Gekijouban Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Eternal

Let me start out by stating that I am mostly a fan of the classic 90s series of Sailor Moon, having loved the characters, humor and gorgeous artstyle for as long as I can think. With that being said, I unfortunately have to admit that I found the newer Crystal series a bit lacking in each of this three categories - at least up to the much improved third season - which meant that the series overall was somewhat of a disappointment for me.

As with these earlier entries, the two new Eternal movies, continuing the story, were to follow the manga, which had me slightly worried that the same mistakes that already made the first two season hard to watch for me would be repeated: Not only was there another artstyle change, some earlier trailers seemingly implied that the animation, despite the long wait, would again be sloppy. Even worse than that, the plan to cram a whole story arc into barely two hours of film suggested that many of the smaller scenes that make Sailor Moon for me might again have to be scrapped, leaving no time for characterization, humor or heartfelt moments.

However, after watching the long anticipated movies twice now, I can gladly say that my worries were unfounded - at least for the most part.

First of all, the story follows the manga to a tee, with only a few very minor differences. While that indeed means that the pacing is pretty hectic at some points, I still felt that they left enough space for genuine emotions and funny scenes to not make it feel too rushed or bland. Despite that I would have appreciated if certain scenes were given just a few more moments to breath, and, as someone who knows the corresponding manga chapters pretty well, I am not entirely sure how well first-time experiencers of the story can follow the movies' plot.

On another note, the animation (for the most part) is some of the best the franchise has ever seen, and I am not only talking about the Crystal series, but also the 90s anime. Expect no Studio Ghibli, but I think if you liked any animated Sailor Moon content so far you are more likely to be delighted than disappointed. There certainly are a few noticable flaws (like some wonky transitions and faces) to find if you really want to look for them, but I can say that they did not influence my personal enjoyment, what did however (in a positive way) were the many gorgeous panels taken straight from the manga, as well as some really appealing attack animations.

In summary, these are two very nice movies to watch if you go into them open minded and with the right expectations. If you only know the 90s anime so far, this is maybe not exactly your childhood cartoon in which crybaby Serena "fights evil by moonlight", but it contains many of the elements that made the series so special for many people, including me. If you already know the manga story, I can honestly not see you hating these entries unless you expect god-tier animations or lots of added content.

Ultimately this makes the movies a very solid 8/10 for me, although I am sure many will enjoy them even more than that.

I love the animation in sailor moon eternal it looks just like in the 90s anime. I also love how everything is modern and colorful. I love the story of it, it's really faithful to the manga. I hope the stars arc gets a film adaptation too because if it's a movie it has a big Budget making the animation quality great just like sm eternal.

The story is beautiful and the animation is outstanding. I'm sure it's true to the story of the manga. The story is exciting and the characters are well developed.

Unfortunately, what I don't like is that it was adapted as a movie. There are details where the thread of a character's story is quickly told in 5 minutes. Because of this, I think the story is rushed and not coherent. This creates a sense of absence in the viewer. Although this manga adaptation is made as a two part movie, it feels like it would work better as a TV series because of the many events.

I think the scene editors also struggled a lot with how to unify a manga originally intended for a TV series? It more or less succeeded.

Each story chapter was separated by a 1-second black screen (pause). Well, this created an amazing sense of lack and disunity for me. I think all of this could have been solved by possibly separating each section with the title of the chapter, so that would have worked very well.

All in all, it's a nice anime, faithful to the manga, but it doesn't fit the movie format.

As a girl born in the 90s, Sailor Moon was my favorite TV show. Watching the 2 episodes of Sailor Moon Eternal was an amazing experience! The episodes were beautifully paced and I felt like a little girl again.

The story felt slightly more mature than the classic anime. It was also obvious that the writers wanted to make Usagi more powerful and less dependent on Mamo-chan. Their chemistry also seemed much better than what I saw in Sailor Moon Crystal.

Lovely adaptation of the manga, gorgeous art style from Kazuko Tadano who came up with something new and fresh for the series. The Eternal character designs (inner senshi and Usagi) are almost identical to page 68 of volume two actually ! I don't see any resemblance to the 90s apart from the attacks/transformations. I am not sure why they just copied the old ones, as a 90s fan I wanted something a bit more creative not a remake. Uranus really stood out, if they can show more creativity with the others it would be great.

This is the first Crystal arc I have seen so far as previous art style was not something I would enjoy in a "modern" anime

I would love to give Eternal a 10/10 but unfortunately the music was a huge letdown. Apart from Moon Color Chainon and Watashi-tachi ni Naritakute (cover) I did not think the music went well with the atmosphere of this film. The dramatic battle at the end especially also had unsuitable music. Very forgettable.

I found no issues with the pacing personally. It was mostly the atmosphere that was very calm instead of dark and tense. Eg when Mamoru is in distress Chibiusa just sits there gasping instead of showing actual concern. Very weird. Maybe it was the voice acting as well that could have been more passionate, at times they sound disturbingly calm even when going through the nightmare sequences

Loved the background style, gave depth to the Juban district and and the outers' home, some shots are really beautiful to look at.

The manga has plenty of violence so not sure why nothing more serious is ever shown. I also think both the films deserved a proper opening.

If they fix the music for Stars then this will be peak Sailor Moon for me.

I also don't think it would be fair to compare this to the 90s version, they re both independent after all. I don't think one is better than the other and since they show different stories it's not worth analyzing the differences. Eternal is a lovely film and hopefully Stars is next.