Sailor Moon - Reviews

One word for this shoujo series: SUCKY.

Plot: i'm pretty sure there are a ton of magical girl animes(im not even sure if iv'e seen all of them),but the idea of Sailor Moon was pretty unique(girls from planets,NICE idea!) but it was ruined due to the amount of  fight scences(it's ethier a tiara or wand, and you ALWAYS expect Tuxedo Mask to throw a rose and save Usagi!YAWN!).Also,the enemy is ALWAYS someone from the Negaverse,draining the life out of a random adolecent or child.

animation:everything looks more flat,and almost looks like it has no dimension!

sound:the sound affects were pretty pathetic,but the theme song was fine.

Charecters:all of the senshi girls are sterotypical teenage girls! there is just about no charecter difference,but the fact they have only slightly differentt clothing andnpowers.Everyone is also GOOD or BAD.The main protoganist is not put in the middle of everything,unlike Fullmetal Alchemsit.

trust me,if you want a good magical girl anime,watch Card Captor Sakura instead,because Sakura Kinomoto can kick Sailor Moon's dumb *ss!!he plot almost won it for me though.

In 2011, Japan celebrated the 20th anniversary of the classic Sailor Moon manga by Takeuchi Naoko. Getting the vibe, I also wanted to retaste this utter classic by reading it, but inconveniently I could not find the original manga volumes. So I decided to go with the anime. This is the review based on the first 46 episodes and NOT the entire series.

Who doesn't know Sailor Moon? Hey, I mean it's a classic every good otaku should have read or seen once in their life. It tells the story of Tsukino Usagi, a clumsy and crybaby who gets, one day, to meet Luna , an envoyee from the Moon. She then gets to transform in a Sailor Warrior, aka the Moon one to defend people from the Dark Kingdom. Along the way, she makes really valuable and dependable friends ( I am going to cover this part later in the review) to help her in the task to find the Moon Princess. And not only that, someone called Toxuedo mask appears whenever she has trouble with the bad guys. I still find that the monster-of-the-week pattern is lame and I would have though Sato Junichi ( the director of the series) would have been a lot more creative because in it's greatest moments Sailor Moon ( the series not the character) can be really good (mention to ep 32 to 35 that were unbelievable, and also to the two episodes finale).

I will not develop on the animation , because my thoughts could be considered biaised since Sailor Moon is an really old show of 1992.

The sound, well,was far from perfect. The soundtrack was listenable and the voice actors, ok. Still I thought that the main protagonists voices were REALLY similar and that got on my nerves seriously. I hope that in the future seasons they will correct that.

Opening section: I absolutely ADORED the first version of the opening with the Sailor Moon main song known around the world: Moon Densetsu. The lyrics were beautiful by the way.Second one was not that good though.

Ending section: Not really interesting so I will not comment.

The fame of Sailor Moon comes with its characters. The main cast consists of the five Sailor Warriors: Usagi, Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako. They all are different but also, sadly, quite alike. I hope that in the future the creators will develop them more. There is something to do with them that could be really interesting. Besides them, there is few side characters like Mamoru, Motoki, Naru, Umino, etc. The show takes it's time to develop them. Something that the future seasons should continue seriously and just not forget about them and let them in the garbage bin. If you're interested, here is my ranking of the five Sailor warrior:

1) Sailor Mars/ Rei Hino: I just like how fiery and proud she is. She doesn't let anyone think for her and knows what she wants. Besides, in that red senshi uniform she is just splendidly gorgeous.

2) Sailor Jupiter/ Makoto Kino: I always loved the big sister type of character so I undoubtly felt something for her. She is brave, kind and sooo strong. And she is tall.^^

3) Sailor Moon/ Usagi Tsukino: The heroine of the series. She is an pure idiot with a big heart. And I love idiots. I still prefer her as **********.

4) Sailor Venus / Minako Aino. The show hasn't developed much about her up to the end of the fisrt season so I can't really say. She looks just like a blonde Sailor Mars so no no. She is too bland for me.

5) Sailor Mercury/ Ami Mizuno. Well, apart from the fact that she is brilliant, I don't really like her.

