Masaya Kikawada, Jouji Shibue and Miyuu Sawai who played Motoki, Mamoru and Usagi in the live action Sailor Moon series, will star in a Super Sentai film The Legacy of the Master’s Soul

Jouji Shibue, Masaya Kikawada and Miyuu Sawai  in The Legacy of the Master's Soul

It’s a live action Sailor Moon series reunion as Masaya Kikawada, Jouji Shibue and Miyuu Sawai appear on screen together in the upcoming Super Sentai prequel special “The Legacy of the Master’s Soul”. All three actors appeared in the live action series as Motoki, Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon! The three are reprising their roles as Master Red, Master Blue and Master Pink from the Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger series which played in Japan starting in 2019. Masaya Kikawada, Jouji Shibue and Miyuu Sawai were not usually in the same episodes however all three were on screen together in the first episode of the series.

Master Blue, Master Red and Master Pink in Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger episode 1

The film, which will serve as episode 0 for the series, will be made available to the Toei Tokusatsu Fan Club on October 17th. There’s currently no indication of how, if at all, the special might be made available outside of Japan. Scenes from the series were used as the basis for Power Rangers Dino Fury which aired on Nickelodeon earlier this year and is available on Netflix. No Japanese actors are seen in this version of the show as that footage is replaced with English speaking actors as is typically the case with Power Rangers series.

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 7 - Motoki and Usagi on a boat

A trailer for the special can be seen on YouTube embedded below.

Did you watch Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger? If so, what did you think of these actors’ performances in the series?

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 17 - Mamoru surprised to see Usagi

Source: The Tokusatsu Network

Watch a short clip of Naoko Takeuchi mentioning that Super Sentai shows inspired her as a child

Naoko Takeuchi with the Zyurangers

Yesterday I found this photo of Naoko Takeuchi, the creator of Sailor Moon, with the Zyurangers, from the Super Sentai series which was adapted as the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series in North America. The photo was posted to Twitter by Tuxedo Unmasked, who runs a great web site by the same name. He later shared a link to the source video, which was a 20th Anniversary video of TOEI’s Sentai Series which aired on March 21st 1995. I can’t embed the video but you can watch the video on YouTube to see the brief appearance by Sailor Moon creator Naoko Takeuchi at 16 minutes and 57 seconds. This interview lasts less than 30 seconds.

Naoko Takeuchi discusses Super Sentai series

Why is Naoko Takeuchi, who created Sailor Moon, wrote and drew the Sailor Moon manga, and provided work for various incarnations of the Sailor Moon series, appearing in a show about Super Sentai? As she mentions in this brief clip, she was inspired by Super Sentai series as a child. This special from 1995, which commemorates 20 years of Super Sentai series for TOEI, demonstrates that such series had been around a long time before Sailor Moon. It is often said that Sailor Moon, a series in which many girls transform into coloured uniforms and use attacks to defeat monsters, is a kind of Super Sentai type story about and for girls. This clip confirms that such series were a partial inspiration for the Sailor Moon manga and ultimately the anime and live action series as well.

Sailor Moon

I’ve certainly mentioned this similarity many times in the context of the live action series. The Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon series is a Tokusatsu (live action special effects) series much like Super Sentai series are. As Sailor Moon is a manga version of a Super Sentai series the live action version is a way of the franchise evolving into something even more similar to the shows which inspired it. The few recycled sets and even costumes are not proof of that, so much as the general similarities in the basic plots of these series.

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 18 - The Sailor Guardians with Sailor Venus in the middle

Although Naoko Takeuchi likely drew at least partial inspiration from Super Sentai series, it’s not possible for her to actually have been inspired by Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger, which was later adapted in North America as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. That series first aired in February of 1992. The Codename: Sailor V manga started in August of 1991 and Sailor Moon, which has more similarities to a Super Sentai team show, was first published in December of 1991. The Sailor Moon anime series began airing in March of 1992, so it’s certainly easy to compare Sailor Moon to Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger, because they were both on television at the same time, but without a time machine it’s impossible for either to have been an inspiration for the other.

