Sailor Moon Crystal Video Essay Script

INTRO:

Sailor Moon Crystal was initially pitched as a 100% faithful adaptation of the original Sailor Moon manga. In an interview featured in Animedia’s July 2014 issue, seasons 1 and 2 director Munehisa Sakai said:

“This time our plan is to start at the beginning of the completed manga and turn it into an anime. The world of “Sailor Moon” is splendid and gorgeous as well as delicate. The flow of the hair, the sparkle of the costumes, the softness characteristic of girls’ manga and full of dreams. The story centers around the mystery of the ‘Moon Princess’ and involves Usagi and friends’ memories of their past lives; it’s like a magnificent and romantic epic poem. Since the original work was so gorgeous, we can now use the latest imaging techniques that have developed over the past 20 years to really convey that splendor.” (Munehisa Sakai, Animedia July 2014 issue)

This was something Naoko had been hoping for ever since the ‘90s anime’s creation. A more faithful adaptation that could allow the manga’s story to be enjoyed by a wider audience, given that the ‘90s anime is most people’s default version. This also could’ve allowed for expanded and polished storylines, including manga side stories such as Casablanca Memories, which explores Rei’s strained relationship with her father and her unrequited love for his secretary.

Naoko actually had been heavily involved in the production of the live action series. Again, I haven’t seen it so I can’t comment, but it could’ve also provided a foundation for new storylines in Sailor Moon Crystal. It was all around a chance to expand on stories and themes Naoko was unable to fully explore in the manga in order to meet her publisher’s deadlines. To take the best elements from each adaptation of the franchise, and meld them into the definitive version of Sailor Moon.

However, this would not be the case. Sailor Moon Crystal’s first two seasons are technically just one season, given they were produced together and aired back to back. Instead of just producing 14 episodes for the Dark Kingdom and then waiting a while until they adapted the next story arc, or just expanding the Dark Kingdom Arc to a whole 26 episodes, they decided to rush out the first two arcs in one go.

And this, along with many other factors we’ll talk about later, heavily contributed to the breakneck pace that left many viewers disappointed. Instead of giving the story time to breathe and letting the characters develop, it felt as though Toei was rushing to get the new series over with, not even giving their staff a break between story arcs with entirely different sets of characters.

It also doesn’t help that Crystal’s first two seasons were kept to an online-only release, with new episodes airing semimonthly. Most of the time this would mean waiting two weeks for the next episode, but the release being semimonthly sometimes meant three whole weeks’ worth of waiting. And even so, the animation still feels rushed and last minute.

While it could be argued this is to remain more faithful to the original manga by going for a one-to-one, beat-for-beat adaptation, this actually isn’t the case. Sailor Moon Crystal may on the surface appear to be a loyal adaptation, but if you look a bit deeper, not only are events, major and minor, changed, but the heart and soul of the manga that made it fun and charming just… isn’t there.

PLOT & STRUCTURE:

The overall plot of Crystal’s first season is basically the same as that of the manga. Every manga act is made into its own 24-minute episode; 14 acts, 14 episodes. They even kept the term “Act” for the episode titles.

That said, there are several changes regarding both huge plot points, as well as minor character interactions. Interestingly, some of the changes regarding each episode’s structure actually wind up improving the story. One example of this is in Act 2, when Usagi rushes to save Ami from the Dark Kingdom’s scheme at the Crystal Seminar cram school.

In the manga, Ami is on her way to class with the other brainwashed students, but passes out before she even reaches the classroom. Usagi finds her, but during the battle, Ami is held hostage by the monster. Ami’s powers allow her to break free, and she immediately creates a mist, which doesn’t reveal her as Sailor Mercury until after the fight. It works really well and gives Mercury’s reveal a unique moment.

In Crystal, meanwhile, Ami is on the side of the room while Sailor Moon battles the monster. Luna gives Ami the pen, and when Sailor Moon is pinned and about to be killed, Ami yells out and transforms, allowing for the obligatory transformation sequence. It also works for Ami’s character, given she’s very shy and soft spoken before this moment, then yells out, actively getting involved and drawing attention to herself as she worries for her new friend.

Act 5 is probably my favorite in terms of the changes made. There’s a subplot about this past crush of Makoto’s who led her on and ditched her for another girl, and it hurt Mako so much she wound up transferring schools, namely because Mako is used to her strength and tallness making her an outcast, and making guys stay away from her despite her femininity.

In Crystal, we actually see flashbacks to this moment, and there’s a huge focus put on Nephrite preying on people’s belief in love. Mako falls into despair as she feels that love is a lie, and that she is and always will be unlovable. There’s one line from Nephrite in the Viz dub in particular that’s always hit me hard, especially recently: “How could you ever believe anyone would love you?”

