Sailor Moon, Vol. 14: Love Conquers All (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:

• Animated violence
• Rini much less irritating
• Amor vincit omnia

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

My Advice: Get it today

The Sailor Moon R sequence comes to an end in this rousing collection of the final five episodes in the season. "Birth of Wicked Lady" shows the effects of Wiseman’s brainwashing upon the lonely child Rini; he attempts to convince her that her parents never loved her, nor have the Scouts. In "Brotherly Love," Wiseman moves on to deal with what he would call "the Sapphire Problem," leaving Diamond alone to make all the choices about Serena and the fate of the Earth himself. "Diamond in the Rough" shows the fruits of Wiseman’s labors, as Diamond confronts him about Sapphire’s fate, while the Scouts confront their own inner demons and the Dark Moon’s booby traps.

"Final Battle" is just that, the end of months of fighting with the Dark Moon; Serena and the Scouts must choose how they will confront the dark evil of Wiseman, and all of our questions are finally answered…but are they the answers and results we hoped for? Finally, "Follow the Leader" is a kind of montage episode wherein viewers get a bit of a preview of the next season, structured as a battle for leadership of the Scouts--this is rather a confusing episode and really doesn’t need to be seen at all, but it does tantalize viewers a bit to learn what on earth is happening.

This final disc has the quality of the previous installments in the series. While this is not exactly old animation, it’s not this year’s slickest CGI release either, and therefore it’s easy to forget or to take for granted how good this show still looks. The colors are crisp, and the animation is lovely. The sound, especially during the musical sequences, is nicely distinct, as well.

The trend to have no features on this disc continues here through the end. While ADV likely had trouble getting the rights to include such bonus features as bloopers, interviews, or image galleries, a fan favorite feature is cheap and easy to produce and requires no copyright maneuvering: liner notes. It also would have been nice to have interviews with anime experts discussing such things as Magical Girl anime as a genre and the importance of Sailor Moon in general.

In short, if you love anime, and you know you do, then you’ll need to have the entire Sailor Moon saga on DVD to watch and enjoy. That may seem like a lot of discs to buy, but they are priced very affordably, especially compared to other anime, and are quite worth the cost. Even with the lack of features, these discs are a great buy for having five episodes on each, and the quality of the show speaks for itself. In general, if you enjoy Magical Girl anime, tales of destiny and sacrifice, or a little comedy and romance thrown in with grand adventure, time travel, and true, deep heroism, then you’ll love Sailor Moon.