 

Lelouchllover's personal comment: When people think about Sailor Moon, they think about a series destined to young girls and children. I was amazed to see that this public opinion is completely false. When I watched the series, I just could not feel that this series is destined to children. And here are my arguments: 1) Usagi is two-timer ( in the beginning of the series she loves TWO men that are Motoki and Toxuedo Mask) 2) She has two friends ready to hit on any guy 3) The sexual implicit costumes ( that I think were designed that way to attire male audience and readers. Source: wikipedia) 4) The show can be REALLY brutal and yes sado-masochistic and so on... Mind it could be only me who is imagining things.

Overall, if you like magical girl type of the series with mini skirts, well go ahead. Why not? For my part, I liked it and I say that I will review the other seasons as well along with the movies. I would love to see more Serenity/ Endymion in the future. I just cannot wait for the third season directed from none other by genius Ikuhara.

Score: 3.5/5. An ok score from such a series. In the name of the Moon, I shall punish you!

From left to right: Ami(Mercury);Rei(Mars);Usagi(Moon); Makoto(Jupiter); Minako (Venus)

 

Next! Baka to Test to Shuukanjuu with my Soul Eater and Guardian of the Spirit( Seirei no Moribito) DVD reviews.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To the majority of all Anime fans, whether Sailor Moon is good enough to charm a little girl off her feet or appeal to an older audience seeking nostalgia is a question of utter irrelevance. What most people should be asking themselves is whether or not it can actually appeal to a male or adult audience, and after having seen all 46 episodes I'm pretty sure that it can. Now, I do admit that I used to watch this as a child, but the only parts of it I could remember before I re-visited it were the transformation sequences, Sailor Mars and the Swedish dub of the ending theme. All in all this was a fairly pleasant viewing experience.

Story: 5/10

Despite my recently acquired affection for the franchise, I definitely wouldn't call Sailor Moon story driven. It recycles repetitive formulas like identical battle techniques throughout all episodes and a monster-of-the-week theme that quickly loses its charm. One could argue that it plays right into the hands of a little child's yearning for familiarity by featuring at least 5 minutes of recycled material in each episode, and this damages the overall progression heavily. So, why would anyone want to watch this? The answer is simple; it's insanely charming.

It depicts a friendship between 5 Sailor Soldiers; teenaged girls’ protecting the virtues of love and justice, and it does so with remarkable precision. They all have their adolescent crushes on various boys and they always find themselves in situations that most little girls probably dream of themselves, especially when fed the Prince-Princess propaganda established in the West by Walt Disney. All in all, the narrative of Sailor Moon isn't as atrocious as many would think, but it most certainly isn't very good.

Animation: 6/10

I'm not sure if I'm going delusional, but I think Sailor Moon undergoes a transition in animation quality somewhere around episode 10. I remember how the awful visuals and shapes annoyed me in the first few episodes, but then somewhere along the line I felt like the visual section improved itself heavily. In all honesty, I wouldn't say Sailor Moon's animation is dangerously outdated, but it definitely can't compete with more modern titles.

Some sequences that are re-used throughout all episodes are remarkably better animated, and probably looked stunning by contemporary standards. But then again, if you're going to show Sailor Moon and her friends transform more than 30 times, you better at least make the sequences aesthetically pleasing.

Sound: 7/10

Another surprisingly strong category is the sound. The opening theme is very suitable to the themes of the story, and is designed to be used as part of the soundtrack as well, though in other versions where violins and music boxes are used to play it out. The mundane struggles of Usagi (Sailor Moon) are complimented with jolly and mood-raising little tunes that fit in very well with the context.

The voice actors were very formidable when it comes to displaying the basic set of emotions that they're required too. With such an emphasis on their different personalities, it's highly beneficial with acting of such unexpected quality.

Characters: 7/10

If anyone ever told me that Sailor Moon is character driven I would have laughed hysterically. Now I realize that this is actually the case. Each Sailor Soldier is designed with different personalities and virtues so that most girls (and boys) will find at least one character to relate to. Character development progresses slowly but is definitely present most of the time.

