How Do You Rank the Soundtracks?

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Memento

Stella Nova
Mar 8, 2012
6,076
7,950
1,665
underwatersphinx.blogspot.com
#1
Jumping on the music discussion bandwagon...

Sailor Moon currently has 3.5 TV adaptations, each with its own soundtrack: the 90's anime, the DIC dub, the live action series, and Crystal. How do you guys rank them? Which series so far has had the best soundtrack? The worst?

Here's my ranking:

BEST: The Live Action Series

I may be biased because I've just happened to have listened to this version's OST the most, but to me it's definitely the strongest. The pieces are eclectic while still being cohesive, they're all memorable and have mostly aged well, and the vocal tracks are all bops (even if there are some noticeable struggle vocals now and then). I give it 9 NakoNakos out of 10.

RUNNER-UP: Crystal

Okay, I know this series' soundtrack is technically generic and lazy because it's just the composer recycling his compositions for PreCure, but I don't watch PreCure and never will, so I don't care! The music is still beautiful (unlike the animation), dreamy, and dramatic, and would make the perfect score for a Sailor Moon ballet. The vocal songs, though few, are nice too, apart from the atrocity that is Star on Stars. I give it 6.5 unconscious Sailor Guardians out of 10.

THIRD PLACE: The 90's Anime

At times a little too eclectic for its own good, I do think a fair chunk of the 90's OST sounds pretty dated now, but the Outers' and Starlights' transformation songs still slay. The vocal songs aren't particularly memorable to me, but Ai no Senshi slaps and all the OP and ED songs are iconic. I give it 5 Heart Crystals out of 10.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST: The DIC Dub

I adore the synth-heavy DIC dub soundtrack. "Moon Crystal Power" and "Sailor Jupiter's Theme" are two of the best instrumental tracks any of the series' soundtracks have produced, and every vocal track is I C O N I C. But I have to rank it last because most of the instrumental pieces lacked variety, mostly just riffing off the theme song's melody, and because Carry On should have had a second verse. I give it 4.99 meatball heads out of 10.
 

NJ_

Gurges Ater
Oct 31, 2009
9,578
3,913
1,665
37
Wallington, NJ
#2
First: 90s anime

Second: PGSM...only for the vocal songs, other than that the soundtrack is pretty forgettable, a bit of a shame because I liked this woman's work with Boys Over Flowers but didn't care for her Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 music either (but then that anime adaptation as a whole was terrible).

Third: Crystal...a bunch of recycled trash from every other show this guy worked on (not just Precure). If Toei and friends can switch character designers each season then why couldn't they switch composers too?

(not including the DiC dub because it has been a long time since I have heard it in full)
 
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Likes: Starlight
Sep 6, 2014
3,326
3,548
1,665
#3
1. Takanori Arisawa- Arisawa’s score has has a very distinct Charlie Angels vibe I adore and I love how versatile and diverse it is. The only problem is it can be a tad repetitive but that’s more the editor’s fault.

2. Bob Summers- Majority of it is just a variation of the dub theme song which is itself a varation of Moonlight Densetsu. There’s a couple of pieces I really adore like Moon Crystal Power (the best Sailor Moon transformation music ever. Fight me) and the sad/mystical pieces are quite good. The incidental pieces like “Melvin” tend to be functional weekday morning cartoon music. It’s biggest weakness is lacking in variance.

3.Michiru Ōshima(PGSM)- It’s fine. I love the opening theme song. The background music is just fine

4. Sailor Moon Crystal- I don’t like it. Moon Pride is literally the only thing the music (and the series to be blunt) has going for it
 
Apr 9, 2019
76
84
65
34
Florida
#4
90's anime: My favorite, if for nothing else, the BGM to S. The S season has some of the best music I've ever heard in anime, period. The other seasons are pretty good, too, it's just that S takes the cake. It helps make S such an amazing and memorable season.

PGSM: The second best. I really enjoy the opening song, and the BGM is nice as well. If I had one complaint, it's just that it's not quite as stand-out or memorable as the 90's anime, but it's not bad by any means.

DiC: I like a few of the vocal songs (namely My Only Love and The Power of Love) and some of the BGM is decent; I like the Negaverse theme and some of the transformation music and more sentimental/melancholy pieces. However, it's also entirely too monotone and repetitive at times, and in general just doesn't hold a candle to the beauty and emotion of the original. My biggest complaint would be the lack of silence; it was so much more effective in the original when a dramatic scene would be completely silent, and the dub ruins this by having the music just drone on.

