Sailor Moon

[Cassini90125]

Originally Posted by Cassini90125

I'd start a Sailor Moon thread, but I think it would just be you, me, and an occasional post by a few other members.

Originally Posted by Mr. Marshmallow

So? Support is support no matter how many or how few you have to back it up.

Good point.

So here's the long-overdue Sailor Moon thread. If I had to pick a favorite cartoon other than Foster's, this would be the one. It's well-written, with a good mix of drama, action, and more than a little comedy; the animation isn't half bad; the stories, be they single-episode tales or longer arcs, are engaging and sometimes thought-provoking; but the best part is, of course, the characters, who have real depth and dimension to them. They're a very likable group, very easy to get attached to. I first saw the show back in the 1990's, over ten years ago, but I've never forgotten it. As I've noted repeatedly in another thread, I've been watching it again on DVD. The first time around I only saw the first season and a few episodes from the second part of the second season, so a lot of this is new to me; I still have yet to meet any of the outer senshi and have only bits and pieces of info about the later stories. It's been tempting but I've avoided reading about it on Wikipedia; I assume there's some wonderful things coming up and I want to experience it all without any foreknowledge that might spoil the surprise.

Much has already been written about the Sailor Scouts themselves in the "Cartoon Crushes" thread, particularly about Sailor Jupiter, who is easily my favorite, although there's a special place in my heart for Sailor Mercury, too. As I said, they're a diverse, likable group, although I didn't get to know Sailor Venus very well before the show was yanked. Sailor Moon's constant crying often made me roll my eyes at first but eventually I came to know her as a very caring person who, like the title song says, would never turn her back on a friend. Sailor Mars' attitude perplexed me but it's just a part of her complex personality, as is her kinder, gentler side. Sailor Mercury, the brainy one, I liked her from the start; a little shy but very sweet, and very intelligent. Smart is a very attractive quality in my book. As for Sailor Jupiter, the word "wow" doesn't even begin to cover it. Frankie outshines her, but no one else does. And let's not forget Tuxedo Mask, the male lead, who has of late become something of a role-model for me, if only because I always wanted to be the dashing, romantic hero that makes everyone swoon. Don't we all? Of the villains the one I remember best is Nephrite, largely from his death scene, which I've already talked about elsewhere; it was a riveting moment, something you don't often see in cartoons (at least not American cartoons).

So anyway, yeah, I love this show and I am so enjoying seeing it again, and really looking forward to the episodes that I've never seen before. But I've rambled long enough here. How about the rest of you? What's your opinion of the show and it's characters? Who's your favorite Sailor Scout, and why? What was your favorite or least favorite episode? Tell us!

[Mr. Marshmallow]

No surprise I'd be posting here I have loved Sailor Moon since the first time I saw it back in the early morning airing of the show they had when I was in high school. I was always pissed because I had to head off to my high school half way into the episode and I'd have to leave tapes running to catch the episodes.

It was a pain but it was worth it because there is a reason Sailor Moon is one of the most famous animes of all time: it's phenomenal. It's a classic, simple, easy to follow story with super powered girls who are attractive, fun, and like Cass said, in depth. They are well crafted, unique individuals with diverse personalities.

This show may have been aimed towards girls more but I never felt bad for watching the show as I grew up. I love it then and I still love it today. My favorite scout (no surprise to Cass) is Jupiter for reasons I already stated in the toon crush thread, but a close second would be Raye/Sailor Mars.

Even though I seriously hate her smart ass attitude and at times bratty behavior, I feel she's got the most unique background of the scouts with her fortune telling and her mystic mumbo jumbo lifestyle. I think she's also drop dead gorgeous (but not even in Jupiter's league) and I think she has the sexiest outfit of the scouts.

The romance element is one thing I always loved about this show. Seeing Raye, Amy, and of course Serena falling in love with their own guys was one of the true perks of the show. And call me a geek at heart, but Serena and Darien are truly the anime version of Romeo and Juliet if you ask me.

They are a perfect couple and their relationship was one of the things that drew me to the show. Now onto the "favs". My favorite villain would be Wise man from the Rini/Neo Tokyo saga. Now I'm going to list my fav/least episode and since you said you didn't want any forewarning Cass, I hope this doesn't upset you.

I don't consider these episodes spoiler material but that's your call Cass. My favorite is one called "Kitty Chaos" and it takes place during Zoicyte's turn in the Queen Beryl saga. It's my favorite episode because it's hilarious to see Luna in trouble for a change and actually getting crushed on by another cat.

It also has probably the funniest "funny moments" I've ever seen. I won't spoil it for you but it involves 3 of the scouts stuck in a alleyway, that's all I'll say . I have other favs but that's the only one I can recall, I'd like to say a Jupiter episode but sadly she has too few to remember .

My least favorite would be "Serena Times 2", with the introduction of the BRAT RAT Rini, who I possibly loathe and find to be extremely annoying and obnoxious. I don't care for her and it took forever for her to mellow out. Also my favorite Sailor Moon movie would be movie 1 of the 3, "Promise of the Rose".

