Sailor Moon, Vol. 13: Time Travelers! (1996)
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:

• Angst
• Existential, relativistic time crises
• Mild violence

Released by: ADV
Region: 1
Rating: NR, safe for all ages
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 format.

My Advice:

The Sailor Moon story arc is about rapidly drawing to a close, and we finally get a better look at the real powers behind this new threat to Earth. In "Smart Payoff," Emerald sends a new Droido, MissTrust, to attack Amy, making all of her friends believe that she has cheated to achieve her phenomenal academic success. Next, in "Child’s Play," Doom and Gloom attack the children of Rini’s school, causing the students to turn against each other and feed lots of dark energy into Emerald’s focus. Meanwhile, Diamond recognizes Serena as Queen Serenity and recalls Emerald, and we prepare to travel with Our Heroes to the future. "Future Shocked" introduces Sailor Pluto, the lone Senshi of Time, and has Emerald threatening to lose Sailor Moon in the time-stream forever.

"Legend of the Negamoon" finally answers many of our questions about the connections between Serena and the Moon, and between Crystal Tokyo and the Negamoon. Finally, "Jealousy’s Just Rewards" may spell the end of Emerald, but also the end of Sailor Moon and the Scouts.

Prince Diamond continues to develop into a very interesting villain, despite his relatively limited screen time. More than just wanting revenge, Diamond has a conscience, a family, hopes, and specific goals. He has a past and plans for his future. The Scouts, of course, already had distinct characters, as did their ally, Tuxedo Mask/Darien. Emerald also grows into a more stock villainess, but she too has some hidden depths in her love for Diamond and drive to prove herself to him.

Viewers still unhappy with the censorship job done on this series would do well to recall that ADV isn't chopping this thing up, it's only releasing what it was handed in the condition it was in. An uncut version of the series is forthcoming from ADV as well, so everybody will soon be happy.

Some features still would have been nice, but you can’t win them all. Meanwhile, the audio and video quality are both decent enough, especially given that this was on TV several years ago. You won’t have to turn up the TV just to hear some half-mumbled line of dialogue.

In short, if you’ve been enjoying the Sailor Moon R season thus far, then this disc is a must-have. If you haven’t given it a try yet, then you should; it combines interesting villains with fun, action, and beautiful art. And with five episodes on this disc, how can you be unhappy with the deal you’re getting?