Moon Prism Power, Make Up!
Got around to watching Sailor Moon Crystal. There's been a lot of buzz surrounding this reinterpretation of the Sailor Moon anime, a lot of it positive, so I decided to go for it. My thoughts so far?
The animation is detailed, fluid and expressive. I love the stylized rose frames and silhouette illustrations reminiscent of Revolutionary Girl Utena. Although I believe they are similarly proportioned to the manga art, in animation they are just a little too spindly. I don't mind super skinny characters, but there is a line when animated characters cross the line of 'tall and skinny' into 'how do they not break?'. Not a huge problem and the lovely animation more than makes up for it. The real disappointment for me was the henshin scene - all in CGI. Now, in old shoujos a lot of money and time were put into the oft-repeated henshin scenes, they were normally the pinnacle of animation in the series. However, since it looks like a lot of time and money were put into animating everything else, especially the Moon Palace scenes, I don't particularly mind.
The soundtrack is fantastic! It's nicely orchestrated, brings a lot of tension and excitement to the story. Since Sailor Moon is really such a sweeping, epic story, it really does need a good soundtrack to carry it - something the original anime did not achieve until maybe Sailor Moon S. The opening and ending themes were both good, but I will reserve further judgement after I've heard them a few times to see how they 'age'. Are they new Moonlight Densetsu? Not really...fingers crossed that the most loved and remembered Sailor Moon tune will somehow work its way into the new series! Also, Usagi shouting her key refrains sent chills down my spine! Loved it! Character acting and voices also sounded good, nothing jarring or out of place.
Characters looked great, with faces expressive rather than cartoony. While they changed a few key points (such as Usagi not saving Luna from a bunch of kids bullying her) they still took the time to show the good points of Usagi's character when she rushes to save Naru without a second thought. The villains looks quite threatening and I love Mamoru's new look, I always thought his ugly black turtleneck-green jacket combo was a downer on what's supposed to be such a good-looking guy!
I just get the feeling that there's more at stake - it's taking itself much more seriously and Sailor Moon is a series that can take seriousness and darkness quite well. I'm looking forward to seeing more! Check it out if you haven't yet - unlike many remakes this one is taking the source material seriously, respecting the fans and giving us something both nostalgic and new. If things go well we could have a perfect remake on our hands. Moonies rejoice!
The animation is detailed, fluid and expressive. I love the stylized rose frames and silhouette illustrations reminiscent of Revolutionary Girl Utena. Although I believe they are similarly proportioned to the manga art, in animation they are just a little too spindly. I don't mind super skinny characters, but there is a line when animated characters cross the line of 'tall and skinny' into 'how do they not break?'. Not a huge problem and the lovely animation more than makes up for it. The real disappointment for me was the henshin scene - all in CGI. Now, in old shoujos a lot of money and time were put into the oft-repeated henshin scenes, they were normally the pinnacle of animation in the series. However, since it looks like a lot of time and money were put into animating everything else, especially the Moon Palace scenes, I don't particularly mind.
The soundtrack is fantastic! It's nicely orchestrated, brings a lot of tension and excitement to the story. Since Sailor Moon is really such a sweeping, epic story, it really does need a good soundtrack to carry it - something the original anime did not achieve until maybe Sailor Moon S. The opening and ending themes were both good, but I will reserve further judgement after I've heard them a few times to see how they 'age'. Are they new Moonlight Densetsu? Not really...fingers crossed that the most loved and remembered Sailor Moon tune will somehow work its way into the new series! Also, Usagi shouting her key refrains sent chills down my spine! Loved it! Character acting and voices also sounded good, nothing jarring or out of place.
Characters looked great, with faces expressive rather than cartoony. While they changed a few key points (such as Usagi not saving Luna from a bunch of kids bullying her) they still took the time to show the good points of Usagi's character when she rushes to save Naru without a second thought. The villains looks quite threatening and I love Mamoru's new look, I always thought his ugly black turtleneck-green jacket combo was a downer on what's supposed to be such a good-looking guy!
I just get the feeling that there's more at stake - it's taking itself much more seriously and Sailor Moon is a series that can take seriousness and darkness quite well. I'm looking forward to seeing more! Check it out if you haven't yet - unlike many remakes this one is taking the source material seriously, respecting the fans and giving us something both nostalgic and new. If things go well we could have a perfect remake on our hands. Moonies rejoice!
