Anime Discussion Thread - Page 2640

I did not know that "Sailor V", who was a character in the video game (or so I thought) and a TV series (inside the show itself) was an actual Sailor Scout.

So when Sailor Venus showed up for the first time (and wearing the same mask in her "Sailor V" video games and TV shows), I was like "OMG WTF AWESOME!!!!111 She's an actual Sailor Scout!"

I thought Sailor V was just a character inside of the story (and not an actual Sailor Scout), so that's why it pleasantly surprised me so much.

Yeah, it's a bit silly I didn't get the connection at first >.> (V for Venus, and the fact that she appears in the opening, but in a different outfit which made me not notice the connection).

Here's when Minako talks about herself in dub episode 82 (which is sort of a clip episode but with commentary):


(Sailor Venus first appeared in person in episode 29 as far as I remember.)

When she first showed up, she owned so hard (saving everyone, including Tuxedo Mask).

She also wore the same mask (or giant glasses, not sure what is the appropriate term) as her Sailor V character in the games and TV shows when she first appeared (in person) in episode 29.

The only disappointing thing about it so far (I haven't watched everything yet, so not sure if it gets better in the future):

1. She doesn't wear the same mask / giant glasses anymore (I thought it was really cool).

2. She hasn't owned it up much yet. I mean, at this point, she's on par in terms of power level (I guess) as the others. I'm kind of disappointed that it seems like only episode 29, she really owned it up.

She does have episodes where she owns it up alone, but all the other characters get that too.

Speaking of that, I'll talk about it later but I feel like Sailor Moon series could individualize the characters (in the fights) more. In most episodes, either they all work together or (in a character focus episode), 4 (out of 5) of them get owned and only the focused character actually manages to beat the MotD.

Sailor Venus (along with Sailor Moon) are my favorites so far (though I like all of them equally for the most part). One of the main reasons one of my favorites is Venus is because of the way she showed up (and the fact that she's one of the nicest to Serena/Usagi, in a series where most kind of treats her a bit badly, at least in the first half >.>).

The way Sailor Venus showed up was like how the sixth ranger in power rangers usually shows up (except I think in a more epic fashion because she was hinted to from the very first episode; Serena/Usagi wanted to play the Sailor V game in episode 1 and she appeared).

Sadly though, her ownage ended after episode 29, and I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't do more for her there (I mean episode 30, they sort of had something for her but 31 and onwards, she was just another Sailor Scout basically).

Not sure if it's different in manga or something but I'd really like if they play off on her "veteran" (she is a veteran and the actual first Sailor Scout, even before Sailor Moon herself) status a bit more (plus they should have let her use that mask or big glasses she had when she first showed up sometimes).

With the power of love of course! The villain is like, "noo, what is this love you speak of?", then once they're done talking about or displaying the power of love, they do one super attack and finally win. And that's basically how they dealt with the first three main villains. The fight scenes aren't that great because it's mostly stock footage of them doing their attacks that you see in nearly every episode. Again, take note that I'm only halfway through Sailor Moon, 2 arcs and 1 subarc.

And also again, this is the anime dub (maybe in the manga or original, things are much different).

Edit - To clarify though, I mean how the final battle ended. Usually the stuff just before the actual final fight with the main villain is good (the lead up is good).

Overall, I like most of the villains (and the focus on them), and I like episodes which focus on the supporting characters. Actually I won't talk too specifically about characters (beside Minako/Sailor Venus whom I talked about above already) but just generally quick thoughts on each arc.

The first arc (the one with Queen Beryl as the main baddie) was good I'd say. Again, it featured the most episodes focusing on supporting characters and a good amount on the villains. I found most of the episodes the least formulaic and the least predictable (well, at least compared to the 2nd full arc, the Black Moon arc). Most of the MotD episodes has decent character development, screen time to support characters, etc compared to the Black Moon arc (where the MotD episodes didn't have as much character development, though a lot of them were really fun too).

These were the first 40 episodes (dub).

The next arc was a "sub arc" (it wasn't originally in the manga) the shortest, it's the Doom Tree arc. It lasted from (dub episode number) 41-53 I think (so just 13 episodes).

I liked how Moonlight Knight showed up (the Tuxedo Mask of the arc, since he was unavailable for the most part) and I was really wondering who that guy was. It wasn't Darien since Moonlight Knight appeared when Darien was there too !
(Actually Moonlight Knight ends up being Darien, he is Darien's will to protect Serena made into life. So the way it ended was kind of disappointing, I was hoping it'd be another character. What a tease, they made us think it wasn't Darien but it turns out to be basically him in the end >.<.)

