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| Left to Right: Sailor Uranus; Sailor Neptune; Tuxedo Kamen; Sailor Venus Sailor Mars; Sailor Moon; Sailor Chibi Moon; Sailor Mercury Sailor Jupiter; Sailor Pluto; Sailor Saturn |
Season One, simply known as Sailor Moon, started with Usagi Tsukino, an 8th grade schoolgirl who saves a cat. The cat later appears in Usagi’s room able to talk. Introducing herself as Luna, she gives Usagi a broach which allows her to transform into Sailor Moon, the sailor suited soldier of justice. She faces the Dark Kingdom, an enemy that wants to take over the Earth, consisting of Queen Metallia, Queen Beryl, Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoicite, and Kunzite. At first her only ally is Tuxedo Kamen, a masked man who assists her but has his own agenda, but eventually discovers Sailor Mercury (Ami Mizuno), Sailor Mars (Rei Hino), Sailor Jupiter (Makoto Kino), and Sailor Venus (Minako Aino). They form the Sailor Senshi. Throughout the season, Usagi is constantly annoyed by college student Mamoru Chiba.
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| The Dark Kindom Middle: Queen Beryl; Upper Left: Jadeite Lower Left: Nephrite; Upper Right: Zoicite Lower Right: Kunzite; Upper Skull: Metallia |
Eventually, the Senshi learn more about their pasts on the
moon and confront the Dark Kingdom. Before the final battle, Mercury, Mars,
Jupiter and Venus die protecting Sailor Moon. During the final showdown, Prince
Endymion tries to kill Sailor Moon, but she revives his memories and he dies
saving her from Queen Beryl. She then defeats Beryl and Metallia as Princess
Serenity using the silver crystal and the powers of her allies. However, the
consequence of using the crystal’s full power is death, but since her last wish
is to live a normal life as a normal girl, she, all the girls and Mamoru come
back to life without their memories.
Favorite episodes of Sailor Moon: Episode 24 “Naru’s Cry!
Nephrite Dies for Love,” 34 “The Sparkling Silver Crystal! The Moon Princess
Appears” and 35 “Memories Return! Usagi and Mamoru’s Past”
 |
| Ail and Ann |
Season Two, known as Sailor Moon R, is made up of two arcs. The
first arc consist of the Senshi regaining their memories to fight the aliens
Ail and Ann, who are trying to take energy to feed their Doom Tree, which is
their life source. While Ail and Ann are lovers, they pose as brother and
sister students at Usagi’s school. While the senshi regain their memories, Mamoru doesn’t, even though Usagi constantly tries to help him. Instead of
Tuxedo Kamen, Tsukikage no Knight appears to help them and the Senshi receive new
powers as the plot demands. Eventually, the Doom Tree lashes out after being
feed too much pain and attacks Ail, Ann, Mamoru and Usagi, who reveals herself
to the aliens and Mamoru remembers his past when she tries to protect them. The
tree reveals the alien’s past and the aliens discover what love is. After
Sailor Moon heals the tree, it revives Ann. The two go off to space to start a
new life with a sapling from the tree. Tsukikage no Knight reveals himself as a
part of Mamoru’s soul. |
| Black Moon Clan Top to Bottom, Left to Right: Wiseman; Rubeus; Esmeraude; Calveras; Demando; Petz Bethier; Koan |
Favorite Episodes of Sailor Moon R: Episode 58 “The Lovers’
Hearts Disagree! The Angry Doom Tree,” 62 “The Friendship of Sailor Warriors!
Good-bye Ami,” 82 “Journey to the Future! Battle in the Space-Time Corridor,”
and 88 “The Final Battle Between Light and Darkness! Love worn to Future.”
The Third Season, Sailor Moon S, has the Senshi searching for
three Talismans which will call forth the Holy Grail when brought together. The
Holy Grail gives the Messiah the power to sav or destroy the world. Two new
senshi are introduced, Sailor Uranus (Haruka Tenoh) and Sailor Neptune (Michiru
Kaoih). The villans, the Death Busters, led by Professor Tomoe are mad scientists bent on finding the Talismans sealed in pure heart crystals
that some people possess. In the first two episodes, Usagi’s power becomes
ineffective and thanks to the power of love between her and Mamoru, she gains a
new powered up brooch and weapon. Uranus and Neptune remain shadowed until episode
92. However, Uranus and Neptune do not want the Senshi to interfere in their
business as they believe that they do not have what it takes to save the world.