Crystal: My least favorite. Just completely bland and generic, I barely even remember anything from it.
 
Likes: Starlight

sapphire91

Stella Nova
Jul 6, 2018
6,668
9,485
1,665
#5
1. 90s Both songs and backround music has been iconic and classic, prone to time. While dated to some these compositons still get rereleases and remakes 20 odd years later.

2. Crystal as I would never watch Precure nor Naruto, I don't feel it repetitive. It is beautiful abd fit the manga tone perfectly. Sadly a ton of a music got unused in the actual show. The vocal songs are ok as songs, but I am not a
huge fan of neither MomoClo nor whoever sung the 3rd OP in her sleep. Eternal Eternity though is perfect.

3. Live action - a very repetitive and cheap sound. The op was ok but I cannot forgive them casting a tune deaf as Venus. Hope nobody is offended by my personal opinion.

4. Dic ost - Rainyday man is the only song I like from it. Otherwise it had very generic cartoon music and a lot of it was just alteredversion of the intro.
 
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SailorSugababe

Aurorae Lunares
Sep 8, 2011
1,472
511
665
#9
90s anime: There's just so many good songs and bgms across all 5 seasons, movies and lets not forget the 90s related video games. While some of them may be seen as dated (hey, some of them are nearly 30 years old!) they're still amazing and i can always return to them

Crystal: as much as i understand the complains about the artist copying its own work...i just dont care. The music is amazing and i LOVE the BGM work for Crystal. The songs so far werent as strong as the 90s classics but there's still a few decent gems (Moon Pride and amazing Eternal Etenity)

PGSM: i like a lot of the songs like the opening and Cest La Vie but the BGMs are sadly very forgetable

Never watched a lot of Dic dub so cant say much about it
 

sapphire91

Stella Nova
Jul 6, 2018
6,668
9,485
1,665
#10
The live action series = PGSM though...so...I'm a bit confused?
Pgsm is live action. Musicals are technically live action as well. Maybe that is what he or she meant. Or simply absendminded mistake. By the way I didn't say anything about the musicals because I haven't seen them, but maybe whoever has could share and put them somewhere as well.
 
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May 18, 2016
616
487
165
#11
Jumping on the music discussion bandwagon...

Sailor Moon currently has 3.5 TV adaptations, each with its own soundtrack: the 90's anime, the DIC dub, the live action series, and Crystal. How do you guys rank them? Which series so far has had the best soundtrack? The worst?

Here's my ranking:

BEST: The Live Action Series

I may be biased because I've just happened to have listened to this version's OST the most, but to me it's definitely the strongest. The pieces are eclectic while still being cohesive, they're all memorable and have mostly aged well, and the vocal tracks are all bops (even if there are some noticeable struggle vocals now and then). I give it 9 NakoNakos out of 10.

RUNNER-UP: Crystal

Okay, I know this series' soundtrack is technically generic and lazy because it's just the composer recycling his compositions for PreCure, but I don't watch PreCure and never will, so I don't care! The music is still beautiful (unlike the animation), dreamy, and dramatic, and would make the perfect score for a Sailor Moon ballet. The vocal songs, though few, are nice too, apart from the atrocity that is Star on Stars. I give it 6.5 unconscious Sailor Guardians out of 10.

THIRD PLACE: The 90's Anime

At times a little too eclectic for its own good, I do think a fair chunk of the 90's OST sounds pretty dated now, but the Outers' and Starlights' transformation songs still slay. The vocal songs aren't particularly memorable to me, but Ai no Senshi slaps and all the OP and ED songs are iconic. I give it 5 Heart Crystals out of 10.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST: The DIC Dub

I adore the synth-heavy DIC dub soundtrack. "Moon Crystal Power" and "Sailor Jupiter's Theme" are two of the best instrumental tracks any of the series' soundtracks have produced, and every vocal track is I C O N I C. But I have to rank it last because most of the instrumental pieces lacked variety, mostly just riffing off the theme song's melody, and because Carry On should have had a second verse. I give it 4.99 meatball heads out of 10.
In my opinion,

The 90's Anime
PGSM
Crystal
The DiC dub
 
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julayla

Lumen Cinererum
Feb 9, 2018
357
357
165
40
#14
I honestly can't choose because it's been a while since I listened to any of the music, but I feel that it's too bad Sailor Pluto and Saturn weren't given official Sailor Moon songs in the 90s Anime (let alone Crystal).