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girlsbydaylight:

YOU WILL PRY BISEXUAL USAGI FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS

I don’t even mean this in a “Hee hee!  That’s totally my headcanon!” or a giggly sort of “Well, I’m not really serious, but it’s funny!” sort of way.  No, I mean this in a 100% This Is Legitimately How I See It way, that Usagi’s attraction to girls in this series is just as valid as her attraction to boys.  Her love for Mamoru is the one that’s the love of her life, this doesn’t interfere with that OTP one bit whatsoever, they’re still an amazing couple and their relationship is still entirely valid.

And that’s why this means so much to me, as someone who sees a lot of myself in various parts of Usagi.  To have a bisexual main character who can fall in love with a person and have an entirely valid and awesome relationship, while still being shown to be bisexual, that means a whole hell of a lot to me.  She’s no less pure or sweet or loyal or in love because she’s attracted to both men and women, THAT IS SOMETHING I CARRY IN MY HEART ALWAYS.

It’s fine if others don’t see Usagi this way.  I disagree, but everyone has their own interpretations, it’s just… when I look at this scene, I can’t see it as any other way.  Ami literally lures Usagi into coming with her by promises of seeing a hot girl, THAT IS THE CLASSIC KIND OF ROMANTIC SET UP, THAT IS NOT ME EXAGGERATING ANYTHING. Usagi blushes and we see the roses framing Rei’s face to let us know that ~*FEELINGS*~ are happening on Usagi’s part.

THIS IS LEGITIMATE SEXUAL/ROMANTIC ATTRACTION

AND YOU WILL PRY BISEXUAL USAGI FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS

I AM 10000000% HITCHING MY CART TO THIS HORSE

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Okay, so from the episode 4 preview, it looks like we get a breather episode before Makoto!  I’m glad they decided not to introduce the girls one right after the other– I liked the stretch in the original anime where they were figuring out their team dynamics between the three of them, so I’m happy with this development.

But wow they sure are not shying away from lady-love crushes and that is amazing. <3 <3 <3

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mortmorrison:

I’m a huge sailor moon fan and very excited about the new anime. However I felt a little sad that the new proaction feels and looks like low budget. The 90s version wasn’t very close to Takeuchis style. So this time they wanted get closer in sailor moon crystal to the original manga style.

I still like the idea. But I didn’t felt very comfortable because the new anime is having some small issues. Its not a problem with the new style.. the problem lies in the face and the proportions.

Nevertheless I’m going to enjoy sailor moon crystal anyway. I’m still very happy about the new production from toei animation. I just wanted to share my thoughts. Here I tried to modify the sailor moon crystal screenshot and tried to honor Naoko Takeuchis wonderful style.

Take care and tell me what you think.

Sailor Moon crystal by Toei Animation

Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi

Also a very interesting style tweak for the animation! I dig it.

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So all week I’ve been rewatching Crystal episode 1, and mulling over what I think hasn’t been working for me.  While I was fairly satisfied with Usagi’s face acting once I saw it, her eyes still look kinda lifeless and soulless, so I’ve been trying to figure out what exactly isn’t gelling with me.

And I think it’s her pupils.

I’ve had a similar problem with my OWN art in the past, paying so much attention to carefully and lovingly rendering eyes that they kind of turn into soulless globs of color in the characters’ faces.  Honestly, the solution, for me, was to simplify shading in eyes and let the characters’ expressions do more of the work. (Plus, being comics, the eyes are about an eighth of an inch in size anyway, so no one sees what I did most of the time, anyway.)

But for Usagi specifically, I think the teeny tiny pupils, coupled with the attention to shading that the animators did with her irises, are kind of combining to suck some of the life out of her expressions, just like it did with my own artwork.  So I just did a VERY quick edit in Photoshop to compare what a larger pupil would do for Usagi in these two screencaps.

For me, it does a lot.  I think it makes her look less vacant.  Simplifying the shading/rendering in her eyes further would probably add some more Usagi back in.  This close-up on Ami’s eyes from the next episode preview suggests that the animation team may end up doing exactly that:

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My guess, is that they’re going to dial it back, but they had the extra budget to go all out on the first episode, so they spent time making everything extra shiny and sparkly. As you do.

So that’s my take/opinion on the animation so far!  Apart from this one thing that was bugging me, I really loved the first episode.  And of course, this is no judgement on anyone who loves the new animation as it is!  It’s just my opinion as an artist, and you are welcome to disagree with me. :D