Let's do a community Crystal rewatch

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sapphire91

Stella Nova
Jul 6, 2018
6,668
9,485
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#1
So while waiting for te movies or their official cancelation, let's watch Crystal again. Please do not turn this into more hating or dub drama. Let's watch Crystal as it's own thing and if possible watchthe fixed version. Let's watch one episode a week and post some short review. Some things look better after a while. Post your reviews and thoughts on Act 1 Usagi - Sailor Moon till next Wednesday. Be critical, but please no ferari jokes and no blind hate rage. Let's watch!
 

NJ_

Gurges Ater
Oct 31, 2009
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Wallington, NJ
#3
Is there a way to watch it, legally and for free?
Sailor Moon Crystal on Crunchyroll!
Watch Sailor Moon Crystal - Full Episodes Free (Sub)
Watch Sailor Moon Crystal - Full Episodes Free (Dub)*

* - This is the only way to watch the Blu-ray version of seasons 1 & 2 online legally.

Also be warned that the subtitles were translated by Toei (with a few fixes by Crunchyroll for Seasons 1 & 2) and the fully-fixed translations are exclusive to the Viz discs (and probably wherever else they're selling it digitally).
 
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NJ_

Gurges Ater
Oct 31, 2009
9,578
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Wallington, NJ
#5

sapphire91

Stella Nova
Jul 6, 2018
6,668
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#6
Not sure where you wanna go with this. :mameshiba:
Well, people can critique, without hating on something, right? Nobody says it has to be all praise or all bashing - there is a lot of stuff to like in it. . The mention of cancellation was not a try to hate it, but it is a possibility that unfortunately looks more and more likely. :)
 

sapphire91

Stella Nova
Jul 6, 2018
6,668
9,485
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#7
Act 1. Usagi - Sailor Moon
So here we are again. It has been awhile since I first saw it and either thanks to a more positive mind set, the episode is actually not bad at all. I watched with it my 9 year-old niece, so I can see raw first reaction as well. She was glued to the screen from start to finish, despite the fact she had to pause a lot to read the subtitles here and there, she didn't get bored with it at all. The opening scene is gorgeous. I have always been a fan of the ost, and it really added to the overall epic feel that you are watching a classic. The Usagi''s fall of the stairs, despite animated kind a clumsy, the way she met Luna by stepping on her and her spacing out, thinking of her dream really sells the unlikliness of this self-absorbed, clumsy and unreliable girl to become a super heroine. I really dig the backgrounds that give this story book kind of feeling as well. The first meet between Usagi and Mamoru, while a bit cheesy for a cynical adult, made my niece being all aww. And once again the music was well used. The Dark Kingdom with the green fire and cold feel really makes ita perfectly moody place. It was nice seeing the formation of the youma out of clay as well. What I really like about this first act is how Usagi actually named herself Sailor Moon. Yes, it was Luna telling her, but not with words. This Luna being a wolf scene was very well done. I have to admit I am not a fan of the transformation, but only because it was CGI. Otherwise it looked new, fresh and beautifully choreographed, Usig interesting angles. The prism background is also really nice. I'd love to see this done in 2d even a fan rendition. Then I really liked the way Usagi's attack was integrated in the scene. It didn't drag, it didn't put us out of the scene and it looked kinda need. I will never forgive the fact Morga wasn't decapitated, but I can understand why they did it this way. The fiNal scene with a glimps of Ami and the rain drops is a nice tease, showing both herand alluding to her element. The title cards, the commercial breaks and the A bientot cards are very nice nods to Utena, either intentional or not. There were some nods to the old show, though I really wanted to see blue eyed Luna... I didn't comment on the opening as I have seen it too many times. As for the ending - I love the visuals. Yes there is not much going on, but the scenery is gorgeous, as well as the kiss in the end. I, however, will never like the song. Despite sharing a composer with Tuxedo Mirage, it lacks that romantic feeling. MomoClo are not a good fit for this song either. Speaking of that I would love to hear Moon Pride done by the new cast... Anyway. Even though it is obvious from episode1 that this is on a low budget, animation and character designs are not very consistent, it still got me in the Sailor Moon magic. My niece was beging me to let her watch episode 2, which is a good sign, but we are saving it for next Wednesday.
 
