The title says it all: which season of the 90's anime deviated most from its manga counterpart?
Likes:
FloraKiraraHime
-
This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn more.
I still trying to understand the ending .
. The orst devants seasons were super s , and stars ,. The earlier seasons you can at least say that are somewhatlike the source material.The last seasons were completely different stories.
. The orst devants seasons were super s , and stars ,. The earlier seasons you can at least say that are somewhatlike the source material.The last seasons were completely different stories.
Likes:
morri and FloraKiraraHime
Definitely the last two like what people are saying, Dream Arc was 100% better in the manga, but both versions of the Stars arc had hits and misses (manga did better world building and I'd love to see all the Sailors' castles and such, but didn't use the Inners/Outers all that much, anime didn't have good world building and changed the final battle but used the Inners better than in the manga version, for example). But then again, just because it's different from the manga doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing, sometimes changes can be good things or improvements.
Likes:
ChibiNehellenia
I concur with everyone else, definitely SuperS and StarS and they're honestly tied and are equally as divergent from the manga as each other, there's honestly no contest.
Though really none of the seasons of the 90's anime do a good job in following the manga, this isn't necessarily bad though. Junichi Sato and Ikuhara created their own unique work that brought interesting elements to the table and kept things fresh, for better or for worse.
I would say that when it comes to the 90's anime, probably the least egregious offender out of all the seasons when it comes to major changes would be S and don't get me wrong, even that season was plenty different from the manga, it's just when you compare it to all the other seasons:
Classic : Removal of mention of the Shittenou being Endymion's former guardians, reduction of Venus's role and removal of the decoy Moon Princess plot, removal of the Holy Moon Sword, addition of the Rainbow Crystal arc and Nephrite/Naru subplot, Princess Serenity's death is changed from suicide to just outright murder, everyone's memories get erased in the end unlike in the manga, the Moon Castle doesn't get revived.
R : Filler Doom Tree/Makaiju arc to rectify the memory loss situation from the first season, everything important regarding Sailor Pluto is cut and thus she barely plays a role unlike in the manga, there's an unneeded break-up arc, Chibs changing back from Black Lady is completely changed due to Pluto's removal, her awakening as Chibi Moon is moved into S, Diana's introduction is moved to SuperS, The Black Moon clan is made sympathetic and the entire reason for their goal is different, Ayakashi sisters get redeemed and live unlike in the manga, all the Senshi are around and only get kidnapped together all at once by Rubeus rather than picked off one by one and not rescued till later, Usagi is rescued by Mamoru from Demande rather than getting out herself.
S : Only real significant differences here is that Saturn's role in the ending/destruction of the Silver Millennium was cut and Tomoe lives and is redeemed. Oh also, no more romantic/sexual tension between Haruka and Usagi. Some stuff that didn't make it into R gets moved here too like Chibi Moon's introduction and Pluto stopping time and dying.
SuperS : Literally everything here is different from the manga
StarS : Same as SuperS, literally every element here is different, entire characters even get erased!
So as you can see when you compare it to the rest, S is easily the one with the least significant changes. SuperS and StarS are still the worst offenders by far though.
Though really none of the seasons of the 90's anime do a good job in following the manga, this isn't necessarily bad though. Junichi Sato and Ikuhara created their own unique work that brought interesting elements to the table and kept things fresh, for better or for worse.
I would say that when it comes to the 90's anime, probably the least egregious offender out of all the seasons when it comes to major changes would be S and don't get me wrong, even that season was plenty different from the manga, it's just when you compare it to all the other seasons:
Classic : Removal of mention of the Shittenou being Endymion's former guardians, reduction of Venus's role and removal of the decoy Moon Princess plot, removal of the Holy Moon Sword, addition of the Rainbow Crystal arc and Nephrite/Naru subplot, Princess Serenity's death is changed from suicide to just outright murder, everyone's memories get erased in the end unlike in the manga, the Moon Castle doesn't get revived.
R : Filler Doom Tree/Makaiju arc to rectify the memory loss situation from the first season, everything important regarding Sailor Pluto is cut and thus she barely plays a role unlike in the manga, there's an unneeded break-up arc, Chibs changing back from Black Lady is completely changed due to Pluto's removal, her awakening as Chibi Moon is moved into S, Diana's introduction is moved to SuperS, The Black Moon clan is made sympathetic and the entire reason for their goal is different, Ayakashi sisters get redeemed and live unlike in the manga, all the Senshi are around and only get kidnapped together all at once by Rubeus rather than picked off one by one and not rescued till later, Usagi is rescued by Mamoru from Demande rather than getting out herself.
