The new first episode pretty much only matches the old first episode so much because that old first episode was pretty spot-on to the manga to begin with, the differences being mainly cosmetic. After that point, the manga and anime began to diverge more, so you should start to see that pretty soon with Crystal as well. The introductions of Mercury and Mars should still be similar to the first anime (with no filler in between), but around the end of Mars's intro story, a major change should occur re: one of the bad guys, and after that there should be more and increasingly drastic changes as Jupiter and Venus come in.
The main difference I see between them is the treatment of Mamoru. He is true to his manga character instead of being the bizarre weirdo from the prior series! They straight-up tell you he's looking for the crystal, so his presence at the scene of the fight is much less "huhwhat?"
I'm having trouble not being irritated by the art style in Crystal. It's just so over-the-top that it ruins suspension of disbelief. This supermodel Barbie-girl is a traditional Japanese student with normal Japanese parents... well OK, I guess that's not SO crazy, but it's just so glammed up.. ugh.
I'm very interested to see a less monster-of-the-week treatment of the story so I'll be sticking with it. It's gonna be hard to continue to watch the classic series in parallel, though.
The main difference I see between them is the treatment of Mamoru. He is true to his manga character instead of being the bizarre weirdo from the prior series! They straight-up tell you he's looking for the crystal, so his presence at the scene of the fight is much less "huhwhat?"
Very true. And he's got the special watch thinger. Yay.
Also, glad to see I wasn't the only one who thought this:
Yep, very quick compared to the original show. To put it in perspective: the first season of the anime, which covers the Queen Beryl arc, is 46 episodes. The same arc in the manga is about 12-13 chapters. The first episode of Sailor Moon Crystal covers the whole first chapter, and the second will probably cover the whole second chapter (the episode names and chapter names match so far). You can guess how quick the story will move along if the series continues at that pace. I don't know if they'll keep doing a one-to-one, chapter-to-episode match, but if they do, they could theoretically do both of the first arcs of the manga in this series. And even if they do just keep it to just the Beryl arc, that still trims a ton of fat.
It's ok, Andy, I had the same thought for a second and recalled why it reminds me of Utena. :P
As for the first episode, I'm down with it. Didn't care for the 3D animation in the transformation sequence. I'm also watching all of the originals in crappy audio format so I can compare with the new version.
Crystal episode 2... I think the animation was significantly more disappointing in this episode than the last one. Maybe it's just because I was too blinded by the shiny newness in the last one to notice, but either way, so many off-model drawings. Blegh... But at least the characters seemed more expressive than they were in the last one, so that evens things out a little bit. Also, really not liking the CGI water in Ami's transformation (looks like it belongs in a 90s PC game). Then again, the rest of the sequence was less wonky than Usagi's at least, so again, evens out a little.
One thing I really liked was Ami's new voice actress, whose performance is not the same as Aya Hisakawa's, but still gets across the kind and shy-ish nature of her character very well. Both Ami and Usagi had some really cute moments together, too. The strength of Sailor Moon still remains its characters, regardless of what coat of paint they're wearing.
So overall, a few glaring technical problems, but I still found it an enjoyable episode, so yay! Looking forward to Rei's introduction next time.
So, original show... uhh, did Tuxedo Mask just take a drunk girl out to the balcony and make out with her? I don't think "oh, it's cool... pretty sure we did this before in a past life" is enough consent for that to be not creepy.
Haven't gotten to that episode yet, but the show's 20 years old. There was basically no huge stigma on drunken consent then. Black out drunk maybe, but I doubt she was black out drunk.
Anyhow, up to episode 2 of Crystal as of tonight. The art is higher quality than the old show, but I don't like the aesthetic. It's not terrible, but it's distracting. I guess the idea is to mimic the manga and on that I think they succeeded.
It's almost like they intentionally made the animation bad. Not just jerky but like, comically bad in many instances. Maybe that's also meant to give a more manga-style appearance to the show but in my opinion it just comes off as unappealing and "lazy".
I don't think it really spoils much, other than showing attacks/transformations you might not have seen yet. I loved when Molly random disintegrates or when Rei starts spinning along the Y-axis ...
Oh man, I've heard about this being in production. Didn't know it was ready to be released! Will have to carve out a space to watch that later tonight.
Also, speaking of fan-made things with DiC dub audio:
Comments
I'm very interested to see a less monster-of-the-week treatment of the story so I'll be sticking with it. It's gonna be hard to continue to watch the classic series in parallel, though.
Also, glad to see I wasn't the only one who thought this:
How much of the manga was adapted for the original series, anyway?
Double lol if this is a serious question.
On Pulp Fiction: "What's with all the Snatch references?"
Oh Garfield: "What's with all the Heathcliff references?"
The 2014 show might be referencing the 1997 show. And you are a jackass.
As for the first episode, I'm down with it. Didn't care for the 3D animation in the transformation sequence. I'm also watching all of the originals in crappy audio format so I can compare with the new version.
Team Nephrite x Naru FOREVER! So tragic.
One thing I really liked was Ami's new voice actress, whose performance is not the same as Aya Hisakawa's, but still gets across the kind and shy-ish nature of her character very well. Both Ami and Usagi had some really cute moments together, too. The strength of Sailor Moon still remains its characters, regardless of what coat of paint they're wearing.
So overall, a few glaring technical problems, but I still found it an enjoyable episode, so yay! Looking forward to Rei's introduction next time.
Anyhow, up to episode 2 of Crystal as of tonight. The art is higher quality than the old show, but I don't like the aesthetic. It's not terrible, but it's distracting. I guess the idea is to mimic the manga and on that I think they succeeded.
It's almost like they intentionally made the animation bad. Not just jerky but like, comically bad in many instances. Maybe that's also meant to give a more manga-style appearance to the show but in my opinion it just comes off as unappealing and "lazy".
Also, speaking of fan-made things with DiC dub audio: