Anime reviews: Sailor Moon

Sailor Moon, Geek or Heroine?

Sailor Moon, a.k.a Serena, is a gawky teenage girl who attends school, trips alot, and makes a fool of herself; but then, when the need arises, she transforms herself into Sailor Moon, the gawky teenage leader of the Sailor Scouts and defender of Goodness and Justice. Even in the alter-ego Super Heroine guise that fights evil, she, more often than not, makes a fool of herself before actually standing up and making the scene.

The Sailor Scouts, Sailor Moon’s fighting friends who often, like real people, cannot get along very well, are named for the planets in the solar system, in the order of their transition into the troop, as follows: Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Venus, Sailor Pluto, Sailor Neptune, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Mini Moon, and finally Sailor Saturn. Each of these girls has a power unto herself that nobody else can use as well as fears and hang-ups that cause problems. After all, these teenagers ARE teenagers, regardless of the fact that they are reincarnated from a fierce squad of fighters from the Moon Kingdom.

In the beginning, there was only Serena, exposed to her alter-ego Sailor Moon by her black, talking cat, Luna. As she fumbles around to use her powers and fight the evil entities led by the evil Queen Barrow of the Negaverse, she also stumbles upon allies. Each of the Sailor Scouts has her beginnings in different ways. For example, Mercury is the demure book-worm with the power of water, whereas Sailor Mars is fierce with the power of fire. Even the older boy that Serena is tormented by, Darien, turns out to be a great ally to her as Tuxedo Mask. Some of her allies begin as enemies or lures, only to die as sacrifice.

The story arcs continuously as the Sailor Scouts find new team members, as they learn about their past as the Moon Princess and her court, as Serena falls in love with Darien and later Darien returns the emotions, and as Serena and Darien learn of their child Rini who was sent into their presence as protection. Each arc in the series (not all of which are mentioned herein) seems to begin with many goof-ball enemies that are ridiculous to the point of extremes. If you are able to ignore the strange monsters and the goofy sub-plots, there you will find a powerful storyline underlying the entire plot. A strong story of romance, revenge, loss, sacrifice, and good versus evil can be discerned. You may laugh, you may want to turn off some episodes, but I dare say to keep your eyes glued to the screen as the true power of the show will send you to tears as often as exasperated remarks. My consensus is that this series is very inspiring when you can disregard some of the actions of its main character, who grows and develops as a leader through the course of different story arcs. If you watch one series you will want to watch more, it is addictive.