S : Only real significant differences here is that Saturn's role in the ending/destruction of the Silver Millennium was cut and Tomoe lives and is redeemed. Oh also, no more romantic/sexual tension between Haruka and Usagi. Some stuff that didn't make it into R gets moved here too like Chibi Moon's introduction and Pluto stopping time and dying.
SuperS : Literally everything here is different from the manga
StarS : Same as SuperS, literally every element here is different, entire characters even get erased!
So as you can see when you compare it to the rest, S is easily the one with the least significant changes. SuperS and StarS are still the worst offenders by far though.
Last edited:
Plus: Rei's personality was completely changed, her grandfather's design and character were completely changed, Reika was completely different from her manga counterpart, the addition of a budding romance between Umino and Naru, making Kunzite and Zoisite a couple, Sailor Moon's tiara doesn't change shape and she never uses "Moon Twilight Flash," Jupiter's introductory episode is completely different from her manga intro chapter, the girls use Hikawa Shrine as their base instead of the secret base under Crown, and there are no hints of a possible past life romance between the Four Kings and the Inners.
Plus: No Kotono, no Asanuma, no Aquatici and Veneti, Sailor Moon and the Inners don't get to meet their future selves, the Moon Rod wasn't created by Usagi and Mamoru's love, Mamoru doesn't get his own attack, Motoki doesn't learn that the girls' secret identities, Neo Queen Serenity doesn't bestow new powers, items, and titles unto Sailor Moon and the Inners, and I feel like the backstory with Wiseman/Death Phantom is a little different?
Plus: Haruka's whole gender ambiguity is mostly omitted/downplayed, the Inners don't get their "Planet Power" transformations and new attacks, Eudial doesn't get her Medusa form, the appearance of the Daimons is very different and there's no search for pure heart crystals in the manga, the occult vibe of the Witches 5 is substituted with a lab/office vibe, Uranus and Neptune don't have their talismans from the jump, I don't think Haruka and Michiru had helicopters?, Hotaru isn't a cyborg and I don't remember her having healing powers, the Inners and Outers don't get Super power ups, Kaolinite's death is different (and, of course, she doesn't die and then come back later in the manga), and I don't remember if the anime mentioned hostie and the Taioron Crystal?
Plus: No Kotono, no Asanuma, no Aquatici and Veneti, Sailor Moon and the Inners don't get to meet their future selves, the Moon Rod wasn't created by Usagi and Mamoru's love, Mamoru doesn't get his own attack, Motoki doesn't learn that the girls' secret identities, Neo Queen Serenity doesn't bestow new powers, items, and titles unto Sailor Moon and the Inners, and I feel like the backstory with Wiseman/Death Phantom is a little different?
Plus: Haruka's whole gender ambiguity is mostly omitted/downplayed, the Inners don't get their "Planet Power" transformations and new attacks, Eudial doesn't get her Medusa form, the appearance of the Daimons is very different and there's no search for pure heart crystals in the manga, the occult vibe of the Witches 5 is substituted with a lab/office vibe, Uranus and Neptune don't have their talismans from the jump, I don't think Haruka and Michiru had helicopters?, Hotaru isn't a cyborg and I don't remember her having healing powers, the Inners and Outers don't get Super power ups, Kaolinite's death is different (and, of course, she doesn't die and then come back later in the manga), and I don't remember if the anime mentioned hostie and the Taioron Crystal?
Last edited:
It's so hard to say, because overall the anime and manga are so different... yet so similar. It's like comparing True Blood to the Sookie Stackhouse novels. I feel like this is usually the cause for mix-media projects, where the anime and manga are concurrent. I think after R, the anime was generally doing it's own thing.
S and the "Mugen" arc have the basis premise, but many notable differences. The hunt for the Talisman, the personality of the Death Busters, Hotaru's introduction, the pure hearts, etc.
S and the "Mugen" arc have the basis premise, but many notable differences. The hunt for the Talisman, the personality of the Death Busters, Hotaru's introduction, the pure hearts, etc.
