Most Over and Under Developed Characters

[SailorSirenDemented]

ok guys, I think that Ami was the most over developed character in all of BSSM. She had several episodes dedicted to her and she even had her own special. I love Ami just like alot of other fans, but I think she got too much attention. Now I believe that Makoto and Minako were the most under developed characters. They had few, maybe 2 or 3 episodes dedicted them them a piece (if i am wrong, let me know). They both became Super Senshi on the same episode (rather than have thier own like the others). What do you guys think?

[Sailorasteroid]

Ami was the most popular character among Japanese fans as I understand it, so that was just answering the call of the fans. But I'm not even sure it's so. Makoto and Minako's episodes were I think more singularly concerned with them wheras Ami's were often used for plot advancement (Chess match with Beruche/fight with Viluy).

The most underdeveloped characters I think were Ail and Ann. Yes, I know it was just a holdover for the manga to catch up, but it's a shame they used a great plot idea for that. The last surviving members of a dead race come to earth and try to blend in at a local junior high? That's its own anime plot as far as I'm concerned.

[NameGoesHere]

I agree with Sailorasteroid. The whole Makaiju arc could have been very kickass if only it had been developed more.

Nemesis (the planet/moon) should have gotten more attention, too. At least a brief description of life there would have been nice. Was it really not that bad, and they just wanted to take over Earth out of sheer spite, or was it a really horrible place to live? Same thing for the Starlight's planet.

The most disappointingly underdeveloped character in the anime is Queen Beryl. As far as it goes in the anime, she really doesn't have any motive for wanting to take over the world. She's just... bland.

Is there such a thing a an overdeveloped character? Sure, some characters got more attention, but I never really saw them as overdeveloped, just well developed.

[Cardcaptor Takato]

I think the only overly-developed character in Sailor Moon is well, Sailor Moon herself. I mean, think about it. Take a look at how much we learn about Usagi's past and future lives, then compare that to how much we learn about the other Senshi. Nothing, aside from the fact that they still protect Serenity. And how many of the important episodes is Usagi the star in, but how many important episodes do the other Senshi star in? Practically the only episodes where they get the chance to shine are filler-ins. I realize that Usagi is the star of Sailor Moon, so it's natural for the storyline to focus more on her than the other Senshi, but sometimes I feel like the anime and manga focuses almost too much on her character and doesn't give the other Senshi enough starring roles (although I think they all get an equal amount of character development in PGSM). As for least under-developed characters, I think Setsuna, Makoto, Taiki, and Wiseman win that award.

[Malachite]

I felt all of the inner senshi were under-developed. Usagi, Mamoru, and the outer senshi seemed to get most of the spotlight.

[Aya Reiko]

Over - Chibiusa, SS overexposed her.
Under - Setsuna, we know next to nil about her.

[Dinozore]

Over- Usagi, Chibi-usa (both thanks to SS, which was basically all Moons, all the time...)
Under- everyone else

[Usagi04]

I think that Chibi-Usa was overdeveloped in the SS anime, but in the manga, it seems that all of the characters were developed about the same. As for underdeveloped, I think Beryl and Wiseman would be the winner for that one.

[Luna1986]

Nemesis (the planet/moon) should have gotten more attention, too. At least a brief description of life there would have been nice. Was it really not that bad, and they just wanted to take over Earth out of sheer spite, or was it a really horrible place to live? Same thing for the Starlight's planet.

If I'm not mistaken a brief description was given about life on Nemesis when Prince Demando told Safiiru that earth had better flowers or something and while it was indeed a breif description the scene gave an impression that Nemesis was somehow lacking compared to earth in beauty (ep. 86). But yeah it was very underdeveloped. I also think they wanted to spite them as you said and that spite came to cloud their judgement no thanks to Wiseman. Which is pretty clearly stated in the Anime.

[RoastedTwinkies]

Does PGSM count? I was disappointed how under developed Minako's character was. Act Zero talks about her past a little bit, but didn't go into as much detail as I would have liked. It talked about nothing during her time in England with her ex boyfriend, how she fought crime there and nearly died like in the anime. In both the anime and live action versions of the show, we never learn about Minako's family. In the anime, she only seems to have her friends while in the live action version she only had her friends and her manager. She never had a specific address and always seemed to live in hotels.

