Sailor Moon S - Buy/No Buy?

I finally got around to grabbing the Sailor Moon R movie off of eBay, which completed my SMR viewing experience. While I enjoyed the series(and with a sale at DeepDiscountDVD, I can't complain about the price), I noticed some troubling trends towards the end of the series. In particular, the focus on Usagi/Mamoru and Chibi-Usa at the expense of the other characters began to get annoying. I'm starting to wonder if having seven main characters isn't a bit too much for the show to handle.

But still, I liked SMR enough to consider it a worthwhile purchase. Now I'm looking at SMS, which I hear is the best season of the whole series. In the previews, however, I see that not only do we have two new Senshi, but that damned pink spore also gets to transform! I like the character interaction part of SM(minus Usagi/Mamoru) a lot more than I like the fighting part. Is there hope for me in the next

In the mythical land of rec.arts.anime.misc, Adam Haun

SMS is absolutely spiffing.

The new senshi add spice to the series, the chemistry between them and the original senshi is great: imagine the original senshi as Usagi and the new ones as Sailor Mars raised to infinity! It's not just 'you're a useless drip Usagi' it's 'you're a bunch of useless drips - we're busy saving the world by getting our hands dirty and killing innocent people, and all you can do is stand there wringing your hands, saying 'how awful'.'

The spore also gets her comeuppance (for a while) but she also gets a new friend who is as cute & gothic as Chibiusa is obnoxious & pink, which makes up for it. (ob.caveat: HINAG)

I agree with all that. I'll just add this

*dies laughing just THINKING about it*

Well, they *are* the central character set...but it thins out after R. The focus on Mamoru and Chibiusa especially dies down except during SuperS, which is All Pinky, All The Time.

Don't judge Sailormoon S based on the fact that Chibiusa becomes a Senshi. She is NOT a major part of this season! ...well, not *as major*, anyway.

Sailormoon S is truly the best season of the series. ALL the Senshi are finally in play, with some oftimes chaotic and downright grim results. And one of the best characters in the series is introduced here. I highly recommend it.

(SHH!...You're not supposed to know she shows up until halfway through the series!

Certainly not considering the strategic value of the Pink Sugar Heart Attack...

DOWNRIGHT. As in, 'What've the Buffy finales got that Usagi ain't?'

Derek Janssen

Although Usagi trying to speak English runs a close second...

(And I'll confess an occasional drink-spray to the first episode's: 'If Mamo-chan saw this test score, he'd probably say

(thinks about Stars, which has more main characters than you can shake a stick at, and they all fit in well.

decides not to comment because there's nothing to say...)

WORSHIP the Pinkness, infidel!!!

Next season...

Next season you get character interaction up the ying-yang, as there's an ongoing, unrelenting clash between the philosophy of the two new Senshi and that of Usagi and the others. Complicated by the fact that Usagi and the others are REALLY impressed by the new Senshi in both their costumed and - unknowingly - their civilian identities...

No.

Chibi-Usa holding a gun to Usagi's head was one of the best scenes of the series. The 'Clash of the Ten Warriors' fight to protect Chibi-Usa was the best fight of the series. But I find the deceitful/obnoxious child archetype to be extremely annoying, and can only handle it in an antagonist role. The moment Chibi-Usa shifted to being a main character, I started wanting her gone. Also, I had trouble buying Usagi's transition from hating Chibi-Usa to being willing to die to protect her. For a while I was even considering using phrases like 'jumping the shark', but then they gave me an Ami episode and I calmed down.

I think she could be an interesting character in other circumstances, but with non-fight screentime being so precious and my aforementioned hatred for that particular archetype, I'm afraid I'm going to have to stay in the 'DIE SPORE DIE' camp.

I hope have I haven't unsealed some sort of ancient flame war by responding to this!

Chib's supposed to be a brat-from-hell before we know her backstory, then she's just an annoying Usagi foil