Sailor Moon Review by Rashad Moore

	Audience:	G
	Genre:	Fantasy/Comedy/Romance
	Usual Running Time:	60 min.
	Contains:	Mild Animated Violence
	Rating:	B-

Known in Japan as Bishoujo Senshi (Pretty Soldier) Sailor Moon, and known throughout the rest of the world as just "Sailor Moon," the anime has gained enormous popularity ever since it was shown domestically by DiC, and is one of the best known animes in the U.S. next to Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z. The U.S. dub of the series chronicles the events of the original TV show and the "R" series. The show has become a hit with good reason. Sailor Moon stands out highly than your normal "magical girl" show. While the show gets a weak start, the plot seems to mature with Serena (Usagi) herself.

In the beginning Serena is your average girl, she likes to hang out with her friends, go to the arcade, and check out boys, although she isn't very good in school and she is sort of a crybaby. Her life is changed when she rescues a mysterious cat named Luna, who tells Serena about her destiny as Sailor Moon, and her duty to protect Earth from Queen Beryl and the legions of the Negaverse. Along the way she teams up with fellow scouts Amy(Sailor Mercury), Rei(Sailor Mars), Mina(Sailor Venus), and Lina(Sailor Jupiter). And recieve help from Tuxedo Mask(Darien) whom he and Serena learn of their romantic bond and past lives.

When the show first starts, Sailor Moon is just your average "magical girl" show, Serena herself is a humorous character and it does manage to be pretty funny, but it starts off with a weak plot and the show always followed the done to death "monster of the day" formula. But what makes Sailor Moon so special and become something much more is that the show mostly concentrates on the main characters themselves, and revolves on Serena's attempts to live out her dreams in a world of responsibility. (A theme that can mostly relate to Japanese children.) While she does have the fate of the world resting on her shoulders she just wants to be a normal girl. Plus the other characters manage to grow on you very much and you soon start caring about them. Each season which brings a new villain for the Sailor Scouts to contend with, always seems to reward you with a climatic and emotional finale. Also what keeps most viewer glued to the show is the ever-changing relationship between Serena and Darien which keeps you immersed and addicted like a soap opera.

Once the show reaches the Sailor Moon R series(the lost episodes on Cartoon Network.), it became much more serious, while still having some light-hearted moments, it soon left the weak formula of the first episodes and became great storytelling and symbolized everything positive about anime and the reason why I got into it in the first place. Sailor Moon feels like a very special fairy tale.

But the show was still targeted towards a very young audience when it brought to the U.S., and it especially shows in the music and dubbing. The voices match the characters well (what's with Molly's New York accent?), but kiddyish dialogue, filled with words like "negatrash" is nowhere as cringeworthy and immature than the "Sailor Says" segments at the end of each episode.  (Somewhat of a poor attempt to add educational value to the show in which the show already has.) But what makes these segments interesting, is that they feature scenes that were edited from the show. The editing may turn off fans of the original Japanese version. Major episodes such as "Day of Destiny" had many scenes cut from the original. (Some of the more violent scenes were cut from episodes while some surprisingly stayed.) Also like Dragon Ball Z, the music was changed, but with opposite results from DBZ. In the U.S. Version,it became the standard uninspired cartoony kiddy fare. (The better sounding Japanese Music should've stayed.) But these flaws don't stop Sailor Moon from becoming a great show.

In the end, Sailor Moon is an enjoyable show for children and adults as well, there's something here for everyone. But I highly suggest finding fansubs of the original for those who were unsatisfied. (Also check out the last episode "Follow the Leader" as the kickoff for Sailor Moon S.) Hopefully this won't be the last wev'e heard of the Sailor Scouts for U.S. fans.

 Image not created by me. Aug 99. DiC/Bandai Ent. Review by Rashad Moore.