Sailor Moon

I'm guessing that most of the current fans of anime remember this one fondly... I know I do.

I watched this for the first time not knowing that this was even anime; several years later, I find myself trying to find all the episodes I can of this excellent series.

I'll admit: this show is not without its flaws. The dubbing was pretty bad, but it WAS entertaining, and the monster-of-the-day thing was kind of tedious, but fans remember stuff like that.

Flaws aside, this was an excellent starter anime for the States.

8/10

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon...one of the greatest animes I have ever seen,but DiC butchered it,and I mean seriously. In the original japanese version, Sailor Moon was made for all ages,but the target audience was mostly teens. why? because SailorMoon features things such as : scantily clad fourteen year olds, transsexuality, gender changes (in the Stars season the starlights changed into males when they came to earth then turn female again when they transform) mushy romance, violence, death of the main characters, reincarnation, etc. But in the DiC dub version, many of these things were taken out.

First rant : In the dub,the names were screwed altogether. for those who dont know any of the japanese names,here is what we are looking at : Haruka to Amara (Sailor Uranus) Michiru to Michelle (Sailor Neptune) Usagi to Serena (Bunny in the manga)(Sailor Moon) Setsuna to Trista (Sailor Pluto) Ami to Amy (If I remember correctly,they are said differently) (Sailor Mercury) Rei to Raye (Same as before) (Sailor Mars) Makato to Lita (Sailor Jupiter) Minako to Mina (Sailor V & Sailor Venus) Mamoru to Darien (Tuxedo Kamen/Mask) Chibi-Usa to Rini (Chibi/Mini-Moon ALSO Sailor Senshi (soldier) was changed to Sailor Scout The title,'Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon' (Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon), is now just 'Sailor Moon' Note that Hotaru(Sailor Saturn)'s name stayed the same,I guess it was because she was in the anime for such a short period of time. I don't know wether or not the cats names were changed,from what I know they havent been.

Second Rant : Haruka and Michiru are what?!?! COUSINS? DiC has sunk to an ultimate low,taking the best relationship of the series and making the two of them cousins just because they are both female.That was pretty stupid considering they left in such parts that showed that they in fact aren't cousins! ie: The two holding hands and gazing lovingly at each other at the pool, The way Uranus freaked out when Neptune's Heart Crystal was stolen,no way would cousins be THAT close! That is ridiculous, they also changed zoicite's sexuality completely. Talk about stupid...and Fisheye..eww...that sickens me,Fisheye used to be a crossdressing gay guy but hey,it was still a stupid move to change him into a girl.

Third Rant : The death of the Sailor Soldiers. Why oh why did they take the death of the Sailor Soldiers out? And when Sailor Saturn died,did she not become a baby version of herself whom Pluto,Uranus,and Neptune took in and took care of? I know for a fact this happened in the manga,but did it also not happen in the anime? And IF it did,did it for some stupid reason not survive the dub? And what about that one time Ruby (I geuss thats his name) killed all the Senshi on those crosses? I'll admit that was a little morbid that played a big part in that episode!

OKAY,I'm getting ahead of myself so I'll just shut-up,but I promise you this..I will be back for more ranting once I've slept a full three hours at the least!

"Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon" was a hugely popular anime based on the Manga by Naoko Takeuchi. It's 200 episodes are a hermetic fantasy that many don't like and never will. But I like it and I can't help myself!

I remember how it was the first time I saw it. I was in trans, completely overwhelmed by its magic. I loved all characters, especially the clumsy Minako and Usagi, whom are sometimes almost acting as twins. There was one very funny episode in which Usagi and Makoto were both in love with Motoki but Makoto found out that he already has a girlfriend, Reika. But Usagi didn't know that and started asking Makoto questions: "You look so sad! Do you need an advice in love?"-"Yes."-"Tell me whom have you fallen in love with?"-"...with...Motoki."-"Noooooo!( Scene of Usagi falling into a dark pit)"-"Calm down! I thought you liked Tuxedo Kamen!"-"...well, I like them both!"-"Unfortunately, Motoki already has a girlfriend."-"...He has?! That must be...me!"-"NO!!!!Its Reika!" The thing that everyone is complaining the most are the demons. Many regard them as a completely abstract thing in this other vise realistic drama/comedy about adolescence . But you can also make that complain for "Shin Seiki Evangelion's" angels that Shinji is fighting against. You just have to regard them as a metaphor, maybe as a symbol for Usagi's low self esteem. That's why the more demons she beats, the more mature she gets. Also, they sometimes work like a Greek chorus, progressing the story and changing Usagi from a clumsy child to a grown and mature woman.

