Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 21 and 22 discussion

Posted on March 6, 2018 by Adam

This is a review and discussion of the Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon series Acts 21, What Did You Do To Ami?, and 22, Ami Becomes An Enemy. These aired on February 28th and March 6th 2004. These episodes introduce us to Dark Mercury, the evil version of Sailor Mercury, which is a unique character to the live action series. I think this story arc is a lot of fun and this very cool character is one of the key differences between other incarnations of the Sailor Moon story and the live action series.

Act 21 starts out with a ton of flashbacks. Naturally we need to focus on what just happened, as something happened to Ami we just don’t yet know exactly what it is. Along with these flashbacks we see a scene of Makoto punching Tuxedo Mask which takes place during Act 20 but that we didn’t actually see in Act 20. Perhaps it just didn’t fit in that episode so they spliced it in as a flashback? She’s angry that he’s using Usagi which isn’t a great characterization of what’s happening but that’s not to say that she doesn’t have good reason to be upset that this man who clearly has a fiancé is stringing her friend along. Makoto is the central character for the early part of this episode for whatever reason.

Usagi is not at school. She claims to be sick but it’s actually because she’s a bit heartbroken, again, because of this whole Mamoru’s fiancé situation. Ami is also not at school, prompting Makoto to go check out her home. When she first rings the doorbell we clearly see that Ami’s bed is empty but upon entering Makoto finds Ami passed out sick barely able to wake up. What this likely means is that Ami isn’t really sick and that she’s just messing around with Makoto at this point. Considering that Makoto’s is showing constant and legitimate concern for Ami this ruse is very cold and calculated. Makoto makes her some food to help her out. What is that food? It looks like soggy rice. A bit of searching tells me that it’s kayu, called congee in other countries, a sort of rice porridge which is typically served to a sick person. As a write this I have a cold and recently ate chicken soup, a staple sick person food in western countries, but it seems like such a thing is not universal! Ami chows it down, seems to make a miraculous recovery and wishes to go to the amusement park! How atypical!

Act 21

Act 4

At the amusement park we see a bear that looks just like Usagi’s costume from Act 4. In fact if I didn’t know better I’d say they were reusing props!

Just hanging around the amusement park is Motoki. Who works at Karaoke Crown when he’s out doing this kind of thing anyway? He always seems to be at the counter when the girls are there yet is frequently seen outside as well. Motoki claims to be taking Kamekichi, his turtle, out for some fresh air. This seems to be a colossally inefficient way to give your turtle fresh air. Although last time we learned that you have to pay for some parks in Japan an amusement park generally carries a heavy price of admission. Did Motoki really pay to come and give his turtle fresh air, a thing which is more of less available outdoors on the entire surface of the Earth? Perhaps he got more free tickets like he did earlier in the series!

After Ami passes out on the ferris wheel Motoki comes to the rescue! He has his car there because apparently he even drove his turtle to a place to give him some fresh air. His car naturally is green and looks a bit like a turtle. It is filled with turtle decorations. Do I judge him for this? Not with the amount of Sailor Moon merchandise I own! Motoki is wearing Makoto’s scarf and mentions that it was the only valentine’s gift he received! Makoto, trying to deflect the implication, says that it wasn’t meant to be that big a deal. Motoki, being the great guy that he is, accompanies Makoto to the hospital and only reluctantly leaves, giving her a bunch of magazines and snacks to help her pass the time. Makoto and Motoki’s fingers touch when he hands her a coffee. I usually wouldn’t make a big deal about this kind of thing however when Motoki went to the amusement park with Usagi he made a point of only holding her hand with a handkerchief as an intermediary showing perhaps a more intimate relationship between him and Makoto!

Shingo is actually not terrible in this episode! He realizes that Usagi is down and so he gets her… a meat bun! This is a bit like getting anime Naru a chocolate parfait to cheer her up as the meat bun reminds her of the one she got Mamoru on their romantic not date along the coast back in a time before Hina was in the credits for the show.