But Sailor Moon counters this, saying that Mako isn’t an idiot for being in love with someone, even if he didn’t feel the same and broke her heart. She reassures Mako that someone is out there who will love her just as she loves him, and it’s… YO, FAM, THIS HITS.

It’s a wonderful emotional payoff and a great way to introduce Jupiter as the Guardian of Love and Courage. It’s a great storyline that while kinda present in the original manga, isn’t nearly as emphasized as I would’ve liked.

Act 6 isn’t as hard-hitting, but I still adore it. In the original manga, Zoisite has put a spell over the people of Juban to make them search for the Silver Crystal, which even affects Usagi. Tuxedo Mask comes to her aid before she faints, and she uses the Moon Stick to heal the whole city, using Moon Healing Escalation for the first time. But beyond that, there’s not much in the way of growth for their characters.

Compare this to Crystal, where Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter are fighting Zoisite on their own and get their asses handed to them. Queen Beryl then descends form the sky like the iconic bitch she is, making this her first encounter with the Sailor Guardians. Usagi worries she can’t help them given she isn’t as strong as her friends, but Tuxedo Mask tells her that her strength is her heart. Her compassion brought she and her friends together, bringing happiness and joy into their lives. It’s then that Sailor Moon gains the confidence to join the battle, and use Moon Healing Escalation to save the city and send Beryl and Zoisite running. HELL. YES.

The only difference Crystal made was not having Usagi fall under Zoisite’s spell. Instead she just passes out because… look, I don’t know, but the rest of the changes make up for it in my book.

It’s a similar case to the changes in Act 7, where in the original manga, Zoisite captures Sailor Moon and takes down Jupiter and Mars when they try to save her. Tuxedo Mask watches from afar, but can’t do anything due to Zoisite’s barrier, leaving Sailor V to save Sailor Moon at the very end.

Crystal, meanwhile, has Mercury join the failed rescue attempt, adding to the desperation (And letting the girls implement some strategy into their attack as they try to blind Zoisite), and Tuxedo Mask PUNCHING. ZOISITE. Follow this with Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask getting a whole moment to confess their newfound understandings of each other and how much they care for each other… and... AM I THE ONLY ONE CRYING?!

Some of the changes also fix tiny pacing issues. One which comes to mind is this weird choice to have Mamoru be blind in Acts 13 and 14 when he reawakens, but then having his sight restored after the fight with Metalia? They just got rid of that altogether in Crystal, which honestly was the right call given it went nowhere. Though now I would like to see a version where Mamoru stays blind throughout the story cuz that just sounds cool as fuck. #TuxedoToph, let’s get it trending.

But more significantly in Act 13, when Metalia consumes the Silver Crystal and begins to take over Earth, the Sailor Guardians briefly leave the North Pole to return to the command center, then rush back to the North Pole for a final clash where they sacrifice their powers, and by extension their lives, to give Usagi one last fighting chance.

Crystal keeps the Guardians at the North Pole the whole time, thank god, and they get a moment of desperation where they’re beaten the hell up and lose all hope… until they remember how Usagi has helped all of them. They stand again, summon the sword, and give Usagi all their powers, telling her that they love her. And… OH MY GOD, I’M BROKEN INSIDE.

It really feels like Sailor Moon Crystal, through its dark tone and melodrama, actually really excels at the emotional beats of the storyline. Provided you’re already invested in the characters, these moments will hit like a brick. Lord knows I cry a LOT when I watch Crystal. But again, that’s assuming you already care about the characters through other versions, but if Crystal is your introduction, then… well… we’ll get there.

Not all the changes were for the better, though. We’ll talk about the Shittennou stuff in a little while, but another big change that’s had fans divided is the fate of Beryl in Act 12. The original manga had Beryl use her hair to try and strangle Sailor Moon. Sailor Venus attempted to save her with the chain, but was knocked back. Jupiter then grabbed the sword from Venus to free Sailor Moon, and Venus finished Beryl off by ramming the sword into Beryl’s stomach, killing her.

Once that was done, Venus read the sword’s inscription, only to pass out from exhaustion and be kidnapped by the corrupted Tuxedo Mask and taken to the Dark Kingdom. Sailor Moon followed him for a final confrontation, and was soon joined by Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter once they caught up, and Venus once she woke up.