When the crystal heart is removed, the person sides so the three Talisman
carriers will die when they are extracted. Eventually, Chibi-usa reappears as
Sailor Chibi Moon and the Outer and Inner Senshi discover each other’s’
identities, which strains their friendships. The Death Busters find out that
Haruka and Michiru carry talismans and almost die when they are extracted, but
Sailor Pluto (Setsuna Meioh) appears with the third and saves their life. The Holy
Grail is formed and Sailor Moon becomes Super Sailor Moon. Chibi-usa and Hotaru
Tomoe, the professor’s daughter become friends, but Hotaru has been bred to
have Mistress 9 live inside of her. She is also Sailor Saturn, the senshi of
destruction destined to destroy the world. The Outers attempt to kill her
before anything can happen, but are unsuccessful. After she swallows Chibi-usa’s
heart crystal, she trnasforms into Mistress 9. In the final battle, Pluto
sacrifices herself and the Outers
attempt to kill Mistress 9, who tricks Sailor Moon into giving her the Holy
Grail so her master Pharaoh 90 is drawn to earth. The Holy Grail is destroyed,
Mistress 9 is triumphant until being killed by Pharaoh 90 and Hotrau overcomes
Mistress 9 to become Sailor Saturn. In the end, Pharaoh 90 is destroyed and Hotaru
is returned as a baby.| Mistress 9 and Professor Tomoe |
Favorite episodes of Sailor Moon S: Episode 101-101 “Usagi in Tears! Glass Shoes for her Birthday” and “The Pure Heart Stolen! Usagi’s Biggest Crisis,” 110 “Death of Uranus and Neptune? Talismans Appear,” and 125 “A Bright Shooting Star! Saturn, and the Messiah.”
The fourth season, Sailor Moon Super S, has Pegasus come to Chibi-usa asking her to help him hide from the Dead Moon Circus, who wants the Golden Crystal in his horn. The circus, made of Zirconia, the Amazon Trio, Amazoness Quartet and Neherenia, want to take over the world. Pegasus is hiding in the Dream Mirror of a host, but give Chibi-usa and Usaginew brooches to transform directly into their super forms, but only when they call him. The Inner Senshi are also able to transform into super forms, but don’t get new attacks for quite a few episodes. The Amazon Trio finds out they aren’t human, but are animal spirits in human –like bodies. They give up their lives to help Usagi, but Pegasus makes them human and places them in their dream mirrors. The Amazoness Quartet then look for the Golden Mirror, which indicates that Pegasus is hiding in the mirror. The Senshi and Quartet confront each other after a mass Dream Mirror gathering and the Senshi invade the Dead Moon Circus. Sailor Chibi Moon is kidnapped and Pegasus is captured. The Senshi appeal to the quartet who realize they have been used all along by Neherenia. They switch the Golden Crystal with a pineapple and Chibi Moon calls upon the power of the children of the Earth to invoke the crystal’s power, but Neherenia throws her off a cliff. Sailor Moon jumps to rescue her and Neherenia seals herself in a mirror to remain beautiful forever. Moon manages to wake up Chibimoon just as they near the ground. The season ends as Pegasus reveals he is Elios, guardian of Elysion and Endymion and turns the Quartet into normal girls.
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| Left to Right: Amazon Trio (Hawkeye, Fisheye, Tigerseye); Amazoness Quartet (JunJun, CereCere, VesVes, PallaPalla), Zirconia; Neherenia |
Favorite Episodes of Sailor Moon Super S: 143 “Time to
Believe in the Pegasus! The Super Transformations of the Four Soldiers” and 166
“Dreams Forever! Light Throughout the Sky”
The final season, Sailor Stars also has two arcs. In the first, Neherenia returns for revenge. She breaks her
soul mirror and the pieces fall to earth and enter people’s eyes, which
brainwashes them. This happens to Mamoru. Hotaru rapidly grows and givest he
Outers power-ups. When reunited, the powers of all the Senshi give sailor Moon
her form of Eternal Sailor Moon. Brainwashed, Mamoru is kidnapped by Neherenia.