[Zeitgheist]

To me the show is nothing more than nostalgia... nostalgia buckets full! Since I'm no longer a fan of neither anime or the show itself, but, now and then I do watch and I do pick up a manga whenever I see one lying around in my room. I must've been 9 or so when the show came here to Sweden and I'm 21 now (I feel old!)... but the old fan remains somewhere inside, as I still know all the senshis birthdays and favorite food, et.c XD

[Cassini90125]

Rei probably did have the sexiest outfit of the original five Scouts, but I'm still not sure how one manages to fight evil while wearing high heels. Gotta be a little awkward.

I never knew what to make of Rini until recently; at the time, from the few episodes I saw from the second season, she just seemed like an awful little brat and not much more, although it was pretty obvious that she was related to Sailor Moon in some way. Although I didn't see most of her episodes I have read about the season, courtesy of a copy of The Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game that I picked up on eBay awhile back (yeah, I'm a bigger dork than y'all thought ), and she struck me as more sympathetic than I'd originally thought. It just takes some time for that sympathy to grow.

The romance element drew me in, too. Sitting there wondering "How long is it going to take these two to find each other?" was part of the fun. It still astonishes me that Lita never found anyone, though. She reminds me a lot of Frankie, sometimes, and, well, I think we all know how I feel about her by now.

Another thing about the show that amused me, in a sad sort of way, was how the censors decided not to show certain episodes due to content concerns. I'm thinking specifically about Episode #2 here. Granted, the scene where Umino flips up Ms. Sakurada's skirt was a tad risque but I really can't see that as being a traumatic event for the target audience; at the most, there would have been some giggling on the playground the next day, nothing more. Pathetic that the censors seem to have less maturity than a bunch of 13-year olds.

A quick note about spoilers; don't worry about them. The show is complex enough that anything I read here isn't too likely to spoil the later seasons for me, or for anybody else who hasn't seen them. Don't go overboard, mind you, but don't spend any energy worrying about it, either. After all, there's no point in talking about the show if we can't talk about it.

[cartman414]

Awww, no one knows anything beyond the initial 65-episode DiC run, which cut out 6 episodes? You're missing the ending of Season 2 (aka R), the 3 subsequent seasons, and the Outer Senshi/Scouts!

[Cassini90125]

I'll find out over time; I have the complete series on DVD, and I mean complete; all 200 episodes, the movies, the specials, even the soundtracks. The set cost a small fortune but it was worth it.

[Mr. Marshmallow]

Actually not true, I have seen many seasons of Sailor Moon long past the DIC era. I have seen seasons 4 and 5 which would be Sailor Neptune/Uranus arrival with Dr. Tomo, and the Pegasus saga along with those circus girls that appeared with Zerkonia. It was during those later sagas that I started to get bored.

Sailor Moon's villains had gotten ridiculously stupid and they really lacked the originality and unique designs of the original villains such as Queen Beryl, Alan and Anne, and the Dark Moon family. But the Neptune/Uranus saga was one of the best seasons I think the show ever had and I am SO glad they released it.

Funny thing you mention censors Cass because there's a LOT of "censor worthy" material during the Neptune/Uranus saga and luckily it was aired on CN and put on DVD. Truth be told, I barely noticed the censoring in the DIC episodes and even after i read up on it more, what they cut out really didn't bug me that much.

The ones I recall in particular involved cutting out the fact Luna said the first 3 scouts would "die" if they blew up some airplanes controlled by Jedite. And there were a few extended "death" scenes when the Scouts face the Doom and Gloom girls at the very, very end of the Queen Beryl saga.

Back to Rini. While I can sympathize with her status, I still personally dislike the little brat because she was so incredibly rude and careless towards Serena, ESPECIALLY the crap she pulled with Darien and Serena which was at a very critical point in the show for Serena.

Furthermore, the problem I have with Rini is like with most rude child characters: they make it difficult to "attack" them. Child characters get the freedom to act like assholes and don't get punished or treated poorly because they are unattackable targets, anything you to do them someone will see as you beating up a child.

Rini does this quite a lot and thankfully she mellowed out this rotten behavior. I swear if she hadn't then it would have made watching seasons 4-5 all the more difficult to endure. The other big thing censors changed was the gender of Zoicyte. She is actually a HE in Japan and is the gay lover of Malachite.

However here he becomes a SHE and is now a female lover to Malachite. I actually like Zoicyte better as a female, I think that aspect is good because it brings diversity to a team of a bunch of guys working for Beryl. Furthermore I have seen plenty feminine anime males before but you could always still tell they were guys.

Zoicyte to me looks NOTHING like a guy in anyway which is why the whole gay lover thing visually doesn't work for me because she looks like a woman in every sense of the word. DIC however did an excellent job with the voices and music on the series I think and even the original Japanese music (in my opinion) sounds silly compared to the score DIC put out.

EDIT

Btw Cass, in regards to the movies I HIGHLY recommend the second one out of all 3 movies because the "main focus" of that movie is so wonderfully exciting to watch, you won't believe how well it works. I also recommend you take the 3rd movie with a grain of salt, because it sucks something fierce.