Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal began streaming on July 5, 2014. It airs (with English subtitles) every other Saturday on Hulu Plus, Crunchyroll, and Neon Alley. Since we already had the subscription, I have been watching it on Hulu.

For those that don't know, I am a pretty big fan of Sailor Moon. The original series aired here in the United States when I was in high school. I watched every episode voraciously. I loved that the girls were the main characters with the powers to destroy the bad guys, who were also led by a female. Even though it has been 20 years since Sailor Moon first aired, there still aren't that many "Girl Power" shows where females lead the way. I think the closest we come is My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and, while that is a very awesome show, it doesn't quite fall under the same category as magical girls or female superheroes. More Wonder Woman, less Avengers.

Anyway, I did start watching the new series as soon as it premiered. There have been three episodes so far and I am very happy with the way it has turned out. Some people have issues with a few things and I would like to address them:

1. I don't like the artwork.

Those fans that are only familiar with the original Sailor Moon anime may find the new artwork unappealing. However, the new series is more closely based off the manga. While the new visuals may look a little odd to most people, they are definitely closer to the original visuals in the manga. Personally, I like the new looks a bit better but I have always been partial to the artbooks over the anime series.

2. I liked the old filler episodes.

Since the new series is following the manga storyling, a lot of the filler episodes have been removed. For example - In the original series, Luna discovers Sailor Moon in the first episode but doesn't discover the second scout, Sailor Mercury, until episode 5 in the English dub. (It is episode 8 in the original Japanese series.) In Crystal, Sailor Mercury is discovered in the second episode. This follows the exact timeline of the manga. While some of the old filler episodes will be missed (goodbye Alan and Ann!), the story does not suffer from removing them. I think the story will be better and stronger since we can focus more on the girls and less on the misogynistic episodes like "Slim City," where Usagi thinks she is too fat and starts heading toward an eating disorder.

Thankfully, these two issues are the only major complaints I have seen about the new show. Everyone seems to agree that, overall, it is pretty awesome. I am excited to see where the series is going to go. Supposedly, it is set up for a 26-episode arc. If they follow the manga the way they have so far, this will take them through to the end of the Black Moon storyline. I really hope that we will be able to take the story all the way through Stars as well.

Long live Sailor Moon!

Despite being released theatrically in the US way back in February, my family just got the chance to see The Wind Rises this past Saturday evening. I have to admit that I had written off being able to see it in a theater and was very surprised to see that a local art center was screening the movie. It was an extremely lucky turn of events since this coming Thursday (April 24) is the final showing before they switch to a different movie.

The Wind Rises is a fictionalized biography of airplane engineer Jiro Horikoshi. It begins with Jiro as a young boy, dreaming of soaring in the sky on a custom airplane. He is abruptly awoken when he is bombed mid-air by a huge airship above him. Undeterred, he borrows an English-language aviation magazine from a schoolteacher and, with his trusty dictionary, finds out about an Italian designer named Caproni. While reading, Jiro falls asleep and meets Caproni in a shared dream between the two enthusiasts.

The movie then skips ahead to a time when Jiro is in university. During a train ride back into Tokyo, Jiro meets a young woman, Naoko, and her maid just minutes before a huge earthquake hits. (This is the Great Kanto Earthquake that took place in 1923.) As the passengers disembark in a frenzy, the maid breaks her leg. Since Jiro is such a good guy, he carries the maid on his back through the mass of people, past the massive fires in Tokyo, and into the relative safety of Naoko's family. He leaves without even giving anyone his name so he can fight to save the books at his university from being burned to ashes.

Fast forward again to Jiro and his friend, Honjo, working at an airplane manufacturer. The two are working on a fighter design, which ends in failure. The company loses the contract and sends the two engineers to Germany to do technical research. During this time, he once again meets Caproni in a dream, where they have a philosophical conversation about the beauty of aircraft. Shortly thereafter, Jiro is promoted to chief designer for a fighter plane contract from the Navy. This also ends in failure. Jiro heads off to a summer resort in order to get his mind back on track.

While at the hotel, Jiro once again meets Naoko. As the two spend time together playing with paper airplane designs and taking walks, they fall in love. However, Naoko has tuberculosis and refuses to marry until she is well again. Jiro returns to Tokyo to once again design a fighter plane for the Navy. This time, the secret police are searching for him so he is forced out of his apartment and into the home of his supervisor, Kurokawa. Naoko, meanwhile, has holed herself up in a sanatorium in order to recover from her condition until she can no longer bear to be away from Jiro and travels to Tokyo to join him. Kurokawa refuses to let the lovers stay under his roof unmarried so they have an impromptu wedding ceremony.

The newlyweds live with Kurokawa even though Naoko's condition is deteriorating. Jiro must finish the designs on his latest creation. Despite his long workdays, they enjoy their time together.

I don't want to spoil the ending of the movie so I will end the synopsis there. Everyone in my family enjoyed the movie. I didn't expect my daughter to like it very much since she prefers movies like Kiki's Delivery Service or Ponyo or Spirited Away. This one is a little more...boring compared to the previous Miyazaki works. There is no real antagonist. No one to root for or against. It is just the story of a boy trying to make his dream come true. There are some very emotional scenes but they are handled very well. Not your typical Miyazaki fare but a good movie nonetheless.