Sailor Moon finally ended today. All I can say is -- after watching about 40-or-so eps of this 52-ep season -- the show needs work.
I know what the "Moonies" and "Newbies" are thinking right now, but at least the old argument of "watch [what- ever day's] episode, and see if your opinion of the show doesn't change" no longer holds water. To be honest, my opinion of the show hasn't changed all that much from my first impression.
Aside from the trans-70s Japanimation comic-book style that we all know and love (funky facial expressions included), there is one acid test for your personal enjoyment of this series: If you are repulsed by Sailor Moon valley speak the minte she opens her mouth, then there's no chance in hell you'll even sit for this show. But if you found her speech and the show's overall feel as marginally fetching as I did, you should be able to tolerate this show -- for a while.
Of course, my view shifted a little about halfway through the season:
Guys' reasons for watching aside, Sailor Moon is an iffy effort at best. Just like Ronin Warriors, the anime hit from this summer, the relative continuity of the storyline keeps regular viewers hooked and casual ones tripped. Miss an episode and you don't miss too much; miss a week (the way I did, for shame) and you're Sailor salt meat. Also true of Ronin and SM, the story has the potential to be better one week than the next. Of course, there are some shows (like ExoSquad, thank you very much) which are good all day, every day--but I digress.
The animation is supposed to be a style, but I still expected more effort. Don't expect much stereo sound, and the voice acting is a mixed bag (with Serina's friend being the most insufferably standard and Serina herself not too shabby).
Perhaps the biggest problem I have with SM is the show's dogged determination to keep every episode's plot structure the same--a problem that plagued Power Rangers. Strange (good-looking) guy or gal comes to town, sucks the life of its citizens, to which Sailor Moon and Scouts respond. And where's the variety here? SM and Scouts each have only two attacks each (like a shallow RPG video game), and SM's Moon Tiara Magic always finishes the fight. I guess when the enemies get tough the blasted thing won't work anymore.
The following review came at the season's halfway point (Note: "CCD" = "Crystal Clear Destiny" and "ARP" = "A Reluctant Princess").
IMHO, "CCD" and "ARP" are symbolic of how good the SM can be when it isn't stuck in its tiresome plot structure. (Got enough acronyms for ya?) After those two eps, however, SM was back to its old tricks with more uneven episodes where Serina gets her hair done, goes to finishing school, and learns to ski. Can this girl do ANYTHING right besides saving the world?!
And finally, the last three eps. Wednesday's ep was probably the best of `em, and another example of SM at its best. In that ep, the Scouts basically bitch at each other throughout the entire show, but it's actually pretty entertaining stuff. (Of course, Rei bitches more than any- on else, but I digress.) The climax, however, is the real high point in the ep. I was taken aback by how well the entire sequence was executed (and as everyone knows in the film/TV industry, perfect execution of important sequences is very difficult to pull off); something like that tends to raise one's opinion of a program.
Unless, of course, that same program drops from those lofty heights. Thursday's ep set up the final conflict between the Scouts and Negaverse by fully explaining the background behind the Scouts' pasts. An awful lot is finally cleared up here, but I simply didn't feel as if I was absorbed into the story. Perhaps the narrative technique kept the story from being too interesting, when a simple flashback technique would have sufficed. On the other hand, maybe the story just didn't interest me all that much.
The finale is a real let-down in many ways. In all due fairness to the average, uneducated American viewer, I won't bring up the Japanese version (heck, I forgot all about it while I was watching). Any viewer, however, will understand how annoyed I was when too much is done in too little time. The Scouts, in a frigid area of Earth, seek entrance into the castle of Queen Beryl. One by one, the Scouts fall (after being lulled by former boyfriends, no less), each one looking more foolish than the last; of course, that's only from my perspective. I also have no love for the tiresome dialogue between Darian and Serina. The entire sequence went by much too quickly for my taste, so I could never buy into Darain's condition or Serina's concern (of course, this is a shortcoming to the season as a whole).
There was plenty of potential here, but the resultant feeling of emptiness only grew as the final conflict between Serina and Beryl approached. By that time, however, I was already expecting the whole deal to be a letdown, and it was. With a rousing theme in the background, the utterly predictable final battle ensued -- but I wouldn't even call it that, since Her Evil Majesty barely even puts up a legitimate fight. I know good triumphs over evil and such, but I'd figure the Ultimate Evil would at the very least put up a better fight than some of her cronies.
In retrospective conclusion (whew!), SM culminates a up-and-down season with an even more mixed final week. No, the show will not be on my "Best of the Year" list, but it won't exactly be on the "Worst", either. There are plenty of awful cartoons in an awful year where Sailor Moon could certainly do worse. I suppose there's nothing left to do but assume Fox has the balls to air any SM episodes they have coming. And in the meantime, Sailor Moonies and "Moonbusters" alike should stay tuned; for a storm should most certainly be arriving from the Far East anytime now.
C
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