T5W#468-Top 5 Classic Sailor Moon Villains Done Dirty by Sailor Moon Crystal/Eternal

Sailor Moon Crystal barely scrapped by to a mid tier score thanks to the improvements of Season Three. That doesn’t mean it still redeemed for the mountain of mistakes and mishandlings of the legacy of Usagi Tsukino and her fellow Sailor Senshi.  There’ll be plenty of time for a more thorough breakdown once we get to Sailor Moon Cosmos in November (maybe even a Top 10 special?).  Today for the last of our Month long Sailor Moon Top 5 Wedndesday’s, I’m looking at one of the more frequent missteps of the new series: the Villains.  Now not every villain from the 90s Anime was perfect (looking at you An & Ail and the Amazon Trio) but most of them were immensely entertaining and a genuine threat to the Senshi.  Just how did the reboot manage to reduce them all to mere two dimensional letdowns?  Let’s find out as I count down the Top 5 Classic Sailor Moon Villains Done Dirty by Sailor Moon Crystal/Eternal.

Sailor Moon Eternal (Part 1 & 2)

On the day of a Solar Eclipse, a mysterious ship descends to Earth.  At the same time, Usagi, Chibiusa and Mamoru receive a vision of a mythical Pegasus calling for help.  One of Silver Millenium’s oldest enemies has returned, bringing terrible visions and curses upon not just the Sailor Senshi but also a mystical realm vital to Earth survival.  Armed with new powers, Sailor Moon and her fellow Senshi must reunite for a new battle with the fate of two worlds and the life forces of Usagi and Mamoru hanging in the balance.

After treading through the worse, the bad and the much better of three seasons of Sailor Moon Crystal, we arrive at the official continuation…which might as well be Crystal Season 4.  Yeah I don’t know why the Dead Moon Circus Arc was reformed into a two part double feature (I’ll probably question the same tactic when I get to Sailor Moon Cosmos later this year).  Whatever the reasons may be, Eternal has arguably the toughest task since the announcement of a Sailor Moon Reboot: Doing Sailor Moon SuperS better than it was in the 90s.  That’s a huge undertaking considering SuperS was the bottom of the franchise until Season One of Crystal came along.  Plus, we also have the spectacular Nehelenia Arc that kicked off Sailor Moon Sailor Stars to cover as well.  Can Sailor Moon Eternal achieve in a three hour run time what SuperS could not in 40 episodes (and had to have Sailor Stars spend 6 episodes cleaning up after)?
 

Sailor Moon Crystal Part 9 Episodes 35-39

With Chibiusa’s life hanging in the balance, the Inner and Outer Senshi unite for a final assault on Mugen Academy, headquarters of the Death Busters.  But can even the combined might of eight Sailor Senshi stand against the most powerful darkness they’ve ever faced?  And when the long prophesied harbinger of destruction, Sailor Saturn, finally awakens, will she choose to adhere to her title or choose another path?  Whatever the choice, Usagi Tsukino presses forward, determined to save the world no matter what it takes.

To say that Sailor Moon Crystal has been a challenge would be an understatement.  But after two seasons of Anime’s top Magical Girl getting the dark and depressing reboot treatment, Season Three has really surprised me with how much its gotten right even though it isnt close to fulfilling a new age Sailor Moons full potential.  The last two review within this season have had more highs than the usual lows, which makes the need for the season to close out the series strong all the more imperative.  Well, there are a few problems with Crystal overall I haven’t delved that deep into as opposed to others and some of those are highlighted clearly in these final few episodes.  As far as three season finales go, this one is the best but its both not saying much and also it would be sad if Crystal made it 0-3 in the successful finales department.  I feel like I’m being cryptic.  Does Season Three of Sailor Moon Crystal wrap up the overall series as best it can or does it slump back to the lows of its two prior season predecessors?
 

Sailor Moon Crystal Part 8 Episodes 31-34

The looming threat of the Death Busters seems like nothing compared to the brewing storm between two teams of Sailor Senshi.  Revealed as the Outer Senshi, Uranus and Neptune declare they are not Usagi’s allies and don’t hesitate to attack her and her friends.  Meanwhile Chibiusa forms a friendship with the kind but sickly Hotaru, whose Father might have a close connection to the Death Busters.  Everything comes to a head when a showdown between two teams of Sailor Senshi reveals the ultimate power of Sailor Moon…and Hotaru’s true destiny.

