Maybe this thread will stop being so dead with S3 of Crystal. We're also coming up on the end of Sailor Moon being put up on Hulu, although they still have the movies to put up and the dub.
I wouldn't count on that having a huge effect, because there's a Sailor Moon Crystal |OT|.
Sailor Moon just can't pull together the same fanbase that it did when it had the biggest anime on American television, and it's manga provided the foundation for the biggest manga publisher in American history.
Naoko Takeuchi retired 20 years ago. Her legacy is running on cruise control. Sailor Moon Crystal isn't relevant to modern audiences and it's not going to restart anything, it's fanservice. The Kodansha USA manga rerelease was a nice remaster, and it's great that they finally released Sailor V, but it's just an echo of past glory. The 90's anime on Hulu is an enjoyable rerun that likely gets good ratings for now, but people have moved on. When this ride ends, it'll be time to shuffle back into the anime threads until the next 20-year reunion party comes together.
Which isn't to say that certain parties haven't made a pile of money on this Sailor Moon revival, I just don't see it having any lasting cultural impact. I suspect Japan recognized this years ago, which is why they organized it all to hit in a short time span. Go in hard, then get out.
What're the odds that S3 of Crystal will be astronomically better than the first 2? Me thinks those chances are low.
New director and new art style.
I mentioned the other day that they seemed to use Mercury's cloud cover as a substitute for a Tuxedo Mask rose throw (because he doesn't throw roses in Crystal), and that's the sort of thing that counts as a directorial fail, IMO. They want the "Tuxedo Mask moment" created by the 90's anime, but they can't have that because Crystal is supposed to be different, so they just cobble something together and fake it (damaging Ami's character in the process). I was very much annoyed by Crystal because it didn't seem to have it's own identity, it wanted to be the 90's anime, but it didn't want to be the 90's anime. It wanted to be the manga, but it didn't want to be the manga. It wanted to be unique, but it didn't want to be unique. It wanted to be a hybrid, but it didn't want to be a hybrid. Directing is not always obvious, but these sorts of failures subtly create a feeling of the show not being very good. A new director has the
potential to dump everything that was bad about the directing, and replace it with not just competence, but greatness.
The other big complaint against Crystal (and I think the one most people fall back on when they can't seem to explain why Crystal feels "wrong") is the animation quality (specifically, the major failures). I don't think replicating Takeuchi's art was an attainable goal (at least not on Toei's webisode budget), so a simplification of the style could lead to a
significant jump in the apparent quality of the animation. Rather than having the frazzled animators trying and failing to reach an impossible goal, give them something closer to their ability and let them do what they do best.
I'm cautiously optimistic that Crystal S3 could be everything that I wanted Crystal to be in the first place. Still plenty of chance for failure. I don't think we have near enough info to guess the odds, but I think we have room to hope.
