Sailor Moon Crystal has finally arrived!

If you have not yet watched the first episode please head over to Hulu, Crunchyroll, or NicoNico and watch it right now!

Spoilers ahead!!

When watching for the first time (yes, I watched it more than once, go ahead judge me), I was immediately drawn in. The intro was very eye-catching, the music, the animation, everything grabbed me at once and I was mesmerized, hooked, ready to take this ride wherever it was going. The style of the series is very soft, the music is catchy, and the overall vibe was great. There was not one moment where I felt bored or distracted.  As a long time fan of the franchise, I was very pleased with the new episode as a whole and cannot wait to see where this series goes and how well it will be received as it goes on. (Which btw in case you were wondering, the episode has been viewed/visited more than one million times on NicoNico alone thus far).

  A few things of note:

1. Luna is adorable and so is her new voice.

2. Hearing the original Usagi voice actress in this new adaptation just brings back the greatest memories of watching the subbed series as I was growing up. I could not stop smiling while watching the episode (and it was pretty darn early in the morning when I watched it. I am not a morning person by any means).

3. I am ALL OVER that Boomerang when it hits store shelves.

4. I don’t know about you, but I got chills when I heard the “Ai to Seigi no seeraa fuku bishoujo senshi, Seeraamuun! Tsuki ni Kawatte oshioki yo!” (The Pretty Guardian in a Sailor Suit, Guardian of Love and Justice, Sailor Moon! In the Name of the Moon I’ll punish you!!).

5. I love that they kept Mamoru in his tuxedo during he and Usagi’s first meeting and that she calls him out on it as she walks away angrily. This series is very much following the manga in a big way. Sure the first epsiode of the original series was the same plot/premise. However most of the original series had to be edited and rewritten, thus moving away from its manga storyline.

How faithful to the manga was it?? Daily Motion user Invsible Inque did an amazing side by side comparison of the two. Watch it here:

Sailor Moon Crystal vs Sailor Moon Manga… by crystalinque
 What they did add to the series that differs from the manga is very important character building; dialogue, mannerisms, etc. All the little clumsy antics of Usagi fit perfectly. Watching how they will add small mannerisms and slight nods to match how us first generation fans remember the series is going to be very exciting.

I am however torn on the Transformation sequence. It seemed a bit disjointed, possibly because of the CGI used for it. I just felt as if it had a much different feel than the soft animation of the rest of the episode. It was more crisp, brighter, and had much harder lines. But it could just be the fist shaking, old timey, “back in my day Sailor Moon transformed like this” part of me too. We’ll see how the rest of the senshi stack up and I will give it a few more watches before I come to terms with it. Other than that I think this is shaping up to be a great show in which all Sailor Moon fans, new and old, will enjoy.

 So what did you think of the series premiere?? Post your comments below.

Episode 2 airs July 19th and it will introduce Ami/Sailor Mercury and Queen Beryl!

screenshots courtesy of http://smscreenshotcollection.tumblr.com/