Sailor Moon R: The Movie (1993)

Let's review, Sailor Moon is an older anime, it is one of the first to gain worldwide fame along with the likes of "Dragonball" and "Dragonball Z". Unlike those two, it was a show meant for girls but somehow managed to attract a male audience also. I suppose it has nothing to do with the super heroine attire, fact they function as a team, and otherwise are out and about in a typical plot of the day episode. Actually it does; but the series also spawned a few movies.One of them goes by the name of "Sailor Moon R" after the series that was running at the time. This movie features an alien that resembles Ail and Ann of the short mini-arc that ran during the first ten episodes of Sailor Moon R. He somehow drifts in space for eons, before landing on Earth and befriending a boy in the hospital that has lost his parents. Touching to say the least. He leaves for space due to life force differences (he can't live here), and otherwise wants to find the perfect flower for the young boy. He later returns and events as we know them have progressed.The boy is Tuxedo Kamen; he is actually prince of the Earth and he has a love affair with the reincarnated princess of the Moon from nearly a millenia ago. The alien reappears, learns of this and all disaster breaks free. He is seemingly possessed by a plant and is hellbent on sucking all of the planet's life force dry. This is nothing new here as far as Sailor Moon is concerned, but the fact the plot of the movie focuses so heavily on friendship and what it entails, is definitely new to the series. The rest of the movie is spent between characters either fighting, acts of jealousy or testing bonds of their friendship.There is a happy ending, and it plays out similar to the first part of Sailor Moon R. It makes me wonder if they were not just rewriting it for a movie or if the movie itself was rewritten into that series for syndication. Either way, the movie has better writing than the series normally does and is a good view for fans of the series. Casual anime viewers may appreciate the shoujou genre and art that this series is known; all make it into the movie.Originally posted to Orion Age (http://www.orionphysics.com/? p=6218).

This is the best EVER Sailor Moon material I have ever seen and I have watched everything there is to watch about sailor moon and I think this takes the cake and in case your wondering, I am talking about the japanese version because I havent seen english version but I am told that alot of awesome and great scenes are cut out so I do not want to see it, Bye :)

Even after watching this several times, this film still leaves a very strong impression on one. It helps if you at least have some familiarity with the Sailor Moon saga (and the thrill will be intensified a lot of you happen to be a major fan, it did for me at any rate ^^). But even those who only know the series by name will have a good time watching this; it's not too hard to follow for the non-fan.What's mostly impressive is the lightning quick pace of it all; after an introduction to the film's (admittedly flimsy) intrigue, we're treated to a -tremendous- battle scene in Tokyo between the Sailor Senshi and a flower monster. Backed by some hyper-infectuous music and all the funky transform and attack scenes of the early seasons, it's a supreme treat for Sailor Senshi fans. And it's only the beginning; the battle moves to an asteroid in space afterwards. There, the impressive action scenes continue and the plot thickens with insights into the "villain" Fiore that reveal him to be a very interesting character.Granted, the concept of a misguided "non-villain" who is not properly evil has been done before, but the theme is treated with lots of style in Fiore's case and works excellently; both his sympathetic moments and his flashes of nastiness can be related to, making him a well-built character (and he looks damn cool with that hair, even if it -is- an obvious take on the earlier Ail and Ann designs). All the other characters get some very good moments as well, with Mamoru in particular gaining some much-needed depth to himself in the form of a dark childhood and the mention that he's "been alone all his life". The others do a good job of providing moments of touching friendship and understanding of each other, as well as some utterly hilarious comical moments that manage to give one hysterics every time (Usagi landing flat on her bum while the other leap through the air with grace springs to mind). And of course everyone's amusing typical character traits we know and love from the series rear their heads.The theme of despairing loneliness, and how it is to find a friend who breaks through all this seems to be the main message of the movie. The way it's treated may strike some as a bit corny, but it works well for those who are prepared to use their imagination for it. It's mainly due to the pretty images and the great music that the film succeeds in making you feel moved and excited all along. Beautiful color palettes are used to create different moods, especially during flashbacks, and there are several subtelties in the visuals that deserve praise; note how the rooms in both flashbacks between Usagi and Mamoru look oddly similiar but with very different colors, and the recurring image of a flower is quite beautiful (there's also a scene that seems like an amusing little nod to Aliens, see if you can pick it out). The thrilling final descent back to earth, set to the beat of the gorgeous song "Moon Revenge" is a simply unforgettable moment which on it's own gives the movie a lot of impact (and it's reason enough to avoid the US dub like the plague; I'm told they chopped out the song as well as the usual scandalous butchery job they've done to the series). It's animation directed at it's very best. The only niggle I can find about the story and the directing is that the Senshi are somehow able to breathe in space, apparently. But, this being a fantasy story, one can hardly blame it for being built on... well, fantasy, basically.The overall quality of the animation has stood the test of time well and remains very presentable despite never really soaring to eye-popping levels. The detail on the artwork and characters is still quite good and refined, and as stated above, it's the clever use of colors and images that give this movie a lot of strength in the sentimental moments. All of this action, emotion and beauty packed in just over an hour makes for a stunning film that leaves one impressed time and time again (Disney, and in fact all of Hollywood can merely stand and weep in front of Japanese skill of this calibre). It has all the typical fun a Sailor Senshi fan can expect coated with plenty of extra gloss and even a good deal of substance. Fans of the saga or of pretty shojo series in general need not hesitate, and others are encouraged to let themselves be tempted by this little gem. It has that special kind of spark that makes a movie fun to re-visit time and time again.

This movie teaches that the power of love is powerful enough to overcome many obstacles! There is something I really like about this movie and that is that it teaches two lessons. Firstly that love is a very strong feeling that helps anyone as I said before overcome many obstacles; and secondly that true friends are there when you need them, and they stick by you through thick and thin. Well this movie is highly recommendable for people of all ages. I hope when you watch it you like it as much as I did.