Meanwhile Mamoru is getting ready to study abroad! He mentions that there’s only one month and he has material from “Saintford College” which is also written in English as “University of Saintford”. There is no such place in the real world. A bit of searching only uncovered an unfinished piece of fan fiction which uses such a name. The name is likely a reference to the real life Stanford University. Anyway Mamoru going abroad to study. Sound familiar? It should! This was a theme in the manga and original Sailor Moon anime where Mamoru left during the Stars or Sailor Stars story arc leaving room for Seiya to saunter in and try to steal his girl! Turns out he never really made it to the United States. Will he make it this time?

Well it turns out Ami went missing from the hospital. This is a lot like when Usagi was being turned evil by Kunzite and ended up disappearing as well. Ami runs into some thugs and she seems to beat them up off screen. Makoto listens to the trees in order to track down her friend which seems to work.

And then the big moment! Ami transforms but not using Mercury Power. Instead she calls out “Dark Power Make Up!” and transforms into an evil goth looking version of Sailor Mercury known as Dark Mercury or Darkury for short. This character is somewhat of an opposite in appearance and behaviour of Sailor Mercury. Simply put this is the evil version of Sailor Mercury and she’s out to attack her former friends! This is a great story arc showing some great drama between Ami and her friends who’s friendship started out rocky but seemed, until recently, to be pretty solid.

Act 22 continues where we left off with Sailor Mercury attacking her friends. First she turns an icicle into a cool looking sword. This reminds me a bit of the sword that Sailor Mercury created when she was defending Usagi, who Kunzite was turning into a monster. Now Sailor Mercury finds herself in a similar situation to Usagi’s in that episode except with one important difference! When Usagi was on the verge of being turned evil by Kunzite it was Ami who brought her back. Ami can’t bring Ami back because she’s herself! It is the abandonment that Ami is feeling by her friends which has precipitated this transformation and it doesn’t look like there’s any coming back from it! Sailor Moon attempts to heal Sailor Mercury with her Moon Stick but Mercury quickly strikes down the attack! The fight is only halted by Kunzite who seems to be calling the shots, but not for long.

Back at what seems to be Hina’s place she has made hamburger for the two which Mamoru doesn’t seem to be eating. We learn a bit more about the arrangement. Mamoru has agreed to study abroad, presumably at Saintford University, and promised Hina’s father than he would marry her. This whole arrangement seems odd to me from a Western perspective but a few readers have pointed out that this kind of thing isn’t terribly uncommon in Japan. The concept of mukoyoshi has a family adopting an adult son in law by having him marry the daughter. In many such cases the man will take the daughter’s family name. Does this mean Mamoru would end up as Mamoru Kusaka?

Usagi is stressing about how to cover for Ami becoming evil to her teacher and it turns out… she actually came to school! She may be evil but no need to let her grades and attendance record suffer needlessly! Ami has also brainwashed her classmates, including Naru, against Usagi who is stuck eating on the roof like a reject! We’ll remember that both Ami and Makoto spent some time eating their lunch on the roof in earlier episodes, as it seems to be the place for people without friends to go to pass their lunch break. Usagi uses this moment to reflect upon how Ami must have felt herself being abandoned by her friends.

The opinion of the cats seems to be that the gang will have to fight Sailor Mercury but Usagi doesn’t want to have anything to do with that. Unfortunately they will be forced into that situation! A monster appears at the amusement park and the setting for the combat is an odd stage in or close to an aquarium.

Sailor Mercury quickly dispatches Sailor Venus who’s happy to fight a fellow Sailor Guardian. When it comes to Sailor Moon though she won’t fight but instead transforms back into Usagi. This is Usagi at her finest. Her true strength does not come from her ability to fight but from her compassion for her enemy, who in this case is one of her closest friends. This doesn’t convince Dark Mercury as she slashes the mittens that she’d made! This is a symbolic gesture to demonstrate her severing their friendship.

