- Awesome Music: "Moon Pride
", The first opening theme, an anthem for feminist fantasies everywhere, and the amazing rocked out soundtrack backing
- Angst? What Angst?: Makoto flirts with Asanuma by talking about the tragic deaths of her parents and smiling, complete with an inappropriate wink and a blush.
- Base Breaker: Usagi. Fans of the '90s anime and even the manga accuse Crystal!Usagi of being a selfish bitch who only cares about her true love and ignores her friends in favor of Mamoru especially because she healed him first in the future. Fans of the manga and Crystal worship her and throw 90s Usagi under the bus to defend her.
- Big Lipped Alligator Moment: Act 19 and 22 have adapted the expressive faces from the manga's humor in such a weird fashion that it ended up as this, to put it simple: They draw the expressions with the original scene's background on it, and then put that under a frame that's based on the manga's background for that moment. In other words: The show makes a Ba-Dum-Ts! joke to itself. Compare: Manga
- Evil Is Sexy: Queen Beryl.
- Fanon Discontinuity: While a great number of fans of the manga and/or the first anime would like to forget this series exists at all and prefer to just stick to the earlier adaptations, some only ignore the first half of it, finding the Black Moon arc to be of a more watchable quality than the Dark Kingdom arc. The fact that the latter has previously received an expanded adaptation in the form of the live-action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon series (and has been recycled to death in the musicals) probably contributed to this to an extent.
- Hilarious in Hindsight:
- As soon as Kill la Kill was released, people started to make crossover images between Ryuko and any Senshi (namely, Makoto and Usagi). Ami Koshimizu, Ryuuko's voice actress, voices the equally tomboyish Makoto here.
- Hisako Kanemoto as Sailor Mercury fits this as well, as she voiced Flandre Scarlet in the Koumajou Densetsu doujin game and one of Flandre's weakness is water. Guess which element Sailor Mercury uses?
- She has also played a character that also has something to do with water, de geso.
- It's the Same, so It Sucks: Even though "They Changed It, Now It Sucks" is also on this page (hey, we said Broken Base, didn't we?)
- There's a fair number of people who feel that a Shot-for-Shot Remake of a manga they'd already read, covering the same territory as the live action series and the first season of the old anime wasn't what they got excited for when they first heard Sailor Moon was coming back. Many fans who were interested in a Truer to the Text adaptation, meanwhile, express disappointment at how faithfully Crystal replicates the manga's flaws - such as its rushed pacing, lack of characterization for the main cast, and plot holes - rather than taking the opportunity to improve upon the manga's weaknesses.
- Choreography and poses from the first anime's Transformation Sequences and In the Name of the Moon speeches were repurposed for Crystal. While many fans feel this is a nice nod to the original, others were expecting more creative, entirely new transformations and choreography.
- Sailor Moon's Moon Prism Transformation being almost exactly the same as her Moon Crystal transformation except for the brooch being different. There are a few that are OK with this, but most have loudly complained about SMC's apparent laziness, especially people who hoped that at least in Crystal, the upgrades meant a different Transformation Sequence also for the other Inners, not just Sailor Moon.
- LGBT Fanbase: The franchise always had a big one anyways, but older queer girl fans (who loved the manga and got upset at the 90s dub, as the reputation goes) are vibrating excitedly
- Les Yay:
- Usagi calls Ami really cute several times in Act 2 of the manga, while in Act 2 of Crystal there's a bit of Luminescent Blush as she does it, with Ami also blushing profusely when Usagi effusively hugs her, and again shortly after, when Usagi tells her that she's cuter when she smiles, while obliviously using the -chan honorific.
- In "Sailor Mars", Ami uses "you can see a beautiful girl" as an incentive to get Usagi to come with her to the cram school. Usagi's naturally excited, and when she actually sees Rei, gets hearts in her eyes. Ami tells her it's rude to stare. And then when Rei gets off the bus, Usagi does too just so that she can follow her.
- "Sailor Jupiter" starts off with Makoto saving Usagi, and after she walks off, Usagi's in love again and muses that the other girl smelled really good.
- Mis-blamed: Many of the specific scenes and plot elements that Crystal's more vocal critics use as examples of how the series is "ruining" Sailor Moon, such as Usagi's attempted suicide at the end of Act 12, existed in the original manga and were simply reproduced in the adaptation.
- The Pocket Protector twist with Mamoru's moon phase pocket watch and the Shitennou stones, which didn't make any more sense even in the manga itself, especially with the latter actually showing a lot of blood; Crystal worsened it somewhat through an Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole regarding the stones, but it still was something taken directly from the source material.
- Some of the complaints about Act 13 included the fact that it ends right as Sailor Moon prepares to unleash the final attack on Metalia, making it look like the final battle was split into two episodes for padding purposes. The corresponding chapter of the manga ends on the same cliffhanger in all editions.
