I know a lot of Sailor Moon fans hate SuperS because it wasn't as dark as S, it made a lot of changes to the manga, and it doesn't have the Outers other than the TV special, but if you take it on its own without these comparisons, was SuperS really as bad as it was made out to be?  It's still not one of my all time favorite seasons but I think it had some good positive points to the season too.  I always loved the relationship between Chibi-usa and Helios and I thought Chibi-usa was pretty funny and a likeable character in this season as opposed to her more bratty personality she had in R and I like we get to see more of her life as an ordinary girl in the 20th century.   SuperS may not be as dark as S, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing as I think these episodes were some of the funniest in the anime and always had me laughing my head off.  At the same time, I felt like SuperS is actually darker at times than people give it credit for. 

Like the way the Amazon Trio target their victims is very creepy and sinister, the episode where

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was really sad and always makes me cry every time, and I thought Nehelina's past was very tragic as well.   The only aspects I didn't really like about SuperS was that at times it does have too much filler in episodes, I was disappointed we didn't get to see the Sailor Quartet any and I do miss the Outers, and I didn't like how they dumbed down Usagi a lot in this season.   But I also think SuperS has the most beautiful and consistent animation quality out of all the seasons of the anime and I really love the music in this season, especially the ending themes which are both very beautiful songs.  I think if they made the season shorter, kept Usagi's personality the same as in S, brought in the Outers at the end, and have the Amazonness Quartet become Senshi at the end, it would have been a much better season.  But I still don't think it's as bad as what everyone says.

I don't think this season is bad at all. Like you said a lot people don't like it because the Outers weren't there. I also I think another reason why people don't like it (at least with western fans) because it focuses on Chibiusa. I personality don't mind Chibiusa, but she's not my favorite senshi. However they do give her nice development. It would been nice if they focused on the Inners and Chibiusa equally. Then bring in the Outers at the end of the battle then the beginning of Stars wouldn't been needed. Yeah I find the first part of Stars pointless. They could have done that at the end of SuperS. XD

SuperS has the only two ending songs I like. The first one is pretty and the second one is fun!

Neon Genesis wrote:

I think if they made the season shorter, kept Usagi's personality the same as in S, brought in the Outers at the end, and have the Amazonness Quartet become Senshi at the end, it would have been a much better season.  But I still don't think it's as bad as what everyone says.

Yamichan16 wrote:

I don't think this season is bad at all. Like you said a lot people don't like it because the Outers weren't there. I also I think another reason why people don't like it (at least with western fans) because it focuses on Chibiusa.

I agree that these are some of the main reasons people dislike about SuperS. Another reason I've read is that people find it too "cute" because Chibi Usa was the focal character, and you have a lot of visual/thematic motifs such as Pegasus, kaleidoscope colored backgrounds, dreams, and circus that are considered childish, or even inane to some people.

Also, one thing I've noticed is that a lot of people who don't like SuperS also don't like the Chibi Usa/Helios relationship she's too young to be in a relationship, or because he's "a horse". Chibi Usa is hinted to have a serious crush on Helios, but I think a lot of kids have crushes before they hit puberty, be it with someone at school, a pop star they've never met in person, or even a fictional character. Chibi Usa and Helios do kiss on two occasions, and I know this makes some people uncomfortable, but to me the kisses are chaste. The motivation behind their kiss is a demonstration of affection/concern, or as a way to transfer energy to the other person.

As for the "her boyfriend is a horse!" issue, I think part of the issue is because Pegasus was shown to be a boy for only a handful of episodes at the end of the season, while in the manga this revelation was made in the first 1/3 of the story arc and we see far more of Helios' human form. So for a long time the interaction between Chibi Usa and Pegasus, as far as a viewer who hasn't read the manga was concerned, was between a girl and a winged horse. Even when Pegasus is revealed to be Helios, who is a boy, it may be difficult for some viewers to reconcile his two forms, especially as the revelation was directly followed by the episode "Chibi Usa's Little Rhapsody of Love", which empathized Chibi Usa and Helios' growing romance but presented Helios in his equine Pegasus form.