Crystal, however, had all the characters entangled in Beryl's Hair. Venus freed them, but was blocked while trying to attack Beryl. Sailor Moon then took the sword and, aided by the others, aimed for Beryl’s necklace, the presumed source of Metalia’s influence over her. They seemed to believe that destroying the necklace might free Beryl, but rather, it made her disintegrate as she had in the manga.

Interestingly, the Sacred Sword is said to have been made toxic, just like the ruins of Silver Millennium, and this toxicity was believed to be the result of Metalia’s power. So in a way, Venus killing Beryl with the sword in the manga could’ve poisoned her with the remnants of Metalia’s power, resulting in the horrifying disintegration. SYMBOLISM.

While I do kind of like the idea that the Sailor Guardians might’ve just been trying to help Beryl, given she was reincarnated like them and still being used by Metalia, I’m very sad to see such a great moment taken away from Sailor Venus, especially given she’s the one who primarily wields the sword as the team’s leader. It’s also related to Crystal’s shyness towards the manga’s more graphic moments, but again, we’ll cover that soon.

Oh, but I do like the change Crystal made to have Sailor Moon fight Tuxedo Mask by herself. That’s like the one change to Act 12 I really do love unabashedly.

Now a lot of this probably has to do with the fact that, again, Naoko was rushing to get out one act a month for Nakayoshi, meaning she likely didn’t have the time to fully polish out the story beats for each act. It makes sense that Crystal, having so much material and knowledge of the overall story to work with, was able to improve the general structure of each story and emphasize relationships or themes more than the manga could.

But uh… that don’t mean shit if you don’t care about the characters.

CHARACTERIZATION:

Two of the biggest criticisms of Crystal’s first two seasons were its seriousness bordering on melodrama, and the lack of characterization for Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus. Crystal was indeed darker and more somber than other versions of the story, even the manga, which can partially be explained by a quote from Sakai.

“Ever since the beginning our concept has been to bring the world of the manga just as it is to life on screen, so my thoughts were, ‘Let’s aim this at the women who watched the show in real time years ago and offer them something that glimmered in their childhood.’ I thought it would be good if we could make a show that made women in their late twenties think ‘How beautiful!’ or ‘How cool!’ or even ‘This makes me nostalgic!’ These women have become members of society, experienced their own hardships and have experienced a reality that’s different from that childhood dream of ‘a prince on a white horse.’” (Munehisa Sakai, Animage July 2014 issue)

Now while this does explain why there isn’t as much comedy present in Crystal as there is in the manga, there are some inconsistencies with this choice to veer towards an older audience that we’ll discuss later on. However, the decrease in comedic moments unfortunately plays a role in the fact that the Inner Guardians really seem to have had their personalities diluted.

Rei, for example, seems a bit snarkier in the manga than you might initially expect. She’s not outright antagonistic of Usagi like in the ‘90s anime, but she does chastise Usagi for being late to their meeting in Act 4 and complains about having too many duties to bother worrying about being a Sailor Guardian and fighting monsters. She again teases Usagi later on in Act 8, saying that Usagi seems to lose much of her intelligence when she’s not transformed into Sailor Moon.

Makoto, meanwhile, is the group mom; a very mature, nurturing presence, especially towards Usagi. This is particularly present in Act 10, when Sailor Moon holds onto Jupiter when the darkness of the moon frightens her. There’s even a cute moment where Jupiter makes a pun about Usagi being a real rabbit on the moon, which includes this beautiful stylistic change where Usagi is made into a bunny, and Venus just longs for the sweet release of death. It’s glorious, and tragically absent from Crystal.

There’s also a moment in Act 11 when the group is at Ami’s place discussing their findings on the moon, and Usagi passes out. Mako carries her to bed while Minako tells her to be careful, and this is especially heartbreaking later on when Mako winds up being brainwashed by a corrupted Mamoru and tries to steal the Silver Crystal from Usagi.

We’ve already mentioned how taking Beryl’s kill away from Venus kinda diminishes her importance as the leader of the Inner Guardians and the group veteran, but she also gets a lot of time to shine in Act 11. Crystal’s version of this act gives Luna a lot more to do to focus on her relationship with Usagi and how she feels she’s not an adequate mentor, which I do love, but it’s sad that Minako lost a lot of material to make that happen.

Minako is actually the one who takes notice of someone clearing levels of the Sailor V game, which was meant to help the Sailor Guardians train for combat. And later on during the fight in the command center, Minako is the one to knock out the brainwashed Makoto, and she alone transforms and battles both Motoki and Tuxedo Mask. Mars and Mercury presumably transform, but aren’t seen partaking in any of the battle. 

