Not having cable makes it simultaneously easier and harder to start this whole first impressions on a television show thing. On one hand, I can’t just flip to a channel and watch whatever show is on for it, but on the other hand, Hulu, Netflix, and other streaming services allow me to browse so many shows and pick one. Unfortunately with a bit less of a random element to it, but oh well. With this seemingly infinite resource of shows to watch, what did I go for? Well naturally I jumped on Facebook to watch the first episode of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon.
Coming out in 2003, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (or PGSM) is a Japanese Tokusatsu based on the manga Sailor Moon. Tokusatsu films and shows are ones like Godzilla or the Super Sentai series that often use a lot of special effects and monster suits. The series was produced by Toei and featured 49 episodes, 2 specials and a concert. The show was mildly successful with ratings going up and down throughout the series' run. From what I have seen as well, the story follows the Sailor Moon manga for the most part, but does make some changes that are actually pretty good. I wish they had more seasons of the show.
The first episode largely follows the plot of the first episode of the Sailor Moon anime, though again with minor changes. It starts by showing a robbery in progress, introducing us to the masked thief Tuxedo Mask, played by Jouji Shibue. Shibue is a pretty cool Tuxedo Mask from what I have seen. He wasn't in this much, but I did like what I saw.
Tuxedo Mask's escape is interrupted by a mysterious masked hero, the legendary Sailor V. We get a brief clash between the two, which when you combine the show’s budget with it keeping a bit of that anime style, it looks so ridiculous. I love it.
We then get our theme song “Kirai Sailor Dream!” by Sae. It isn’t bad. I’m quite into it. Though when compared to the likes of “Moonlight Legend" and “Moon Pride" it still probably ends up as my least favorite theme. That doesn’t say much though as all the Sailor Moon themes have been absolute bops.
From there everything follows the main story pretty much. We are introduced to our protagonist, 14-year-old Usagi Tsukino. Usagi is kind of a relief as far as characters go. She is real. She doesn’t have some hidden talents really. Usagi is a klutz, she constantly over sleeps, she’s whiny at times but understandably so; but she will do anything for her friends. These are realistic traits a 14-year-old would have. It really helps for the future and showing how she develops as a character.
While heading to school one day, Usagi has a stuffed animal fall from the sky, landing on her head. She looks at it, noticing it is a stuffed cat before setting it down for its rightful owner. This stuffed cat is Luna. Yeah…instead of just being a race of alien cats, she has the appearance of a stuffed animal I guess. Again, I have only watched the first episode, so I don’t know all of the details yet. I assume by doing it this way, they can save money on CGI. For close up shots, they typically just use the stuffed animal, but if they need full body shots of her moving, they use a CGI cat. I will say that while the CGI itself doesn’t look too spectacular, the transition from actual stuffed animal to CGI cat is pretty well done. I think by having her be a stuffed animal, it becomes easier to pull off. But yeah, CGI for her isn’t good.
Usagi ends up being late for school, getting chastised by the teacher and giving us our first tease of Ami Mizuno, the girl who becomes Sailor Mercury. Usagi stays after school to clean, while her best friend Naru Osaka stays behind to help her. While cleaning, Naru mentions to Usagi that her mom is holding a jewelry show, with the two deciding to go check out the preparations. As the two go and admire the models, Luna shows up with the crescent moon on her head glowing.
Usagi sneaks off to go backstage, being highly impressed by the model's dresses. One of the staff members announced that a model isn’t there as Usagi bumps into a man. He eyes her suspiciously for a moment before Usagi comments saying she isn’t the model. The man tells her there is no way anyone would mistake her for a model. Usagi storms off, making sure to bump into him as she passes, while the man notices the jewels in one of the displays. He wonders if any of them could be the silver crystal.
Obviously this man is Mamoru Chiba, or as he is most commonly known, Tuxedo Mask. There isn't much more we get of him this episode, but you can see he largely remains the same. I assume he still has no memory of who he is in this, and his relationship with Usagi is starting out in a similar fashion with the two not getting along. I look forward to seeing this relationship develop as the series progresses.
Arms emerge from a portal at the jewelry show while Naru calls her mother on the phone that night. Naru's mom says she is pulling an all-nighter and wouldn't be home. Naru agrees to bring her some sandwiches the next day and the two hang up. The arms then emerge in front of Naru’s mom. I like Naru in this; we don't get too much from her, but I quite like her. Also, the arms really just make me think of the vectors from Elfen Lied. That would be an interesting twist.
As Usagi is at home trying to sleep, she discovers the cat plushie on her pillow. A voice calls out her name as the plushie comes to life. Usagi is thankfully smarter than some anime protagonists and at least freaks out, trying to leave the room before the cat stops her, introducing herself as Luna. Luna informs Usagi that she has been searching for her. She then goes on to tell of a great evil on Earth that can only be stopped by the princess and her four Sailor Guardians, with Usagi being one of those guardians. It is funny just how wrong this whole thing is.