Usagi cries and the tear lands on her broach causing a bright cleansing light. Ami appears briefly, calling Usagi’s name, but Kunzite takes her away before this can go anywhere. This Dark Mercury story arc could easily have been ended here. Usagi essentially put fighting aside and showed her feelings to Ami and then there was some magic stuff to make the bad magic go away, which wasn’t really the problem. The issue was between Ami and her friends and it is essentially resolved through their feelings but we can get more out of this story arc by having Ami remain evil and I’m all for it since I dig the character. It reminds me a bit of what they did with Black Lady in the original Sailor Moon anime. She shows up, there’s a little fight, then Sailor Moon pretty much heals her but they needed to do a big finale episode later so Wiseman sweeps her away.

Sailor Venus mentions that Sailor Moon has begun to awaken with that bright light. It’s easy to see the parallel of the tear to other incarnations. In the manga as well as both Sailor Moon anime series the Silver Crystal appears from Sailor Moon’s tear. At this point in the series we have still not seen the real crystal, just fakes put on by Sailor Venus who is absolutely Princess Serenity in this series. The light wasn’t a total waste of time though. Those mittens were repaired which is again symbolic. If the mittens which were cut can be fused together then perhaps there is still hope for Ami’s friendship. The gang are dedicated to getting her back.

Back to Mamoru and Hina, who are otherwise not really interacting with the rest of the cast in these episodes, they arrive back at Mamoru’s apartment and there is music playing! Hina wonders if he left a CD on, which seems like a perfectly reasonable explanation! I would think a radio or TV could also fit the bill! Mamoru, being no stranger to monsters and all sorts of terrible things, assumes the worst! It’s also worth mentioning that Mamoru is a thief who regularly breaks into jewellery stores to steal expensive gems. A person like that probably assumes some illegal break in could be a real possibility! Alternatively as a fairly unfaithful man perhaps he suspects there is a lady in his apartment! He goes in alone, which serves the plot well because Hina would not know how to react to seeing Zoisite’s ghost. He again refers to Mamoru as Master Endymion. Endymion is Princess Serenity’s lover! Looks like Mamoru’s juggling three women since it’s well established that Minako, and not Usagi, is actually Princess Serenity.

Feel free to leave a comment with your own thoughts on these two episodes. If you’re looking to watch along with the series you can get English subtitled fan subbed versions from sites such as Miss Dream, TV-Nihon and Sea of Serenity. Fans looking to stream the show can do so from Dramanice and Kiss Asian.

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Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 19 and 20 discussion

Posted on January 6, 2018 by Adam

This is a review and discussion of the Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon series Acts 19, Usagi’s Doki Doki Valentine, and 20, Hina was Mamoru’s Fiancée. These episodes once again focus a lot on Usagi’s reaction to Mamoru’s girlfriend Hina and the events surrounding Valentine’s Day as a new young friend of Usagi’s explores a romance with a young boy. The episodes originally aired on Japanese TV on February 14th, Valentine’s Day, and February 21st and because of this some of Act 19 actually takes place on Valentine’s Day as the title suggests. A note on the Act 19 title! Doki Doki is the Japanese noise for a heart beat so the title might read something like Usagi’s Thump Thump Valentine or Usagi’s Ba-dum Ba-dum Valentine. There isn’t really a single universally accepted English onomatopoeia for the sound of a heart beat as there is in Japanese. Considering the domestic name for the North American release of the Famicom video game Doki Doki Panic perhaps it would make sense to call it Usagi’s Bros. 2 Valentine.

Act 19 continues with the saga of Usagi’s cursed scarf! This middle school teacher really did create a lot of drama when she suggested her students give their scarves to a boyfriend! Usagi, motivated by the power of love, completed her scarf and is glowing while looking at the completed product only to then become overcome with sadness. A little heartbreaking.

