The first of three volumes of Sailor Moon Crystal Season III is now available on Blu-Ray. Volume 1 was released on June 29th in Japan. This is a Japanese language release so there is no English audio or English subtitles. You can import it from sites like Amazon Japan for 6909 yen, about $67 US. This release features four episodes, where the first 26 episodes of the series were only released on disks containing two episodes a piece. This time we get Act 27 parts 1 and 2 as well as Acts 28 and 29. The set comes in a smaller package than the earlier releases, which should fit more conveniently on your shelf. It also includes a 24 page special booklet with interviews and art.
The episodes included are Act 27, Infinity 1 – Premonition – First Part and Second Part, Act 28, Infinity 2 – Ripples, and Act 29 – Infinity 3 – Two New Soldiers. This covers the introduction to the Death Busters, the Sailor Guardians facing off against Eudial and Mimete, meeting Hotaru, Haruka and Michiru as well as Sailor Uranus and Neptune. With the first 26 episodes, plagued by sloppy inconsistent animation, a number of minor improvements and changes were done to the animation for the Blu-Ray release. None of this is present here. If you’ve seen the streaming version you’ve seen the version which is presented on this release. It seems they put a bit more time and money into the animation the first time so there was no need for updates.
The episodes include an optional audio commentary. These four episodes all feature commentary by Kotono Mitsuishi, the voice of Sailor Moon, Junko Minagawa, the voice of Sailor Uranus, and Sayaka Ohara, the voice of Sailor Neptune.
As with earlier releases a 24 page special booklet is included. The contents are somewhat like what we’ve seen before. There are episode summaries, interviews and character designs. Osabu’s page is not present in this booklet. There are a total of five interviews included. These are with Kotono Mitsuishi, the voice of Sailor Moon, Hisaka Kanemoto, the voice of Sailor Mercury, Rina Sato, the voice of Sailor Mars, Ami Koshimizu, the voice of Sailor Jupiter, and Shizuka Ito, the voice of Sailor Venus.
All in all this set is a more worthwhile purchase than the previous sets were. The cost is about the same and there are twice as many episodes. Without any changes in animation though, there isn’t much to get from collecting these when the streaming version is subtitled and free, though not quite at Blu-Ray quailty. Further now that we know that English Blu-Ray sets are coming with entire story arcs costing close to what a single Japanese disc does, it seems a little pointless for an English speaking North American fan to buy these Japanese only releases. All said we haven’t seen the English release yet. It seems unlikely that it will be plagued with terrible video quality like all North American releases of the original series have been, but that’s still a possibility. We may find that this is the better quality set to have when all is said and done. The French DVD and Blu-Ray came out last week and seems to be of exceptional quality though, so it seems likely the English release will be the same.
The next set will be released on July 27th and can be pre-ordered from sites like Amazon Japan. It is similarly priced at 6909 yen. It will include four episodes, Acts 30 to 33, bringing us to Sailor Moon’s transformation into Super Sailor Moon and the first flashback look at Sailor Saturn.
Keep reading for more photos of the packaging and all pages of the included special booklet.
Possibly Related Posts
-
Sailor Moon Crystal Deluxe Limited Edition Blu-Ray vol. 12 Review -
Sailor Moon Crystal Volume 3 Deluxe Edition Blu-Ray review -
Sailor Moon Crystal Deluxe Limited Edition Blu-Ray vol. 6 review -
Sailor Moon Crystal Deluxe Limited Edition Blu-Ray vol. 8 review -
Watch a ton of Sailor Moon Crystal season 3 footage including the new opening, closing and half of Act 27
Maybe the animation quality is better, but there are still dozens of smaller or even bigger errors which should have been corrected or even reanimated so I really don’t understand why Toei haven’t done it….
Btw I don’t think there will be any news about possible season 4 untill all three BR will be released, or I even think until the newest musical will finish its tour… So personally I do not expect any news about SMC until November
Well this prompt me to immediately rush over to the crystal comparisons website, only to discover a huge amount of disappointment. While the first 4 episodes were great quality with fluid animation, it still could have used some work here and there, but of course, Toei got lazy and said fuck it.
The box set looks nice. However, it is disappointing to find no changes to some of the terrible animation. Sure the first 2 episodes were good, but even those were not free of bad animation quality or frames. Especially the end of the Eudial episode. That was some horrible character models happening. You would think with only 13 episodes they could have put a little more effort into the frames. I will say at least they really brought out the lighter moments that were present in the manga for this season. Unlike the first two seasons where the show lost all those lighter moments and characterization from the manga. Now if only they could have done a better job with the quality of each episode since they had more time.
I completely agree. They are mostly great with the close up shots, it’s those far away frames that look like shit, like the forest scene with Moon and Uranus at the end of Eudial’s episode…
I just received mine today, and i don’t understand why you say that these make more sense to buy than the first 2 seasons, sure they have more episodes, but the quality of the product itself lowered. As a fan living outside of Japan who doesn’t understand japanese, one is basically buying these for collection purposes only, and the first 2seasons had PERFECTpackaging that was worth every single penny, yes it had only 2 episodes, but it had fantastic boxes that were really fancy looking, incredible printing, crafting, they are just precious to look at, etc. the booklets were bigger and it also included the charms that basically were worth alone a fraction of that price. These actually cost the same but you get less product. That is something that i didn’t quite like, i could understand if they were actually cheaper, but they aren’t, and volumes 1&13 for the previous release were even music boxes.
That doesn’t mean that i disliked the product itself, as the material used has a very nice feel, the design is still very pretty including golden foil, and the slipcase design is cute, although I still i do look at it as a downgrade from the previous limited edition bluray sets, i do recommend fans buying these to support the series.
I guess it’s a different product in many ways. More in the way of actual show but less in the way of knick knacks. I didn’t even think to mention the fact that you don’t get a charm! Should have thought of that.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so disappointed to hear about an early BD release. They REALLY should have taken some time to polish it up first. Since they only had a week between episodes, this season would have benefited greatly from a thorough editing process. As it is, I have absolutely no reason to buy this. Why spend money on the same unaltered episodes that I could watch for free on various streaming sites? :/
Season 3 was poorly drawn. Again, I’m not talking about the storyline (just the art part). TOEI failed on the art and animation department. Be it CGI or not, epic fail. Just look at the art quality of Fushigi Yuugi. It’s not perfect, but for the most part, the entire series was well-drawn.
Can you scan all the booklet, please ? I like to see character design in full HD.
thanks before. xD
I’ll have photos up with my review.
in your post above it’s too blur, maybe you can take photo again with focus with 1 character each file. please…
or maybe you can sent it with email.
waiting your reply
regards