I do appreciate the changes in Crystal to make Mercury and Mars more active, where Mars knocks out Makoto and tries to fight Tuxedo Mask briefly, while Mercury tries to grab the Silver Crystal. But again, the manga really emphasizes Venus as the group’s leader who’s always ready and alert more so than any other version.

Even cute moments like Minako freaking out over breaking things with the Sacred Sword work so much better in the manga, again because of the stylistic changes and deformities. Even Minako nearly tripping and denting the marble floors of the condominium building are so endearing (Not to mention Makoto’s first reaction to where Ami lives being, “Goddamn, just knowing what the rent is here hurts my wallet”).

What I will say though is that I love Minako wanting to fight Kunzite alone in Episode 8 of Crystal. If Crystal did one thing for Minako, it’s do a better job with her carrying the burden as leader and protector of the Princess so seriously, she winds up isolating herself to her detriment.

But even with that, Crystal doesn’t help itself by having the Guardians, specifically whenever they’re in a heated battle towards the finales, always wind up speaking one by one in perfect coordination. At times it can even feel as though they're all one hive mind across four people, and it robs them further of their individuality, morphing them into Usagi’s less important cheerleaders.

So many cute moments all present in the manga with wonderful deformities and stylistic changes just aren’t present in Crystal. Crystal wouldn’t bother to try and attempt these until a few episodes into the second story arc, but for many it was too little too late, myself included.

Oh also they cut Usagi using the Disguise Pen to crossdress as a groom to distract the ghost bride in Act 5. Was it vital? No, but Usagi was handsome as fuck, dammit, and I will forever be bitter.

SENSHI X SHITTENOU:

In the manga, each of the Four Kings of Heaven, more commonly referred to as the Generals or the Shittenou, are killed off one by one. Jadeite is killed by Sailor Mars in Act 3, Nephrite by Jupiter in Act 5, Zoisite by Venus in Act 7 (by literally being torn into pieces), and Kunzite by the Inner Guardians in Act 10.

Despite that, their backstory as Prince Endymion’s knights is still present. It’s likely that Naoko had taken time to flesh this out, but by the time she could implement it further, Jadeite and Nephrite were already dead, so might as well keep the ball rolling.

This can also be surmised from this rather popular piece of artwork from the manga featuring each of the Guardians paired off with one of the Shittenou. These pairings, dubbed Senshi x Shittenou, were a popular group of ships that Naoko supposedly wanted to include, but didn’t have time to fully develop.

And so Crystal decided to include these romances in the first story arc, keeping all the Shittenou alive until the very end. And in theory, I actually kinda like this idea. Had the Dark Kingdom Arc been expanded to 26 episodes, we could’ve explored more of these romances and flesh them out, just as they are in the musicals. At least, from what I’ve heard they’re done very well in the musical, specifically Mercury and Zoisite.

However, the most we get are hints that Jadeite and Nephrite recognize Mars and Jupiter respectively when they first meet, along with Venus being hesitant to fight Kunzite in Episode 8. It isn’t until the end of Episode 10 that Venus reveals how they were all in love, to which the other Guardians go, “Oh yeah, we were, oh no, we can’t fight now,” and it’s just… ugh.

It doesn’t help that Episode 10 in particular feels so rushed with a random fight tacked on at the very end. In the manga, it worked much better. Only Kunzite is alive at this point, and we actually witness the corpses of his fellow Generals being revived by the Silver Crystal’s power briefly in Act 9 so they can remember their true pasts, before being turned into stones. This leads to Kunzite eavesdropping on Beryl and Metalia in Act 10, him remembering everything, and Beryl reinforcing his mind control and sending him to freeze over Tokyo.

Kunzite goes after Sailor Moon after she heals the city, mocking her about how Tuxedo Mask will be returned to her as a corpse. Sailor Moon is unable to fight back, leaving the Inner Guardians to kill Kunzite by using Sailor Planet Power. It feels like a fitting end to the last of the Four Generals.

Meanwhile in Crystal, we get a cool brief clash between the Generals and the Inner Guardians, and then Venus telling the story of their past romances, accompanied by flashback shots pairing each Guardian off with her respective General. Problem is there’s no heart in any of these moments, not giving us a reason to get behind these relationships. There’s no chemistry, no humanity, no love, and therefore, we’re just being told to believe they’re all in love. And… that is one of the worst ways to write a romance, because… there is no romance.

It all leads to a very anticlimactic clash between the Guardians and Generals in Episode 12. What should be a powerful and heart wrenching battle as the girls are all forced to fight the men they love is rendered moot, not only because the Guardians aren’t even trying to put up a fight, but also because we’re not given a reason to believe any of them were ever truly in love.

