Sailor Moon Crystal, known in Japan as Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal (????????????
The first episode had an advanced screening on June 30, 2014 to celebrate Usagi's birthday. In May 2014, Viz Media licensed Crystal for an English-language release in North America. Viz is simulcasting the series on Neon Alley and Hulu to coincide with the worldwide streaming. Crunchyroll is also simulcasting the series in a separate contract with Toei Animation. Viz also premiered the first episode as part of their "Sailor Moon Day" celebration at the Anime Expo Convention in Los Angeles.
A third season, based on the Infinity arc of the manga, premiered on April 4, 2016 and concluded on June 27, 2016. A sequel project was announced on January 25, 2017, later confirmed to be a two-part theatrical film project adapting the Dream arc from the manga.
Video Sailor Moon Crystal
Plot
Usagi Tsukino, a 14-year-old middle school student, meets Luna, a talking black cat that tells her that she is Sailor Moon, a Sailor Guardian destined to fight a group of villains called the Dark Kingdom. Luna also instructs Sailor Moon to find her fellow Sailor Guardians, the princess of an ancestral kingdom on the Moon, and a legendary artifact known as the Silver Crystal. On her journey, Sailor Moon meets her fellow Guardians Sailor Mercury (Ami Mizuno), Sailor Mars (Rei Hino), Sailor Jupiter (Makoto Kino), Sailor Venus (Minako Aino), and a mysterious masked man called Tuxedo Mask (Mamoru Chiba), to whom Usagi is attracted. Later, Usagi and the Sailor Guardians discover that in their previous lives they were members of an ancient Moon Kingdom in a period of time called the Silver Millennium. The Dark Kingdom waged war against them, resulting in the destruction of the Moon Kingdom. It turns out that Sailor Moon herself is Princess Serenity, the Princess of the Moon Kingdom, and that she alone has the power to make the Silver Crystal appear and to use its incredible power. Meanwhile, Tuxedo Mask is revealed to be Prince Endymion, the first crown prince of the Earth and Serenity's lover in his previous life. After defeating the Four Kings of Heaven (who turn out to be Endymion's loyal knights in the past) and killing their leader Queen Beryl, the Sailor Guardians confront a brainwashed Endymion and the ruler of the Dark Kingdom -- Queen Metaria. To prevent Metaria from spreading darkness all over the Earth, the Guardians sacrifice their lives. Using the power of the Silver Crystal, Sailor Moon destroys Metaria and resurrects her friends.
After Sailor Moon restores the Earth to normal and prepares to live a normal life again with Mamoru and her friends, a little girl falls from the sky, claiming to have the same name as Usagi, but nicknamed as "Chibiusa" by Usagi and the others. A group of villains called the Black Moon Clan, led by Prince Demande, initiate a series of operations while looking for Chibiusa and the Silver Crystal. Chibiusa is revealed to be Sailor Moon's and Tuxedo Mask's daughter from a distant future that has been decimated by the Clan, and is searching for Sailor Moon and the Silver Crystal in order to save her mother. Sailor Moon and her friends accompany Chibiusa to the future, and they meet the Guardian of Time and Chibiusa's friend, Sailor Pluto. Chibiusa is manipulated by Demande's advisor and the true mastermind of the Clan, Death Phantom, and transforms into Black Lady. Demande manages to obtain the Silver Crystals of the past and the future and is about to bring them together when Sailor Pluto stops time to prevent the universe from being destroyed by this act, leading to her own death. Black Lady is shocked to see her friend die and reverts to her true self, transforming into Sailor Chibi Moon. While Demande dies protecting Sailor Moon from Death Phantom, the latter is destroyed by the combined powers of Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon.
After students from the prestigious Mugen Academy become victims of a group of villains called the Death Busters, who transform them into Daimons, Usagi and their friends meet two Mugen Academy students: car racer Haruka Tenoh and violinist Michiru Kaioh. Haruka and Michiru are the civilian identities of two new Sailor Guardians: Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, who are initially reluctant to work with Sailor Moon and the others. Chibiusa befriends a mysterious girl named Hotaru Tomoe, daughter of Mugen Academy founder Professor Tomoe, who is later revealed to be a key figure of the Death Busters. Sailor Pluto is reincarnated as university student Setsuna Meioh, and she joins Sailors Uranus and Neptune. Using the power of all the Sailor Guardians, Usagi gains a new transformation: Super Sailor Moon. The Sailor Guardians learn that Hotaru's body is host to Mistress 9, partner of the leader of the Death Busters, Master Pharaoh 90. At the same time, Hotaru is also the reincarnation of the Guardian of Silence, Sailor Saturn, who has the power to destroy the whole world. For this reason, Sailors Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto fear Saturn's awakening. In the climatic battle, Pharaoh 90 begins to merge himself with the planet, but the newly awakened Sailor Saturn uses her power to send him back to his dimension, the Tau Star System, sacrificing herself in the process. As Neo-Queen Serenity, Usagi restores the city and resurrects everyone that was killed in the battle, including Hotaru, who is reborn as a baby. Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna vow to be Hotaru's family and leave the city, with the promise to rejoin Usagi and her friends someday.
