Sailor Moon Crystal - Act 1

I'M LATE!

Mom, why didn't you tell me Sailor Moon Crystal premiered on Saturday?!!! *falls down stairs*

...okay, so actually I knew that. If you must know, I was out of town over the weekend and didn't get to watch the episode -- er, excuse me, "act" -- until late Monday. And then I took three days to write about it because... I have no idea why. But I'm here now!

Disclaimer: please remember that I have barely seen any of the original Sailor Moon, and I don't share the same nostalgia that most fans have. So if I make some stupid newb comment during the course of this review, forgive me!

As I said, I watched this episode late on Monday. I was very excited before that it would be airing through Hulu, as I have Hulu Plus and could watch it on my TV, but unfortunately my Wii U is unable to properly time the captions, and I couldn't read what they were saying until a second after it was said. I tried to use this to practice my Japanese listening skills, trying to determine what they were saying before the captions came up, but bouncing between languages like that just hurt my head so I gave up on the listening part near the end. So, yeah, from now on I will be watching this on my computer. :(

Anyway, onto the show!

The new series opens with shots of space and planets in an intro lasting about a minute and a half. Kind of like how a movie would start. No credits, no narration, just music.

After a few quick shots of Serenity, we are shown the Tsukino house, where Usagi once again does her famous "late for school" gag. After Usagi falls down the stairs and runs out the door in a rush, her mom wishes she would learn something from Sailor V.

Then the opening sequence starts, and oh it is GLORIOUS!

"Wait a sec, is that CG?" you ask. Well guess what, you're gonna see a lot more of that later.

All you "Moonlight Densetsu" lovers had better also get used to the new rocking, energetic, girl-power-themed "MOON PRIDE" opening song by Momoiro Clover Z. The scenes in this sequence are great as well, but seriously, that theme song!

Sailor Moon classic episode 1: "The Crybaby: Usagi's Beautiful Transformation"
Sailor Moon Crystal episode 1: "Usagi - Sailor Moon-"
...how original.

Calling it now: episode 2 will be "Ami - Sailor Mercury-".
Oh I just checked Wikipedia and that actually is the name of it. Crap.

So Usagi runs full speed to school and accidentally trips over an adorable kitty with a band-aid on her forehead. Usagi peels off the bandage to reveal a crescent moon shape on the cat's forehead. Suddenly she remembers she's late for school and dashes away from the mysterious cat.

Even then, she's still late for school, gets thrown into the hallway, gets caught eating in the hallway, and learns that she only scored a 30 on her English test.

...does all this sound familiar to you guys? Because I'm getting really bored re-capping it.

Naru and Umino look the same as always, Sailor V is still a legend, Usagi is still crushing on the guy at the arcade, blah blah blah... exact same stuff we saw in the classic series, just with new animation. Yawn.

Oh, but here's a change: one of the highlights of the episode, Mamoru's first appearance. Now I know some people said they hated Mamoru's clothes from the classic series, but is making him wear a tuxedo on his first appearance really the answer? Do you know how much dumber this will make Usagi look in the later episodes? "Gee, I wonder what that Tuxedo Mask guy's real identity is. Surely he's not the same as the one who wears a tuxedo all the time!"

"Who wears a tuxedo in the afternoon? What a show off!"

As before, Usagi gets kicked out of the house for scoring horribly on her test. Then Naru discovers that the lady running the jewelry store earlier that day is really a monster disguised as her mother, and is using the jewelry to drain energy from the customers.

In Usagi's room, the cat returns and introduces herself as Luna. Luna then gives Usagi her transformation brooch. I was a little irritated that it looks totally different then it did in the original anime, but then I looked it up and realized that's how it looks in the manga.

And now the moment we've all been waiting for...

MOON PRISM POWER, MAKE UP!

I told you the CG would come back, didn't I?

Usagi hears Naru in danger and rushes to her aid. (By the way, they didn't include my favorite scene from the original, which was when the monster lady turned her head all the way around to look at Sailor Moon. It was so creepy it was awesome.)

What would Sailor Moon be without her signature introduction speech?

And her signature obnoxious crying. It's so irritating I can't help but love her for it.

Moon also uses her first attack here. This attack has actually gone through multiple names. In the original manga, it was "Moon Frisbee". In the original anime, it was "Moon Tiara Action". In the live-action series, it became "Moon Tiara Boomerang", and since then the manga and anime have both changed to use this name. I sometimes like to shout the attacks along with the characters, so I have a feeling for the next few episodes I'll be screaming "MOON TIARA AC-- dang it!"

Thus Sailor Moon defeats her first monster and officially meets Tuxedo Mask. The episode ends with a look at a mysterious new character (spoiler alert: it's Mercury).

So there it is you guys, the long-awaited Sailor Moon re-boot.

Was I disappointed? Heck no! Great animation, great music, and Mitsuishi Kotono still rules at voicing Usagi.

