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Sailor Moon
The
Legend Begins/The Power of Friendship/Sailor Mars Joins the
Battle/Mysterious Tuxedo Mask
Review
by: Terry
McCammon 
Vol. 1 The Legend Begins |
Essentially,
this is the series you either love or hate, but you know it
no matter what. It really was one of the titles that were
influential in the magic girl genre as well as bringing the
new wave of anime to America. Go on, argue with me, but all
of you will admit that Toonami was key, and what was one of
the first titles they aired to death?
Vol. 2 The Power of Friendship |
But Sailor
Moon is more than that. It brought a whole new generation
of anime chicks to conventions, to stores, and opened the
door to the female watcher. Not that there hasn’t been other
titles that were better, but this one definitely had the market
and the attention. For that alone, and the girl in black fishnet
I see at the anime shelves once a month, I say, “thank you
Sailor Moon.”
ADV Films
has released several key episodes onto video, a medley of
the best and favorites, as well as some unreleased episodes.
It makes for a great gem to add to the shelf, if you are into
anime for the sake of it. If you are a serious sailor scout,
then you may not be as happy since these episodes may be out
of order, and the volumes aren’t numbered for that. I want
to assume these are series one, but since I am not known for
my sailor moon trivia, I can’t be certain.
Vol. 3 Sailor Mars Joins the Battle |
Animation
wise, it's Sailor Moon for god’s sake. I mean, its
good, old school anime. The body art isn’t the gratuitous
sex kitten art, nor is it not appealing. You have plenty of
opportunities to see those cool summoning and power attack
animation sequences, as they repeat them, over and over and
over again. Still, it’s a nice quality that doesn’t intrude
on grandiose.
Vol. 4 Mysterious Tuxedo Mask |
The story,
in the episodes I have seen, concerns a 14 year old girl called
Serena who is informed by a talking cat that she is the inheritor
of magical powers is the earth’s hope in the war with the
negaverse. Serena herself is enthusiastic, but not terribly
strong-minded, disciplined or smart. But, she's smart enough
to realize that being the primary opponent to an entire dimension
full of monsters isn’t fun. Fortunately the Negaverse keeps
using pathetically small scale schemes to gather `human energy',
usually in Serena's back yard or involving her associates.
With the cat as bossy trainer, she gets dragged into a succession
of fights in which she uses her limited magical powers and
amazing dexterity to save her friends and thwart the negaverse
scheme. Eventually new Sailor Scouts enter the scene, as well
Tuxedo Mask, a mysterious young man that captures Serena’s
heart.
It’s a
paradox, but I firmly believe that Sailor Moon deserves
the cult following it has, and I feel that it is an experience
that anyone who claims to be anime freak should have.
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