Usagi Tsukino is an average student and crybaby klutz who constantly scores low on her tests. Unexpectedly, her humdrum life is turned upside down when she saves a cat with a crescent moon on its head from danger. The cat, named Luna, later reveals that their meeting was not an accident: Usagi is destined to become Sailor Moon, a planetary guardian with the power to protect the Earth. Given a special brooch that allows her to transform, she must use her new powers to save the city from evil energy-stealing monsters sent by the malevolent Queen Beryl of the Dark Kingdom.
But getting accustomed to her powers and fighting villains are not the only things she has to worry about. She must find the lost princess of the Moon Kingdom, the other Sailor Guardians, and the Legendary Silver Crystal in order to save the planet from destruction.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
Skadi
It is often true that things experienced in your childhood never seem to live up to the wonderful memories you had of them when experiencing them again as an adult. It was with this state of mind that I entered my viewing of Sailor Moon, mostly from a desire to relive some nostalgia from my youth. I can truly say that it exceeded my expectations and left all those fond memories intact. As with most anime fans my age, Sailor Moon was one of the first series that I watched. It is one of those titles that many people know outsidethe anime fan base. Though it’s probably not the first "magical girl" anime it does in my opinion define the entire genre.
The first thing that is going to come to many people’s attention is going to be the artwork and sound quality. When compared to today’s standards it looks primitive and plain. The music is particularly uninspired and I doubt it was all that interesting when this show was new. The background music and sound effects feel like they are drawn out of a 80s B action movie. This show could really use a complete remastering of the audio. The voice acting though is strong and I felt the actors did a good job in portraying their characters though some of the performances, particularly from the villains are pretty campy.
Animation wise, the colors and styles are typical of what you expect from this era. The colors feel plain and washed out a little and we don’t have a lot of the detail that many modern shows have. This is not to say it’s bad, because it’s really not fair to compare it to newer shows because the technology has changed so much, but I still think it is relevant. I gained an appreciation for it as the series unfolded and I think most people will as well.
The overall story is something Sailor Moon does exceptionally well. From the start we get a sampling of a bigger danger to come and it moves along fairly slowly in the beginning. We get introduced to Usagi right away who quickly becomes Sailor Moon and starts fighting the enemy. Over the course of the first half of the series the other Sailor Warriors start to appear as we learn more about them and their pasts and building the friendships amongst each other. The plot does a great job of telling the origins of the Sailor Warriors and the reasons for the villain’s attacks. The last half in particular was very interesting and exciting. As a romance there is a lot to like about Sailor Moon. It treats the viewer to a serious and realistic feeling relationship that really puts its modern counterparts to shame. I found it to be the most compelling and rewarding part of the show.
The action is something that just isn’t that interesting however. It feels to simplistic and formulaic. The enemies change but after a while they all seem like they are the same. They get defeated in the same ways and the action itself never gets to be that exciting. Most of the shows battles are very short as well and the Sailor Warriors various special abilities take up most of them. They got a little long and boring as well after the 20th time seeing them. Anyone who is expecting or desiring intense magical action and special effects will be disappointed.
It wouldn't be a magical girl show without the famous transformation cut scene. Sailor Moon has plenty of these, and they get to be a bit unwieldy at times as the cast grows. Sailor Moons is the longest but the other Sailor Warriors are pretty short, which is good. Plus while we have to watch Usagi transform every time we often don’t have to watch all of the others or we get a shortened version. This is good because it takes away from the story.
The real shining light of Sailor Moon is the characters. Usagi as the lead is one of my favorite characters in anime. She starts off as a bit annoying with her crying and silliness but she really shines as a comedic character. She manages to grow during the course of the series and become stronger and more courageous. She has several love interests, or crushes would be more accurate. Eventually this grows into a serious relationship which I found very satisfying. Mamoru/Tuxedo Mask is the main love interest and both are completely oblivious of each other’s alter egos. I always found it amusing that he couldn’t tell Usagi was Sailor Moon when they look and act exactly alike.
Of the Sailor Warriors, Ami and Rei get the most screen time since they are brought in pretty early in the series. The conflict between Usagi-Rei was pretty amusing most of the time though it did seem to wear on me over time. My personal favorite of the girls was Makoto/Sailor Jupiter. I liked her the most from my childhood and that continued to today. She is one of the funnier characters, especially when she finds someone new who reminds her of her sempai who broke her heart. Minako is the last of the girls to be brought in and was probably the least interesting. Since she was bought in near the end there wasn’t enough time to really bring out her personality or give us much information on her past. The cast has a number of supporting characters which are pretty fun. Usagi's school friends are constantly getting into danger and a nice little side romance develops there. Luna serves as the advisor to the group and serves as the resident cute animal that must accompany magic girls on their adventures.
Overall I can’t recommend this series enough. Every fan of anime should see this show at least once. I would love to give it a 10 rating but the lackluster action and sound bring it down from being perfect.
VK11
Note: This review encompasses the entire series, rather than just the first season. Keep that in mind while reading. Thanks!! When anime fans start talking about shows that began their interest in japanese animation, many people point to the fact that their first experience with anime (whether they knew it or not at the time) is Sailor Moon. It's one of those anime shows that people fondly remember as the basis of "how to do anime right" for future shows of its kind. Even when comparing it with today's new trends, plots, characters and animation, it is easy to notice why SailorMoon is fondly accepted into the hearts of anime fans around the world.
In my eyes, you could not have picked a better anime to become immersed into the anime world than with Sailor Moon. And a big reason for that is the intricate and well-developed plot, arguably the strongest feature Sailor Moon presents. At the surface, you can say that it's your typical "children rising up to save the world" theme. However, this magic girl anime show presented unbelievable twists to the plot that included five different main story arcs with amazing depth to each of them and somehow, it always able to weave itself flawlessly back to the central theme that encompassed Sailor Moon. To top it all of, when you watched Sailor Moon, it was able to emotionally draw you into the show with ease, where you undoubtedly had your favorite sailor scouts and actually cared about each and every character and what happened to them. Very few anime shows back in the day (early 90's) were able to do that, and though we see it more often nowadays, its still a special skill that is needed.
Again, because of its 1992 creation, the art obviiously seems old-fashioned and not as crisp as what you watch nowadays. But if you really think about, each character was drawn well, each given different physical characteristics that separated each one from another and the backdrops used were well detailed to an extent. Sure, there were a ton of repeated frames (namely during transformation), but what anime nowadays doesn't have them? In all, it still holds up very well, even in today's times.
Depending on what version (English or Japanese) you are most familiar with and most vividly remember, the sound preference of the show could go either way. While I personally did not have a problem with the English cast, the Japanese cast also voiced each character pretty well. The voices of each character gave of enough feeling and emotion, which helped draw the viewer into the show even further. The music was so good that there have been hundreds of performances, many musicals and an ample amount of released soundtracks that have been much appreciated by the public.
Again, one can also argue that the strongest point in Sailor Moon was the plethora of characters they introduced, each one of them having a significant part in the grand scheme of things. As I stated before, everyone picks their favorite sailor scout, and to me, each scout's character personality seemed to fit their represented planet quite well. They took their time with introductions of characters and the development was amazing, with new powers, techniques and relationships acquired throughout the entire series. The one downside people may bring up is that they may have been *too* many characters and with that, the focus is turned away from the main ones. On rare occasions did that occur in Sailor Moon.
Weaving all of this together, Sailor Moon is easily one of the more enjoyable "old-school" anime shows out there. Almost every episode had some kind of meaning towards the overall plot and a lot of the battles can't be called anything short of epic. However, a big question mark on whether or not people enjoyed Sailor Moon was their views towards romance. Love was one of the bigger themes of this show, seen strongly epitomized between the characters of Usagi (Serena) and Mamoru (Damien). If that was something you loved, chances are you favored this series more so than people who didn't find that factor appealing.
All in all, Sailor Moon is one of the shows that started the anime trend outside of Japan and they could not have picked a better show to showcase than the Sailor Moon franchise. With a great cast of characters, a lengthy, emotional series involving epic clashes between good vs. evil and a highly well-developed plot, Sailor Moon is a show that if any younger anime fans out there haven't seen, or if the older ones thought was too "mushy," you should give it another try. Who knows, it just may be right up your alley.
blushjoy
Season One of Sailor Moon encompasses the best and worst of the entire Sailor Moon franchise. Sailor Moon introduces us to Usagi at her most comedic: she is not only the heroine but the comic relief of her own show. Over the course of the season we are introduced to Luna, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter and finally Sailor Venus and Artemis. As others have mentioned, it is the characters, their relationships with one another which really holds the show together. Other shoujo such as Card Captor Sakura, handled the monster of the week nature in a more fun and varied way, but few animehave handled girls in all their complexities and silliness as well as Sailor Moon has, before or since.
