Unlike the first anime, ‘Sailor Moon Crystal‘ doesn’t ease the audience in to what being a Sailor Scout means. Instead of a few episodes of Usagi fighting on her own, we are quickly introduced to Ami Mizuno, the future Sailor Mercury, with much the same speed as the manga.
This should be no surprise, as ‘Sailor Moon Crystal’ is supposed to more closely adhere to the manga. Last episode, this was certainly true, but there have been a few changes in this episode. Namely, in the manga, Ami is so consistently sad while she overhears people talk about her. She is largely unaffected, and an air of melancholy is only seen when she walks away from talking to Usagi. Another is that Tuxedo Kamen doesn’t swoop in to save the day until after Ami transforms into Sailor Mercury, and her transformation isn’t triggered by nearly being choked to death by a youma, but rather that she wants to protect Usagi.
Other things are much more true to the manga, such as Mamoru is wandering around town in a tuxedo fit for a royalty. It’s clearly summer, dude! What are you doing wearing that? What are you wearing it to? I know it’s supposed to hint that you are prince in a past life, but come on! That thing has got to stink to high hell once you get home and out of the heat.
In any case, I’m still not sold on the animation style. The proportions of these girls are even more impossible than the manga, and it should be noted they are a lot bigger-breasted and long-legged than their comic book counterparts. They’re fourteen, and they look more mature than actually older characters.
And while the 3D rendering of Ami’s transformation sequence isn’t as jarring as Usagi’s, it is someone disappointing in that it’s barely a remix of the original series’ transformation (though, they did keep Sailor Mercury’s sleeveless look from the manga which the first anime never did).
We’ll see you in two weeks for the arrival of Rei, better known as Sailor Mars!
