Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: Crystal



If you are looking for the original 1992 anime or the manga that inspired it, see Sailor Moon. If you want the Live Action Adaptation, see Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon.

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Crystal in Japanese. This is the 2014 reboot of the Sailor Moon anime, featuring an art style reminiscent of the original Sailor Moon manga, and a storyline that is much closer to the manga.

Can be viewed for free (and without subscribing) on Hulu.

Many of the tropes of the original apply here; below are listed tropes that are specific to this incarnation or which are implemented differently.
 * Action Girl: Right from the first few words of the theme song, it's very clear that this reboot not only embraces the original "girl power" themes underlying the original Sailor Moon, but extends and expands them.
 * Animal Motifs: Rabbit-head imagery appears on just about everything Usagi owns, starting with the umbrella she carries in the opening credits, and even extending to the brand logo on her laptop computer.
 * Anime Theme Song: Following in the footsteps of the Live Action Adaptation, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: Crystal uses a new theme written for it instead of the venerable "Moonlight Densetsu".  Rather than being about finding one's "miracle romance", the new theme is about being a strong and determined woman ready to do battle for what she believes in.
 * Art Shift: Compared to the original anime, which disturbs some fans.  In addition to a crisper, sharper look (no doubt thanks to modern digital animation) with a hint of pastels in the coloring, the overall art style harkens directly back to the original manga.
 * Badass Damsel: Late in episode 9, after regaining Princess Serenity's memories, Usagi vows that she will never be a "tragic princess" again.
 * Benevolent Precursors: According to Queen Serenity, this is one of the reasons for the very existence of the Silver Millennium:  "to watch over Earth and help it improve."
 * Big Blackout: Imposed by Kunzite on Tokyo in episode 9.
 * Big Fancy House: The Tsukino home -- well, by comparison to some of the nearby homes, at least.  It seems somewhat larger and actually has a tiny yard on all sides, surrounded by a wall; it even has a garage, suggesting ownership of an auto in a city where such is uncommon.
 * Blind Without'Em: Princess D in episode 4.
 * Brainwashing: Unlike the original, where Ami's cram school was a youma front to gather life energy, here it's a setup to brainwash its students into locating the Ginzuishou for the Dark Kingdom.  Using Ami's intelligence to take over Tokyo ... somehow ... is just a bonus.
 * Much, much earlier, Metaria brainwashed the people of Earth en masse and sent them against the Moon Kingdom.
 * Bus Full of Innocents: The "Demon 6:00 PM Bus" in episode 3 makes off with one of these every so often.
 * Clark Kenting: There's no reason at all why Usagi shouldn't be able to tell that Tuxedo Mask and Mamoru Chiba are the same person; there's no magic involved in his transformation, and his mask hides less than a pair of sunglasses.
 * Lampshaded in episode 7 when
 * Conspicuous CG: Used in the Sailor Senshi's transformation sequences, to make smoother spinning and twirling. Pulled off relatively well for Usagi and Ami, but not so well in Rei's case; she looks the most like a 3D model.
 * Damsel in Distress: Upon regaining her previous incarnation's memories, Usagi realizes the Princess was basically this at the end of her life.  She vows never to be the "tragic princess" again.
 * Elaborate Underground Base: As in the original anime, the Senshi have one under the Crown Arcade.  Unlike the original anime, though, this base appears to be in a pocket dimension rather than a sub-basement.
 * Evil Vizier: Oddly enough, Beryl appears to be this to Metaria.  Rather than the devoted servant we've seen in previous incarnations of the story, she's using Metaria to achieve her own ends while fully intending to deny Metaria its own goals.
 * Expository Hairstyle Change: Subverted -- when Usagi's hair grows to an extreme degree after she regains her earlier incarnation's memories, the other girls give her a haircut and makeover that returns her look to exactly what had been before.
 * Extroverted Nerd: Umino.
 * Finish Her!: What Tuxedo Kamen says to Sailor Moon during the confrontation with the youma in episode 2.
