CJ’s Anime Review Blogs – Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3, Episode 8

Here we are again. Another week has gone by and we’ve had yet another amazing episode of Sailor Moon Crystal. It feels almost repetitive for me to say this series is still good at this point, similar to how I kept saying over and over what a disappointment the last season was, but I still am continuously surprised at this turn of events. I’m incredibly joyful that we’re where we are at now. I’m glad Toei Animation took past criticism seriously and stepped it up for this season.

So let’s get to the manga to anime adaptation elements, both good and bad. Starting off, the added effects on the Talismans were pretty cool. I liked the interpretations of Sailor Neptune’s mirror glowing with bubbles and Sailor Uranus’s sword glowing with light. But why did Sailor Pluto have bubbles too? This effect was odd and out of place but I’m not sure what effect could have been put in to replace it.

CJ’s Anime Review Blogs – Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3, Episode 7

Whelp, I’m traveling in Japan and it’s the first week I have off on my video review series of Sailor Moon Crystal. For obvious reasons, I’m unable to film, edit and upload reviews. I’m disheartened that I wasn’t able to do all of the videos on a week by week basis as planned, but I am fortunate that I am least able to do a review for them at all. Truthfully, going back to the written format for these reviews is refreshing. It feels like the old days, when I did these reviews almost as therapy when Crystal was a mess. Now, I do them simply out of love for this surprisingly respectful adaptation.

On a side note, it’s oddly hilarious to point out that this is the first episode that I’ve had to watch on a third party “service.” Most of Crunchyroll is unavailable in Japan. Despite hordes of Sailor Moon content surrounding me on a regular basis, I have a harder time viewing Crystal here than in the States. It’s really given me a perspective into the difficulty of being a fan who doesn’t live in the U.S.A. I can’t blame those who pirate when legal options aren’t otherwise available. And before you ask, I could have watched it on television but… no subtitles, no dice.

The Best and Worst Sailor Moon Manga Arcs – Part 1

With all the recent hype, I’ve been thinking a lot about Sailor Moon, mostly about how close Sailor Moon Crystal is to the manga version. Unlike most manga, the Sailor Moon manga came out around the same time as the original anime. In some arcs, the anime proceeded the manga, so it can be classified as the original story and not at the same time. What is certain is that mangaka Naoko Takeuchi and her team came up with the original ideas and concepts behind the characters we know and love, so the manga is likely the definitive version of the story.

The manga will no doubt be replicated in this new anime for better or worse. We haven’t had any news yet of a second season or future installments for Sailor Moon Crystal, but this current season is likely going to be successful so I doubt Toei Animation will hesitate to cash in on other story lines as well. From what I’ve seen so far, I at least enjoy the subtle changes made to the material and I hope they keep it up to differentiate the new anime from the manga.

So I’ve been thinking, what are the best arcs in the Sailor Moon manga? Unlike many shonen these days, Sailor Moon only has five arcs, with an astoundingly short average of about ten monthly chapters each (about 40 pages or so). Since there’s so little story, I can easily rank the arcs from worst to best and analyze them all critically. I’m not going to be talking about the original anime versions of these arcs, since I haven’t nearly seen enough of it to give it a fair opinion. (though that might be saved for a future article). I may make a few comparisons to content I’ve seen, but only to point out trivia. Also, please keep in mind that I am open to criticism myself. If you think one of these arcs is better deserving of praise, please let me know in the comments. I already know many Sailor Moon fans will disagree with my worst choice and that’s perfectly cool. Without varying opinions in the fandom, there’s little room for interesting discussion and no room for us to grow.

There will be spoilers for each arc’s analysis, though I will keep the spoilers contained within their respective sections. So if you’re interested in my opinion on Black Moon, but don’t want to be spoiled for Infinity, don’t fret!

With that said, let’s get started… in the name of the moon!… or something.