--------------------

Some episodes are hilarious. For example, the 5 girls are fighting over who should play Snow White in a stage show. Makoto, whom has the biggest breast, just simply brags with them and says "I should get that role. I have the biggest...talents." In another episode in season 4, Minako is trying to seduce a kindergarten teacher with these words: "Mr. Honyo...How many children would you like to have? I would like 2, but if you want so many to fill a whole soccer team...I wouldn't mind!"

The directors Junichi Sato, Takuya Igarashi and Kunihiko Ikuhara made a wonderful job, especially in the last season 5. There the wonderful pop group Three lights( Taiki, Yaten, Seiya )appears and almost steals the show. I just loved the idea that they were transfered to Usagi's class where all the girls fell in love with them. Even Minako wanted to seduce one of them, Seiya; she pretended that she had something in her eye and asked Seiya if he can bend towards her face, so that looking from the profile it looked as if he was going to kiss her! At the same time Usagi was hiding and ready to make a photo of them and publish a false story in the newspaper that they are a love couple. Also very interesting characters: Michiru and Haruka, whom are lesbians, but that is always only subtle hinted. Haruka looks like lady Oscar from the anime "Versailles No Bara". The story only gets better from season to season, and has a lot of emotions, imagination and humor. For some reason, that mix worked, unlike some other anime like "Wedding Peach" ( 6/10 ), "Card captor Sakura" ( 6/10 )and "Cutey Honey" ( 6/10 ).

An evil alter ego inside me, the one that always found the bad side at everything, waited for one false move in this anime that could cause the whole story to collapse. But that didn't happen. "Sailor Moon" created its very own world, and in it made itself comfortable. It's guilty pleasure and high art in one. Genius.

Grade: 10/10

OK. Sailor Moon... WOW! I first got into this when I was 8 years old (when it was shown on Fox Kids). This was the American Dub. I waited 2 years after they cancelled the show until I finally decided that it wasn't going to come back. From then until 24/08/05 (around then anyway) I wanted it on DVD. After spending, wait for it... nearly 100 quid on all 200 episodes and the 3 films I WAS NOT disappointed. It's true what everyone says - Japanese version is sooo much better. The jokes are funnier, it's not as babyish, there's a lot of real-life stuff (boyfriends, friends, school etc) that is also really interesting. I bought Sailor Moon S and Super S as the ones with an English audio option (Japanese also though) but when it came to it, the dub was so terrible, the voices also, that I just carried on watching in Japanese with English subtitles. Seriously - the voices are great (they are so believable and fitting the person that I can't even express it in words) and on the American dub they are terrible (sooooo terrible)!!! I have to recommend watching all of the episodes because the best season by far, in my opinion, is Sailor Stars (the 5th and final) so you kind of need to have seen the others. But this season has so much good stuff - the introduction of Seiya, Yaten and Taiki etc just make you watch episode after episode. Also Galaxia comes and the whole plot of Sailor Moon becomes clear. Why everything happened in the first place... It's just BRILLIANT. I'm not saying anymore because it would be spoiling it but the battles between everyone and Galaxia are so intense. And I love the idea that 'everyone shines' but you won't get that unless you've seen it.

So if you are interest... buy the Japanese version and watch all episodes! They may be a bit babyish at first but just wait and you'll be hooked without even realising it! I rate it 10/10 for ideas, plot, comedy, picture, tension, voices... but remember that this rating is for the Japanese NOT the American Dub!!!

When i think back on what got me into Anime i instantly think of Sailor Moon. I've been watching Anime now for 12 years now and i would have never known about it,if it wasn't for this show. The characters are lovable and enjoyable. I like the main character, Serena because almost in ever anime the characters are self righteous or arrogant but Serena was Goofy and a klutz and i fell in love with the character just for those things. The comedy was well balanced out and the show had some pretty funny moments! The comedy was added to balance out the drama and romance and it worked well. That brings me to the romance...i just got to say this show has some of the best hook ups and heart breaks EVER! The action was great! I loved how as time passed the characters got better and learned more and more about they're hidden past and where they came from. I also liked how the show let you get to know the villains unlike most shows where the villain is there just to further the plot by telling his plans or attacking the hero of the story! Sailor Moon really let you get the chance to know who the enemy really is! In short Sailor Moon is a certified classic and a personal favorite of mine.