Tag: iTunes

Preliminaries on ‘Sailor Moon Super S’

As Viz Media has released the uncensored Japanese version of the ’90s anime version of Sailor Moon with an English sub, I’ve been purchasing it on iTunes.

I previously reviewed the first half of Sailor Moon S, the third arc, but never reviewed the second half partly because I got busy with other things, partly because I lost the ability to take screenshots from iTunes, and partly because I had little to add to my review of the first part: the series takes some of the most questionable decisions of the manga, makes yet more questionable decisions in adapting them, and somehow spins gold out of what by rights should be a complete mess. It might be the best chapter in the saga.

Anyway, Viz has released both halves of Sailor Moon Super S, the penultimate series, as well as two of the movies, Sailor Moon R and Sailor Moon S. Both films had limited runs in theaters, but I only had the chance to see the first one.

I started out by purchasing this series on iTunes, and am still doing so. I’m currently puzzling out what to do about the screenshot issue, because I’d like to review them. I have the Japanese version of Sailor Moon Super S, but the movies I haven’t bought yet, mostly because iTunes appears to indicate that they’re only available in English, which makes me think that maybe I should shell out for the Blu-Ray so I can have them in Japanese. Stephanie Sheh, who plays Sailor Moon in the dub, does a passable job, but she’s also another minor celebrity who’s made a habit of making a fool of herself on social media, so I’m frankly uninterested in listening to her voice.

Anyway, what I’m saying is … Sailor Moon Super S is out, if you didn’t know that already. This particular series has historically been unpopular with American fans because it centers on Chibi Moon, who is not as well-liked in the U.S. as in Japan. I’ve only just begun it, but I’m so far enjoying it. I feel the need to revisit this section of the manga, since it didn’t make much of an impression on my memory and I’m unsure how utterly the anime has changed it.

 

Technical Difficulties

I’m having some new trouble over here with posting content. I’m mentioning it partly by way of excuse, but also to see if readers have any suggestions.

My Blu-Ray/DVD player has basically stopped working. The only one I own is the one built into my computer, which is now about ten years old, so this is no great surprise. It’s basically stopped playing any video disc I put into it. This is frustrating not only because it means I’ve lost access to my DVD collection but also because it frustrates some reviews I wanted to produce. Replacing the computer is something I’ve known for a few years that I’d have to do soon, but it is simply not in the budget right now. I might consider an external DVD player, which would be considerably cheaper, and which I could also hook to my television, which at present I barely use except when I plug the HDMI cable into it from my computer.

I have also apparently lost the ability to screencap iTunes. I’m not sure if this is because of an iTunes update designed to protect copyright, or if this is because of some change in my system (I’ve updated iTunes a couple of times recently, but I also had the computer in for maintenance—so who knows?). I’ve tried some different software and nothing has worked. This is frustrating because I’ve always liked the convenience of iTunes in spite of some problems, but I rely heavily on screencaps for my reviews. In particular, this will mean I can’t create screencaps for my reviews of Sailor Moon, as well as some other things I was planning to discuss.

So anyway, that’s where I am at right now. I hope to have some solutions to these problems soon, and of course I appreciate any suggestions.