Naoko Takeuchi's Recent Artwork

Probably because they plan to make a proplica version somewhat soon so they need to make it appear on screen for better sales.

Knowing all the brooches (but the first one) used in the manga were designed by Bandai, I think what she chose was a prototype of what Bandai wanted to show in the Anime.

No wonder. Bandai was also in the Eternal production and they might be in Cosmos.

It‘s like brooch 2-4 were designed to sell toys, and with 5 she had enough of bandai.

much better than the cheap toy design

Now that you mention it...

IMO, "5" has got the best look of all the five, but I also understand that it's got the worst look, i.e. the least attractive look for lil kids, of all the five for selling as toys. lol

That sword O_o

They probably thought the manga design wouldn't sell?
Crystal was a ONA project. Eternal was a theatrical project, so everything had to be more recognizable. Hence why they hired the original character designer and the voice actresses did a job more similar to their 90s counterparts.

This is gorgeous.

Lol at the Uranus's back bow. IIRC it wasn't yellow.......

The same error happened with Crystal OST CD too...

Wow! Naoko sure knows how to make her magical girls SO BEAUTIFUL! Stunning...

Do you think they will use these picture for the final version of color manga? There's already a planet in the background, they just need to add a landscape layer.

Maybe it's just me, but I think Uranus' lightsaber sword looks kinda cool - perhaps that's inspired by Kylo Ren's lightsaber, if not the Tokyo Olympic torch? lol

Wow it looks really good minus Uranus wrong color lol
Also they have boots now

I think the new illustrations are quite elegant and lovely, but I don't like the coloring. There's something odd about it, like a poorly lit photograph.

There's also some weirdness on how she's modified their uniforms. I hate the new chokers. Not only do they do away with some of the unique variants (Neptune, for example) but they look like cheap cat collars with those reflective panels to alert oncoming cars.

Also, Pluto, Jupiter, and Mars have lost their custom uniform elements. Weird since Venus still has her chain. There's definitely something about this version of the uniforms that comes across as basic b**ch.

I mean... Yeah, these are photos of the artwork, not official digital uploads of them...

That's not what I mean. It's like they're all cast in a weird, dim sunset. There's an orangey-brown tone to everything, and the lighting in the illustrations (not the photographs) is putting the emphasis on odd places. Just look at Chibi-Moon's face. Her eyes and face are mostly in shadow except for that weird triangle everyone has, and then the top of her hair and uniform are what are lit up.

Now that I look at it more closely, the shading on Uranus' legs is really sloppy.