Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: Crystal
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Crystal in Japanese. This is the 2014 reboot of the Sailor Moon anime, featuring an art style and a storyline which both draw more strongly upon the original Sailor Moon manga than its animated predecessor did.
Can be viewed for free (and without subscribing) on Hulu and on Crunchyroll under subscription.
This series covers the first three manga arcs (Dark Kingdom, Black Moon and Death Busters) in two seasons. A Two-part movie covering the Dead Moon arc of the manga, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie, was premiered in 2021; it can be viewed on Netflix worldwide.
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.
Tropes used in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: Crystal include:
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.
- It's also the logo for the company that makes the "Sailor V" cabinet video game, judging by a poster seen several places around the Crown Arcade in episode 11.
- 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.
- Art Evolution: The first series has an very stylized art style, more resembling of the manga illustrations, but the expressions tended to be stiff and rarely had the small moments of exaggerated expressions and Super Deformed moments of the manga. The Season III corrects this, by changing the proportions to become closer to the 90s anime and restoring the most silly expressions in the comedic scenes.
- Badass Damsel: Late in episode 9, after regaining Princess Serenity's memories, Usagi vows that she will never be a "tragic princess" again.
- Baleful Polymorph: Metaria's final strike against the Moon Kingdom before being sealed away turned everything in it into a poisonous black mineral. This effect apparently extended to the entire Moon. One supposes that the space suits of the Apollo astronauts protected them...
- 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.
- Blade Reflection: In episode 12.
- Blind Without'Em: Princess D in episode 4.
- Bloodless Carnage: Played with -- the audience's expectations are used against them at the end of season 1; the audience -- and characters! -- are led to believe this trope is in play when no blood is seen after Usagi seemingly kills Mamoru with a sword and then stabs herself with it. However, in both cases the blows were blocked.
- 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 Mamoru's identity is revealed and Usagi wonders how she was ever fooled by the almost insubstantial mask he wears.
- 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.
- Also, the Ginzuisho starting late in season 1.
- 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.
- Did Not Do the Research: In episode 11, the sword brought back from the moon is shown to be powerful by how a diamond shatters when struck by it. Because it's hard, it's held up to be be tough as well. But diamonds, hard as they are, are brittle -- you can shatter one easily with an ordinary hammer.
- 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.
- Facial Markings: Marks (tattoos?) and jewelry in the center of the forehead seem to have been a common fashion choice during the Silver Millennium.
- 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 in 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 only seen once again in the SuperS season, 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 both 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.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Artemis reveals that Luna's infamously shoddy memory is in this series deliberately inflicted upon her.
- 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 Animation: Bizarrely still to be seen even though one would think there would be no budgetary reason for it. It's especially obvious during the faceoff between the Senshi and Beryl in episode 12.
- 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.
- Subverted with "Dark Endymion" -- perhaps to emphasize that he's been resurrected as a direct servant of Metaria, his eyes are clear and bright -- and red instead of their former blue.
- 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.
- Never Say "Die": Where in the original anime the youma from the first season were sapient creatures with personalities and families, in the "Dark Kingdom" arc of Crystal they've been Retconned into constructs, apparently to prevent the Senshi from having to kill actual living beings.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: Got a bit further in this than the original did. For instance, Mercury suddenly up and creates a Phantom Zone when they need one in episode 12.
- 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.
- Non-Indicative Name: Unlike the original anime, where in addition to Beryl and the Generals it had thousands of clearly sapient youma, the "Dark Kingdom" in Crystal appears to have only five actual inhabitants. That's a gang, not a kingdom.
- 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. By the Season III and the movie, the proportions are sightly closer to the 90s anime.
- Oddly-Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo: The second season of the series is titled Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal Season III, probably in the implication that the first season was a full 26 episode series in contrast with said season 13-episode order. The film, whom for all that matters is a sequel, is titled Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie.
- Oddly-Small Organization: The so-called "Dark Kingdom", which appears to have an entire population of five people.
- Opaque Nerd Glasses: Umino -- and they're huge to the point of comedy.
- Paper Master: The youma behind the Crystal Seminar.
- Phantom Zone: In episode 12, Mercury shifts the confrontation between the Senshi and Beryl from their command center to a pocket space by incanting "Hyperspatial Sphere Generate!"
- Pillar of Light: Several times during the climactic events at the end of season 1.
- Pocket Protector: Mamoru's pocket watch, when Usagi tries to stab herself in episode 12.
- Prehensile Hair: Beryl in episode 12.
- Rapid Aging: Beryl undergoes this when Usagi defeats her in episode 12, then crumbles into what appears to be ash.
- 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, leaving her looking like a scene out of Tangled.
- 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.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Mamoru, once he's been revived by Metaria.
- 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 had 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.
- Talking Is a Free Action: And kissing, and flashbacks, and coordinated attacks... All through the back end of season 1.
- True Love's Kiss: In episode 14, and lampshaded moments later by Luna.
- 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/Day-Old Legend: 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.
- Wings Do Nothing: The projection of Queen Serenity in episode 10 has accessories to her gown which look like dragonfly wings, but which don't seem to have any purpose but to look pretty (or make her image, at about a foot tall, look like a fairy).
- 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.
