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There's a lot of discussion floating around the web about what the 2013 Sailor Moon anime announced by Nico Nico Douga at a Tokyo event this past summer will be about.
Will it be closer to the original manga?
Is it a reboot of the original anime?
A remake?
No one "in the know" is talking right now, so that leaves fans (and those of us old-school enough to call ourselves "Moonies") speculating. Here are my questions for the future of the Sailor Moon anime:
IF IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE TRUER TO THE MANGA...
1. Does that mean we'll get to see Minako's "original" origin story, taking place in Japan (and a few other wild places like China and Greece), along with Kaitou Ace?
2. Will "evil" be more black-and-white instead of having a tragic backstory, being manipulated by a greater power, etc.?
2a. Will we see Queen Beryl's "tragic" backstory along with the origins of Queen Metallia?
2b. Will Rubeus and some members of the Black Moon Clan be mere one-shot characters meant to be destroyed by powered-up Senshi, while Demando and others are more fleshed-out and possibly tragic (because they were being manipulated by the Death Phantom)?
2c. Does that mean some enemies will die quicker than they did in the original anime, where they may have repented (Nephlite), been healed (the Akayashi Sisters, the Amazon Quartet), or been "reborn" without the influence of evil (Galaxia)?
3. Does that mean the Senshi will have more, fewer, or the same amount of powers, attacks and abilities? (In the manga, they had powers that never showed up in the anime, like Mars' "Snake Fire," or Jupiter's "Coconut Cyclone." But the anime also had original attacks, usually one-shot ones, like Mars' "Fire Soul Bird" and Jupiter's "Thunder Dragon")
3a. Does that mean the Senshi will have less focus, because their stories will be like "filler episodes," similar to Chibiusa's Picture Diary, the High School Exam Battles, etc. and Usagi will be the primary character throughout the main storyline?
3b. Does that mean Usagi will be more mature, as she was in the manga? (In the manga, she didn't cry nearly as much, was VERY mature about her sacrificial decisions and those of others, dealt with grief in a very different way, was much more determined in her role as a Sailor Senshi/a lot less silly, etc.)
4. Will it still take place during the original timeline of 1992, or will the timeline be bumped up to modern day, similar to the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon live action TV series?
4a. Does that mean the fashion, activities, and accessories of the characters will change (cf. PGSM, where Usagi's transformation "pen" got turned into a cell phone)
IF IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE A REBOOT... (in that it will feature new plot arcs, possibly new characters, or new look at the same classic story, similar to how PGSM did with the first season of Sailor Moon--it somewhat followed the manga, but was very original in many ways too)
5. Will it follow any of the plot lines from the PGSM drama, such as...
5a. Princess Serenity is the one who destroyed the Moon Kingdom (a.k.a. Silver Millennium)
5b. Minako is already an idol
5b1. Minako is dying from an unnamed disease
5c. Mercury turns dark before/instead of Mamoru/Endymion
5d. Mars doesn't consider herself a "friend" of any of the Sailor Senshi, even Usagi, though she has an interesting, tolerable relationship with Minako
5e. Princess Sailor Moon exists, and will destroy shit
5f. The plot will stop after the first season
5g. If there is a "special," OVA, feature film, or other sort of continuation, it will take place in the far future, be it when the Senshi are in/graduated from college, Crystal Tokyo (if the original manga/anime's plots are followed at all), or similar.
6. Will we see original characters from PGSM, Sera Myu, or characters briefly mentioned in the manga like Mio, Sailor Heavy Metal Papillon, etc?
7. What about characters that were unique to the original anime, like Yuuichirou?
8. Will it even focus on the original Sailor Senshi, and not Chibiusa and her team, the Sailor Starlights, a team in a different solar system/time period/galaxy?
9. Will it even have the same storylines at all, or will it have a fixed number of episodes in which any and all story arcs must be divided into?
