Sailor Moon Eternal (2021) User Reviews

Worth watching it but something is missing.

[regginageraki · 7/10 · 6 June 2021]

It was surely better than I thought but something it was missing. The 90s were far more childish but we were able to understand the connection that grew between little Lady and Helios. Furthermore Nehelenia has lost her grace she didn't do anything except showing her disgrace and hate to the sailor team by words. Pace was ok much more in second film but I wanted to see more Amazon's quarter reincarnation. I DO like that sailor senshi and tuxedo mask were mor powerful and useful than the anime.

The worst part was the music. 90s anime had an exceptional music theme here you almost forgot the minute after I heard it.

The best part : animation. Not even comparable to the crystal season I really like it how they bring sailor senshi into the new era.

Solid enough adaptation of the Dream arc of Sailor Moon, but this film duology feels like it would've worked better in TV format.

[IonicBreezeMachine · 7/10 · 7 November 2021]

Following the defeat of the Death Busters, Usagi and Mamoru prepare to send their daughter Chibi-Usa back to the 30th century. When Chibi-Usa's departure is delayed due to a lunar eclipse, the trio decide to view it for themselves and catch a glimpse of something coming out of the eclipse followed by appearances of a talking Pegasus who pleads for their help. The arrival of the mysterious Dead Moon Circus soon brings with it phenomenon based around nightmares and the Sailor Guardians soon find themselves up against a new enemy.

Following Season three of Sailor Moon Crystal which covered the Death Busters arc, it was announced one year afterwards that a fourth season covering the Dream arc would be produced with the announcement later stating the arc would be presented in a two part theatrically released film making it the first such theatrically released Sailor Moon property since 1995's Sailor Moon SuperS: The 9 Sailor Soldiers Unite! Miracle of the Black Dream Hole! (Think there's enough words in that title?). The films were picked up for international distribution by Netflix continuing with the same dub cast as previous Sailor Moon Crystal installments, and most of the characters of the Dream arc voiced by the same dub actors who played them in the redub of Sailor Moon Super S (with the exception of Helios). The series has received mostly positive reviews from both critics and fans, and having watched both the Super S adaptation as well as this adaptation, I can say Sailor Moon Eternal continues Sailor Moon Crystal's streak of taking the foundation arcs and offering a different experience on the material, but at the same time I really have to question why it was necessary to put this arc in two films rather than letting it play in TV format.

Unlike previous Sailor Moon films such as Sailor Moon R: The Promise of a Rose or Sailor Moon S: Hearts in Ice that are designed to be self-contained stories with your "beginning, middle and end", Sailor Moon Eternal are not films for those who haven't seen the previous three seasons of Sailor Moon Crystal as Eternal directly follows on from the cliffhanger ending of Season Three and expects you to be familiar with prior events. While The Promise of a Rose or Hearts in Ice acknowledged developments or characters from the series continuity, the storylines were specifically designed as jumping on points to the series for the uninitiated so it made sense for them to be feature films as they allowed established fans to revisit characters in one off adventures and also served as jumping on points for the those unfamiliar with the franchise. While it's not unheard of for something like a TV series to get a theatrical film treatment, it's rare you have one that's a direct follow on to a series with three seasons worth of material its expecting the audience to be familiar with.

In terms of how Eternal approaches the Dream arc, much like the other three seasons of Crystal it does it well, but it doesn't feel like it's designed in mind for film format and feels like several TV episodes joined end to end and presented as a feature film (sort of like compilation films done for the likes of Guren Lagann or Madoka Magica films). The Dream arc covers 11 chapters in the manga, and Sailor Moon's previous approach to adapting the manga was a ratio of 1 episode for every manga chapter which some had an issue with, but I personally didn't mind it due to the different approach to tone and character. However with the combined run time of both Eternal films clocking in at a collective 160 minutes and accounting for TV standards of opening intro, recap, animation and opening credits giving a generous estimate of 18 minutes of story per episode, Eternals total runtime really only allows by the standards of the established ratio 8 chapters maybe 9 if you want to be extra generous and stretch. Eternal feels like its trying to keep the same structure as the events in the manga, but because it has less time to space out these events like it did in Sailor Moon Crystal you're getting the plot details but they don't resonate as well because it keeps moving without allowing moments to sink in.