Kimberly the Pink Power Ranger

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers didn’t start airing until August of 1993 which was still two years before Sailor Moon started airing on TV in the US and Canada in August of 1995. Though Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was adapted from three different Super Sentai series, they kept the Zyuranger outfits for all three of those seasons, so North American fans would mostly only be familiar with those costumes when Sailor Moon’s first 65 episodes played on TV until Power Rangers Zero started in April of 1996 after which the costumes for each series continued to change.

Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger episode 5 - Red Ranger

Source: Tuxedo Unmasked on Twitter

Could Toei’s new Tokusatsu YouTube Channel include the Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon series?

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 6 - Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars

Toei, the company which created both Sailor Moon anime series as well as the live action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon series, will be launching Toei Tokusatsu World Official, a YouTube Channel dedicated to Toei’s Tokusatsu series. It will launch with episodes from 70 different Tokusatsu series. While the Tokusatsu series most familiar to worldwide audiences are Super Sentai shows like the ones which are adapted into various Power Rangers series, one Tokusatsu series created by Toei is the 2003 live action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon series. The live action Sailor Moon series was not mentioned as one that will be part of the first batch of shows. As this would be a fairly high profile show, this likely means that we will not be seeing it on April 6th when the channel launches but it could be coming at a later date.

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 37 - Sailor Guardians fighting Putty type monsters Zyrangers Episode 1 - Golems or Putties

While one may not think of the live action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon series as Tokusatsu, it most certainly is! Look at the intro paragraph on the Wikipedia page for the show:

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (美少女戦士セーラームーン, Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn) is a Japanese tokusatsu television series based on the Sailor Moon manga created by Naoko Takeuchi. It was produced by Toei Company.

The term tokusatsu refers to a live action series which uses special effects. This dates back to monster movies like Godzilla and includes superhero series such as the Super Sentai series. The Sailor Moon manga was originally inspired by Super Sentai series in which there were teams of superheroes of various colours. This came full circle as the live action series was a tokusatsu version of the manga and anime series. The show often had similar costumes and effects to other tokusatsu series. Some costumes were also reused between series, such as the Zyurangers Golems, known as Putties in the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers adaptation, being reused in Act 37 of the live action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon series.

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 7 - Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Moon in front of a mural

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 7

Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger episode 5 - Pink Ranger in front of mural

Zyuranger episode 5

There have also been locations which were used between series, such as the location used in Act 7 of Sailor Moon which was seen in episode 5 of Zyurangers which was adapted in the first season of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. There have also been scenes which were completely recycled such as one clip of the ground opening up which was used both in Zyurangers and Sailor Moon. The images below are from the televised version of the live action Sailor Moon series and from an old Power Rangers tape.

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon - Serenity Destroys the World

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers - Fissure in the ground

Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers

What do you think? Would you like to see the live action series on this platform? Do you think this is feasible?

Source: Toei Press Release

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A two day concert, Akiko Kosaka 45th Anniversary Sailor Moon Music History Supported by Pretty Guardians, is coming to Tokyo November 9th and 10th

Anza and Akiko Kosaka from the Sailor Moon Crystal visual book

A two day concert named “Akiko Kosaka’s 45th Anniversary Sailor Moon Music History Supported by Pretty Guardians” will be taking place in Tokyo on November 9th and 10th. This two days concert will actually include two different performances with completely different artists on each day. November 9th will be a relaxed piano concert with some conversations and the 10th will have a band performance. So what exactly is this? Akiko Kosaka is well known for having written many songs for the original Sailor Moon anime as well as Sailor Moon Crystal but in this case it is likely her involvement writing many songs for the Sailor Moon musicals which is the basis for this concert. We can tell from the other artists appearing at this event that this will almost certainly involve performances of a number of Sailor Moon musical songs as this will involve performers from the musicals. Across the two days actresses who portrayed almost all of the Sailor Guardians in the musicals, that being everyone but Sailor Pluto, as well as others will be performing. Sailor Pluto is likely only absent because Yuuko Hosaka, who originally played Sailor Pluto in some musicals, was originally scheduled to be involved with the event but had to cancel.

