Could Sailor Moon Crystal Work As A Hollywood Live Action Drama?

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animenerd99

Lumen Cinererum
Mar 17, 2013
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#1
What do you guy think? Do you think some of the elements done in Crystal would translate better in live action? Who would you cast? I put together a little fan cast here on this site where you can create your own fancast for different projects. you can vote whether you agree or disagree on a casting choice and even add your own casting suggestions. What do you guys think about these picks?
Netflix's Sailor Moon Crystal Live Action Drama Fan Casting on myCast

Hopefully this may lead Netflix into trying this out I mean they've done Death Note and are currently doing Winx Club, One Piece and Cowboy Bebop. So why not give it a crack with Sailor Moon?
 
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JunoDX

Solaris Luna
Nov 8, 2018
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#3
I feel like I wouldn't want the cast to be white --at least the lead.
Since this thread title contains "Hollywood" I guess the location of the story would be inside the US, although I think it could also work in Japan.

I would def. cast a diverse cast, and it would be nice to have a japanese(-caucasian) Usagi, an asian/japanese Rei, black Ami (racists gonna be racist), white Minako and maybe latin Makoto.

Even if Tokyo was the main location, I'd go with a mixed cast.

I absolutely think a live action drama would work, of course with a very condensed plot.
 

Seira Hazuki

Solaris Luna
Jan 17, 2007
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#4
Can I see a decent western live action adaption of the Sailor Moon band? Sure, maybe.

For Crystal itself? No. Because some of the plot points that came from the manga were already panned by an anime-watching audience, but for a non-anime watching audience (which you would need to make a film like this successful), it would guarantee the film to be a flop.
 
Dec 7, 2009
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#5
Well to be fair some of the cast in the original were depicted as white despite being from Japan. So I don't think it would be a bad thing to have Usagi and Minako with white actors.

I do agree that a diverse cast would work best. I feel like part of the theme of Sailor Moon is that all types of girls are valid, so having a diverse cast would really drive that theme home in a good way. :)

The setting of the country and city don't matter to me since it's not really relevant. So long as they were of the moon kingdom in a past life and reborn on earth, it could be absolutely anywhere. Japan, US, Brazil, England... anywhere. Greece or Italy would be pretty cool I think with some of the mythology. It has elements of Greek and Roman mythology afterall.

At the risk of sounding like I'm knocking Crystal -- I'm definitely not -- I don't think such an adaptation should be based on it. I feel like it should either be in the vein of PGSM where it uses the Dark Kingdom as a baseline but is mostly totally new, or be sort of like the 90s anime. Both of those have broader appeal I feel, whereas Crystal and the manga is more of a specific audience.

Again, not knocking Crystal. I just feel that for a western audience that wouldn't be the way to go.
 
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Maraviollantes

Sailor Moon fan #1
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Jan 3, 2006
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#6
Only if Usagi will be played by a black transgender body-positive non-binary polyamorous person. Casting anybody else is racist and discrimination!!!!!!!!!!111111 :zoid:

Extremely racist, non-inclusive, and offensive. I see only one black person, and she is only half-black. And, to add insult to injury, all females are cast for female roles, while all males are cast for male roles. Sexism at its finest.

Greece or Italy would be pretty cool I think with some of the mythology. It has elements of Greek and Roman mythology afterall.
Focusing solely on Western and Asian mythology could offend many people. I propose to add elements of Islam and traditional African folk beliefs. Instead of using magic wands, Usagi could defeat demons reading verses from Quran. As to Chibiusa, instead of summoning Pegasus, she should summon Orisha Orunmila who will heal posessed people by performing traditional West African meditative practices.
 
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SILVER

Aurorae Lunares
Jan 7, 2014
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Dark Kingdom
#7
Only if Usagi will be played by a black transgender body-positive non-binary polyamorous person. Casting anybody else is racist and discrimination!!!!!!!!!!111111 :zoid:


Extremely racist, non-inclusive, and offensive. I see only one black person, and she is only half-black. And, to add insult to injury, all females are cast for female roles, while all males are cast for male roles. Sexism at its finest.


Focusing solely on Western and Asian mythology could offend many people. I propose to add elements of Islam and traditional African folk beliefs. Instead of using magic wands, Usagi could defeat demons reading verses from Quran. As to Chibiusa, instead of summoning Pegasus, she should summon Orisha Orunmila who will heal posessed people by performing traditional West African meditative practices.
this isn't clever nor funny, but here's a star for your efforts:

 

SILVER

Aurorae Lunares
Jan 7, 2014
1,424
811
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Dark Kingdom
#11
Well to be fair some of the cast in the original were depicted as white despite being from Japan. So I don't think it would be a bad thing to have Usagi and Minako with white actors.
Depicted as white? Just because they had different eye colors and hair that wasn't the standard black that asian people naturally have doesn't mean that they were. Even so, hair dye exists.



But I really don't think that Sailor Moon could even work as a Western adaptation. The naval fuku is strongly tied to its Japanese identity and the closest that we could get to it would be a prep school uniform ...but then you'd lose the "Sailor" part of it.
Thats why the American Sailor Moon prototype had to change the girls to fighting in Outer space on literal space boats with Sails.
 

Seira Hazuki

Solaris Luna
Jan 17, 2007
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#12
I would personally prefer another Japanese live action remake in the style of a 3-part film with a unique plot blending the different arcs together into one coherent story. Give it a bigger budget than the Tokusatsu and have the girls just dye their hair instead of wearing wigs. They can even use extensions for Usagi's twin tails.