[LadyFlameSniper]

Setsuna was the most under-developed character in the anime version at least. We learn practically nothing about her as a person. They tried to keep her too mysterious. Some villains who weren't too important could've been developed more too. For example, Cyprine. They could've spent more time on her character... Hell Viluy only lasted one episode, and you could see her personality easily.

As for over-developed... well Ami did have too many episodes "dedicated" to her. I understand she's the most popular character in Japan, but still. Chibi-Usa and Usagi were focused on too much in SuperS. Yes, Usagi is the star of the show, but for the most part, the inners took even more of a back seat in that season. It got a little better in the second half though.

[SailorSpace]

For those who, unfortunately, haven't seen past the SMR season, this post contains some spoilers, and my personal opinons. You've been warned.

I think I have to agree with most everyone on overly developed character. Chibi-Usa definately got way too much spotlight in the SuperS season. Just about, if not all, of the episodes starred HER, and co-starred Usagi.

Now, Chibi-Usa was important in R and S, too. But in R, she was only important as a character because of her role as Usagi's future daughter. With the fact that the future Silver Crystal was hidden in her body, and because the Dark Moon Kingdom wanted her to become their slave.

Chibi-Usa was ONLY important in SMS as Hotaru's friend. This easily made the season more dramatic, wanting to save her friend, who was possesed by an evil creature. I guess you could say Chibi becoming a senshi was important, but to me... This was a major let down.

While Chibi-Usa did slightly mature from being a little brat from the R season (and yes, I DO realise she's only a senshi in training), she can't do shit as a senshi. It seems, to me, that all she does as Sailor Chibi Moon is get in the way. The senshi CONSTANTLY have to drag her butt out of a situation when her Pink Sugar Heart Attack doesn't work. I'm just expecting her to throw her wand at the enemy some day, and start crying about it. I don't know... I personally don't care about Chibi-Usa/Chibi Moon myself, but if you do, hey, that's fine.

As for under developed, I also agree with everyone when it comes to Setsuna, Minako, or whoever else. But my opinion is that Hotaru is WAY too under developed of a character. I haven't seen much in the way of SM Sailor Stars, but my understanding is we only see Hotaru a few times in the beginning, and a few times in the end. In SMS, we only really saw a little bit of her past of when she was injured by the explosion, and when she was mistreated in school or by Kaolinight. We, at least I, never got to see her life when she was really very happy.

I know Hotaru may have developed a little, as a friend OR enemy, but I personally think Sailor Saturn should have stuck around longer. I think Saturn is the coolest by far, and her attacks probably kick ass too, but hardly shown enough for her own good. Like I said earlier, we saw Saturn once in S, and maybe a few times in the beginning and ending of Stars, and that's it.

Oh well, that's my opinion. If you agree, or disagree, thats fine. If you feel the need to agree or disagree, that's fine too.

[LadyFlameSniper]

I agree with you on Hotaru to a certain extent. She was very developed in S. You knew her history, her personality, etc. She was also very important to the latter part of S. Then in Stars, you can tell that her personality has changed with her rebirth, but we don't get to see much of the new more confident Hotaru.

And I like Chibi-Usa, but I didn't like how the anime made her so much of a joke in battles once she became a Sailor Soldier.

[SailorSpace]

Exactly on the Chibi Moon issue. Making her a joke in battle just makes her a joke period.

The SMSS anime wasn't done enough justice. No where near as good as the SMSS manga's I've seen. I mean, come on! Why make it a comedy?? SM had it's funny moments, but humor shouldn't be the only element of the episode!

[the dooky]

I'd probably go for Wiseman out of the villains. He (and arguably Beryl) are possibly the only villains who get less development in the anime than they do in the manga. Its a shame the anime dispensed with his chilling backstory.

