Sailor Moon Crystal. The first three seasons were a slipshod adaptation of
Naoko Takeuchi s original manga, stringently adhering to the original plotting which, instead of uplifting the source material, only highlighted its weakness. It also looked like hot garbage. If, like me, your expectations for these two films were about six feet in the dirt, I m happy to announce that you can breathe a sigh of relief.
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal is consistently excellent visually and at times even manages to be emotionally evocative. Its writing still suffers from a narrative that s too concerned to check things off than make them feel earned, as well as slapdash conflict resolutions that deflate any tension or suspense. This happens in small ways across both films, and much like Takeuchi s original story, there is a lack of spatial consistency that keeps the battles from feeling grounded.