Sailor Moon is about girl power and while the anime emphasis may not be as strong as the manga, it's definitely still there. The girls have complex characters; it's not about defining them by one characteristic, the dumb blond or the tough tomboy (as American cartoons often do) but by letting the girls be multi-faceted, even paradoxical; the tomboy who is boy crazy and romantic, the dumb blond who is athletic and dedicated to her mission. Sailor Moon saves Tuxedo Kamen's butt for every time he saves her, more so as the season goes on. And all of the girls change and grow through the challenges they face.
With such a large amount of characters and cool-looking villains, Sailor Moon is also one of the most lastingly popular series for fanart and fanfiction. Someone or some relationship is bound to catch your interest and play you right along. Which is all part of the fun. Planets, stones, mythology, past lives, romances. This series has so much to play with and it all adds to the appeal.
The monster of the week aspect forms the larger part of the series, which is hit and miss. Some episodes delve into character development, exploring the girls' past and seeing why they are who they are. Others are primarily comedic in nature, such as the episode with the cat who falls in love with Luna, mocking Tuxedo Mask's and Sailor Moon's relationship (everyone has made fun of Tuxedo Mask, but Sailor Moon did it first). Others are boring, silly and a bother to sit through.
The best episodes are the first handful and the second half of the anime, I think. Once the Nephrite arc ends, the series picks up. Kunzite and Zoicite are threatening, the monster of the week format is shaken up and things get serious. At this point, even the filler episodes can be grim. And, of course, as with any season of Sailor Moon, the finale delivers in big ways.
There's no doubt the budget for this anime was less than to be desired; being a shoujo, that was its inevitable fate. Thus the animation and sound effects are sub-par. However, the voice acting it strong and a lot of heart went into this show. And following seasons pick up, the animation improves and the soundtrack simply gets better and better.
I think the main question is whether Sailor Moon is riding entirely on nostalgia, or if it still holds up today. Not having watched Sailor Moon as a child and watching the first season for the first time in my life at 23, my opinion is that, while flawed, it is still a worthy watch. There's history in the making in this show. Skip the filler if you want and watch the core plot episodes. They're worth it.
ggultra2764
Back in the 1990s, Sailor Moon was the queen bee of popular shoujo titles by helping to popularize the magical girl genre to international fans and being the first series within the genre to feature a magical girl fighting against the forces of evil instead of using her magic to do fun and mundane things that older titles like Creamy Mami did. I was a sucker for the series when I was a kid during that period as I watched the butchered American syndicated version of the series released by Dic during the mid-90s. Our heroine of focus here is klutzy and book-dumb middle schoolerUsagi Tsukino, who is tasked by a talking cat named Luna to become the magical girl known as Sailor Moon to thwart the evil activity of the witch Queen Beryl and her forces among the Dark Kingdom. Along the way, Usagi gains several additional allies to assist her with four other middle school girls who can become Sailor Senshi and a mysterious tuxedo-clad man named Tuxedo Mask who often pops up as a walking plot device to save Usagi whenever she gets in trouble against the "monster of the day".
Taking off the nostalgia goggles of watching this baby nearly 20 years later, I'd hate to say that Sailor Moon hasn't really aged all that well. All the character types and plot tropes that were milked by Sailor Moon during its heyday are a common part of many modern magical girl titles, many of whom offering more fleshing out of their plot and character elements than Sailor Moon does. Here, many of the characters are rather lacking in depth and have one-dimensional personalities with the good guys fighting for "love and justice" to save the world and the bad guys being evil for the sake of being evil. As a lead character, Usagi was rather obnoxious at many points in the series with her being ridiculously clueless, clumsy and crying incessantly if she ran into some sort of problem, which makes it kind of questionable why this would make her a character relateable to younger female audiences. Even with the romance Sailor Moon dabbles into at points, the relationship developments are either not convincing or are too underdeveloped to get seriously invested in thanks to the rather shallow character depth.
The plot mostly follows a "monster of the day" format that takes up much of the show's run with Usagi stumbling upon the monster's plot, transforming to combat them, often getting herself in trouble, having Tuxedo Mask save her in the nick of time and then uses her powers to finish off the monster. Later episodes do slightly pick up in quality when revelations concerning the origins of Usagi and her friends come to light and the stakes are raised with Beryl trying to further her plans. But the series still resorts to monster of the day plots for many of its episodes and milks enough deus ex machina in thwarting perilous situations that Usagi and the other Sailor Senshi get themselves into. Pretty much, the series is very predictable with its plot developments if you've seen your fair share of anime.
Visually, Toei was obviously running Sailor Moon on a limited budget with the reused animated frames, underwhelming action scenes, minimal detail on scenery and plain-looking character designs. The soundtrack isn't much better as much of it consists of bland and low-key tracks that don't do too well at effectively capturing the mood and tension within Sailor Moon's key scenes. I might get quite a bit of flak for this from purists, but I much preferred DIC's soundtrack to Sailor Moon since it at least attempted to capture some sort of mood during key scenes in spite of how cheesy it is nowadays.
Overall, I suppose I don't get what makes Sailor Moon all that popular with fans. Sure it popularized magical girl titles. But the character archetypes and storytelling tropes within it haven't aged well and are a common occurrence in many modern magical girl titles, a number of whom offering better fleshing out of their premise and characters than Sailor Moon, like Cardcaptor Sakura and Princess Tutu. I would sooner recommend those titles and a number of other modern magical girl titles than Sailor Moon and I don't feel pressed to dig into the later seasons of the franchise anytime soon.
literaturenerd
Last month, I rewatched Evangelion for the first time in over 15 years and wrote a new review. Now, I'm writing a new review of Sailor Moon. Specifically season 1. The first time I watched this, I was 11 years old and knew absolutely nothing about Japanese anime, visual directing, animation, etc. At first, I just dismissed it as "that girl show that came on before DBZ". I eventually found myself enjoying it, but I didn't like the 2nd season, Sailor Moon R, and stopped watching. Flash forward to 2021 and my girlfriend convinced me to watch seasons 2-5. I really enjoyed them as anolder anime viewer who has gained an appreciation for the medium and the amount of work that goes into it. Over the last month, I finally decided to re-watch season 1 and I'm happy to say it holds up really well!
Sailor Moon is a famous anime that if you have a MAL account you've probably heard of before. However, many younger fans haven't seen it yet. So, what is it about? Thousands of years ago, there was a magical, utopian kingdom on the moon. However, an evil sorceress named Beryl summoned a demonic entity from beyond space in order to gain its dark powers and tried to conquer both the Earth and Moon kingdoms. The queen of the moon was able to seal away evil, but only at the cost of her own life. Thanks to the queen's final sacrifice, the citizens of the Moon Kingdom including her daughter the princess were then reincarnated millennia later in Earth's largest city. Now Beryl has returned to terrorize 1992 Japan and only Princess Usagi can stop her.
At least, that's what the manga is about. The anime mostly consists of filler episodes in which a team of goofball villains cook up the dumbest schemes imaginable, often rivaling the Juralians from Chargeman Ken! Prepare yourself for such brilliant plans as "evil hair salon", "evil skating rink", "evil ski resort" and "evil weight loss gym". There is an episode of Sailor Moon in which the villains realize that all they know about Usagi is that she's clumsy, kind of dumb, and is really good at throwing her tiara. So, they create an evil women's finishing school and look for the student who is bad at literally everything except for throwing a frisbee. The Sailor Moon anime is so silly compared to its overly serious manga counterpart that it often feels more like a spoof than an adaptation. For most of the episodes, the anime staff took the manga less seriously than DBZ abridged took DBZ. Yet somehow, Sailor Moon still works. It's low key one of the funnier anime of all time and somehow still has some very powerful and tear-jerking scenes.
