Forum - View topicMusings on Sailor Moon and Life
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Pessimistic Angel
Posts: 24 |
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Today I wanted to talk about an anime that we all loved, Sailor Moon (SM).
It has been 12 years since the beginning of the Sailor Moon Manga, little under 7 years since the end of the Anime (it ended at the end of 1997, the traditional ending point for 40+ episodes anime for that time.) And its stars have declined a great deal since that time, there has not been any new anime or movies, nor new manga, nor an OVA, since then. It's live action show is so horrifically bad that even the most loyal fans of the series detest it. Aside from occasional rerun and republishing of the manga, there has been no SM products within last 5 years that is not a rehash of something that has already been tried in the franchise's history. In other words Sailor Moon is dying. In all honesty it can be argued that SM is a antiquated series in many ways, the characterizations, the art, the plot, all of them are once considered a timeless classic, but now, are considered simplistic (since later series built on SM formula). Sailor Moon has always suffered a fight over property rights ever since it became so unexpectedly popular. The animation and distribution company for SM, Toei (the company that gave us Digimon) and the creator Naoko Takeuchi. The Dispute killed the anime series and almost killed the Manga series as well. And now there are no Sailor Moon reprinting is possible in U.S and other places because there is yet another property dispute. Naoko Takeuchi's Manga career slowed down after SM, she took on several project, yet always left, leaving so many of them unfinished. I think that perhaps she is looking for the same inspiration that she had when she created SM. At the end, SM was a simple concept brilliantly worked and executed, although I think it collapsed on itself (read the last arc, it just... falls apart). But the manga we read today wouldn't be possible without SM. Its just sad that the Manga industry that it transformed has passed it altogether in quality. The last scene of Sailor Moon end in quite scene where all the main characters are reconsidering their lives, and it is one of the most touching scene of any anime. But it knew how to finish itself, now if the others will let it go... My experience of Sailor moon is primary that of the Korean Dub and Tokyopop Manga. |
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lianncoop
Past ANN Contributor
 Posts: 1705 Location: Indiana |
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Your thread reminds me of the thread Zac brought up a while ago.
animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5223 You can only keep things around for so long. Sailor Moon is a staple in the anime world and it always will be even if Stars never gets licensed, or if the manga goes out of print. No one's passing it over or not giving it the credit it deserves. It may be on its last leg, but at least it's going out on a high note....of sorts. And hey, there's always the Live Action...I think that really is showing Sailor Moon is going out with a bang. 
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PlayBoi
Posts: 119 Location: Cali |
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Yes, tha passing of time is a very sad thing because we lose so much as we move into tha future. Things only our generation will see, that are common place now, will be gone be tha time I meet my grandchildren. All we can do is keep tha memories of such things alive within ourselves. Personally, it doesnt matter how popular a series is. If I have a desire to see it I will. Take Dragon Ball for instants, it first came out in Japan in tha mid 80's. Only tell recent have I had tha pleasure of watching it, of course thanks inpart to tha hugh success of Dragon Ball Z, but it still with stood tha test of time. I think thats what all truely great series do, they conquer time and advancements, to hold true to there value. Which in my opinion can never be changed with tha mere ticks of a clock.
Anime series are meant to die, just like humans, so tha new can take there place in tha ever continuing (not to sound corny) circle. |
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Cassandra
 Posts: 1356 Location: Birdsboro, PA |
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I don't know how you can say that people detest the show. I can guarantee to you that a ton of people like and enjoy the show. There are literally hundreds of people that anticipate it each and every week. Here's the ratings for the first 11 episodes....it drops off a bit after the first 3, but then it stays at a pretty steady percentage since then. And I would guess that the ratings have probably gone up with the current storyline arc. 9/29 - 10/5 (Ep. 1): 4.6% 10/06 - 10/12 (Ep. 2): 4.2% 10/13 - 10/19 (Ep. 3): 4.1% 10/20 - 10/26 (Ep. 4): 3.1% 10/27 - 11/02 (Ep. 5): 2.8% 11/03 - 11/09 (Ep. 6): 3.6% 11/10 - 11/16 (Ep. 7): 3.0% 11/17 - 11/23 (Ep. 8 ): 3.9% 11/24 - 11/30 (Ep. 10): 3.3% 12/01 - 12/07 (Ep. 11): 3.3% |
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Godaistudios
Posts: 2075 Location: Albuquerque, NM (the land of entrapment) |
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My first experiences in watching the live action made me think... this is pretty bad.