Usagi is surprised when she walks into her dining room one morning to find that in Shingo’s place is a young girl! This is her mother’s friend Nozak’s daughter Hikari. Usagi isn’t sure how to entertain her but Hikari knows exactly what she needs help with! Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and she wants to buy chocolate for a boy she likes, Daichi. The catch? He’s in love with another girl. The twist? It’s Hina! Hilarious! Usagi and Hikari are both trying to win over the affection of a boy who is in love with the same girl!

When the two run into Hina and Mamoru both Usagi and Hikari are treated the same way as she gives them both a lollipop! Mamoru laughs at this, as we see that Hina is treating them both as children. This naturally leaves Usagi a bit embarrassed. She’s already self conscious about the fact that Mamoru has a serious relationship with this older woman and this action, one of kindness from Hina, doesn’t help her case. This gets even worse when Usagi attempts to eat her sucker and sees that Hikari have given hers away to an even younger child. Looks like Usagi has a lesson to learn from her young friend!

Is there actually a chocolate which will make a boy forget about the girl he’s in love with? It looks like there is but it’s the 5000 yen chocolate, which is about $45 US, while Usagi was eyeing a chocolate which cost about 1/10th of that cost. Somehow giving this chocolate to Daichi totally wins over his heart! He says he’s got a new game, supposedly a video game, and invites Hikari over to… watch him play. I thought they would play together but in the next episode he makes reference to showing her how to play next time. Really bro? It’s a new game! You can both learn together! I wonder what kind of game this would have been in 2004. It’s probably a PlayStation 2 game, since they had the most market penetration in Japan, though it could have been a GameCube game or, much less likely, an Xbox game. The Gameboy Advance was also nearing end of live at the time but judging by the fact that Hikari goes to his home to play it, they’re probably not talking about a handheld.

Meanwhile Makoto knows all about Mamoru and Hina’s engagement but doesn’t want to tell Usagi about it because she’s already upset enough. Seems like a plot device to me! They also don’t want to tell Rei, who is also keeping Sailor Venus’s identity a secret. This is all just bad for the group! Rei also seems to be keeping Sailor Venus’s identity from Luna who has actually spoken directly to Minako in front of Rei so the show can’t seem to make its mind up on whether or not Luna knows what’s up. You would think she would be in a hurry to get together with Artemis so that they can share stories about how awkward it is to pretend to be a plush cat.

Luna has got some competition for Artemis’s affection though because Minako got him chocolate! As always I ship Minako and Artemis though this relationship is more heavily hinted at in the manga and more prominently the anime than it is here. Still Minako seems to have chosen Artemis as her Valentine, giving him first a jack in the box style gag box of chocolates and then real chocolates. Life, it seems, is like a box of chocolate. The real kick? Cats don’t actually like chocolate. Chocolate is toxic to both cats and dogs, though it’s only really an issue for dogs who will eat pretty much anything they think might be food. Cats on the other hand are much more discriminating and don’t like sweet foods, like chocolate. Of course Artemis is a plush cat who can talk so I can’t really say what his tastes are like. In the manga and anime Luna enjoys star candies so perhaps these alien cats do like sweet foods after all.

More Makoto and Motoki shipping going on in this episode! First we need to get the turtle shipping out of the way. If you recall back in Act 15 Motoki was trying to hook up his turtle Kamekichi with some lady turtles. One of them was Maririn and I guess he liked that one since she got him chocolates in this episode. Having only seen turtles eat turtle food, some bugs and spiders I can’t say for sure this is something he’ll want to eat but it fits with Motoki’s odd fascination with turtles. I wonder if they’re chocolate turtles! Makoto, who has her sweater she made for her assignment, very nonchalantly gives it to Motoki claiming it doesn’t fit her style and he’d be taking it off her hands. Motoki, previously forever alone, is ecstatic at getting a Valentine’s gift but Makoto doesn’t seem to have put the same importance in it.

