Is SuperS Under-Rated?

[Neon Genesis]

Growing up as a Moonie, I used to always agree with the overall fandom consensus that SuperS was the worst season and I used to never like it. But having rewatched it as an adult, I don't really think SuperS is that bad of a season. Personally as someone who enjoys the 90s anime for the comedy moments, I for one love that SupeS is more comedy focused than it being more dark and angsty. SuperS has the best villains in the series, especially Nehelenia and the Amazoness Quartet and Zirconia. The monsters have some of the weirdest and most unique designs of the anime and I always love how creepy the Dead Moon Circus tent scenes are. The Amazon Trio has a lot of issues and their arc goes on longer than needed, but Fisheye's redemption arc is one of my favorite storylines in the anime. I also think SuperS has the best animation and music of the 90s anime and some of the best attacks and transformation scenes. The three biggest issues I have with SuperS is the Amazon Trio arc could have been shorter, there is a little too much focus on Chibiusa but I love Chibiusa so I don't mind her a much as most fans do, and the Outers should have been in Supers, but I don't think the problems with SuperS are that much worse than the problems in previous seasons. So do you think SuperS is under-rated or is the hatred towards this season justified to you?

 

[magic713]

I don't deny that there is an appeal to it. Personally, my biggest issue with it was that it didn't have elements of Dream that I enjoyed so much (the two ran at the same time, so the show could not include much from later chapters of the arc). But I see why people like the fact that it is more easy-going. Some people just enjoy the light-heartedness of the season, with very little to no angst.

 

[ChampionOfNuggets]

A lot of the music was nice and the animation looked a lot better than the previous seasons.


And unlike S at least the monsters looking stupid AF was semi justifiable and didn’t clash with the story’s “tone”

 

[MsImagination]

I like the animation, the amozon trio, but the rest was wasted potentional.

 

[Yamoon]

Well I don't think so, maybe now when we're watching the episodes in a row, it seems fun and interesting.

But I do remember how much I got bored in 1996/7 when I was watching "normally" the season with one episode weekly.

The Amazon Trio arc is way too long, the only focus is on Chibi-Usa (for God Sake, Sailor Moon cannot even transform or launch an attack without her; with the exception of Moon Tiara Action) and most of the episodes are just filler repeating ALL the time the same storytelling. For me only maybe the first 3 episodes, and the last 3 are good the rest is

To my view, TOEI "nearly" destroyed the franchise at this point, and that unforgettable specially when you think about how good the season S was. But I think the manga and the anime were at this stage so close (time speaking) that they couldn't really "stick" to the manga's story (which is the best arc in the manga)

But story apart, the design/animation during this season got very well improved and Inner Attack's and Moon Kaleidoscope's Attack are really my favorites. (And also the King Kong Scream of Pegasus in the first episode!)

 

[doctorwho29]

I think it is underrated. I think it's a very enjoyable season with plenty of fun moments and some very interesting villains. Yes it could have been even better but it's still a nice season

 

[JayD22460]

Is SuperS underrated?

Yes, yes, and also yes.

It's a flawed season, so to get them out of the way: its manga arc counterpart (Dream) is much better, the Outers are mostly absent, there are a few too many filler episodes dedicated to random young characters like Chibi Usa's friends and random acquaintances, etc.

That said, I think that the "good" outweighs the "bad" in SuperS. The animation and music alike are both fantastic. I love the Dead Moon Circus, as well as the Trio and Quartet (mostly the Amazon Trio). Just curious, but what was problematic about them?

I really like Moon Crisis Make Up and Moon Gorgeous Meditation. If I weren't in love with the general aesthetic of Sailor Stars, SuperS might just win my heart for my favorite Moon attacks/transformations. It actually might still win anyway.

It has great episodes that really expand on the characters while also providing memorable scenes. Ami's focus episodes really grab me this season, as does Minako's two-timing date episode.

 

[ChampionOfNuggets]

Just curious, but what was problematic about them?
.

Not them as a whole but Fish Eye was problematic in that the "trans woman"/gay man in drag seeking to lure straight men was an all too common trope and this was when the gay/trans panic defense to justify the murdering of gay men and trans women was still in effect. Also the episode where Fish Eye admits to liking little boys.

 

[Greyman-X]

The Amazon Trio arc is way too long, the only focus is on Chibi-Usa (for God Sake, Sailor Moon cannot even transform or launch an attack without her; with the exception of Moon Tiara Action) and most of the episodes are just filler repeating ALL the time the same storytelling. For me only maybe the first 3 episodes, and the last 3 are good the rest is

To my view, TOEI "nearly" destroyed the franchise at this point, and that unforgettable specially when you think about how good the season S was. But I think the manga and the anime were at this stage so close (time speaking) that they couldn't really "stick" to the manga's story (which is the best arc in the manga)

That did bother me, and still confuses me to this day. Is Moon Gorgeous Meditation usable with Chibi-Moon summoning Pegasus for a power boost? I mean, in the SuperS movie the pair do a combined attack or something without Pegasus.