With this year’s Sailor Moon musical being delayed until 2020 this concert may serve as a nice alternative for some fans. I can only speculate as to the specific format but with there being performers to represent each characters with no duplicates it seems likely that some effort to have someone take the part of the Sailor Guardian they previously portrayed is likely. Will they wear some sort of costume or just sing some classic songs? Who knows! Here’s a breakdown of who’s going to be involved and when.

Anza as Usagi from the first Sailor Moon musical

Not everyone is going to be involved with both days, but here’s a list of the actors which are going to be there for both November 9th and 10th. Akiko Kosaka, who’s career is being celebrated with this concert, will evidently be there for both days. Anza, the first actress to play Sailor Moon in a musical from 1993 to 1998, will likely be performing as Sailor Moon. Hisano Akamine, the third actress to play Sailor Mercury from 1999 to 2000, will likely be performing as Sailor Mercury. Misako Kotani, the second actress to play Sailor Mars from 1994 to 1997, will likely be performing as Sailor Mars. Emi Kuriyama, the seventh actress to play Sailor Jupiter from 1999 to 2000, will likely be performing as Sailor Jupiter. Akiko Miyazawa, the fourth actress to play Sailor Venus also played Queen Beryl and musical exclusive characters Bilhah Emerald and Elizabeth Bathory, a vampire. She will likely be performing as Sailor Venus. Sanae Kimura, the first actress to play Sailor Uranus from 1994 to 1997, will likely be performing as Sailor Uranus.

Yuuta Mochizuki, the second actor to play Tuxedo Mask, also played Kunzite in the very first musical and later the musical exclusive character Count Dracul. He is also well known for playing the Red Power Ranger in Zyuurangers, the series which was adapted in North America as the original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. He will likely be performing as Tuxedo Mask. Hikari Ono has played Hawk’s Eye, Sailor Star Maker, Loof Merrow, a musical exclusive pirate, Bloody Dracul Vampir, a musical exclusive vampire who is Dracula’s daughter, and Prince Demande. It isn’t clear who she would be portraying in this concert as there doesn’t seem to be an actress to represent each of the Sailor Starlights.

The only person who will only be at the first day performance is Sakoto Yoshioka who played Princess Kakyuu in a musical in 1997. While it’s possible that she could be reprising her role as Princess Kakyuu, there is currently only one Sailor Starlight scheduled to be present on the first day so it doesn’t really add up.

There are a more performers who will only be there on the second day. This is when the full cast was originally planned to be together all at once. Yuuka Asami, the sixth actress to play Sailor Neptune from 1999 to 2002, later returned to play Jadeite in 2003. She will likely be performing as Sailor Neptune. Mao Mita, the fourth actress to play Sailor Saturn from 1999 to 2000, will likely be performing as Sailor Saturn. Tamaki Dia Shirai, the third actress to play Chibiusa from 1995 to 1996, will likely be performing as Sailor Chibi Moon. Ryuuji Kasahara played a number of characters including Kunzite, Death Ra, a musical exclusive member of the Death Busters, Tiger’s Eye, MC Fly, a musical exclusive minion of Galaxia, Chaos, Professor Tomoe, Baron Gilles de Rais, a musical exclusive vampire, and Dark Nibiru, a musical exclusive character. It’s not clear who he will be portraying. Momoko Okuyama, the first actress to play Sailor Star Healer in musicals from 1996 to 1998, may be reprising her role but once again as there is no Sailor Star Fighter actress involved we can’t be sure what role she will be playing.

Akiko Kosaka 45th Anniversary Music history

With this event only taking place on a single day it may prove more difficult to get tickets than other musicals. Do any of you hope to be able to make it to this concert? I’m certainly hoping a CD or video release will be made available for fans who aren’t likely to attend.

Source: Sailor Moon official site Original Story with an Update.