Usagi naturally believes none of this, and thinks she is dreaming, deciding to go back to bed. Luna gives her a cell phone, asking her to contact her if Usagi decides to believe her. She then warns her to stay away from the jewelry show before jumping out the window. I’m glad Luna in this series can also randomly produce these items.
The next day, Naru brings her mom the sandwiches, but her mom doesn't know what is happening and is acting strange. Naru, thankfully, is smart and starts to run away, knowing this isn't her mom. She bumps into a man, begging him for help, only to get knocked out. The man transforms into a blonde man in a type of uniform. Apparently Naru’s mom is possessed by a Youma, and the man wants it to collect energy from the people at the show. Meanwhile Usagi wakes up in a good mood, forgetting most of what happened that night and wanting to go shopping with her mom.
Luna, sensing what is going on at the jewelry show, is investigating, wondering what she should do. Thankfully Usagi is there trying to sneak in! She informs Luna that she sensed Naru was in danger so she had to come help. Usagi is such a great friend. It is sweet. Luna then says that it is because she is a Sailor Guardian that she was able to sense the danger, giving her the Heart Moon Broach and Lipstick transformation items. Again, no clue where she made these from but cool.
Having Usagi pull out the cell phone, Luna tells Usagi to aim the camera at one of the models and take a picture. The phone then allows her to disguise herself as that model and enter the hall. I like that phone and really hope it gets used more. There is a lot of potential for items like this.
The jewelry show nears its end as the Youma uses a gas to knock out everyone in attendance, getting prepared to steal their energy. Usagi arrives just in time, telling it to stop. With Usagi not being affected by the gas, the Youma lashes out. I’m not sure how I feel about this versus the original. The Youma in this is just represented by the arms that attack Usagi. In the manga and anime, it brought on a transformation in the host, making them more menacing and monstrous. I’m not sure how future fights will be though.
Luna instructs Usagi to transform, bringing on a pretty cool although strange transformation sequence. So here's the thing: the transformation is pretty great for a live action adaptation of the anime's, but the whole time I was watching it I felt something seemed off. Finally it hit me. The proportions were normal! This mainly comes down to the legs. I am so used to the character’s from Sailor Moon having such long legs that when I see a normal person doing the transformation, it feels odd. I do also like that throughout the episode, Usagi just has normal dark hair, but the transformation is what gives her the blonde hair we know her as having. It helps for being a disguise for the Sailor Guardians, which answers the question of how they aren't recognized. I also have to point out that the outfits look amazing. They did a great job of bringing them into live action.
So, Usagi transforms into Sailor Moon. I wonder if Sailor Moon is the moon princess that Luna has been looking for. Nooooo, couldn't be it. Has to be Sailor Venus, definitely not Sailor Moon. At first, Sailor Moon runs away, unsure of how to fight. She eventually summons her Moon Stick, using Moon Healing Escalation to finish off the Youma. A bit short compared to the anime, but overall not a bad fight.
As Usagi celebrates, the blonde man throws a dagger at her. A wild Tuxedo Mask appears, pushing Usagi out of the way. He is disappointed that he didn't find what he was looking for, but remarks he did find something interesting. Mamoru then introduces himself as Tuxedo Mask before leaving, causing Usagi to think his name is weird, but he is cool. Usagi stop; nothing about him is cool. He is the complete opposite of cool.
Naru wakes up, thinking everything was a dream. It makes me wonder if everyone is going to wake up thinking they had the same dream. That will make for a weird time later. We then get our first shot of the Dark Kingdom, seeing Queen Beryl. She says how someone has got In her way, and that is unforgivable. Queen Beryl looks almost exactly like her anime and manga counterparts, I was a bit surprised. She looks really awesome and accurate.
Luna informs Usagi that the battle is just beginning, while Usagi is actually pretty excited. With that, we have finished episode one of PGSM. I had a blast watching this honestly. I have seen the premise of this episode multiple times at this point. I watched the subbed anime, I watched the DIC dub, I watched the VIZ dub, I watched Crystal, then I watched this. I worried it would end up boring, but I had a great time watching this. The character designs and ideas are all great, the acting and characters all seemed pretty good, and it overall seems like a good adaptation that will stay mostly accurate while changing some things to make it better.
I think it goes without saying that I love this version of Sailor Moon and soon will be going to watch more episodes. This one introduced us Usagi, Tuxedo Mask, Beryl and Luna, but also we got glimpses of Ami in the classroom, Jadeite as the blonde man, then we see Minako on a poster given she is an idol in this as well as when she is dressed as Sailor V. If you are a fan of Sailor Moon, or even if you are mildly interested in getting into the series, check it out. As I said, I plan on probably bingeing this a bit pretty soon as I want to see where it goes. So in the name of the moon, I say go watch PGSM.
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