The focus on Chibiusa didn't bother me, but maybe that's just because I saw the original version first, where she introduced herself by pulling out a piece.

You also hit the nail on the head about the third season being such a tough act to follow. It's like Star Trek III. Pretty damn good, but there was really no way to capture lightning in a bottle again like with Wrath of Khan (ironic, since it was essentially a bottle episode with Roddenbery kicked upstairs).

Overall, I did enjoy SuperS. The art was great, and I found the whole 'Dream Mirror' idea and the villains' motivation for targeting random rubes this time around to be creative, or at least made me feel effort went into crafting the idea. As for the manga counterpart, I just finished the 8th collection which starts the 4th arc, so I can't comment much on that yet.

 

[Maraviollantes]

Did somebody post already "still better than Crystal" joke? No? Well, it still was better than Crystal.

 

[MariaTenebre]

Honestly no I think it is mostly rated by fans as it should be. Of course it had it's good points and there were some points that were better then the manga but those were few and far between. Basically the entire season was turned into a filler fest that ignored the vast majority of plot and story line from the manga. The Outers were gone in spite of how popular they were and the season was made too comedic instead of having the serious drama of S that gave the season such high ratings. Because of how poor SuperS did this made Toei decide to end the series at season 5. Had SuperS kept the seriousness of S along with the Outers in SuperS and kept more of the dark plot elements like in the manga then the series may have had more then five seasons.

 

[Neon Genesis]

I would agree the Outers should have been included more in SuperS though we at least got Uranus and Neptune in the SuperS special which is one of the best episode of the 90s anime to me. I think the first season actually has a lot more filler-in episodes than SuperS and most of the 90s anime is completely different from the manga, so I don't it's fair to hold SuperS to a higher stander of manga accuracy when fans don't do it for the rest of the anime. The Doom Tree and Nehelenia arcs are some of the best arcs of the 90s anime and they aren't even in the manga at all. I enjoy Sailor Moon for it's characters and stories and not because one season is darker than the other and I personally enjoy the 90s anime for a lot of the comedy that I feel like the manga lacks. I would also argue SuperS is darker than fans give it credit for. The Amazon Trio basically try to murder any of their victims that don't have the Dream mirror in them. Nehelenia turned all her servants into horrifying monsters so she could have eternal youth. The MOTDs in SuperS are pretty twisted and creepy in general and the scene where you find out Zirconia is Nehelenia's reflection is very creepy.

 

[MariaTenebre]

I would agree the Outers should have been included more in SuperS though we at least got Uranus and Neptune in the SuperS special which is one of the best episode of the 90s anime to me. I think the first season actually has a lot more filler-in episodes than SuperS and most of the 90s anime is completely different from the manga, so I don't it's fair to hold SuperS to a higher stander of manga accuracy when fans don't do it for the rest of the anime. The Doom Tree and Nehelenia arcs are some of the best arcs of the 90s anime and they aren't even in the manga at all. I enjoy Sailor Moon for it's characters and stories and not because one season is darker than the other and I personally enjoy the 90s anime for a lot of the comedy that I feel like the manga lacks. I would also argue SuperS is darker than fans give it credit for. The Amazon Trio basically try to murder any of their victims that don't have the Dream mirror in them. Nehelenia turned all her servants into horrifying monsters so she could have eternal youth. The MOTDs in SuperS are pretty twisted and creepy in general and the scene where you find out Zirconia is Nehelenia's reflection is very creepy.

Well the first season did have filler but it was better paced out with filler and plot developments. Also I do not think that filler itself is bad quite the opposite when done right it can add amazing character development. However when done wrong or overused it can become tedious and boring. I do like some comedy as well but it should be balanced with serious moments as well. I personally felt the first three seasons did excellent jobs and balancing both the comedic and the serious. Also the filler in SuperS was completely out of balance. There were basically tons of filler episodes in the Amazon Trio arc followed by even more filler episodes in the Amazones Quartet arc with fairly little change or additions to the plot. It simply went from finding Pegasus in the Dream Mirrors to looking for the Golden Dream Mirror. I actually do agree with you as I prefer Queen Nehellenia's 90s backstory to her manga backstory but that was one of the few things the SuperS series did better.

