It’s Guest Review Wednesday and today I’m pleased to introduce you all to a brand new Guest Reviewer and long-time friend, Pat M! Pat’s giving us a two-fer today, after watching both Viz’s releases of the first two Sailor Moon movies in the theater last month. Please welcome our dear friend Pat and sit back and enjoy the double feature!

The Sailor Moon R and S movies recently hit theaters in a limited release by Viz. Sailor Moon is one of my favorite anime of all time, so I rode the nostalgia wave to a nearby theater to watch the double feature with subtitles.

Sailor Moon R Movie takes place after the second season of the same name. Sailor Moon S takes place after the third season of the same name.

In the Sailor Moon R movie, the gang are enjoying a day out at the botanical garden when an alien materializes before them and speaks directly to Mamoru. It turns out that Mamoru met Fiore when they were children. He gave Fiore a rose before the alien left Earth. It was an act of kindness that stuck with Fiore, and drove him to search out the most beautiful flower worthy of his new friend. This is Sailor Moon, so the flower that he finds naturally turns out to be an energy sucking evil monster that causes him to have plans of world destruction. He’s also very attached to Mamoru, and does not appreciate the fact that Usagi declares herself Mamoru’s girlfriend. Sailor Moon and the gang have to stop Fiore from destroying the earth with a giant seed-shaped asteroid that is on its way to spread evil flowers everywhere.

Both the movies are from the 1990’s. On a technical level, I think that Sailor Moon R had a better transition to high definition video and audio. The animation was smooth, and the sound was fairly good for something that wasn’t mixed with today’s digital audio in mind. I always mention the high production value of the R movie. The visual quality is higher than any of the other Sailor Moon movies. This is also the movie that has the song “Moon Revenge” in it. It’s a high power song sung by the whole cast, and it’s worth watching the movie for.

Unlike the other movie, Sailor Moon R does not resemble the TV series feel. The characters seem more serious. There is much less slap-stick humor. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Watching the R movie again after so many years reminded me of why Usagi is such a powerful character; she can’t bear to see anyone in pain. This is the driving force behind her character. Usagi is frequently the focus of slap-stick humor in the show. It’s nice to see a story in which she gets to display a maturity that makes it believable that she could grow into a legendary leader in the future.

The first major fight scene in the movie has always been one of my favorites. It takes up a good amount of time, looks great, and is brutal. The monster isn’t just weird, it’s creepy. It’s also important to note that the R movie gives us a rare glimpse into Mamoru’s past. Even Usagi admits that she doesn’t know much about his life before they met.

Sadly, there is no Yuri in the Sailor Moon R movie.

Art: 9
Story: 7
Music: 9 – Moon Revenge!
Characters: 7
Service: 2
Yuri: 0 

Overall: 7

In the Sailor Moon S Movie, Luna, the cat who told Usagi about her destiny to become Sailor Moon, stumbles around with a fever on her way home. She is saved from being run over by a nice scientist who happens to work in an observatory and is obsessed with the moon. In her delirium, Luna falls in love with him. Around this time, a frozen alien woman who resembles Elsa Gone Bad shows up and is intent on freezing the Earth. She’s after an evil crystal that Luna’s scientist found. It’s been sucking away his energy and turning him into a really rude and cranky guy who lashes out at everyone but Luna. Bad Elsa wants the crystal because it’s a piece of her comet and she can’t freeze the whole earth without it. I think that she just wants a bling broach for her open gossamer shirt, but who says that both reasons can’t be true. Luna wishes she could be human and spend time with her scientist, but alas, she’s a cat. Everyone shows up to save the world and blast Bad Elsa back to Arendal (or wherever she went after Serenity blasted her from the Moon Kingdom the first time).

The Sailor Moon S movie did not fare as well in the transition to high definition. There were several scenes in the movie that looked as if they had characters added to the cells after production. The lines for the additions were much thicker and darker, so they stood out in sharp contrast to the rest of the cell. These were almost always during crowd or street shots, but they were really jarring at whatever pixel depth the theater showed the film in. The animation quality for the movie was a step up from the show, but nowhere near the quality of the R film. Sound in the S movie was not consistent. There were times when one track would be very low, but another would blare loudly. An example of this is when the Outer Senshi first transform. The music was loud, but the dialog during it was so quiet that I couldn’t hear it at all.

Sailor Moon S felt much more like the TV show. Rei and Usagi fight like they always do. Chibi-Usa and Usagi are ridiculous to the point that they actually trick a monster into looking the other way as they escape just by pointing in unison in that direction. There’s also a romance in the form of a story for Luna that lasts from the beginning of the film to the end. While it isn’t as high on my list of Sailor Moon songs as “Moon Revenge”, “Moonlight Destiny” plays at the end and is a lovely song.

The Outer Senshi are in the S movie, so technically there is Yuri just by their presence. There is only one scene that I can point to as a Yuri moment, and it is so short that if you blink you’ll miss it. During the first café scene where Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna are hanging out, one of the Snow Dancers crashes through the window and Haruka wraps her arm around Michiru before diving out of the booth with her.

Art: 6
Story: 5
Music: 7 – Moonlight Destiny
Characters: 8
Service: 2
Yuri: 3 (1 for Haruka, 1 for Michiru, and 1 for Haruka protecting Michiru) 

Overall: 6.5

Thanks Pat! I really appreciate the overview. I’ve noticed that sound is always a huge problem with these remastered versions…and it’s really apparent with large screens and good sound systems. (Some of us may remember the issues we had with sound on CPM’s version of the Revolutionary Girl Utena Movie. ) These movies have not yet had DVD/Blu-ray releases, but as soon as they do I’ll provide links for you all!