- A common complaint about Crystal revolves around the story's close focus on Usagi and her relationship with Mamoru, while the rest of the Sailor Guardians, particularly Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter, have very little prominence or development after their introductory episodes. Since the '90s anime uses its much longer running time and monster-of-the-week format to give equal attention to all of the team members, the contrast is understandably jarring, but this too comes directly from the manga, which doesn't really begin fleshing out the ensemble until later story arcs.
- Kunzite having fair skin consistent with his manga design, as opposed to the darker tan skin tone he has in the '90s anime, has led to accusations of whitewashing. This accusations of whitewashing have also been applied to Nephrite, due to his skin tone being somewhat paler than it appeared in the original anime, although the difference is not as significant as with Kunzite.
- On the other hand, long-term fans of the manga sometimes blame Crystal for "errors" that were, in fact, changes introduced in the later manga editions (Crystal being specifically based on these reprints, down to the episode count and naming). One such example is Sailor Moon retaining her choker accessory in the form of her first transformation brooch even after getting her second transformation.
- While Crystal had altered the Shitennou's fates to an extent, the deaths of the Spectre Sisters in the Black Moon arc and their treatment as monsters-of-the-week is consistent to their role in the manga.
- Kunzite and Zoisite not being portrayed as a couple added a great deal to the already heated debate regarding the Senshi/Shitennou pairings, and caused some to outright accuse Crystal's creators of censorship and homophobia. Kunzite and Zoisite's relationship was a subplot exclusive to the old anime series, and was never present in the manga; Takeuchi's notes indicate that the two of them were meant to be more like brothers.
- Moe: Usagi, especially in her Les Yay moments.
- Moral Event Horizon: Metalia manages to get an extra one hammering in villainy when the Sailor Senshi free the Shitennou from her mind control, she kills them saying that if they reject the darkness, they're useless.
- Narm:
- The frequency of Off Model animation can seriously throw off the mood, especially at the beginning. It doesn't help if the episode first has some gorgeous animation, like the reveal of Princess Serenity... and then follows up with Off Model scenes. Oops?
- Case in point, Chibiusa's
- Case in point, Chibiusa's
- The Nico Nico subtitles (which use the same script on CrunchyRoll and Hulu) use some drama-breaking translation choices. The worst instance so far occurs in Act 3, where Jadeite's cry of "Onore!" as he's engulfed in flames is translated as "Rascal!"
- The final episode has Usagi spend a good quarter of it in tears. It's emotionally moving the first time she does it, but the next four/five times ends up making you just want to plug your ears or hit mute!
- "Cat Can Talk!"
- Venus is here! We get a dramatic pan-up, the wind blows through her hair, we finally get up to her face and... it's covered by her windblown hair.
- The titles that the Shitennou possessed when they were Prince Endymion's Praetorian Guard sounded a liiiiiittle bit silly.
- The synchronized falling to the ground and wailing of Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter after Metalia kills the four kings comes across as quite the opposite of what was intended.
- The show's tendency to employ Bloodless Carnage, contrasting the original manga's High-Pressure Blood, took a little bit of seriousness out of the scene where Sailor Moon kills the possessed Mamoru by slashing him across the chest with a sword.
- The frequency of Off Model animation can seriously throw off the mood, especially at the beginning. It doesn't help if the episode first has some gorgeous animation, like the reveal of Princess Serenity... and then follows up with Off Model scenes. Oops?
- Nightmare Fuel: Queen Metalia, thanks to her design being much more faithful to the manga. Sure, we don't get the Nightmare Face from the manga, but having nightmares about the Big Bad killing the love of your life is still horrifying.
- Periphery Demographic: Well aware of the Sailor Moon franchise's "big friends," ViVi, a popular women's magazine in Japan, held a high profile premiere party for Crystal, with men barred from attending
- Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Those who hated Chibiusa in the 90s anime like her a lot more in Crystal.
- Ship-to-Ship Combat: The survival of the Shitennou and their increased presence in the plot has revived the once very ugly debate regarding the scrapped subplot about the Shitennou and the Inner Senshi having romantic links and turned it Up to Eleven. With a huge side-dish of Het Is Ew as dessert.
- Episode 10 had confirmed past romances between the Senshi and the Shitennou. A lot of the fandom weren't pleased. Episode 12 continued the revelation, but also killed off the Shitennou and had all four Senshi cry over them, which only worsened the rage.
- Special Effect Failure: Chibi-Usa's design for Crystal, which makes her face much more older while still running around in a toddler's body. This has been rectified in the promo picture for the "Death Busters Arc", especially since Akira Takahashi, who did the character designs for Suite Pretty Cure ♪ and DokiDoki! Precure, is taking over.
- Squick: For many fans, when Black Lady kisses a hypnotized Mamoru. TWICE. (This happened in the original manga, too, but even among those familiar with it few people expected these shots to be kept in.)
- Chibi-Usa's first design, which makes her face much more older while still running around in a toddler's body.
- They Changed It, Now It Sucks:
- Nostalgia for the original anime drives many of the complaints, especially amongst people unfamiliar with the manga and even more so among English speaking fans whose familiarity with the franchise comes from the DiC dub.
