Sailor Moon manga or anime

[MartyMuppets]

Starting tomorrow I am going to commence watching my Sailor Moon dvds and give my detailed comments upon the saga. Anyone will be most welcome to participate in the discussion with me but be warned plot spoilers may abound in the posts I make.

 

[MartyMuppets]

Okay. There are 6 episodes on each dvd in faithful chronological order. I have watched the first four episodes on disc 1. It is a good start to the saga though it does get much better after them.

I slowly showed the collection to a friend of mine and he was completely taken in with the storyline. Basically we are told 1000 years ago a race of humanoid aliens lived on our earth's moon and their kingdom was destroyed by an enemy known as Queen Beryl. The Queen of the Moon Kingdom was able to send some of her subjects magically to a new future on earth. But at this point there is a big element of mystery as to what exactly happened on the moon. We are not told anything clear definitely.

As the story establishes a cat named Luna who is able to talk meets a teenage girl named Serena and shows her through a magic locket that she is a warrior for justice named Sailor Moon and that she must fight the same wicked forces on earth that conquered the moon. Despite her reluctance she sets herself to the task and in these first four stories she defeats the plans of Queen Beryl's second-in-command Jeddite.
The baddies structure resembles closely a mafia with Queen Beryl in the role of a godfather boss giving orders to Jeddite to gather energy from humans to accomplish whatever her evil plan of conquest is. You see her sitting on her throne surrounded by a gang of hideous monsters where Jeddite, a tall thin man with blond hair often materializes to report to her like a loyal henchman. He appears to be her chief henchman and in three out of the four episodes he has an evil accomplice in the form of a monster. Presumably the assistant is picked out from among the monstrous members of Queen Beryl's army to work with Jeddite.
Sailor Moon terminates the monster-like helper with her tiara that turns into a deadly magic disc when she throws it. When it hits the enemy they usually disintegrate into vapour. She attempts to terminate Jeddite as well in episode 2 but somehow he stops the tiara in mid-flight.
My friend really liked the show and by the end of episode 4 he was starting to get very curious about the character of a masked man in a tuxedo and top hat calling himself Tuxedo Mask, who appears to help out Sailor Moon occasionally. His weapons are the most unlikely you could imagine. Throwing roses. But he makes it work. Anything is possible in a fantasy after all

He was also very curious about these four other girls dressed in similar outfits to Sailor Moon who appear in the opening credits. So far there was no sign of them at all. He really wondered who they were supposed to be, and when they would appear. Of course he did find out and I'll comment about that when I watch some more of the story for myself and post my comments.

 

[Drtooth]

BTW... my sister wants to know, the original Sailor Moon series (not R, or Super S or anything like that) is it available on DVD uncut, subtitled besides the large box set?

And also, is it true the woman that created Sailor moon is married to the dude that created Yuyu Hakusho?

 

[MartyMuppets]

BTW... my sister wants to know, the original Sailor Moon series (not R, or Super S or anything like that) is it available on DVD uncut, subtitled besides the large box set?

And also, is it true the woman that created Sailor moon is married to the dude that created Yuyu Hakusho?

I have heard that the original Japanese version of the first SM series at least has indeed been available with english subtitles. It would be exciting to see one day I'm sure.

I have no idea as to the other question's answer though.

BTW I watched one more episode earlier tonight and part of the next but I was feeling tired and had to rest a bit. But I'll comment on some more story when I finish seeing a bit more.

 

[MartyMuppets]

Well I watched the rest of the first dvd now and thought I'd comment before watching disc 2.

In episodes 5 and 6 the first of the four girls appear. Amy transfers to Serena's school and Luna the cat gets word about her from Central Control. They think she may be an agent of Queen Beryl but Serena makes friends with her not believing this to be true.
However even she becomes suspicious but when they investigate it is revealed that Amy is really on their side. She is Sailor Mercury and when Luna reveals her identity and powers to her she helps Sailor Moon save the day.

My friend thought Mercury's introduction was very well-done and eagerly anticipated the coming of the next girl.
Naturally Queen Beryl is most displeased with getting another opponent and Jeddite knows she is slowly getting impatient with his failures and he also loses two more of his faithful assistants. Mercury uses magic bubbles to confuse the enemy helping Moon exterminate them. The mysterious Tuxedo Mask is also helping them out a little still.
One other point I didn't think to mention earlier is the special disguise power Luna gives Serena. It's called the Luna Pen. It looks just like a pen though we never see Serana try to write with it. By holding it high and twirling it through the air Serena can make herself look like any sort of identity she wishes and these disguises certainly are usually very effective in appearance.

So much for disc 1. My comments will continue when I post again after watching disc 2

 

[Kiki]

Oh wow that sounds seriously groovy, Marty! Thanks for the update, man!

btw, guess what?? Y'know how we've been talking 'bout Tezuka and his work recently, yeah, well... he's got an exibtion- on his art! Squee! I rully wanna go! It's right 'ere in Melbourne!!

 

[MartyMuppets]

That sounds great Katie. I wish I could go. SIGH. Never mind. Can't accomplish everything.