I frankly don't trust Hollywood with Sailor Moon.
 

Maraviollantes

Sailor Moon fan #1
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Jan 3, 2006
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#14
thats what happens when others can't be respectful of other's opinions: they ruin it. Its a great look on a site admin, too.
It's not my fault that any fan discussion about a modern Hollywood remake of some older movie immediately degrades into argument about what characters should have their skin color changed to "fix" the all-white racist original. The very first response to this thread is clear illustration of this modern trend. I am just playing along.

Also, if my opinion matters, I think I'm the greatest admin this forum ever had. :O
 
Jul 31, 2012
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Outer Space
#15
I couldn't see it as a Hollywood production. I just see it as Japanese production. However, Power Rangers was originally Japanese and went through the Hollywood treatment.

Honestly, just my opinion but I feel like Hollywood would butcher a live action version of Sailor Moon. They never give foreign adaptations a "Marvel budget" and a Sailor Moon film would be ridiculously expensive to produce.

They'd be better off doing a Winx Club live action maybe though. On second thought, Hollywood should just leave magical girls (and probably anime) alone period.

I could see Ruby Rose as Uranus though.
I like Hotaru. Emily Skinner is definitely giving me some Venus vibes.

Not sure why Sailor Jupiter is the "black one"?


Gwenneth ain't no Queen Serenity for sure.
 
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Dec 7, 2009
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#16
Depicted as white? Just because they had different eye colors and hair that wasn't the standard black that asian people naturally have doesn't mean that they were. Even so, hair dye exists.
Yeah hair dye and coloured contacts exist. What's your point? I was just saying that she has characteristics more commonly seen in white people, so it's fine to cast her with a white actor. If they keep her as Japanese, that's cool too.

Should we be mad that someone half Spanish half Japanese person played Mamoru in Myu even though Mamoru is full Japanese originally? I don't think so. Why shouldn't Shirota Yu get to play as him? Barring him over race wouldn't be fair.

As for the clothes, that adaptation with the boats got cancelled and we got the anime here in North America with Sailor uniforms in their full glory and no one questioned a thing from what I can tell. She's a recognizable character so even if people did question it then they wouldn't now.

Besides, it's super random that they wore sailor outfits back in the silver millennium before Japanese schools were established and in their past lives they were of the moon and not Japanese anyway. So what's the difference that we don't have those uniforms in our schools?
 
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Memento

Stella Nova
Mar 8, 2012
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#17
^^^
ANZA (who played Usagi in the first musicals and will play Queen Serenity in the upcoming ice show) is half-white South African.
Yu Shirota (who played Mamoru in the musicals from 2003 to 2004) is half-Spanish.
Jaimie Natsuki (who played Queen Serenity in La Reconquista) is half-British (white).
Chieco Kawabe (who played Ami in some musicals and Naru in the live action series) is a quarter Spanish and a quarter Filipina.
About half the cast of the upcoming ice show is white.


There shouldn't be any issues with a mixed race cast, but making the cast of an adaptation of a Japanese series predominantly white would be incredibly poor taste. I think any live action Sailor Moon cast should have a predominantly Japanese (or at least API) cast.

But after the past few days on Twitter, I think the next Sailor Moon adaptation will feature an all-cake cast instead.
 

animenerd99

Lumen Cinererum
Mar 17, 2013
440
301
165
#18
I couldn't see it as a Hollywood production. I just see it as Japanese production. However, Power Rangers was originally Japanese and went through the Hollywood treatment.

Honestly, just my opinion but I feel like Hollywood would butcher a live action version of Sailor Moon. They never give foreign adaptations a "Marvel budget" and a Sailor Moon film would be ridiculously expensive to produce.

They'd be better off doing a Winx Club live action maybe though. On second thought, Hollywood should just leave magical girls (and probably anime) alone period.

I could see Ruby Rose as Uranus though.
I like Hotaru. Emily Skinner is definitely giving me some Venus vibes.

Not sure why Sailor Jupiter is the "black one"?


Gwenneth ain't no Queen Serenity for sure.
What's wrong with Jupiter being black? It's not set in stone she has to be white or even asian. I picked Sydney cause she'd be the perfect fit imo, she can get Makoto's personality down.

The reason why I chose Crystal. Hollywood has been into making "darker" versions of the original shows they make live adaptions like the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina for instance, even the upcoming live adaption of Winx Club, Riverdale etc. So i feel like SMC would fit into that lane with the current shows being shown here in the West.

As for casting an all diverse cast would work best, Elle Fanning looks just like Crystal Usagi but they also could get someone who has Japanese ancestry. That's why I chose an black actress for Jupiter and plus to expect an 1-1 adaption is not realistic so i that's why I feel SMC would be a better source to go from not saying it's better than the 90's anime but this will also be a chance to expound and introduce things from the Manga to the western audience.

Let me reiterate you guys can go on the site and vote for which ones you agree and disagree with and pitch in your own suggestions, pitch in some cast ideas
 
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Dec 7, 2009
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#20
^^^
ANZA (who played Usagi in the first musicals and will play Queen Serenity in the upcoming ice show) is half-white South African.
Anza is my favorite Usagi in the franchise by far. I don't think anyone can ever replace her for me. Would've massively missed out if they passed her up for not being full Japanese, so I'm so glad they didn't. That's so cool that she gets to appear in the ice show x3 ♡