r/sailormooncrystal

Sailor Moon/Usagi's hair length isn't super consistant it ranges from knee length to floor length depending on who is drawing her and what season it is.... in live action adaptations like musicals and PGSM her hair is a bit shorter but it's always much longer than what most regular girls would have in real life so I wonder if this was just a design choice to make her "eye catching" and memorable or if it's symbolizing something... I remember hearing that it had to do with japanese folklore and moon goddess having extra long hair so I am curious if someone has more info on this.

Pretty self-explanatory. What do you think is the best part about Sailor Moon Crystal to you fans out there? I would prefer you talk about something about the show that stands strong on its own merits as opposed to comparisons to the anime or the original manga because I think a good adaptation or show in general should hold up on its own strengths.

5. Crystal Season II: Potentially a hot take placement, but then I'm sure that could be said of any of the arcs. Part of why I place this so low, even when taking the blu-ray versions with improved animation into account (and IIRC fixing the most glaring mistake from the original versions) is that imo the arc is undercooked in the manga and thereby in the anime. This is a bi-product of the behind the scenes history with Sailor Moon. Takeuchi originally intended the Dark Kingdom arc to in fact be the entire story, but the series (manga and anime) was such a surprise hit she was persuaded to continue. I'd argue this is why Crystal Season II/the Black Moon arc is such an 'obvious' sequel to the prior arc. The latter was about Usagi and Mamoru's pasts, the former is about their future. This is neatly symbolised by Usagi's daughter supplanting her mother, Queen Serenity, in the new version of the OP. That concept is fine, its strong even, but I'd argue it only happened because Takeuchi had to scramble unexpectedly to cook up a story she hadn't planned on telling. This is also why, imo, the emotional subplot of Usagi being jealous of Chibi-Usa, the main point of criticism of the arc in my experiece, comes off as so weird. It isn't that it doesn't make sense, but I feel you as an audience member need to think too hard to understand it. On a personal, possibly petty note, I also just really dislike the Japanese VA for Wiseman. Yes, maybe this is my being biased by the 1992 anime, but Wiseman is in my top 3 (sometimes my number 1) favourite Sailor Moon villains and even from his design and appearance in the manga alone, the Japanese VA for him takes an interpretation I do not think fits, making him seem more mad and maniacal as opposed to a cold, machevellian manipulative force of death. Because VIZ (understandably) insisted upon keeping the cast from their re-dub of the 1992 anime the same with Crystal I'd argue my boy Wiseman is better in the dub than in the original Japanese, because the English VA for him was cast predominantly to try and emulate his bad ass 1992 anime Japanese VA.

6. Crystal Season I: Most folks who bash Crystal don't make it through this season in the first place. Imo, the Dark Kingdom arc in manga and anime form has a strong story structure. Imo, critcisms of pacing kind of arise from comparison to the 1990s anime and, whilst I think it would have improved things, I don't think that is the same as the pacing itself is bad. At worst, maybe the beats of the romance subplot play out too quickly (first kiss episode 4), but I'd argue this is justified when you consider the big reveal of these two being in love in their past lives. They in essence don't need to go through all the motions of a conventional romance story where we build up a lot to big events because we aren't depicting them falling in love per se, but rather remembering that they already are. I actually think Crystal somewhat helps with this with its opening scene which is NOT in the manga. I'd love to know what a newbie viewer thought about that sequence and how it impacts the reveal of the reincarnation angle. In the manga that's a big twist, but the anime sets it up more so perhaps those romantic beats coming relatively quickly make more sense. I will say I feel people forget how BIG the early episodes of Crystal were. the HYPE was very real and the opening sequence, maybe all of episode 1, works just as well for oldhead fans reacquainting themselves with Sailor Moon as those complely new to things. Of course, there is the controversy of changing plot details. I will admit I haven't settled my views on this one way or the other. I'd be lying if I said I didn't WANT a fully manga accurate rendition without the changes, but I can't decide if the changes themselves necesarilly hurt or help the story being told. Oh also, Cristina Vee shines in Crystal season 1 imo. I liked her performance as Rei in the 1992 re-dub but I actually think she fits Crystal/Manga Rei even better.

7. Cosmos Parts I-II: A weird case where it could have been improved as a full season but at the same time that also might have hurt it without filler. The Stars arc is structured in a unique way wherein its one long chain of loss until the climax. To this end Part 2 I think works very well as a movie but part 1 kind of would have worked better as episodes. That being said, the 'filler' we got from Takeuchi was juicy and insightful, stuff we've been waiting over 25 years for more information on, and where they chose to partition the arc was perfect. Perhaps the action could have been improved though. On the dubbing side, I LOVE that they opted to not replicate Japan and kept Stephenie Sheh as the voice of Sailor Cosmos. I like her Japanese VA unto herself, don't get me wrong, but for me the coolest thing about Sailor Cosmos is that she is Usagi, therefore having Usagi's VA voice her brings things closer to home.

2)Eternal Parts I-II: In the conversation for one of the best arcs of the manga, this had strong material to work with going in an the budget to realise it. What holds this back imo is that it should have been a full season not 2 films. That being said, considering it was 2 films it was remarkable how much of the manga they adapted, albeit they cut some good bits and left in other bits that could have dropped, like exposition dialogue that would have worked in a monthly manga or weekly anime but was pointless for a film. In terms of dubbing, Helios for re-cast but lets not get into that drama, his new VA is fine and dandy but the standout for me is Laura Prost as Nehelenia. Imo, best villain performance in English Sailor Moon.

1. Crystal Season III: Imo this struck a near perfect balance of most elements. In Japanese and English the cast were on point. It had strong material to work with, it took a lot of critcisms from seasons 1-2 into account and tried to learn from them, it included nostalgia for the 1992 season but not at the expense of the story it was telling and in being a full season it could pace the story out properly. I also loved hearing Stephanie Sheh and Robbie Daymond do the more romantic bits of this arc as the 1992 anime leaned away from romance a lot of the time.