Its weird watching this penultimate chapter of Sailor Moon Crystal and actually enjoying it more than ragging on it.  The first two seasons were so horrible in their depictions of Usagi and the rest of the Senshi it was infuriating.  But Season Three’s strides to be better have worked in its favor and there’s a noticeable difference in basically every aspect of the show…well almost every aspect.  There are still drawbacks for cramming everything into a 13 episode run and the show is trying to compensate, albeit not with much success.  Still, this is the first time I think I’ve started a Crystal review and my blood isnt boiling.  Let’s see why that is.
 

T5W#467-Top 5 Outer Sailor Senshi With the Best Attacks

This past Monday we crossed into Season Three of Sailor Moon Crystal.  Since it’s tackling the Death Busters Arc, better known as Sailor Moon S, that means the Outer Senshi are back in play (most of them at the moment).  While the Inner Senshi are hardly bad at their jobs, the Outer Senshi are almost on a whole other level with the kind of bad ass chaos they can bring, sometimes just by showing up and looking stylish (looking at you two Uranus and Neptune).  And just how bad ass are these five Outer Guardians?  On todays Top 5 Wednesday I’ll be ranking the Outers based on the devastation (and versatility) of their attacks: the Top 5 Outer Sailor Senshi With the Best Attacks.  Quick note: since I’ve only just started Season Three of Sailor Moon Crystal (and don’t really like how they’ve handled any of the Senshi except for Chibiusa and Pluto so far), this list will be using observations from the original 90s series as my basis for these rankings.  Whether Crystal improves or lessens the Outer Senshi’s effectiveness, well that remains to be seen.

Sailor Moon Crystal Part 7 Episodes 27-30

A premonition of doom.  An illustrious new academy.  Students becoming Monsters.  A new series of strange events pull Usagi Tsukino and her friends back into battle once again.  But a new villainous group known as the Death Busters aren’t the only new faces in town.  Two beautiful new students, Haruka and Michiru, appear and start making serious waves.  Little do Usagi and the others know that these new IT girls are also a pair of mysterious new Sailor Senshi: Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune.  Can they be trusted or do these two rogue Senshi plan to fight the enemy their own way?

When it comes to TV Shows of any kind (Animated, Live Action or otherwise), growing pains can be expected.  Some shows hit the ground running and knock it out of the park first try.  Others either get off to a slow start or realize they have no idea what theyre doing and have to just carry on with what they have.  The best example of this is Star Trek: The Next Generation.  While the first two seasons aren’t without classics, they’re generally regarded as a poor beginning for the legendary scifi series.  Which brings us to Sailor Moon Crystal Season Three.  Kind of like with Star Trek TNG, the First Season was God Awful while the Second Season did show glimpses of the potential a new Sailor Moon series could offer.  As I said before last time, all bets are off at this point.  Which is why it’s a nice and welcome surprise to see some major improvements in the Season Premiere, even if I do feel they might be too little, too late to save Crystal overall.
 

Sailor Moon Crystal Part 6 Episodes 23-26

The battle for two time periods has begun as the Black Moon Clan prepares for their final assault on both the Past and Future.  Leading their efforts are an aged Chibiusa, now Black Lady.  Reunited with the rest of the Senshi, Usagi desperately tries to reach out to her friend.  But it will take more than kind words and courage to win this ultimate battle and even those who have sworn not to intervene will be forced to step in.

There are moments in the Season Two Finale of Sailor Moon Crystal where I can feel that the show is sometimes trying its darndest to be something special.  It wants me to believe that the Sailor Moon I’m seeing in action is the same one at the end of Sailor Moon R, who took on Nemesis with her daughter at her side and kicked it out of the park.  But no matter how hard it makes the attempt, it can never seem to shake what it’s been doing wrong and how it’s doubled down on it all season long.  When it comes to the actual conclusion of the Black Moon Arc, my prediction of it being on par with the terribleness of Season One’s ending pretty much turned out right.  New situation, same missteps, same lackluster results.  At least Pluto and (mostly) Chibiusa were able to continue outshining the stars of the series…like I said mostly.  Cause oh boy, what they did to Chibiusa, we might as well start there cause I’ve got things to say.
 

