Discuss.
Attached: AAAAAHHHHH VENUS HELP ME I DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE A FUCKING WAND AAAAAAHHHHHHH.jpg (591x900, 654.27K)
Sailor Moon Manga Is Fucking Garbage
Jacob Anderson
Discuss.
Jose Torres
You first
Joshua Hernandez
JUST YOU WAIT, BOY
I MADE THIS THREAD SPECIFICALLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF BITCHING
Ethan Rodriguez
Why do shojou manga always have complicated paneling like that?
Joshua Carter
You wouldn't understand SOVL if it hit you in the face
Hudson Moore
I've bitched about manga Usagi a lot here just through flipping through the manga at random and inevitably getting disappointed compared to her portrayal in the anime, but I have a lot of tolerance for the first volume (chapters 1-5) and think it's generally fun to read, looks great, and has a lot of charm.
THEN CHAPTER FUCKING 6 HAPPENED AND IT FUCKING SUCKED
And I'm gonna count the fucking ways.
>literally what is the goddamn point of Luna being like "Sailor Moon, you're the leader" if Venus comes in like two chapters later and OOPS GUESS IT'S ACTUALLY HER, NO NEED FOR POOR WITTLE USAGI TO EVER GET CHALLENGED IN HER LIFE I GUESS. And I don't mean in-universe, yeah yeah I know "b-b-but they don't remember anything about the S-S-Silver Millennium so they assumed--" It's actually narratively interesting as fuck to have someone who isn't at all physically/emotionally prepared to play the role as leader, which is what the first anime season more or less went with through its focus on her. Why introduce and then instantly take away something that's actually narratively compelling? LOLNOPE HERE COMES VENUS WITH A BIG SWORD TO SAVE THE DAY
>the ~mystery~ and ~intrigue~ of the ~Legendary Silver Crystal~ sure feels cheapened and like a whole lotta nothing when it's getting like a million TV specials about it and replicas sold on the street. Why does anyone in fucking Tokyo give a shit anyway. "omg there's some kind of jewel somewhere that may or may or may not exist and may or may not have some mysterious power, that's the most interesting thing I've heard all year omg" I doubt it was that boring in 1992 Japan.
>50% of the Dark Kingdom are literal crossdressers, kinda. I'm not actually complaining here but why.
Jackson Sullivan
is this bait? the manga is genuinely charming and has a very positive vibe to it
Cooper Russell
I really miss the artstyle of 90s shoujo manga.
Noah Watson
>is this bait?
it sure fucking isn't
the artstyle was the only thing the stuff I'm complaining about had going for it
>everyone is OMG shocked that Luna says she's from the moon. That's not shocking. You're transforming into magical girls and fighting and killing monsters. The fact that the moon cat that gave you your magical items is from the moon is the least shocking part of any of this bullshit. The anime did this too, and it was also stupid there
>if the first 5 chapters have any significant flaw (and like I said, I actually enjoyed them a lot), it's that these characters don't ever ask questions and you have to assume the events are proceeding at a breakneck pace even if it clearly still has to be a couple days/weeks in between the big events. Chapter 6 "makes up for this" by having characters repeat the bullshit that's already been established over and over during the exposition scenes.
"omg Luna, you're from the Moon?"
"omg, the Silver Crystal has great power?"
"omg, Tuxedo Mask might be the enemy?"
>it gets old fast. To be fair, the anime does this too in some episodes
>the "Sailor V game is actually a training device" feels a bit clever on the surface and the Easter egg of its levels correlating to the events of the chapter is kinda fun. But it's like, how does Venus know all this + why isn't she helping? "w-well she wants them to get better first--" yeah and that's lame. It makes the manga incarnation of Venus feel like a Mary Sue when she's their ~master warrior guardian angel~ when she isn't at all like that in Sailor V. I get she matures a bit toward the end of that manga, but not nearly as much as "my entire life is centered on defending the princess and working behind the scenes to train all these fighters" would imply and it feels like a copout. If you want your manga to actually be all about Venus being a badass, then you should've made this arc/manga about fucking Venus.
Samuel Ross
Nineties anime>Manga>Crystal.
I haven't watched the live action.
