<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/2015-01-04news_xlarge_141114_smc3_h1.jpg">
<b>topic_title by darkstorm</b>
<em>This review will contain spoilers.</em><br>\r\n\r\nAfter a traumatic battle, the Senshi decide to get together and test the power of the Holy Sword now in their possession, but before they can make battle plans, Usagi is distracted by Motoki’s new friend Endo who looks remarkably like Mamoru. She slowly finds out is that he is in fact Mamoru, reborn with the power of darkness, now working for Queen Beryl with the intent of stealing the Legendary Silver Crystal. If they’re successful, Metalia will have the power to take over the whole planet. Does Usagi have the strength to fight the man she loves and defeat the enemy?<br>\r\n\r\nDespite being advertised as a faithful manga adaptation, Episodes 11 to 13 of <em>Crystal</em> have the most alterations from the original source material so far. The majority of it is the same, such as the basic outline of the plot, but it’s the little changes in character interactions, small actions and the odd line alteration here and there that often alter the original intent of each scene into something weaker and less emotionally engaging than in the manga.<br>\r\n\r\nAt the start of Episode 11 they seem to be trying to make up for the lack of personalities for the inner Senshi with the girls teasing each other whilst heading to Ami’s house, but the rest of the episodes seem to be rewritten with the intent of giving them less moments to shine. The biggest example is Episode 12; in the manga it’s Venus who kills Beryl with the sword and then is taken by Mamoru, giving Usagi a greater incentive to chase after him. Instead, in <em>Crystal,</em> Venus’s moment is taken away with Usagi killing Beryl by using the sword to stab Beryl’s magical necklace, (which apparently is the source of her power) and then Usagi leaves her friends behind to run after Mamoru. The rewrite makes Usagi look more commanding and perhaps Toei wanted to censor the original gory scene, but the greater impact was taking away Venus’s character development as a leader of the inner Senshi, with the whole necklace power reveal feeling very rushed and poorly executed.<br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"line-height:1.6em\">Then there’s the Senshi and Shitennou pairings that came to full light in Episode 10, it caused quite a stir amongst the fandom once it aired, but how as it been handled since? Sadly, not very well, with Episode 11 not making a single mention of the heartbreak the girls apparently went through in the previous battle. It’s an awful example of how not to write character development; you can’t make a character go through a massive revelation in one episode but fail to carry it over to the next. It’s not mentioned again until Episode 12, when the girls face off with the kings to try and get to Usagi. The end result is something that adds nothing to the overall pairings; no emotional depth, character development or payoff as a result. Killing them off as they originally did in the manga would have had the same effect.</span><br>\r\n\r\nA smaller example occurs in Episode 13 where (in the manga) before Sailor Moon wakes, up she flashes back to her past life which includes humorous interactions with Venus and a small nod to the supposed matching of her and Kunzite. We get none of that in <em>Crystal,</em> surprisingly, since the latter point would have helped with the additional story that <em>Crystal</em> seems intent in adding. You could argue that it’s just a small scene cut and by itself it would have not had much of an impact, but it’s this and many other small touches that affect the product overall.<br>\r\n\r\nIt’s clear that the series wants you to be invested in Usagi’s journey from naïve school girl to the one-and-only Sailor Moon, to finally overcome her past life’s mistakes and face the enemy in her all-powerful glory, however the emotion is not carried with it. It’s being endlessly weighed down by poor writing and next-to-nothing in character development; even if Usagi and Mamoru are getting the most focus, the re-writes for the Senshi ripple out to the leads with the result that they become lifeless. The manga and <em>Crystal</em> are walking down a near-same path except the manga added flavour to the various Senshi to bring the audience into its narrative, making them a team, yet also separate people in their own right. <em>Crystal </em>instead barely glances at the source material before stiffly carrying on with what it thinks are the important bits. It rewrites carelessly, making the inner Senshi no longer characters but props to keep Usagi the sole focus of the show. Sailor Moon was powerful on her own but she also had the companionship of her team to back her up in life and in battles; she’s now been replaced with a two-dimensional version of herself who has no other interests outside of Mamoru. It's such a shame to see things unfold this way since the original show and manga drew a diverse audience due to its focus on teamwork and friendship. It was not always about the romance, but that is what <em>Crystal</em> wants it to be solely now.<br>\r\n\r\nDespite the story flaws, <em>Crystal</em> has had some decent action and Senshi interaction in battles over its run, but even that has faltered during these last few episodes. Episode 11 had the Senshi trying to keep the Legendary Silver Crystal away from Beryl, with Venus using her chain to whip the crystal out of her hands and the others seemingly working together on the same wavelength, as they’ve truly battled together many times before. In Episode 12, however, the grand battle between them and the Shitennou is poorly chopped to avoid big animation shots. Just as the Senshi are about to blast out an attack (or about to get hit by one) the shot immediately cuts to Usagi and Mamoru in their clash mid-dialogue. It cuts away from them again just as another attack is being threatened only to come back to the Senshi AFTER the attack has already hit, saving on animation money with static reaction shots.