Was I bored out of my mind watching this? ...maybe. Obviously you can't drastically change the first episode of Sailor Moon. It's practically iconic by itself. But to me, I just couldn't really get into it for most of it. Perhaps it was more entertaining for those haven't seen the first episode since the 90s, and are in this purely for the nostalgia. As for me, it was almost painful having to watch this twice so I could review it.

I'm extremely excited, however, for Act 2. Crystal will only be twenty-six episodes long (about half the length of the original series), so it's clear they're introducing the team members much quicker. Thank goodness. It took so freaking long in the original that I never even got to the episodes with Jupiter back when I watched it.

I hope you all enjoyed my first Sailor Moon review! Comment about what you thought of the episode, what you thought of my review, and what you expect for the next act! New episodes air every other week, so Act 2 will be next Saturday.

I will do my best to review every episode, so follow my blog if you want to read more of my stupid, newbie, rant-ish comments on what is looking to be a great series so far!

New Sailor Moon character profiles

This is so exciting! It has been announced that the new Sailor Moon anime will premier July 5, and will air a new episode every other Saturday. In addition, character profiles are now on the official website. And they are fabulous. You can tell they've been updated a little but are still very true to the style from the original show. In fact, I'm not completely sure, but I think it may actually be a little more similar to the manga style? I'm interested to see how it will look animated.

The Japanese voice cast has been confirmed, as well. Mitsuishi Kotono will be reprising her role as Sailor Moon. The rest of the cast of sailor soldiers includes Kanemoto Hisako, Sato Rina, Koshimizu Ami, and Ito Shizuka.

Please check out all the profiles on the website.

Have I mentioned I'm excited? I can finally start to call myself a Sailor Moon fan once this premiers! I won't be the weird magical girl fan-blogger who has never seen the most popular magical girl series ever. XD

I just noticed from looking at the profiles that all their last names end with "no", with the first kanji representing their "power" (moon, water, fire, tree, love). You see how much of a newb I am?

Are there any other new fans like me who plan to watch this series? As for the older fans, what are your thoughts so far on the new info?

Let's Talk about Winx Club's Season 6 Trailer

This blog needs more magical girls! So how about a little Winx Club?

Those who know me probably know that Winx Club is one of my all-time favorite shows. When Season 5 came out, I was convinced it was going to be amazing. And even when some of the episodes were horribly written, I was in denial, convincing myself that the show would become better as the season went on. But the longer it went on, the worse it got. I finally came to realize this recently, and accepted the fact that maybe my show is not as perfect as I once thought it was. Maybe it's time for me to let go of it.

But then, today, Winx Club Season 6's trailer came out, and I fangirled just as much as I ever have.

So it's official, Winx Club will always be in my heart. As I always say, I've been a fan for eight years; I've come too far just to quit now!

Now there's a lot in this trailer to talk about: some good, some bad, some... different. Even though we don't know a whole lot about the premise of the season, we can still get some good ideas just from watching the video (over and over and over again, as I did...).

You can tell from the intro that this season will be fairy-tale-themed. I've said before that I've really been missing the fantasy element from the series that they took away when they went to Earth in the fourth season, and then focused too much on the underwater theme in the fifth season. So the emphasis on fairy tales here is a almost a sure sign that I will get what I've been waiting for: more fantasy, more world exploration, more monsters, and more of the Magic Dimension! What interests me is wondering whether they will use classic fairy tales or create their own fairy-tale-like world. I mean, if you think about it, Winx Club is pretty much a fairy tale of it's own. I actually hope they don't use classic fairy tales too much, because, quite honestly, it will just remind me too much of Ever After High. And I know people will start comparing them if they do.

Now what do we have here? A new character! Looks like we're actually getting a female villain that's not the Trix. Well, okay, we did have Mandragora and the Ancestral Witches in the movies, but as far as the series goes this is are first main female antagonist since the Trix. Just from the look of this character, I already like her. She looks very devious, cruel, and manipulative. If you're a villain, those are some pretty awesome traits! She seems like a smart villain. She's able to use this book to bring "storybook monsters to life". I'm really hoping that they will give her an awesome backstory. Tritannus's motives were just so pathetic, so I'm really excited for this change!

EDIT: The character's name has been confirmed to be Selina. She is a new witch at Cloud Tower. (credit goes to Michael's Winx Club and his scan of the Licensing Show flyer)

Well I guess some things never change. The Trix are back. Again. You're kidding me, right? Why are the Winx still acting so scared of them? They've beat them *counts on fingers* five freaking times. The Trix obviously aren't even competent villains anymore. In fact, they haven't been since the first season. You know why? Because they keep acting as the minions to other villains! It may have been the 4Kids dub (I can't remember) but I seem to recall one of them, in Season 3, complaining about how they always team up with losers. And yet, they still do it. Will they ever learn? And I know this is a kids show, but you'd think after trying to destroy the world five times they'd finally take some real action: kill the stupid witches! If the Omega Dimension couldn't even hold them, why, oh why, are you still leaving them alive?

On the bright side: they look wickedly fabulous in their new outfits. Just sayin'.

