Disclaimer: I am reviewing each season and DVD as a finished product. I am completely ignoring how TOEI presented the episodes to audiences in 2014 (unfinished).
SMC Crystal Season 1 Review
Pros:
I am surprised with my experience, I enjoyed watching season 1–and, again, I cannot emphasize enough that to enjoy Crystal, you must watch the finished product. I watched season 1 in two days. My experience was that I was not watching a TV series, but an abridged movie with over 80 hours.
3/5 stars because I actually experienced joy and happiness while watching this.
Starting season 2 soon...
SMC Crystal Season 1 Review
Pros:
- It is narrated more introspectively and intimately, just like in the manga—it masterfully captures the introspective essence of the manga and of Usagi and Mamoru’s relationship. Make no mistake, some episodes introduce the inner senshi, but this is really the story of Usagi and Mamoru and, to a lesser extent, of Sailor Venus. She was kept under the shadows and knew exactly what was going on. This added depth to the character.
- I love the character designs (personal opinion). The character designs feel very close to those of the manga and I especially liked how they zoomed in the faces of characters (e.g. mouth and eyes) to express their emotions. An example that comes to mind is when Ami is playing the Sailor V video game and she genuinely smiles—and we get to feel that she is happy.
- It feels like a very long movie, but it isn’t a movie—you can binge-watch the episodes and pause and then continue watching them. I think it is a great format. A movie would feel shorter. While watching season 1, I felt like I was binge-watching a lengthy Netflix show.
- Interesting backgrounds.
- I love the title cards—they are charming and add an aura of mystery to the series.
- I felt infuriated that Venus didn’t get to kill Beryl—she was portrayed as the leader of the senshi and I wanted her to have her moment.
- TOEI watered down some scenes. Beryl should have been impaled by Venus’s sword, just like in the manga, for example. A few other scenes felt watered down, too.
- The music (personal opinion). Although I don’t dislike the score, I feel it could have been much better.
- Although some shots look beautiful (and you can tell they put a lot of effort into them), some shots do look bad. In episode 2, for example—in some specific scenes, the characters are drawn poorly, but, to me, this wasn’t really a big distraction. My overall impression was that there are more beautiful shots than bad ones.
- The product is not fully finished. The composer created a transformation/theme for each senshi, but only Mars’s was used. This is unjustified. Since TOEI had time to fix design and animation errors, it could have altered the audio to create a richer experience for viewers.
I am surprised with my experience, I enjoyed watching season 1–and, again, I cannot emphasize enough that to enjoy Crystal, you must watch the finished product. I watched season 1 in two days. My experience was that I was not watching a TV series, but an abridged movie with over 80 hours.
3/5 stars because I actually experienced joy and happiness while watching this.
Starting season 2 soon...
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