<br>\r\n\r\nI know I said a few reviews ago that I wasn’t going to mention the animation anymore but I have to point out two horribly obvious flaws in Episode 13. First of all, there’s a flashback to Queen Serenity where she’s wearing her daughter’s iconic white and yellow swirl dress instead of her pure white gown with the bow at the front, a careless oversight by Toei. Then there’s a scene towards the end when Sailor Moon takes her new powered-up rod and spins it - well I assume the animators intended it for it to spin but instead it just spasms back and forth for two frames - it’s so poorly done and laughable considering that the 90s anime managed to pull off many twirls and spins without batting an eyelid in many of its attacks and transformations.<br>\r\n\r\n<em>Sailor Moon Crystal</em> started off so well but it seems that every little thing that made it worthwhile is slowly dripping away from it. The big story points are being hit but with little-to-no spark behind them, and the characters we know and love seem rather lifeless in comparison to their many incarnations. Episode 14 will conclude this arc and move swiftly onto the Black Moon arc; hopefully a change of story will help bring life back into the series. <br>\r\n\r\n<em>Watch the latest episode with English subtitles on the Nico Video site now;</em><span style=\"background-color:rgb(245, 245, 245); color:rgb(128, 128, 128); font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:11px\"> </span><em><a href=\"http://ch.nicovideo.jp/sailormoon_English\" style=\"color: rgb(229, 128, 100); text-decoration: none;\">http://ch.nicovideo.jp/sailormoon_English</a></em><br>\r\n
<b>Final score: 5 out of 10</b>
<b>Additional screencaps</b>
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-01-04sailor_moon_crystal_act_12_preview_evil_tuxedo_mask-1024x576.jpg">
<b>Additional screencaps</b>
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-01-04sailor_moon_crystal_episode_12_the_sailor_team-1024x576.jpg">
<b>Additional screencaps</b>
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-01-04tumblr_nhm3uzM9i01ticxqco5_1280.png">
<b>Additional screencaps</b>
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-01-04sailor_moon_crystal_episode_13_preview_the_sailor_team_defeating_metalia-1024x576.jpg">
<b>Additional screencaps</b>
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-01-04sailor_moon_crystal_episode_12_sailor_moon_killing_queen_beryl-1024x576.jpg">
<b>topic_title by darkstorm</b>
<em>This review will contain spoilers.</em><br>\r\n\r\nAfter a traumatic battle, the Senshi decide to get together and test the power of the Holy Sword now in their possession, but before they can make battle plans, Usagi is distracted by Motoki’s new friend Endo who looks remarkably like Mamoru. She slowly finds out is that he is in fact Mamoru, reborn with the power of darkness, now working for Queen Beryl with the intent of stealing the Legendary Silver Crystal. If they’re successful, Metalia will have the power to take over the whole planet. Does Usagi have the strength to fight the man she loves and defeat the enemy?<br>\r\n\r\nDespite being advertised as a faithful manga adaptation, Episodes 11 to 13 of <em>Crystal</em> have the most alterations from the original source material so far. The majority of it is the same, such as the basic outline of the plot, but it’s the little changes in character interactions, small actions and the odd line alteration here and there that often alter the original intent of each scene into something weaker and less emotionally engaging than in the manga.<br>\r\n\r\nAt the start of Episode 11 they seem to be trying to make up for the lack of personalities for the inner Senshi with the girls teasing each other whilst heading to Ami’s house, but the rest of the episodes seem to be rewritten with the intent of giving them less moments to shine. The biggest example is Episode 12; in the manga it’s Venus who kills Beryl with the sword and then is taken by Mamoru, giving Usagi a greater incentive to chase after him. Instead, in <em>Crystal,</em> Venus’s moment is taken away with Usagi killing Beryl by using the sword to stab Beryl’s magical necklace, (which apparently is the source of her power) and then Usagi leaves her friends behind to run after Mamoru. The rewrite makes Usagi look more commanding and perhaps Toei wanted to censor the original gory scene, but the greater impact was taking away Venus’s character development as a leader of the inner Senshi, with the whole necklace power reveal feeling very rushed and poorly executed.<br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"line-height:1.6em\">Then there’s the Senshi and Shitennou pairings that came to full light in Episode 10, it caused quite a stir amongst the fandom once it aired, but how as it been handled since? Sadly, not very well, with Episode 11 not making a single mention of the heartbreak the girls apparently went through in the previous battle. It’s an awful example of how not to write character development; you can’t make a character go through a massive revelation in one episode but fail to carry it over to the next. It’s not mentioned again until Episode 12, when the girls face off with the kings to try and get to Usagi. The end result is something that adds nothing to the overall pairings; no emotional depth, character development or payoff as a result. Killing them off as they originally did in the manga would have had the same effect.