The events of Sailor Moon take place in a world where minimal changes to your clothing makes you 100% unrecognizable, even by your friends and family. Physically, Sailor Moon is just a slightly altered, yet very identical version of Usagi, but nobody seems able to figure out that they're actually the same person.

I'll also acknowledge a relationship within the show that was censored in the U.S version when it aired on TV. The two servants of The Dark Kingdom, Zoisite and Kunzite are involved in a romantic relationship despite them both being male (could never happen in Western cartoons). The American dub pretended that Zoisite was a woman which works well with his feminine characteristics, but in all honesty I liked the way something as rare to see in a children's show was included.

Overall: 6.4/10

Despite exploring some darker themes by the end of its run, Sailor Moon remembers its origin with an admirable determination; it depicts a world where girls long for their princes, boys for their princesses, and where love holds a tremendous power. The show is recommended primarily for a younger audience, but is definitely enjoyable for older ones as well. There are times when the lack of plot progression will anger you, but if you just stick with it you'll get a surprisingly good show. Note how many times I use the word "surprising" or "surprisingly" in this review!

 

Well well well. Who has never seen at least some episodes of this anime, hands up. If that's your case, then you are probably no older than 10-12 years, as whoever had his/her childhood/adolescence back between 1992 and around 2000 *must* have seen at least some episodes of this anime at least once. Yes, even the manly 25 year old guy with 80 kg muscles for whom one wouldn't even think that he ever even had a childhood. By choice or not, everyone knows this one, just like everyone sees the stars in the sky, even while he/she actually has no clues on what they are made of, what's their name, etc.
Together with the Power Rangers and some others, this one is a milestone that signed an era of what concerns anime, cartoons and TV shows in general of a couple of decades ago, even for those who weren't plunged at all into the anime world.

Don't deny it. Basically everyone has seen it... But most just refuse to admit it out of personal pride.

That said, while I watched it again just a few days ago, I'm also considering my memories of when I saw it about 15 years ago, and the impact that this anime had at that time.
If you just want an objective review of what this anime shall be judged by *today's* standards, it's not exactly what you will find here.

Story - 8/10
The Dark Kingdom on one side, attempting to restore the former glory of the realm of monsters on Earth by stealing life essence from humans.
The Sailor warriors on the others, simple girls who discover one truth after another on the kingdoms of Earth and Moon of the past, as well as on the past of themselves, and are pulled into a quest to avoid the submission of the Earth to the will of the Dark Kingdom.

The main plot mentioned is quite straightforward, with no exceptional depth of details.
Also the first episodes all follow the same pattern: a monster appears, some of the already known Sailor Senshi goes down to battle, and with some efforts the monster is defeated.
And this keeps happening as long as the girls are fighting the pawns of the Dark Kingdom.
Things get a little more interesting when the ones behind the apparition of those monsters start to reveal themselves and to interact with some humans, sometimes even with the Sailor Senshi. And since up to some point both parts do not know the real identities of the ones they are fighting (let's just pretend that, when transformed, they cannot be recognized :P), a few interesting situations rise up.

But the real turning point is when something determinant is revealed to both factions. No spoils, but I guess everyone who has seen Sailor Moon knows what I am referring to, and everyone who still hasn't (if there really is someone that doesn't) will foresee that revelation already from the 2nd or 3rd episode.
However, what really counts is that from that moment the narration gets more interesting.

In the end it is not an excellent story by nowadays' standards, but nevertheless 20 years ago it surely made its way into the hearts of many of us.

Animation - 9/10
Looking at the anime you will probably think: "Wow that's quite a generous judgement here".
If I had to examine raw graphic alone, then I would surely agree. But there's more behind it.

The way the events contained in Sailor Moon can be remembered thanks to some really good choices in the animations actually show how it's not just the quality of the single frames that require quite a mastery in the making of.
It's been many, many years since the last time I've seen this, but I remembered the transformations, the moves, the aspects of the characters like if I had seen it yesterday.

Simple animation, yes, but effective, really effective.

Kinda of the same of Shana's "Urusai, urusai, urusai!" in Shakugan no Shana: you won't forget it that soon.

