Sailor Moon Eternal

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal is the continuation of the Sailor Moon Crystal series and is a direct adaptation of the Dream Arc of the original Manga. Like most of Crystal; it follows the Manga very faithfully but there are some changes that mostly work out for the better. In the Manga the weapons "spoke"; it would have been a little cheesy for that to be pulled off even though that as a lifelong Sailormoon fan, even I can admit.

The animation is a huge improvement from Season III. Although some of the original 1995 Transformation and Attack scenes were more polished; they certainly looked better than last earlier seasons. The Moon Crisis Make Up sequence is not as polished and somewhat glamorous but the music is better.

The subtitles are mostly accurate; I was hoping that they would have been as accurate as Netflix did with Neon Genesis Evangelion; but oh well... The film is two parts and the total running time is 140 minutes.

There is no pacing issues, in my opinion. If you were disappointed in the earlier episodes of Crystal, Eternal may bring back faith for a very likely adaption to the Stars Arc.

Rated TV-14 for Fantasy Violence.

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.

The animation was soooo cute, but I just couldn't keep up with it. There's a lot going on and I didnt feel like the events developed logically. It felt like the script was just random stories glued together. It didn't lead anywhere and there were too many twists and surprises. Too many characters, incomplete story archs and backstories. No character development. Could've been much more interesting.

I admit I didn't watch the original anime or read the manga, I just vaguely remember a random Sailor Moon magazine I was fascinated by as a kid, so maybe my experience would've been different if I had more prior knowledge.

This movie is a good combination of 90's version and Sailormoon Crystal. The old one was childish but had some fun anime parts, also Mamaru was really annoying. In Crystal, the chracter drawings were unrealistic and disturbing yet it was more mature. This one combines the good parts and more loyal to manga. I hope we watch Sailor Stars season too, either movie or a whole season.

For anyone who has watched classic sailor moon, Crystal keeps doing it better, this adaptation does justice to the essence of the story. It's way more mature and places sailor moon in a higher place along manga and anime most successful of the world such as Dragon Ball, Saint Seiya, One punch man, Naruto etc. The dream arc is truly redeemed.