Question about the S season...

SailorSpace · Post by **SailorSpace** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 7:24 pm

Sorry if this makes me sound stupid but...Was SailorMoonS created with a lower budget? The classic season and the R season had good animation, but the S season seemed like the quality of the animation went down. It just seemed like something more from the 80s rather than the early/mid 90s. Is this making any sense to anybody?

NameGoesHere · Post by **NameGoesHere** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 8:02 pm

I'd have to say no on the budget thing. Though I'm not entirely certain, seeing as how information like that isn't readily available. By the time Sailor Moon got to the S season in Japan, it was extremely popular, so I don't think they'd lower the animation budget at the shows peak.

The anime is drawn by several different animation teams, lead by several different animation directors. There were five separate animation directors for Sailor Moon (I think...), each with their own style for character design. Some animation directors were used more in certain seasons than others, resulting in the distinct differences between the artwork in each season.

I hope I helped answer your question. ^_^;

peachvampiress · Post by **peachvampiress** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 8:46 pm

An article on Lizzard's In Defense of SuperS page (it's a link) had an article that might help you. This talks about the different animation teams for each season.

LadyFlameSniper · Post by **LadyFlameSniper** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 10:10 pm

I don't know...The animation seemed to improve from season to season to me. o_O Most noticeable in SuperS and Stars.

I knew that there were many artists though. One has a style I don't like at all.

Post by **Tiff** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 10:23 pm

LadyFlameSniper wrote:I don't know...The animation seemed to improve from season to season to me. o_O Most noticeable in SuperS and Stars.

I agree completely. o_O I don't care for the beginning animation, and I like the animation in S, and love it SuperS and Stars *_*

Pipestrell · Post by **Pipestrell** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 6:49 am

I find the easiest way to compare the styles for series to series is via the backgrounds. The first series crappy colour washes with a few lines inked in a lot of the time as they were way cheaper, but by the time of S such backgrounds are only ever used on occasions and for dramatic effect. For the most part the backgrounds of are a fully dynamic and don't look like a backdrop anymore. I can't see how you can describe such a development as doing downhill.

doodlebuguk · Post by **doodlebuguk** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 8:52 am

Tiff, I agree, the animation in SuperS and SailorStars is beautiful. I like the drawing style they use in those seasons.

I agree, overall the animation gets better with each season, though there are the occasional off-days. I haven't seen much of the 1st Season (though I should be getting it soon) but from what I can remember, yeah, the art style and animation were not as good as the later series.

I think the main problem with the animation is it is so inconsistent. Sometimes it is gorgeous (examples being the talisman episodes and the episode where Saturn appears *yay!*) while other times, it's frankly terrible (like the final episode, or the Mimette idol episode) At least the really important episodes were animated well, thankfully!

RoastedTwinkies · Post by **RoastedTwinkies** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:43 pm

I am also in agreement with Tiff. For the most part. I think the animation in SS and Stars is really beautiful compared to the earlier seasons, though I've only seen a few Japanese SS episodes. However, I noticed when Sailormoon does her Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss attack in Stars, the animation for that attack doesn't look as good as her attacks in earlier seasons. Maybe it could just be the quality of my VHS tapes. Can anyone else confirm this?

Post by **AnimeGuru0** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 9:41 pm

Agreeing with Tiff as well. I personally despised the first two seasons' animation. A lot of the time, the characters looked EXTEMELY flat and cardboardy. In S and later, they actually have depth (literally), and don't look so flat.

Sakuya · Post by **Sakuya** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 10:19 pm

The only art that I liked from the first two seasons was when Usagi went to the Moon and when Usagi fights with Black Lady for the first time in the park (I think). The art in those two episodes were done by the same people and I think it suits the series a lot.

I especially hated the art in the episode when Usagi and Mamoru went to a concert (invited by Michiru/Haruka) as well as when the girls fought at Tokyo Tower.

That was from S by the way.

SailorSpace · Post by **SailorSpace** » Wed Nov 24, 2004 12:56 am

Thanks for answering my questions guys...Hope it didn't make me seems too stupid. ^^;;;;

Stephen Victor · Post by **Stephen Victor** » Wed Nov 24, 2004 2:19 am

To be honest, the first season's art is actually my favorite. I just love the whole aura of sweetness and innocence the drawings have, and it's just so cute ... plus I love how plump the characters were drawn back then. It seems like in later seasons the characters get thinner and thinner until they're ultra skinny like in Stars.

