Welcome to the Another Reboot

I recently finished watching the first four seasons of the original Sailor Moon anime. The one from the 90s that was recently re-dubbed with an excellent voice cast (don’t hate me for liking dubs, it depends on how well they’re done whether or not I’ll watch them). So, while I wait for the fifth and final season of the of the original show to be dubbed, I decided to check out the reboot version: “Sailor Moon Crystal”.

The first episode is a nearly prefect replica of the original series’s first episode, right down to the dialogue. Updates have of course been made. The animation is a lot cleaner and smoother, the 90s soundtrack and opening theme has been done away with, and the story moves a lot faster than the previous series. I think they even use the same voice cast that they for the re-dubbing.

All in all, a solid first episode.

However, if I had one complaint, as petty as it might be, it’s that the style is too pretty. Usagi is supposed to be fourteen in the series. She definitely doesn’t look fourteen. She looks like a mid-twenty something with way too much eye makeup. It’s a little distracting to be honest.

Original on the left. Reboot on the right.

Actually all the characters, even the boys, have been given a serious glow-up from the 90s version. I know animation and drawing styles change, but holy crap is it weird to go from seeing characters looking childish and with a little puppy fat (the original had their faces a more circular shape) to the sharp, doe-eyes that’s the new series’s style. It almost falls into the uncanny valley.

It’ll take some getting used to that’s for certain.

But that’s how these things go. Remakes, sequels, and reboots all require changes to draw in a new audience. Though I’ll definitely miss the 90s pop soundtrack of the original, the new soundtrack isn’t bad. At least the voice acting is still on point.

It’s not like Sailor Moon is the first show from my childhood to get a reboot or remake. There are tons of versions of Scooby Doo with a lot of different art styles (some better than others) and Bugs Bunny has gone from shorts, to full 30 minute TV shows, to a super hero reboot, to getting the baby treatment that the early 90s loved (remember “A Pup Named Scooby Doo” or the seriously awesome “Muppet Babies”?).

Once a show, story, or character has reached a level of iconic that even people who’ve never seen the original concept can recognize it, I should just expect to see a reboot or remake. Personally I prefer the reboot to the remake.

I know I’ve written about this before in my blog posts about “Child’s Play”, “Suspiria”, and “The Haunting of Hill House” (see here and here). But when a show or movie gets redone, I sometimes feel like sharing my thoughts on the changes. And if my only complaint is the different art style, then the new series likely improved everywhere else on the original.

I actually like the updates made to the Sailor Moon story that I’ve seen so far. It’s more streamlined and cuts down a lot of the filler from the originals. We get to meet all the main characters at lot faster. Plus they updated the ages of a few of the characters so their relationships aren’t quite as..cringe.

None of this nonsense.

I just can’t get over how unnatural the characters look. I mean this isn’t the first anime to have characters look different or jarring from how I expect. “XXX-Holic” has an art style which gives all the characters oddly proportioned limbs (manga does this too) and “Black Butler” characters really like wearing extremely patterned clothing.

I’ll either get used to the changes or I’ll stop watching the show. But if I want to share Sailor Moon with the next generation, then updates and reboots need to be done to keep the character and story in the pop culture consciousness. That’s why a lot of kids know The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Optimus Prime. And their character designs have changed a lot since their original airings in the 80s.

Plus it's cool to hear lines like "we'll live like Jack and Sally" or "Gotta get in tune with Sailor Moon/Cause that cartoon has got the boom anime babes" in the songs I listen to. Okay maybe the Barenaked Ladies didn't need to go that far in "One Week".

Do you have a show or movie that had a reboot or remake that you’ve loved or hated. Maybe there was one you saw and were fairly indifferent to. Just because a new piece of the cannon has been created, doesn’t erase the other incarnation(s). I mean I still re-watch the old Star Trek episodes and movies on occasion.

Until next week.

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