So how on Earth did Sailor Moon end up being so good? Look no farther than the anime's credits. This was an absolute all-star production team. The lead director was Junichi Sato, who also directed Princess Tutu, Kaleido Star, Doremi, and every season of Aria. The assistant director and episode director for many of the big episodes was Kunihiko Ikuhara, who later went on to direct Revolutionary Girl Utena, Penguindrum, and of course Lesbian Bear Storm. Another episode director was Kenosuke Uda, who directed the first 300 episodes of One Piece. As a result of its dream team staff, Sailor Moon has some truly outstanding visuals. Especially for a Toei anime of the early 1990s that was made on a budget under a tight schedule. In fact, several of Sailor Moon's shots were visually referenced in Neon Genesis Evangelion since Hideaki Anno is a big fan of Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon's directing is so good that it was basically impossible to ruin. In the 1990s, Sailor Moon was adapted for North American audiences by a company called Dic. In terms of goofy Americanization, questionable edits, and extreme censorship, they were probably even worse than 4kids. Yet even the Dic versions of Nephrite's big scene, Zoisite's big scene, and the climactic battle with Beryl all still hit hard and remain beautiful scenes. That's just a testament to Sailor Moon's level of quality.
I've already mentioned the excellent directing and visual comedy, but the heart and soul of the Sailor Moon anime is its characters. While the manga's characters were kind of bland and interchangeable, all 5 girls in the anime have very distinct personalities and watching them interact is always a joy. It's the secret that allows the filler episodes to be just as good and sometimes better than the plot focused episodes. An episode of Sailor Moon in which the girls go to a donut shop would still be entertaining! Allow me to give an example. In the manga, the character of Rei Hino is a shrine maiden who is very dutiful, kind, polite, and serves the princess with utmost loyalty. Her most unique character trait is that she has a phobia of men. Anime Rei Hino on the other hand, is a different story. Rei is a brash, proud, hot-headed friend who relentlessly teases Usagi and is perhaps the biggest bitch in the Greater Tokyo Metropolitan Area. It can actually be argued that Rei was the first modern "tsundere". There were hotheaded female characters as far back as the 1970s who had traits we now consider tsundere. Lum from Urusei Yatsura is another example of an early, proto-tsundere. The archetype absolutely exploded in popularity thanks to Asuka from 1995's Evangelion. After 1995, every single dating sim, VN, battle shonen, and harem comedy needed at least one tsundere. According to Hideaki Anno, Asuka's personality was partially based on Rei from Sailor Moon. In fact, he was going to name Asuka "Rei", but instead gave that name to a different character to be less obvious.
My favorite character of the 5 is Makoto AKA Sailor Jupiter. The original concept for the character was for her to be a "Sukeban", which was a sub-culture of delinquent bad girls who smoked, drank, wore long skirts, and carried weapons. This sub-culture started in the late 1960s and peaked in popularity during the 1980s. However, this idea was largely abandoned besides Makoto's trademark long skirt. In the manga, Makoto is basically just the muscles of the group. However, she isn't all that interesting. Anime Makoto introduces herself by beating the shit out of 3 thugs who are attacking Usagi. Then she fights one of the Dark Kingdom's generals before even getting her powers and just punches him in the face! She doesn't even need magic to kick ass! However, they didn't just stop by making her "the tough chick". They decided to make her a fleshed-out character who in addition to practicing karate and being strong is also someone who has always had to take care of herself since her mother died when she was young. She learned to love cooking and cleaning because she wants to help take care of others. She's also the mushiest romantic of all 5 girls. They could have taken the shortcut and just made her "the masculine one", but they didn't. People are complex and don't fit into neat archetypes, so typically good characters aren't easy to classify either.
I know some people aren't fond of paragraphs that deal with real world politics, but it would be hard to talk about Sailor Moon without bringing up its sexual diversity. Sailor Moon in 1992 was to my knowledge the first mainstream anime airing on Japanese television to prominently feature a gay couple. Sure, in Rose of Versailles you had Rosalie, who had some feelings for Oscar. However, both Rosalie and Oscar end up happily in heterosexual relationships and it was only a little tease. Zoisite and Kunzite are just straight up gay. Period. They're important characters and there is no hiding it. Well, unless you're the Dic dub, which tried to make Zoisite female. Then in season 3, Ikuhara introduced us to the first openly lesbian couple in a mainstream TV anime who are main characters and are in a happy, stable relationship. The first US dub made them "cousins", which was particularly hilarious since it did little to hide their affection for one another. Then season 4 introduces an early example of a transgender woman in anime. The US dub of course just made her cisgender female, which worked until she tears off her shirt in one episode and you now have a shirtless woman with visible nipples in a kid's show. Finally, season 5 introduces 3 new characters that change between male and female and are non-binary. Incidentally, season 5 wasn't brought over to America until 2019 because it was simply too gay for American audiences to handle. In summary, Sailor Moon just might be the most LGBTQ franchise in the history of anime.
While Sailor Moon has many positives, the first season does probably drag on a little too long. Some of the filler episodes are better than others with episode 42 being particularly bad. The anime also recycles animation A LOT, which means nearly 1/4th of every episode is recycled footage you don't even have to watch. Sure, this makes Sailor Moon an easy anime to watch while doing something else. However, it doesn't add points to its MAL score. The anime also makes some unusual decisions such as aging up Usagi's love interest Mamoru. Given, it is utterly hilarious to see a 19-year-old college student act like a complete jerk to a 14-year-old 8th grader and make her cry in nearly every episode. However, it also romanticizes a relationship that would be problematic (not to mention very illegal) in real life. Lastly, there is the uncomfortable fact that the male dominated staff of the anime inserted WAY too many panty shots in a show that was supposed to be aimed at young girls. The manga was created by a woman and the nude silhouettes when the Sailor Senshi transform is faithful to the original work. What isn't faithful is the anime's obsession with upskirting one of the girls seemingly every time the opportunity presents itself. Did I mention they're all 14? Some of the animation team at Toei were apparently VERY horny while making this show.
Overall, Sailor Moon is an anime that for the most part has aged far better than most people realize. Well besides the VERY pastel colored 90s fashion and whatever wardrobe abomination Mamoru wears in any given episode. It has some blemishes, but this is definitely a must watch series for any anime fan of any age. It is one of the all-time classics. If this review inspires anyone to check it out, I would personally recommend the Viz dub. It stays largely faithful to the Japanese script, but also adds some humor of its own that works very well. However, if you're in the mood for some vintage dubbing and often unintentional hilarity, the Dic dub is also there for you!
Note: Kunzite and Zoisite were actually the 2nd gay couple to appear in a Japanese TV anime. The first were from a 1982 shoujo called Patalliro. I only just learned of this since it wasn't released in my country, although English fansubs do exist as of 2022.
Amane8009
Sailor moon was my very first anime. I used to anticipate coming home after school, turning on the t.v and flopping on my bed to watch it. Story 10/10 I do admit the the story line although repititive it flows rather well. People need to stop judging this on todays Anime scales, this was made in 1992(and dubbed couple years after) so people need to look at this as one the GREATEST anime of the '90s. Although it is the same girl gets magic powers,girl gets teamates, and girls try to defeat the enemy together. Its your basic storyline, my favorite take on it is, that thisis usagi's coming of age storyline.
Art 10/10
Naoko takeuchi is a lovely artist! I saw the anime before i started reading manga, and i always get the feeling that Usagi in the Manga looks older...its just how beautifully her hair,eyes, and body are drawn...it just makes her seem older; more mature kinda. But the Animation seems rather old...BUT the transforming scenes are amazing as well as the way there attacks are animated.
Sound 10/10
I get the feeling i'm being lenient with the Sounds. The opening song is awsome, but it gets so repetitive...that i skip it sometimes but don't get me wrong i do love it. The instrumental BGM is played quiet well, and fits the atmosphere its corresponding to just right.
Character10/10
I liked all the characters there was really nothing to complain about.
Usagi: clumsy,crybaby, fights for what she believes in.
Mamoru: College student, Nice, gentleman, mean to Usagi in the beggining
Ami: Smart,Elegant really caring friend
Rei: Bit of an attitude, Gets mad easily, when it counts she's there for usagi.
Makoto: Good at cooking,sewing, and karate shes a fighter but only when sticking up for friends.
Minako: The Idol, wants to be a singer. She likes show biz stuff.
