Over The Moon | Sailor Moon Crystal: Act I Review

<p><strong>SPOILER ALERT&excl;&excl; <&sol;strong>You have been warned by the Sailor Senshi&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;sailor-moon-crystal-review&sol;sailor-moon-crystal&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-63327"><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-63327" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2014&sol;07&sol;05091613&sol;sailor-moon-crystal&period;jpg" alt&equals;"sailor-moon-crystal" width&equals;"1024" height&equals;"576" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In the 1990s a wonderful cartoon emerged on television around the world named <em>Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon&comma; <&sol;em>which showed young girls that females could fight evil&comma; rescue their prince&comma; look beautiful and still have flaws&period; The Sailor Soldiers have enchanted fans for more than twenty years and now we have the pleasure of watching the remake&period; The first episode&comma; <em>Act I&colon; Usagi<&sol;em>&comma; of Toei Animation’s reboot&comma;<em> Sailor Moon Crystal<&sol;em>&comma; contains so much nostalgia that watching it makes one feel a child again&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Our story starts with the 14-year old girl Usagi Tsukino who lives in Japan&comma; is a clumsy cry baby&comma; and one of the most kind-hearted characters one will ever watch&period; As a girl in junior high school&comma; Usagi is more interested in boys&comma; eating sweets&comma; reading gag manga&comma; and playing video games than saving Earth from those who wish to envelop it in darkness&period; That is until a curious black cat with a crescent shaped bald spot tells Usagi she is a guardian and gives her a magical broach&period; <em>Act I<&sol;em> sets the mood for the entire <em>Sailor Moon<&sol;em> story and Toei Animation has done a great job at staying true to the manga’s iconic art style&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;sailor-moon-crystal-review&sol;sailor-moon-crystal-manga-anime&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-63330"><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-63330" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2014&sol;07&sol;05091548&sol;Sailor-Moon-Crystal-manga-anime&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Sailor-Moon-Crystal-manga-anime" width&equals;"1280" height&equals;"816" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The difference in the 90’s<em> Sailor Moon<&sol;em> art style and the reboot lies within the characters’ physical maturity&period; The round and chubby face of Usagi has been replaced with a slender adult shape&period; When comparing side-by-side the Toei 2014 remake to the original first episode&comma; the new Usagi has matured both physically and emotionally&period; Usagi running to school with toast hanging out her mouth has been replaced with a more graceful Usagi&comma; who runs as one would expect of the Princess of the Moon Kingdom&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;sailor-moon-crystal-review&sol;usagi&lowbar;toast&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-63331"><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-63331" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2014&sol;07&sol;05091540&sol;Usagi&lowbar;toast&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Usagi&lowbar;toast" width&equals;"1022" height&equals;"452" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>Sailor Moon Crystal<&sol;em> looks as if it’s been painted with water colors&comma; with the softer color pallet bringing a calm feel to the story&period; While watching this first episode it&&num;8217&semi;s clear that the reboot has progressed along side the <em>Sailor Moon<&sol;em> fans&comma; as instead of hand drawing Usagi&&num;8217&semi;s transformation into Sailor Moon&comma; the anime&&num;8217&semi;s directors have decided to use CGI&period; Although the use of red ribbons encircling Usagi now looks more fluid&comma; the CGI replacement of hand-drawn artwork is misplaced alongside the soft watercolored style&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Usagi’s voice actress&comma; Kotono Mitsuishi&comma; has been brought back to play Usagi&comma; which is a special treat for anime fans who prefer Japanese voices with English subtitles&period; Within this one episode&comma; Usagi&&num;8217&semi;s has aesthetically altered her voice but is still the same loveable day dreamer&period; The beautiful opening song from Takanori Arisawa&comma;&&num;8217&semi; Moonlight Densetsu&&num;8217&semi;&comma; has been changed to &&num;8216&semi;Moon Pride&&num;8217&semi; by Revo&period; Since <em>Sailor Moon Crystal<&sol;em> is a reboot&comma; it is fitting that the memorable and non-stopping &&num;8216&semi;Moonlight Densetsu&&num;8217&semi; has been replaced with a song that exemplifies the strength of the Sailor Senshi&period; Usagi also has new transformation music&comma; which invokes the elegance of Sailor Moon’s role as a guardian of the Universe and melts into the aura beautifully&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>Sailor Moon Crystal&colon; Act I <&sol;em>will surely attract a new generation of Sailor Moon fans&comma; while still keeping those who grew up watching the Sailor Senshi protect the universe the first time around&period; Showing potential for the entire season&comma; <em>Sailor Moon Crystal<&sol;em> could be the series to bring the Moon&&num;8217&semi;s magic back to viewers&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;