One of the things that made the anime so meaningful was how we saw Usagi grow as a person in the first season. She was still a lazy, whiny glutton...but she went from being almost totally self-absorbed surrounded by a group of mostly superficial friends at school, to someone who became aware of how others were feeling and willing not only to sacrifice her own momentary happiness, but her life for her friends.
Season 1 can stand alone because each character (except maybe Minako, due to how late she's introduced) gets an arc and grows.
When they are facing the DD Girls (Those are Cs at most, false advertising) we really get to see how far the girls have come.
When they die protecting Usagi, t doesn't feel like they are her servants, they are protecting a friend and to me, it never feels like: "Must protect the Moon Princess because of past life duty", they honestly love this girl for who she is.
When she begs them to go home and says she'll hand over the crystal to Beryl to protect them, she's scared, but she's scared she'll lose them more than she's afraid for herself.
And this is where we see how much she's grown with Rei. And how much Rei has grown because of Usagi.
Amen to all that.
Hearing one of the girls scream out: "USAGI!" when they fear for her is so much more powerful and heart rending than when they scream "PRINCESS!" in Eternal, at least it is to me. She's still their princess but it's obvious how much they love her as Usagi and the duty thing is secondary.
In Nehenelia mini-arc, they do start to overdo with the whole 'Purincesu! Purinsu!' but again the focus is not on destiny but on the unbreakable bonds they have developed over the time they spent together.
Later on, one of the major messages of Stars is renouncing this whole royalty status and destiny nonsense and instead live life as normal teenagers.
Yes, the girls will stand up whenever there's a threat on the horizon but they'll have a normal, private life nonetheless.
There are a few moments in the manga I can think of that have this kind of feeling. One is when Calaveras almost captures Minako and Usagi saves her just in time. The emotion in that panel is good and it totally feels like honest friendship.
Then there's the scene when Usagi is happy because she gets to go to high school with them.
It's not that the manga is devoid of friendship aspects, it just doesn't build on it as well as the anime and the girls acting more like retainers doesn't help, either. I don't think this is something Naoko is incapable of, she just chose to focus more on duty and destiny.
You know when during the finale of Infinity, so many people thought that the scene of Usagi and the girls of Stars' premiere was being referenced instead of it being from the manga... speaks volume of the 'friendship' aspect of the manga retained in the minds of the fans.
I still believe that the manga is enhanced by the 90s anime in almost every way. When you consume both, it makes the manga feel more complete, like it fills in the blanks and makes the world more tangible.
What?!
Are you saying instead of embracing the
mysterious mystery of the manga, it's better to consume the anime to fill in the holes of the manga?
The 90s anime embellishes the reading experience of the manga??
YOU FIEND!!!
I adore the world building in Tenchi Muyo, and I do like the character dynamics except for the romance. The fact the series is still enjoyable even if we disconsider the romance (what the heck do all these characters see in that bland Tenchi anyway?!) is a testament to its qualities, IMO.
There are a lot of shoujo (whether it's romance with fantasy involved or not) that have lots of interesting supporting characters who feel like characters while the focus is still on the main girl.
I don't understand why people would believe because the main heroine is Usagi that nobody else should have a moment of spotlight.
Absolutely! Not to mention that manga Rei, if we fill in the gaps enough to consider her having a proper personality, is absolutely dull and unrealistic. It's unbelievable that a 14-year old could be THAT serious and THAT poised, let alone hang out with the likes of Usagi and Minako and not chastise and look down on them at every opportunity. The anime dynamic between Rei and Usagi makes a lot more sense and Rei's personality is much more similar to what we'd expect from a teenager.
I'll never understand why so many people love manga Rei or even praise her.
For one, she's a professional flip-flopper.
Dark Kingdom = I'm a man hater, ice-princess and hate life.
Black Moon = uh... I exist? I don't exist?? I don't know life.
Infinity = I don't care about romance and sheet. I'm a serious miko and I have like 2 scenes.
Dream = I'm super horny and I do LOVE men! And I mean, I~DO~!
Stars = To hell with men, I'm a lesbian now I guess.
Not to mention, it's worst if you take into account Casablanca.
Rei ends up being a girl who has been abused and thrown away by the men she trusted in her life and never actually heals from this trauma instead either hating men or throwing away any chance at a normal, happy life.