Janis Carrol, also known as Barbara Goodson, will voice Zirconia in Sailor Moon SuperS

Janis Carrol as Zirconia

Yesterday was Sailor Moon Day at Anime NYC. This included Viz’s Moon Panel, as is often the case with conventions Viz attends. The main thing announced at this panel was that Sailor Moon SuperS would be released on April 10th but we also learned about a new voice acting credit! Janis Carrol would voice Zirconia! That’s great! So who exactly is Janis Carrol? I saw some fans saying how happy they were to see her get the role as she had the perfect voice. This wasn’t a name I was familiar with but I actually was familiar with the actress. Janis Carrol is an alias for veteran screen and voice actor Barbara Goodson known best to many fans as the voice of Rita Repulsa from Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. Note that she only provided the English voice for that character. The actress who portrayed Witch Bandora in Zyurangers, which was adapted as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, was Machiko Soga who sadly passed away in 2006.

Rita Repulsa from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

IMDB redirects searches for Janis Carrol to Barbara Goodson’s page. Why? Browsing through her credits we see the name Janis Carrol listed for a number of other Viz Media titles including Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. IMDB recognizes that this is another name she uses and redirects users to the appropriate page. Why, then, use this alias which isn’t all that well hidden for anyone trying to investigate? I don’t know for sure but some fans have speculated that this might have to do with union work. Some actors will have their name tied to a union and will use an alias for non union work. I don’t know if this is true in this particular case as I don’t know the specifics of how Viz hires their actors. There are many reasons for which a person may use an alias for certain jobs.

Barbara Goodson previously voiced a few single episode roles in Viz Media’s dub of Sailor Moon R. This includes the monster Falion, a lion Cardian who attacked Sailor Jupiter and her friend in episode 49, as well as the kindergarden teacher, from episode 52 when Minako was protecting a bunch of school children. IMDB lists both of these on their Sailor Moon SuperS page which has a Sailor Moon S Movie image because they’re a bit of a mess. This site used to have a different page for the English dub and it’s generally very difficult to distinguish casts from various dubs on the site.

Barbara Goodson has also provided the voice of a number of other anime characters throughout the years. I remember her mostly from the English version of the anime series Teknoman, originally called Tekkaman Blade, where she played Star as well as the voices of Doris in Vampire Hunter D and some voices in Akira. These were things I was watching around the time Power Rangers was on and I was amazed at how little she sounded like Rita Repulsa in these roles.

Sailor Moon SuperS episode 150 - Nehelenia

We still have not gotten any voice actor information for Queen Nehellenia who first appears in episode 148. Since Sailor Moon SuperS Part 1 only goes up to episode 146 that means we won’t actually be hearing Queen Nehellenia or the Amazoness Quartet in this release, which is likely why we have no voice actor information for them. Since Zirconia and Queen Nehellenia are similar characters, with Zirconia being interpreted as some sort of reflection or alternate version of Queen Nehellenia by some, it is possible that they will have the same voice actors. Since Barbara Goodson is able to portray a range of characters, having her do both roles would work quite well. This is certainly not guaranteed however as different voice actors have portrayed these two characters in other versions.

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 7 and 8 discussion

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 7 - Mamoru sees Sailor Moon transform

This is a review and discussion of Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 7, He Saw Me Transforming, and Act 8, Rei and Her Father. These episodes originally aired on TV in Japan on November 15th and 22nd respectively. The date on the amusement park tickets for Act 7 show November 15th, which again confirms that the events of the series are taking place in something that resembles real time. Both titles are objectively incorrect because the phrasing of “He Saw Me Transforming” suggests that Usagi had awareness of this fact, which she did not, and “Rei and Her Father” does not actually feature Rei’s father, though the story is influenced by his actions where most of the action and plot takes place.

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 8 - A rare appearance by Ami

Sailor Mercury fans won’t be seeing much of Ami in these episodes. The excuse? She’s “Looking for Sailor V”. It isn’t really clear how she’s doing this exactly. Internet research? Looking it up at the library? Listening to police frequencies on the radio? Sailor V isn’t hard to find! She’s around Sailor Moon all the time! Ami should just do some fighting if she wants to find her. Ami’s scenes in these two episodes are confined to scenes filmed either at Karaoke Crown or the school. These are probably scenes filmed along with other episodes. The actress doesn’t go to any of the location shoots used in these episodes.