 * Flashback Cut: When Usagi and Ami's hands touch for the first time, Ami gets a momentary flashback to the Silver Millennium.  Rei gets one just upon seeing Usagi the first time, as does Makoto.
 * Usagi gets her own in episode 8, and comments that she felt like she was almost about to remember something important.
 * Forbidden Fruit: Revealed in episode 9 to play a big part of Endymion and Serenity falling in love -- Earth people and Moon people are forbidden from getting involved with each other by "God's rule".  Serenity even attempts to break things off on these grounds, however half-heartedly.
 * Forgotten Phlebotinum: Played with -- Sailor Moon's "sonic attack", which in the original anime was used during her first appearance and never seen again, here shows up twice -- but the second youma is unaffected by it.
 * Free Prize At the Bottom: How Ami gets her henshin wand and Usagi gets her disguise pen -- they're both dispensed from the Sailor V video game when Ami beats the high score.
 * Get a Hold of Yourself, Girl!: Said by Makoto when Usagi has a panic attack late in episode 9.
 * Golem: Instead of being a race of demonic creatures as they were in the original anime, the youma of the Dark Kingdom are some variety of golem, and immediately crumble when killed.  Jadeite forms his from clay.  They seem to be animated or inhabited by some variety of spirit, though, capable of sophisticated thought and cunning.
 * Gratuitous French: "A suivre" ("to be continued") on a Title Card at the end of each episode.
 * Haunted Technology/Brain Uploading: The image of Queen Serenity encountered on the Moon claims that she is the spirit of the "real" Queen, somehow preserved by sheer force of will in "Eternity Main System of Moon Castle", which sounds like a central computer of some sort.  How she got that way is unclear, and could be either of these two tropes.  Either way, it lasts just barely long enough for her to have one conversation with Usagi and the other Senshi.
 * Hemisphere Bias: Seen in one of the bumper illustrations and in later episodes featuring views of the earth from the moon -- the point of view appears to be somewhere over the Indian Ocean, with Southeast Asia and Japan visible.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: Endymion/Mamoru -- twice.
 * Huge Schoolgirl: Makoto is significantly taller than Usagi, but just how tall she is seems to vary by the needs of the moment.  During her first appearance in school in episode 5, she looms over one of the male teachers, but a few minutes later, she's not quite a head taller than Usagi, who is a tiny thing.  At the same time, she's not too much shorter than Motoki...
 * Humanoid Aliens: According to both Usagi's memories and the recording of Queen Serenity, this is what the Moon folk actually were -- long-lived and human-seeming, but different.
 * Les Yay: Not exactly unexpected, given the history of the franchise.
 * In episode 3, Ami invites Usagi onto her usual bus to cram school by mentioning "there's a beautiful girl I see all the time on it", implying and assuming Usagi will be interested in seeing the girl, who turns out to be Rei. When Usagi sees Rei for the first time, she gets hearts in her eyes and croons "she's so beautiful..." before following her off the bus, obviously crushing on her.
 * Life Energy: Seems to be drastically reduced in importance compared to the original anime; it's needed, but apparently the power of the Ginzuishou is even better, and finding that is the real priority.  Consequently the purposes and goals of some of the Dark Kingdom's plots are changed -- Ami's cram school in episode 2 is running a search for the Ginzuishou, and the "demon bus" in episode 3 is kidnapping hostages to draw the Sailor Senshi into a confrontation.
 * Limited Wardrobe: Mamoru initially appears to have nothing to wear but a single Dracula-esque tuxedo.  His clothing gains a little variety after a couple episodes, but he still wears a tuxedo in far more situations than most people would.
 * Love You and Everybody: Usagi.
 * Magical Girl: The original Magic Warriors series, back again for another go-round with 21st-Century sensibilities.
 * Magical Land: The Silver Millennium.  Some of Usagi's memories (?) of it look like they came out of Strawberry Shortcake.
 * Male Gaze: Does the camera really need to park itself right next to Makoto's left breast for several seconds during the middle of her Transformation Sequence?