One of my favorite scenes of the Doom Tree arc is when Serena/Usagi day dreams (with her hand held and her being guided) by both Tuxedo Mask and Moonlight Knight (with the instrumental version of Moonlight Densetsu playing in the dub version). It was really sweet and I really liked trying to figure out who Moonlight Knight was while the Doom Tree arc lasted.

I really liked the Doom Tree arc. Though the way it was ended felt really rushed (and also it was really cheesy, especially in the English dub, with the talking tree at the end).

Again, those two arcs really had a good number of episodes that were just fun and less formulaic. My favorite of the Doom Tree (specifically to this arc, I guess besides that I like the episode focusing on Minako) is probably the episode where the entire cast of characters (Including the villains) do a play based on Snow White.

Sailor Scouts were nice to Ann despite knowing she cheated on getting the part of Snow White (she wanted to kiss Darien/Mamoru who was playing the prince). The main reason is because they spied on Ann praying/wishing for the play to be a success (therefore she was taking it really seriously).

Speaking of that, I just really found it funny how Ann (also not sure if this is the original name, I haven't looked it up yet) and Alan both have a crush on Darien and Serena respectively.

Overall, even though it was a sub arc, it was really good IMO and I think the fact it only had 13 episodes (meaning it was condensed and had less "padding" and "filler" episodes) was what helped.

The second full arc (the Black Moon), I found most of them tedious and boring (outside of certain character focused episodes).

It was too formulaic at times and it had a lot of filler. Plus, the fight scenes had a ton of stock footage (their transformation sequence and attacks) and padding.

The arc introduced Chibi-Usa / Rini and she was kind of annoying for most of the arc. The main reason is that she really treated Usagi/Serena badly (speaking of that, I think they overdo the treating Usagi badly in the first half of the series at times IMO, it gets really old and annoying).

The main thing I liked about the Black Moon are the villains. I liked how the four sisters (at this point, I haven't looked up all the original names yet, I'll do it after I watch the full dub) turned good.

I also like how after episode 63 (when Catzi / Koan turned good), in episode 64 Catzi/Koan appeared sort of a part of the main group (by hanging out with them) in episode 64 (the one where Ami battled Berthier / Bertie in chess). The final episode where they appeared sort of part of the group (hanging out with them) is 65.

(Again, these are episode numbers based on the dub.)

Of course, sadly 66+ that was the end of that (unless they return later, I haven't watched much after the Black Moon arc).

Besides that, I thought the Black Moon arc was okay (though, this is based on the dub, not sure how much different it is in the original). The overall plot was basically good vs evil, it was basically the same as the first one "except" it had more predictable MotD plots with less character development and less focus on supporting characters than the first arc (and the Doom Tree arc).

Overall, I have found Sailor Moon's main strength so far is actually the episodes with either character development or character focus (doesn't matter who, it could be the villain, supporting characters, etc) to the best part. The actual main plot itself is kind of boring and cheesy, at least from what I watched so far (again, this is based on the dub, not sure if it's better in the original).

I have only watched like 3-4 episodes of the Sailor Moon S (the third arc, or fourth arc, if you count the Doom Tree) and so far I am liking it (I haven't seen much though). They changed the music from English dub produced to the original Japanese, and I'll talk about that next.

I think some of the English dub music is really good (and most of them is actually just remixes of some of the Japanese music).

The English dub used instrumental versions (all different types, to match the mood) of the Japanese opening song "Moonlight Densetsu" a lot, and it fit a lot IMO. (Though it did get old at times.)

The sad instrumental version that plays (when Serena/Usagi is day dreaming of meeting Tuxedo Mask for example) never really got old for me (it was always epic when it played). Most of the villainous music were good too (I need to look it up at times), and it gave an epic vibe.

Some music did get old though but for the most part, I think I prefer the English dub over the original (again, lots of epic music IMO). I say the English dub villain music wins over the original in terms of the villain music IMO. Besides that, the rest is (except the instrumental versions of Moonlight Densetsu that played in sad scenes or in day dreams, it really fit nicely) is up to preference I guess.

Besides the music itself, a different is in the original, no music plays at all in the original (and I actually like the no music-ness of the scenes at times).