Both the Specialists and the Winx are getting new uniforms this season. You've already seen a glimpse of Stella's, but we'll get to that in a minute. Right now, how about the Specialists? I like how it doesn't differ completely from their original uniform. They kept the blue, the cape, and the gem thing in the center. This one seems a bit more practical, though, as they've added some armor to the mix. I'm not completely crazy about the look right now, but maybe I'll like it more as I watch the actual season. The Specialists look just as handsome as ever, though. :)

I'm wondering who those guys in red are. My first thought was that they could be from some random, rival school, but then I found it ironic that the guys in blue are the ones that go to RED Fountain. XD Maybe they're from Eraklyon?

Now here's the fun part: MONSTERS! I'm not sure why, but I've been really into fantasy monsters lately. Maybe it's because of my recent obsession with The Hobbit, maybe it's Monster High wearing off on me. Or maybe I've just missed the monsters from previous seasons and I never knew it. But knowing that monsters are going to be a large part of their fights is soooo exciting for me!

Oh yeah, baby! New transformation time! These outfits are so fantasy-esque, and they remind me a lot of the original designs for the fairies before the series was released. Though the images in this trailer aren't super clear, I'm really loving what I see, especially the wings! My only complaint is that, from what I can see, the fairies' outfits look too similar, just like they were last season. C'mon Rainbow, where's the diversity?

Now we get a close look at them school uniforms. At least, I think that's what they are. Unless the Winx have just become so close they've decided to coordinate all their outfits. If it's actually a uniform, shouldn't they... all look the same? Whatever it is, I am not a fan. The collars, the pink and grey together... people have compared it to Japanese anime, but to me it's more like something out of a Barbie movie. Not that I dislike Barbie movies, but I swear I've seen an outfit from there that looks just like those.

But I must admit, Tecna is always stylin', even in those crappy colors.

And finally... this. Two questions: 1) Is that an alternate transformation?, and 2) 3D again? WHYYYYYY?

First off: we don't need two transformations. You tried that last season, and all it meant was that we got a very short time with each transformation (I miss Harmonix), and both ended up being very forgettable. If you guys do pull the same freaking trick again I swear I will scream.

Secondly: 3D. Just, ugh. It ruins the look of Winx Club for me. I dealt with it for one season, but not again, please. I just can't take it any more.

So what did you think of the trailer? What are you excited about? What are you not looking forward to?

Feel free to leave a comment.

Winx Club Season 6 premieres Sunday, September 29, at 1:00 P.M. EST on Nickelodeon.

Shugo Chara! Review: Part 1

I would just like to make it known that I have finally finished watching... the first half of Shugo Chara. XD Ep. 1-26. It's pretty good so far! I used to hate the Amuto pairing, but now I think they're a better match than Tadamu. Normally I hate when people pair up the main character with the bad boy simply BECAUSE he's a bad boy, as if there's something wrong with being a good kid (hello, I freaking love the goody-goody dudes!). Buuutttt Ikuto looks like a good guy, really, he's just perverted. I hate perverts, so I could really do without that aspect but whatevs.

Aside from couples, I was really sad when Kukai graduated... :'( I hope he comes back later because I love him!!! I actually like him better than Tadase now. To be honest, I now only like Tadase when he starts raving about ruling the world (because I'm always falling out of my chair laughing). And then I almost cried when "Nadeshiko" (so awkward...) flew to Europe. Amu was so sad I was like "NOOOOO, AMU, COME HERE!!! I WANT TO HUG YOU!!!!!"

I really liked how the plot started thickening between episodes 21-23, but I didn't like that just an episode  later all we got was a re-cap episode and it's basically like the whole series started over again. Of course, I'm sure that's what they were going for: re-capping and evolving for an easy transition to the next stage in the series. However, it's just very anti-climactic and I feel like I didn't learn anything. I still have no idea what the embryo is, or what the Humpty Lock is for, or why Utau and Ikuto are being used by Easter (heck, I really am not sure what Easter is after, anyway). Explain things to me, please! Fillers are good sometimes, but I need to know these things now!

When I first started watching Shugo Chara a long time ago, I expected it to be a lot like Tokyo Mew Mew. What I found was completely different, yet still enjoyable. Though there are things that tick me off about this show, I always end up coming back for more (the openings and endings being by Hello! Project groups helps, too). I hope the series continues to improve, and I can't wait to watch more!

On a side note, I just figured out that there is a Shugo Chara musical starring... Maeda Yuuka!!!! I need to see this, but I need to finish the anime first! That's another reason why I'm rushing to finish the anime, because I want to see Yuuka-chan act! (P.S., we miss you, Yuuka!)

From here on out I plan to review the past Shugo Chara episodes after every 3 episodes (to correspond with the DVDs) so look forward to more frequent, in-depth reviews!

If there is another anime you want me to review, feel free to request it! Also I'll be trying even harder to keep up with Hello! Project so you may see some posts about them from here-to-there.