Sailor Moon Eternal still boasts the strong animation and music of Sailor Moon Crystal, and the dub cast does as good a job as ever bringing their characters to life. I did like the addition of a ticking clock element for both Mamoru and Usagi that added some desperation to the stakes, and I also enjoyed following up with the characters of the Outer Guardians following the departure at the end of Season Three, but the way in which the story rushes through every point didn't allow me to enjoy these elements to the extent I wanted and I really feel this goes back to the underlying issue of cramming this story arc into two feature films rather than allowing it to be a TV show as it clearly wants to be.

Sailor Moon Eternal has all the elements you've come to expect from the Sailor Moon Crystal series with gorgeous animation, engaging action, lovable characters, and strong relationships both romantic and platonic, but they're not giving the breathing room needed to get the full impact of the story. As is, Sailor Moon Eternal is fine, and if you're invested in the Sailor Moon Crystal continuity (as I am) you'll find all that you've come to love from this incarnation of the series, but it really wasn't designed to be told in feature films. There is talk that the Stars arc will be adapted next and when it is I'll gladly see it, but I really hope they return to TV in the next incarnation rather than creating a feature film gauntlet.

A sweet, serene Dream Arc

[Cookiejar55 · 7/10 · 4 June 2021]

Lovely adaptation of the manga, gorgeous art style from Kazuko Tadano who came up with something new and fresh for the series. The Eternal character designs (inner senshi and Usagi) are almost identical to page 68 of volume two actually ! I don't see any resemblance to the 90s apart from the attacks/transformations. I am not sure why they just copied the old ones, as a 90s fan I wanted something a bit more creative not a remake. Uranus really stood out, if they can show more creativity with the others it would be great.

This is the first Crystal arc I have seen so far as previous art style was not something I would enjoy in a "modern" anime

I would love to give Eternal a 10/10 but unfortunately the music was a huge letdown. Apart from Moon Color Chainon and Watashi-tachi ni Naritakute (cover) I did not think the music went well with the atmosphere of this film. The dramatic battle at the end especially also had unsuitable music. Very forgettable.

I found no issues with the pacing personally. It was mostly the atmosphere that was very calm instead of dark and tense. Eg when Mamoru is in distress Chibiusa just sits there gasping instead of showing actual concern. Very weird. Maybe it was the voice acting as well that could have been more passionate, at times they sound disturbingly calm even when going through the nightmare sequences

Loved the background style, gave depth to the Juban district and and the outers' home, some shots are really beautiful to look at.

The manga has plenty of violence so not sure why nothing more serious is ever shown. I also think both the films deserved a proper opening.

If they fix the music for Stars then this will be peak Sailor Moon for me.

I also don't think it would be fair to compare this to the 90s version, they re both independent after all. I don't think one is better than the other and since they show different stories it's not worth analyzing the differences. Eternal is a lovely film and hopefully Stars is next.

If you watched the 90's version

[israel_c-62161 · 10/10 · 10 May 2021]

For anyone who has watched classic sailor moon, Crystal keeps doing it better, this adaptation does justice to the essence of the story. It's way more mature and places sailor moon in a higher place along manga and anime most successful of the world such as Dragon Ball, Saint Seiya, One punch man, Naruto etc. The dream arc is truly redeemed.

The animation looks gorgeous!

[palepalmito · 10/10 · 7 June 2021]

As a girl born in the 90s, Sailor Moon was my favorite TV show. Watching the 2 episodes of Sailor Moon Eternal was an amazing experience! The episodes were beautifully paced and I felt like a little girl again.

The story felt slightly more mature than the classic anime. It was also obvious that the writers wanted to make Usagi more powerful and less dependent on Mamo-chan. Their chemistry also seemed much better than what I saw in Sailor Moon Crystal.

25 Years Later and Time Has Been Good to This Lady

[kinseisenshi · 9/10 · 3 June 2021]

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal is the continuation of the Sailor Moon Crystal series and is a direct adaptation of the Dream Arc of the original Manga. Like most of Crystal; it follows the Manga very faithfully but there are some changes that mostly work out for the better. In the Manga the weapons "spoke"; it would have been a little cheesy for that to be pulled off even though that as a lifelong Sailormoon fan, even I can admit.

