LittleLottie

Don’t get me wrong, KLK was fantastic – right up until the last episode. I suppose it would depend on what you want to get out of the show, but it spends 25(ish) episodes amping you up for the boss battle to end all boss battles and deus ex machina’s right out of there. For me, personally, getting robbed like that kind of spoiled the anime and makes it difficult to rewatch.

I enjoyed the show a lot more than you did, which I guess is lucky for me. I do have to disagree with you about some parts of Yuno’s character, however. I don’t agree that she’s a series of impulses without any substance, and I would argue that her personality is well-developed. She’s a 14 year old girl with die-hard determination, high reasoning skills and intelligence. She can be exceptionally manipulative at times, and wants to please those around her. Additionally, her crush on Yuki doesn’t come out of no where, although it does grow exponentially from the smallest of interactions. That said, it’s not unusual for a crush to grow out of control at her age and doesn’t seem so unreasonable when a survival game is introduced.

That said, I do agree with your points about cause-and-effect character development. However, I also think cutting out the fan service wouldn’t necessarily rectify that. Maybe replacing the fan service with character development for the fan serviced characters would have been an improvement, but then again, they’re catering to their audience.

For me, the choice is easy: the 1993 version tops Crystal. Not only is the art style abominable, as mentioned, but the script is better, too. In Crystal, there comes a part where Usagi admits she is Sailor Moon to Mamoru – and is then conflicted whether or not she should transform when confronted by an enemy because he will know her identity. I find that the script in Crystal is also over-simplified, reducing the bad guys to “I’m evil because evil is fun!”. In the original, Beryl knew she was bad, but she justified it. In Crystal, they don’t even try. It’s like they exist just because Sailor Moon needs bad guys to fight.

Finally, yes, there are a lot of filler episodes in the original, but they don’t feel that way. With the extra content, we get more character development, more believable relationships (as opposed to Usagi x Mamoru’s overnight romance), and more time for Usagi and the Sailor Scouts to believably hone their skills to the point where they are ready to face Beryl and Metalia. Though these filler episodes are Manga Canon, I feel they add some much needed pacing to the original manga.

So for me, the choice is crystal clear 😉

While I agree with this list, I almost think Kill la Kill also deserves an honourable mention. While put together beautifully with great characters and awesome music, it had the most disappointing conclusion of anything I’ve ever watched. The entire series ramps up to a battle that never happens and should be listed in the dictionary as an example of deus ex machina.