 

[Neon Genesis]

To me I would say SuperS is more subtle about it's dark themes rather than it doesn't have enough of it and this is one of the creepiest scenes of the 90s anime to me.

 

[Greyman-X]

I would agree the Outers should have been included more in SuperS though we at least got Uranus and Neptune in the SuperS special which is one of the best episode of the 90s anime to me. I think the first season actually has a lot more filler-in episodes than SuperS and most of the 90s anime is completely different from the manga, so I don't it's fair to hold SuperS to a higher stander of manga accuracy when fans don't do it for the rest of the anime. The Doom Tree and Nehelenia arcs are some of the best arcs of the 90s anime and they aren't even in the manga at all. I enjoy Sailor Moon for it's characters and stories and not because one season is darker than the other and I personally enjoy the 90s anime for a lot of the comedy that I feel like the manga lacks. I would also argue SuperS is darker than fans give it credit for. The Amazon Trio basically try to murder any of their victims that don't have the Dream mirror in them. Nehelenia turned all her servants into horrifying monsters so she could have eternal youth. The MOTDs in SuperS are pretty twisted and creepy in general and the scene where you find out Zirconia is Nehelenia's reflection is very creepy.

YES, thank you. The whole thing with forcibly peering into others' dreams just always seemed like a total violation, mind-rape almost. Not as gruesome as ripping hearts out in the previous arc, no something where the insidiousness is more subtle. As for the Monsters of the Week, I actually prefer the Lemures to the Daimons. The former all share the freaky circus motif rather than being some random crap with a Daimon egg shoved in it, and I think it's later revealed that the Lemures are all people who had their dreams eaten, so... Yeah, pretty freaky.

As for comedy, I don't really mind how a lot of fights are mostly Usagi and Chibiusa. It's just too funny to watch Usagi's misfortune as she's knocked around, shot at, or forced to run like hell. And just because I don't hate Chibiusa doesn't mean I don't derive amusement from seeing her go through the same.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and I just LOVE the battle theme for the SuperS season. Plus, Sailor Team No Theme, which plays when the Senshi transform in front of the Amazoness Quartet, is perhaps my favorite song from the 90s anime. So yeah, subtly creepy stuff, nice comedic stuff, great artwork, awesome music... I cannot fathom why I'm supposed to hate the fourth season.

 

[Nadia]

I think the season is underrated (it is nowhere near the worst), but I don't think it's as good as Classic or R. Like R and Classic, it had its very dark moments without holding back the narrative and bludgeoning it with doom and gloom.

The Amazon Trio were interesting. Personally, I find the season falls apart when it comes to the Amazoness Quartet. Whereas the Amazon Trio were distinct characters with different personalities, aside from Palla Palla, the Amazoness Quartet were four girls who dressed similarly and looked similarly who in the anime really didn't have any purpose other than being replacement lackeys who see the light..

 

[Neon Genesis]

I would disagree and I think the Quartet have a lot more varied personalities than the Trio. CereCeres is mature and elegant, VesVes is hot headed and arrogant, JunJun is tomboyish and sporty, and PallaPalla is twisted and sadistic despite her cute exterior. While Tigerseye and Hawkseye have their moments, Fisheye is the only one of the Trio that really stands out as a fully developed and fleshed out character to me of the group. The Quartet also have more variety in how they go after their targets whereas the Trio always use the same methods and their only difference in tactics is their sexual preferences.

 

[ChampionOfNuggets]

I feel in the middle between you two

Despite the Amazon Quartet supposedly having unique personalities they all seemed the same to me

and gun to my head I dont think i could tell you which one is Tiger Eye and which one was Hawk Eye and which one was a cougar hunter and which one was a loli

 

[Nadia]

That's understandable. Personally I think they gave Tiger's Eye too much screen time compared to Hawk's Eye. Since the latter targeted more mature women, it would have been nice to see more older women as original characters.

Still at least the Amazon Trio interacted with each other. Maybe part of the reason why I don't have a fondness for the Quartet is that they don't play off each other as much as other villain subgroups do By contrast, I can barely remember any of the Amazoness Quartet episodes outside of the body switch episode, the dentist episode, and the episode where thy were working on the festival. The Lemures were more memorable than their handlers.

 

[JayD22460]

Hawk's Eye definitely got the least screen time which is a real shame. And I see what everyone is saying about the Quartet (PS, I'm glad the fandom at large has abandoned that "Amazones Quartetto" nonsense -- "karutetto" is how Japan always transliterates "quartet" and it's quite obvious that "Amazoness" is the intended female version of "Amazon" given the context of the SuperS villains). That said, I still feel that the Trio and Quartet together are more entertaining and memorable than previous villains in similar roles.