I'm confused, Kuma. I thought you watched some of the 90's anime after reading the manga? Both have their major differences, but I enjoy both equally (probably because I got into both around the same time). I still wish Crystal could have taken the strengths of both to create some ultimate definitive version, but eh, clearly something went down at Toei in the past 2 years since the announcement.

Yes, the Sailor Guardians start out 14/8th grade (13/7th grade with Minako in Codename Sailor V manga) and the series ends with them at 16/10th grade in high school.

I can't find the old "14 years old = Usagi, 18 years old = Konata" image macro (it's a great example!), but SM's looks is partly because the character designs are shoujo. The "panty shots" are just the bottom half of their leotards, and the body lines (which DIC/Cloverway censored--Usagi never had any to censor) honestly isn't any worse than a Barbie doll.

Keep in mind, back in '92, THIS was the target audience (the manga was pre-teens to teens) for Sailor Moon, although the fanbase gradually became THIS within the year, Christmas '93. Nobody expected it to become a hit with adult male fans (all the doujinshi, garage kits, etc, etc,) since Naoko's idea was a combination of a Sentai team mashed with Mahou Shoujo.

Fun fact: A lot of the Sailor Moon seiyuu starred in this gritty show about a year before SM happened! Surprised the cast info isn't filled out...

Mr. Tines wrote:I guess you're going to have to avoid most anime, as the over-18 age cohort is regarded as positively geriatric by default. Especially avoid mahou shoujo, even ones actually aimed at little girls like Princess Tutu.

To be entirely honest, Tines, I tend to avoid watching most anime series unless there's a good chance that I'll actually like it. Feel free to count me among the "geriatrics"!

I'm confused, Kuma. I thought you watched some of the 90's anime after reading the manga?

Only the first couple of episodes, and those were clunky (the one where Umino gets corrupted and peeks under his teacher's skirt was revolting), and I'd resorted to watching scenes from out of order - like Uranus, Neptune and Pluto turning up, for instance. It wasn't until I simply jumped past the episodes that were annoying me to Mars' intro that I found it a whole lot better. I did read the Sailor Moon manga, and I can see where Crystal is coming from the personality front. I've got to say that the anime personalities are a lot funnier.

The anorexic designs from Crystal put me off at first but I got used to them pretty quickly, and it's actually nice to see the girls looking their age rather than drawn in the spindly Shoujo style that Naoko uses - although I'm not against the Shoujo style in general, there are Shoujo series that have quite a lot going for them style-wise (The classic Rose of Versailles. being one of them).

The background info looks to be very interesting. The Sailor Moon manga always seemed far too dark to really fit with its target audience, and Chibi-Usa didn't actually help. Well, I guess these things don't always turn out like they're supposed to...

UrsusArctos wrote:Feel free to count me among the "geriatrics"!

I was referring to the characters, not the viewers.

There are some anime where the main cast are old enough to have left school, but not very many; and even in some of those, ageist jokes are made at the characters' expense (Dirty Pair OVAs, passim).

Mr. Tines wrote:There are some anime where the main cast are old enough to have left school, but not very many; and even in some of those, ageist jokes are made at the characters' expense (Dirty Pair OVAs, passim).

Which is a rather foolish form of discrimination to include given the number of adult viewers of anime, unless it's meant as a deliberate dig at their tastes.

Looking back at my viewing list, my tastes tend to hover around anime that don't feature ordinary high school students or characters of that age.

UrsusArctos wrote:Well, I guess these things don't always turn out like they're supposed to...

Indeed! The Codename: Sailor V manga was created first, but then talks for a Sailor V anime series led Naoko to create Sailor Moon...Too bad the V anime OVA never went through! Codename Sailor V is mostly lighthearted, but gets somewhat serious in its final chapter.

There are certainly personalty differences between the Sailor Moon 90's anime and Naoko's manga cast (they might be more likeable more one way than another, depending on your preference, though their core personality is the same*) That reminds me, hope you did read the Side Stories along with the Sailor V manga? They're either good fun or give background on certain characters, depending on what you're reading.

*Personally, I prefer the manga versions of Chibiusa and Rei to their anime counterparts.

Sailor Star Dust wrote:*Personally, I prefer the manga versions of Chibiusa and Rei to their anime counterparts.

Haven't watched any of the Chibiusa episodes (not too fond of the character, personally), but the hotheaded anime Rei is hilarious in a way that her more serious manga counterpart isn't, and I love the way Rei and Usagi bicker with one another!

UrsusArctos wrote:and I love the way Rei and Usagi bicker with one another!

I probably mentioned way back in my reaction posts to Crystal episodes how much I loved those moments. The sparks flying as they stick their tongues out at each other is an enduring image from the original series. There were definitely times that it felt almost sad, though, and I remember it sometimes feeling like the animosity between them was actually getting serious and it made me uneasy. But I could just as easily have been merely projecting my own teenaged insecurities of the time.

Monk Ed wrote:There were definitely times that it felt almost sad, though, and I remember it sometimes feeling like the animosity between them was actually getting serious and it made me uneasy.

Real friends break up and then make up even stronger than before. The very fact that they remain friends in spite of the animosity between them is a good thing. It's not like now where the present stereotype appears to be something like "You have to like A,B,C,D and E like me and never have any serious disagreement about any of these with me because like ZOMG they are so awesome squeee!!!111 and Team Edward wins over Team Jacob otherwise you suckxx xoxo" We've become far too obsessed with being like one another and not being able to handle disagreements and that's something that I personally regret. Heck, if Evangelion is any sign of things, you can't have any friendship without conflict of some kind.

