So this thread is for all your unpopular regarding the manga, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon! Here you can post all your opinions on all the things that others think are great. Hate the Infinity arc? Despise the way the manga ended? Well come let us know!

So I'll start with mine! I know a lot of people don't like the idea of Crystal Tokyo but I've never seen this specific reason brought up before. I didn't like how it seemed that NQS had the most importance when it came to the new kingdom and the manga constantly talks about how it's 'her' accession when really it should be about Mamoru's accession because y'know he's the Prince of Earth. It really bothers me because the manga goes so deeply into Mamoru's connection with the planet and it seems that while Serenity and Endymion are married so the kingdom is both of theirs, it really seemed that it's Serenity that's calling the shots and it's seen as her rule instead of his.

I wish the senshi weren't so generic, so to speak. By generic, I mean they don't have as much personality or are as rounded as characters as they are in the 90s anime-with the exception of minako up until the infinity arc because of her character being the main in sailor V. I know the manga is titled, sailor moon so it's gonna focus on her the most, but it would have been nice to branch off a bit to focus on the others for more then just short and seemingly rushed character development within a chapter or two.

This is more of a nitpick, but I felt the covers of the 2nd release of the manga lacked something. It somehow lost some of the ethereal and mystical quality that is a staple in Naoko's art. Objectively, it does look nice, but I much prefer her traditional artwork.
 
However, I will say that the third edition did an excellent job of blending the two styles together while staying true to her craft.

Are you talking about the volume's where the senshi are in their eternal fuku on the covers?

Yep, that one.

Cosmos-Hime wrote:

I wish the senshi weren't so generic, so to speak. By generic, I mean they don't have as much personality or are as rounded as characters as they are in the 90s anime-with the exception of minako up until the infinity arc because of her character being the main in sailor V. I know the manga is titled, sailor moon so it's gonna focus on her the most, but it would have been nice to branch off a bit to focus on the others for more then just short and seemingly rushed character development within a chapter or two.

I agree with this too! Like everyone gets a little bit of character exploration each arc, but some characters like Mercury and Jupiter imo don't get a lot. They all have such interesting character quirks (like I liked how Jupiter was both tough but she also liked baking and flowers) that I feel like more character centered episodes would have boosted the manga. Like the special with Mars and the Casablanca flowers I really liked and gave some interesting insight into her character.

PrincesseNee wrote:

This is more of a nitpick, but I felt the covers of the 2nd release of the manga lacked something. It somehow lost some of the ethereal and mystical quality that is a staple in Naoko's art. Objectively, it does look nice, but I much prefer her traditional artwork.
 
However, I will say that the third edition did an excellent job of blending the two styles together while staying true to her craft.

I think it's because they didn't have full backgrounds. It was just the senshi, a few elements regarding their powers, but the backgrounds were mostly white for 10 out of the 12 books.

The manga is not the holy grail/bible/end all be all of Sailor Moon. Myu tells the stories better majority of the time anyway *awaits the pitchforks*

While I love the manga, the continuity and consistency could use a lot more work, like you can really tell especially for the later arcs that not all of this was thought out in advance. Also, I'm not a fan of the vagueness surrounding Sailor Cosmos' background (is she a future Sailor Moon? A future Usagi? Etc).

There was an astounding amount of vagueness about the moon kingdom and the earth kingdom(s?) as well. I would have loved some more history about them, like how the SNES game sailor moon, another story did.

Small Lady wrote:

The manga is not the holy grail/bible/end all be all of Sailor Moon. Myu tells the stories better majority of the time anyway *awaits the pitchforks*

Lol!

I agree though, the manga to me seems like a blueprint for Sailor Moon. It's provides enough world building to immerse the reader but is open ended enough to allow for some modifications. In that case, I do agree that Myu does tell stories better since they have the anime and manga to work off of and make it into a more cohesive plot.

Small Lady wrote:

The manga is not the holy grail/bible/end all be all of Sailor Moon. Myu tells the stories better majority of the time anyway *awaits the pitchforks*

*throws a plushie pitchfork at you*

But no, I mean like the Manga really is just like the basis, I wish that other versions would take it upon themselves to like expannd upon it.

PrincesseNee wrote:

Small Lady wrote:

The manga is not the holy grail/bible/end all be all of Sailor Moon. Myu tells the stories better majority of the time anyway *awaits the pitchforks*

Lol!

I agree though, the manga to me seems like a blueprint for Sailor Moon. It's provides enough world building to immerse the reader but is open ended enough to allow for some modifications. In that case, I do agree that Myu does tell stories better since they have the anime and manga to work off of and make it into a more cohesive plot.

Someone that understands my feelings!

As much as I love Naoko's art, there are some times where her posing and anatomy could have been executed much better. I like the exaggerated limbs, but sometimes, it was ridiculous. I'll have to dig around and find an example.