Sailor Moon gives her Valentine’s chocolate to Tuxedo Mask, who naturally isn’t her first choice. Tuxedo Mask, knowing fully well that Sailor Moon is Usagi, asks if there’s someone else she should be giving this too. When she tells him that “someone else” has a girlfriend he tells her not to give up! I know Mamoru has been acting a bit dense but he really should know that someone else in this case means his alternate identity who has a girlfriend and is engaged. If he doesn’t, he’s being really ignorant. If he does, well this is sort of infidelity. Is it unfaithful to encourage someone, via an alternate identity, to pursue a relationship with you even though you are unavailable? I would think so.

Minako continues to do her own graphic design work! She’s using photoshop once again this time to superimpose herself on an image of a stadium as a trap for the enemy! Decent enough trick because the enemy seems to assume she’ll still be at this stadium by the time the photo is uploaded to her web site. Rei knows the score and tracks down the same building to find the generic monster. I can’t even tell when we are getting the same monster or if we’re getting “new” monster meaning an old costume with some feathers on the shoulder pads or something. This show’s strength isn’t its unique monster designs! Sailor Moon SuperS it is not! Anyway Sailor Mars finds Nephrite attacking Sailor Venus because they both fell for the same trap. He takes the Crystal! Oh no!!

Act 20 immediately follows Act 19! It’s convenient that these episodes seem to go in pairs which match the way I’m reviewing them. Anyway Venus makes the Crystal explode somehow and it turned out to be a fake! Oh look I have a whole suitcase full of fake Crystals!!! Rei is starting to suspect that Minako is trying to distract the enemy. She’s about to ask if she’s really… something but Minako cuts her off saying she’ll need to awaken first. We are meant to assume at this point that Minako has already awakened and the rest of the Sailor Guardians have not.

The ridiculous double love triangle between Hikari, Daichi, Hina, Mamoru and Usagi is about to get much more ridiculous! Hikari and Daichi want to go on a date but they need chaperones. Who better than Usagi and Mamoru? Not an awkward situation in the least! Granted they are both participating as chaperones but one can not get past the idea that it’s kind of like they’re going on a date together themselves! Hina is unavailable for a change. It’s funny that for the first 15 episodes of the series Mamoru is always wandering the streets of Tokyo alone but since the Hina plot point was introduced they’re always always about town together!

Usagi is very awkward at this date, at one point walking with her arms and legs in unison. From watching various anime series I’ve learned that this is a sign of awkwardness or nervousness which isn’t really common in the west. Still it’s fairly easy to grasp the idea that a person be too focused on something to walk properly. Try to pay attention to exactly how your arms move in relation to your legs and you’ll probably mess it up. Consciousness isn’t good for everything! I’m not totally sure what the venue for this date it. It seems like a somewhat basic field and park but they actually pay for entry. In Canada one would never pay for such a place but perhaps in Tokyo where space is at a premium this makes sense. The venue has some zip line type of thing, badminton without an actual net and finally the gang settle down for a picnic in which Mamoru comments that the food is very good. Usagi is generally universally considered to be a bad cook in all continuities but it’s also some sort of important relationship indicator that a man find a woman’s food to be palatable in Japanese culture. Again something I know only because I watch a lot of anime.

Makoto is stalking to two on their date, planning to tell Usagi about Hina and Mamoru being engaged. She seems to have figured out that Tuxedo Mask is Mamoru and confronts him about this. I’m not sure when exactly this realization was meant to have happened but Usagi still has no idea. Makoto doesn’t get a chance to warn Usagi and when Hina shows up there is a comment made about the bride needing to sit next to the groom! Now it all comes crashing down again for Usagi! She sees a monster and says she has to leave which probably would seem awkward to Mamoru, the only one for whom this social situation is awkward, but he is actually Tuxedo Mask and has full knowledge of the existence of monsters and such so it’s not really a big deal!