Enjoyment 10/10
I really enjoyed sailor moon, i would always say there attacks as they would, i laugh when it was funny, and when sad things happened i'd cry >_<
Overall 10/10
Growing up on this Anime, it changed everything for me. I was so happy to Run home after school and watch this. I'd watch it over a billion times and never get tired.
bridget_lalala
In my opinion, this anime is the best one out there for a person of my interests. There's tons to learn from it, and the characters blend really well. Usagi and Rei have their own little conflict, Ami is the brain who bails Usagi out of everything, Matoko is the brilliant chef who brings goodies for everyone, and Minako is the one who dreams of being a star. These five best friends, along with Mamoru, Usagi's boyfriend, transform into super soldiers here to save the world. Usagi, who is also the Moon Princess, is the leader as Sailor Moon. Ami, the second sailor soldier found,has control of ice and water and is Sailor Mercury. Rei, the third, uses her own charms and curses as well as the power of fire as Sailor Mars. Matoko, The fourth, uses rage and electricity as Sailor Jupiter. Minako, the fifth, uses love and light as Sailor Venus. And Mamoru, who is the Prince of Earth, transforms into the sensual Tuxedo Mask, who often saves the Sailor Soldiers from the clutches of evil. Later on in the series, mose Sailor Soldiers appear! Haruka, who is Sailor Uranus, uses the power of the earth. Michiru, who is Sailor Neptune, uses the power of water. Setsuna, who is Sailor Pluto, uses the power of time with her Time Staff. And then there is Hotaru. Hotaru is initially a threat, but soon she proves her worth as Sailor Saturn. Hotaru uses the power of Silence with her Silence Scythe. Of course, there's one more person worth mentioning. Chibi-usa! Usagi and Mamoru's future child is aslo a Sailor Soldier, she is Sailor Mini-Moon. While these eleven have their problems, they all love and support each other. I suggest thet you check it out!
thenastyunicorn
To be honest, I hadn't high expectations from the show when I started it. I thought it is gonna be annoying and puerile, but after a few episodes I realised I was wrong. I never expected it to be such a great and enjoyable show. It has this mysterious vibe that made me fell in love with. It's truly one of the best classics in the anime domain and it's representative for it. A lot of contemporary shows try to copy the idea of magical girls with superpowers and magical weapons but none of them manage to get to the level of this masterpiece. The musicis very nostalgic and the opening song that is also the representative song makes me cry every time I hear it.
I really recommend it. Masterpiece.
THEAnimeHERO
This review is written from a guy's perspective whose barely getting into shojo & wishes to offer positive insight to new viewers of the series. The first season isn't perfect but has some good moments which makes the series worth watching. I think most people are already familiar to the concept of Sailor Moon being 5 middle school girls being picked as sailor soldiers/sailor scouts to battle evil demonic forces of the Dark Kingdom which is led by Queen Beryl. These battles are often episodic as Queen's Beryl's demons tend to exploit human desires such as tempting them with love in exchange for their energy. Theseare often shown in very dark fashion as these demon encounters give the series its charm of good vs evil (which I always enjoy) but can get repetitive at times.
While I am a male viewer, shojo's aren't that different from shonens. For starters, the series has an emphasis of romance, friendship & constant fights of good vs evil which is to be expected & excels in those areas. Those tropes are also found in shonens only that shojos have an obvious greater affection for displaying romance. However, aside from being similar the strengths in sailor moon are its characters & style.
The Sailor Scouts are likeable but I wished the team of 5 was formed earlier as Jupiter & Venus took nearly half the anime to debut which didn't offer much interaction to the group at least compared to the original trio. I'm not sure whether it's just me, but I found Usagi to be too much of a cry baby at times. While she definitely shows some maturity towards the end of the series, I always found myself liking Mars & Jupiter a lot more. Regardless, the comedy presented among the scouts is enjoyable.
While it's not the first magical girl series it's definitely the most main stream due its "super heroish" structure of a story. Being very reminiscent of super sentai (power rangers), the sailor scouts take a while to form its team of 5 which begins with Usagi on her own & eventually forming a trio for the majority of the anime. Much of the conflict initially begins with recurring fights with the demons of the dark kingdom & their leaders being Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoisite & Kunzite.
In it's early episodes, Sailor Moon was a bit darker than the rest of the series as people are constantly being manipulated by temptations but then shifts its tone into a more super sentai style. Much of this is due to the enemy monsters being more over the top than its initial debut as they now have a "design theme" such as a barber monster , boxing monster , snowman demon, figure skating demons, etc. These conflicts often end with Sailor Moon having to use her "Moon Stick" to restore these monsters back to their human form. The anime definitely got a bit silly from episode 25 onwards, but this just adds to its own "fun factor" among other magical girl series.
Most of the cons for this season of Sailor Moon are its repetitive trend of demon of the week, but there are some other problems. A majority of it comes from the writing being a bit sloppy to the point where it has become a bit of an inside joke among sailor moon fans. One of the best examples is Tuxedo Mask as he often appears to save Usagi, however there are a few times where he makes a rescue only to leave within the next minute. Another example (which is a staple of Power Ranger flaws) is the obvious 1 monster at a time or the villains giving too many chances for our heroes to succeed or even more hilarious is the Dark Kingdom having a hard time not recognizing the secret identities of the sailor scouts.
Essentially, you have to go with the flow to get by the weaker parts of Sailor Moon, yet this series has this certain magic which made me want to watch more. Even now I'm still uncertain why I liked this series but I can definitely say it's a good start for the Sailor Moon franchise. I should note that the anime does have a grand but dark conclusion. Most people tend to fly straight away to Madoka Magica but "being dark" has always been a staple for shojos such as Escaflowne, Princess Tutu, Utena & Sailor Moon certainly earns the same recognition. Being my first experience with Sailor Moon, it was a good one as I saw a more delicate side to an anime genre which can give "the feels" in certain episodes. As stated before, I am a male anime fan which usually watches 80's shonen but this magical girl series is a recommended watch. Looking forward to see what happens in the next series being Sailor Moon R.
Jonyheero
Being a 90's show, Sailor Moon's first season has a particular charm. Overall my gut says that this show deserves a 9 or even 10 out 10. It was, maybe, the first really mainstream anime in North America when it started airing here (Canada) in 1995. I feel it is a captivating story for boys and girls alike. I am male and had no problem with a female heroine. Sailor Moon hails from a time when viewers were not yet desensitised to the enormous and constant sexual innuendo of similar animes produced in the last 10 years. It isa adventurous and romantic story about a teenage girl with plenty of fantasy and comedy but overall maintaining a serious tone. This serious tone is what makes Sailor Moon a much better anime show than its modern counterparts. Almost all new shows that deal with adventure/romance steer straight towards the sensual with a flippant atmosphere rather than portraying true virtues (hope, faith, love, etc.).
I will not dive into the story of Sailor Moon because people can just watch that. But I want to recommend it to those that do not want a show for the modern brainwashed young generation. Less is more, I believe. A fast-paced, frantic show with tons of action almost never makes for a better show (even though that is what today's kids/teens/adults want). So, please give the original Sailor Moon a chance and watch or re-watch it in the near future. It is a lovable show that really delivers and a sensitive person will certainly enjoy it the most.
Kefka1134
Sailor Moon is the GOAT Why Sailor Moon is the GOAT Ok, people, this is it, the ultimate, the final countdown, the experience you have all been waiting for, in the game of comparison of anime to this and that. Here ye, all, Sailor Moon is the BEST manga/anime ever and this is why. The story of Sailor Moon is simple. Yes, it’s just simple, a child could understand it. It’s the story of Tsukino Usagi, who is a 14 year old middle school student, she loves ice cream, talking cats (well, it’s an off and on relationship), video games. She’s friends with a wide array of people,a hardcore Otaku, a girl kind of next door personality. While frosty at first, she also makes friends with a super genius (Mercury), a level disciplined girl, (Mars), a back and forth with a fiery personality (Jupiter), a cool beauty queen (Venus).
In the process of forming these relationships and friendships, she becomes more and more confident and certain of herself, eventually becoming a super sailor guardian, and accepting her destiny as guardian of the universe and her role in defeating the anima-mates, the completely awesome group including Lead Crow, Iron Mouse, Aluminum Seiren, and others.
If you are keeping track, the story of Sailor Moon is kind of like a representation of Ancient Greek mythology. In the earliest Greek stories, Uranus was the cosmos, and the bringer of light and hope and such chaos, or what existed before. The triumph of light and hope over chaos is what spawned Ancient Greek civilization, as well as the titans, whose names and such litter Sailor Moon (Artemis, Luna, etc)
Of course, it’s more like, the Japanese representation complete with all kinds of bits and pieces that make it more like an enjoyable romp.