There’s actually a brief moment where Venus blushes when Kunzite addresses Prince Endymion, and that moment alone holds so much more emotional weight to it than the entirety of the Senshi x Shittenou storylines portrayed in Crystal.

Ironically, I would’ve loved to see a fusion of the Inner Guardians’ deaths in the ‘90s final battle with the Senshi x Shittenou storyline. Grueling battles where the Guardians are forced to kill their former lovers to reach Sailor Moon individually, rather than… what we got. Crater blast.

God I hate it.

ART STYLE & DESIGN:

Forgive me if I stumble a bit here or don’t go fully into detail on the animation techniques used, given that writing is my forte, not so much art and design. However, the animation is worth discussing because in this medium, of course the visuals matter. Just as a manga can communicate its story and themes through its panels and intricate details, animation can do that with not only moving images, but cinematography and sound. And Sailor Moon Crystal’s presentation is… oof.

Now, while the music of Yasuharu Takanashi in my opinion is fuckin’ bomb, the music of any series should serve to elevate what’s already there. And as we know, Crystal’s main issues are in its writing and especially its animation, and these issues, given the nature of the medium are intertwined.

But what I will say is while I do love the orchestral style Takanashi provides, and while I do make fun of the jazzy flair of the ‘90s anime, I have to admit it had a lot of charm to it thanks to Takanori Arisawa. And there are pieces of music I adore, such as Uranus and Neptune’s transformation theme, the music from literally any of Sailor Moon’s transformations, and Inner Senshi Crystal Power, to name a few. I mean, just listen to this jazz. Moon Eternal OST. OH MY GOD, THIS IS FUCKING FIRE.

That character in the music isn’t really present in Crystal’s OST. Yes, it sounds beautiful, but I can’t really pin unique themes, leitmotifs, or instrumentation to any of the characters or villains. Perhaps RWBY has spoiled me in that regard, but like… god, Sailor Moon Crystal could use not only some jazz vibes, but also the touch of the Williams and Alex Abraham… actually, everything could.

Moving onto the animation, the CGI transformations are perhaps the easiest target. Sakai actually seemed very optimistic about the use of 3D animation for transformations, saying:

“In particular, during the transformation scenes I’d like to use CG to capture the movements of the girls from different angles, freely use lighting effects, and have a flashy display of their twirling forms.” (Munehisa Sakai, Animedia July 2014 issue)

Yet despite the potential for more spectacular, stunning sequences, these transformations feel lifeless and uncanny. The 3D does not jive well with the 2D animation at all, and the models themselves look like mannequins that have had the girls’ 2D faces plastered onto them. The best of the lot are Sailor Mars and Venus’ transformations: Mars because the fire coupled with the chants in the music really help her unique flair; and Venus because LOOK AT ALL THE RIBBONS. But even then, they’re not so much great as they are… okay.

But the art style itself has drawn much contention. The first two seasons of Crystal attempted to look as close to the manga’s elegant and delicate style as possible, trying to make the characters look as pretty as possible at all times.

“This time we’re aiming for a girls’ manga style, so from the very beginning we thought a woman’s delicate styling would be best. Then we heard about a woman named Yukie Sako who could draw really strong likenesses and thought, ‘It would be interesting if Ms. Sako would illustrate Sailor Moon!’” (Munehisa Sakai, Animage July 2014 issue)

“It was essential that I decide the direction I was going to take the design in. I just couldn’t achieve the balance of Ms. Takeuchi’s style. It was hard to notice it myself, but I kept drifting towards a more modern anime style so my aim was to figure out how to disrupt that. It took several months, but finally I arrived at “the best balance to turn Ms. Takeuchi’s drawings into anime.” (Yukie Sako, Animage July 2014 issue)

Yet it’s clear that this idea of everything needing to be beautiful sucks the life out of the story. Let’s take a side-by-side look at moments taken directly from the manga. Do you notice any differences? The manga uses deformities and symbols to communicate and exaggerate characters’ emotions and reactions. These are small additions, but they go a long way to help the characters express themselves, and give life to the story.

In Crystal, however, many of these visual cues are not present. Characters are rarely deformed the way they are in the manga, so you never really get to see them as developed people who lose their tempers or measure; no, they must all be kept pretty and perfect at all times. Guys, I like pretty people too, but no one is gorgeous 24/7… well, except Mamoru, but that’s just a universal truth.

But given we’ve taken so many fun moments that characterize the girls already, further taking away any chance for them to express themselves through the visuals only compounds the problem. By omitting these important elements from the manga, Crystal can’t truly call itself a faithful adaptation of the manga. They’ve copied the superficial beauty, but the spirit beneath that is sadly absent.