@MadarinCupcake no, no you don't lol I"m sure we can all picture some (ankles, legs!)

Are you sure @Addelyn?   :bunnytongue:I can find some never ending arms while I'm at it too. 

@mangaka-chan I agree with you on the later arcs not feeling as thought out. This also goes into the rushed feeling of the later arcs, like SuperS and Stars. I was so excited when I first bought the Stars manga, and then when it ended after 3 volumes, I was thinking, "that's it?" Naoko had such a wonderful foundation and story going on with Stars that it was a shame not to see it more developed (I've never seen the Stars anime arc, nor have I seen any of the musicals, so I don't know, myself, how well either went into expanding on that arc). But I will say, she did give weight to that arc despite it's pacing and lack of development.  I still feel emotionally heavy when I read that arc.

Another thing I wish they didn't do was just...write off the supporting characters. Naru, Umino, Usagi's parents-even the cats by the last few chapters. It would have been nice to see them a bit more often in the later arcs, and see what happened to the cats at the end of the stars arc.

MandarinCupcake wrote:

(I've never seen the Stars anime arc, nor have I seen any of the musicals, so I don't know, myself, how well either went into expanding on that arc).

The anime does a so so job with the story and they change up Galaxia's backstory and who ChibiChibi is a lot to make it fit to more of the way the anime had played out for over the years (made more redeemable, etc. etc.). Unfortunately the many of the main characters get pushed aside for Starlights attention and it pretty much becomes the Usagi, Seiya, Taiki, Yaten, Minako Show...Which...is annoying...

The take their own twist to it (with the orignal ones focusing a bit more on the anime versions)and really flesh out some ideas and add different plots that made it really interesting and different! I felt the Stars story was overall told better in the musicals. (btw the stars story is done like 4 different times, we get 4 different tellings of the story. The first two kinda sorta are more continuities of each other but not really).

/getsoffsoapbox

Cosmos-Hime wrote:

Another thing I wish they didn't do was just...write off the supporting characters. Naru, Umino, Usagi's parents-even the cats by the last few chapters. It would have been nice to see them a bit more often in the later arcs, and see what happened to the cats at the end of the stars arc.

OH MY DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THE CATS. I am SO upset that she doesn't show them there and I refuse to believe that anything but good happy things happened to them (besides we KNOW they are in the future because we see them there so they CAN'T HAVE DIED. WE HAVE TO HAVE DIANA. I DON'T WANNA HEAR ANY DIFFERENT.)
*cough*


i'm done...

I hated the villains. It's general a huge part of whether or not I love a story. If the villains bore me or are ridiculously badly written, I cannot like a story. Fortunately, the anime redeemed the villains for me and allowed me to enjoy the part of the manga I appreciated.

I wasn't impressed by the stars act, but once again, the anime was able to make me like them (and I was totally on board having someone else take the attention off the main girls for a bit to be honest but that's just me).

There was not a lot of development. It was a rushed sort of character development that somewhat worked in the end, but I don't know, I wasn't able to connect or be curious about the characters in the manga.

And I agree with Cosmos-Hime. Writing off secondary characters wasn't really good, but then again she didn't have space or time for a lot, so the secondary characters had to go if we wanted a story well-told.

But yeah, Myu wins.
PGSM too.

I actually thought that some villains, like wiseman and beryl were better in the manga then the anime even if their characters didn't nearly last as long. And I loved what they did with the amazones quartet and wish they kept it in the anime that they were supposed to be Chibiusa's senshi.

But yeah, in the grand scheme of things the villains were glossed over like no tomorrow.

Small Lady wrote:

MandarinCupcake wrote:

(I've never seen the Stars anime arc, nor have I seen any of the musicals, so I don't know, myself, how well either went into expanding on that arc).

The anime does a so so job with the story and they change up Galaxia's backstory and who ChibiChibi is a lot to make it fit to more of the way the anime had played out for over the years (made more redeemable, etc. etc.). Unfortunately the many of the main characters get pushed aside for Starlights attention and it pretty much becomes the Usagi, Seiya, Taiki, Yaten, Minako Show...Which...is annoying...

The take their own twist to it (with the orignal ones focusing a bit more on the anime versions)and really flesh out some ideas and add different plots that made it really interesting and different! I felt the Stars story was overall told better in the musicals. (btw the stars story is done like 4 different times, we get 4 different tellings of the story. The first two kinda sorta are more continuities of each other but not really).

/getsoffsoapbox

Cosmos-Hime wrote:

Another thing I wish they didn't do was just...write off the supporting characters. Naru, Umino, Usagi's parents-even the cats by the last few chapters. It would have been nice to see them a bit more often in the later arcs, and see what happened to the cats at the end of the stars arc.

