Pretty Sailor Soldiers save the Solar System (Sailor Moon)

Member Name: shroud

Product:	Sailor Moon
Date:	14/11/08 (82 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: above average anime aimed at children, good subtle focus on ethics

Disadvantages: if you have issues with gay couples, go for the heavily edited English dub version

If you have read many of my earlier reviews, you no doubt have picked up on the fact that I adore manga and anime. I first cut my anime teeth back in the day with Robotech when it first aired on American television, and given my adoration of pulp sci fi and fantasy, the genre caught my attention big time. It is probably not surprising therefore that my children are also big time anime and manga fans, with this being a current fave of my younger two children.

Sailor Moon follows the adventures of a group of Japanese junior high school girls. First up we meet the rather dreamy, prone to whinginess, and none too bright Usagi. She is terrified when she encounters a talking black cat with a crescent shaped bald spot on her forehead who tells her she is actually Sailor Moon, a warrior who must help her find a long missing princess and a Silver Crystal. Oh yeah, and that means fighting powerful beings from the Dark Kingdom, who look like really beautiful men (and I do mean beautiful...kiya, the bishies here are mostly baddies! Wahhh!) who send monsters against her. Usagi is initially all but useless, but along the way, she and Luna encounter the remaining sailor senshi (warriors) as well as the mysterious Tuxedo Mask who seems to love saving Sailor Moon when she stands about crying while the monsters attack, mobilising her into action.

The TV series spans some 200 episodes, with each season bearing a variation of the Sailor Moon name. The first season is simply Sailor Moon, aka Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon, and is perhaps most famous not only for showing the death of a reformed villian in love while trysting with his beloved, but as well as for the death of all four of the sailor senshi towards the end of the season.

Of course, they get resurrected (just how I won't reveal as that would spoil the plot for you), so were able to return for season 2 (Sailor Moon R), where the sailor senshi are pitted against two human appearing aliens from a fictional tenth planet in our solar system. Members of the Black Moon Clan and hailing from the 30th century, they intend to destroy the sailor senshi and subvert history to enable their own dark dreams of a future empire to flourish. Seriously twisted, they even turn Sailor Moon's future juvenile daughter Chibiusa into an adult in order to seduce her into becoming their Dark Queeen...

Sailor Moon S is the title for the third season and here we have yet more bad guys as well as a few more new sailor senshi making an appearance...this time named after the outer planets. The sailor senshi all take their names and powers from the heavenly bodies in our solar system, as they are warriors born again and again into new bodies to try to rebirth the utopian kingdom that once spanned our solar system, and which was torn apart by a war with the Dark Kingdom from the first season's story arc. The baddies take a leaf from the Dark Kingdom's book, seeking to channel power from human beings for their own gains. Unlike the Dark Kingdom, it is not to awaken their ruler from a deep slumber, but the rather ordinary idea that if they do this they will rule the world. You'd have to be pretty stupid to think that Sailor Moon et al will let you get away with that notion, and so the battle is on.

Sailor Moon Supers sees a rather freaky circus group bent on world domination getting their butts kicked, but this actually serves more as a back drop of business as usual, with a deeper story arc following Chibiusa and her budding relationship with Helios. Awww...more romance!

The fifth and final season of the original TV series, Sailor Stars, actually has two story arcs. The first deals with the girls doing battle with a nemesis they thought dead. Oh well. The second sees Usagi's future husband and true love going abroad to study, and a handsome pop idol taking a big liking to Usagi. And just what are these Starlights??? Are they fellow sailor senshi, or clever foes?

In addition to the original TV series there are also three feature length films and shorts that can be seen. I should also mention that the English dubbed TV series versions differs to the original, and is usually viewed as inferior. Entire episodes were cut, names changed arbitrarily, lines changed, and even the sex of main characters swapped about to tailor it so that it would hopefully be free of controversy in the west. It is much better to watch this in the uncut original versions, with English subtitles, which even my five year old manages just fine, not to mention they are picking up more Japanese along the way, (hurrah!). So just what was so controversial? Well, in case it might possibly offend your sensibilities, I will go ahead and spill the beans.

Gay characters are considered acceptable in children's TV and books in Japan. There, I said it. Two members of the Dark Kingdon from season 1 are both males, and it is obvious they are lovers. Also, two of the sailor senshi fancy each other. It's all hand holding and give each other roses sort of romance, all very shonen-ai, but the very idea freaked out American TV heads. Other issues involved the transformation from school girl to sailor senshi, as you can "gasp" see the outline of the a transparent body that has NO clothes on it! Personally, this sort of thing doesn't offend my sensibilities, and my children see gay couples holding hands and giving each other flowers and what not in puiblic places from the street to nice restaurants anyway. I would rather my kids realise that love is a wonderful thing and not something to freak out over, especially seeing as I have family and friends in same sex marriages. That's just me though, so if the idea weirds you out, by all means, go for the butchered versions.

Filled with humour and less violence than your average Power Rangers epsiode, it is pretty tame fare for the adult anime fan but if your sesnibilites allow it, one that children aged 5-12 take to quite well, and that excites their interest in the genre. Along the way children can pick up bits of cultural inforamtion as well, expanding their world view, which is only a good thing :) Not to mention all the discussions on justice, fairness, love, and right vs wrong et al make for some subtle lessons on ethics that don't feel like anything like didactical learning..

Sailor Moon is not currently airing on satellite or terrestrial TV, but can be watched straming over at Veoh.com, both subtitled original versions and the butchered English dubs. Likewise the DVDs for both versions can be found on eBay and Amazon quite reasonably.

Summary: long running popular children's anime based upon the manga by the same name by Naoko Takeuchi.