There are also small details not present in Crystal, such as Jupiter’s rose belt, Sailor Mars’ brooch, and Sailor Moon’s mask, but I can forgive all that given such details are normally removed to simplify the animation process. That, and even Sailor Moon’s mask was quickly phased out given she hardly used it and even tossed it off several times whenever she transformed.

But where I think Crystal’s changes are understandable yet still somewhat disappointing is the lack of the horror we see in the manga. Naoko Takeuchi really enjoys having characters’ faces melt in horrifying ways, and even later on we see children being murdered by villains, but in Crystal, they’ve been made into adults.

I say it’s understandable because those kinda things can be a turn-off to broader audiences, and you’d also have to deal with the censors, but it also saddens me because… well, I just like fucked up shit to raise the stakes and horrify me, okay? If RWBY has taught me anything, it’s that even small dashes of horror in a non-horror story are my goddamn jam.

And as for environments, the backgrounds in Crystal are fine for what they are, but they’re not at all memorable. Even the ‘90s anime, with all its weird colors, was able to better set the mood for many scenes. The only environment designs in Crystal I genuinely love are the Dark Kingdom, and especially the command center. Holy fuck, did the command center get a glow up.

In the manga, the command center just looks like this underground office that’s… utterly hideous. IS THAT A GIANT FAX MACHINE? Meanwhile in Crystal, it feels otherworldly, with a hard light staircase, a funky extradimensional background of a nice dark blue, and… GREEK COLUMNS, FUCK YES.

But even beyond the aforementioned understandable changes, unfortunately Sailor Moon Crystal is still plagued by what many would call… bad animation. We’ve all seen screenshots from Crystal showing off how many times characters looked uncanny or off-model or… just plain demonic, and these issues even persist in the BluRays.

The most egregious offenses, in my humble internet opinion, are found in Episode 6. This episode is filled with sudden, harsh cuts that feel jarring, and many off-center shots, particularly of Luna and Usagi. It’s hard to read exactly what’s happening in these awkward frames, and the odd cinematography especially makes it hard to gauge where people are.

And uh… as much as I love Beryl’s introduction here, I cannot forgive this cheap way of showing off her power. Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter are all lying on the ground exhausted, and to raise the stakes further, Beryl… warps the frame? It just looks like everything is becoming flatter and flatter, and my god does it look awful. What is this even suggesting Beryl is doing to them aside from making the animation worse?

But I think the ultimate question is… why? Why does such a beloved property have such a lackluster-looking adaptation? Well, systemic problems we’ll explain in a side to contextualize the problem, the core issue is that Toei doesn’t see much to gain from investing in Sailor Moon aside from merch sales.

Of Toei’s top franchises, while Sailor Moon is certainly up there and making bank, Pretty Cure, Dragon Ball, and especially One Piece have always out-earned it. And so to Toei, this property isn’t worth as much as their attention, and so they simply want to rush it out the door and get it over with, putting in as little as possible to maximize returns.

That’s not to say that Sakai and the staff on Crystal don’t care; they certainly do. Everything I’ve found from interviews suggests they are huge Sailor Moon fans, but they can only do so much under a company that doesn’t give them the time and resources they need to make as strong a product as possible. This is why so much animation was outsourced, why we have cheaper 3D transformations as opposed to hand-drawn ones, and why the animation feels so rushed.

A lot of Crystal was outsourced to Toei’s studios in the Philippines, likely to cut corners and save money. On top of that, it’s common practice for anime studios to consider their staff as individual contractors, meaning any constant salaries, job security, benefits, or protections for standard employees are kept out of their reach.

Toei does have a labor union, but it’s a kind that’s actually considered illegal here in the States. The Toei Animation Union is what’s called a company union. Company unions, as their name suggests, are not under the complete control of the workers. Instead, these unions are partially or mostly controlled and influenced by the employer, essentially robbing the leverage unions need to effectively bargain for better working conditions. They’re also called yellow unions, presumably because they’re piss poor.

Company unions were outlawed in the U.S. in the 1930s, but they’re still commonplace in Japan. So instead of helping the staff at Toei secure better working conditions that could improve the quality of not only their work, but their livelihoods, Toei’s company union essentially allows Toei to grant select benefits to the few staff they employ, while leaving most of their workforce, being considered freelance contractors, out to dry and making less than the minimum wage.

So it should be no surprise that a company that exploits its animators this way routinely puts out rushed content that is the subject of much scrutiny. And for Toei specifically to guise itself as progressive with its yellow union is especially sinister. No matter how well meaning the staff on Crystal may be, the systemic pressures around them just don’t allow for animators to be treated well enough to create the truly masterful adaptation Sailor Moon, or any project, deserves.