This causes a time paradox and erases Chibi-usa from existence. The Senshi confront
Neherenia, but they become separated and trapped in mirrors. When Sailor Moon
reaches her, Neherenia reveals that she was lonely and gained beauty from a mirror to gain the admiration of others. But once she discovered that the
beauty was fleeting, she turned evil. Usagi sympathizes and the Senshi and
Mamoru break free of their mirrors. Chibi-usa returns and Sailor Moon is able
to return Neherenia to her home and start over, waking up as a small child. |
| Right to Left: Sailor Star Maker; Sailor Star Fighter; Sailor Star Healer |
In the second arc, Galaxia and the Animamates are after the
Star Seeds of the Senshi. The Animamates target people who think they have a
true star seed, but fail. The Three Lights, Seiya, Taiki, and Yaten) an idol
rock band appear in Tokyo at the same time. Their true identities are the
Sailor Starlights (Fighter, Maker, and Healer), Sailor Senshi from a different
galaxy with the goal to find their Princess. Mamoru leaves for Harvard, but
Galaxia comes and steals his Star Seed. In the meantime, a little girl named
ChibiChibi arrives and poses as Usagi’s sister. Most of the episodes focus on
the Lights interacting with the Senshi and their search for the star seeds. The
Outers are hostile to them because they feel they don’t belong on Earth. They soon find out that most galaxies have Senshi and long ago, there were Sailor Wars with the evil entity Chaos that only ended once a legendary sailor warrior sealed him inside her with a sword.
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| Right to Left: Sailor Iron Mouse; Sailor Aluminum Siren; Sailor Galaxia; Sailor Lead Crow; Sailor Tin Nyanko |
Eventually, ChibiChibi is revealed to have a chalice that helps Princess Kakyuu
come to earth. She appears to save Usagi from one of the Animamates, but she is
killed after Galaxia takes her Star Seed. The Inner Senshi and the Starlights
confront Galaxia, but she kills the Inners and takes their Star Seeds. While
she does a mass harvest over Tokyo, the Outers go to fight, but also fail.
Uranus and Neptune agree to work for Galaxia and kill Pluto and Saturn to prove
their loyalty. They attack the Starlight and Sailor Moon, but when given the
final killing order, they turn on Galaxia, trying to take her Star Seed.
However, she doesn’t have one and kills them. The Starlights protect Sailor
Moon and Galaxia reveals herself to be the legendary Sailor Warrior and ChibiChibi is her Star Seed, who was
released when Chaos entered her body, which turned her evil. ChibiChibi
transforms into a sword but Sailor Moon refuses to use it. She wins by reaching
out to the goodness in Galaxia, who then releases all the Star Seeds and
leaves. The other Senshi, Kakyuu and Mamoru come back, then the Starlights and
Kakyuu leave.
The series ends with a reprise of “Moonlight Densetsu.”
Favorite Sailor Stars Episodes: 172: "Love and Moon Power! The End of the Nightmare," 196: "When the Galaxy Perishes! The Sailor Soldiers' Final Battle," 199: "The Light of Hope! Final Battle for the Galaxy," and 200: Usagi's Love! The Moonlight Lights Up the Galaxy."
At its heart, Sailor
Moon succeeded for a variety of reasons: the depth of its characters, a
relatable main character, classic villainy, and near perfect storytelling.
The Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen were true companions, each with
their own flaws and strengths and while the Outer Senshi were completely at
odds with the Inners in the beginning of the S season, they eventually realized
that they needed each other no matter what they believed and eventually
loosened up.
- Usagi was a ditz who primarily wanted to goof off and eat, was perpetually late for school and tended to cry at the drop of a hat. She also never wanted to be Sailor Moon in the first place. However, when it came down to brass tacks, the tears dried up and she was almost always first to charge into battle, especially when it came to the safety of her friends.
- Ami was shy and introverted to a fault, which was often mistaken for arrogance, making her incredibly lonely. But once she became Sailor Mercury, her shell broke and she was able to use her genius intellect to aid the team.
- Rei was the polar opposite of Usagi, hard-working and sarcastic with a short temper. Yet, as one episode shows, she has a heart of gold and deep respect for Usagi, who trusts her the most.
