AQ : Rantings and Ravings

If I were forced to pick a version of of the dub, I would pick DIC, even though I don't particularly like either.
Even though DIC was focused on keeping things completely pure, and they cut scenes like a berzerk chainsaw, for some reason I like them better. Sailor Moon's voice was tolerable, unlike Cloverway's pitiful voice (though Pluto was way too monotonic). They didn't use the lamer than lame Valley Girl slang that Cloverway insists on. The generic BGM music is only slightly geeky, and the songs are not bad, even though some are ripoffs of the original Japanese songs, but hey, Cloverway did that too, and in worse form: instead of adapting into a new song, which takes some thought and time and effort, Cloverway just slaps together a translation of the song in episode 103 (is that Ai no Senshi? I'm not sure), and that is a hard song to directly translate, as two Japanese lines often count for one in English, so they must have made some changes. But I couldn't really hear it because 1) it was quieter than it originally was and 2) stupid Amara was droning on and on in her pathetic voice.
Many people seem to like Cloverway for keeping the original music, but I think this is testament to the extreme rush job S underwent. At least DIC took their time, and the inconsistencies are far less, and can make some kind of moderate sense if you think about it. Cloverway has continuity problems out the wazoo, with such slips as Neptune saying a pure heart isn't pure (it wouldn't have come out if it wasn't pure!) and Serena saying something to Ami about searching for the 'Purity Chalice' when Sailor Moon already has it. Of course, there is the issue of episodes 45 and 46, which is DIC's biggest blemish, but I don't think Cloverway would have left this in good condition either, as they seem to skirt around death, especially ones so graphic as the Inner Senshi dying. And DIC changing senshi to scout and changing attack names: I didn't like it, but it's funny now because Cloverway has to try and keep going with such, which makes the dub even more confusing, which I think could be considered revenge for making Uranus and Neptune cousins. DIC actually made people want to watch and get them further into anime, Cloverway is slowly driving eveyone away.
- Shelley

In short, here's the score:
Pros:
Cloverway: Rini's new voice, same BGM dialog that's close to the orignal (sometimes)
Dic: Pluto's old voice (even if only for 10 sec)
Cons:
Both: inconsistency, bad acting, stupid slang, avoidance of adult themes/violence, dialog that's way off from the orignal.
Cloverway: the new voices, relationship change, gender change, changing episodes
Dic: crappy BGM, the old voices, cutting episodes
So the two are pretty similar. But the problem with DiC is worse--they had a lot more time to fix their mistakes than Cloverway did. So, Cloverway, considering all the circumstances, probably did a better job, although certainly not by much.
- Jennifer (a different one than the one who posted that earlier response)

I'm also Canadian but I can add some perspective on why people will still hate DiC more than Cloverway and will probably always hate DiC for the rest of their lives.
The "I hate DiC" mentality has totally permeated the Sailormoon online community to a point where it's become a slogan or memorable add jingle that has probably lost all meaning and importance by now but remains strong and willful to this day. DiC's dub has been gone in Canada for a while now (although YTV is starting to air it again, probably because they'll be airing the new S dub in the fall) so DiC really has fallen into the depths of my subconscious because I have my fansubs. But the one thing that remains is "I HATE DIC!" So many web pages and so many newsgroups and so many ML's promote this slogan that it's become a separate entity in on itself. I guess what I'm trying to say is that "I hate Dic" has almost become a religion and a livelyhood for some SM fans so it's next to impossible to let go and suggest that there's someone out there worse than them.
This sort of effect can be seen in how many still view our poor Chibi Usa. Rini really ruined that character for everyone; it took me so long to get used to and eventually like Chibi Usa in the original version but it did eventually happen for me (thank goodness). However, it seems that Rini's ultra crapy personality has transcended the DiC dub and has implanted itself onto Chibi Usa's undeserving facade. Chibi Usa hater's always give this fact away when they refer to Chibi Usa as "the little spore" which is what Serena would call Rini in the DiC dub.
So that's an example of how a certain type of mentality can carry over or be unmoved even when a review of the situation is in order. This isn't to say that the Cloverway production is worse than the DiC dub but I am suggesting that we may be to saturated with an anti-DiC history and mentality to be able to make a truly objective choice on the mater.
- Brian-P

I personally think the Cloverway dub is better because they stick to translation more. I don't give a dang about how constant they are with the attacks or whatever. I correct it in my head and continue watching the episode. I've only seen a handful of the original S episodes, but from what I do know, I can tell that Cloverway has stuck to the translation a lot better than DiC did. The cousins thing was definately better than the sisters deal. Though I think best friends would've worked just as well and possibly would've made more sense. I'm glad the music was kept as well, I've always enjoyed the BGM for the transformations. I don't think they'll show Rini's because it might be considered child pornography when you think about it. And who cares about it anyway.
- K E

I think that they are both bad. But DiC more so. Because they didn't keep the original names, (Cloverway didn't either but they couldnt hcnage them after DiC changed them, so it's not Cloverways fault that the names are changed) music(Personally i dont think the music is THAT bad, but it's just not the orignal, so it was good that Cloverway kept the original music), and they just plain took out episodes. 5, to be precise (I think). Cloverway didnt take any episodes out, when DiC just took out episodes that were important (Sailor V's Past) and that was just pointless. Plus I think people are so mad at DiC becuase they were the first to dub it, and then when Cloverway came along, they are so happy to see it's not DiC, that many people will defend Cloverway because they kept more original things than DiC did. Cloverway is better than Dic, but still bad. (Serena's Voice..ACKK!) But people who complain about Michiru and Haruka's relationship, i think they are nitpicking. Yes, it would be more orignal, but this is an adaptation...sad to say. Plus many complain that the voices of both companies are not similiar to the original seiyuus. That's nitpicking because American people don't sound like Japanese people. End of Story. So overall, Cloverway is better, but not perfect...will it ever be??!? - Kristin

I want to say that I don't think neither DiC nor CWi is better than the other. For one thing, they're still using the same company to do the actual dubbing for them. For another, they're censoring the exact same things, and in a way, CWi is actually censoring things that are going to be hard for them to really pull off (i.e., the "cousins" thing). I suppose that that fact would make CWi's worse than DiC's, but CWi is trying to do a good job with the dub. Overall, I think that if you didn't show me at the end who did the dubbing, I couldn't tell the difference. In fact, for the first episode of the S season, I didn't know that CWi was dubbing it, and I think it was just the same as DiC.
- infectedelf