I don't get the boyfriend is a horse thing. They explain it. >.>

It was more than that though. The filler episodes were relate-able...but kind of boring. Like jumping over a vaulting horse or meeting that samurai girl from under the bridge. 

I wish we had more interesting fillers like when Rei tries to go on a date with Mamoru (That episode was so hilarious!), or when Minako tries to play nurse in season 2, or like the episode where usagi gets drunkkk in s. 

Also the battles. So darn short -_- . The inner senshi only shot one attack or a rose came in. Then it was bell and sceptre time. 
Then some of the monsters were just weird. Like those ball shaped monsters.

I liked this season way better in the manga.

Yeah SuperS had some bad filler episodes. The best episode is when Minako is dating both Hawkeye and Tiger eye. 

I really do love how the Amazon trio were fleshed out and their final episodes were great.

I agree with Yamichan that the anime clearly explains that Helios' human form is his true form and Pegasus is just a form he's trapped in.  It's not like Helios enjoys being in his horse form or something.  And Chibi-usa might be too young for romance if this was real life, but romance between young characters happens all the time in anime, especially with shoujo titles which are typically targeted at that age group.   Like Sakura Kinomoto is ten years old and she gets involved in romance in Cardcaptor Sakura and most CCS fans don't think she's too young for romance.   Some of the filler in episodes are a bit dull like the episode where Hawkseye goes after the automobile mechanic but there are some really funny filler ins in SuperS.  Like the episode where Minako two-times Tigerseye and Hawkseye, the episode where the girls are all chasing after that guy who does illustrations of flowers, or the episode where Diana is introduced and everyone thinks Artemis is cheating on Luna.   The Lemures can be rather goofy but there are some freaky ones too like the one in the first episode that has the knife in her mouth or the lemure that

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I get where people are coming from with the romance, but come on! Have they not watch other magical girl shows? Most of the time the main characters are like 10 to 12. There are few where the characters are teenagers. I wonder if it has something to do with the kissing? Which is silly because like preschoolers kiss each other.

I think maybe because Chibi Usa was depicted as a very young child (around 6 years old) in R, that the idea of her having romantic feelings in two season's time is hard to swallow for some people. The anime was kind of vague about her exact age (I think only the manga stated her to be over 900 years old; the anime never made such a claim, IIRC), so for some people Chibi Usa is more around 8 years told in SuperS.

I've also noticed that people have made more of a fuss about kissing in Sailor Moon than before. I've seen a lot of people complaining about Tuxedo Mask kissing Sailor Moon when she's unconscious in Sailor Moon Crystal. It seems our current social attitude deems it more creepy than romantic. It makes me wonder if-and-when the Crystal anime gets to the Dream arc if people will also complain about Helios kissing Chibi Usa after she'd been crying and vice versa.

To me Chibiusa is older in the anime. They got rid of her aging issues that she had in the manga. I feel like she's about 8 years old in R. Then in S and in SuperS she's a preteen, but that's just me. 

Heck people are having issues with Tux saving Moon in Crystal. People are like no tooo romance!! I'm like really people? Have you not seen Sailor Moon before?

It makes me wonder if when the original manga was published or when the anime aired if some viewers also had any issue with these scenes, but had no real way of voicing their displeasure since the internet wasn't around yet. :\

SuperS was bad because it was too repetitive and had way too much filler,so it got boring easy.I didn't mind that they focused the season on Chibiusa and Helios' relashionship but all of that filler was annoying.

Yes there was bad filler, but there was great filler as well. Like the dentist episode which I believe is based off a short story? I could be wrong.

I liked it better in the manga when each inner senshi realized their true dream and thats how they earned their super sailor transformation instead of in the show it was just given by Helios. 

The fillers in S had character depth like where Ami wonders what kind of person she is if you take away her academics or when Minako decides that maybe she should quit being a sailor soldier.

Well in SuperS they were given their super forms, but they had to unlock their powers by themselves. Sadly Mako and Mina had to share an episode together when unlocking their powers.