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 7 - Motoki with Tuxedo Mask's jacket

Act 7 is all about someone finding out someone’s identity, but it isn’t who we think it is! In the set up for the episode we see a monster fight in which Sailor Moon sees Tuxedo Mask have his tuxedo jacket ripped in the shoulder. Usagi then, very observantly, noticed that Motoki has this exact jacket ripped in the exact same place! Usagi’s conclusion, which is not completely unreasonable, is that Motoki is actually Tuxedo Mask! This is humorous as, in the Sailor Moon anime, Usagi also believed at one point that Motoki might be Tuxedo Mask! She imagines this in anime episode 13, Girls Unite: The End of Jadeite, while looking at various constellations, including the Motoki constellation and the Tuxedo Mask constellation which I have honestly never seen but I guess they are visible from Tokyo?

Sailor Moon episode 13 - Motoki as Tuxedo Mask

It seems we didn’t even get Motoki’s name prior to this, as Usagi has to ask him what it is. She’s starting to think she’s in love with Tuxedo Mask, and so she makes an attempt to get closer to Motoki by buying him food for his turtle! Another fantastic observation on Usagi’s part as Motoki is absolutely obsessed with Kamekichi and offers her amusement park tickets on the spot to thank her for them! The twist? She must bring two other friends! Sounds like a plot device!

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 7 - Motoki returns Mamoru's jacket

Usagi brings Makoto and Rei! Rei, naturally, is not happy to be there. Motoki brought along Mamoru and Takai, his fellow turtle lover who in contrast makes Motoki seem like a cool ladies man! Takai is like an unrealistic joke character out of a cartoon or the Big Bang Theory in that he gets hiccups when he’s around girls. If anime has taught me anything many boys and men are completely incapacitated around women leading to nosebleeds and all other sorts of reactions which people never have in the real world which I inhabit. The viewer, at this point, already knows that Mamoru is Tuxedo Mask. Motoki, it turns out, had Tuxedo Mask’s jacket so that his mother could fix it for Mamoru. Mamoru is an orphan as we later learn, with no mother to sew a busted tuxedo jacket. I wonder why he didn’t get Hina to do it? Another reason for which I believe some elements of this series were made up as they went along and not planned from the beginning!

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 7 - Motoki and Usagi on a boat

When the gang needs to split up into couples they do so using rock paper scissors and we first have Makoto with Motoki, Takai with Rei and Mamoru with Usagi. Aside from Takai and Rei, the biggest mismatch in the history of television, these are all big couples of the series! This is the first hint at the Makoto/Motoki relationship and yes I am absolutely shipping these two! Makoto gets what all of this is about and offers to switch partners with Usagi so that she can be with Motoki. They go on a roller coaster ride and then ride some boats in a pond which reminds me of… Usagi and Umino’s date in anime episode 15, Usagi’s Panic: Rei’s First Date! When Motoki again expresses his love of turtles Usagi notes that the two of them are like the tortoise and the hare! These aren’t lovers but it’s a neat idea! Things aren’t going great for Usagi however as she doesn’t feel that something something she does when Tuxedo Mask is around. Very observant once again! Usagi is on a roll!

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 7 - Usagi and Motoki separate in a house of mirrors

Usagi and Motoki enter a house of mirrors. Have you ever been in one of these? I’ve been in a few and they can be a bit confusing but not as bad as this episode makes us think! Motoki, hesitant to make any sort of physical contact, has Usagi hold the same handkerchief as him so that they don’t get lost which of course means he immediately lets go and they get separated. When Mamoru comes by to help Usagi he’s not having any of this handkerchief nonsense and grabs her hand assertively! Usagi senses the same thing she does when Tuxedo Mask is around, but isn’t able to put the whole puzzle together! For that we will need a Batman Returns type moment which is some time away. Since Motoki is claustrophobic, he needs to be rescued by Makoto, which is cute, but she immediately abandons him when the monster is about. It’s a bit ironic that Motoki, a turtle lover, is claustrophobic. If he was ever an actual turtle he’d probably be afraid to hide in his own shell!

