Is Toei regretting Crystal's initial concept?

  • This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn more.
Jul 11, 2013
3,433
3,211
1,665
31
#41
They even changed the staff but did not try to make the goods more interesting to make more profit. That sounds conflicting to me.
 

sapphire91

Stella Nova
Jul 6, 2018
6,668
9,485
1,665
#42
This is what I hoped for - 26 episodes for the first story arc, expanding on the manga, exploring a lot more into the Silver Millennium concept, Beryl motivations, all the guardians past incarnations, including some Sailor V detailes like Minako's curse and Adonis, adapting Casablanca memories right after Makoto's introduction to give us sme Makoto and Rei bonding, as well as development, giving us more of Ami's family situation. Manga has so much ideas it couldn't flesh out that we didn't need to stray or add monster of the day filler to develop the story. In 26 episodes per arc they could have fleshed the story without straing from manga general plot, but add and expand on it.
 
Aug 16, 2016
28
6
5
41
#43
Actually, the Director of the first two seasons said they wanted to expand the storyline, but Naoko Takeuchi was against it, she wanted the title to be a straight adaptation of the manga 1chapter= 1 episode.

I think the reason why sailormoon crystal is a failure is also due to the conflict between Toei animation and Naoko Takeuchi who have very different vision of Sailormoon

They even changed the staff but did not try to make the goods more interesting to make more profit. That sounds conflicting to me.
I think they thought Precure staff will be enough to save the show, Precure don't need goods to make good sales, it's just need good animation and good director(but also good slice of life, good fight and good character writing,what is lacking in sailormoon Crystal and manga)

Its very sad because Chiaki Kon is really a good director with an interesting and distinctive style(I am fan of her work since Higurashi ni naku koro ni)

her style is a mix between shojo romance and horror and fit very well to sailormoon, I loved she made a scene with an Higurashi face for Mistress 9 transformation
 

Masquerade

Solaris Luna
Nov 22, 2016
2,585
4,477
1,665
#44
Actually, the Director of the first two seasons said they wanted to expand the storyline, but Naoko Takeuchi was against it, she wanted the title to be a straight adaptation of the manga 1chapter= 1 episode.
Do you have a source?
Boy, I really wish this isn't true.
 

NJ_

Gurges Ater
Oct 31, 2009
9,578
3,913
1,665
37
Wallington, NJ
#45
On the topic of S1-2 rumors...




EDIT:

Yukie Sako hated working on Sailor Moon Crystal.

The production committee screwed her over and she will never work for Toei again. Ironically, the department wanted her to continue as chief animation director for S3 and renew her contract but she did not want to sign another contract with Toei.
The part about the committee (Toei & Kodansha) screwing her over is regarding the super-rushed production (similar comments were said about the director since he had similar problems while working on Suite Precure) but the comments about them wanting her back for season 3 is strange to me because IIRC, she didn't stick around as Chief Animation Director after episode 6 and Kozue Komatsu took over for the rest.
 
Last edited:
Likes: MsImagination
Jul 31, 2012
5,449
4,643
1,665
Outer Space
#46
Yeah, please give a source or else it's just a rumor or something. I would like to think it's not true but our Queen can be difficult to work with from what I read.

I wonder why the original director left though. I mean was he really a bad director or where there just other "issues" preventing what he could and couldn't do?

With PNP in place I'm sure Queen Naoko has lots more control such as in the contract, they can't change things now without her approval. (Which is what I will do for my stuff as well.)

Honestly, now that I think about it, if Toei really didn't care about or had belief Sailor Moon was still profitable, we'd all still be wishing for a new series today.

And they've continued to show some interest in it with planning to do the movies. I'd say from a business standpoint if SM was doing bad they'd be canned it. I'm sure they don't want to waste money.

Meanwhile, Ms. Kon was able to come in and add a little spice to the series. Imagine if she was around during the R season and directed the episode where Mars' gets captured. Talk about a dark episode.

Thanks for links.
 

NJ_

Gurges Ater
Oct 31, 2009
9,578
3,913
1,665
37
Wallington, NJ
#48
Those links aren't working NJ
It's working for me but I quoted the last two. The first link is to a very small art comparison between Yukie Sako's Crystal design and her most recent design from somewhere else.
 
Last edited:

Clow

Quasar
Jul 29, 2012
8,742
6,637
1,665
#49
Considering that the manga was often done in a rush at the time, that can be understood. :)
Yeah, to be fair Naoko was a young girl in her mid-20s. I think of her experience conceiving "Sailor Moon" as the thought of having to write a lengthy Ph.D. thesis, with the exception that you have to turn in each chapter as quickly as possible without having any time to revise anything. It is not surprising that she said that she said she felt emotionally distressed and wished to kill all of the characters by the end of the first manga arc. Again... that is how the manga and anime industry works.
 

Rika-Chicchi

Staff member
Site Admin
May 7, 2009
44,741
7,765
1,665
#50
It is not surprising that she said that she said she felt emotionally distressed and wished to kill all of the characters by the end of the first manga arc.
Maybe she wanna kill them all so that she wouldn't be required to do any more arcs. XD
 
Aug 16, 2016
28
6
5
41
#51
I have rereead my source And it was not 100% accurate. First it was not the director but the writer of the show(it was in the book Sailormoon crystal released before the serie)

the writer of the serie wanted to expand the storyline, but someone higher than him said him "no, it's forbidden, just follow the manga"

but we don't don't from who came the order. Naoko or Toei Producers, but we can assume it's Naoko because he also confirmed that most of the change in the season one storyline from the manga were Naoko decisions(the Shinetto not ying the same way and being in love with the inner shenshi in the past)

But the Director made comment in an interview prior to the show that Toei animation and Naoko were forced to accept thing from the other party, (

