Is the original anime "bad" enough to be considered a guilty pleasure?

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Is it?

  • Yes

    Votes: 3 13.6%
  • No

    Votes: 19 86.4%

  • Total voters
    22

Ale6

Luna Crescens
Jan 10, 2018
190
118
165
#1
Exactly what the title says.
I find myself talking to many people online who like Sailor Moon and I've noticed a trend in their views of the original anime.
I grew up with that version of Sailor Moon and to me it still stands as a fairly good show, but maybe I am truly biased.
 

MariaTenebre

Systema Solare
Jul 22, 2009
5,778
1,225
1,665
#2
I think it is a very good show so I don't think it is bad at all. It isn't perfect but over all I would say it is a quality show with an over all good story.
 

Sakuranbo

Aurorae Lunares
Feb 10, 2019
1,068
1,118
1,665
#3
The original 90s anime is not bad in my honest opinion and even though it's not really faithful to the manga, I still love it since I grew up with it and it has always been a part of my childhood too.
 

MariaTenebre

Systema Solare
Jul 22, 2009
5,778
1,225
1,665
#4
The original 90s anime is not bad in my honest opinion and even though it's not really faithful to the manga, I still love it since I grew up with it and it has always been a part of my childhood too.
I also think that in some respects one of the reasons it wasn't always faithful to the manga was it's strengths. Sometimes we got better stories from diverging from the manga. Of course in some cases like the 4th season we got worse stories.
 
Jul 29, 2012
8,745
6,639
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#5
The 90's anime is exceptional. Episodes 45 and 46, for example, are memorable. Even SuperS, as flawed as it may be, is a beautifully animated season.
 
Likes: Starlight

Sakuranbo

Aurorae Lunares
Feb 10, 2019
1,068
1,118
1,665
#7
I also think that in some respects one of the reasons it wasn't always faithful to the manga was it's strengths. Sometimes we got better stories from diverging from the manga. Of course in some cases like the 4th season we got worse stories.
That is true and yeah SuperS wasn't that good compared to the other seasons.
 
Last edited:

Nadia

Aurorae Lunares
Jun 30, 2010
1,831
1,331
1,665
www.smcx.me
#8
I have to continue the firm "NO" trend here.

The original anime has its flaws, and it has enough cheese to last a lifetime. I seriously don't consider it a great work of art, and I can see why anime snobs used to look down on it when it was more popular.

But it's nowhere near a "guilty pleasure." While I don't consider it "great" it's still considered fair to good by most people who have seen it, even me.

To be a guilty pleasure, it has to be at least considered bad, and I've seen some deeply flawed, but enjoyable media. Captain Planet. Johnny Mnemonic. Blade: the Series (the one with Sticky Fingaz). Things that you have to be embarrassed to admit you like and you know are bad but can't not watch because you love watching it. I knew even as a kid the eco-villains of Captain Planet were the stupidest antagonists, but I can't help but admit I had a mad crush on Kwame as a kid...

...got sidetracked there.

The only thing that would be a guilty pleasure among Sailor Moon fans is the original English dub, because nearly no one wants to admit to liking it, even though I and several others do, despite its flaws.
 
Last edited:

sapphire91

Stella Nova
Jul 6, 2018
6,668
9,485
1,665
#9
For me a guilty pleasure should be something that is bad compared to material released at the same time. King's Game and Mayouiga come to my mind as something I can call guilty pleasure as they were comical despite the horror/suspense intend and were bad in writing and execution compared to contemporary titles. The original Sailor Moon might be looked as cheesy by modern audiences and the animation might look static, but it was done in early to mid 90s and as a product of its time it is actually well drawn and written for its intent and audience. It has some episodes that might look weird, bad offensive today, but back in the day it was not the case. It can be a guilty pleasure if you enjoy shounen and seinen shows and you do not care about magical girl genre, but otherwise ot is classic. Some people might say watching Gone With The Wind is guilty pleasure and how bad and problematic it is today, but as a movie done i the 30s, it is quite exceptional.
 
Sep 6, 2014
3,326
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#11
Depends on the episode. I watch most of it unironically, but there are some clear bad episodes, like the beach filler ones.
Other than being expendable I’m not sure what made the first series beach episode any worse than your average episode? I guess it was a bit bland.

R’s beach episode though? Woof that was clearly made for the young end of the target demo.
 
Apr 9, 2019
76
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Florida
#12
Personally, I don't think so at all. The S season especially is among some of my favorite anime of all time (and I've seen many), I personally rank Sailor Moon up there with such greats as Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop. It does have some noticeable flaws -- some cliche character and story concepts, a lot of filler, a lackluster season (SuperS), etc. -- but the show has enough truly outstanding moments to make up for all that. Some of the common complaints, such as the filler, don't even bother me that much -- I actually think most of the filler is good and help to add humor and character development to the show.

I have noticed sometimes it's common for people to rag on it, though, and compare it negatively to more renowned series. To each their own, I suppose -- also to be fair, a lot of them have probably only been exposed to the DiC dub, which is a lot worse than the original Japanese series imo.

There is one flaw that gets to me more than the rest, though... and that it gets really hard to suspend disbelief sometimes when it comes to the "secret identities" story arcs -- the fact that the characters look near identical in both civilian and Senshi form and yet we're supposed to believe they don't even suspect a thing. It's one of the few things that really detracts from the quality and emotion of the storytelling sometimes and reminds you that it is a kid's show -- it's still a great show regardless, don't get me wrong.
 

MariaTenebre

Systema Solare
Jul 22, 2009
5,778
1,225
1,665
#13
Depends on the episode. I watch most of it unironically, but there are some clear bad episodes, like the beach filler ones.
I liked the beach filler episodes especially the Ghost and Dinosaur episodes I thought they were very good.
 
Sep 6, 2014
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#14
.

I have noticed sometimes it's common for people to rag on it, though, and compare it negatively to more renowned series. To each their own, I suppose -- also to be fair, a lot of them have probably only been exposed to the DiC dub, which is a lot worse than the original Japanese series imo.
Except the vast majority of criticism Sailor Moon receives (predictable and cheesy formulaic plots, super heroines with poor secret identity control, reliance on recycled animation and stock footage, monster of the week format etc), is stuff that can be applied to both versions.

People who think people who don’t like Sailor Moon because DiC dub are really reaching.