Review: Sailor Moon Crystal, Episode 1-6
In case you weren't aware, the Sailor Moon series has been rebooted as Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal in honor of the manga series' 20th anniversary. Toei Animation set out to make this series much more true to the manga, and though I haven't had the pleasure of reading it, I can say they've been doing an amazing job of the series so far.
Sailor Moon is the story of Usagi Tsukino, a teenage girl who discovers she is chosen to wield the power of Sailor Moon, Guardian of Justice. She, and several other guardians, are tasked in searching for the Legendary Silver Crystal and protect it from the evil hands of Queen Beryl. Along the way, she meets the elusive Tuxedo Mask and the team finds the whereabouts of the Moon Princess. The question is, can the Sailor Guardians find the Legendary Silver Crystal before Queen Beryl can take over our world as we know it?
As a fan of the original 90's series, learning that many of the original voice actors came back to reprise their roles on the series was awesome! Whenever a show or movie is redone, there's always that concern that it won't be what is was in a bad way. While the animation style was - and still sort of is - hard to get used to, it's done so brilliantly and seamlessly that I can't help but fall in love with the series all over again.
The pace of the series also goes a lot faster than the original. The reboot does away many of the filler episodes and moments that really had no place in the series. For example, Sailor Mercury doesn't get her powers until episode 8 of 90's SM, whereas Ami gets her power in episode 2 of SMC. We don't even get Sailor Jupiter until episode 25 or Sailor Venus until episode 33 of the 90s version. Though my review of the series is only up to episode 6, I've seen Sailor Venus show up in this past Saturday's episode (#8). I get that this was originally done to probably extend the life of the series and get more character development or get more fun episodes outside of the main storyline, but it's nice not having to wait until almost the end of the season to get to see all 5 Sailor Guardians together.
Either way, it's a great time to be a Sailor Moon fan and have a Hulu account. If you are new to Sailor Moon or a returning fan, catch new episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of every month, and two new rereleased episodes of the 90's Sailor Moon anime every Monday. You have to be a Hulu Plus account holder to watch, though. I've had my Hulu Plus account for almost 2 years now (if not longer) and I don't think I could ever cancel it. It's only $7.99 a month and you get the first 2 weeks for free. It's my cheapest and most rewarding monthly subscription to date. There's tons of other great anime (I've seen Chobits, Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, and Bleach), a bunch of FOX shows, and had a chance to preview the new Fall shows.
Happy binge watching!
I really need to get a Hulu account. Right now I have to wait like a week to see any new episodes of my shows (Arrow, The Flash, Revenge, Scandal) ANYWAYS, this post is about Sailor Moon! I am embarrassed to say that I am actually behind on this show! SIGH!! I need to get my butt in gear and catch up! But I do love Crystal, I can't wait for them to release it in English!
Jessica
the.pyreflies.org
I managed to survive over 6 months without cable because of my Hulu account. The only bad thing is that CBS sucks and won't put their shows on it, which made it very difficult for me to schedule my life to watch the last episodes of How I Met Your Mother. Now that I have cable again, I can catch Big Bang Theory.
You're behind?! You need to catch up soon, dude! It's been awesome. It's been really making me want to get the manga so I can see the differences in the storyline for the two series + the manga. I loved the English dub back in the day, but I'm finding her voice a bit much these days. I'm hoping they find some amazing voice actors to do the girls justice when the time comes.