At this point, I've seen several magical girl anime, like Madoka, Princess Tutu, and Kill La Kill, but they've all been a bit unconventional. For a while now, I wanted to watch the series that started the whole genre, Sailor Moon, but was a bit intimidated by its length. Well, I finally decided to bite the bullet, and I'm very glad I did.
Sailor Moon is an anime about a girl named Usagi, who runs into a talking cat named Luna who gives her the power to turn into the titular magical girl. With four other magical girls (who I'm just gonna call Senshi to keep things simple), Usagi has to stop the Dark Kingdom and its queen Beryl from reviving an evil entity who had previously destroyed the Moon Kingdom. At first, the season mostly follows a standard Monster Of The Week structure, with the development of the villains being fairly lacking. I do like how Queen Beryl is willing to replace her lackeys if they disappoint her enough times, but it's not until the halfway point where the season starts to really get interesting plot-wise. Between a story arc about the Senshi and Dark Kingdom racing for crystals, added moral ambiguity to the mysterious hero figure Tuxedo Mask, some really fascinating reveals to the Moon/Dark Kingdom lore, and a surprisingly dark two-part finale, the second half of Season 1 is fantastic, and the slow episodic buildup made this slightly more serious stretch of episodes hit all the more. It all pays off in the end, and while there are four more seasons to come, there's something about Season 1 that feels so complete.
But even more than the actual story, I found Sailor Moon's greatest strength to be its characters. While one could argue that all of this anime's episodic Monster Of The Week storylines are just hollow skippable filler, I actually enjoyed a large portion of them because of how they all helped to develop the bonds between the characters. I was initially surprised that Usagi was the only Sailor Scout for the first seven episodes, but I ended up really liking how it allowed for Usagi and Luna to develop a strong mentor-mentee dynamic. And whenever a character is introduced, the next batch of episodes focus on pairing said character up with every other character in the cast. It helps to develop a strong dynamic and rapport between the cast, and I ended up really enjoying seeing them all interact. The whole series has a great sense of charm that only increases as the cast grows. And while Usagi is very much the main character here, the show isn't afraid to have episodes focus almost exclusively on side or minor characters, and they can even make for some of the best of the season.
As for the presentation, it's mostly pretty good. Emphasis on mostly. Let's start with the positive stuff. The characters are incredibly expressive, like to a very impressive degree. It's a joy to just watch the cast interact because of how expressive they are, and I'm surprised reaction frames from the anime aren't as common as they should be. I also really love the anime's backgrounds and scenery, all containing a pastel watercolor look and stunning pink hues. And when the anime starts playing with shadows, my goodness does it look fantastic. I also love how diverse the characters' clothes are. They don't just wear the same clothes every episode, there's a nice variety while still giving each character their own unique and detailed wardrobe. However, Sailor Moon does suffer a bit whenever the Senshi face off against a villain. Many of the fights use still frames and reused footage, making them feel a bit stale and visually lacking a lot of the time. This doesn't drag down the show by a massive amount, the fights were never Sailor Moon's biggest priority, but between Madoka, Utena, and the Precure fights I've seen, I feel like I expect a bit better from magical girl shows. As for voice acting, I listened to the Viz dub, and I thought it was pretty good. No voice felt like a weak link. I also liked the music quite a bit. It's not going to be on my favorite anime soundtracks list or anything, but I found it to be pretty charming 90s anime fare.
At its best, Sailor Moon's first season boasts some really great episodes, both on the comedic and dramatic fronts:
Wish Upon A Star/Naru's Tears (Episodes 23/24): This two-parter was a big turning point for Sailor Moon, both in terms of its tone and quality. Nephrite was never the most interesting villain of this season, but his arc in these episodes about developing feelings for Naru and turning good was really great, and his subsequent death was a shocking gut punch that proved Sailor Moon could also do some truly fantastic drama.
Loved And Chased (Episode 31): Rhett Butler, enough said.
The Shining Silver Crystal (Episode 34): This was another big turning point episode, filled to the brim with fantastic plot twists. Obviously Usagi and Mamoru learning of each other's true identities was pretty big, but in case all that wasn't enough, Mamoru gets stabbed and Usagi turns out to actually be the Moon Princess. Also, shoutout to Usagi's reaction to learning Mamoru is Tuxedo Mask in the DiC dub, absolute comedy gold.
Returning Memories (Episode 35): Serving as a great follow-up to the previous episode, Returning Memories was essentially one huge lore-dump, between the return of Mamoru's memories, the Moon Kingdom lore, the reveal of Endymion, and the reveal that the Senshi are all reincarnated people from the Moon Kingdom. There's also the big twist of Mamoru being kidnapped and "healed by darkness", setting the stage for the season's final story arc.
Let's Become A Princess (Episode 37): Season 1 of Sailor Moon rarely took itself too seriously, but this episode in particular left me in stitches with how goofy it is. Tasked with training to be a princess, Usagi is at her most clumsy, and it's a joy to watch. And between Luna seeing Artemis behind the camera, Endymion and Kunzite interrupting the big battle with their bickering, and Usagi revealing she's now the best frisbee player of all time, I really enjoyed how this episode poked fun at the show's formula a bit.
Sailor Venus' Past (Episode 44): Given the success of Sailor Moon, I'm surprised we didn't get an anime adaptation of Sailor V because wow is Minako's backstory both fascinating and heartbreaking. Her romantic subplot here is probably the most effective one of the show, and her big decision at the end of the episode reveals an impressive layer of maturity to Minako. Venus has had the least screentime out of any of the characters and she's already becoming one of my favorites.
Death Of The Sailor Guardians (Episode 45): Sailor Moon's first season truly saves the best for last, with a phenomenal two-part finale. Part 1 might be the most iconic episode of the show, since even I knew about it before starting my watch. But even knowing that almost all the Senshi die here doesn't remove any of the episode's impact, not in the slightest. Each Senshi goes out in a way that perfectly suits their character, so their deaths aren't just for shock value, they're genuine heroic sacrifices and they get they deserve to really sink in. It's also not just tragedy, this episode is super action-packed and surprisingly funny at times, the fact that it manages to balance all of these things makes for my favorite episode of the season.
Usagi's Eternal Wish (Episode 46): While it wasn't quite as good as the previous episode, this was still an emotionally impactful and satisfying end to the season. Usagi's final confrontation with Endymion and Beryl is great, and the big twist where everyone gets resurrected and loses their memories is a heartwrenching but intriguing hook for Season 2.
Overall, Sailor Moon's first season was a ton of fun. While its first half was a bit episodic, the charm and cute character interactions were there from the get-go, and once the plot kicks in in the second half, the show becomes genuinely fantastic.
3/5 Stars
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