I'm sure no one cares, but...
Ok, so after watching the first episode twice now, here's some of my personal thoughts:
- The backgrounds look great! I was kind of worried about that, but a lot of them have a similar water-color-ish look that the old anime kind of had, which is a nice touch.
- The 3-D transformation....I don't hate it? But I'm not in LOVE with it or anything. It's good for what it is, and honestly, I was bracing for WAY worse, so I can live with it. I KINDA hope they re-do it or touch it up at some point, because Toei's other magical girl show, Precure, apparently has way better 3-D animation...so why not Sailor Moon guys? c'mon.
- I wish there was a little more cutesy/SD/silly expressions/art like in the manga...while I get they're trying to make it look as much like the ~manga style~ as they can, that doesn't mean they can't venture off into Takeuchi's cute/dumb chibi style! But maybe they'll do some of that later, hopefully? I know a lot of people are already pissed that there isn't so much silly/goofy stuff as the original, and I know they've said that this version's supposed to be more ELEGANT and less kiddy-stuff, but hey...we like silly/cute/dumb faces and shit, too, man!
-Kotono Mistuishi sounds a little strained in parts, but otherwise she still sounds like Usagi when it counts! It's comforting to hear her voice again, but in other parts she does sound like she's forcing it a little too much. I hope she gets a little better at that. :/
-MAMORU'S NEW VOICE SOUNDS /AMAZINGLY/ SIMILAR TO FURUYA'S ORIGINAL, OMFG. This was something I was very worried about, given how much I love Furuya as Mamoru. He's pretty spot-on other than sounding less nasal-y (which isn't a bad thing!).
-Also THEY KEPT HIM IN THAT DOOFY TUXEDO when Usagi first meets him, just like in the manga, complete with huge-ass sunglasses, aaaaaaaaaah!! I recognized that from the manga straight-away, because I'm a huge nerd haha orz. And he even had the locket/pocket watch BLESS.
-SHOUJO SPARKLES! YESSSSS!! They didn't have any lace-doily overlays....yet. I'M HOPING!
-I, like most people, noticed there were plenty of times when it didn't look like Usagi was really emoting much. BUT, thinking back to the manga...there are plenty of times it seems like Usagi only has maybe 3 faces. So this could just be them trying TOO hard to make it look like that ~manga style~, yet again. The times where she DID emote a lot, however? looked adorable and right on the money. I wish they could somehow make the eyes look more like the manga and less "new anime" style, though. Sometimes it'd look really off-model and weird.
-QUEEN BERYL LOOKED AMAZING IN THE PREVIEW FOR THE NEXT EPISODE!
-Luna was pretty cute and I liked her :3 face. Her voice actress is...ok.
-The music was nice and I think the opening theme's growing on me a lot.
-Naru and Umino sound pretty close to the originals, too.
-I like that they're bringing up the Serenity and Endimion flashbacks ASAP, I think that will make it seem more natural when Mamoru and Usagi get closer more quickly. Having the workings of their backstory already in place makes more sense.
-CAN'T WAIT FOR MORE SHINTENNOU! The fact that we'll certainly get their manga backstory is just awesome.
-Beautiful title and eyecatch art! Reminds me of the new Utena box art.
-Subtitle translation seemed a bit stiff in parts, but this time around they translated her catchphrase as "In the name of the Moon, I'll punish you!"...which was interesting, considering in their new translation in the Classic Sailor Moon anime is "In the name of the Moon, you'll be punished!" :|a I dunno why they decided to do that, but whatever, that's the version I like best (They also used honorifics, which they weren't using in the old one, either...weird choices here, Viz.) I figure the stiff parts where partially to blame from rushing to get the subs done in time for the simultaneous release? It's a mixed bag.
-The first episode pretty much told the first chapter of the manga almost EXACTLY! Which was pretty awesome. Some scenes absolutely mirrored actual panels of the manga. The recognition was instant for me. It was familiar but new, and that really felt exciting!
That's all I can think of off the top my head. My complaints were all really just small nit-picks, though--on the whole, I really love it! It's very close in heart and spirit to the manga, which is what was promised, so I'm happy with the premiere! Have you all checked it out yet? If not, the official (AND FREE) places to watch it are Hulu, Crunchyroll, Viz.com, and Nico Nico! What did you think if you did see it?
It's almost surreal to me to be like "omg time to get up and watch new Sailor Moon cartoons!!!"...like this is definitely not something I really ever thought I'd be able to do again until now. Part of me feels a little lame being SO excited about it and being an old lady now...but really, this series means so much to me, I can't NOT get excited over it. ;___; I don't care if it makes me lame, oh well, I will be lame and love my lame things and at least be happy about it, dammit! XD