Most of the jokes are dub-based.
I can't help but feel that part this review is Completely Missing The Point of an Abridged series. All of them work on a Rule Of Funny, most are mocking the dubbed version of a series, and they're aimed at fans of the series (dubbed or original) rather than haters. Exploring why a character and/or series "are so shallow" is better left for a written essay.
I love the series, but I've always thought that the later episodes weren't as funny BECAUSE they stopped making fun of the ridiculous plots and started leaning on the character's established ridiculousness instead {Raye being loud, Mina being a slut, Amy can't be heard, etc). Granted, some episodes can't be helped because they weren't so bad in the dub but still, I hope next season we focus on more dub ridiculous.
I'd just like to point out that you hating the characters is kind of the point. It's an Abridged Series! You're not supposed to like them.
Like another said, most of the jokes are dub-based. And I find the character-driven humor hilarious and a great mockery of the original dub. Also, I see no problem with being serious about some parts of the plot. Just because the dub version sucked overall, doesn't mean some parts can't be good and deserve to be left alone to give the show a little more depth. A series can be terrible as a whole, but some parts can be good. I see no problem with allowing for a healthy mix of both.
I think the issue the original is getting at is that, as far as abridge series go, it's not a very good one. It's not so much running on rule of funny after a few episodes as it is 'Hey this got us lots of views, lets keep repeating it.' As the better abridge series show, there's more to a parody than the same jokes over and over again.
This IS one of the better abridged shows.
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Season 1
As someone that has a strong distaste for Sailor Moon with some small amount of fascination, this series seemed perfect for me. What better way to let off frustration with the original than to watch a total mockery? Unfortunately, much like the source, it leaves one just wondering what could have been...
Most of the problem is that the characters are one-note. Serena is fat! Raye is a masochist! Lina is a transvestite! Most of the humor comes from just repeating these notes over and over and over and over... and over again. I get it: the original characters are shallow. That doesn't mean one should make them even more shallow. Why not explore why the original characters are so shallow than just making cheap caricatures?
Still, there are moments of cleverness. The villains are generally better written and more self-aware. They still sometimes fall into screamy fits, but everybody on this show does. The hateful attitude the characters hold to each other generally works, but it feels very arbitrary at times; as though the creators can't really think of any other way to approach the humor.
I think the biggest cardinal sin the series commits is starting believing in the original's drama. One can't start with a total brutalization of a series and then decide partway through "oh, it's alright". No. Either go all the way or limit the scope from the beginning. It is a total whiplash to go from "this series was terrible" to "this part worked".
Still, there are funny parts. Throw enough at the wall and some of it will stick. Raye was funny at first and pointing out the moral dissonance is a plus. I'm not sure I can really recommend this series, though. There is a metric crapton of bullshit surrounding the occasional good joke and after a while, one just starts to feel this strong animosity towards the characters. It's probably not a good sign that they took characters I mostly just found extremely boring and made them intensely unlikable.
Then again, maybe I'm missing something due to having watched the original Japanese series rather than the dub...