Sailor Moon

Fighting evil by moonlight!
Winning love by daylight!
Never running from a real fight!
She is the one called Sailor Moon!

This weekend saw the launch of the rebooted Sailor Moon Crystal anime series, and I, as a child of the 90s, was guaranteed to watch it. So instead of Movie Monday, you get Sailor Moonday! I'll come up with a better name later.



Usagi is an everyday 14 year old girl in Japan. She likes jewellery, boys and sleeping. But after a run in with a magical talking cat and a creepy demon lady, it turns out she's actually the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon!

THE SQUEE

• OK, the first episode of the new series was basically exactly the same as the first one from the original run. The plot was the same, the scenes were pretty much the same, the character design is the same. THIS IS A GREAT THING. It means that you know exactly what you're getting from the show – fun magical girl adventures. DC and Marvel, take note. This is how we like our reboots.
• Usagi is adorable. Sure, she's a bit of a self-admitted crybaby, but that's part of her character. Her flaws are what make her endearing to the audience. The first episode actually gives the audience quite a bit of time to get to know Usagi before unleashing the whole 'Moon Prism Power' thing, so you can get an idea of why she reacts the way she does. She's not a hero straight away – she's just an average teenager suddenly thrown in over her head and discovering that she has these new talents. It's the best start to an arc that a hero could hope for.

THE SUCK

• Obviously, I watched the subtitled version (my Japanese wasn't that good even when I was studying it) and there were one or two translations that were a little off. That's a pretty minor complaint really. Any translation or closed captioning has some errors – that's how humans work.
• IT WAS TOO SHORT. I want more already.

Yeah, that's about it. I'm really excited for this series – not just for the nostalgia element, but also for what it represents. Sailor Moon is one of the most well-known anime that was imported to the English speaking world and it just goes to show how popular a female-driven show can be. For everyone saying that Wonder Woman is 'tricky', Sailor Moon is proof that a magical girl's adventures are not that difficult to do. If people can't see that, well, then,



We'd love to hear your thoughts on the episode too. Send an ask or leave a comment!

If you're feeling nostalgic, Kodansha has the manga series available up to volume 12 (see below).

Sailor Moon 12 – 9781612620084 – Naoko Takeuchi - $16.99 – 240 pages