I'm sure you are aware of the concept, "It's so bad, it's good." Because of that, I kept on wanting to watch more of it. Eventually, it grew on me to the point where I really do like the live action version. It's both nostalgic and entertaining.  It's an odd retelling at points, with the plot being done how it is, but how many people want to watch the exact same story over and over again? Detest it? Hardly. As Cassandra put it, there are a lot of people who look forward to it.
On a completely sillier note, I threw in a couple of the episodes of the dub of SM - (first season) last night (after watching the original uncut ones) and I was immediately reminded of two things. The first thing was how much the dub seemed like a hack job, given the script changes, so I cringed many times when watching it. The second thing (where I suspect that disagreements will start) was that I really, really liked the music changes in the dub. I thought the BGM was better, as well as getting songs out of it like "My Only Love". Maybe I'm in the minority on that...
Now if there were a way to change the music in the original but keep everything else...
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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He meant people with taste, Cass. Taste. |
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jmays
ANN Associate Editor
 Posts: 1390 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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Godai's not crazy, it does improve quite a bit, especially from episode 17. They went through like five directors on the way, but they eventually got it right. All things considered, I'd take the first 25 live-action episodes over the first 25 of the anime.
I just wrote a review of the live-action series, so I think I'll hold off saying more until it's posted. =)
Ah well, I've never had good taste in TV shows... |
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Cassandra
Posts: 1356 Location: Birdsboro, PA |
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This from the man who offended a billion anime fans many times over
(Maybe that should be Zac's catchphrase: Over 1 Billion Anime Fans Offended) 
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jmays
ANN Associate Editor
Posts: 1390 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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Still, some of the early stuff is darn near unwatchable...I thought about giving up on it quite a few times. And whoever came up with the karaoke should never be allowed within a mile of another TV show.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Offending anime fans is like shooting fish in a barrel. "I don't like Gundam." There. Now I'll get 1500 emails saying how I'm the Antichrist and that I shouldn't shove my horrible, ill-informed opinion down everyone's throats all the time. -Z |
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Craeyst Raygal
 Posts: 1383 Location: In the garage, beneath a 1970 MGB GT. |
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Hey Zac, lemme try that.
Let's see............. I prefer the Yu-Gi-Oh dub. Man, that is easy. 
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littlegreenwolf
 Posts: 4796 Location: Seattle, WA |
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Naoko's manga career has slowed down mainly because she got married *to the creator of HunterXHunter btw* and had a kid. Every once in a while she is able to write a chapter to her manga Love Witch, which I find adorable so far.
The live actor Sailor Moon is just... well, wonderful. Personally I know of NO Sailormoon fans that detest it. It's the same, kinda dorky sailor moon idea with the fights in every ep, but it's great because it is retelling the story in a totally new way, and well... it's just awesome seeing the costumes of the senshi. They did an awesome job with those. Even the little stuffed Luna idea that most were totally against at first became bearable, and now fans are just sitting back, and enjoying watching it as a new version of Sailormoon unfolds. *is again WILLING ep 25 to come out NOW* The only big major mistake the tv show seems to have made so far is the announcement of the upcoming "Sailor Luna" senshi. >.< If that turns out to be Luna the stuffed cat... the show might suddenly become unbearble for me. Give the live action show a chance. It's really actually quite fun. Oh yeah, and another thing of Sailor Moon that's still going on is Sera Myu, the Sailor Moon musical. It's been going on since season one of Sailor Moon, and is still going strong. The creator loves it, and if you're a die hard fan, it's nice to see more "chapters" to the story, even if it's in a musical form. |
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Godaistudios
Posts: 2075 Location: Albuquerque, NM (the land of entrapment) |
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I noticed some marked improvement there as well. I wasn't aware it had gone through multiple directors, but I'm glad that the storyline did get the life it needed to make it this enjoyable. |
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ZahmiraV
 Posts: 243 Location: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada |
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As it goes on, I found that the acting and fight scenes got better. I think the fight scenes actually DID get better, and I just got used to the acting. In any event, I really do enjoy it.
I also wasn't aware of the director changes, but that would explain a lot.
As far as I know, karaoke is very popular in Japan, probably due to the fact that it came from Japan. I think it makes sense, and I'm starting to like it over the arcade.
Is it still going? I though that there hadn't been one in a while. |
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jmays
ANN Associate Editor
Posts: 1390 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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Remember the first episode? Or the party at Usagi's? You cannot tell me with a straight face that those were good ideas. I enjoy the show a lot, but goodness, the karaoke is painful. Last edited by jmays on Fri Mar 26, 2004 2:20 am; edited 1 time in total |
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