This is why we stan Kyoto Animation for properly salarying its animators, training them and treating them well, and taking their time on all their projects… aaaand now I’m filled with existential despair over the Kyoto fire again… why are we never allowed to have good things?

ULTIMATE TAKEAWAY:

I’ve recently been obsessed with videos from Super Eyepatch Wolf. He does fantastic in-depth video essays on anime, video games, and… professional wrestling? You know what, man, he can make videos on whatever he likes cuz his content is leagues beyond my own. But back to the topic!

One of his videos describes the hot mess of a disappointment that is the Junji Ito Collection, an anime adaptation of several of Junji Ito’s horror manga stories. I’ll link it, as well as another of his Junji Ito videos, up in the cards and also in the description, cuz they’re fantastic, but I think the general principle of why the Junji Ito Collection failed can apply to Sailor Moon Crystal, at least partially.

Sailor Moon Crystal was so fixated on matching the perceived beauty of the manga, in making it this super dramatic and serious adaptation, that it lost a lot of the fun and silliness that made it more endearing and grounded. Am I saying axe the melodrama? Well… no. I think the depth they give to the more emotional moments is important, but without the more lighthearted moments, there’s no anchor to make them as impactful as they should be.

And this isn’t at all to say the Crystal staff didn’t care, because clearly they did. Going in, I’ll admit I was expecting to not be a fan of Sakai, but from the interviews I’ve read, he seems like he really tried his best to honor Naoko’s vision, and his staff really seemed to share that sentiment.

“… We got a lot of calls from animators that aren’t connected to Toei studios asking us to let them work on the project. And then, when we had our first meeting, one of the staff members attending brought in their copies of the original manga, which happened to be first press editions. On top of that, if someone on the Toei side made a mistake, it would immediately be called out and we’d be told things like ‘I don’t think Usagi would ever say this.’ When we finally thought we had the character designs ready and were feeling really good about them, someone would then say ‘The clothes aren’t cute enough.’” (Munehisa Sakai, EX Taishu September 2014 issue)

But good intentions don’t always result the way you want them to. Could part of this also be due to Sakai being a male director? Honestly, that is likely a big factor. Instead of having a female director who knows the experiences of being a woman firsthand, you instead have this vision of what men think women experience, and however well intentioned the attempt may be, it’s still never a replacement for the authentic perspective. Fumio Osano, Naoko’s editor from day 1, had this to say about the surprisingly strong female presence at Kodansha:

“When I was first working for ‘Nakayoshi,’ almost all of the editors, editors-in-chief, and the artists themselves were women. Of the three lead editors of Kodansha who were represented in the office, I was the only male.” (Fumio Osano, ROLa magazine January 2014 issue)

Yet even so, despite many workers at Kodansha being female, many of the higher ups were… old guys. Really sexist old guys, from Naoko’s words.

“From the onset, I said “I want to make a comic series about a squadron of five beautiful fighting girls”, and they said, “Hold up. In a fighting squadron, there’s always like one comically obese character, and another nerdy one that wears glasses. How are you going to make all five of them beautiful?” and the complaints went on and on. Oh, those old men… I think they didn’t understand girls comics at all.” (Naoko Takeuchi, ROLa magazine and God of Backstage Show)

And this situation, with the wishes of the company and the employers forcing the creators who do in fact care to compromise their vision, applies perfectly to Crystal. An attempt to take the magic of the manga and give it the faithful, beautiful anime adaptation it rightfully deserved, all for the franchise’s 20th anniversary, was kneecapped at almost every turn.

From the outsourcing, to the poor treatment of animators, and the demands to get two whole story arcs done back to back in so little time with so little resources, it’s no wonder Crystal struggled to live up to the legendary expectations everyone had for it.

Some of these issues, like the lack of a female directorial perspective, the absence of cute, funny moments, and the horrid animation, would all be remedied by Chikai Kon becoming the director of Crystal season 3. Though while that was indeed a massive improvement, it’s a shame Crystal’s first two seasons are forever going to be trapped in the rough shape they were produced in, and season 3 is still plagued by the same systemic problems. Regardless of whoever may be on staff, however much they may care and their efforts to create a great story, it’s always at the mercy of the employer’s wishes to turn a profit.