The monsters, all repeats of earlier monsters, were just illusions to distract the Sailor Guardians. Early in the episode Kunzite, watching Sailor Mars and Venus’s building tension, decides that he wants a Sailor Guardian for himself! Conveniently everyone starts to ditch Ami not for any personal reason but just because they all have their own stuff going on. Ami sits quietly alone in the headquarters knitting mittens for everyone while Luna keeps her company. Now at the end of the episode Kunzite confronts Ami on the street and attacks her, at which time she transforms. He surrounds her with this black energy stuff. This is the start of one of the more interesting differences which is unique to the live action series and we’ll be seeing more of that in the next episode!

Keep reading for more screenshots from these episodes.

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Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 13 and 14 discussion

Posted on November 8, 2017 by Adam

This is a review and discussion of the Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon series Act 13, The Last of the Shitennou, Kunzite, Appears, and 14, Usagi is Turning Into a Monster? These episodes first aired on December 27th 2003 and January 10th 2004 on Japanese television. There was no episode aired on January 3rd in the usual time slot, likely due to some sort of new years related event. I recall being quite disappointed that there was no new episode that week back in the day! Act 13 discusses the build up to New Years events and Act 14 includes a late New Year celebration, once again confirming that the show takes place in real time. A date on a computer in Act 14 even shows that it is January 10th 2004. These two episodes centre around the introduction of the fourth of the Shitennou Kunzite!

The episode starts with the girls recalling their great times meeting Sailor Venus, the Princess, who is totally not in either of the episodes I’m talking about this week! Humourously Sailor Jupiter, who was not included in the scenes where the gang met Sailor Venus, says she wished she could meet her! I’m sure they’ll find the budget to arrange for all of them to be in the same scene soon enough! The only thing we see of Sailor Venus is a flashback to a scene that we didn’t previously see where she basically says don’t protect me but keep protected the Earth! It’s like she’s shielding them from something!

We start the story out with a bit of humour! Motoki lost his beloved turtle Kamekichi! He’s turned Karaoke Crown upside down looking for him and it seems as if he hasn’t slept all night! Usagi and Mamoru, who seem to keep crossing paths, agree to help him track down his turtle! Sounds like either the turtle would be found very close or not at all, given what I know about turtles! I do actually know a thing or two about turtles as I had a pet painted turtle when I was younger. He’s still alive and well because turtles live quite long! While most celebrity pets from older shows and movies you’ll watch likely died years ago Kamekichi is probably one of the few long lived exceptions to this. Well it seems I was totally wrong about Kamekichi because he shows up at a creepy looking house that by all indication appears to be some distance from the busy city streets where Karaoke Crown is located.

Kamekichi ended up at this guy Shin’s house. Who’s Shin? A guy who, like Mamoru, has lost his memory! This is a very interesting character that adds a whole other angle to the Shitennou that we’ve never really seen before. Shin is a nice guy who likes flowers, nature and the sea, but he’s afraid there’s something very sinister lurking inside his lost memories and he’s sort of right! So who is the real Shin? Is this nice guy really anybody or the absence of a person? Beryl seems to have intentionally just put him in this weird state to have him on stand by waiting to awaken Kunzite who’s pretty much evil and doesn’t care about Shin having been there. There are actually further layers of repressed memories beyond what we see in this episode which only complicates the issue. All of this reminds me of this movie called Regarding Henry where Harrison Ford loses his memory and amnesia Harrison Ford is actually a nice guy but memory Harrison Ford is a jerk lawyer who cheats on his wife. Good movie!

Usagi, who loves to meddle, decides to get a few things to try to jog Shin’s memory. Mamoru, who claims not to like meddling, comes along to make sure she doesn’t do anything too irresponsible. What ensues is a lovely date sort of non date! Usagi rides on Mamoru’s motorcycle across the romantic coast! We get a sneak peak at the new single Over Rainbow Tour which is sung by Miyuu Sawai, Usagi’s voice actress. We’ll be seeing a few of these in the coming episodes as there was a lot of merchandising going on! In Act 12 we had the first of Minako’s new singles as well. All of the Sailor Guardians had singles which included two songs each. Minako, what with her character being a singer, has additional songs throughout the series.