- Makoto was a loner with a reputation for delinquency and would fall for any boy she met. On the other hand, she was an incredible cook and wasn’t the delinquent she appeared to be, only fighting if someone needs help.
- Minako was a moron who had such an aptitude for tactics and combat pragmatism that she terrified many of the villains. She was also the first Senshi, working in England as Sailor V before Usagi became Sailor Moon.
- Mamoru oftentimes either kept to himself or was a complete ass. But would always come rushing to Sailor Moon’s aid and as time went on, he softened. Unfortunately, his role was significantly lessened in later seasons.
- Chibi-usa was a bratty little kid who could express insight far beyond that of the other girls.
- Haruka was an aloof cynic who would flirt shamelessly with nearly every girl that came her way, but would always at least try to meet situations logically.
- Michiru was just as cynical as Haruka, yet had an iron will and would always be there to reel Haruka in.
- Setsuna was the most secretive senshi, but not as cynical as Haruka and Michiru. She also was willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good.
- Finally, Hotaru may have had the capability to destroy entire planets, but she was really a sweet little girl who just wants friends.
Maybe the Outer Senshi didn’t have as much depth as the
inners had, but that could be attributed to them only being around for two
non-consecutive seasons. Even so, they were still interesting and had at least
some depth.
Sailor Moon’s villains
were also remarkable. Each season had its own villains who wanted to take over
the world in their own unique way. Yet few of the villains were outright evil
and many of them had just as much depth and development as the senshi.
In the first season, Jadeite wasn’t completely incompetent, almost succeeded in
running the senshi over with an airplane and would have won the war had he not
failed one final time, Nephrite hated humans but eventually died for one,
Zoicite just wanted the approval of Kunzite, who was smarter than Beryl and was
planning to betray her. In the second season, Ail and Ann had a warped idea of
love and the Black Moon Clan just wanted a place to live unbothered. In the
third season, all Professor Tomoe wanted to do was save Hotaru, even if it
meant making a deal with Pharaoh 90.
Which brings me to the storytelling. A Type C series, Sailor Moon had fantastic storytelling
where every episode felt like it mattered in regards to the seasonal arc or
character development. There may have been a different monster/victim for
almost every episode, but they were only the focus if it was pertinent to the
story, like the Seven Great Youma in the rainbow crystals, or when the Black
Moon Clan were targeting specific parts of Tokyo. And when it came to episodes
where there were major revelations, such as when the senshi got their memories
back or when Uranus and Neptune were revealed to have the talismans, there was
always perfect setup.
Sailor Moon S is when Sailor Moon should have ended.
But it didn't.
You’ll notice none of the above analysis mentioned anything
from the last two seasons. That’s because during Sailor Moon S, the series
started to shift and once Sailor Moon Super S came about, everything that made Sailor Moon such a great series was
abandoned. Instead of episodes with plot or character development, a majority
of episodes were filler and devoted to monster/victim of the week and the
villains were completely one dimensional. The series essentially became a Type B, but was
failing an attempt to pass itself off as Type C.
A couple examples:
At one point, the Amazon Trio started having an existential
crises because they weren’t human. This was completely out of nowhere. Never
before had this revelation been foreshadowed, hinted at or outright stated. One
episode later, they’d be out of the picture. Contrast that with Nephrite’s
final two episodes. He started out with an utter contempt for humanity, but
spent so much time trying to manipulate one of the secondary characters that he
ended up slowly understanding humanity and falling in love with the character.
His last two episodes are him admitting his feelings for her, showing a desire
to reject the Dark Kingdom, and trying to save her from Zoicite, who blows him
away. This happens over the course of 10 episodes, with him being partially
introduced before Jadeite gets the axe. I will always enjoy watching his arc
and will always cry at his death. …parfaits…
Plot advancement was just dreadful compared to other
seasons. By episode 20 of Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon R, and Sailor Moon S, the
seasonal plots were well on their way, the Doom Tree arc had already been
finished, and multiple characters had been introduced and some were even killed
off. There had been maybe two or three episodes of filler between the seasons,
but even they had subtle foreshadowing. In Sailor Moon S, the fact that Uranus
and Neptune were held talismans had been kept from the audience until the 22nd
episode.
