (well that's debatable, but everyone in-universe thinks so) and a much better fit for him. Heck, even everyone else at college calls them the dream couple. Chibi-Usa is freaked out by this because she's actually concerned that she might not be born if Usagi doesn't get her **** together, but Usagi keeps doing silly nonsense for the rest of the episode, like agonizing for a long time whether she wants a silly looking plush hippo or an equally silly looking plush horse.

At some point she tells Chibi-Usa in a serious manner that she isn't concerned because she trust Mamoru. Chibi-Usa thinks she's dumb, but after everything they have been through, I mean, the hell Chibi-Usa, the fact that you're still around proves you're wrong.

Three or so episodes later Rei ends up accidentially trashing Mamoru's appartment and he spends some time at the temple with her and her family. Usagi goes nuts over this and spends the entire episode in a jealous rage. I mean, yeah, Rei and Mamoru technically had a thing going for a few episodes, but that was more one-sided than not and was completely glossed over up until this point. It gets really funny when OF COURSE Rei walks in on him taking a bath and Usagi finds out.

Chibi-Usa tells Stalkersus through her Palantír that she doesn't understand why Usagi is jealous. She should just trust Mamoru.

Yeah, you're right girl. She should. Actually she does, the writers just wanted to have some fun with Rei and Usagi fighting. They succeeded, it is funny, but it still feels out of character, and it is simply WRONG a couple of episodes after Usagi so clearly understood that nothing will keep them apart (if R couldn't, then what can?).

Oh and Chibi-Usa, you should also not use a Palantír to talk to a creepy pedo-horse with wings and an extra horn when you're all alone. I'm beginning to wonder if this is some sort of chatroom grooming allegory gone horribly wrong because that framing in the show sure as hell isn't negative. Not like with all the other assault stuff going on. I mean, at one point a girl simply rejects Tiger's Eye and he flat out states: Well in that case I'll just assault her.

Lastly... how do you make an already creepy rape allegory even worse? Yes, in addition to all the screaming and squeaking you could maybe add a couple of screams of NO, PLEASE DON'T, PLEASE STOP in between. Holy crap.

 

 

Edited January 31, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

@majestic Sailor Moon Crystal is so gosh danged ugly. How do you willingly go from such a good minimalistic art style that was specifically designed to be cheap to...that? ...Once I finish the original show, I'll probably try it out just to see if I can hack it, especially since it's the same great new English cast doing the dub for it, but my goodness.

It would definitely make more sense to just pick some favorites from each season than try to go through everything. That spoiler sounds quite silly on all fronts, . ...I'm not looking forward to that unicorn as well as the Tiger's Eye guy, man that stuff sounds weird.

[majestic]

25 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

...I'm not looking forward to that unicorn as well as the Tiger's Eye guy, man that stuff sounds weird.

Spoiler

 

There's three of them. Hawk's-Eye, Tiger's-Eye and Fish-Eye. Hawk's-Eye likes older women because they "smell" better, Tiger's-Eye likes young women because they have soft skin and Fish-Eye is a crossdresser and likes men. They usuall sit in a bar and drink, looking at pictures to find their victims.

Out of those, Fish-Eye is the least problematic. I mean they all end up assaulting their victims because you can't get to their dreams any other way, but Fish-Eye is the least rapey and "just" reinforces crossdresser and "trap" stereotypes.

It's not just their actions but their interactions as well. At least they're the season's first enemies. The others are less creepy but the dream mirror thing remains.

 

 

35 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

That spoiler sounds quite silly on all fronts,

It is, actually, and I'd enjoy it a lot more of it wouldn't rub me as out of character more than it makes me laugh.

[majestic]

2 hours ago, Malcador said:

Where are you all watching it ?

DVDs, it's not really running anywhere (SIXX cancelled it after the first season) and it isn't available for streaming. Thought about getting the blu-rays regardless, but they gone and messed up Sailor Moon R. Audio quality is terrible and the final episodes is missing, instead it has episode 87 twice. Yay... I hope they fix the problems. Eh.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

3 hours ago, Sarex said:

Is Sailor Moon really that good? I'm going to give it a try or at least read a couple of chapters of the manga.

It's really silly and fun, which made it a welcome break from stuff like Star Trek Discovery. It's got a lot of flaws, notably stock footage for every attack and transformation, but if you don't take it seriously it's enjoyable enough.

2 hours ago, Malcador said:

Where are you all watching it ?

Hulu.

[Sarex]

10 hours ago, Malcador said:

Where are you all watching it ?

Yo ho ho...

[InsaneCommander]

I must have watched pieces of Sailor Moon episodes many times, but back them I was more interested in other animes like Dragonball and Gundam Wing. The only episode I remember especifically is one with the girls thinking Sailor Uranus is a boy.

With all this talk I decided to check where the episodes are available. Although I wouldn't mind either way, I found episodes both dubbed and with subtiltes in Brazilian Portuguese. They are available for free in some Brazilian websites. Not that I clicked on many of them to know for sure, but the episodes I saw were working just fine.

Based on what I remember, the Brazilian dubbing is pretty good so I'll watch that version.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

17 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

@majestic Sailor Moon Crystal is so gosh danged ugly. How do you willingly go from such a good minimalistic art style that was specifically designed to be cheap to...that? ...Once I finish the original show, I'll probably try it out just to see if I can hack it, especially since it's the same great new English cast doing the dub for it, but my goodness.

Out of curiosity I checked it out. It's....not pretty. Kinda reminds me of the recent Berserk anime, but not nearly as bad though.

Edited January 31, 2021 by KaineParker

[majestic]

This thread makes me feel nostalgic in the way as watching Stranger Things does. Stranger Things evokes early childhood memories, while Sailor Moon brings up memories of what was so far both the best and worst part of my life.

With some exceptions. I'm pretty sure my wife would take exception to not counting her amongst the best parts of my life (and she'd be entirely justified). Heh.

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

27 minutes ago, majestic said:

This thread makes me feel nostalgic in the way as watching Stranger Things does. Stranger Things evokes early childhood memories, while Sailor Moon brings up memories of what was so far both the best and worst part of my life.

With some exceptions. I'm pretty sure my wife would take exception to not counting her amongst the best parts of my life (and she'd be entirely justified). Heh.

 

At least you're not counting her amongst the worst parts of your life.