The first two seasons of Sailor Moon Crystal resulted in a pretty wide divide among the franchise's devout fans. While the plot was lauded for being far more faithful to its source material than its '90s counterpart, the series was weighed down by a number of slow-paced scenes and inconsistent animation.

With Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3, however, it seems like Toei Animation is set on addressing everything negative that fans pointed out from Seasons 1 and 2. Indeed, from what could be seen in the third season so far, it is every bit as good as its predecessors, and even a little bit better and more consistent.

Immediately noticeable is the bump in the animation's quality. While Seasons 1 and 2 suffered greatly from static frames and inconsistent artwork, the animation of Season 3 is far more intricate and well-made. In fact, even during the most mundane of scenes, such as in some episodes where character-building was the focus, the quality of the animation never wavered.

This is even more prominent during battle scenes, which are now far more dynamic to watch than the skirmishes in the first two seasons of Sailor Moon Crystal. Each of the Sailor Senshi's transformations, for one, are very well-made.

Apart from the animation bump, the pacing of the anime is far more cohesive this time around. While the first two seasons of Crystal were already far more efficient with its plot progression when compared to the original 90's anime, the third season takes this even further. Indeed, the third season is not even halfway and the introduction of the deadly Sailor Saturn is already being built up.

As much as the third season is admirable, however, it is still not without its flaws. While the animation is a lot better than practically all animated Sailor Moon titles that were released over the decades, the transposition of the events from the manga to the anime still leaves much to be desired at some points.

One of these instances happened during Episode 10, where the anime notably skips out on a pretty poignant scene involving Hotaru and the death of her father, who has long succumbed to evil. In an anime that seems to be building itself as a character-driven title, omissions such as these are pretty notable.

Then again, Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 is only 10 episodes into its run. There are still a lot more episodes which will cover even more of the manga's vast plot.

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