Levi Roberts
no one's gonna read that much text.
Bentley Barnes
I know, but I had to complain somewhere and I feel like throwing it into the void here because it drives me crazy sometimes how Sailor Moon fans in general seem so uncritical of the manga
>why does Usagi care so much about some shitty home shopping network's shitty broadcast TV program about the Silver Crystal when she just got done listening to information about it from someone who actually knows (AKA Luna). Yeah yeah it's obviously a plot device so she can get energysucced like the rest of the civilians to set up the events of the rest of the chapter, but it's like, how stupid can you be if it's so clearly an enemy trap and there's also a better source of information in your own fucking house? The very least they could've done was had her be watching it earlier in the chapter (like she actually mentions) and the effect only kicks in later, or have a scene where she's like "i have to be a better leader (lolnope) so I'm watching this shitty shopping program for more information"
>for some reason this chapter has an excessive focus on Ami getting info from Luna and it's kinda weird, like either stick with the Usagi POV or give the other girls some focus too, because Makoto and Rei were pretty much "the other two" here. I'm aware this continues through the whole manga
>Mamoru finds passed-out Usagi while he's in his civilian clothes. When she wakes up, he's in the same pose in Tuxedo Mask form. Think he transformed, like the anime staff clearly did? Actually no, we find out like next chapter that that outfit, early on, is just his own clothes. So offscreen he just dropped her, switched outfits, and picked her up again in an identical pose (or Takeuchi changed her mind about how this works). It's just stupid.
>it's the point of the manga, apparently, but I can't stand the infantilizing of Usagi. RED ALERT GUYS, USAGI'S ON HER OWN AND SHE'LL OBVIOUSLY DIE SINCE IN THE MANGA SHE CAN'T HAVE AGENCY TO LITERALLY SAVE HER LIFE
Anthony Allen
I can at least admire your passion for it user, I will bookmark this thread and read it later to honor your efforts
Jaxson Long
The anime made the Senshi look a lot less like Moon's accesories.
I know there's a case to be made for some manga characterizations like Mars, but overall the anime characters feel more like... characters. This is most true about the villains, who feel interchangeable in the manga.
Gavin Ortiz
thanx man :)
>Tuxedo Mask shows up and tells Usagi to transform. She does. We then get like a full page of Sailor Moon being alone and crying and having an internal monologue about how she can't do this alone, with no Tuxedo Mask in sight, so he left I guess. But then he appears on the next page to comfort her. Where was he, and/or how did she have that detailed a monologue in like half a second's time? In this case the paneling/writing decisions are just genuinely distorting the real-time pace of the story.
>For some reason everyone being passed out and Usagi being on her own seems to be the most emotionally devastating shit she's ever experienced, going by her reaction to it. It's not ideal, sure, but with no enemy in sight and compared to her and her friends literally being threatened with imminent death, this seems like a walk in the park. There's not even a scene where she sees all the "bodies" and assumes they're dead, or sees, like Naru or the other Sailors passed out, which'd justify things a bit. She just transforms and instantly it's the worst thing ever for her when there's zero dramatic or narrative weight established to make it actually read as such to the audience.
>Usagi sobs about how she always has someone carrying her weak ass in battle, which is actually true and is maybe the second thing that annoys me about the manga (in the anime which I actually like, Usagi was pulling off solo kills with no Tuxedo Mask by like episodes 3-5). This could be pretty compelling, right? Like for the first time she has to fight alone, with no Luna or Tux or Sailors carrying her in any way? LOLNOPE LIKE MENTIONED ABOVE, TUXEDO MASK IS RIGHT BEHIND YOU TO SAVE THE DAY! So what looks like a narratively compelling moment of potential big development for Usagi just becomes the same shit as the five chapters before. Fucking great. So inspiring. What a hero.
Parker Foster
i'm not gonna read all of this shit
William Perry
>Also like mentioned before, Usagi tries to push herself a bit in this scene by remembering how Luna told her she's the leader and so she has to live up to it. This will be completely nullified in like 2 chapters anyway. Potential big development just becomes a lot of nothing in the end, just a setup for more Sad Usagi Tears so Tuxedo Mask can comfort her. Great.