Sound - 6/10
Mostly a discrete work here, just some of the voices are sometimes "irritating".
The little song that plays in the background during transformation-time is cute, nothing extraordinary, but it would surely be missed if it wasn't there.

I don't know what to add.

Watch the live action and it will be a complete different story. :)

Characters - 8/10
While the anime rotates around the battle between good and evil, some importance is given to how the characters can live up this newfound reality on a psychologic basis.
Obviously, considering the main target audience of this anime, these aspects could not be taken to a too complex level.

Nevertheless the basis of these aspects are there, allowing the viewer to either simply enjoy the development of the strife between good and evil or if preferred question him/herself on the psychology of the characters of both factions. In that second case one would discover that it is not such a simple "monster-of-the-day" anime.

Again, I think that the live action further improve these factors.

Overall - 8/10
One could call Sailor Moon a childish anime for sissy mademoiselles. I do not care. It was part of my youth and for that I give it the credits it deserves.

I would just add that if you liked the anime, you should really watch the live action as well (I mentioned it a couple of times in this review).
While the fights are not exactly a masterwork, there is a way deeper exploration of the characters' personalities, and a way more interesting development of the relationships between the characters.

   

STORY:

This was one of the very first anime that I have ever watched. I began watching Sailor Moon on Toonami when I was all of ten or eleven years old and was incredibly sad when Toonami went off the air when I was thirteen or fourteen (I can't really remember which one lol), and I fell in love with it!

And for those of you who are so clearly wayyyyy younger than me and have to have the storyline explained  to you because you have just heard about this anime though have never seen it I'll explain the story to you...

The story is about Serena (a.k.a Usagi but as I watched the English version I will stick with calling her Serena so ... sorry if I offend people...) who is a fourteen year old clumsy, scatterbrained middle school girl. She comes across a talking black cat one day that is named Luna who gives her a compact/broach and tells her she is Sailor Moon, a protector of justice, and a warrior from the moon kingdom meant to find the Moon Princess and protect her. Serena's job is to fight the Negaverse an old enemy of the Moon Kingdom that once destroyed it. Over the course of this first season you're introduced to the main players of the Negaverse and their Queen Beryl as they try to take over the planet and find the rainbow crystals. Meanwhile on the side of good, the Sailor Scouts grow from just Serena to adding on Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupitor, and finally Sailor Venus (as well as Sailor V's talking white cat Artemus). Not to mention Tuxedo Mask who always shows up at just the right time to save the Sailor Scouts from a very sticky situation lol.

And so this is the basic storyline for this anime...

ANIMATION:

You have to remember that Sailor Moon is an anime from the early, early 90's. At the time the animation was probably spectacular but nowdays it's ... well ... amature <cringe> I really hate that word but the art was nowhere near spectacular, or even all that good ... it was just ... tolerable.

SOUND:

The english dubbed version (the only version that I've seen) was just alright. Not horrible, but not spectacular either, just ... alright. The voices were ... okay. The music was ... okay. So ya, nothing really spectacular.

CHARACTERS:

I have always loved the characters of Sailor Moon. They were the main reason that I was so easily addicted to the anime! Serena was so ditzy and funny, I just adored her!  Amy was sweet, kind, and far too smart.  Rei was prickly but I adored her arguements with Serena ... they always made me giggle! Leta was tough on the outside but a big ol' marshmallow on the inside with a soft spot for all those she cared about. Mina was smart, sassy, unafraid to speak her mind. Luna was like a lecturing mother, always trying to get Serena to do her homework or do this and that, but you could tell she had a major soft spot for Serena. Artemus was a lot like Luna but his soft spot was for Mina. Darian was a bit tough to get a handle on in this first season but I loved his interactions with Serena! And, of course, the bad guys and many side characters were also important and added much to the entertainment of this anime.

OVERALL:

I get an overwhelming feeling of nosgalia when I look back at this anime. I absolutely loved it as a kid and still quite enjoy it! I give it an overall score of 6.5 and recommend the anime to people who love Magical Girl, Shoujo, or anime oldies xD. It is a good anime if you can look past its flaws...