The film often seems rushed, though, with a total runtime of only 160 minutes, compared to a typical 260-minute season of Sailor Moon Crystal. But even people who already know the manga may find the animated version fascinating, given the chance to see things that are new to the animated Sailor Moon universe, like Sailor Saturn’s full elaborate transformation sequence.

While the original ’90s anime took liberties in adapting Takeuchi’s manga, such as completely changing Queen Nehelenia’s backstory, Sailor Moon Eternal is essentially an exact retelling of the Dream arc. At the same time, the Sailor Guardians meet a human-turned-unicorn-pegasus named Helios, who’s looking for something called the Golden Crystal, and has eyes for Chibiusa. But the titular character, Sailor Moon (or Usagi), her destined love Mamoru (also known as Tuxedo Mask), Chibiusa or Sailor Chibi Moon (Usagi and Mamoru’s future daughter, who’s traveled to the present day - yes, that’s a thing), and her trusted friends and allies the Sailor Guardians (named after their respective planets), have something to say about Nehelenia’s ambitions. Their ruler, Queen Nehelenia, wants to take over the world by trapping humans in nightmares, claiming the throne to the kingdom of the moon - known as the Silver Millennium - and ruling over Earth, which she believes is rightfully hers. Sailor Moon Eternal follows the Dream arc of the manga, where the mysterious Dead Moon Circus arrives in Japan during a solar eclipse. And it brings fans closer to the heart of what makes Sailor Moon great. Now, five years later, season 4 of the series, presented on Netflix as the two-part film Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie, feels like a culmination of everything the creators learned from Crystal’s original missteps. And the muted tones lacked the bright, colorful prettiness fans remembered from the ’90s.īy season 3 of Sailor Moon Crystal, the CGI transformations were gone, and the art style became less rigid and more playful. The CGI transformations where the characters change into their superpowered forms felt outdated. It was a more faithful adaptation of the manga series than the beloved ’90s anime adaptation, but its central characters, the guardians of Earth (also known as the Sailor Senshi), looked off.

The 2014 series Sailor Moon Crystal, the second attempt at an anime adaptation of Naoko Takeuchi’s Sailor Moon manga, met mixed reactions from fans.

Downloadable sailor moon episodes