I agree that people don't like it because of all the "filler". Some of the other seasons, like Super, had you at the edge of your seat after each episode and SuperS just... didn't. It's the reason I took a huuuge pause in re-watching the series my first time, I just couldn't do the SuperS anymore. But the second time I watched it, I was in love! I love the cutesy-ness and the feel of the plotline. I think it has a lot to do with people wanting more Usagi and less Chibiusa.

I think mangaka-chan is right too, it was too "cutesy" for a lot of people in America. Although this whole "kawaii" style is catching on now-a-days, it's more popular in Japan. A lot of American anime from the 90's sensors that "kawaii" style (Cardcaptor Sakura vs Cardcaptors, anyone?) because they tried to make it more gender-neutral or felt like shows aimed towards girls made less money or whatever because girls have no problem watching boy shows but boys don't like watching girl shows. Anyways, I think that's why in America a lot of people don't like it as much. I for one LOVE the style of SuperS <3

There are some bad filler in Super in my opinion. Like the one where Usagi wanted Michiru to teach her to play the violin. God that episode is just meh.....

I think one of my fav SuperS episodes is the one where Ami becomes friends with that pianist and she learns how to unlock her Mercury Aqua Rhapsody attack.   I think a lot of people didn't like SuperS because S set a lot of high expectations and SuperS went in a direction that wasn't necessarily bad but just different from what the fans were expecting and the difference was just too jarring to get adjusted to.

I liked the manga a lot, but I wasn't a big fan of the anime version. It had too many filler episodes! >_<;

Has anyone done a tally of how many filler in episodes SuperS has versus the other seasons anyway?

I haven't counted but it is a lot compared to S and R

I liked the manga version of SuperS much better. What I disliked most about the anime SuperS is how everyone suddenly relied on Pegasus. Hell, even Sailor Moon can't attack without Pegasus being there. Same with the final episode, he had to come and save the day again and made everyone look useless. It's just such a jarring change since the end of S where Usagi practically turned into her super form through sheer will of her heart.

That's magical girl for ya. XD

I do wish Chibiusa had a weapon in SuperS.

Yamichan16 wrote:

That's magical girl for ya. XD

I do wish Chibiusa had a weapon in SuperS.

Well the Crystal Carillon could shot energy,although it was only shown in one episode

I forgot about that! I really need to rewatch the anime.

It was always weird that Chibi-usa suddenly had a weapon of her own in the SuperS movie and that Usagi could suddenly use her attack without the help of Pegasus.

Movie magicccc! =D

I really loved this season, its one of my favorite ones. I love the whole circus act, the villains, and all the ChibiusaxHelios! I think this season really brought out her character.

The only thing that made it good was the Amazoness Quartets (they are so freaking cute! I can't believe they didn't make them into senshi in the anime!), but of course they don't arrive until the second half of the season. I don't like the first part of SuperS. It seems to pick up after the inner senshi receive their power upgrades.

I liked a lot of the ideas for this arc, but I feel like it was stretched out WAY TOO LONG. I felt like the Inner Senshi stopped developing to put Chibiusa with Usagi and Mamoru as co-stars front and center. The only one I feel got any significant focus at all was Minako, with episodes like the infamous two-timing and finding the "job" (volunteer opportunity) where they inadvertently worked to set up a ceremony with the quartet.

However, I liked the concept of the circus, I just feel like they didn't do enough with it.  The goofiness and homoerotic overtones between the Amazon Trio was great, as were the episodes leading up to their send off. Things definitely picked up the pace when the Amazoness Quartet and Nehelenia came on board in the second half, and the ending + carryover into Stars are one of the highest points of the entire series.


Neon GenesisBut I also think SuperS has the most beautiful and consistent animation quality out of all the seasons of the anime and I really love the music in this season, especially the ending themes which are both very beautiful songs.  I think if they made the season shorter, kept Usagi's personality the same as in S, brought in the Outers at the end, and have the Amazonness Quartet become Senshi at the end, it would have been a much better season.  But I still don't think it's as bad as what everyone says.




My favorite music will forever be the Outer Senshi music from S, BUT the music and animation for Moon Gorgeous Meditation gets me every time.