For the original Director, he was not really a bad Director, he was just not suited for Sailormoon, most of his work was One Piece and he had nearly no experience in shojo manga(except few ep on Precure)

It's like Naoki Tate in Dragonball Super, Naoki Tate is an excellent animator but he worked nearly only on One Piece sinc 5 years, his animation style just don't fit to Dragonball, it's not what people awaited

Chiaki Kon was just the most suited people in Toei animation to work on sailor moon, I have talked about her work on Higurashi but she also know for good shojo Romance and some of the best shonen ai serie(and she even worked on a Shojo ai) and have also some experience on Precure. Magical girl/Shojo romance/homosexual relationship/some horror strange element, it's just the recipe of Sailormoon
 

sapphire91

Stella Nova
Jul 6, 2018
6,668
9,485
1,665
#53
I'm glad the script writer was not allowed to expand the story himself - I can never forget Usagi being shocked in episode 6 that Tuxedo Mask knows her identity, although just 2 episodes ago he had been in her bedroom. Every time he decided to stray and make changes they were for the worse. As far as I know, from what a friend translated from me through the years, Naoko was not much involved in Crystal, except for writing Moon Bow. I can't provide the source, but there was something about TOEI wanting to make something like the Parallel story, making OG guardians housewives, while their daughters being guardians and she didn't like that idea. I doubt she insisted on the one chapter per episode adaptations - in her interviews she always expresses her dissatisfaction with her work back in the day. I think it was a decision made by Kodansha, so they can promote their property one again. Even back in the day they didn't let her do stuff the way she wanted. I remember reading an interview were she explained that she wanted to kill off the senshi in a way much similar to episode 45, but she was not allowed and she was shocked when TOEI were allowed to do it.
 
Aug 16, 2016
28
6
5
41
#54
but there was something about TOEI wanting to make something like the Parallel story, making OG guardians housewives, while their daughters being guardians
It would have been so great and interesting, most of the magical girl arc featuring aged old magical girl are really good (Heartcatch Precure,Nerissa arc in WITCH, especially in the anime wrote by Greg Weisman, Doremi 16...)
I doubt she insisted on the one chapter per episode adaptations - in her interviews she always expresses her dissatisfaction with her work back in the day.
Maybe she didn't want someone other than her could modify her story or just because as Toei choose to make few effort in the serie(low budget/webserie/ B team staff) as she refused their idea, she forced them to follow the manga, just by anger.
For me, it's her decision because, watch most of the Toei series, they make 1/1 adaptation only when the production of a serie is atrocious(saint seiya Mekai/Elysion) or when the original author want to control the series and most of the time they let a big amount of liberty to the writers.
Actually many of Ex-staff of Toei commented that the good thing at Toei animation is the staff can express their creativity on big licence where others studio put more control on the creation when the licence is big
 

Neon Genesis

Solaris Luna
Oct 31, 2015
2,332
296
165
#55
It should be pointed out PGSM did badly ratings when it first aired in Japan and even among hardcore Moonies, there was a lot of initial dismissal of it due to the cheesy special effects and acting quality. Nowadays PGSM, while not as big as other adaptations, has a pretty good sized cult following and is more fondly remembered as one of the best adaptations of the manga by the fandom. So initial reactions and poor ratings are not necessarily a sign of a series' longevity in Sailor Moon fandom. While I'm sure Toei wants better ratings, they likely would have either fired Chiaki Kon or cancelled Crystal all together if they really regretted it.
 

sapphire91

Stella Nova
Jul 6, 2018
6,668
9,485
1,665
#56
It would have been so great and interesting, most of the magical girl arc featuring aged old magical girl are really good (Heartcatch Precure,Nerissa arc in WITCH, especially in the anime wrote by Greg Weisman, Doremi 16...)

Maybe she didn't want someone other than her could modify her story or just because as Toei choose to make few effort in the serie(low budget/webserie/ B team staff) as she refused their idea, she forced them to follow the manga, just by anger.
For me, it's her decision because, watch most of the Toei series, they make 1/1 adaptation only when the production of a series is atrocious(saint seiya Mekai/Elysion) or when the original author want to control the series and most of the time they let a big amount of liberty to the writers.
Actually many of Ex-staff of Toei commented that the good thing at Toei animation is the staff can express their creativity on big licence where others studio put more control on the creation when the licence is big
I don't like the idea as much because the focus will be on the youngsters, Naoko's characters would be stereotipical moms played of for laughs and it could have been just another PreCure season. I love the concept of closely adapting the manga, with expanded and explored story. Naoko was vrey stressed at the time she produced it, so it was rushed, but she left hints of possible side plots - Rei's trauma with her mom and her complicated relationship with her father, Ami and her own family situation struggling for her mother's approval, Makoto and Asanuma or her past more explored with her parents death and the melancholy, with Minako they had a ton. For Pluto - I think she is alluring the way she is, but they could have explored the longing of Michiru and Haruka from back in the day when they were forced to be separated and the solitude. Then Beryl, s backstory, Metalia's origin, Black Moon clan motivation, Nehelenia's parallel/ mirror image of/ Queen Serenity, than more on the animamates and Galaxia. I think Naoko had many ideas that are just hinted in the manga and they could have explored them. If they came up with a concept like that, she would have accepted as she herself finds her work rushed. I think she was offered either Pretty Cured script or straight adaptation.
 

sapphire91

Stella Nova
Jul 6, 2018
6,668
9,485
1,665
#58
^ that season NEEDS frames fixed. Are we suddenly forgetting about the NQS errors or the sloppy/weird animation of the last episodes?
TOEI usually deliver with movies - I watched the silly yet cute Pop in Q and if you don't mind weird 3d sequences for dances, the animation was solid, consistent and no frame drops