birthday Archives - deus ex magical girl

Happy Sailor Moon’s Birthday

It is the official birthday of Sailor Moon today. As is fitting for such an event, the studio has released a video displaying the transformation sequences of Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon for the upcoming Sailor Moon: Eternal movie, as reported at Sailor Moon News.

Here is the video; the transformation starts about two thirds of the way in. Anyone familiar with Sailor Moon Super S, the series of the original anime that followed the Eternal arc, will notice the influence.

This movie is set to continue the (decidedly troubled) Sailor Moon: Crystal anime series, which sought to follow the manga more closely than the original anime did. Although it had a few innovative ideas (I am one of the few who likes the more developed backstory on the sailor scouts and the four Kings of Heaven), the show was troubled by poor animation and a variety of bad choices. Although a new director and new character designs improved the third series considerably, it still pales in comparison to its predecessor.

I can’t honestly say what I think about the upcoming Eternal movie, though I’ll be interested in seeing it. Super S is generally considered the weakest series of the old anime, so at least the new movie has less to compete with. It seems the production on this film has taken an awfully long time, which means either they’re being meticulous with it or the difficulties of the reboot are continuing.

Also, as I’ll explain later, I have a certain fondness for Super S, though I agree it’s not as good as the series that immediately preceded it. Its most notable feature, oft ridiculed, is a story arc in which a prepubescent girl falls romantically in love with a talking horse. A lot of people think that’s weird or creepy.

I think it’s funny as hell.

Happy Sailor Moon’s Birthday

It’s June 30th, the official birthday of Sailor Moon. As this is the third or possibly the second most important holiday in the magical girl calendar, we cannot allow it to pass unnoticed. All are commanded to rejoice and make merry under penalty of death.

This is a traditional date for releasing news about the Sailor Moon franchise, and this year is no exception. According to CBR, there is now an official release date for Sailor Moon Eternal, the film that will form the sequel to the Sailor Moon Crystal anime series and interpret the manga’s fourth arc.

Here’s a teaser for the film:

This fourth arc is the one with Chibi Moon’s magic pony unicorn boyfriend. It just happens, coincidentally, to be where I’m at in the original ’90s anime … but it’s taking me a while to get through it because it’s really a downgrade after the show’s magnificent third season.

This film features yet another total character redesign, making the third for Sailor Moon Crystal. This time, the designs are by franchise veteran Kazuko Tadano, as reported by Anime News Network. The new, teased designs, as shown in the video above, look sort of like a hybrid cross between the original series and the new.

Some fans are excited, as I know from my Twitter feed, but my opinion is more mild, though that’s partly because I’ve gotten too old to geek out with wild abandon about this stuff. But what this all says to me is that Sailor Moon Crystal has been mostly a disaster. The first two seasons were poorly animated and poorly received, and the third, which revamped the character designs and brought on a new director, was only a slight improvement.

Each change in Crystal has been an attempt to bring it closer to the original ’90s anime: The third season reintroduced upgraded versions of the original’s poses, transformations, and hammy dialogue—but without the comedic timing or charm.

Getting the original character designer back on board appears to me just another acknowledgement that the new series failed to capture the magic of the original. This movie might end up being decent, but I doubt it will relieve this new incarnation of its reputation of being Sailor Moon: Also-Ran.