She forever runs away from confronting the real monsters of her life (her father) and instead pledges allegiance to a girl who has everything she wants in life and wouldn't give her a time of the day.
IMO, manga Usagi gets duller and duller with each arc.
Past the Dark Kingdom arc, Usagi and the Sailor Moon manga starts to slowly morph into a power fantasy of Takeuchi through which she can vicariously live through and be the Queen of the world.
Usagi is surrounded by high ranking members of high society who are either more talented, skilled, beautiful than herself yet deem her more precious than life itself.
Usagi is not just a self-insert. All writers pour from their own experiences and people in their life to write stories.
The problem with Usagi is that as time goes by, she becomes
PERFECT and without flaws.
If she is sad, she is in the right.
If she is hurt, she is in the right.
If she is angry, she is in the right.
If she is in pain, she is in the right.
Whatever might happened, she is always in the right.
All the focus is solely and
EXPLICTLY on her alone.
All events or characters that do not involve her are completely irrelevant.
You know, us anime fans are often accused of being blinded by nostalgia, but I find most of the time it's the other way around. People often say we hate on the manga or Crystal because we can't accept these works for what they are and always hold them against the original anime, but I'd say if one actually took the manga and Crystal on their own terms, for what they are, without any sort of nostalgia for the 90s anime, chances are one would most likely not care for the manga or Crystal much at all. I stand by my opinion that while the 90s anime can stand on its own even with all the signs of its age, the manga and Crystal simply cannot.
I'm not Lady Pen, but I'd say both. It all turned out okay, but I can't blame Neptune and Uranus for holding Moon up to task. Sailor Moon was indeed risking a lot, wasn't she?
Haven't people still not understand what this scene meant?
Has nobody here ever watched a Nekketsu Shounen/Shounen of the 80s/90s?
It's the typical final brawl of the arrogant and condescending rival who looked down on the protagonist the entire arc, finally recognizing the hero's worth and strength and in order to prove that to everybody, shows it in a extravagant manner that is a one on one fight and proving that the hero has indeed surpassed them.
And, to add to
@Slowpokeking 's original question, not only does the narrative treat the senshi like servants in the manga, they voluntarily shear themselves of any individuality whatsoever because of their duty. They don't protect Usagi because they love her or because they are grateful, they basically erase themselves to fall in line and do what's expected - heck, in the Dream Arc they basically say they won't let their dreams get in their way of their duty. Treating them like servants is putting things mildly.
The whole of the first part of Dream feels even more like filler.
First, the friendship (and even fleshing out of the girls) comes out like a sore thumb in hindsight.
These girls have been friends for what 2 years now but they never knew that Ami's mother was a doctor?
Ami, who is a very lonely kid?
Usagi never spent time with her I guess. I'm sure 90s Usagi would have urged her way into her mom's apartment and applauded how amazing of a person Ami is to her mom and would push the mother/daughter to spend more time together.
Or after 4 years, it's only now that we're learning Rei is proficient in the arc?
Does this even come back into the story? No, so why does it even exist?
To superficially give significance to the Flame Sniper, an attack which accomplishes nothing.
The message of the manga is really disturbing.
Because the girls forfeiting their dreams and future is
NOT regarded as a bad thing (while the 90s anime actually does!).
In the end, it proclaims that girls having to abide by what society expects of them and living under the rule of what their destiny has decided for them (expect for Usagi of course) is the right way of living.
Let's not forget that Takeuchi wrote a whole song about Haruka professing she'll forever hold on to her unrequited love for Usagi.
I can only march towards the ends of glory,
The kiss I left on your lips are proof of my oath,
If I ever keep running to go beyond the morning glow,
What you carved into my heart shall shine of gold,
It's the Initial of U.
Why did you let go of my hand,
From the dried teardrops of yours are pieces of my dream,
THE SILVER MIRROR WASHED AWAY INTO THE OCEAN (Stop disrespecting Michiru, Naoko!)
So it was decided by the future,
I still believe there will be a day when I can embrace you again,
What I left on your lips is the promise of that.
Something tells me she's not singing about Michiru-sama.
They don't even have flaws at the START of the movies...so there is absolutely NO room for them to grow...so they're about as interesting as planks of wood.
