The new season of Sailor Moon Crystal is finally here! I just finished watching the premiere (for the first of many times) and am ready to dive into the review.

The Bad

1: Transformation, eh- Everyone is going to have different opinions on this one. For me, personally, I’m not a fan of the new transformation sequences for the girls. I remember when Crystal started their was tons of disapproval for the CG sequences. I loved them!

They were dramatic and beautiful and most of all, they tipped the hat brilliantly to the 90’s originals while still being unique.

These sequences are reverting back to the 2D versions that a majority of fans wanted, that’s fine. However, they feel clunky and awkwardly paced and will take a bit of getting used to for me.

Example: Venus had the most beautiful sequence in the first season and this one seemed to lack focus. The sequences would always get me hyped for the battle and these just gave me none of that.

Again, just my opinion.

The Good

1: Wait…They Actually contributed?!- Big complaint from last year’s season(s) was that the Senshi hardly did anything but get their asses handed to them. This episode not only gave us the Senshi representing their distinct personalities (instead of one four mouthed character) but let Jupiter and Venus summon cool attacks and ultimately defeat the villain.

The show is called Sailor Moon but we as fans want to see all the girls kick some butt. Job well done indeed.

2: Uranus and Neptune- My two favorite characters in this series without a doubt. It didn’t hit me that we’re getting the infinity Arc until I saw Michiru swimming in the pool. The realization just came crashing on me and I found myself extremely giddy watching the episode.

We only got a small bit of them this week but hey, whole season to go.

3: Animation- Despite my not being crazy for the transformations, I really did enjoy the look of the episode. I can see the differences and I’m on board.

4:Girls Just Having Fun- We all know the pacing of the last arc was horrible. I personalty didn’t feel it so bad for Dark Kingdom. At least not until the last three episodes of it. Black Moon however, ugh. We were rushing through the plot so much that there was no time for us to see these characters be the funny, lighthearted, and spirited girls that makes them so appealing in the first place.

I loved that we got to see Rei be mean to Usagi. I loved that we got to see Minako fangirl out and show that side of her we didn’t get much of last year. I hope these factors stick around and don’t get drowned out as the season continues.

Not too much to say at this point since it was only part one of the premiere. Fortunately we don’t have to wait two -three weeks for another episode!