After getting a few trinkets for Shin Usagi decides to buy what looks to be a meat bun and shares it with Mamoru. How sweet of her! A lovely end to their not really date. I wonder if Hina knows about this?

Mamoru gives the trinkets to Shin alone, as Usagi is a bit late, and although it seems like this is what’s giving him his memory back it’s actually just a coincidence as Queen Beryl is blowing evil into a flower which seems to be doing it. Shin is actually Kunzite and was actually out the night before turning some girl into a monster which looks like a werewolf. Mamoru lies to Usagi telling her that Shin got his memory back and decided to leave. In reality Shin turned into a bad guy and attacked Mamoru! Bad news! As for Shin, did he have a mortgage to pay on this house? Was he just squatting? Does he have a job and income?

There’s a fight against the girl turned monster and Kunzite, now sporting much longer hair than Shin, uses his long hair as a weapon! He makes hair appear around Usagi’s neck much as it had done to the girl turned werewolf monster. Looks like Sailor Moon’s going to turn into a monster! To be continued! A little cliffhanger.

The next episode preview at the end of Act 13 actually takes place a whole 2 weeks before Act 14, due to the missed episode. As a result we have a bit of an inconsistency between what is shown in the preview and what we see in the episode. We see the 5 girls dressed in formal kimonos for a New Years celebration and Usagi faints in this scene. In reality Usagi doesn’t faint at this point at all but later, while singing karaoke. Did most people forget during this 2 week period? Not the hardcore fans that watched the episodes over, over and over again while waiting for the next one!!

Last time Usagi had a strand of Kunzite’s hair embedded into her neck which, based on what it did to another girl, means she’ll turn into a monster! Somehow though Sailor Moon’s tiara’s gem glows and she seems to be totally fine! Or is she?!

The gang celebrate a late New Years party dressed in Kimonos, which seems to be the thing to do. We get a reference to something that is known in the west, New Years day, but mixed in with Japanese traditions which are very unique to their culture. Rei was preparing for New Years celebrations in the last episode and the gang is now getting together to do the the same. They have a Karaoke party, which is a good idea since they have free unlimited access to a magical room at Karaoke Crown which seems to exist outside of space. Makoto sings Minako’s new song, Katagoshi ni Kinsei (Venus Over My Shoulder), which we previously got a preview of during Act 12. Want to hear the full version? Just buy this CD! (Amazon conveniently reminds me that I already purchased this particular item on March 8th 2004…) The rest of the party involves Jenga and Nako Nako dress up.

Suddenly … Usagi faints! The first stage to becoming a monster, it seems. Everyone wants to do something which seems to exclude watching over Usagi or bringing her to a hospital. I guess bringing in a girl who’s turning into a monster is a bit like bringing in someone with a gun shot wound. Bound to bring up some questions! Ami decides to watch over her and take charge of Usagi’s unconscious body. Mamoru, who knows very well that Usagi is Sailor Moon and knows that she’s got a magic strand of hair turning her into a monster, sees what’s going on and offers to help carry Usagi to Ami’s place. Motoki says that carrying her is too much for a girl! This is nonsense of course. Makoto could easily carry Usagi, or perhaps even Mamoru, on her back with ease. It is probably true however that carrying Usagi on her back is too much for Ami but something that Mamoru is more well suited to do given her strength and size! While it is neither incorrect or controversial that men are, on average, stronger and larger than women one must not generalize in such cases, especially when a strong and tall woman who regularly beats up guys who are up to no good is around!

At Ami’s home she whips out her computer which seems to have some fancy apps on it! I almost wondered if this was a Super Computer like the one from the manga and anime! After all it seems to have an application to monitor someone’s vitals! Who would have that except for … ah yes Ami’s mother is a doctor. The machine, attached to Usagi’s finger, monitors her “temperatur”, “blood pressue” and other things. The temperature seems to be in Celcius as a correct body temperature is listed as 30 degrees. Monster temperature seems to hover around 0 C which is when water freezes.

