AQ : Rantings and Ravings

I don't know why everyone is saying that Clowerway is so much better. True they kept some of the original music but does that make that big a difference? The voices are soooo terrible I can't even enjoy the show. Serena, "Amara", and "Trista"(ugh it makes me sick to think of the horrible names they gave Haruka and Setsuna) have the worst VA I have ever heard they have absolutely no emotion and the voices just don't fit with the characters. The dialogue is even worse. Sure nobody says "wicked kewl" but does anyone still say "da bomb" either? They tried way to hard to make the show better suited for todays kids. Next, the show is so inconsistent, not just with the names of things but with the characters. One day Serena was saying Rini was her cousin then she was saying they were sisters. Anywayz... CWI has ruined the show more than Dic ever could and everyone that's saying it's so much better is basing it on the fact that they kept the music.
- Chibi Makoto

Dic or Cloverway? I'd have to go with Cloverway because of the music and their tendency to try and keep the story close to the original. And they do try but some things are not US-friendly and so must be changed because what mother is going to let her kid watch a cartoon with lesbians and a Messiah. But to be honest I really don't care about who is better. I'm just happy that I can see the episodes. Yes I know that there are a lot of mistakes and some horrid changes but I know what is suppose to be going on. I know about the Messiah and the Holy Grail and the lesbians so they can say what they want. The only reason people are so upset about changes is because it is not the original. Well, guess what, you will never get the original on American TV. It just isn't going to happen. In the meantime it's fun to watch the dub and see how they are going to handle this part or this issue. And at least they give people something to write about or complain about depending on your point of view. - Annie

To start off, I have grown to dislike any dubbed anime that is out there. It seems to always dumb down the quality of humor and the culture of Japan. The voices are usually VERY bad in taste and most of them really need to take lessons on how to act. If they could even get to the level of an american toon like Titan AE or maybe even Disney they would have a lot less complaints.
Anyhow, back to the debate... I would honestly say it is a toss up. I am leaning more toward DiC at this moment for a few moments and then I lean back toward Cwi. Both, in my opinion is bad, but the lesser of the two evils is hard to say. Since I started a Dubb Guide on my site to help visitors [who don't know the original] adapt I did a S series guide and Cwi makes it impossible to determine what attacks/names/items/etc are officially called. One day it will be a Star Power, the next Planet Power and so on.
Admittedly, I flipped when I heard the name Amara and the voice was atrocious. When I heard cousins I almost died. Point of this is the voices are pretty bad, but I think I covered that in my opening paragraph ;) One redeeming quality they have over DiC is they keep the Japanese BGM. It helps me sit through an episode. All was going well until they changed the words in Ai no Senshi! [people who visit my site are probably saying "well, if you dislike it so much stop watching" but I am doing this for the people who do watch it so my page can be enjoyable to them as well]
DiC..... well, DiC is responsible for the chopping of episodes [42,45-46, etc] and loosing a lot of the story in the process. They also cut everyone off in the middle of the R season the first time around. Cwi has changed a lot of things and are VERY sloppy about their work but in the same sence a lot has been kept. More things are familiar to me from the original. Oh, and Negaverse is just as bad as Bureau of Bad Behavior. I think both are rotten eggs but I would go with DiC being better. At least they didn't try to explain the hiragana on Usagi's [er serena's] letter as made-up symbols.... that was awful and degrading. Even though I am not Japanese I was offended by that.
In conclusion, I will stick to my fansubbs until some wonderful company [hopefully pioneer] will release the series as an uncut, subbed DVD like the movies. I can dream, can't I?
-Bunny-san

Believe it or not, I have watched most of the original series for a number of years now, but I thoroughly enjoy watching Cloverway's SM adaption. I honestly look forward to it everyday, which I could never say I did for DiC. Here are my reasons:
1. Cousins. You know what, it's a lot better then saying "sisters". Besides, it's basically the ONLY way SMS would have even have been adapted. By saying they're relatives in any way, shape or form, the season now becomes acceptable. Do you actually think Cartoon Network would risk being sued by some crazed parent because they mention that Amara and Michelle are in love with each other? NO!
2. Amara is a pretty name! Granted, it is very feminine, but it is still a very nice name, although I personally would have gone with Alex. Michelle is the perfect name for Michiru, Trista is fine, and I literally jumped in the air when I heard Hotaru introduce herself.
3. Transformations, daimons, etc. are almost unedited. At least they didn't edit Kaolinite's breasts. Sure, they do cut out a few seconds of daimon panty-lines, etc....but it's better then not showing an entire episode.
4. Original Music.
The list goes on. Ofcourse Cloverway has its flaws, but you have to remember...this show is NOT meant for 20 year olds...it's meant for 5-10 year olds who don't know any better then to think the VAs were great actors, that the henshin phrases go unchanged, etc. Personally, I find that this is as close to a good dub of SM as we're going to get. - YurivXv