T5W#466-Top 5 Sailor Moon Ships

Now I know Ive been ragging on Sailor Moon Crystal a lot since it started but come on, it’s bad and you cant blame me for feeling like the best Magical Girl in the genre isn’t getting her due.  Today on Top 5 Wednesday, however, I’m gonna take a break from bashing Crystal to focus on something a lot more fun: Fan Shipping.  We all do it no matter the series and we gnaw our teeth supe hard waiting for the powers that be to hear our prayers.  Now obviously, the couplings in Sailor Moon are well set in stone.  That doesn’t mean I cant share who I think should end up together or who would be a better match for certain characters *COUGH COUGH USAGI COUGH*.  So today, Dear Readers, I present my Top 5 Sailor Moon Ships.

 

Sailor Moon Crystal Part 5 Episodes 19-22

With Rei, Ami and Makoto in enemy hands, Usagi, Minako and Chibiusa travel to a realm between time itself.  In order to reach the future, they must first face the Guardian of Space and Time, Sailor Pluto.  But even if they make it to 30^th Century, they’ll be facing the Black Moon Clan on their own ground.  They’ve already conquered the future and Usagi is next on the list of treasures Prince Demande wishes to collect.  What’s worse, Demande’s Wiseman has an even greater prize in mind: Chibiusa herself.

I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say that Sailor Moon Crystal is a pretty bad show right now.  Season Two has only doubled down the problems from Season One and somehow made them worse.  Usagi cant do anything without her “Mamo” and is jealous of his caring for Chibiusa.  The rest of the Senshi have either been captured (Rei, Ami, Mako) or reduced to tag along states (Minako).  And the show seems more interested in numerous and equally tedious history lessons about the future Crystal Tokyo rather than trying to make the Black Moon Clan interesting villains.  It’s so bad that I actually want to just call off looking at Season Three, Eternal or Cosmos and just focus on something else.  Sadly, once I start a series, good or bad, I don’t quit.  Thankfully, however, this penultimate set of episodes for Season Two does offer actual enjoyment and, big shock, actual bettering on characters from the original series…you know like Crystal was kind of supposed to be doing all along.
 

Sailor Moon Crystal Part 4 Episodes 15-18

A hard earned peace is shattered when a mysterious, pink haired girl, falls from the sky and demands Usagi hand over the Legendary Silver Crystal.  Not far behind her are the agents of the Black Moon Clan, a force who’s power seems even greater than the Sailor Senshi.  As Usagi’s friends are captured one after another, all eyes fall on the girl who hails from a place unlike any Usagi could have imagined, a girl who is in desperate need of Sailor Moon’s help to save not just her home but the future of the planet itself.

After the disappointing and infuriating end of Season One, I’m bracing myself for anything in Sailor Moon Crystal Season Two.  Chibiusa, the Black Moon, Sailor Pluto and all the stuff in the future?  All bets are off after how this shows treated everything and everyone else.  I guess it’s a small blessing then that they went ahead and jetissoned the second worst arc of the original series, the Makai Tree Arc.  That means no Ail and Ann and we get right into Chibiusa’s Back to the Future Quest.  But like I said, small blessings.  Cause everything that was wrong with Season One?  Yeah it’s not getting any better four episodes into Season Two.
 

T5W#465-Top 5 Reasons Sailor Moon Crystal (Season One) is worse than Sailor Moon SuperS

Monday saw us pass the ending of the first of three arcs covered in Sailor Moon Crystal and, yeah I am not gonna sugar coat it, it’s been pretty bad.  The beginning had promise, I wont deny that.  But the further we got into Season One, the more the problems began to grow and by the time we got to the end of it, I came to a terrible realization: Sailor Moon SuperS was no longer the worst thing to happen to Sailor Moon.  Incase you need a refresher, Sailor Moon SuperS is the Fourth Season of the original 90s Sailor Moon Anime and widely considered the weakest of the original run.  I couldn’t agree more with that as I gave it by far the lowest score of any season during my coverage of the series in 2023.  So how is it that the Sailor Moon reboots first adventure messed things up even worse than the season that featured the Amazon Trio?  Hate to do a Top 5 list like this so early into my Extended Summer Series Review but this begs discussion.  These are my Top 5 Reasons Sailor Moon Crystal (Season One) is worse than Sailor Moon SuperS.