Honestly though, you can scour… not just manga… but ANY media, whether that’s film, television, etc, all these things, and you still will be pretty hard pressed to find anything that offers the effortless emotional brilliance and characterization/etc of Sailor Moon.
All the characters manage to feel real, they explore people’s weaknesses and frustrations, but don’t exaggerate them for comedic effect, they explore people’s courage and heroism, but don’t overestimate or overstate any one person’s role in creating an ultimate result.
In modern society, we have the concept of the unique individual, who triumps, unassisted over all the odds and such everywhere, they don’t need help from anyone, for they are the invincible deliverer of justice.
Sailor Moon makes the opposite point, there is no society without people, Usagi, the ultimate one who does, ok I guess it would be a spoiler, but suffice to say she is always relying on others. Later, the outer senshi are pivotal in the struggle against Galaxia, without their aid, it is likely she would simply perish.
It also is frankly the funniest manga/anime I’ve seen, funny because… they aren’t simply jokes intended to lighten the mood, they’re actually quite literally funny, or because you laugh to be nice, they’re just downright hilarious. The tiffs between Mars and Moon are my favorite in the series, but there are dozens of examples.
So imagine if you (lets just say, male otaku... something) had a girlfriend who was actually funny? Pretty cool, huh.
But in all, it just comes down to the fact that Usagi is ultimately just kind of a normal girl/person, with real fears/expectations and desires, she loves boys, but is also sensible enough about the deeper meanings and possibilities behind the connections. She wants the best, but doesn’t fret, and above all, she tries to understand and get along with different kinds of people.
This my friends, is a divine being.
Anyway, Madoka is great, Dragon Ball Z is awesome, Berserk is deep and mysterious, Evangelion strains to reach something deeper, Baka to Test is hilarious-ish, your favorite hentai/harem of choice is gloriously pornographic.
But what unites it all? The answer is simple, Sailor Moon, the pinnacle of manga, and the original anime frankly you can roam around, to all kinds of places, all kinds of histories, all kinds of stories, but you simply aren’t going to find something quite like this…. Ignore it at your peril…. Accept it to your pleasure.
Also I’ve not seen SM crystal but it looks bad, who knows though, for sure... maybe try it at some point.
Postscript in my opinion, the weakest character in the entirety of manga/anime has to be Mamoru (Tuxedo Mask), he starts of strong, but as the manga/anime goes on he becomes increasingly inept. I think perhaps, Usagi never really found the right guy for him, but being who she is, I'm sure she was able to accept and understand them anyway, yeah? Yeah!
Also for modern anime that capture the essence of SM pretty well, see Heartcatch Pretty Cure because that anime is awesome.
Madoka is nice too, don't get me wrong, this isn't a competition, or is it a competition, I don't know, just don't let people's opinions of things get in the way of enjoying your life, or favorite character, favorite manga, favorite anything.
Ultimately, anime and manga are like anything, they are propelled by their fans, the sharing and enjoyment is really the most important thing, when it's all said and done. Stories can unite, but the only true stories are the ones about people in the first place.
I would say that isn't really a problem for most people, but you know, PSA!
ktulu007
Welcome to my 100th review. I'm sorry that I wasn't more honest about this coming up, I could say it in my dreams, but my thoughts were about to short circuit as I thought about what anime I could review for the occasion. My heart was a kaleidoscope as I pondered this question. I looked to the twinkling of the stars to foretell the future of my reviews. Obviously, it had to be Sailor Moon. While I'm at it, I'm going to do one of those things that some people keep whining at me for not doing. That's right, I'm going to look at theEnglish dub and the original side by side.
Rather than start by talking about the story, I'm going to start by talking a bit about the translation. First off, how do you miss-translate "Moon Tiara Action"? The original line is in English. How can you fail to translate a line that's been done for you? The soldiers are downgraded to scouts in the dub because... Soldier is too masculine a term? Maybe they just thought that soldier was miss-used. After all, soldiers battle enemies and all the sailor soldiers do is reconnaissance work. Scouts works much better... wait, what? Changing the setting to America makes no sense. Where in America are you going to find Shinto Buddhist shrines with traditional priestesses, schools that have all adopted uniforms, Japanese signs, and the Tokyo tower? Seriously, it's just a stupid decision. It would be like setting Tokyo Mew Mew or Cardcaptor Sakura outside of Japan. Why even bother changing it? Was the company that licensed it afraid that English audiences wouldn't be able to relate to Japanese characters? No matter what the reason, that change is really idiotic. Then there's Zoisite, one of Queen Beryl's generals. The English version gives him a sex change for some reason. It doesn't even make sense because the art's the same they just gave him a female voice and changed the pronouns. The reasoning probably being to hide the fact that the show has gay characters (Zoisite and Kunzite). Because you can't have gay characters running around. The children might get the idea that it's okay and then we wouldn't have as many hate crimes or intolerance and that would be terrible... Wait, what? Yeah, it's a really stupid change. Give me back my yaoi boys. I know that may seem like a strange thing for a straight guy to say, but I don't care. Give them back or in the name of the moon, I will punish you and you do not want to see me in the uniform. Now, I could go into a lot more detail about weird and pointless changes but there are a lot of them so I'll stop there. If there are changes that impact the story, characters, or so on, I'll talk about those when I get to the relevant point.
Let's go right to the story. Sailor Moon has a very simple story. A girl named Tsukino Usagi is given a magic broach by a talking cat that turns her into a warrior of love and justice. She's sorely needed because a group known as the Dark Kingdom is stealing energy from humans in a bid to awaken their great ruler and conquer the galaxy. It's a pretty standard super hero plot. But there are some things that are done really well. To begin with, this series has a great sense of humour. It embraces all of the goofiness inherent to the concept and just has a lot of fun with it. There are also some strong themes dealing with love and reincarnation which add some complexity and intrigue to the whole thing. The final episodes are really spectacular. The main characters go into the proverbial underworld and, not to spoil anything, but there are some genuinely tragic moments as a result but it still manages to end on a suitably optimistic note. There are some issues though. I'll start with the general issues that are present in both versions and move on to the ones that are unique to the English dub. Before you ask, there are no issues unique to the Japanese version so there's nothing to cover there. The first issue is pretty minor and it deals with the disguises. Apparently Sailor Moon takes place in Metropolis since a change of clothes and nothing else is enough to hide someone's identity. You'd think that anyone could figure out who they are just by looking at them. Then there's the tendency to have Mamoru come in and rescue the soldiers with a hastily thrown rose. It happens too often and gets pretty annoying.The other problems both deal with romance. The first is that all of the major characters, except for Usagi, are given gratuitous male "love interests" who show up for a few episodes, have virtually no personality, do nothing to advance the plot and then fade into barely being mentioned again. Their entire purpose seems to be to setup the possibility for future romance, but I've seen the other four series and, trust me, it doesn't go anywhere. It's like Takeuchi Naoko created them for future use and then realised they were pointless. Even Luna gets a gratuitous potential love interest and she's a freaking cat. The other issue is with the romances that do have a story purpose. IE: the romance between Usagi and Mamoru and the romance between Naru and Nephrite. The problem here is that the girls are middle school students and the guys are college age. I do understand why it was done like that. Sailor Moon's target audience is middle-high school aged girls and a lot of girls at that age are interested in older guys so it's giving its audience a little wish fulfillment. However, that doesn't stop it from being sleazy and screwed up. Now, let's look at the problems the English version brings to the table. The first is that it lacks the humour of the original. How? Through heavy censorship and pointless dialogue changes, of course. They also edit a lot of the more intense moments towards the end which not only really weakens the impact but makes the last few episodes almost incoherent. Oh, and the dub's opening sequence gives away major ending spoilers. Why? Because they hate you.