IF IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE A REMAKE... (different from a "reboot" in that it will follow the SAME plot as the original anime, but have improved animation, stereo/5.1 surround sound, HD video, more special effects, etc. and MAYBE update a few things like cloud storage instead of CDs/floppy disks)
10. Will it have protracted transformation sequences like the ones from Pre Cure, Toei's current magical girl franchise?
11. Will Toei even be responsible for animating it? (Does Naoko Takeuchi have the rights to get it animated by another company if she so chose?)
11a. Who would be good at animating a formerly multi-million yen franchise, if you could pick any other studio currently operating right now?
12. Will the remake produce all-new merchandise, like the coveted Star Locket, if a version of it exists in the new anime? (This ties into the question about series length too, because while modern anime tend to have a preset, known number of episodes, Sailor Moon as a series is a known cash-cow, and it might be in the best interests of the license holders to either name a huge number, like the former anime series' 200 or simply not announce how many episodes the whole series will go, but go an episode at a time, adding story or prolonging story arcs as necessary.)
AND FOR ALL OF THE ABOVE....
13. Will it be dubbed into English/Cantonese/Mandarin/Spanish/Portuguese/Thai/Polish/etc. and will English-speakers be able to get DAMNED TALENTED VOICE ACTORS who commit to a continuous contract until series' end, barring horrible disagreements with their co-workers, bosses, Naoko Takeuchi herself, or Acts of God?
What brought all this on, you may ask? I've been watching the original Sailor Moon anime with my boyfriend lately, and he's asked me what I like about the current arc we're on (R2), how it compares to the manga (which he's skimmed through my Kodansha English volumes of) etc. I've come to the conclusion that much as I love the original source material, the R arc of the anime--and all its changes--will always be near and dear to my heart.
Also, Ai no Senshi (the song).
Mooniecode [1.14.15a]
SM:6m+ F:sMo>Ma++ΩPl<+ Sa>+:vAyall>+ Asall<+:aMo>+Ka+:pR2 D:sCh-:vZoEs--:aSh:pSS X:a68dic|200jp+Ω:m60jp|60mx|35xm+ O:d+:c--:s-:o?a-:h++:x- P:a++:s155:w?:f: eGBrg:hBrD+:t--:cWJ:bA-:zAr++:gf+Ω
Will it be closer to the original manga?
Is it a reboot of the original anime?
A remake?
No one "in the know" is talking right now, so that leaves fans (and those of us old-school enough to call ourselves "Moonies") speculating. Here are my questions for the future of the Sailor Moon anime:
IF IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE TRUER TO THE MANGA...
1. Does that mean we'll get to see Minako's "original" origin story, taking place in Japan (and a few other wild places like China and Greece), along with Kaitou Ace?
2. Will "evil" be more black-and-white instead of having a tragic backstory, being manipulated by a greater power, etc.?
2a. Will we see Queen Beryl's "tragic" backstory along with the origins of Queen Metallia?
2b. Will Rubeus and some members of the Black Moon Clan be mere one-shot characters meant to be destroyed by powered-up Senshi, while Demando and others are more fleshed-out and possibly tragic (because they were being manipulated by the Death Phantom)?
2c. Does that mean some enemies will die quicker than they did in the original anime, where they may have repented (Nephlite), been healed (the Akayashi Sisters, the Amazon Quartet), or been "reborn" without the influence of evil (Galaxia)?
3. Does that mean the Senshi will have more, fewer, or the same amount of powers, attacks and abilities? (In the manga, they had powers that never showed up in the anime, like Mars' "Snake Fire," or Jupiter's "Coconut Cyclone." But the anime also had original attacks, usually one-shot ones, like Mars' "Fire Soul Bird" and Jupiter's "Thunder Dragon")
3a. Does that mean the Senshi will have less focus, because their stories will be like "filler episodes," similar to Chibiusa's Picture Diary, the High School Exam Battles, etc. and Usagi will be the primary character throughout the main storyline?
3b. Does that mean Usagi will be more mature, as she was in the manga? (In the manga, she didn't cry nearly as much, was VERY mature about her sacrificial decisions and those of others, dealt with grief in a very different way, was much more determined in her role as a Sailor Senshi/a lot less silly, etc.)