I literally sat and pondered for minutes over whether SuperS or Sailor Stars deviated the most from their manga counterparts. I almost voted for SuperS because its omission of the outers is a huge deviation, but then I realized that at least the Dead Moon in both the manga and anime have the same ambitions. In Sailor Stars, Galaxia's role is totally changed to where she's just a puppet to Chaos' whims, whereas in the manga she has her own agency and is in competition with Chaos.
I'd say SuperS, followed by Stars. The anime was pretty much doing its own thing at that point. I actually preferred a lot of changes to Stars, but wish SuperS had followed its manga counterpart more closely 
Personally, I kind of like that the anime was its own interpretation. As much as I love Naoko Takeuchi's work, it would have been boring to watch a complete rehash... plus I actually like some of the changes better, like the portrayal of Uranus and Neptune. Some of the areas where the manga lacked the anime improves upon, and vice versa... the two works complement each other.
Personally, I kind of like that the anime was its own interpretation. As much as I love Naoko Takeuchi's work, it would have been boring to watch a complete rehash... plus I actually like some of the changes better, like the portrayal of Uranus and Neptune. Some of the areas where the manga lacked the anime improves upon, and vice versa... the two works complement each other.
Last edited:
Let's also not think for a second that S was much closer to it's manga counterpart compared to SuperS and Sailor Stars. When I first read the manga I was surprised that SuperS was the one that got crap from deviating from the manga so much when the anime was doing that long before Supers.
The Infinity School angle which is what the entire arc is about doesn't even really come into play until the final third of the season, Uranus and Neptune are looking for the talisman and the talisman serve a different function. The Holy Grail comes into existence in a different way. S really only kind of resembles Infinity in the same way all the anime arcs kind of resemble the manga.
With the Dark Kingdom you can at least say episode 1, 8, 10, and 22 at least somewhat follows the manga act they're based on. This is pretty much dropped after that where you can see elements from the manga was pulled for the anime but it gave up being a straightforward adaptation with some liberal deviation to being its own thing by the time Jupiter shows up. But even with all the major changes the first series hits most of the same beats as the Dark Kingdom arc.
The Infinity School angle which is what the entire arc is about doesn't even really come into play until the final third of the season, Uranus and Neptune are looking for the talisman and the talisman serve a different function. The Holy Grail comes into existence in a different way. S really only kind of resembles Infinity in the same way all the anime arcs kind of resemble the manga.
With the Dark Kingdom you can at least say episode 1, 8, 10, and 22 at least somewhat follows the manga act they're based on. This is pretty much dropped after that where you can see elements from the manga was pulled for the anime but it gave up being a straightforward adaptation with some liberal deviation to being its own thing by the time Jupiter shows up. But even with all the major changes the first series hits most of the same beats as the Dark Kingdom arc.
Last edited:
In my opinion, I would say SuperS and Sailor Stars are the two seasons from the 90s anime that are different from the manga.
Likes:
Neo King Rose
I won't say much about actual plot, but the overall theme.
Classic is the closest, it mostly added more personality to the supporting roles and filled up the plot. The only major difference is that the romance between Usagi and Mamoru was not the main focus but the friendship between the girls were.
R's overall plot was not much different, but the theme was changed. The manga focused on a cruel war and the question of immortality, the anime was mostly about love VS power theme.
S doesn't have much plot difference but the theme focus was also a bit different. The manga has the Outers' conflict solved, it mainly focused on fight a powerful threat. The anime tried to focus on the conflict between the Inners and Outers until the end. So it caused the final fight was not satisfied.
Super S's overall theme was not too much different, but the manga focused on the senshi and the anime focused on the victims of the week.
Stars without a doubt, everything was different.
Classic is the closest, it mostly added more personality to the supporting roles and filled up the plot. The only major difference is that the romance between Usagi and Mamoru was not the main focus but the friendship between the girls were.
R's overall plot was not much different, but the theme was changed. The manga focused on a cruel war and the question of immortality, the anime was mostly about love VS power theme.
S doesn't have much plot difference but the theme focus was also a bit different. The manga has the Outers' conflict solved, it mainly focused on fight a powerful threat. The anime tried to focus on the conflict between the Inners and Outers until the end. So it caused the final fight was not satisfied.
Super S's overall theme was not too much different, but the manga focused on the senshi and the anime focused on the victims of the week.
Stars without a doubt, everything was different.
Likes:
Neo King Rose