I think R has the worst art. It's too plain and basic for my tastes, too bland and nothing really stands out about it. About the only episode in which I like the art in R is the episodes where the Four Sisters and the Four Senshi battle, that one had really good art. I'd say Stars has the second worst, the proportions are really awkward even for anime and the super-skinny style doesn't really suit the Sailor Moon characters IMO.

S and SuperS both have pretty good art, especially SuperS.

Cardcaptor Takato · Post by **Cardcaptor Takato** » Wed Nov 24, 2004 8:52 am

I personally liked the animation in Sailor Moon R the best. The style seemed pretty consistent during that season, and there were very few animation errors in it. I think the season with the worst animation was the first season. I just didn't really care for its style all that much, and the numerous errors kept annoying me.

Neo Dead Moon · Post by **Neo Dead Moon** » Wed Nov 24, 2004 11:13 am

I liked the character designs in the first quarter of the first season a lot for some reason (though I agree that the early backgrounds were terrible). After that, though, I'll agree with AnimeGuru and Tiff that the series looked pretty sub-par until S. SuperS only saw an increase in great art and animation.

I agree with Stephen on Stars' designs..what happened?? The characters looked weird, and the animation and art took a nose dive...though I suppose that because Toei didn't get good ratings from SuperS, they had to cut the budget for Stars..

LadyFlameSniper · Post by **LadyFlameSniper** » Wed Nov 24, 2004 6:01 pm

From the tv seeasons, my favorite art and animation style is the one from the last episode. I'm confident that the artstyle wasn'tused in any other episodes because it looked so different from all the other eps. But from the series as a whole it's definitely the SuperS movie. I wish the tv series could've looked nearly as good. Ep 200 was close though. I think it was the same artist. Not sure about the actual animation person/people. I'm mostly talking about how the characters are drawn when I comment on artstyle, BTW. Not the backgrounds and other stuff.

Some episodes of even SuperS and Stars had ugly art, such as the one where Mercury and Uranus had to work together to get out of Nehelenia's illusions. That episode is an example of the artstyle I hate, which I mentioned earlier. The same artist did the Nurse Minako episode in R. You can tell by how she (pretty sure I heard it's a female artist) draws their noses, eyes, and overall head shape when shot at a semi-side view.

Rainbow · Post by **Rainbow** » Wed Nov 24, 2004 6:46 pm

Favorite art: in the one SuperS story with Fish-Eye and the fashion designer, also, like in the movies

Least favorite art: episodes 191 and 195 of SailorStars (even though I really like the story in the first, I don't like the art)

Vesta · Post by **Vesta** » Wed Nov 24, 2004 7:07 pm

I agree that the first season art is the best. Everyone was drawn much cuter and plumper, plus, Mamoru actually looked like a man. By the end of Stars, he looks like lost 50 pounds. But that could be from being dead for so long......

usachan · Post by **usachan** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 12:51 pm

Perhaps it's just me, but I think R and S have similar art. I think the art for those two seasons is okay, not the best. I am in agreement with everyone else here who say SuperS and Stars have the best art. Something to me about watching those two seasons just seems to have a different feel to it, and I like it.

Sailorasteroid · Post by **Sailorasteroid** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 12:57 pm

I don't notice any change until Sailor Stars, when the colors seem to get a bit birghter and the lines a bit more distinct. I wonder if that wasn't a stylistic choice, since Sailor Stars was the last season and was more apocolyptic than the others. Maybe someone who has time can get screenshots of each series and compare styles to show us the difference?

Tempest · Post by **Tempest** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 1:06 pm

Sailorasteroid wrote:I don't notice any change until Sailor Stars, when the colors seem to get a bit birghter and the lines a bit more distinct. I wonder if that wasn't a stylistic choice, since Sailor Stars was the last season and was more apocolyptic than the others. Maybe someone who has time can get screenshots of each series and compare styles to show us the difference?

I'd have to agree. I didn't see much of a difference in styles until Stars and I can't compare SuperS becuase I've only really seen the series once.