I'm not sure about "overdeveloped" characters, as for my money you can never have too much character development. If you're talking about overexposure though, then I'll go for Ami. I suppose my main problem with her is that she became a bit too multi-talented. Initially she was a sympathetic character, because although she was a genius, she felt that academia was the only thing she was any good at. But a few seasons in, and every episode seems to reveal yet another one of her hidden skills. She can dance. She can swim. She can paint. She can compose music. There's nothing she can't do. It's a shame... I used to really feel for Ami, but eventually she became just a little too perfect for her own good. This seemed to be a conscious choice by the writers, too. Ami was clearly the most popular character, representing as she does the "perfect" Japanese woman, so they went ahead and gave the fans what they wanted.

Damn, that probably makes me sound like I hate Ami. I don't really. She just grates a little sometimes.

As if that wasn't controversial enough, I will now leap to the defence of the much-maligned Chibi Usa. Yes, there's no question that she was overexposed in SuperS, but in S she was thoroughly entertaining. Yes, she was extremely weak compared to the other Sailor Senshi, but that shouldn't negate her as a character. I could make the same argument about Sailor Mercury's usefulness in the early seasons. What was heartening about Sailor Chibi Moon was the fact that, although her attacks may have been laughable at times, she was never afraid to try. The Pink Sugar Heart Attack was, at the very least, more effective than throwing flowers, which is what Tuxedo Kamen did for five years.
Also, don't forget that the Inner Senshi had been getting progressively more powerful over the course of the previous seasons, and even they were caught off-guard by how incredibly strong the Daimons were. Of course Pink Sugar Heart Attack wasn't going to do them much damage, in much the same way that Moon Tiara Action wouldn't have bothered them. But you have to wonder how Chibi Moon would have fared against the (significantly weaker) Youma from the first season. Indeed, one entertaining fanfic I've read features Chibi Usa travelling back to the Dark Kingdom arc and crippling Jadeite with a Pink Sugar Heart Attack.

Of the Senshi, it would have been nice to see a little more of post-rebirth Hotaru, as others have said. In S, it seemed as if Hotaru and Sailor Saturn were almost completely separate parts of her personality, so I'd have been very interested to see how they resolved each other in Stars.

[Takanori-chan]

too little attention on - Hotaru, Setsuna, inner senshi (minus moons) and Tuxedo Kamen in SS and Stars, Naru, Motoki, Kunzite, Chibi-Chibi, Wiseman

well developed - Haruka, Michiru, Usagi, Chibi-Usa, Ail/Ann, Pegasus, Nehellenia, Nephrite, Zoicite, Amazon Trio

too much attention on - Starlights, characters of the week in SS

[ahiru]

as far as bssm goes, i don't think anyone was over-developed. in fact, in comparisson to pgsm, i think that each character--minus usagi and chibiusa--could have been developed further. there seems to be something missing that really makes you sympathize with the characters, in my opinion. however, some seem to be more severe than others. setsuna seems to act as a prop more than a character. which is sad, because in the manga she is one of my favorites. she is there to open the door to crystal tokyo, to stop the time, to take baby hotaru back from her father. then there is everyone else. i think each of the inners could have used a better background so we could see where they were really coming from, and why they stand for what it is they stand for. how can you really have a well-rounded character without much of a background?

[LadyFlameSniper]

Dooky the thing about Chibi Moon in terms of her attack's usefulness is that in the manga, she could hold her own. As far as I remember, none of her attacks were a joke. I really disliked that change

And I didn't have a problem with her being more of a main character in SuperS than she is in the other seasons. My problem was the other characters (except Usagi) suffered from it.

[Neo Dead Moon]

Anime:

After Setsuna, the most underdevolped senshi was definitely Hotaru IMO. Like I've said on another Sailor Moon thread, she did practically nothing until the last 6 episodes of S except become friends with Chibi-Usa. And in Stars she did nothing. Period.

Haruka and Michiru were kind of overdeveloped in S. Chibi-Usa might've hogged SuperS, but at least Usagi was still somewhat the star. Not the same in S, which was dominated by this two. We find out more about them in 38 minutes than the rest of the series' cast, save Usagi, in the last two seasons.

Manga:

The Amazon Trio. End of story.

[Tiff]

And in Stars she did nothing. Period.

...um...

[spoiler]Except for the whole, you know, sacrificing her life with pluto in order to let Haruka and Michiru steal her starseed. Or using her barrier attack to protect eternal sm and all the other senshi? [/spoiler]