For the characters I'm actually going to look at the original and English versions separately. Why? Because they really are significantly different. It's actually kind of fascinating how much the characters change as a result of massive dialogue changes, and various edits. Let's start with Usagi. She's a bit clumsy and something of a crybaby, but she also bounces back quickly and has a very positive outlook. She gets horrible grades but she doesn't seem stupid. She really comes off more as someone of below average intelligence who just wants to have fun and neglects her studies as a consequence. She also has a great capacity both for love and growth. She's far from perfect, but she is an interesting and very sympathetic character. Then you have Serena, which is the name they gave her in the English version. She's a lot whinier and, where Usagi doesn't really seem stupid, Serena seems like she eats paint chips in a deliberate attempt to eliminate any extra brain cells she may have. You also get a lot less of her good qualities, particularly her ability to love and support her friends. Where Usagi proves herself capable by fighting alone in quite a few cases, growing gradually stronger and more confident in the process, most of those episodes are cut from the English version, making Serena seem far more helpless and less capable. Then we have Ami. She's kind of shy in the sense that she doesn't feel like she fits in. She's highly intelligent and she studies too much, but she can also loosen up and just have fun. She's a very sweet character who cares deeply for others. She does have faults though. She can loosen up, and does at times, but she still takes things too seriously and there are times when she tries too hard to please others. In contrast we have Amy. Amy goes from being kind of socially awkward to being painfully, annoyingly shy. She has lousy communication skills and very little personality. Then you have Rei. She's outspoken, which sometimes leads to her saying things she regrets. She's also very passionate, protective and cunning. Rei teases Usagi, but it's made clear that it's a friendly type of teasing. Then you have Raye. Raye lacks any kindness or loyalty and is just unpleasant. To give a great example, there's an episode where Sailor Moon is trying to trick her way into the Dark Kingdom. In the original Japanese Usagi entrusts Rei with the silver crystal just in case something goes wrong which serves to help highlight the closeness of their friendship. In the English dub Raye steals the silver crystal because she's horrible. Moving on to Makoto. One of the things I love about her is that she goes against type. She's the physically most imposing but she also has the most feminine personality. She has some body issues because she thinks she's too tall, which are handled pretty realistically. She always tries to be supportive of her friends, although she doesn't always know how to go about it. Then you have Lita. In the English dub they decided to play to stereotypes so they downplayed her femininity and made her as much of a tomboy as they could. They do it really badly too. The final character I'm going to talk about is Minako. She's a bit flighty but she's also the most mature character in the group and is able to keep her cool very well. She's charismatic and just a fun character. Mina, in contrast, is basically identical to Serena. They make her the quintessential dumb valley girl type of character. There are more characters I could talk about but they all follow the same basic pattern. The original has a good amount of character complexity and the dub reduces the characters to one-dimensional stereotypes. Because they hate you.
Let's talk about the art. Honestly, it's kind of out-dated. That isn't to say it's bad, it still looks pretty nice, but the animation can be choppy at times and there are some animation errors. The art can also be lazy with a good amount of stock footage and action scenes dominated by motion blurs. Still, the monsters are very creative, the character designs are great and the action sequences can get pretty intense. Now, you probably expect me to complain about fan-service, since I've done it a lot in my reviews. But give me some credit, it's always a legitimate complaint. That's why I'm going to defend Sailor Moon. Yeah, I've heard a lot of dumb people claim that their uniforms are fan-servicey, but those complaints are stupid. Their uniforms are just glamorized summer style school uniforms. And no, they aren't glamorized by being made skimpier, they're glamorized through the addition of sparkly accessories and large bows. The outfits themselves are no worse than what you get in Lucky Star, Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight, Cardcaptor Sakura, Azumanga Daioh or any other series about school girls, in fact, the sailor soldier uniforms might just be more covering since they include those extra frills. To sum it up in very simple terms, they're school girls wearing school uniforms. This isn't something that's hard to follow. The only way the fan-service argument could possibly work is if you're arguing that school uniforms are inherently fan-servicey and if you really think that you aren't allowed to breathe anymore. I will say that they aren't exactly functional for fighting, but I'm not going to complain about that much. The main reason being that I've read a lot of superhero comics and most of the outfits are designed around style and not functionality and that's clearly the case here, or do you want to argue that a tuxedo is a great outfit to wear in a fight? There's also a rumour that the girls are nude during their transformation sequences in the original, but it's not true. The same sparkle effects are used in both versions. This may come as a surprise, but I'm not going to complain about the English version here. Honestly, they don't change much in terms of the art, aside from obscuring the lettering to make it look like scribbles since some moron decided to change the setting to America. There are really only minor changes here and there. The original does look cleaner, but the edits aren't really bad enough that I feel the need to discuss them at length. They're just pointless.
Now for a look at the acting. The original is really well done with some incredibly talented people. It would take too long to bring them all up but to name a few there's Mitsuishi Kotono, Hisakawa Aya and Shinohara Emi. They can over-act at times but they never really go overboard with it. The English version is hard to listen to and not just because the actors are all atrocious, although they really are awful. One of the big problems is that Katie Griffin shouts all of her lines while Karen Bernstein whispers all of hers. The result is that you can barely hear Amy unless the volume is so loud that Raye will cause you to go deaf. Then you have the opening songs. The Japanese version is really good. The English version is horrible. Not just musically, but lyrically. Let's take a moment to look at a translation of the first few lines in the original: "I'm sorry, I'm not honest. I can say it in my dreams. My thoughts are about to short circuit. I want to be with you right now." Now for the English version: "Fighting evil by moonlight. Winning love by daylight. Never running from a real fight. She is the one named Sailor Moon." Did they let a six year old write the lyrics? To make it even worse the English version just gives up halfway through and lists the names of the characters. If they had nothing remotely good to change it to why did they bother changing it at all? The answer's pretty obvious. They did it because the English version hates you
There's a fair amount of les-yay in this. For example, there's an episode where Rei gets really fired up about winning romantic cruise tickets and she does, possibly by using her psychic abilities to cheat. Who does she ask? Ami of course. No, she doesn't try asking any guys first she goes straight to Ami. On the grounds that she wants to help Ami broaden her horizons... Subtlety really isn't one of Rei's strong points. Theres another episode where Ami and Rei appear together on a wedding decoration that declares "The Happy Couple." I'm not going to lie, that is one of the best scenes I've ever seen in terms of imagery. There are even minor characters who are heavily implied to be lesbians and the soldiers occasionally make eyes at other girls. You know, the sparkly eyes you get in some anime when a character's looking at their crush. So the yuri factor is going to be a 6/10 for heavily implied subtext, in the original. The English version cuts as much of it out as they can, earning it a 3/10.
Let's move on to the final rating. How does Sailor Moon hold up? It's a goofy series. A lot of the things that happen can be incredibly silly, but it's all very enjoyable and light-hearted. Honestly, I even kind of find the stock footage endearing. I have to give it an 8/10. If you want a purely fun viewing experience you can't go wrong with it. Now, you may be wondering why I like Sailor Moon so much when it's not one of my higher rated series. Well, there are four more anime entries for it and, frankly, this is the weakest. The other four anime all have more of what makes it good and less of its problems. Maybe I'll look at R, S, Super S and Stars at a later point. There is one thing, however, that I'm never doing again and that's looking at the English dub. It's horrendous. Just about everything good about the original is decimated in the dub until only a very small sliver remains. The English dub gets a 2/10. Even if I somehow reach a million reviews I will never watch an anime dub again, ever.
In closing I'd like to thank all my lovely fans. Thanks for all your comments, requests, and support. Thanks especially to Soniczero, Count Bleck, Megamannt, Macrules, Duder, OmegaAxl, Ultrazero, Nasty001 and Kupo for consistently putting up with me and frequently having interesting comments.
Flexicute
Sailor Moon is not only the most influential magical girl series of all time, it stands today as one of the major pillars of anime. Throughout the world, girls as well as boys were enchanted by the five sailor senshi; living normal, inconspicuous lives at first, then transforming into a magical team to fight evil. It was a stable for kids my age at the time, but the series has become such a classic that if I had a daughter, I would introduce her to classic Sailor Moon first above anything else. Sailor Moon is a better role model than Barbie and most other girlshows anyways.
Story: 10
Before Sailor Moon, magical girl shows centered around mischievous but lovable girls causing trouble with their powers. Once Sailor Moon took the spotlight, a Power Ranger-esque team of transforming magical girls fighting evil became the new norm! Such a little change caused ripples throughout the entire anime industry, and they all have Sailor Moon to thank for it. Sailor Moon's writing is very well done on its own, with some arcs being in a league of their own (Sailor Moon S) and some that could've been done better (Super S). Either way it will leave you wanting more.
Art: 7
Sailor Moon's art was pretty average during its heyday. Most of the fantastic animation centered around their transformations and special attacks, which, unfortunately becomes quite repetitive. But if you're a true Sailor Moon fan, you'll enjoy the transformations regardless. And it must be said that Naoko Takeuchi did a fabulous job at designing the Sailor Senshi outfits to be beautiful without being trashy.