The animation is a huge improvement from Season III. Although some of the original 1995 Transformation and Attack scenes were more polished; they certainly looked better than last earlier seasons. The Moon Crisis Make Up sequence is not as polished and somewhat glamorous but the music is better.

The subtitles are mostly accurate; I was hoping that they would have been as accurate as Netflix did with Neon Genesis Evangelion; but oh well... The film is two parts and the total running time is 140 minutes.

There is no pacing issues, in my opinion. If you were disappointed in the earlier episodes of Crystal, Eternal may bring back faith for a very likely adaption to the Stars Arc.

Rated TV-14 for Fantasy Violence.

"Eternal" because it went on forever

[xtmibfh · 1/10 · 4 June 2021]

What a hot, incoherent mess this was. Two 90-ish minute "episodes" of the flattest, shrillest dubbing plodding through a "plot" that made no sense. The Dead Moon circus wasn't menacing at all, Nehelenia was a pointless, prosaic villain who ultimately did nothing, and the sailor senshi were at their absolute worst racing from one scene to another without having any awareness as to what was going on.

Pegasus essentially did nothing respective to the senshi's fight or revealing the meaning of the Golden Crystal, and Elesion served no purpose. Maybe it was more punctuated in the manga, but to see that already scant attempt at a story unfold through animation was just painful nonsense that at once moved too fast to really get a sense of what little narrative there was, and yet far too slowly across 180 minutes of absolutely nothing of consequence happening. But no surprise, since that's all Netflix's formula is these days.

A bit flawed, but very enjoyable!

[ayesliam · 8/10 · 7 June 2021]

Let me start out by stating that I am mostly a fan of the classic 90s series of Sailor Moon, having loved the characters, humor and gorgeous artstyle for as long as I can think. With that being said, I unfortunately have to admit that I found the newer Crystal series a bit lacking in each of this three categories - at least up to the much improved third season - which meant that the series overall was somewhat of a disappointment for me.

As with these earlier entries, the two new Eternal movies, continuing the story, were to follow the manga, which had me slightly worried that the same mistakes that already made the first two season hard to watch for me would be repeated: Not only was there another artstyle change, some earlier trailers seemingly implied that the animation, despite the long wait, would again be sloppy. Even worse than that, the plan to cram a whole story arc into barely two hours of film suggested that many of the smaller scenes that make Sailor Moon for me might again have to be scrapped, leaving no time for characterization, humor or heartfelt moments.

However, after watching the long anticipated movies twice now, I can gladly say that my worries were unfounded - at least for the most part.

First of all, the story follows the manga to a tee, with only a few very minor differences. While that indeed means that the pacing is pretty hectic at some points, I still felt that they left enough space for genuine emotions and funny scenes to not make it feel too rushed or bland. Despite that I would have appreciated if certain scenes were given just a few more moments to breath, and, as someone who knows the corresponding manga chapters pretty well, I am not entirely sure how well first-time experiencers of the story can follow the movies' plot.

On another note, the animation (for the most part) is some of the best the franchise has ever seen, and I am not only talking about the Crystal series, but also the 90s anime. Expect no Studio Ghibli, but I think if you liked any animated Sailor Moon content so far you are more likely to be delighted than disappointed. There certainly are a few noticable flaws (like some wonky transitions and faces) to find if you really want to look for them, but I can say that they did not influence my personal enjoyment, what did however (in a positive way) were the many gorgeous panels taken straight from the manga, as well as some really appealing attack animations.

In summary, these are two very nice movies to watch if you go into them open minded and with the right expectations. If you only know the 90s anime so far, this is maybe not exactly your childhood cartoon in which crybaby Serena "fights evil by moonlight", but it contains many of the elements that made the series so special for many people, including me. If you already know the manga story, I can honestly not see you hating these entries unless you expect god-tier animations or lots of added content.

Ultimately this makes the movies a very solid 8/10 for me, although I am sure many will enjoy them even more than that.

Underwhelming

[rhyss-53011 · 2/10 · 4 June 2021]

How can a movie move too fast whilst also moving too slow. Nothing happens for the first 40 minutes, and then suddenly the guardians are getting amnesia and recovering within minutes. Lacked the charm on humour of what I grew up with.