CONCLUSION & OUTRO

If you read the old Mixx translations of the Sailor Moon manga, you’ll find little panels on the sides of the pages with notes from Naoko Takeuchi herself. These are also present in the 2011 Kodansha editions, all collected in the very back, but the original ones feature some cute drawings, some of which include Naoko depicting herself as an exhausted rabbit trying to get manga acts done while her publisher screams at her about meeting her deadlines.

Now, the version of the manga I’ve been looking at are scanlations provided by Miss Dream, which if you don’t know, is a fan site filled with raw translations and materials ranging from the original manga, to the live action series, and even to the new musicals. And here, at the very end of Act 11, you’ll find two pages of Naoko talking about her experiences, and while it is endearing, it’s also sad to see how the pressures of the manga industry weighed down on Naoko while she was creating Sailor Moon.

According to one panel, she would have to churn out 40 to 50 pages in about a week’s time every month, and you can probably imagine how burnt out she must’ve felt trying to get all of that done in such a short amount of time.

“I was surprised by how hard the schedule was that my superiors followed – they would end the day at around midnight, and be back at work by 8 AM the next morning, and I used to try really hard to keep up with them. I was shocked by how hard it was. There were some days I would say to myself, ‘I’m just going to jump out of the window.’” (Fumio Osano, ROLa magazine January 2014 issue)

So, it should be no wonder she had to keep up the manga’s breakneck pace, and parts of the Black Moon Arc specifically felt rushed or underdeveloped. Yet even so, knowing all this kinda makes it all the more impressive she could even keep up, let alone create stories that would captivate audiences and stand the test of time.

Especially when you discover that not only did she have her story warped by a male perspective by Toei Animation, not once but twice, but she even saw pushback from the male higher ups at Kodansha.

“… When I first decided on the color of Sailor Moon’s hair, I wanted it to be silver, but the old grandpa editors didn’t like that decision either, and they really got upset, and said that the magazine would never sell if I used such a dull color. When I first said that I thought blonde hair would be a more Princess-like choice for the main character, someone chuckled and said “At least it’s not grandma-style like last time.” (Naoko Takeuchi, ROLa magazine and God of Backstage Show)

Really, the tragedy of it all is that even with both anime adaptations, the manga never really got a chance to shine in anime form. The ‘90s anime was rushing to both buy time for the manga as well as keep up with it while Naoko was still developing the story, and changing so many fundamental elements that it wasn’t even Naoko’s story anymore (Especially by the last two story arcs… Jesus lord).

Crystal, meanwhile, is essentially a rushed and superficial version of the manga, its lofty ambitions crushed by the reality of the exploitative anime industry. But that said, even through all of this, Naoko’s story, her characters, and her themes are all strong enough to still stay with Sailor Moon fans regardless of the incarnation they watched. And that’s because the ideas that her characters represent are universal, and the concept alone of her story was revolutionary.

Without Sailor Moon, in any form, the magical girl genre would likely never have been so popularized. Sailor Moon proved that you can tell a story led by a diverse team of female characters, and achieve immense success.

“I think for people who are in their 20s and 30s these days, they feel the same way about Sailor Moon that I did for Candy Candy, back when I was first beginning to draw the Sailor Moon series. And I’m happy about that. But I’m also really embarrassed, because my work back then was so sloppy, I was such a rookie, and I didn’t have much professionalism. But I never imagined that 20 years later, this work of mine would still be so popular, and I can’t believe that there are still so many people who love it. But you know, even now when I hear someone say that they love Sailor Moon, that they think its beautiful, it makes me really happy to hear that.” (Naoko Takeuchi, ROLa magazine January 2014 issue)

So, if you’re new to Sailor Moon and you for some reason decided to watch this video… well, first of all, thank you for sticking with me through my inane ramblings. But I’d also recommend that you check out the original Sailor Moon manga, then Crystal and the ‘90s anime. The more versions of the story you experience, the more you’ll likely come to love the characters and story and appreciate just how different they all are. Even if one makes you… really, really want to pull your hair out over goddamn roses.

Again, the old manga scanlations are all available over on the Miss Dream site, but if you have the resources to support the official release, this handy dandy manga guide by fellow YouTuber Sailor Tortilla should help you out (Link in le cards and le description).

Anyhow, if you enjoyed this video and you’d like to see more content like this from me, then be sure to not only subscribe and check out my other videos, but also to ring that bell for notifications because YouTube hates creators. Given my love of stories about kickass ladies, it should be no wonder I’ve been enjoying talking more about Winx Club and now Sailor Moon in addition to RWBY. If you’re willing and able, I’d also appreciate you pledging your support over on Patreon so I can continue to make content for you in the midst of the apocalypse.

I’m the Unicorn of War, and in the name of the moon, fuck 2020.