A good four months have passed since the 5th of July, <fill in appropriate time for your time zone when Crystal airs ^_^> when the first episode of Sailor Moon Crystal aired. Thanks to Niconico (or Crunchyroll) us Moonies could enjoy the long-expected remake cheap/for free (depending on the wanted quality). However, by now the euphoria has settled down and the frustration over the quality – especially of the animation – became more dominant. For nine episodes I have been accompanying Sailor Moon Crystal with regular recaps/episode reviews. Today, however, I'd like to take a look at the entire product with a bit more distance. This will happen slightly different than usual, using a little Q&A theme to take up central topics.
Question 1: Is the animation in Sailor Moon Crystal really this bad?
I cannot judge this fairly. Yes, not a good answer for the first question but I've never been one to have the best eye for graphic or even one to pay much importance into it. Which is why I don't want to presume to judge this adequately where others can probably do a better job. Of course, I still do have my own opinion.
Before answering this question it has to be pointed out that Sailor Moon Crystal works on a low budget compared to other anime productions and this naturally affects quality. This isn't supposed to be an apology by far since it has been shown that even with low budget or inferior technology great productions have been created (otherwise we wouldn't have Jedicons or other things Star Wars-related). One can easily become a little envious when merely watching the first three minutes of this season's Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis and thinking: Damn, I want to see just a fraction of this in Sailor Moon Crystal.
Yes, it's sad that we are not presented a graphical masterpiece but I fear we have to accept how it is and as such rather pay more attention to the rest of the adaption.
There are highlights after all. The transformation scenes are somewhere between passing and good. Yet not exactly spectacular either. This is curious considering a lot of people from the Pretty Cure team are working on this and whatever you can say about the latest seasons, one can hardly argue about the quality of the transformation scenes (on a purely animation level at least). There is still a lot of room left, so let us hope that for the following arcs with new transformation stages the quality will also get an upgrade.
Question 2: Why is there so little discussion about the music?
A good question! Probably because there's scarcely anything to discuss. For that the music in Sailor Moon Crystal would have to make an impression in some way, either positive or negative. At the moment the music is just simply there. The transformation themes are somewhat okay but not more (again compared to Precure standards). It took until the last episode to produce a matching and atmospheric BGM for the first time.
If I think about the old anime's soundtrack... Just like Sailor Moon brought me – and many others of my generation – into the anime scene, the soundtrack was in fact my first real encounter with Japanese anime music. Whatever good or bad can be said about the old anime, the soundtrack has been and still is one of the best in its entirety among the one's I have heard so far (and there's been plenty). This is sorely lacking in Sailor Moon Crystal, however, Opening and Ending aside. No Inserts, no noteworthy BGM. As a technical aspect I am hurt by this far more than the animation.
Question 3: How are the characters adapted?
Mostly as they are in the manga, with some divergence. Ami was a bit off, especially in her episode (see respective recap). Rei is a mix of both manga and something new that I can't quite categorize yet. Makoto comes across most naturally but this isn't too hard with her character. Minako actually works well for this part of the story, with the small changes and initially distance to the others.
There aren't any big changes for Usagi and Mamoru compared to the manga. Sure, Usagi is a tad bit more emotional and gravitates a little more towards her old anime version. But that is actually alright seeing how her nearly apathetic reaction to an emotional crisis in the manga tended to be a tad unrealistic. A little more honest emotion doesn't hurt. Care has to be taken, however, not to lose the "strong" Sailor Moon of the manga. So far it worked.
The fast speed of the adaption actually works a little negatively here because almost all day-to-day interaction is lost. Where the old anime had too much of that, the manga certainly had too little. A lot of opportunities for new material – and what is hatefully called filler – have already been missed and there aren't likely to be any more further in after the recent announcement of the future schedule. More regarding the problem of the adaption speed in the next answer.
Question 4: Is Sailor Moon Crystal a worthy adaption of the manga?