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JunoDX

Solaris Luna
Nov 8, 2018
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#8
Finished watching Act 1. I'm going to write my random thoughts down. So... it's okay, but I'm not loving it. It lacks of atmoshere and autheticity. While I like the character design, I think it's not well executed. The funny scenes, when Usagi is in her element, require a more minimalistic design. The 90s anime did that and it worked. In Crystal she always looks too elegant and pretty, so I don't buy it when she's this 14 year old crybaby. There were some really pretty frames and nice drawings, for example in the end, when Sailor Moon watches Tuxedo Kamen fly away. But then there are sometimes some sloppy/horrible lines, especially in Usagi's hair. And Jeez that zoom when Usagi is sleeping on her bed....I find some settings, like the Dark Kingdom, very generic and I don't feel scared. Maybe the music is also sometimes quite mediocre. In the 90s anime everything is creepy and looks really evil. Overall I find it quite flat and the composition of the frames are mostly uninspired. I do like the Cliffhanger with Ami. And surprisingly I did like the 3D transformation. Ok, it could have been made better or in 2D, but the choreography is quite nice and I also like the transformation music. I don't like the color palette. I did like how the moon activated Sailor Moon's "memory" and she suddenly knows her guardian name. That was new and fresh and nice. I also liked to see how she touched the tiara andit pops up in her hand, start spinning. I do like the attack but I thought it looked really lame how Morga died. Such a lazy animation! Oh and what I already hated when I saw the episode for the very first time: in the beginning with images from deep space, suddenly there is this frame with some planets (Jupiter in the foreground). It looks so bidimensional, and looks like a birthday-party-decoration. After that, a gorgeous close-up of the moon that looks like it came out of a high quality anime movie. Consistency: Zero.

Overall it lacks of originality and feels like an uncharismatic copy. Kotono Mitsuishi gave it all, which lets the other parts of the show look even weaker.
 
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Zyvik

Lumen Cinererum
Oct 26, 2014
336
331
165
#9
In Crystal she always looks too elegant and pretty, so I don't buy it when she's this 14 year old crybaby
I feel the same. There's a jarring disconnect between the design and the character.

Overall, it's one of the best episodes of Crystal. It's a very faithful adaptation with some clever additions, like Usagi's dream sequence and Ami's cameo. But wow, Moon Pride sounds so out of place for the series, knowing that the inners are basically glorified extras.
 
#10
@sapphire91 Great idea! I think it is impressive you're doing this.

@JunoDX Agreed, I don't think Usagi is an elegant type of character, either Kazuko Tadano's or Ikuko Ito's designs look best.

@Zyvik What would you have preferred the opening song to be?
 
Jul 5, 2009
11,980
4,326
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Philippines
#12
If I am an TOEI executive I'd get Twice or Blackpink song for the opening and Momoland to the closing. The state of Jpop is just depressing these days.


Kotono Mitsuishi gave it all,
Doesn't help when she's competing with herself just to not sound like her 90's counterpart saying the same lines. Though I don't blame her for that and blame it on the director. It helps when you've never watched the original 90's.
 

JunoDX

Solaris Luna
Nov 8, 2018
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#13
I will post for each episode a screenshot of my personal top and bottom frame.

TOP of Act1: Usagi watching Tux flying away. This frame has movie quality. Look at the details and the shadows. The angle is also sophisticated for SMC. This frame gave me hope. Lot's of hope!



BOTTOM of Act1: This looks so flat and doesn't give me deep space/solar system at all. This appears in the first seconds of the episode and when I saw it for the first time I already got the idea that this reboot won't have the quality I was expecting. Really, this frame stands for my personal disillusion/sobering of SMC. You can see immediately how simple this is and how badly it's been done. The planets are totally out of proportion. The sun should be the lightsource, so there must be another one on the right side of jupiter, causing the shadow on it's rings. While it's badly composed, this frame doesn't make any sense.



