Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon - by Melissa Koh: safyre@jade-court.darkgod.net - - website: http://safyre.tsx.org - Bored out of her wits and suffering from a terminal writer's block, Hypertia Tsuyu shall do a manga review on one of the most popular manga/anime in the world---Sailormoon. Basic Layout: There are two main things about Sailormoon: love and justice. Except that the justice revolves around saving the world from invaders ^_^' Initially, there are supposed to be 5 sailors and one love interest, but as the manga progresses, more and more characters are introduced, and most of them, though beautiful, do little to move the story. In the first season, the climax centred on the search of the Moon Princess and defeating the Dark Kingdom, the enemy of the Silver Millennium since the beginning of time. Next came in the discovery of Sailor Chibimoon, daughter of Sailormoon and the future princess of Earth. Third was the discovery of the Outer Senshi, Sailors belonging to the outer planets, excluding Jupiter, that is. After that was the issue with the Pegasus Helios and Sailormoon's love interest, Chiba Mamoru [AKA Tuxedo Kamen/Prince Endymion/King Endymion] and how they were connected to Earth so on and do forth. The finale introduced the existence of other Sailors besides those of the Solar System, though ironically, there was no Sailor Andromeda. At least, not that I can think of. [N.B. However, there is a fanfic out there with a Sailor Andromeda ^_^'] Character Design: Beautiful, but somewhat limited. It's hard to differentiate one character from another other than SM & Mamoru, particularly if they have long hair and change their hairstyles. However, the Starlights were a special case [Starlights are from the last season], though how original they are is another question. If we were to draw a character map of Sailormoon, we would notice one thing: everyone, even villains, has a thing for Sailormoon, be it love or hate. So, in short, the entire story and plotline revolved around one character who has almost nil personality at all. Also, there was little exposure on the supporting cast, other than the occasional annex provided. And even with the exposure, we only see the weaknesses and none of the strengths. Sailormoon was perhaps the only well-developed character around. Even Mamoru, her love interest, was only seen as a youth who is held hostage, possessed and infinitely helpless when crisis arise. A small calculation revealed that his life was endangered 4 out of the 5 seasons, according to the manga. Flaws and Strengths: One of the biggest flaws of Sailormoon was the unchanging plot: Invaders try to conquer Earth; Sailormoon & co. try to defend; Mamoru & Sailors get captured; Sailormoon fights back, sacrifices herself and wins, thus saving the world *and* her clique. Oh, not forgetting the miraculous transformations she can come up with. Aside from that, the introduction of new characters into the story is often unnecessary. For example, the introduction of Chibimoon. Her appearance, as far as I'm concerned, only secured the future of Sailormoon and nothing else, except to mess with time. The powers of the Outer Senshi and Inner Senshi differed greatly, i.e. strength, and there was obviously a line drawn between the two leaders: Minako [Venus] and Haruka [Uranus]. Hotaru [Saturn] is another example. She is supposedly the Sailor of Destruction, reincarnated as a child by the end of the third series, but in the fourth series, the incident with the Pegasus, she was revived. She continued to exist until the Starlights series, whereupon she faded into thin air, literally. The last series was a great disappointment, despite the introduction of new characters. Beautiful art, again, as usual, but again, too much was focused on Sailormoon. Mamoru was kidnapped, or killed, along with the Sailors and eventually, the Starlights. The only difference between this and the previous ones is that Sailormoon had to fight against her friends and Mamoru. However, in the end, everyone was safe, and they lived happily ever after, though what happened to the Starlights remained a mystery. Contradictions were plentiful, that's for sure. Diana [Chibimoon's cat] had stated in the fourth series that Eternal Sailormoon was Sailormoon's last and most powerful transformation. In the last series, however, Sailor Cosmos [another updated version of SM] proved to be the last and final transformation. If we reflect on the previous issues of the manga, particularly the series where Chibimoon first appeared, Neo Queen Serenity [the futurized version of SM] said that she had lost her ability to fight. Then we return to the last series whereupon Sailor Cosmos states that Sailormoon is eternal. She can never die. Then why on earth did Chibimoon exist for? In the fourth series, it was made clear that she would succeed Neo Queen Serenity one day, even though she's nearing a millennia old already, and frankly, her mother doesn't seem to be expiring yet. The ending of SM was brief and ambiguous. All we know is that SM & Mamoru are getting married, and that SM knows that she's carry Chibimoon within her. By the way, both Inner and Outer Senshi are back, and obviously overjoyed. The fates of the Starlights remain a mystery though. Even manga like Sailormoon are not without strengths. The relationship between SM and her mother is touching, particularly in the last series. The foreshadowing is brilliantly planned, and the suspense is thick. The bond between mother-and-daughter was arranged in such a way that we can share the mother's feelings, her fears and hopes. The dialogue is kept simple, but extremely effective. And the simple sophistication and elegance of Sailor Cosmos surpasses SM. If we ignore the contradictions and focus only on the current events in SM, we just might be able to enjoy it. I place extra emphasis on the 'just might'. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Review: Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon ~ End Completed on: 12/11/1998 - End Review - Copyright (c) Melissa Koh 1998. All Rights Reserved.