Personally, I prefer Cloverway over DiC. My reasons:
1. Original music kept: I like that. Although some of the DiC music was pretty cool, this gives me a chance to hear something else and try something new. I especially love the Outer's transformation music.
2. No deletion of Japanese characters and references: That's just interesting. It's clear now that they DO live in Tokyo. (Except for maybe a few car scenes) I'm obsessed with the Japanese culture and I think it's kinda neat that my little sister who watches is asking me questions about what things mean and what things are.
3. The relationship between Uranus and Neptune: Okay, so they ARE cousins. Close cousins. The bond is still there. I mean, anyone over the age of 12 watching KNOWS they're already lesbians. Does Cloverway need to prove it? For the little ones (all right. I know we're the majority, but younger kids DO watch) who aren't quite ready for that yet, they realize that Neptune and Uranus are #1 in each other's lives. Everything that made us think "aww, they're so cute together" is STILL THERE. I think DiC could've done the same thing with Zoisite and Mala-...ahem, Kunzite. They could've been made close friends instead.
Contrary to popular opinion, this is NOT an issue of homophobia. I seriously don't think that our culture is ready for a show partly aimed at kids to have homosexual characters in it. It's sad, but true. I bet someday soon we'll be accepting enough for that, then maybe DiC or Cloverway or SOMEBODY will release an "uncut" version, who knows? Just....not yet.
Also, who didn't cry at the episode where Uranus and Neptune almost died? (I don't wanna get into whether they ACTUALLY died or not, people get mad at me.) I will no longer believe ANYONE who says Amara's voice actor has no personality. I saw that episode in Japanese and the English version still keeps every MOLECULE of drama. A lot of the most dramatic moments (Day of Destiny? Okay, I'm a sucker for death scenes, so sue me.) were lost completely in DiC's version.
I didn't think DiC was too bad, though. Cloverway is better, in my opinion, but I think DiC did a really good job with the second half of R. (Sapphire DIED. He wasn't kidnapped or put to sleep, he DIED. And there were quite a few dramatic episodes.) I think they first started dubbing with the little ones in mind. Who knew that the main audience would be teenagers? They realized this a bit too late. I think that DiC would've done a good job with SMS, but for reasons I'm to lazy to cut through all the rumors and confusion to learn about, Cloverway now has the rights.
- Sailor Perseus

I don't like any version of the dub better, but I feel DIC did a better job in actual dubbing. The voices are overall much better, especially the chalkboard-like CWI Serena, and they were far more consistent. CWI isn't better because they left in the music, they're worse! DIC at least shows that they could take the time and make new background music and songs, where CWI just left it in because it was easier to do so. Anyone who tries to do a website on the CWI dub and doesn't know better will be hard-pressed to get it right. On any given day you could have a number of different attack and henshin phrases. The characters in the DIC dub aren't complete Valley Girls; though Serena has been known to say "Wicked cool!", that's not nearly as bad as Pluto's completely out of character "Check it out!" when she holds up her Talisman...oh wait, I mean 'the thingy that has those powers that we need', or something... Negaverse may be annoying, but Bureau of Bad Behavior?! At least Negaverse sounds slightly threatening. Bureau of Bad Behavior sounds like a toddler deliquent center.
- Queen Sailor Galaxia

Personally, I don't think that either has an obvious advantage over the other. They both have their faults and they both have their good points. The thing is they are different for different people. Some people like certain things, while others hate the same thing. I have a conclusion that is hard for some people to realize: There is no such thing as the perfect dub. If it's "dubbed" there are obviously going to be changes. There are some controversial issues that America can't deal with. There's never going to be a dub that's the same as the original. DiC and Cloverway both did a decent job of dubbing SM and I think that people should just be happy with the fact that SM is in America. People just can't realize that they can't always get what they want. They can't get it customized for their own viewing.
- Mercuryblush

I think that in order to form a valid opinion on which dub is better you need to watch the whole show once again. This would be for review especially if you are like my friends and I who are excited about this season being aired. At this point in time I feel as though I don't have the liberty to say which dub is better. Cartoon Network started the show immediately after the first season ended and not after the R season where it's supposed to go. Until I see the entire show in the correct order, I don't know who is better.
For different reasons people like their particular dubs better. Personally, I like consistency and Cloverway is catering even less to this than DiC did. People like the original music that Cloverway kept. For each person, the high and low points of the two companies' dubs are different and weighed accordingly to what that person values more. Each dub has strong points and each has weak points which can definitely be improved upon if they merely took a little more time. Dubs are pretty much the only way I can get Sailor Moon and I am merely happy that they dubbed more episodes so I can watch them, no matter if some people dislike them or not.
- Sarah