4. Will it still take place during the original timeline of 1992, or will the timeline be bumped up to modern day, similar to the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon live action TV series?
4a. Does that mean the fashion, activities, and accessories of the characters will change (cf. PGSM, where Usagi's transformation "pen" got turned into a cell phone)
IF IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE A REBOOT... (in that it will feature new plot arcs, possibly new characters, or new look at the same classic story, similar to how PGSM did with the first season of Sailor Moon--it somewhat followed the manga, but was very original in many ways too)
5. Will it follow any of the plot lines from the PGSM drama, such as...
5a. Princess Serenity is the one who destroyed the Moon Kingdom (a.k.a. Silver Millennium)
5b. Minako is already an idol
5b1. Minako is dying from an unnamed disease
5c. Mercury turns dark before/instead of Mamoru/Endymion
5d. Mars doesn't consider herself a "friend" of any of the Sailor Senshi, even Usagi, though she has an interesting, tolerable relationship with Minako
5e. Princess Sailor Moon exists, and will destroy shit
5f. The plot will stop after the first season
5g. If there is a "special," OVA, feature film, or other sort of continuation, it will take place in the far future, be it when the Senshi are in/graduated from college, Crystal Tokyo (if the original manga/anime's plots are followed at all), or similar.
6. Will we see original characters from PGSM, Sera Myu, or characters briefly mentioned in the manga like Mio, Sailor Heavy Metal Papillon, etc?
7. What about characters that were unique to the original anime, like Yuuichirou?
8. Will it even focus on the original Sailor Senshi, and not Chibiusa and her team, the Sailor Starlights, a team in a different solar system/time period/galaxy?
9. Will it even have the same storylines at all, or will it have a fixed number of episodes in which any and all story arcs must be divided into?
IF IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE A REMAKE... (different from a "reboot" in that it will follow the SAME plot as the original anime, but have improved animation, stereo/5.1 surround sound, HD video, more special effects, etc. and MAYBE update a few things like cloud storage instead of CDs/floppy disks)
10. Will it have protracted transformation sequences like the ones from Pre Cure, Toei's current magical girl franchise?
11. Will Toei even be responsible for animating it? (Does Naoko Takeuchi have the rights to get it animated by another company if she so chose?)
11a. Who would be good at animating a formerly multi-million yen franchise, if you could pick any other studio currently operating right now?
12. Will the remake produce all-new merchandise, like the coveted Star Locket, if a version of it exists in the new anime? (This ties into the question about series length too, because while modern anime tend to have a preset, known number of episodes, Sailor Moon as a series is a known cash-cow, and it might be in the best interests of the license holders to either name a huge number, like the former anime series' 200 or simply not announce how many episodes the whole series will go, but go an episode at a time, adding story or prolonging story arcs as necessary.)
AND FOR ALL OF THE ABOVE....
13. Will it be dubbed into English/Cantonese/Mandarin/Spanish/Portuguese/Thai/Polish/etc. and will English-speakers be able to get DAMNED TALENTED VOICE ACTORS who commit to a continuous contract until series' end, barring horrible disagreements with their co-workers, bosses, Naoko Takeuchi herself, or Acts of God?
What brought all this on, you may ask? I've been watching the original Sailor Moon anime with my boyfriend lately, and he's asked me what I like about the current arc we're on (R2), how it compares to the manga (which he's skimmed through my Kodansha English volumes of) etc. I've come to the conclusion that much as I love the original source material, the R arc of the anime--and all its changes--will always be near and dear to my heart.
Also, Ai no Senshi (the song).
Mooniecode [1.14.15a]
SM:6m+ F:sMo>Ma++ΩPl<+ Sa>+:vAyall>+ Asall<+:aMo>+Ka+:pR2 D:sCh-:vZoEs--:aSh:pSS X:a68dic|200jp+Ω:m60jp|60mx|35xm+ O:d+:c--:s-:o?a-:h++:x- P:a++:s155:w?:f: eGBrg:hBrD+:t--:cWJ:bA-:zAr++:gf+Ω
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