Saturn

Ahhhh SuperS.... The Spore's realm where she runs free in her sugary world of scaryness and horses that turn into guys... I'm sure he has a big.... nevermind.

Anyhow, yes, I am a Saturn lover, and yes, I HATE ChibiUsa. She had her good moments but they were far and few between for me. However this site isn't about HER, but SuperS in general, which well.... it WAS her for SuperS, so pardon me while I go give myself an insulin shot.

Now that I am prepared for sugar overload, I can get onto the content of this site as the layout is really simplistic and very functional.

I like the way the essays are laid out for the defense of the different versions of the series. They really get the authors point across without making you want to strangle them. It isn't all "oh my god ChibiUsa is so cute I want to yuri her up!" or anything that makes you immediately grab for a claw hammer to bury in your skull. They are well thought up, well written, and a pleasure to read. No I won't go into details because I am encouraging you to read them.

There is a rather large downloads section to this site which is refreshing. However I did not click EVERY link, so I am not sure if they all work. However, with how well this site is put together I am willing to place a hefty sum that they do.

I can't really say much about this site without giving it all away as it is all really simple and plain to see. Give it a look and enjoy it as much as I did. Nice job!

Uranus

Most of these sites we review are put up because the author wants to state facts, or forgone conclusions. When someone instead chooses to put up an idea and leave it open for debate, we owe it to ourselves as readers to consider what is being said and reconcile it with our own thoughts. If we have any.

The most important part of In Defense of SuperS is the essay on the SuperS anime. It raises several points that have been raised by people who apparently think SuperS is a bad series. It then goes forth to refute those points dexterously. It's a long essay, 3000 words, but it's well-written, with a defined thesis which is fairly well supported. It addresses the complaints of the series being overly cute, the animation and music being too simplistic, and the relative (to the other series) lack of cultural reference. I'm not sold on all of the points, but I don't think SuperS is all that bad, nor do I think it's the worst of the five series. However, there is a major point against it that is completely ignored by this essay. I shall play devil's advocate and address it here.

SuperS is the most linear series of the five, and has the most filler. In the three series that precede it, the enemies are searching for something (the Ginzuishou, Chibiusa, the talismans), and halfway through the series, it is found. Then a second arc comes into play where the aftermath of that finding is played out. Supers is about the enemies searching for Pegasus's hiding place, and they don't find it until the time comes for the series climax. The same thing happens in Sailor Stars, but there are other storylines with which that series is more concerned, such as Usagi's relationship with Seiya and the Starlights' search for their princess. Plus the Sailor Stars villains are searching for all the star seeds, not just one, so it would be difficult to write in a mid-season climax. Consider also, that in each of the series other than SuperS, the "lieutenant" villain-that is to say, the one who receives instructions from the head villain and calls up the monster of the day--changes at least three times during the series. In SuperS, there is only one change. SuperS has villains by committee. That keeps the filler episodes fresh, but it doesn't stop them from being filler. And as a final problem, the conjunction of those two points makes for a difficulty in suspension of disbelief. Zirconia and Neherenia, at various times, threaten to punish the Amazon Septet for failure, but they show almost infinite patience. Would Queen Beryl have sat idly by while the Amazon Trio played around with fashion designers and rich old ladies? Would Galaxia have twiddled her thumbs while the Amazoness Quartet fiddled about with starry-eyed burger waitresses and starving portrait artists? I don't think so.

That was a major digression, but it illustrates two important points in regards to this site. The minor point is that there is an omission from the argument that would be well served by a treatment. The major point is that to induce a reader to come up with that point, the site must be doing something very, very right. There are too many Sailor Moon fans who don't seem to enjoy thinking. And because of this, they aren't very good at it. That shouldn't stop the ones who can and do think analytically about the show from expressing themselves so as to actually hold intelligent discussion about Sailor Moon. That's what this site does.

I'm almost at the end of my review, and I've only talked about one page. There are pages just as good on the manga and Sera Myu, and on the author's responses to e-mails. But don't seek my opinion on them; go read them yourself. Not to blindly accept information, but to form your own ideas. You may come out of this site more convinced than ever that Sailor Moon SuperS is a blight upon existence whose creators should be imprisoned and tortured. But you will not be doing so out of ignorance.

