Tag Archives: sailor moon crystal

CJ’s Anime Review Blogs – Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3, Episode 10

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I’m finally home from Japan, but as I settle down, I can’t find the time or energy to do another video review. Jet lag has been dreadful and I find myself stuck in a strange limbo where it seems like I am both sleeping way too much and sleeping way too little. Aside from that, it is strange to be back in a country where I had to hide my Sailor Moon keychain getting off the plane for fear that people might judge me in public. Yes, even I, a person who runs a small YouTube channel as a hobby, have issues talking about my passions in public. Still, I am glad that I find the courage to write about my hobby and look forward to sharing more reviews in the future.

So let’s get to this review. This episode was once again another exciting episode of Sailor Moon Crystal. I can’t say enough how exhilarating it is to actually look forward to episodes of this season. Everything is done so well and although I might not agree with all of the changes made, I can at least appreciate that Toei Animation is trying to make Sailor Moon Crystal a separate entity from the original manga. Don’t be fooled when people say that this is a “1:1 adaptation.” Sure, it might be closest thing we ever get to the manga, but it is not a perfect representation and in my opinion should not strive toward being one. We already have the manga after all. Continue reading →

CJ’s Anime Review Blogs – Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3, Episode 9

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I return once again for my penultimate written episode review of Sailor Moon Crystal as I travel though Japan. This has been an extremely fun trip and it’s been exhilarating to be in a country where manga and anime are simply a part of many lives, rather than just some niche interest. My favorite part of the trip, anime wise, was likely going through the Sailor Moon Art Exhibit. It was a legitimate museum exhibit, featuring many Sailor Moon items, including original manga color spreads. It was incredible to be able to see some of these pieces for myself. I can’t tell you how giddy I got to see, in particular, one important piece I’ve held dear since my childhood featuring Eternal Sailor Moon and my favorite villain, Sailor Galaxia.

Speaking of the manga, it often surprises me that I am one of the few reviewers out there that reviews Sailor Moon Crystal as an adaptation. Most reviews I’ve seen just review it on its own, which leaves the reviewer understandably confused. Why, after all, would Sailor Mercury get excited about a super computer she read about… in a book? Of course, knowing the manga was written in the 90’s, it’s easy to blame Toei Animation for keeping this little bit of dialogue in what was supposed to be a modern adaptation, rather than thinking this was something the company had written itself. I wish more reviewers at least commented that this is an adaptation, rather than pretending like this is an original property. Continue reading →

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

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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. Continue reading →

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

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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. Continue reading →

Let’s Talk About That Kiss… (Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3, Episode 3)

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Sailors Uranus and Neptune have been cited as being two of the most influential characters in fiction, not just anime, for many LGBT oriented millennials. For me, they were my first examples of homosexuality in general and served as a positive example for me of those with differing orientations. But there seems to be a divide in the Sailor Moon community as to which version of Sailor Moon represented their characters best. Was it the original manga or Toei Animation’s anime? Many have legitimate arguments for both cases, but the one I see come up the most is that Sailor Uranus (Haruka) kisses Sailor Moon (Usagi) without consent in the manga and therefore doesn’t come off as positively as she should.

I normally don’t like to talk about stories that are decades old and have already been analyzed by much more intuitive minds but this scene has been brought into question yet again with the (surprisingly good) third season of Sailor Moon Crystal. I have been asked by several of my followers on my YouTube channel, CJ Vs. Manga, to talk about this scene in particular, but I personally believe it is too sensitive a topic to talk on video and, seeing as much of what I say on that channel is fairly or unfairly misinterpreted, I will write about it here instead. Continue reading →