</span><br>\r\n\r\nA smaller example occurs in Episode 13 where (in the manga) before Sailor Moon wakes, up she flashes back to her past life which includes humorous interactions with Venus and a small nod to the supposed matching of her and Kunzite. We get none of that in <em>Crystal,</em> surprisingly, since the latter point would have helped with the additional story that <em>Crystal</em> seems intent in adding. You could argue that it’s just a small scene cut and by itself it would have not had much of an impact, but it’s this and many other small touches that affect the product overall.<br>\r\n\r\nIt’s clear that the series wants you to be invested in Usagi’s journey from naïve school girl to the one-and-only Sailor Moon, to finally overcome her past life’s mistakes and face the enemy in her all-powerful glory, however the emotion is not carried with it. It’s being endlessly weighed down by poor writing and next-to-nothing in character development; even if Usagi and Mamoru are getting the most focus, the re-writes for the Senshi ripple out to the leads with the result that they become lifeless. The manga and <em>Crystal</em> are walking down a near-same path except the manga added flavour to the various Senshi to bring the audience into its narrative, making them a team, yet also separate people in their own right. <em>Crystal </em>instead barely glances at the source material before stiffly carrying on with what it thinks are the important bits. It rewrites carelessly, making the inner Senshi no longer characters but props to keep Usagi the sole focus of the show. Sailor Moon was powerful on her own but she also had the companionship of her team to back her up in life and in battles; she’s now been replaced with a two-dimensional version of herself who has no other interests outside of Mamoru. It's such a shame to see things unfold this way since the original show and manga drew a diverse audience due to its focus on teamwork and friendship. It was not always about the romance, but that is what <em>Crystal</em> wants it to be solely now.<br>\r\n\r\nDespite the story flaws, <em>Crystal</em> has had some decent action and Senshi interaction in battles over its run, but even that has faltered during these last few episodes. Episode 11 had the Senshi trying to keep the Legendary Silver Crystal away from Beryl, with Venus using her chain to whip the crystal out of her hands and the others seemingly working together on the same wavelength, as they’ve truly battled together many times before. In Episode 12, however, the grand battle between them and the Shitennou is poorly chopped to avoid big animation shots. Just as the Senshi are about to blast out an attack (or about to get hit by one) the shot immediately cuts to Usagi and Mamoru in their clash mid-dialogue. It cuts away from them again just as another attack is being threatened only to come back to the Senshi AFTER the attack has already hit, saving on animation money with static reaction shots.<br>\r\n\r\nI know I said a few reviews ago that I wasn’t going to mention the animation anymore but I have to point out two horribly obvious flaws in Episode 13. First of all, there’s a flashback to Queen Serenity where she’s wearing her daughter’s iconic white and yellow swirl dress instead of her pure white gown with the bow at the front, a careless oversight by Toei. Then there’s a scene towards the end when Sailor Moon takes her new powered-up rod and spins it - well I assume the animators intended it for it to spin but instead it just spasms back and forth for two frames - it’s so poorly done and laughable considering that the 90s anime managed to pull off many twirls and spins without batting an eyelid in many of its attacks and transformations.<br>\r\n\r\n<em>Sailor Moon Crystal</em> started off so well but it seems that every little thing that made it worthwhile is slowly dripping away from it. The big story points are being hit but with little-to-no spark behind them, and the characters we know and love seem rather lifeless in comparison to their many incarnations. Episode 14 will conclude this arc and move swiftly onto the Black Moon arc; hopefully a change of story will help bring life back into the series. <br>\r\n\r\n<em>Watch the latest episode with English subtitles on the Nico Video site now;</em><span style=\"background-color:rgb(245, 245, 245); color:rgb(128, 128, 128); font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:11px\"> </span><em><a href=\"http://ch.nicovideo.jp/sailormoon_English\" style=\"color: rgb(229, 128, 100); text-decoration: none;\">http://ch.nicovideo.jp/sailormoon_English</a></em><br>\r\n
<b>Final score: 5 out of 10</b>
<b>Additional screencaps</b>
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-01-04sailor_moon_crystal_act_12_preview_evil_tuxedo_mask-1024x576.jpg">
<b>Additional screencaps</b>
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-01-04sailor_moon_crystal_episode_12_the_sailor_team-1024x576.jpg">
<b>Additional screencaps</b>
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-01-04tumblr_nhm3uzM9i01ticxqco5_1280.png">
<b>Additional screencaps</b>
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-01-04sailor_moon_crystal_episode_13_preview_the_sailor_team_defeating_metalia-1024x576.jpg">
<b>Additional screencaps</b>
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2015-01-04sailor_moon_crystal_episode_12_sailor_moon_killing_queen_beryl-1024x576.jpg">