Sailor Moon Eternal


TRIVIA:

Originally known as Sailor Moon Crystal Season Four, Sailor Moon Crystal: Dead Moon and then Sailor Moon Crystal the movie, this "season" is two movies long spans the Dream Arc of the manga, previously animated in the 1990's as Sailor Moon SuperS.

 

Picking up where Season Three ended, Usagi, Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako are now in high school. This matches the timeline of the manga, while in the 90s anime, the Inner Guardians did not reach high school until the start of the StarS arc. Mamoru has started college, again matching the timeline of the manga, while in the 90s anime, it is surmised that he is already in college as no mention of his time in high school is ever made.

 

PreCure's Chiaki Kon returns from Sailor Moon Crystal Season Three to direct while Kazuko Tadano, original character designer for Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon R returns to design the characters again. Series creator Naoko Takeuchi is listed as supervisor to the film series.

 

The artwork was specifically changed to meet fan demand. As such, the girls are drawn more closely to the 90s anime. Sailor Moon R's Kazuko Tadano was brought in as a character designer.

 

Codename Sailor V and Sailor Moon both began as parodies of Toei's tokusatsu productions, with the latter being inspired by Super Sentai/Power Rangers. As a twist, in the Viz/Netflix dub, Artemis is played by Johnny Young Bosch, who played Adam, the second black ranger in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Super Sentai's Zyuranger) while Barbara Goodson, the voice actress behind Rita Repulsa, played Zirconia. For the Japanese dub, Tiger's Eye's voice actor Satoshi Hino has played Mantor in Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger, Jenko Copamino in Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger, and Space Ninja Demost in Hero Mama League and in Uchu Sentai Kyuranger vs. Space Squad. Kotono Mitsuishi played Ariake No Kata in Shuriken Sentai Ninninger and was the voice of Usagi through the 90s anime, Crystal, Eternal and Cosmos. Chibiusa's actress Misato Fukuen was also Secchan in Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger, which premiered on March 7, 2021, just weeks after Sailor Moon Eternal: Part 2.

 

As inappropriate as their scene together is, it's worth noting that the Japanese voice actor for Tiger's Eye shares the same last name as Sailor Mars (Hino) which makes the manga-accurate and still creepy scene with him holding a child bride version of Rei somewhat ironic.

 

In the Japanese version, comedian Naomi Watanabe voices Zirconia, and in real life, owns a fashion brand that has produced apparel and cosplay for Sailor Moon fans in sizes above 2XL, while actress and model Nanao played Queen Nehelenia.

 

Sailor Moon Eternal began production in 2016, but was not officially announced until 2017. The official title of the project was not revealed until 2019. The first film was released on January 8, 2021. The second film was released on February 11, 2021.

 

Theatrical releases for the film were postponed in Japan due to Covid-19. The original launch date was on September 11, 2020, but the films were moved to 2021. Worldwide, no theatrical releases were planned, and the films debuted together on Netflix on June 3, 2021. In contrast, theatrical worldwide releases for male dominated Toei shows, such as Dragonball Super were postponed, but never canceled, showing that misogyny has not yet completely left Toei Animation, despite more females being in directorial positions.

 

In a change from Sailor Moon Crystal Season Three, Super Sailor Moon and Super Sailor Chibi Moon are seen in preliminary art with a split in their tiaras, where the metal just leads into a stand alone moon. This is a nod to their original appearance in the Dream arc of the manga. Unlike SuperS where mother and daughter had flat stripes at the ends of their skirts, Moon and Chibi Moon both have skirts ending in a gradient effect, similar to their appearances in the manga. Both have duplicates of their brooches on their belts while the 90s anime gave them each a simplified pink heart.

 

Chibiusa's eyes are now a bold red, matching her 90s anime appearance, while Minako's eyes are now a bright, solid blue. Previous episodes had her eyes bouncing from purple to gray to pale blue. Luna's eyes are now a bright blue, matching some of her original manga appearances.

 

This was the first appearance in animated form for the Inner and Outer Sailor Guardians' miniature inner guardians, Ami's mother, Xenotime and Zeolite.

This was the Crystal debut for Rei's grandfather, who is drawn closer to his manga counterpart. In the 90s anime, Rei's grandfather was a short, bald, very old pervert, while here, he is a much younger, taller and more handsome grandfather, who is more reflective and only seen for a few moments while ill.

 

This was the first time the Amazoness Quartet appeared as Sailor Guardians in animated form. In SuperS, the girls never transform.

 

This is the first animated appearance for the Silver Millennium child versions of Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus and Princess Serenity, and the baby version of Princess Serenity. The 90s anime did have child versions of the Inners in the SuperS movie, but these were their 20th Century and Super forms, not their original, past-life forms. Usagi was seen as a toddler in the R movie, but not while also in her Princess Serenity form.

 

This was the first time a child version of Mamoru was seen since Sailor Moon Crystal season one. Child versions of Mamoru could also be seen in the R movie and in episode 46 of the original anime.

This is the second appearance of Ami's father since Crystal Season Two.

 

This was the first animated appearance for Chibiusa's Princess Lady Serenity and Princess Small Lady Serenity forms, as well as the Solar Princess forms for Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Saturn and the human forms for Artemis and Diana. Luna's human form had previously been seen in Sailor Moon Crystal and in Sailor Moon S: The Movie.

This is the first animated appearance for the Eternal forms of Sailor Chibi Moon, The Inner Sailor Guardians and the Outer Sailor Guardians and the Crystal debut for Eternal Sailor Moon, all in keeping with the manga timeline. In the 90s anime, Usagi does not become Eternal Sailor Moon until Sailor StarS and was the only Guardian to reach her Eternal form.

 

Part 2 marked the first official appearance in animated form for Helios's pet Pegasus. In SuperS, Helios can transform into a Pegasus even after being freed from Queen Nehelenia, but has no pets, instead, living in a version of Elysion where regular horses live in the wild.

 

This is the first animated appearance for Phobos and Deimos's human forms. In the 90s anime, they only appear as crows, and in some markets, are male, while here and in the manga, they are female.

 

Episodes:

Movie 1
Movie 2

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