By episode 20 of Sailor Moon Super S, there had been 15
episodes of filler. Plot had been relegated to episodes 1, 3, 8, 16, and 20.
And episode 8 had as much plot crammed in it as possible for a 23 minute
episode. Also, the fact that Pegasus was in Chibi-usa’s dream mirror was
established in the first episode.
Normally, I would have no problem with a series that does
what Sailor Moon Super S did. Episodes with self-contained plots that
occasionally contribute to an overarching storyline is how your average Type B
series operates. The problem exists in the precedent set by the previous
seasons. When you go from every episode furthering the plot of the storyline to
a quarter of the episodes doing so, the series suffers. I did say Sailor Moon S
was the start of the shift, and that’s true. However, every episode still
mattered. No one knew who held the talismans and it could have been anybody. The
Monster/Victim of the week focus was still pertinent to hold up the suspense
that it actually could be the next person.
But the series still wasn’t over.
Thanks to Sailor Moon Super S, I had low expectations for
Sailor Stars. I enjoyed the first six episodes the Neherenia arc consisted of,
but then the season tried to reinvent itself and went all over the map. It
became obvious that those six episodes were to force a new upgrade onto Sailor
Moon, Mamoru left the series, and the rest of the Senshi were given backseat
roles to the Sailor Star Lights, whose character concept of male pop idols who
turn into female superheroes is just strange. Unfortunately, Taiki and Yaten
can’t stop being jerks to everyone and everything, including themselves. Seiya
does have his moments though, it’s just that they’re few and far in between.
Usually, he’s trying to hit on Usagi and not taking no for an answer, even
though he (she?) knows Usagi is waiting
for Mamoru to return. Problem with that is, since Mamoru got his Star Seed
stolen by Galaxia at the beginning of the arc, he isn’t getting Usagi’s letters
or phone calls. But she’s just so determined to wait for him or a response from
him that by the time the season is closing, it just hurts to see her in so much
emotional toil. Seiya does eventually come around and understand. Haruka and Michiru do return for the season,
but they don’t really do much other than make pointed jabs at the Star Lights,
forbid Usagi from having any contact with Seiya and throw innuendo at each
other. And then there’s Chibi Chibi. She does have a purpose, but until that
purpose is revealed, she’s just there. At least Chibi-usa contributed in a
meaningful and worthwhile way other than just being a McGuffin. The villains are
also barely worth mentioning as they’re almost carbon copies of the Dark
Kingdom, but without all the characterization that made them interesting. The
theme song for Sailor Stars was also changed from “Moonlight Densetsu” to
“Sailor Star Song.” To its credit though the song isn’t that bad, but it lacks
the magic the former had. Sailor Stars also did try to get back into having the
episodes matter by not blatantly stating who held the true Star Seed or where
the princess was. And the episodes weren’t all bad. Most of them were on par with Super S, but they varied in quality and the ending was phenomenal. The main problem with Sailor Stars is that the series was gutted by the previous
season and the showrunners attempted to reinvent and reboot the series.
Unfortunately, by this time, the damage had been done and what good there was
about this season was just a thin veneer after Sailor Moon had been stripped of everything that made it so
memorable.
I disagree with a review I once read that called Sailor
Stars “Sailor Moon at its worst.” It’s
not completely terrible. But it could have been so much better. Had Sailor Moon not been such a great anime
for the first three seasons, the last two wouldn’t have been so difficult to
get through. But to add to the difficulty, finishing the series and wrapping up
this review has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I spent thirteen
years watching this show. I used to try to get through it, stop watching for a
while and start over, until I eventually decided to not start over and just
keep watching where I left off. I had no qualms about that because of how great
it was. Sailor Moon also introduced
me to the vast world of anime. It was my first. It was my favorite. Had it not
been for Sailor Moon, I wouldn’t have
met some amazing friends, I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of discovering Gosick, Baccano!, Full Metal Alchemist:
Brotherhood, and Cowboy Bebop, I
would never have started writing fan fiction. Of course, it would also have
been one less thing to have been ridiculed in high school about, but the good
with the bad. Now it’s over and thirteen years of my life has been condensed
into this one review.
It’s the end of an
era.
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