Since it’s getting late Ami calls Usagi’s mother to ask if she can stay over. Solid plan! Too bad Naru calls looking for a CD that Usagi was supposed to return to her which leads her to Ami’s next. Here we have the beginning of a complicated relationship between Ami and Naru. Previously Naru was a bit surprised to see Usagi befriending Ami but she seemed to be turning around on her. Unfortunately when Naru comes to Ami’s to see Usagi, Ami pretty much denies her access to her home. She could say a lot of things here to clear things up like that Usagi is sick and is resting, which is technically true, or even some elaborate lie like that she’s drunk or she’s out doing something she doesn’t want her mother to know about and Ami was just the cover! Ami’s not great with people though and wouldn’t be great at casually lying like this, and so she shoves Naru thinking that Ami and Naru’s relationship can stand to be sacrificed for Usagi’s good!

Well things get serious with Usagi as her temperature drops and Kunzite teleports her away. Ami, somehow, knows how to find her and chases after her finding Usagi in some cavern. Where is this cavern? Probably not at the D-Point in the North Pole though it looks like the standard cave type sets they use for all of the Dark Kingdom stuff. Ami and Kunzite fight for real. Ami is so beat up that she ends up with dirt on her face!

Sailor Mercury manages to make a sword out of water which is a weapon we will be seeing something very similar to, but not identical to, in a future episode. Kunzite may not have had much success in making Sailor Moon evil but this is something that will be revisited later in the series. Sailor Mercury will again get a sword and her and Kunzite will find themselves in a similar cave. Ami’s character is conflicted with all kinds of feelings and this will be culminating in a very different story arc for her character that we don’t see in any other incarnations of the series.

Sailor Jupiter and Mars show up, because Sailor Venus isn’t in these episodes, and the fighting continues. Ami keeps calling out, in a psychic way but not with actual words, to Usagi in order to try to reach her. Just when it looks like she’s about to transform into a monster… she tells everyone to shut up and is healed. How? It seems everyone calling her was so loud, especially Ami’s calling, that it woke her up! Perfect plot device which requires only seriously wanting her to be all right without actually requiring anyone to actually do anything to make her better!

Finally Tuxedo Mask confronts Kunzite. He says that it looks like Shin is gone and Kunzite responds that he never really existed. What exactly does this mean? Is it because he wears a wig now? Is it because he doesn’t have a social security number? Shin was Kunzite without his memories. If Kunzite exists so did Shin just like Usagi still exists even if she’s … I mean just like Minako still exists even if she’s just the reincarnated version of the Princess! This makes us ask ourselves some interesting existential questions about what makes a person and if that is still a person lacking some memories. Since most of the characters in the show lacks some past memories we’d tend to think that yes they still exist, but in what state are they a different person when those memories return? Henry still “existed” when he lost his memories in the film! In the same way we are always changing as our memories grow as no one is the same person they were when they were a child or even yesterday. Does the show plan to answer such deep existential questions? Not really. But it’s kind of fun that it even plays with them.

Keep reading for more screenshots from these episodes.

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The Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon series premiered 10 years ago today

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Adam

October 4th 2003, 10 years ago, the first episode of the live action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon TV series premiered in Japan. The show didn’t achieve much success with a North American audience but many fans did have a fondness for it. With a total of 49 episodes the series ran for about a year and also had two direct to video specials and a live stage show, along with a lot of merchandise.

The story of this series was a retelling of the Dark Kingdom storyline from the manga and anime. While at the beginning there were many similarities, the series quickly defied expectations and did it’s own thing going so far as to introduce new variations of classic characters like Sailor Luna, Dark Mercury, Mio Kuroki and Princess Sailor Moon. The effects were a bit cheap and Luna was a plush most of the time but the show still had a certain quality to it that made it very much Sailor Moon.

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Sailor Moon News

Bringing you the latest news about the new anime series Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal and all things Sailor Moon.

Tag Archives: Dark Mercury

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The Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon series premiered 10 years ago today