And here we are at the heart of the matter. From the beginning Sailor Moon Crystal claimed for itself to be a closer adaption of the manga than the anime of the nineties. All the more surprising is just HOW close the adaption is. After nine acts there has yet to be any divergence from the speed of the manga, the frequency is practically 1:1 and the same goes for the actual plot adaption. Except a couple of select scenes which have been edited or complemented almost nothing has been completely rewritten. Only Act 8 and Minako's solo action stand out somewhat.
On one hand this might be good since the old anime has made several cuts in key points of the manga's plot. On the other hand it stands to reason whether a pure 1:1 adaption of the manga is actually working for moving pictures. The initial/introduction chapters are always difficult to sell, even more so in an anime than a manga, and this also shows in Sailor Moon Crystal. Until 2-3 episodes ago very little has happened story-wise and mostly the characters have been introduced. What works in the manga, might not work so well on screen.
Adding to that are the changes that have actually been made. The approach of working on the battle scenes has certainly been the right way since those have been awfully short in the manga. There were no dynamic battles, instead most of them ended in one attack. Adding to that is exactly the right way. However, this effect is clearly ruined with horrible scriptwriting like in episode 6 and 7 or by ruining the key aspects of a Senshi's characters – like Ami in episode 2. And there's certainly very little room for excuses here since most of these scripts were more on the level of a badly written fan fiction.
Nevertheless the last episodes have shown an upward tendency. Just the quality is still very fluctuating. There is simply no consistency and every time you have to ask yourself: Will this week be better or worse again? The additions to battle scenes also appear more like something forcefully added in order to show some attacks which in the end don't make a significant change at all. Only in Makoto's episode the addition works out very well.
Coming to an actual answer now. Sailor Moon Crystal is certainly an adaption of the manga, perhaps a bit too much (and I honestly did not expect to say that at this point of time). Worthy, however? Probably not yet. For that to happen much more work has to be put into the scripts. A little more character interaction would also be nice. Just because the old anime has been focusing a bit too much on that, it doesn't have to be totally ignored now. For a series that only comes out twice a month, you have to wonder what the writers are actually doing since this quality is at most worth the effort of 1-2 days, not 14 or more.
Question 5: Is there actually anything positive about Sailor Moon Crystal?
Of course there is. You just have to look rather closely to find any. Part of this obviously is that in the tenacious initial phase, which every anime often tends to master rather worse for wear, very little is happening that can be underlined. Makoto's episode was good and so were the last two. With a lot of good will an upward tendency can be seen, however, scenes like the final one of episode 9 shouldn't stay the exception but rather should become the standard to measure off.
At the moment the brand Sailor Moon is pulling the new anime more than Sailor Moon Crystal makes an effort call attention to itself by its own effort. What keeps most fans on board for now is nostalgia (which gets a little less with each shower of reality) and the hope for more.
Conclusion – or: What is missing in Sailor Moon Crystal?
Sadly more than which is not missing. To make a short list:
- Better animation. Even with a low budget it needs to get better. As much as I know, Hanayamata also worked on a low budget and managed to pull off a colorful, nice animation. This will not pull as an excuses much longer, if it hasn't expired already.
- Music (and I don't have to say more)
- Character development. Even (useful) filler episodes which give us a little more than the manga. However, exactly this is rather unlikely after the recent announcement.
- More new material in general that are more than just a couple of badly-written loveless dialogues (or even monologues)
- More consistency in the entire production
Even if all this sound extremely negative – rightfully though –, it does not mean that Sailor Moon Crystal is not enjoyable to watch. It's only been nine episodes, the best phase is only just beginning and just in time an upward tendencies can be seen. At the moment, however, Sailor Moon Crystal is mostly average, carried mostly by the nostalgia of the fans and the name Sailor Moon. It cannot compete with highlights of this year like No Game No Life, Mahouka or many others.
Score: 3.5/5 (with a lot of goodwill and rather extreme fluctuations)
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