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sarisasenshi's Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Tv Review

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon tv Review

Usagi Tsukino is a young girl who loves to eat and sleep, and hates school. Her life completely changes one day, when she rescues a cat from some bullies; the cat later gives Usagi a brooch that allows her to transform into Sailor Moon and fight off the awakened forces of evil. Although clumsy at first, Usagi gradually learns to fight and meets valuable allies, as well as formidable foes, all while learning about her mission and mysterious past, which spans millennia of battle and romance.
The story is a sequel to Codename: Sailor V, which focuses on Minako Aino's time as Sailor V before the events of BSSM.

NOTES:
- For convenience, use the alias "BSSM" when adding this tag to images.
- Tag only what you see! e.g. do NOT add the "Usagi Tsukino" tag if only Sailor Moon is in the image.
- The transformations are listed under the civilian persona tags e.g. Sailor Moon is listed under Usagi Tsukino.
- For images from the manga, add only the Naoko Takeuchi tag. For images from the show(s), add only the Toei Animation tag.
- Transformation and Attack Items will not be tagged here. e.g: Henshin Brooch, Garnet Rod.

Story & Characters

Sailor Moon, a ground-breaking "mahou shoujo" (magical girl) anime broadcasted in the early 1990s, is a show that displays the life of a average, yet very klutzy teenage girl named Usagi Tsukino. A daydreamer and not exactly a student excelling in any of her school subjects, Usagi is not exactly the kind of person you would imagine to be, in actuality, the defender of justice against the forces of evil that threaten the world almost relentlessly, Sailor Moon. Accompanied by her followers, the Sailor Soldiers, and her faithful cat guardian, Luna, Sailor Moon has fought against the forces of evil for nearly 5 seasons and 3 movies to call her own. That is certainly enough to earn her place in anime history!

But while the storyline in the beginning may seem a little bland, as the first season follows through with a typical "Monster of the Day" forumla, it does begin to show promise halfway through as the real drama begins to unfold. The drama within the series does not seem overbearing, and half of the time the story is mixed in with real comedy that cannot help but make you laugh a little on the inside. You become able to learn about specific traits of each character, rather than being given a statistics chart and a name, and I think that is what helps a lot of people connect to the story well. It is a series that is filled with a lot of real-life portrayals of human struggles with love, war, family and friendships, among others, and that is something that will pull you through it all.

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon is definitely a series to be added to any fan of "mahou shoujo"!

Rating: 7

Art

The art style of the series tends to fluctuate on occassion, and that is what I think had really annoyed me throughout the duration of the series. While key moments would be beautifully drawn with smooth lines and colors, other "filler" episodes would lack any real definitive detail the show typically had and kill it. These are the episodes that I typically had to frown at, but thankfully, they are far and few in between.

Meanwhile, the art style for the majority of the episodes featured within the series is simply gorgeous, with a lot of attention paid to detail. You can really notice it in the backgrounds sometimes. Then in the movies I think the art style becomes even more perfect, as the whole style is able to come together.

Rating: 7

Sound

I'd like to thank Sailormusic.org for enabling me to give a review of the music, as the actual Sailor Moon OSTs are really far and few in between during this day and age.

The music throughout the series and the video game line are fairly well presented, possessing the right "mood" for each character and event. While the video game music does not do justice to the series, the original scores for each season are well done and beautifully orchestrated. The scores feature soft vocal tracks for several of the transformations and background music tracks, without becoming too obtrusive. Only admittedly a few of them will stay in your memory after hearing them for a time, while others will quickly fade on the wind. So while the music is beautifully carried throughout the series, it isn't anything absolutely memorable.

"Moonlight Densetsu," however, will stay in your head whether you like it or not.

Rating: 8

Presentation

Since I have seen the wave of "mahou shoujo" that came rushing down after the success of Sailor Moon, it is hard to say whether or not I can really judge the series smoothly or harshly in terms of originality. In my opinion, I do that that the series can become a little tiresome for the average viewer as fights carry themselves out in a predictable fashion throughout most of a season. But on the other hand, dramatic and key moments are carried out throughout these battles, and that can keep a viewer hanging in.

Meanwhile, with Usagi Tsukino and her friends each possessing a number of different personality quirks, the story becomes alive and can allow a person to connect very well with the story. My favorite moments have come out of Usagi's klutziness, which is a constant presence within the series, including a moment when she attempts to speak English to a foreign guest during a ball in the Super season. Then another thing that pleasantly surprised me is not just how much personality is given to the main characters, but also the minor characters, like the villains. They are able to establish free will within themselves a times, and that makes even the hero fodder hilarious.

Rating: 8

Final Verdict

7.5000 (good)

Reviewed by sarisasenshi, May 04, 2005

Comments

  1. Alienated-NZ May 04, 2005

    i didnt think sailor moon was that great >_> its ok but yeah Nice review....

  2. EternalParadox Retired Moderator May 04, 2005

    I liked Setsuna and Hotaru.

    But other than that, I thought sailor moon was average. Each episode was too predictable. Nice day normal life -> bad guy comes and summons a demon/monster -> demon attacks -> sailor senshi shows up -> beats up demon and turn it back into whatever it was ->everybody happy.

  3. sarisasenshi May 04, 2005

    Quote by EternalParadoxI liked Setsuna and Hotaru.
    But other than that, I thought sailor moon was average. Each episode
    was too predictable. Nice day normal life -> bad guy comes and
    summons a demon/monster -> demon attacks -> sailor senshi shows
    up -> beats up demon and turn it back into whatever it was
    ->everybody happy.