Sailor Moon Crystal Part 3 Episodes 9-14

In making the ultimate sacrifice to save Usagi, Mamoru falls under the sway of the Dark Kingdom.  With their final battle close at hand, Usagi, Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako travel to the Moon, where the remains of the Moon Kingdom stand.  But the truth about their past isnt the only thing waiting for them.  The Sailor Senshi find themselves facing off one more time with Queen Beryl and her Four Kings.  What’s worse, Mamoru has also become one of their most powerful warriors.  Can Usagi keep history from repeating herself and save the world, her friends and her love?

There were a number of times watching this final act in the First Season of Sailor Moon Crystal where I couldn’t help but groan and proclaim, “OH FOR F***s SAKE!!!”  Things have not been good for this reboot for several episodes and believe it or not, it hasn’t gotten any better.  Any praise I had for certain things earlier on were so far from my mind here.  Instead of an epic final battle to rival the ending of the original series First Season, we get a depressing and infuriating finale on par with that of the end of Sailor Moon Sailor Stars.  And when much of my criticism rests with the star of the show herself, you know something is very, very wrong but cause it’s not impossible but it is very difficult for me to give Usagi a hard time.  But here we are.
 

Sailor Moon Crystal Part 2 Episodes 5-8

Usagi finds her life turned upside down thanks to her double duties as bumbling student and Sailor Moon.  Thankfully she’s slowly building a team to help in her endevors: The brainy Ami and the Supernaturally gifted Rei.  And there may be two more Guardian candidates waiting to be found in the super strong Makoto and the glamourous Minako.  But what about Tuxedo Mask, they mysterious ally Usagi is quickly falling for?  Is he truly someone she can depend on or is there more to this handsome hero who may or may not be hiding dark secrets?

While I was willing to forgive a few things about Sailor Moon Crystal premiere beyond its iffy visuals, this set sees the show fall into a few problems I feared it might have.  The introduction of new characters is handled with varied results and the show is doubling down big time of the core romance of the series in all the wrong ways.  It doesn’t feel like this is an update of the original Sailor Moon more than it feels like its stepping backwards and trying to be more “mature”, when in fact, its getting pretty cringe worthy.
 

T5W#464-Top 5 Changes I Wanna See in Sailor Moon Crystal/Eternal/Cosmos

Usagi Tsukino has made her return to the Gundam Anime Corner and we’re going to be spending the whole month of July with Sailor Moon and her friends with Sailor Moon Crystal.  It’s been a few months since I concluded my year long look at the original 90s series, looking over its highs, lows and Sailor Moon SuperS.  While we’ve started dipping our toes into Crystal, there’s still plenty I hope the show can improve on from its previous iteration of Usagi and the Sailor Senshi.  We’ve already seen the Senshi starting to assemble a bit faster, so what else can happen?  That’s the topic of todays Top 5 Wendesday (the first of what I hope is a full month of Sailor Moon themed lists), these are the Top 5 Changes I Wanna See in Sailor Moon Crystal/Eternal/Cosmos.

Sailor Moon Crystal Part 1 Episodes 1-4

Usagi Tsukino is your typical Middle School Girl who dreams of love and having fun with her friends.  All of that changes when a talking Cat named Luna appears and unlocks Usagi’s true destiny.  Now armed with the powers of the Moon Kingdom, Usagi becomes the chosen one who will face off against Queen Beryl and the forces of the Dark Kingdom.  She’s the Pretty Guardian in a Sailor Suit.  She is the one named Sailor Moon.

Next to Mobile Suit Gundam, Sailor Moon might be the series I’ve spent the longest time with so far at the Gundam Anime Corner.  Between Summer 2022 and all of 2023, I’ve looked at all 200 episodes of the classic 90s legend and it’s three feature films.  So, of course, I can’t call myself a completionist without looking at Usagi Tsukino’s most recent Anime iteration (and by recent I mean it’s been over 10 years since Crystal first dropped).  Which brings us to today, the start of our annual Extended Summer Series Review at the Anime Corner.  As promised seven months back at the conclusion of Sailor Moon Sailor Stars, we’re gonna tackle Sailor Moon Crystal and see how it compares to the original and still beloved adventures of Sailor Moon and the Sailor Senshi.  And as we kick things off today it’s a bit of a mixed arrival.  Cause is it me or do Usagi and the girls look…different?