And that brings me back to the old SM anime - they really seemed to know how to hit it off with one another. Maybe it's the effect of Crystal corrupting my memory of the Manga with "dark energy" but the fact that the senshi in the more "serious" adaptations seem to get along a little too well detracts from them as characters.

Crystal's definitely making you misremembering things--be sure to give the manga a re-read when you can. At Barnes and Noble or some local libraries. Scans are online but the official deal is best.

So anyone here besides me seen SuperS? I got a lot to say about that series myself.

I've seen all the crucial episodes + SuperS Special; I just haven't seen all the episodes fansubbed or via Pioneer DVD because I didn't have a lot of time at that point (the way I watched the Japanese series back in the day was kind of out of order due to what fansubs/legit stuff I could find).

I do enjoy SuperS for the comedy, though somehow the Cloverway dub managed to make the uncomfortable rape allegories even more uncomfortable. (I didn't get to see much of S and SS dub when it was on Toonami, we didn't have cable at home then.)

Still, SuperS did irk me how some characters (like Usagi) seem to take a step backwards; it just reverts to the bickering between her and Chibiusa from R or parts of S.

Thankfully VIZ uploading all the subbed episodes onto Hulu/Neon Alley means I can actually watch any of the episodes I missed!

Kuma: Oh yeah, when you do reread the manga, the order I'd recommend is Codename Sailor V (2 volumes), Sailor Moon (12 volumes), then Sailor Moon Short Stories (2 volumes).

By the way, you know the fun fact of Anno having animated Haruka and Michiru's transformation scenes, right?

These early episodes before the rest of the team appears sporadically are a bit of a chore to get through quickly since I find it hard to believe that Usagi is a force to be reckoned with at this period on her own. All that happens is the demons keep forcing her to retreat and Jadeite can't be affected by her Moon Tiara. The side characters like Naru, Umino, and Miss Haruna are the ones that keep me coming back for more with them being taken advantage of in funny ways by the gatherers of human energy.

Sailor Star Dust wrote:I'm confused, Kuma. I thought you watched some of the 90's anime after reading the manga? Both have their major differences, but I enjoy both equally (probably because I got into both around the same time). I still wish Crystal could have taken the strengths of both to create some ultimate definitive version, but eh, clearly something went down at Toei in the past 2 years since the announcement.

Yes, the Sailor Guardians start out 14/8th grade (13/7th grade with Minako in Codename Sailor V manga) and the series ends with them at 16/10th grade in high school.

I can't find the old "14 years old = Usagi, 18 years old = Konata" image macro (it's a great example!), but SM's looks is partly because the character designs are shoujo. The "panty shots" are just the bottom half of their leotards, and the body lines (which DIC/Cloverway censored--Usagi never had any to censor) honestly isn't any worse than a Barbie doll.

Keep in mind, back in '92, THIS was the target audience (the manga was pre-teens to teens) for Sailor Moon, although the fanbase gradually became THIS within the year, Christmas '93. Nobody expected it to become a hit with adult male fans (all the doujinshi, garage kits, etc, etc,) since Naoko's idea was a combination of a Sentai team mashed with Mahou Shoujo.

Fun fact: A lot of the Sailor Moon seiyuu starred in this gritty show about a year before SM happened! Surprised the cast info isn't filled out...

Oh god, I just remembered how painful Usagi's singing voice is.

rewatched some of sailor moon again cause im bored, felt like reposting this old gif again:

I planning on watching this show at some point. Especially now since the original Japanese version is up on Hulu for free.

Wed Apr 01, 2015 12:09 am post:

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New post!! HD Sailor Moon was on Japanese TV last night Based on what others have said, there's some loss of detail, but it's a lot better than VIZ's release:

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That looks pretty good! Now if only the series was getting released in this country at all...Ah well, I guess I'll have to hang onto my poor-quality, hard-drive-space-eating torrent a while longer...

April 6th post:

I'm hoping VIZ'll eventually do a re-release of Toei's HD release, but assuming Toei'll do a Season 1 (etc?) BD box + reverse importation fears, I'd figure VIZ wouldn't be able to release Toei's stuff until late 2016/early 2017 the earliest?

Hope to be proven wrong, of course

New post:

New SeraMyu (Sailor Moon Musical) dates, etc out! If subtitle glasses for musicals really will be a thing in Japan, that should be amazing for anybody attending.

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Time for Infinity arc, space lesbians, and the apocalypse, wooo! Though, the "5 Sailor Senshi graduating" poster line makes me wonder if it's poetic for the story or if they'll be cast changes afterwards... :(

Mr. Tines wrote:I guess you're going to have to avoid most anime, as the over-18 age cohort is regarded as positively geriatric by default. Especially avoid mahou shoujo, even ones actually aimed at little girls like Princess Tutu.

The over-18 age cohort? Don't you mean the whole seinen demographic?
EDIT: Oh, I see. You're talking about the characters.

♪ This warm feeling is cest la vie ♪

Sailor V SH Figuarts is getting an October release in Japan! I guess the U.S. release will be 2 months after, as usual for the figure line. Hopefully, the release order will be [Tuxedo Mask and Chibi Moon, THEN] Super Sailor Moon, Sailor V, Pluto, then Zoisite/fake Sailor Moon and whoever else. Everybody's gotta have Plu to complete the team!

Also, the new SeraMyu is confirmed for Infinity arc....



As long as the Myus continue (and in takarazuka revue style!) and do their own take of Dream and Stars, I'll be happy.