The first arc is rough enough to make you question everything, but stick past it. Crystal commits to the manga's actual story instead of padding filler around it, which means the Infinity arc arrives with weight that the 90s anime never earned. Usagi stops being a mascot and becomes someone you watch break and rebuild herself across arcs that matter. The animation stays cheap and the CGI looks like plastic, but manga readers finally get to see their definitive version animated at all, even if it has to look like this to exist.

Usagi Tsukino is a fourteen-year-old in her second year of junior high: a bit clumsy, quick to cry, but cheerful and full of spirit. Her life changes when she meets Luna, a talking black cat with a crescent moon on her forehead, who gives her a magical brooch that lets her become Sailor Moon, a sailor-suited guardian of love and justice. Her new duty is threefold: track down her fellow Sailor Guardians, find the legendary Silver Crystal, and protect the lost princess of the Moon Kingdom. Standing in her way is Queen Beryl of the Dark Kingdom, who sends her agents into Usagi's town to stir up strange incidents in pursuit of the Crystal's vast power. Between battles, Usagi still has school, family and romance to juggle. Based on Naoko Takeuchi's manga and made for the franchise's 20th anniversary, this magical girl story mixes action, fantasy and romance.