Sailor
Moon
ADV Films DVD
Review
by
: Matt
McConnel 
Is something
cliché if it was the one that set the cliché? For example,
are Isaac Asimov's Foundation books, Lloyd Alexander's Prydain
Chronicles, or even something as hallowed as the Lord of the
Rings cliché because they set the mold for what was to come?
No, not really, and it is in this light of originality that
ADV's offering of the first adventures of Sailor Moon should
be viewed.
Sailor
Moon was one of the first anime series to make it across the
Pacific, in its (more or less) original form, and achieve
wide standing appeal. The target demographic was girls 8-12
with time for television and the all powerful disposable income
to spend on knick knacks. The formula of a young girl called
by destiny to fight against evil with her friends alongside
apparently had worked to great effect in Japan, and the results
in the United States were certainly more than anyone expected.
The show appealed to girls of even younger years than planned,
and appalled many adults. There was material considered inappropriate
for American television, and some light editing ensued. The
result is some fancy strategically placed color effect upon
transformation, and the tuning down of the more brutal dialogue.
The result reached audiences sometime in the early 90's.
Initial
reaction of Matthew upon discovering Troy's sadistic choice
of review material: "IT BURNS! OH HOW IT BUUUUUURNS!! MY EYES,
MY EYES WILL BURN!!!" Matthew's reaction upon completing viewing:
"Ok, that wasn't SO bad…" Indeed, it is not as bad as one
might originally expect of a children's show. The scripting
is far superior to much of the shows out there by either American
or Japanese production, and when you consider the vintage
of the animation, it is not a bad job for a weekly production.
The storyline is known to just about anyone who has flipped
channels past Cartoon Network's Toonami franchise: Girl is
given the powers of the Moon to combat the evil Queen Berel
and save the earth; along the way she encounters many friends
such as the cats Artemis and Luna, Tuxedo Mask, other Sailor
Scouts (Mars, Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury), and others; she
triumphs over adversity only to be faced with new trials and
tribulations in the next installment of the series. Trite?
Hardly.
In fact
the story is as deep as you let it go. The Sailor Scouts,
along with Tuxedo Mask, are refugees from an ancient civilization
on the moon which was destroyed by Queen Berel and the Nega-Force.
In a last ditch effort to save her daughter and protect another
world from Berel, the queen used her power to teleport the
children and their protectors to earth. In her re-incarnation,
Serena (the daughter) is a typical teenage girl: Boys, shopping,
and goofing off. The cat Luna finds her and reveals to Serena
her destiny to stop Queen Berel. Each episode is very much
along the lines of bad-guy-du-jour, and each adversary is
defeated with inner strength, courage, and handy little moon
gadgets that Luna dispenses ala James Bond's Q. The story
has forward momentum plus an edge of complexity, gravity,
and cohesion that other similar formula genre types tend to
lack.
The production
is slick, although the American addition of groovy colorful
transition CG could be left behind, especially with the older
animation. The dubbing is decent, and the voice actors give
it their all considering they are voicing a show written to
work on the intellectual level of single digit grade levels.
The tacking on of a 'Sailor Says' section to the end of each
episode seems to be an American addition to fill time and
to make the show more appealing to parents. This leads to
a major dilemma that ADV undoubtedly had when producing the
DVDs; namely, whether to include the original Japanese voice
track on the discs. The answer is unfortunately no. There
is surprisingly little extra on the various discs, though
they are packed with no less than six episodes apiece. The
transfer is clean, and on the whole it is a slick way to repackage
an anime that is very likely coming up on 10 or more years
on the air.
I recently
came across the definition of a word I hear often, but not
defined; kitsch. It means, basically, something that is made
to appeal to pop culture without being terribly educational,
useful, or even tasteful. Unlike some contemporaries, Sailor
Moon is a classic, like it or not. The new generation of anime
fan views Sailor Moon with just about the same nostalgia that
people like me think of Thundercats, Transformers, and Robotech.
Yes, the scripts were positively awful at times, but they
were fun to watch. The same is so very true for Sailor Moon,
it is a good show for the target it is designed for, the fact
that it has gained wider appeal makes it so much the better.
Furthermore, the partnership of ADV and DIC is something that
should encourage all fans that we will see a lot more kitschy
goodness coming our way.
Email
Matt, our resident anime guru, here.
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