THIS is how it should look:



It's just arranging the planets in a different way and putting the light/shadows the way it makes sense. It wouldn't have caused any extra work or costs. I don't understand how an artist/animator or director at a company like TOEI doesn't "get" something basic like this.
 
May 18, 2016
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#14
I don't need to rewatch this episode, but I agree with Juno and Sapphire looking back on it, and another thing I didn't like for the fight scene (agreed about the color pallete, during fight scenes everything looks so dark and flatly colored), was how when Moon runs around, they just focus on one whole shot of Luna there, missing what could be good shots of Moon showing emotion with "How do I do that?" (and "You need to kick her butt" doesn't sound like anything Luna would say, and oh boy, wait until act 3 and act 4, they made Luna look like a total idiot compared to the manga showing how we are not to take Crystal seriously, the way it comes off). It just came off like what I remember this guy Mr. Weenie Productions said about the first episode of Power Rangers Megaforce (which was more watchable than this), the first act of Sailor Moon Crystal feels like it was a shameless tactic Toei Animation pulled to sucker in fans of the original anime and manga into watching the series/episodes, only to be disappointed much later by the horrific animation, terrible characterization, bad storytelling/adaptation of the manga, etc. And no, I still don't like the 3D transformations.

That first shot of Usagi, yes, there are some scenes that work fine, but the majority of them are just poorly done and after act 1 it's like the animators just gave up. I still find it impossible Toei Animation worked on this.
 
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JunoDX

Solaris Luna
Nov 8, 2018
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#15
... how when Moon runs around
She just runs around! While in the 90s anime they decided to use static pictures like these:



This is where animation meets manga/comic: by a single 2 second frame your brain expands it to an entire scene/situation. This way Toei saves money AND creates a dynamic situation. The whole mix between using static frames and fluid (stock) footage is how you save money but still deliver an enjoyable product. I call it creativity AND understandig the basics of animation.



Another great frame of the 90s anime gives us a full shot of what's going on from a dynamic angle, we see that headtwisted Morga, Sailor Moon down there surrounded by the zombie-mob. We see the whole tricky situation. And the background colors indicate that the "aura" of this place is toxic and dangerous, the energy of the Dark Kingdom invaded the shop. There is so much detail and thoughts in this series, and it's all hand-drawn and colored. After SMC I appreciate it even more.
 
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May 18, 2016
616
487
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#16
She just runs around! While in the 90s anime they inserted static pictures like these:



This is where animation meets manga/comic: by a single 2 second frame your brain expands it to an entire scene/situation. This way Toei saves money AND creates a dynamic situation. The whole mix between using static frames and fluid (stock) footage is how you save money but still deliver an enjoyable product. I call it creativity AND understandig the basics of animation.



Another great frame of the 90s anime gives us a full shot of what's going on from a dynamic angle, we see that headtwisted Morga, Sailor Moon down there surrounded by the zombie-mob. We see the whole tricky situation. And the background colors indicate that the "aura" of this place is toxic and dangerous, the energy of the Dark Kingdom invaded the shop. There is so much detail and thoughts in this series, and it's all hand-drawn and colored. After SMC I appreciate it even more.
Whoops, I forgot it was still frames, but yes, I agree with you entirely and appreciate how the 90's anime handled its art direction even more too after Crystal came out...
 

JunoDX

Solaris Luna
Nov 8, 2018
2,220
3,841
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#17
Whoops, I forgot it was still frames, but yes, I agree with you entirely and appreciate how the 90's anime handled its art direction even more too after Crystal came out...
maybe the background was animated or they animated some minor elements, but the frames are still very static. they knew how to flesh the maximum out of a minimum.
 

sapphire91

Stella Nova
Jul 6, 2018
6,668
9,485
1,665
#19
That with a few favorite shots is a nice idea. I am sharing mine.



This one because it is cute.



This one as a whole animation is a personal favorite from the trailer.


This one is an inbetween shot that need to watch pretty much frame by frame to see and looks hundred times better than the key one....


Overall I am a minority maybe, but I love the elegance, few animator proved it can be done in a funnier shots, but most of them couldn't, because they were not competent enough.