So the dream arc is generally considered as a fluffy and fun, light interlude to the stars arc where things get extremely dark. As a result the story is less serious and offers some backstory and world building, highlts the individual guardians, with this firts movie focusing on the inners and offers some fun character fanservice (not the lewd kind). Each guardian gets a chance to shine against the dead moon circus and pices of their past and dreams are revealed. It's basically what crystal was lacking do to its pacing problem, cuts and bad changes. If you love the inner guardians, you'll love the content this movie offers.
Alas, for all this movie does right, it's tight run time hinders it. The film goes by at a rapid pace. You'll want to give it your full attention so you don't miss anything. Sadly the movie, much like crystal cuts some fun moments, as well as some backstory and explanatory content. If your left slightly confused by anything, I encourage you to give the manga a read to fill in the blanks. My honest oppinion though is that you'll comprehend everything fine.
For example, I believe this will be the first time in crystal we see Rei's grandfather. Which is rather tragic considering he was supposed to have appeared at least once before. For those of you who are familiar with the 90's anime, the manga grandpa is quite different in both design and personality. Sadly Rei's arc also slightly suffers from not having had Cassablanca memories adapted into either anime story. It's a side story that greatly expand on her background and character. It would offer a little context to the information we're given in this movie for her background.
For those of you wondering, Helios and chibiusa are portrayed excellently here. Their romance is truly a highlight and a personal favorite of mine. The old anime dragged out his reveal for far too long but the dream arc quickly reveals him to be a young boy and not a horse. Hopefully this will appease those who took issue with their romance in the old anime. Id also like to point out that both him and chibiusa are centuries old, but in the bodies of a 10 year old and 13 year old (give or take a year or 2). Just want to shut that discussion down fast.
Now the soundtrack, anyone feeling nostalgic should definitly watch the credits. An update on Baby baby love plays after the first song. If you want those 90s chibiusa x Helios feels give it a listen. Then go on youtube and search sailor moon love is in ny heart for the english dub version. The original singer recently uploaded some clean performances for it and a few other songs she did. I also encourage you to check out the official sound track of the movie. It has some great character songs like Minako's I want to be an idol and a duet between chibiusa and Helios.
I'll see you over on part 2. I keep some of the review the same but switch out the parts that focused on part 1 for part 2.