    Yeah, that is what I thought was its greatest flaw, which makes me wonder why I gave it an 8. But then again... It is really hard to review all 5 seasons and 3 movies collectively, while in reality there are a lot of ups and downs like the whole "Monster of the Day" formula and occassional tacky art style.

    Personally, I thought in the Super and SuperS series, the villains started getting a lot more interesting, since they were given the freedom to goof around more than in the first two seasons.

  4. DaemonPhyreWyrm May 05, 2005

    I agree with EternalParadox. It reminded me a bit too much of that Power Rangers show I used to watch. A bunch of kids get attacked by a wierd monster, they transform, kill the monster, things go back to normal, blah blah blah...but good review, eh?

  5. OceanAngel01 May 06, 2005

    I really like the final season, which never aired in the US, Sailor Stars. I thought it was less predictable and it killed off all the characters one by one, which was truly unique for a series, I thought. (Ok, so they wind up living, but still!) Great review! :D

  6. CassandraSisenta May 11, 2005

    I'm also a Stars fan like OceanAngel01. :) While it shows the usual bad guy per episode, etc. there was something more there since there was the appearance of the Three Starlights/ Three Lights.:) Try to watch this season if you can. It's definitely something worth to watch...

    Good review too by the way. :)

  7. jjrrt May 16, 2005

    moe moe ??

  8. SilverMoonPrincess May 23, 2005

    I like the anime but only to a certain degree. The manga is much much better. I think they just wanted to make the anime longer than the manga so they dragged it out to last a full 200 episode by adding unnessicary things. The should have stuck more with the story of the manga without so many pointless filler episodes.

    The Fifth season was done nicely. There wasn't as many of the poorly drawn episodes and almost every episode actually had something to do with the main plot, whether it was showing Usagi and Seiya's relationship grow or unvieling more of Sailor Galaxia and plans she had. Its a shame it still hasn't aired in the US.

  9. asuka13 May 31, 2005

    i used to love sailor moon when i was younger. but i don't remember what happened at the end of the second season becuase i missed it. can anyone tell me what happned?

  10. Mabui Jun 09, 2005

    Quote by SilverMoonPrincessI like the anime but only to a certain degree. The manga is much much
    better. I think they just wanted to make the anime longer than the
    manga so they dragged it out to last a full 200 episode by adding
    unnessicary things. The should have stuck more with the story of the
    manga without so many pointless filler episodes. The Fifth season was
    done nicely. There wasn't as many of the poorly drawn episodes and
    almost every episode actually had something to do with the main plot,
    whether it was showing Usagi and Seiya's relationship grow or unvieling
    more of Sailor Galaxia and plans she had. Its a shame it still hasn't
    aired in the US.


    No, they were forced to make filler episodes so the manga could keep up with the anime. And I like the filler episodes cause they are often really funny. XD It's GOOD that Sailor Stars hasn't been aired in the us... God only knows how they would do to Sailor Starlights. X.x;

    Good review, except on the Music. I think the music is the best about the series and it deserves a 10. ^~

  11. rkaede11 Jul 21, 2005

    I love Haruka and Michiru!!! I don't this your review. Your review was so negative.

  12. deedeezel Dec 20, 2005

    I enjoy all the seasons....this was a tearjerker for me....

  13. LithiumAngelwings Jan 20, 2008

    I used to absolutely LOVE Sailor Moon. But, I watched again recently, and found it to be quite annoying. I think it may be more suitable for younger veiwer (ages 9-13). But the Sailor Moon movies are all wonderful, in my opinion.

  14. Alcyndore Dec 17, 2008

    Sailor Moon was great for me. Far better than good. I was 9 when I first started watching it. Years have passed .... Lool ! (the anime of my childhood...I feel old ). I have watched some of the episodes recently and I must say...I admit it has some repetitive, boring parts...Lots of identical transformations, fights, monsters, 'muahaha' bad guys, etc. Usagi is sometimes unbelievably clumsy and naive...Even so, I just love it. I found myself laughing out loud: it is SUCH a funny anime, with a great sense of humour.
    I also like the moral values they try to portray with those characters. Every season finale is just great. My fav is season 3: the darker one, with Mistress Nine and Doctor Tomoe as the bad guys (+Witches 5). It's more ambiguous and mature...Whatever its flaws may be, Sailor Moon is a classic. But you have to watch it taking into account when it was made and try to understand its 'core' , its message. Many people discussed about it in terms of a 'philosophy of positivism' and even innocence and pacifism taken to extremes. I find this a relief, nowadays when everybody seems to appreciate a lot of futile, shocking violence (and I mean strong, bloody one) in animes. Blood for the sake of it, with 0 message or artistic purpose...let's just blow that characters brains out to impress the public...:-(
    And about other aspects like music and art... The art was nice for that time (even though we cannot compare it to recent animes that really developed in this direction...Ergo Proxy, Blood + , etc...).
    And the music...well, the music is just great. Especially if you buy the piano, orgel and orchestral variants of the albums. They are just marvellous. I may be subjective, but this is an interesting story, with a strong message, round, dynamic characters and good art & music. It's a classical no matter how you look at it.

  15. Sanisa Feb 24, 2010

    Thanks for the review! Nice ^__^

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