OH MY DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THE CATS. I am SO upset that she doesn't show them there and I refuse to believe that anything but good happy things happened to them (besides we KNOW they are in the future because we see them there so they CAN'T HAVE DIED. WE HAVE TO HAVE DIANA. I DON'T WANNA HEAR ANY DIFFERENT.)
*cough*


i'm done...

I'll have to check out the musicals. They sound right up my ally with alternate tellings of the same arc! 
And oh my gosh, I can't believe I forgot the cats @Cosmo-Hime! Yeah, we see them alive in the future (and the present) but, they were just barely alive in the future That doesn't reassure me. Just another one of those continuity issues. As an author, you can't just have the reader's last image of major supporting characters like Luna and Artemis being them harmed and not tie up that end.

mangaka-chan wrote:

While I love the manga, the continuity and consistency could use a lot more work, like you can really tell especially for the later arcs that not all of this was thought out in advance. Also, I'm not a fan of the vagueness surrounding Sailor Cosmos' background (is she a future Sailor Moon? A future Usagi? Etc).

I agree with the continuity and consistency.  I mean Naoko could've taken more time and made the series longer.  I know that Toei kept rushing her(I think), but this series is her baby, shouldn't she be developing it herself?  I think the manga did touch upon the fact that Sailor Cosmos is the Ultimate(I guess, a future version) Sailor Moon.

Cosmos-Hime wrote:

I wish the senshi weren't so generic, so to speak. By generic, I mean they don't have as much personality or are as rounded as characters as they are in the 90s anime-with the exception of minako up until the infinity arc because of her character being the main in sailor V. I know the manga is titled, sailor moon so it's gonna focus on her the most, but it would have been nice to branch off a bit to focus on the others for more then just short and seemingly rushed character development within a chapter or two.

This is one of the reasons why the chapters that focus a little more on the girls’ personalities and dynamics with each other are among my favorites. I wish they would have got more development and shining moments as characters and as friends in the manga.

PrincesseNee wrote:

Small Lady wrote:

The manga is not the holy grail/bible/end all be all of Sailor Moon. Myu tells the stories better majority of the time anyway *awaits the pitchforks*

Lol!

I agree though, the manga to me seems like a blueprint for Sailor Moon. It's provides enough world building to immerse the reader but is open ended enough to allow for some modifications. In that case, I do agree that Myu does tell stories better since they have the anime and manga to work off of and make it into a more cohesive plot.

Blueprint of Sailor Moon is one of the most fitting descriptions of the manga that I’ve heard. I deeply agree with Brit about the manga not being the holy grail of Sailor Moon. It has a huge importance to the franchise because without it, we wouldn’t have Sailor Moon. But to me, it is not superior to the other versions - it has its flaws and shining moments, just like all the adaptions.

And yes, Myu and PGSM win.

Cosmos-Hime wrote:

Another thing I wish they didn't do was just...write off the supporting characters. Naru, Umino, Usagi's parents-even the cats by the last few chapters. It would have been nice to see them a bit more often in the later arcs, and see what happened to the cats at the end of the stars arc.

I agree with you. Especially the cats and Usagi’s parents being written off bugged me. I wish Naoko had shown what happened to them.

It  looks like it's been some time since somebody last posted here but I'm somewhat bringing this back to voice my not-very-nice thoughts on the manga since I wanted to say a few things here and I'm probably bored. 

So firstly, I don't really like the manga for the most part, the only thing that I like about it is Naoko's wonderful artwork. The pace of the story is very fast and many so-called powerful/meaningful/emotional events and many characters' actions and interactions are pretty vague and hollow. The characters are not well-written or developed and none of them is really known thoroughly, including Usagi that has the most scenes, cause they seem like I said above, hollow, since like almost all the other characters, Usagi's attitude and actions are very thinly conveyed. And most things deal with Usagi there, of course, which actually made me dislike her manga version quite a bit. And I don't think she's particularly mature there, like many fans think, I think that she mostly makes decisions that are decided solely by her and sometimes, Naoko even made it so that many of these decisions must be accepted as fair by our other characters, while they are not desicions decided by all of them as friends and what would be both the right thing and most satisfactory to them rather than a grim but neccesary decision. Also something else I don't like is that the other Senshi have sacrificed their lives and most of their dreams to protect Usagi when they should have considered their lives and protecting their princess equally important. Minako especially comes to mind since her beloved dream to protect her princess masquerades as a dream to become an idol, which is completely unfair, but oh well, she understands the truth in PGSM, I suppose.

Nevertheless, the manga is pretty charming and pleasant to read, so I don't completely dislike it, I guess and I understand that Naoko was rushed during the writing. Besides, I'm just saying this for the best, to make the flaws understandable to those who don't understand them, never point them out, of course. Or maybe not. ^_^