Neptune

Ah....a site dedicated to ChibiUsa. Ok I take that back, it's dedicated to SuperS. Same thing right?! ~_^ Ok down to business.

Layout-Left image cuts off half way and I wonder why. As soon as you click a link you have a different type of layout so I guess the previous page was some sort of splash page. I'm happy to see that everything is the same color and nothing blinds me. The layout is simple at best.

Content-Has various downloads from the Anime, to the Musicals (that are SuperS related, mind you). Also available are screenshots and scans from the manga so some of you can get some nice pictures from here. The site has a lot of originality to it-mainly the "debates" and the author took the time to explain why they think this or that and not a small paragraph like other sites have. So kudos to the author.

Text/Background-A nice touch of blue and I think Navy blue. It works with the site. I really like the color scheme. Nice job with that.

What can be changed?-I think the splash page could be changed. At first I thought it was the actual layout but then I clicked on the link and got a better layout. ^^

Overall Opinion-A nice site that has tons of information and downloads (again this pertains ONLY to the SuperS arc!) and ChibiUsa fans will like this site. I am sure it will make visitors come back for more.

Pluto

Breakdown of site 70/100

Welcome and site Identity 6
An interesting layout design. Rather refreshing. Sets out the purpose rather matter-of-factly but also mentions it's being updated on an irregular basis and why, saying that as it's in defense of a supposedly much-maligned season of the series, the author doesn't want to seem redundant and rehash the same old tired arguments, which is fair enough.

Navigation 6
Links at the top of the page that are fairly common sense. The location of the links changes to the left margin once the main page is left behind. I'm not entirely sure why, as it could have been left how it was, but whatever works.

Content of Interest 8
The anime page sets out a fairly good argument for why the SuperS season shouldn't be considered rubbish. A bit sarcastic at times, but very entertaining. I don't really see what the laserdisc covers have to do with anything in the article though. I enjoyed the sarcastic comments under each of the images in the article though. *grins*

The same goes for the manga article. Setting out simiar reasoning for why the manga should be read, even if you didn't like the anime, which sure convinced me :) Same funny captions for the images. An image gallery of sorts is found on this page, which again seems to be a bit....well, not really in keeping with the style of the site. If you want an image gallery, have it on its own page, and target the images to open in another window, rather than the same one, cuz I really hate having to press that back button...

The musicals page is again, very similar to the other 2 articles, with images from the Sera Myu musicals. Where it differs is that there is also a summary of a few of the Sera Myu series, for the uninitiated (like me). This helps to explain why the musical SuperS is equally as good as the anime and manga versions. There are also helpful links to the music.

There is also a convenient downloads section with henshin scenes, music and other assorted multimedia files, all set out in a common sense way. The laserdisc covers and music that were on previous pages are also here, which is where they should be. Maybe put more of the amusing pictures in place of the information on the previous pages? It's rather redundant having it on both places.

An amusing debate (aka wank) section is included and makes for very entertaining reading.

Advertising and sponsorship 0

Self-promotion 0

Filler 7
There's very little filler, unless you include the downloads and the *coughs*wank*coughs aka debate sections, but they actually help make things a little more clearer, perspective wise, so you make up your own mind.

White-space 7
The site is very easy on the eyes, with a good use of white-space. Nothing is wasted, yet it's also remarkably uncluttered. A good, professionally done site all round. You can tell the webmistress has taken the time to make a good design for her site.

Other 7
There was very little to find fault with this site, apart from the fact that there was a bit of redundancy in the information. I liked the layout, and loved the articles and the debates equally. They made for very interesting and entertaining reading. I'm also impressed by the downloads, which add to the understanding of why the SuperS seasons in all its forms was nothing to be sneezed at or made to look like it was rubbish. (not that I knew it was considered such to begin with. I rather liked that series, as opposed to the earlier first season stuff which was just *gags*).