S1/S2
Pros:
- Settei were okay but the execution was so different... I liked that fact that it was somewhat close to Code Geass though. And the fact that they tried to look different than the 90's anime was a nice idea, even if it didn't work in the end
- Liked the Moon Tiara Boomerang, it was reused later as stock footage with different background but the animation was nice and far better than any other attack we got in S1/S2
- I won't talk about the bad animation episodes because it ended being the vast majority of all episodes, but some episodes were interesing, like the one with Usagi on Nemesis or Pluto's death. I wouldn't say, as I've read, that they are movie like quality, because most of the time it was just hair porn with no actual animation, but still it was nice. I don't really need lot of movements if still frames are nicely drawns, but that's maybe just my taste
- Generally, male characters were nicely drawn (some shintenno's drawing are great, mostly Kunzite and Nephrite)
Cons:
- I hated the soft touch shading, like when you use a soft brush on photoshop you know ? It would have been ok on skins only maybe, but not on clothes and others parts. Same for their lips. I'm not against lipsticks but it looked ugly when the mouth was so little
- Eyes have a too much little black dot part and a too small white reflect so they seemed soul-less
- I didn't like their body shape, hourglass like. They tried to make them more mature but without giving them more feminine attributes (sorry to say the word but: heavier chest for instance... Itoh used to suggest their more feminine bodies in SuperS and it looked nice, without being too much)
- At one point you can tell that even Sakoh didn't really care anymore, settei for Pluto is atrocious, some BRD covers too... I suppose the atmosphere was heavy in the production team and she was disgusted, but still
- I didn't really like what they did with the time door atmosphere, the pinkinsh thing was out of place imo, always pictured this place darker than that
- Didn't like the zigzag in their hair, it never looked ok in the actual episodes (it looked way better in eternal though)
- Body had bad proportions. It's weird because if you look at Itoh's illustrations, legs are absolutly too long but it somewhat totally works, they look more balanced and pin-up like. It doesn't work in Crystal design, and I don't understand why.
S3
Pros:
- More constant quality in episodes, even if it's clear that they were in a rush in later episodes. The ride wasn't as violent as in first seasons
- Settei were nice and I understand what they tried to do with the dorito skirts, it looks okay if done properly but it was weird in the actual episodes
- Of course, loved the return of 2d animation. Some attacks are really nice (Jupiter Coconuts Cyclone, talismans attacks), I even like more Moon Spiral Heart Attack than in S.
- I liked how they twisted Hotaru's hair, it was interesting and different than in the older anime.
- It was fun to see Tellu nicely animated whereas she is only drawn by Nakamura in S
- Liked Moon Crisis animation too, even if background colors are a bit weird sometimes
- Tellu episode being the prettiest episode in the whole Crysternal franchise, and above lot of 90's episode too imp
Cons:
- I suppose it's easier to like this season design wise if you're used to precure style, so I didn't have much problem with this even if Takahashi is not my favorite precure character designer (I prefer Go Princess Precure or Huggto's style)
- Weird decision about what they did with Mistress 9 and here rolling eyes thing... It's not totally design related but she seemed more grotesque than threatening (it was way better in S)
- No more attacks for outers, wish they had redone Deep Submerge and World Shaking
- It's not totally design related either but I wish they had created henshin items for inners and outers too
Eternal / S4
Pros:
- I was not a Tadano fan in the original series to be honest, she was good in earlier episodes but it was weaker later (her last R episode, god...). Still Eternal made me like her more, it was a nice mix between her style and previous seasons.
- She made justice to the eternal fuku design and that is nice because the 90's version was really not pretty
- Generally all is really okay design wise, she did a good job and most of animators did well too, considering the work from home situation.
Cons:
- Generally uninspired promo art with bland poses and few movement. Even the BRD cover is not particulary interesting
- Moon and Chibimoon transformation and attacks were totally weak, even if they copied it from the 90's. It was done really early so they probably didn't have designs totally fixed but it was a shock when they revealed the transformation really...
- Animation isn't really movie quality, more like good TV series episodes. Still, it was enough for me, I didn't expect more for something that was basically free on Netlix
- I wish they had a bit sexier forms, rounder tights, Itoh knew how to do this well without being too provocative and Tadano lacks in that department (even Takeuchi gives them more feminine look).
- Pluto has sometimes weird faces (but my personal theory is that only Itoh managed to make her look good lol). Same for Neptune's hair, I'm not a fan of how they did it (but still, it was okay, not really a big problem for me).