>Moon sobs about how she has no powers like the others and can't fight, specifically referencing their mist/thunder/fire powers, and that's stupid for a couple reasons. The stupid "Moon Frisbee" actually gave her more direct kills than any of the others so far (except Venus, who's a Mary Sue whenever she's outside her own manga). Like, she cut one woman in half and cut the other's head off and I think it's supposed to be nighttime here so she could even use the Twilight Flash shit she got like two chapters ago. Also, mist/fire/lightning would also be completely useless for helping passed-out civilians even if she specifically means "I have no way to heal them"
>Yeah, to some extent you could say she's overreacting and saying stupid bullshit because she's really stressed/emotional, but it seems to read as though it's meant to dial up the suspense/drama for a reader despite just being stupid fucking bullshit.
>The Moon Stick just fucking pops into existence so Usagi can use it. Well where the hell has it been this whole chapter, since we saw Luna give it to her directly at the beginning and there was never any implication it's some semi-unreal thing that just appears and disappears at will?
Elijah Jones
I agree. But no hate
Jeremiah Evans
the sailor moon anime was also garbage
Ayden Gonzalez
it's okay, this is more for me than anything
yeah, honestly sometimes I think at least half of it is too. But even the worst episode of it I've seen so far is still better than this shitty fucking chapter
>Tuxedo Mask also saw the Moon Stick next to her on the ground when she was passed out unconscious. So in order, throughout this chapter the Moon Stick:
1. popped into existence when Luna gave it to her
2. popped out of existence for all chapter without Usagi seemingly noticing or caring where it went
3. popped back into existence for no real reason when Usagi was passed out
4. popped back out of existence a few seconds later for some time offscreen, including when Usagi was transforming
5. popped back into existence one more time, still a few seconds later, so she can finally use the goddamn thing
>As bitched about in the OP image , Usagi just has nooooo iiiiiideeeeeaaaa how to POSSIBLY use a goddamn wand, and has to specifically call back to Mary Sue Venus's Basic Competence Training Course (The Video Game!) to realize "duuuuuuhhhhhhrrrrr just wave it around I guess"
>Like she doesn't even use the phrase Moon Healing Escalation yet; manga Usagi is literally so helpless that she just can't fathom how to wave a wand.
>there's some bullshit way later in the manga that as far as I'm aware doesn't exist in the anime, where Mamoru's soul gem Sailor star star crystal thing is the catalyst/reason Usagi can use her Silver Moon Crystal bullshit at all. So without him, she'd be worthless and even more powerless than she already is. What a great heroine. What a garbage manga.
>Tuxedo Mask gives Usagi another Unconscious Kiss for the second time in the manga. It was weird enough the first time in the anime. Usagi's even literally drooling in her sleep in the art, shit's just gross on everyone's part (Mamoru's and Takeuchi's)
Christopher Taylor
Personally I prefer the live action series
Hudson Sanders
>we see in the beginning of the chapter that Mamoru's having recurring dreams about some mysterious past-life woman. We also saw at the beginning of last chapter that Usagi had a dream about some mysterious past-life man. There's no indication this dream was ongoing for Usagi, but apparently as of this shitty chapter it's been happening allllll the time. Could've at least showed it again at the beginning
>last few pages didn't do anything that pissed me off so I guess that's the end of my bullshit for now
>I've been trying to read the manga with my garbage Japanese and while I know enough to at least get the gist of most of what's said, there's maybe some detail I missed or just something I straight got wrong. But that also means there might also be the possibility that, had I read a translation, there might be even more bullshit I'd be bitching about here otherwise
yeah that's it, thx 4 reading if anyone bothers. I actually really liked the early manga chapters (especially since I think they're clearly what inspired the tone of the most of the anime), and then this chapter just felt like bullshit from beginning to end and so I just had to complain about it anonymously somewhere!
I'm aware I might to some extent be evaluating the manga in terms of what it was never trying to be, like I guess viewing the anime's more capable fighter Usagi as an ideal when the manga version is just completely sensitive/helpless/useless, but I also think there's enough objective bullshit in there too that I wanted to bitch about it all.
PS: anime Usagi is good