The movies were okey

[nelsonedgardo-71332 · 10/10 · 6 June 2021]

I can't wait for the last chapter! Caos, sailor galaxia, last transformation of the guardians.

A good combination

[ozlemdoygun · 8/10 · 3 June 2021]

This movie is a good combination of 90's version and Sailormoon Crystal. The old one was childish but had some fun anime parts, also Mamaru was really annoying. In Crystal, the chracter drawings were unrealistic and disturbing yet it was more mature. This one combines the good parts and more loyal to manga. I hope we watch Sailor Stars season too, either movie or a whole season.

Beautiful animation

[jhedemersons · 9/10 · 7 December 2021]

I love the animation in sailor moon eternal it looks just like in the 90s anime. I also love how everything is modern and colorful. I love the story of it, it's really faithful to the manga. I hope the stars arc gets a film adaptation too because if it's a movie it has a big Budget making the animation quality great just like sm eternal.

Stunning animation but useless

[entej · 3/10 · 16 June 2021]

As a child I was a fan of the old Sailor moon cartoons. This one was a complete disappointment. Gorgeous animation but such a pointless messy plot! It was very boring and took one week for me to finish.

A daring world of warriors, skirts and jingles from Candy Crash

[danybur · 8/10 · 6 June 2021]

Summary

Originally intended for children and pre-adolescent female audiences, this return of the characters from the cult anime series Sailor Moon Crystal as a film preserves their almost exclusively female universe of warriors and villains and their ability to perplex (and somewhat overwhelm) adult audiences. With its lysergic display, its complex and delusional temporal and narrative structure, its humor and the audacity and naturalness with which it proposes gender, sexual orientation and relationship issues for its characters.

Review:

When a total lunar eclipse occurs in the city of Tokyo, time stops and the Sailor Guardians meet again to face the agents of the Dead Moon Circus and a power that commands them and that wants to take over the Golden Crystal.

Return as a film of more than two and a half hours (there were previous ones), divided into two parts, of the Japanese cult series and gay icon Sailor Moon (in particular from the Crystal saga), Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie, Called by Netflix as suitable for ages 7 and up, it unfolds a complex, crazy, romantic and apocalyptic story that is not easy to follow.

The film shows us a universe of heroines and villains almost entirely female, of warrior princesses who reunite from their "civil" life. It is a world with characters that change age, gay and non-traditional families, trans and androgynous characters, romantic relationships between girls and adults, princely but irrelevant boys and where the celebrated transformations of the heroines (the Sailor Guardians ) with its crystals, skirts and stylized nudes, young people and women in a state of permanent amazement, a magical world with jingles of Candy Crash and outbursts of humor.

The film respects the simple and bright anime graphics of the original series and allows interesting licenses with respect to the occasional character in that regard.

In short, intended primarily for children and pre-adolescent female audiences, this return of the characters from the cult series Sailor Moon (and a few more) retains its potential to perplex (and somewhat overwhelm) adult audiences with its lysergic display, its complex and delusional temporal and narrative structure and the audacity with which it proposes gender and sexual orientation issues.

Made no sense

[capshuu · 4/10 · 7 September 2022]

The animation was soooo cute, but I just couldn't keep up with it. There's a lot going on and I didnt feel like the events developed logically. It felt like the script was just random stories glued together. It didn't lead anywhere and there were too many twists and surprises. Too many characters, incomplete story archs and backstories. No character development. Could've been much more interesting.

I admit I didn't watch the original anime or read the manga, I just vaguely remember a random Sailor Moon magazine I was fascinated by as a kid, so maybe my experience would've been different if I had more prior knowledge.

YASSSS my fav anime

[RJXAnime2003 · 10/10 · 23 July 2021]

Despite me liking sailor moon i watch it on my phone on go anime.com i watched the 2 movies in english subtitles are outstanding and the chatacters and well animated and beautiful and amazing storyline etc. And my personal fav is sailor moon the main heronie of the show for all ages!!! ;)

cya!!!

Dream arc manga version

[nononononononononononononononono · 10/10 · 26 April 2022]

This is Sailor Moon Eternal movie that tells the story of Dream arc in manga and its supposed to be 4th season of Sailor Moon Crystal. Queen Nehelenia (and Zirconia) here is killed and her mirror is shattered by Eternal Sailor Moon since she is reincarnation of chaos in manga same as the other villains Metalia, Death Phantom, Pharaoh 90 and Galaxia in manga.

