Sailor Moon, Vol. 1: A Heroine is Chosen (1995)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

English Adaptation Written by Mycheline Tremblay, Gary Plaxton, and Lisa Lumby
Based on the manga by Naoko Takeuchi
Directed by Junichi Sato

Dindrane's Anime Warnings:

• Screeching and whining
• Snide, vindictive villains
• Girls who are smarter than you

Released by: ADV Films
Region: 1
Rating: NR, suitable for all ages
Anamorphic: N/A; presented in its original 1.33:1 TV aspect

My Advice: Buy it. You’ll see.

Everyone knows who Sailor Moon is, and many people think they know what the show is like, even if they’ve never seen an episode. But every anime fan needs to see at least a few episodes to understand not only what the show is really like, but to understand the influence that this series had upon shoujo anime. What we have here on the first disc is the first six of forty TV episodes, as broadcast in the United States. These forty episodes were originally forty-six; three were dropped for time considerations, two were cut for being controversial, and two more were blended into one episode. Because of the intriguing stories, creative villains, and detailed characters, Sailor Moon has transcended its intended audience of pre-teen girls and earned one of the largest fan bases in history, introducing many any otaku to the glories of anime.

The show starts with the destruction of the Moon Palace a thousand years ago. The royal family sent their warriors and their princess to the future of the Earth, erasing their memories and hiding them from the evil Negaverse. Flash forward to the Japan of the present, where fourteen-year-old schoolgirl Serena meets a talking cat named Luna. Luna, as a minion of the Moon, is charged with finding the warriors again to fend off a new incursion by the Negaverse, go back in time to save Queen Serenity of the Moon, and to find the Moon Princess. Luna tells Serena, a singularly silly and uncoordinated girl, that she is really Sailor Moon, and gives Serena the Moon Crystal that will transform her from Serena into Sailor Moon when there are Negaverse villains to fight.

Further episodes on this disc introduce Sailor Moon’s fight with the individual Negaverse villains and their current general, the evil Jadeite. Jadeite and the other Negaverse villains are ruled by Queen Beryl, who seeks energy to fuel her quest to defeat the Moon Kingdom. Jadeite gathers this energy through a series of elaborate plans, usually manipulating the weaknesses of humans, but each time, he is foiled by Serena and the second Sailor Scout, Mercury, who is found in episode five, “Computer School Blues.”

One of the interesting things about Sailor Moon is that each Sailor Scout has a role and a personality. Amy, for example, Sailor Mercury, is the Sailor of Brilliance, a straight-A student, and the voice of cool reason in the face of Serena’s gut-reactions to things. Few ensemble anime pieces have this kind of detail and characterization, with each character having a clear personality from their very first appearance.

Adults, especially overly self-aware Gen-X adults, sometimes scoff at Sailor Moon because of the goofiness of the costumed villains...but when Spider-Man’s main enemies throw pumpkins and have silver tentacles, then perhaps they should re-evaluate their position. Besides, the secondary villains have to look a bit surreal, as they are from a different universe, take on the secondary characteristics of their current form, and are aimed at a younger audience, who might be easily frightened. Just enjoy the show for what it is.

Sailor Moon purists might be offended at some of the smaller changes that were made in the North American version, like the conversion of Zoisite into a woman. Frankly, even as a literary formalist, none of these changes really make any difference to the storyline. If you didn’t know about them, you wouldn’t miss them, and that’s the real test. Some of the dialogue has been simplified to appeal to a younger audience than originally intended, but again, not much, and that’s an economic reality we can’t change. Reducing the nudity and violence of this series doesn’t butcher it the whole the way it did DBZ. If you feel compelled to do so, you could seek out the Japanese versions, but for the rest of us, who just want to enjoy a good story, DiC’s versions are fine.

For this release, viewers basically traded extras to get more episodes per disc. Given the size of this series, I, for one, would rather have these six episodes per disc. Maybe someday in the future, ADV will release some tasty extras on a special disc for us to pick up, as I would love to hear interviews with the creators, subsequent anime designers influenced by the mega-popular Sailor Moon, and so on. But for now, the six episodes per disc and the low price are good enough. It would have been nice to have had the original Japanese version alongside this “cleaned up” North American version, but that would have added enormous expense to the release cost, due to buying licenses, procuring new film stock, adding subtitles, and so on. Just enjoy it for what it is, how it is.

In short, Sailor Moon is a great show with lots of adventure, action, fighting, characterization, and colorful art. If you’ve been afraid to watch this “girly” show before, then now’s the time to give it a chance. You may never think it’s great art, but you just might see it for what it’s trying to be: a creative shot at ensemble anime with good storylines and better characters.