 * Meganekko: Ami, right from the start.
 * Mind Control Eyes: Every time the Dark Kingdom uses mind control as a tool we see them on the victims.
 * Morphic Resonance: According to Minako, when Usagi regained the memories of Princess Serenity, her body -- and in particular her hair -- started to change to reflect the princess's self-image.
 * Motionless Chin: Possibly in deliberate imitation of the original; certainly with digital animation there's no budgetary or other requirement for this shortcut.
 * Mythology Gag: The Senshi's transformation tokens have frequently been called "henshin pens" by the fandom over the past twenty-some years because of their resemblance to pens with fancy caps.  Here they actually are pens, and it's the pen's cap which is the magic item.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When Usagi finally manifests the Ginzuishou in episode 9, its light revitalizes and heals -- but it also ends up feeding Metaria (who is all the way in the Dark Kingdom) the energy it needs.
 * The Nicknamer: Usagi, as part of her ability to make friends with anyone.
 * Off-Model: Again, only by comparison to the original anime.  Characters are thinner and have exaggerated legs and more adult-looking faces with larger eyes (as they did in the manga); their heads appear slightly too large for their bodies in some shots.  Individual characters also have changes specific to them -- for instance, Ami's pageboy-like haircut is now a shaggy gamine closer to Rei Ayanami's style.
 * Opaque Nerd Glasses: Umino -- and they're huge to the point of comedy.
 * Paper Master: The youma behind the Crystal Seminar.
 * Rapunzel Hair: Usagi starts with Rapunzel Hair, but in the wake of regaining the memories of her previous incarnation, her hair accelerates its growth to an incredible degree.
 * Rebellious Princess: Serenity during the Silver Millennium had a habit of secretly traveling to Earth just to hang out -- and then later to meet up with her boyfriend.
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something: Queen Beryl is not above showing up in the human world and taking a hand in matters.
 * Sailor Guardians Can Breathe on the Moon
 * Standard Female Grab Area: In episode 7, Zoisite seizes Usagi by the upper arm to restrain her while confronting Tuxedo Mask.  To her credit, she's already been battered a bit and used an exhausting magical effect shortly before, so her brief inability to act is probably not entirely due to the grip.
 * Stealth Hi Bye: Umino is capable of this, often suddenly appearing amongst Usagi and her friends in early episodes.
 * Super Strength: Makoto already has a reputation for this when she first arrives at Usagi's school -- with some justification.
 * Sword of Plot Advancement: Found embedded in a stone pedestal on the Moon.  Freeing it triggers the image of Queen Serenity.
 * Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Although Luna has conversations with Usagi in all sorts of public locations -- street corners, school yards, buses -- no one ever seems to find a talking cat at all unusual or worth paying attention to.  Lampshaded in episode 3 when Luna suddenly pretends to be a normal cat and only meowing when Mamoru turns out to be sitting next to them on a bus; he then asks Usagi why she's talking to herself...
 * Urban Legends: Many of the Dark Kingdom's operations seem to become "instant" urban legends -- like the "haunted bridal show" in episode 5 or the "demon bus" from episode 4.  They can't have been in operation all that long, but somehow they seem to get rumors and legends about them almost instantly.
 * Video Game Tropes: We see enough of the Sailor V video game that we can start sussing out its tropes -- it's a multi-level side-scrolling shooter to start with.
 * Weird Moon: It always seems to be full, for weeks at a time (until it's necessary for the plot for it not to be full), and when full is much larger than "normal".  And when it's not full, it's always a distorted crescent whose points almost touch, enclosing a black circle.  It also only has realistic surface detail when it's full, otherwise it's flat white.
 * Windows Match the Drapes: Ami.  Also Kuri, one of Usagi's pre-Senshi friends, who has matching dark amethyst hair and eyes.
 * Younger Than They Look: Mamoru looks like the college student he was in the original, but turns out to be a junior in high school, per his depiction in the manga.