- On the flip side, for some vocal fans of the manga, any divergence from its text is a point of contention. Specific items of complaint range from the inclusion of confirmation that the Senshi and Shitennou were romantically involved in their past lives to minor details like the absence of certain jokes and gags.
- Some fans would have preferred to see as many of the classic cast return as possible, given Kotono Mitsuishi's Role Reprisal.
- Some people are complaining that the OP isn't "Moonlight Densetsu." This may partly stem from the initial assumption (mistakenly spread by some fansites) that Momoiro Clover Z's popular Cover Version, which ended up being the Theme Song for the Takarazuka Revival of the musicals, was to be used for Crystal.
- Episode 7 changed Tuxedo Mask's participation in Sailor Moon's confrontation with Zoisite from not being able to reach her at all to an actual attempt at defending her, which served to emphasize his switch from just wanting to obtain the Silver Crystal to desperately wanting to protect Sailor Moon herself. Cries of the theme song being defied followed.note Additionally, in the manga it was still ambiguous just where Mamoru's loyalties really lie at this point, which made his Heroic Sacrifice in the next chapter a sort of a last-moment life-changing decision (whereas Crystal has him more or less confessing his love for Usagi already).
- Episode 8 altering the plot so that Minako insisted on fighting Kunzite alone has split fans more, with complaints that getting rid of the girls' group bonding scene to have Minako want to go at things alone flies in the face of the series' messages about girl power and friendship. On the other hand, other fans love that Minako got a unique characterization than the other Senshi that show how burdened Minako is by her status as leader of the Senshi, and note that it results in a different but equally powerful team bonding scene when the rest of the Senshi catch up to her and insist that she doesn't have to go it alone any more.
- Episode 12 did another plot alteration by having Beryl killed by Sailor Moon instead of Sailor Venus, which some fans saw as downgrading Minako's power as the leader of the Guardians (Venus is instead the one to cut the Senshi free of Beryl's Prehensile Hair, an act performed by Sailor Jupiter in the manga, but this change is rarely criticized). It doesn't help that the scene was Bowdlerized so that instead of impaling Beryl with the Holy Sword Sailor Moon simply destroyed her necklace which was linking her to Metalia's powers (a detail that never existed in the manga).
- The show's tendency to focus on romance in general, be it Usagi/Mamoru or Senshi/Shitennou. While some argue that the romance in the manga was already idealized to begin with, others find the expanded version cheesy and unnatural, or are only willing to accept the changes as long as they don't get close to the Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole territory, which happens on some occasions. Specific examples:
- The scene with Usagi and Mamoru inadvertently ending up together on a bus in Act.3, which in this version leads to Usagi getting embarrassed and hilariously trying to cover her blushing face with Luna. In the manga, Mamoru explicitly recognizes her as Sailor Moon and, from her conversation with Luna, starts to suspect she is somehow connected to the Silver Crystal, which serves as an additional explanation of him following Usagi as Tuxedo Mask when she leaves the Hikawa Shrine to investigate the cursed bus (Crystal did leave in a similar scene in Act.2, though).
- The Shitennou stones. Due to Crystal expanding the Senshi/Shitennou subplot, the four villains were left alive until the final confrontation with the Dark Kingdom, only to be abruptly killed off by Metalia just as the Senshi managed to undo her brainwashing on them, for drama's sake. The problem being that, in the manga, Mamoru carrying around the stones the Shitennou turned into was crucial to the plot, because they ultimately acted as a Pocket Protector when Sailor Moon slashed him with a sword (which still happens in Crystal but with no explanation). As a side effect, people not familiar with the manga were puzzled by the scene where the Shitennou appear before Mamoru as his Spirit Advisors.
- The removal of the subplot in Act 13 involving Mamoru temporarily going blind as a result of Metalia's powers possessing his body (though it was already hinted at when the animators went with Red Eyes, Take Warning for him, instead of the manga's black) for the sake of achieving the happy ending for Endymion and Serenity an episode earlier. The complaint being that, in the manga, not only is it what leads to him effectively discovering/remembering his ability to observe the Earth just by touching the ground, but also strengthens the True Love's Kiss scene, which simultaneously revives Usagi and cures his blindness.
- They Just Didn't Care: Act 18 has a scene where the stock footage for Moon Healing Escalation was used for Moon Princess Halation, it has been a large target of criticism from even the radical portion of the Sailor Moon fanbase. This is a mistake that could've been easily fixed in less than a span of minutes, as evidenced by this video
- Uncanny Valley: The art style tries to be Truer to the Text to the original manga art... and fails spectacularly by being cold and lifeless, especially when in CGI.
- Chibi-Usa's design, detailed above in Special Effects Failure and Squick.
- Win the Crowd: Season 3 seems like it's trying to do this, like changing the art style, replacing the opening and ending themes, actually airing on television instead of online, and getting rid of the Conspicuous CGI.
