Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Sailor Moon Crystal - first impressions! ~SPOILERS!!~

Hi cuties! Today I will be sharing with you all my first impressions on the new Sailor Moo Crystal anime!! When I found out that the anime was going to premiere on a select few anime websites --via handy-dandy Tumblr-- I found out that the premiere was at 6am on Saturday for my time zone. Normally I would prefer to sleep in on a Saturday but my favorite magical girl was making an appearance after years so I wouldn't have missed it for the world~! 
( Here''s my ig pic of me watching the premiere).

I pulled an all nighter Friday night (I usually sleep very late) and made it in time for the premier at exactly 6 on the dot! 
soon~! 
I even found a timer on a fansite and checked it frequently through the night as I watched some other anime and spent some time on tumblr. I watched the premiere on Crunchyroll.com !

First thing I have to say about ep. 1 is WWWOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW~!!! Kirei~! Prepare for sparkle attack *throws glitter*





The animation is spectacular on so many levels I can't even!

I loved the sparkly-ness the entire episode had! It was so pretty and like a super modern version of the older anime. --But just not as pastely! 

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 One thing I love about the old school version is the large amount of pastel backgrounds, that of course are a little unrealistic but are all part of creating the right mood for the entire show. 



Where as Crystal made most of their backgrounds more, dark and "fixed" meaning they were stiff and didn't give me that dazed and happy vibe the 1992 version gave me. Crystal was more focused on the story and focused on showing off new animation breakthroughs, than creating a good bubbly atmosphere. 

I especially loved Usagi's first transformation sequence - I'll let these screen shots do the talking:

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I felt like I was watching Precure! for a second because of the digital animation versus the hand drawn art i'm so used to -- this was what made S.M unique. But I still like this new animation it's pretty in it'sown way, it isn't fair for me to compare it to something that was made 22 yrs ago.... This new animation style is so fluid and pretty~! Although Usagis' limbs look like noodle and aren't proportional to Naokos original art.


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At first I thought the biggest con, in my opinion, was Usagis stiff personality. Usagi is a total goof ball, she'll trip on absolutely nothing and makes the oddest faces. But Crystal showed what seemed like a more graceful Usagi !? ( not to mention her lipstick it makes her look mature..) I suppose the times have changed and emotions aren't expressed via huge sweat drops on the faces of the character and all that old school animation, but such ridiculous expressions were what made Usagi well, Usagi. But as I got about half way through the episode I grew to love her personality, she is still the same old Usagi- just 21st century looking.


As far as I've seen from ep.1, Usagi has quite a number of expressions but they don't stand out much, they are very subtle and not as expressive as they should be. Her expressions have always been unexpected an exaggerated = perfect! But SMCrystal was hesitant to express her this way.....

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I found this post on tumblr which was exactly what I felt about SMC.

~Click to enlarge~
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The 4th image bothered me especially. In the manga and original anime, Usagi is super nervous entering the jewelry shop because it's her fist job as Sailor Moon, she doesn't know what to expect at all. Then in Crystal we have Usagi running into the jewelry shop like shes late for anime school or something....smh...

Also --her trademark blanket design with bunnies changed!



One other thing I can't get over is how long and slim all the characters look. There's nothing wrong with being skinny, but the body designs the sailor scouts had before made them look younger and less exposed to the word around them. Considering they were only 14-15 I think it's just right. But in Crystal they look very mature in terms of height and maturity, now they look about 17. Either way, they are gorgeous senshi's and this new style suits them~!


Tumblr artists seem to be on this case though.


I also just want to point out the new Moon Tiara Boomerang throw:


That smooth animation makes me smile so much, but I couldn't help but notice Usagis' stance in Crystal. It looks kinda awkward...


However I think all the other side characters were done pretty well! Like Usagi's bestie Naru and Umino just to name a few. But her mom suddenly had pastel lilac hair??




~Sigh~

I just hope we get to see the humorous side of the story to make up for everything else. The silly humor was my favorite thing together with the funny expressions. 

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Nevertheless, I'm more than glad to watch a version of Sailor Moon that was created in my time period. Of course I will always prefer the older version, but I will be looking forward to Crystal as the story progresses. I also noticed that the pace was faster in Crystal, every scene got to the paint and dint drag. There is a lot more heading our way as more episodes get released and I'm looking forward to watching them all!

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What did you cuties think of the first episode? Comment below!

Thank you for reading Moonies~!


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3 comments:

  1. OMG, thanks for this post! I watched the first episode a few days ago and I was a little "ehh... I like it but not really really love it". x) I'll always prefer the original as well - I was totally obsessed with it. But yay!~ (: Sailor moon is baaaacck!~
    (When is episode 2 coming out on CR, btw? o-o)

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    1. I just found out that episode 2 comes out on the 19th of July~! We have to wait one more week >.<

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  2. Thanks June!
    I wasn't sure how people would react to this post, I was nervous after posting it. Glad to see you agree with me ^▽^ I like but hmm....the older version is special.

    I believe CR will air every episode on the weekends, if I'm not wrong :)

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