Sound: 10
In spite of its age, Sailor Moon has a timeless soundtrack, with the most memorable of them all being the legendary opening, "Moonlight Densetsu." While the transformations can get repetitive, the music somehow doesn't. Even at my age now, I'll find myself humming a theme song from Sailor Moon sometimes.
Character: 9
All of Sailor Moon's characters get a chance to shine, and they're all fully fleshed out and layered. The villains often shift from being your typical "Monster of the week" to a villain with a lot more emotional depth to them. And if you watch the original, uncut Sailor Moon, it should be very clear that this is a very LGBT friendly series.
Enjoyment: 10
I've started rewatching Sailor Moon again in its entirety, and I must say this show aged exceptionally well. It was one entertaining episode to the next. Even the filler was entertaining! I almost never say that about an anime!
Overall: 10
This is a classic, and a must watch for anyone who calls themselves anime fans. The entire shoujo and much of the fantasy market would be a very different place today if it wasn't for Sailor Moon. Do yourself a favor and watch it!
LeiraSedohr
In my opinion, Sailor Moon is one of the best anime in the 90s. Only because I grew up watching it and loving it in english. Sailor Moon is the longest magical girl anime series. 200 episodes. If you want to watch this, be prepare. With a repetitive story line, gender confusion, too many catch phrases and puns, you just might be in for a show. In the English dub, their voices are alright in the first 2 seasons, but in the third and fourth, Serena (Usagi) and Amy's (Ami) voices are horrible. Not to mention that the English dubbing doesn't even stick toits original dialogue.The importance of it being uncut and subtitled is lost, and you wind up having to appreciate the show simply for what it is, on its own merits, minus the ocean of hype.
There's good character development in Sailor moon. Like Usagi for example. Who knew that such a selfish crybaby would end up wanting to help other people. Or Rei, who had such a problem with Usagi and couldn't stand her, end up being her closests friend. Anyway,the character changes a lot in the five seasons.Though, some of the characters, are like gender confuse. I say this because while watching this in english, one character (*who is a "girl"*) loves this guy and we accept it, whatever, but when we see it in jap we're like "0.0!? that girl's not a girl. its a guy. In love with a guy?!" Or maybe that's just me.
The opening theme song in Jap, is great, it gets you dancing. English, can be the same thing. But, after hearing it for about the 15th time, you just want to skip through it and the design of this anime is alright. Can't say much about it.
So, even though I made a few negative comments on this anime, its still pretty good. It can be a tear jerker from time to time, and it will make you laugh. Especially in English. So, if you're looking for an anime that has a lot girl power, then you found it.
liam78787
Sailor Moon is about Tsukino Usagi who is a 14-year-old girl in junior high. She's ditzy, whiny, and a crybaby. She often flunks her tests, and she is always scolded by her family. However after a bad day, Usagi is surprised to encounter a black cat that can talk! The cat, Luna, grants Usagi the power to transform into Sailor Moon, a fighter who is to save the world against the Dark Kingdom and its evil ruler, Queen Beryl. Of course, Usagi can't do it alone, and there are others who will help her on the way... The setting sounds simple enough, and really it is. Itstarts off with just Sailor Moon as the main character, and at this point the anime seems, o.k. Usagi is entertaining, however in some aspects could be seen as annoying, like her voice, or the fact she cries ALLLL the time. However the series does a great job at eventually making these annoyances being part of her character and part of why u could love her sooo much.
The story then does continue with even more girls becoming sailor soldiers along with Usagi, there will be Ami, Sailor Mercury, Rei, Sailor Mars, Makoto, sailor Jupiter and finally Minako, sailor Venus. As more and more of these girls are introduced the series becomes better and better. All the characters are fun and interesting, and with so much time watching them, you cant help but to fall in love with their personalities. Its also great when there personalities collide, for instance Rei and Usagi are always fighting each other in a way that brings a smile to yourself, as there always making fun of each other, yet you know there great friends. Along with these characters, there our other like Luna, the talking and Tuxedo Mask, a mysterious man, which you cant help but like also.
The art style of the anime is very old, however for its time its still really damn good, the artstyle is simple, but its quite different in its great transformation animations and comedic animated parts. The animation, although old, is still something you can look at in satisfaction.
The soundtrack of the anime yet again old, however does fit quite well with the series, it successfully bring emotion to scenes, as well as a sense of fun, badassery and seriousness. Yet again although old,its still something you can admire when listening to.
Did have things wrong with it, well yes, as said there are somethings that can get quite annoying, for example Usagis damn laugh, however the annoyances do become something you simply accept and love. Also the fact that a bunch of episodes can be seen as fillers, and not progress really anything. Also the fact that some romances do come on pretty fast and strong, too fast if you ask me.
However, I haven’t mentioned anything really too special, I mean the animes old, its visuals and audio are satisfactory but for its age stupendous. Its character are really what make this anime shine with all of them being enjoyable. But the biggest thing I have to say, is that EVERY SINGLE EPISODE WAS ENJOYABLE AS HELL, not once was I bored, although there were they still greatly grabbed attention, this anime although not my favourite, I would say is the most ENJOYABLE anime ive seen. The characters and story just made every episode a treat to watch, with some hilarious, some cool, some emotional, and some important. If you watch this anime, and if you can get past its age, you WILL have a great time. A warning though I watched the Japanese dub, at first I watched it in English, in fact 20 episodes in English, and really, IT IS THE WORST ENGLISH DUB EVER, OF ALL TIME. The voice acting in English is just terrible, and not only that nearly all there lines are changed, changing some entire story aspects, and COMPLETELY RUINING CHARACTER LIKE REI, also it cut SOOO much content in the English version, there were about 5 or so episodes completely cut maybe hours of cut content. So I IMPLORE YOU WITH ALL WILL, WATCH THE JAPANESE VERSION, the ENGLISH IS ABSOLUTE GARBAGE AND RUINS THE SERIES.
In any case I give Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon the first season a 9/10, for its complete and utter enjoyment. And I absolutely cannot wait for the next season, Sailor Moon R, ill be sure to do a review of that when I finish it.
TwilightRivers
"In the name of the moon I will Punish You" - Sailor Moon Sailor Moon has to be one of the most well known anime's in most of the world. It was my first and will always be my favorite. I may be a little one sided due to watching it when I was young but I have rewatched it a few times. Story: 9 For the story of the show you really find out the background of Usagi and her past life and her current. Then you add in the stories of all the scouts and Tuxedo Mask. The story is pretty predicable but I personallydon't mind much.
Art: 10
For the time of 1992 they didn't have the current type of technology to create a high definition show like they did with the current show Sailor Moon Crystal. The show for the time had amazing art and I feel it still stands very strong. The show has made it's art style classic and one almost anyone could recognize. The characters are all done in a way where they are rememberable and easy to spot.
Sound: 8
The main reason why the sound went down is due to the most recent releases of the Dub. They redid it a few years ago and it just dosen't sound right it has a completely different sound and the original one is just 100% better. The original release versions are a 10
Character: 9
For the various characters in Sailor Moon, they are all very memorable and easy to spot! The characters are also very different so they each have good contrast. The only two that are similar is Mina and Usagi but its due to the hair. The characters each have a specific personality like Usagi who is a cry baby and not very smart but is very brave. Where as Makoto is athletic and scary but has a soft heart. They built the characters and made their personalities grow, they get even better as the story moves along.
Enjoyment: 10
I fully love Sailor moon, it has the nostalgia and makes you feel powerful. I just love the whole show.
Overall I rate the show a 9/10
Koru-chan
Sailor Moon, first made as a manga by Naoko Takeuchi, is one of the first anime to come to America that was actually recognized for what it was, all previous dubs of Japanese anime flying completely under the radar for the ignorant masses. Essentially Dragon Ball Z for girls, and coming to America around the exact same time, it was laughed at as a younger girls' anime. This was partially true, especially in the first season, but as the series grew and more seasons were added, many themes were added that are definitely for an older audience. As it is, this reviewis for just the first season. I will be reviewing the other seasons as well, and all reviews are based on the Japanese anime, not the dub.
Story 10/10: The concept of a shoujo series isn't new in the least, but for its time, Sailor Moon was unique as it got. A girl that is horrible at school, is completely lazy and cowardly, and is an utter crybaby is suddenly told she's a fighter for justice. On top of this, she later learns that she was once the princess of a kingdom that existed a millenia ago and was destroyed by her current nemesis. It didn't get much crazier than that back then. (Though I will say that over-muscled men that turn into giant monkeys kinda ranks up there, too.)