But now I've watched episodes 7-10 on disc 2. Some majorly significant things take place now. First of all the second extra girl appears. She is Raye. A young teenage priestess at the Cherry Hill Temple run by her grandfather. We never learn his name. He is always simply known as Raye's Grandpa. He is a short, baldish old man who is very friendly but sometimes acts a little silly. Plus we find he is shortsighted but stubbornly refuses to wear his glasses.
Serena and Amy meet Raye when Jeddite is using the Temple as a base to trap young girls and kidnap them for their energy. Luna senses something about her and she finds out she is Sailor Mars. And with her new-found powers of fire control she terminates another helper of Jeddite's and spoils his plans again.
Here is where the story really starts to take off. As the next episodes unfold there is a love-hate relationship between Moon and Mars. Serena is so whiny and immature she gets on Raye's nerves and tries her temper though it is also seen sometimes that Raye can be just as stupid herself in a different sort of way. And poor Luna and Amy have to put up with their silly fights and arguments. But despite their faults the three of them do manage to co-operate adequately to destroy two further members of Queen Beryl's team including Titus, who acted like she was attracted to Jeddite and tried to help him succeed. He didn't really seem to care about her in return however. He did nothing to try to save her from Sailor Moon's lethal attack nor did he even show any feelings of grief afterwards. But Queen Beryl was very upset about having three scouts to contend with and that Jeddite allowed Titus to be killed. She must have been a particular favourite among her gang.

Other points to mention. The plot is starting to strongly hint that Tuxedo Mask may really be a young man named Darien but Serena hates him and says he looks nothing like Tuxedo Mask. She hopes Tuxedo's identity is Andrew, the guy who runs the Arcade Parlour where she loves to hang out. Darien constantly teases her calling her Meatball Head, because she has her hair tied up in plaits with two great big buns at the top of each of them. And Raye has been quick to take up calling Serena by the nickname herself. Which certainly doesn't improve their fights.

Finally in a big plot twist Jeddite is told he must defeat the three scouts by himself with no helpers or face supreme consequences. The gang members surrounding their Queen all gasp in horror at her words but Jeddite has no choice but to challenge Moon, Mercury and Mars to a magical duel by threat of burning the whole city to ashes if they don't accept. It is a most difficult battle but with the help of Tuxedo Mask they do win against him. Serena tries to execute him with her tiara again but somehow he ducks it and escapes through some portal only to have to face the consequences for failure. Queen Beryl zaps him with rays emanating from her eyes and he is encased in what looks like a glass prism which disappears into thin air taking him with it. Queen Beryl says to the rest of her gang "See what happened to Jeddite and be warned by it." She sounds just like a mafia crime boss. Do you suppose if any of the monstrous helpers assisting Jeddite had survived their encounters with Sailor Moon she may have done the same to them for failing? Except maybe Titus. She seemed to really like her for some unknown reason. Secret family member? Who knows?
So naturally she needs a new main henchman and appoints somebody named Neflite as Commander. This Neflite says his predecessor was nothing but a fool. He swears he shall succeed.
My friend said he had been wondering how much longer Beryl was going to put up with Jeddite but he hadn't expected this so soon. He really thought that he would be the second-in-command for the entire series but apparently not.
So the big question on his mind was what would happen next with this Neflite character?
Well I'll talk about that when I finish off disc 2

 

[MartyMuppets]

I haven't finished disc 2 but I've watched the first episode with Neflite in command. He has a different approach from his predecessor. While Jeddite tried to gather energy from great crowds of people at once, Neflite picks out and targets one single individual and instructs his assistant to invade their body and raise their energy level often causing the victim to behave in mean, harsh, spiteful manners. Then when they reach maximum capacity the assistant leaves the host full of energy to theoretically destroy Queen Beryl's enemies and have plenty to spare for the conquest plan.
In this first episode Serena goes after the enemy on her own to prove to the others that she's not such a wimp though she does have some much needed help from her hero, Tuxedo Mask. And Neflite's first plan is a washout.
Even Luna is amazed and impressed with Serena. But there are other battles to come of course.

2 points of note.
When Neflite is speaking of his plan to his queen there is a woman nearby who is referred to as Zoicite. She taunts him about how sure he is of himself. She tells him he sounds so grand and noble. Just like Jeddite. Then she fades away smirking. Obviously she's deliberately out to get his goat. But Queen Beryl gives him the go-ahead in any case.
Also at one point Luna calls Central Control and is informed that the enemy come from a realm known as "Negaverse" and they are gathering energy to help them conquer earth.
We also find out that Queen Beryl is seeking out the Imperial Silver Crystal. Whatever that is. So my friend was getting very intrigued and the big question of all on his mind was when would the next girl appear?

Some more thoughts when hopefully I can finish off disc 2 and commence disc3

 

[CBPuppets]

Man I used to watch that show. I don't know why it was cancelled. BTW what was Sailor Mars's Real Name?

 

[Drtooth]

I think Mars's name is Rei. Don't recall what her surname is.