The art is looking much better. Very pretty and elegant. I am also seeing fan art on fb that is so similar sometimes I can't tell if its official art or fan art lol. I do hope that with the bigger budget animation will improve...especially with transformations. Maybe they will change them up a bit. I will have to wait and see.

Needless to say I am excited about the new season/arc.

I'm having the same issue Artemis! I see things on Tumblr and I'm like..so is this official or just really good fanart?

This morning it was announced that Phase 3 is to start Spring 2016: http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2016/01/08-1/sailor-moon-crystal-web-anime-3rd-season-set-for-spring-2016

Some key info:

• We're getting new director and character designer. The writer (unfortunately?) stays the same.
  
• The voice actresses for Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune and Sailor Saturn, will be revealed in the live-broadcast program on Nico Nico Live to be streamed at 20:00 on January 27 (JST)

Yay! I have nothing to add to this conversation, other to say I am excited. I was worried it wasn't going to happen. But, yay, new season!

Oh my goodness!!!!!  I can't WAIT~

I'm excited to see what the Outer senshi will look like in Crystal, and who their seiyuus are going to be. I think the Animedia magazine is suppose to reveal new art work for the Infinity arc this Saturday?

Hm, a new director and character designer could be promising too! There are times when the SMC art is really lovely but then theres a lot of times where its just...not. It certainly leaves a lot to be desired. I'm excited about seeing Outers though. Those are really the only ones I wanted to see what theyd look like in SMC style.

i'm glad i caught up with the series when i did. luckily now i can watch this season fully. (:

Alright! But I'll still reserve my hopes until I see a sample of their work, so I'm not disappointed with any delays.

Still, this is awesome. I'm very eager to see the Outers, and Death Busters, and what the anime determines as Pharaoh 90's appearance, since it was more vague in the manga.

Key visual is leaked.

Well, they're definitely interesting. I wish the image was clearer so I could have a better look at Uranus and Neptune but I'm liking what I see.

I'm so happy with what Drachea posted on his facebook. More zoomed.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1119757748059167&substory_index=0&id=116180445083574

I love it. I love it. I love it.

From what we can tell, this looks like a completely new art style, which I have always said that Crystal has needed. Takeuchi's art was never meant to be animated and I blame the decision to stay true to that style to be one of the biggest reasons for Crystal's quality drop.

I pray that they continue adapting and adapt fight scenes and other sequences differently in this season. Characters fly about oddly in the manga and it would be nice to see consistency rather than Toei perfectly adapting flaws into this new adaptation.

I'm a Crystal hater but if they do Death Busters right, you may see me change sides.

I totally missed that Saturn was there! Her design looks good and I like Sailor Moon as well.

I love the way they drew Neptune and Uranus's hair *_* but their wrists look way too narrow. XD;; oh well, still excited to see more for the new season.

I also don't like how Neptune's hair doesn't seem as wavy as it does on the art books. And looks a bit too long. Meh. Well see. I won't complain too much since I'm so exited for this!

I'm still waiting to add this onto my ptw list with myanimelist.net!   I'm excited for it too!

According to This we're supposed to get an official release of the outer senshi's cast for the new season on Jan 27th!

Oooh I'm liking the character design a lot better. It still feels close to the manga art without being so close that it looks "off". There was always something a bit "off" about SMC's character designs. I think a lot of the times it was the eyes, they just didn't fit and felt dead. These are looking a more vibrant and with life. I'm feeling hopeful. VIVA LA SAILOR MOON!

I like the designs and I'm excited to see how this goes. I actually really liked the original SMC artstyle, though...

Can't wait for the premiere!

I liked the original style, but let's see how it looks in color

Here's another picture that's a bit more clear. I like what I see so far. A lot. Hopefully this means they're taking the show in a new direction. I shall definitely be paying attention to Crystal again this year.

ALSO WHY IS NO ONE SCREAMING ABOUT HOW USAGI'S IN HER SUPER SAILOR MOON FUKU???? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. 

Super Sailor Moon? I'm more impressed by the risks they're taking on Sailor Saturn's design. It looks so incredibly modern. I'm not impressed by stuff I already know about. That's just me though.

Praying that this arc is as amazing as this key art.

I like the direction this character design is taking! The poses also look to reflect the girls' personalities. It's a shame the promo picture isn't in color, but hopefully they will release one eventually.

@Brit - I agree with you about their eyes looking more vibrant here. =)

Sailor CJ wrote:

Super Sailor Moon? I'm more impressed by the risks they're taking on Sailor Saturn's design. It looks so incredibly modern. I'm not impressed by stuff I already know about. That's just me though.

Praying that this arc is as amazing as this key art.

SSM is my favorite transformation next to ESM so yes I'm excited. I'm pretty indifferent to Saturn's character as a whole so I'm pretty 'eh' when seeing her design. Personally, Michiru's design stood out to me the most compared to everyone else.

Also we can pray together.

I love the artwork. Cannot wait to see it in color.

I'm super pumped now, kind of wished the gloves on Neptune and Uranus where shorter but that's just me nitpicking.  And really hope for a completely new transformation sequence for all of the girls.

Okay, this is fantastic, though I wonder why they didn't decide on this being the art style for all arcs to begin with.

Different director, different' vision of how it should be I guess. I'm just glad they replaced them and this is the new art.