The characters were rather unique. Rather than do the typical main character thing and rise to the call of justice, Usagi/Serena is quick to want to back out. She just wants to be a normal teenager. She effectively has had her life stolen right from under her because the world is in trouble. When she's starting to get into it, she thinks of it almost as a video game. She fails to truly see the fighting for what it is. However, once the people she cares about start getting hurt and in danger, she starts to see the repercussions and seriously questions if she's even up to the task.
If this were a review on the dub, I would drop it to a 9 over one thing: the final episode. Rather, the final two episodes that were consolidated into one English episode. Yes, the fight against the five sisters and Beryl... that was spread over two episodes. There was no banishment to the negaverse, only death. The fight against Mamoru/Darien was a lot longer near the end. There was a full episode's worth of scenes cut out. In the final sequence, Usagi/Serena actually dies after using the Ginzuishou/Silver Crystal. She makes a dying wish on the crystal, wishing that none of those things had ever happened, wishing she could have just continued to live like a normal human girl. The wish is granted and the senshi are returned to earth with their memories removed, the whole event having 'never happened'. However, since Luna and Artemis didn't die, they retain their memories, thus explaining the unexplainable fact in Sailor Moon's dub as to why &quot;no one died&quot;, yet the senshi and Mamoru lose their memories and the cats magically don't.
The only thing that could possibly drag this anime down is that it feels like a monster grind after a while. The monster-of-the-week thing drones on a bit longer than you want it to, but so many anime do that same thing, so it's hard to mark it down for that.
Art 7/10: Okay... I loved Naoko's art in the manga, so Sailor Moon disappoints me slightly, but the animation is wonderful for its time. I will say that the animation gets steadily better as the seasons progress, but Sailor Moon definitely shows itself to be the draft for the other seasons of Sailor Moon. The transformation sequences were beautiful, but save for a few pose differences and hue changes, they were basically the same thing, rise and repeat. Mamoru's one, single transformation sequence, while thankfully short, was a severe disappointment (and the ending pose of it sent me into tears of laughter for a good five minutes).
Sound 7/10: Once again, the grade in this case really is in retrospect of the entire series, encompassing all seasons. While it was rather good for its time, nowadays it sounds like you're listening to it through a phone. Even on DVD the sound quality is just... bad. The music itself is outdated and really shows you just how old this anime is, but back then it was fine.
Character 10/10: I already went over this earlier with the story aspect, but I was pleased with the diversity of the characters. You have a hero who is lazy and a crybaby, you have a high-tempered shrine priestess, a school nerd with nearly zero offense, a tomboy who could easily bench press a truck but is boy crazy, a glam girl who wants to be an idol and has the leadership skills the hero lacks, two talking cats, a dude in a tuxedo with an extending cane who throws roses, a lust-crazy witch that wants to bring back some crazy dark being, four very confused generals who follow the witch but serve the prince, a princess with amnesia as to her true identity.... yeah, it gets crazy. But you truly learn to love these characters and connect with them. They each have well-crafted backstories and are just very well developed. Well... I will say that the four generals aren't really made a big deal of in the anime. In the manga, you learn they were the generals for Prince Endymion/Prince Darien and their minds were ensnared by Queen Beryl. In the anime, they're just her thugs, basically.
Enjoyment 8/10: I enjoy the series a lot, though the first season really has too much filler for me to enjoy it too thoroughly. There are really only key episodes you have to watch to understand the plot. While I know the series inside and out and know what to watch, someone just entering the series will have to watch through everything. Overall I loved it, though. Even after all this time, this remains my favorite series.
TrueVampire
This anime is absolutly amazing! It's is definitly fun to watch and even one of the most recognizable animes of all! It's full of comedy,romance,and my personal favorite, Lots of sailor senshi magic! Sailor moon was always an anime that kept me laughing! It makes you want to watch all the episodes! The characters are so unique in their own special way and they each have a style and personality all of their own! Each character also has their own special powers too! I have to say that it is probably the most amazing anime I've watched and it really is awesome! Any fan ofmagic,comedy, and romance will have a heck of a time watching Sailor moon!
_violatte_
~ I had watched the full first English dub season and watched the 6 cut episodes in Japanese w/ English subtitles just to make it fair to say I have watched all episodes. Most of this review is about the dub only, while some parts include the original too ~ Sailor Moon is a perfect starter anime for those beginning their anime addiction. I also chose this anime to begin with because it was a memorable classic back in the day, which makes it more likely to become a big hit with those interested in anime. ~ Story ~ The Plot: The plot, in my eyes, wasvery unique at the time that this anime was put on air. Nowadays, if you look at it, the plot may feel overused because of all the anime that has been out since then, surely there will have to be a few spinoffs by now.
Episodes: The episodes fit together neatly into a continuous story, though you can tell a few were rushed a bit. A lot of the episodes in the beginning had ______ in them. This idea was cool at first but got a tad bit tiresome during the last ______ episodes because it was predictable that the _____ would _____ once again. These episode seemed a bit like filler episode because there wasn't that much of a need for 5-7 episodes of the same concept but after that idea was finished, the episodes do start to get a lot more action into them with new plot twists spitting out at you. The ending was an open ending making you feel as if you must start the next series because you can not live without knowing what happens next.
~ Sound ~
Intro: The dub intro was very colorful and makes a lot of sense even if you watch only a few episodes. The piecing of parts was nicely thought out and the sounds were very magic like. Though for the original Japanese version, I can not say the same. The first intro (up to Epi. 27) seemed dull with all the black and white in the first few shots. The intro song Moonlight Densetsu" (ムーンライト伝説 Mūnraito Densetsu) was catchy when listened to in Japanese but became confusing when translated into to English. The original song may confuse people when watching the series with subtitles. The dub intro song still has the same melody as the original though with different lyrics. The original's lyrics were mainly focused on the main characters love, but in the dub the lyrics give off more of a heroic vibe, something more suited since more of the series is focused on defeating the evil, though the romance does start to peek out a lot more during the final episodes. The second original intro (27+) was a bit less dull and started to become a lot less confusing than the first.
Voices: The actors were chosen very nicely and specifically for each and very charecter. One of the main charecter has a very teacher/lecture like personality and the voice actor chosen was very good at portraying that voice tone.
~ Art ~
Style: The style of the anime was focused on magic and fighting off evil. The artist's did a great job incorporating both these attributes of the idea into a non confusing, bright poppy colored, sparkly, fun anime. What I like about this anime is that in fight scenes there is no gore/blood making it child friendly and sparing the light hearted.
~ Characters ~
A lot of the thought in the series has been focused on the characters, which I like better than say if they spent a lot on art supplies and poor character personalities. The art for each character portrays their flaws and strengths nicely, and the idea/animation for their battle attacks varies on each characters personality which is better, than say, if the stupid characters suddenly became smart with their powers. The main characters (as seen in the preview image for the anime) all have a similar outfit but the colors of the outfits, hair lengths & colors, battle cries & animations, strengths & flaws, all differ making it easier to tell who is who. The anime dips in and out of events that could happen in reality and events that would never happen, which means you can relate to some characters in some events and just keep on wishing you could be that character in other events. Obviously, the creators intention was for us to hate the villains but feel sympathy for them when we see their backstory, which means a few life lessons along they way including the famous "Never Judge A Book By Its Cover." Most main characters grow throughout the series as they become braver and older, also teaching us some life tips along the way. 2 main characters look quite similar to each other making it easy to guess that they have to do something in common with each other, making the suspense in seeing who one of them actually is, not as suspenseful, but for all you know, that character may turn out to be someone they don't look like, I won't be telling ;).
~ Enjoyment ~
I'm not a big fan of watching/reading the same book again because the mystery would be gone, making it a one time only ecperience, but thats just me. Maybe I would read the manga since a few things usually get cut in shows/movies. I wouldn't exactly want to own the actual licensed boxed DVD version because I've already watched the series, but that doesn't mean I would say no to buying a few licensed figures/knick knacks! Since the concept of the anime is very unique in my eyes, I think I'll be remembering this anime for a long time, including the lessons I've learned along the way, also who doesn't remember the first time they took a peek into the world of anime? If you don't, well that's what MyAnimeList is for! As you know, this anime was a hit back in the day, the reason more and more people got into anime. Even if you aren't a fan of anime or manga, I would still recommend you to watch the series. It may just change your mind! ^U^