This movie and Crystal and manga are also cool because they give new perspective of the story but some ppl really hate on Crystal because they only like 1990s anime- well I love both 90s and Crystal versions of Sailor Moon.

Nostalgic at it finest

[phzgnkn · 8/10 · 18 December 2023]

Been awhile haven't seen a Sailor Moon movie and this brings classic episodes to life.

Is great star for the franchise to introduce itself to a new audience, of course is sad only the ones that live in the 90s are gonna be to see it's. Is best for the parents show em to their little ones, who's was Sailor Moon?

Knowing that genre having problems to revive it Ever since a little magical girl anime call Madoka Magica aired, and changed for the greater good (I think). Didn't write who's fault is it, but just take a gander of what or is Sailor Moon.

So is great they revive the series with a compilation of the dark moon circus arc.

And bringing the classic anime style back.

So don't know when they gonna have the Cosmos movie, but hey I take Crystals any day Besides that my next anime that needs to be seen.

Later.

What is this s%}*show???

[saldarinilarissa · 1/10 · 15 June 2021]

How can someone who has even watched an episode of the original put more than a star to this? It's stupid, dialogues don't make sense, they talk too much, even the transformations are lame as s***t, let's not talk about the plot. Cringe.

Those who haven't read the original manga will hate this....

[mcdougall-ashleyjane · 10/10 · 5 May 2022]

But if you are like myself, who has been obsessed since 1994, you will find this movie to be the perfect balance of the manga and the charm of the original series. Sailor Moon Crystal was developed to be an adaptation of the original manga, NOT re-do the original anime from many moons before. You don't have to like it, butt done hate on it because you haven't read the original source material.

Awful

[andrewdennis-17656 · 1/10 · 26 July 2021]

I'm not big on Crystal to begin with. When compared to the original I don't think it even comes close to the same level of endearment. These movies are a new low though. They are pure garbage. Senseless, boring, and jumbled.

A good sailor moon movie subs were better with writing and dubs were better at showing emotions

[crichie-20032 · 8/10 · 2 March 2022]

This was a great sailor moon movie i really enjoyed it alot but the thing is that some of the lines from the dub either were cringey or sounded unrealistic that made some scenes unlikable like when the lemurs drain ren tiger-kyn made me cringe when he said "here lies an unfortunate lady with a dream, let's drain her heart, while the sub "lemurs come drain the heart and body of a unfortunate girl with a dream" which was was much better writing. Some of chibi usa's lines could be changed and should sound a bit more confident there were a couple of moments in the dub that made her sound like a 5 year old. Throwing a tantrum in her conversation with helios. I love both subs and dubs but I liked the writing more in the subs but overall a great sailor moon movie.

Its okay not the best sailor movie

[tanishaabdulrahman · 4/10 · 15 February 2022]

Maybe its just me I felt like this wasn't the best movie I am a fan of sailor moon its full of plot holes why did some of sailor scouts couldn't transform before but all of sudden because of inner thoughts and some dialogue is cringy and Peagues is super pointless only comes and goes and no detail on more info what golden crystal is.

Guys if you like sailor moon I recommend you watch the pervious movies instead they are so much better than this one.

Absolutely pointless exercise of a deader than a dead horse anime company previously responsable for toy commercials transformed into masterpieces of animation

[TooKakkoiiforYou_321 · 1/10 · 26 July 2022]

In faithfully adapting a crappy serial manga as it is in two movies, which is completely and utterly idiotic on all fronts. But hey, I've been a moonie for five months only and it really seems the fandom is Star Wars level of retardness, so they don't care of the quality of what they watch, they see Tsukino Usagi on the cover art, they think SM and that's it, they eat EVERYTHING no matter the quality of the product in question (SM tampons everyone?). Again, like Crystal or, for what matters, ANY continuation of these franchises past their due time - especially the ones "closer to the manga" because the major anime companies can save money while pretending to gather to the drooling masses of the manga elitists - this simply must be avoid AT ALL COSTS. Crystal, Eternal, The Hades Chapter from Saint Seiya, they're all bad and for a reason. Stay away from this dreck like pest.