Maps Sailor Moon Crystal
Production and broadcasting
On July 6, 2012, Kodansha and Toei Animation announced that it would commence production of a new anime adaptation for a simultaneous worldwide release in 2013 as part of the series' 20th anniversary celebrations. The idol group Momoiro Clover Z would perform the opening and closing theme songs, "Moon Pride" and "Gekk?" respectively. In April 2013, it was announced the new anime had been delayed. On August 4, 2013, it was confirmed the new anime will be streamed late in the year.
On January 9, 2014, it was announced the anime would premiere in July. On March 13, 2014, the new anime's official website was updated to show a countdown beginning on March 14 for an announcement due to occur on March 21. That day, Toei's website showed an image displaying the key visual art, synopsis, and staff for the new anime. It also revealed the anime would be called Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal (????????????Crystal, Bish?jo Senshi S?r? M?n Kurisutaru). The series is animated by Toei Animation and directed by Munehisa Sakai.
The cast and premiere date were announced at the 20th Anniversary Project Special Stage on April 27, 2014. The anime would premiere on July 5, 2014. Episodes would premiere on the first and third Saturdays of each month. Kotono Mitsuishi reprises her role as Usagi Tsukino. On April 30, 2014, Toei confirmed the first season would run for 26 episodes and streamed worldwide on the video sharing Niconico website with subtitles in 12 languages on the first and third Saturdays of each month.
On September 28, 2015, the day in which the final episode of the Black Moon arc was aired on Japanese television, it was announced that production for the third season of Sailor Moon Crystal was given the green light. The third season of Sailor Moon Crystal is known as the Death Busters arc, which is based on the Infinity arc of the manga. Chiaki Kon replaced Sakai as the series director. The newly appointed staff and cast for the third season were announced in a live webcast on January 27, 2016. The first episode of the Death Busters Arc was previewed at a special event held at Animate Ikebukuro store in Tokyo on March 6, 2016. The third season began its regular airing on April 4, 2016.
On January 25, 2017, it was announced on the Sailor Moon 25th anniversary website that Sailor Moon Crystal would receive a sequel, later confirmed to be a theatrical film project divided into two parts, with Kon returning as main director. The films will adapt the Dream arc.
International production and broadcast
In May 2014, Viz Media licensed the anime for an English-language release in North America as Sailor Moon Crystal. The series began streaming on Hulu and Neon Alley simultaneously on July 5, 2014. Crunchyroll also began streaming the series on its website during the simulcast. At the 2014 Anime Expo convention in Los Angeles, Viz Media announced that the cast used for the Sailor Moon re-dub would also reprise their roles in Crystal. On November 28, 2014, Madman Entertainment announced that they have the rights for Sailor Moon Crystal for Australia and New Zealand. On November 20, 2015, Viz Media started streaming the Sailor Moon Crystal English dub on Neon Alley and Hulu.
Related media
Home release
The first two seasons of Sailor Moon Crystal were released in Japan in thirteen Blu-ray box sets. Each volume contained two episodes. A limited edition Blu-ray was released first. A regular DVD and Blu-ray were released a month later on the exact date of the next limited edition Blu-ray. The first limited edition Blu-ray was released on October 15, 2014.
Soundtrack
Yasuharu Takanashi composed the score for Sailor Moon Crystal. The series uses two pieces of theme music for the first two seasons. The opening theme song is "Moon Pride" and the ending theme song is "Gekk?" (??, lit. "Moonbow"); both themes were performed by Momoiro Clover Z. The ending theme's music was composed by Akiko Kosaka, who has written several songs for the Sailor Moon series. For the third season, four pieces of theme music are used: one opening theme and three ending themes. The opening theme song, "New Moon ni Koishite" (??????????, Ny? M?n ni Koishite, lit. "In Love With The New Moon") has three different versions. The first version is performed by Etsuko Yakushimaru for the first four episodes and reprised for the final episode, the second version performed by Mitsuko Horie for acts 31 to 34, and the third performed by Momoiro Clover Z for acts 35 to 38. The first ending theme song is "Eternal Eternity" performed by Junko Minagawa and Sayaka Ohara, who voice Sailors Uranus and Neptune, respectively, used for acts 27 to 30 and reprised for act 39, mirroring the first version of the opening theme. The second ending theme song is "Otome no Susume" (??????, lit. "Maiden's Advice") performed by Misato Fukuen, who is Chibiusa's voice actress, used for acts 31 to 34, mirroring the second version of the opening theme. The third and final ending theme song is "Eien Dake ga Futari wo Kakeru" (???????????, lit. "Eternity Brings Two Together") performed by Kenji Nojima, who is Mamoru Chiba's voice actor, used for acts 35 to 38, mirroring the third version of the opening theme.
Reception
The first episode of Sailor Moon Crystal earned a viewership of over one million on Niconico during the first two days of streaming it.
Critical response
The first two seasons of Sailor Moon Crystal were criticized for its overly fast pacing and its animation, which had noticeable errors. Victoria McNally of The Mary Sue wrote: "I can overlook poor quality animation when it's not too distracting. The problem with Sailor Moon Crystal is that it is getting distracting, because the series also has issues with the pacing and quality of its storytelling--which gives you a lot of downtime to criticize all of its visual flaws."
The third season however, was praised for its improved animation and better characterization. Micheal S. Mamano of Den of Geek, who reviewed the first episode of the third season, wrote "This feels like a whole new show, and I mean that in the best way", and rated the episode 4 out of 5 stars.
References
External links
- Official site
- Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
Source of article : Wikipedia
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