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 7 - Sailor Moon transforms

When Usagi finally gets a call about a monster attack she thinks no one is around and transforms. Mamoru is able to see her in a mirror. This is not only not how house of mirrors’ work but it’s also not how mirrors work! The general rule, one way glass aside, is that if you can see a person, they can see you! It doesn’t matter how many mirrors you bounce your gaze off of. If you look at a person they can see that you’re looking at them! Since there’s no one way glass involved, as this is actually just an effect of a light room and a dark room on either side of a sheet of glass which is not the case here, there is really no plausible reason for which Usagi would not be able to see Mamoru but that he could still see her. Regardless, the plot requires Mamoru to learn of Usagi’s secret identity before Usagi learns his, and so that is how this magic house of mirrors works. Maybe Luna made it with her magic!

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 7 - Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Moon in front of a mural

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 7

Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger episode 5 - Pink Ranger in front of mural

Zyuranger episode 5

All of the fighting goes down at this familiar looking stage. We have coloured benches around an outdoor stage with some unique windows and a mosaic. Though I did not make the connection when I first saw this episode I later noticed that this same location was used in a number of episodes of Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger, the Super Sentai show which was adapted as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. This location appears in two episodes of the English Power Rangers show, which is where I first noticed it, but it also features more prominently in the equivalent Zyuranger episodes. The location is first featured in Zyuranger episode 5, Scary Riddles, in which the Zyurangers face off against the Sphynx. This was adapted as the 5th episode of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, A Pressing Engagement. The location is again used in Zyuranger episode 16, The Great Sneeze Plot, which was adapted in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as episode 11, No Clowning Around, in which the gang fight Pineoctopus, a pineapple octopus monster.

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 7 - Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Moon in front of windows

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 7

Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger episode 5 - Red Ranger

Zyuranger episode 5

Zyuranger aired in 1992 while Sailor Moon aired in 2003 and we can see that this area has been cleaned up considerably. Back in 1992 there were broken windows, graffiti on the walls and the paint on the benches seems faded, though this last point may simply be differences in video quality. By 2003 there seems to be no graffiti, restored windows and freshly painted or perhaps simply cleaned benches. I wonder what it looks like today! I haven’t been able to tell specifically where around Tokyo this location is. A reverse image search said it was a “wall”. If any readers know more about this location I’d love to hear about it. The live action series has a lot in common with Super Sentai series, and this is just one of those similarity. We will see reused costumes and even footage directly lifted from this series in future episodes.

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 7 - Rei in front of stands

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 7

Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger episode 16 - Grifforz, Dora Endos, Totpat and Bookback

Zyuranger episode 16

After the fight Sailor Moon uses her handkerchief, which she has shown to both Motoki and Mamoru, to bandage Tuxedo Mask’s injured hand. When he untransforms Mamoru, who has already seen Usagi transform into Sailor Moon, recognizes the handkerchief. This is an odd double reveal of her identity. If he hadn’t seen her in the house of mirrors, he would certainly have figured out her identity here! The handkerchief also appears in the manga as Usagi, dressed as a Princess, drops it in Act 4, Masquerade Dance Party. That one had her name on it though.

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 7 - Sailor V warns Sailor Moon against seeing Tuxedo Mask

Sailor V tells Sailor Moon to stay away from Tuxedo Mask twice in this episode. After Sailor Moon ignores the first warning she later states that she can’t stay away from him for obvious reasons. Sailor V, who the audience is meant to believe is the Princess, says that destiny can not be avoided. The natural interpretation of this is that, like in the manga, the tragedy that is unavoidable is the murder suicide of Princess Serenity and Endymion. I believe this is what the line was meant to indicate when it was originally spoken, but the true meaning will turn out to be much more complicated as the series progresses. At the time that this series was airing there was a group of fans who, even though they were familiar with other continuities, were convinced at this point that Minako was the Princess. That somehow the live action series was totally mixing things up and that Sailor V would be Sailor Venus and she would be the Princess. I’m not going to say at this point that this isn’t true, because that’s what the show is trying to have us believe, but let us try to think about what Sailor V is saying here in the context of this. What tragedy is it that Sailor V, as the Princess, would be aware of which is not going to be avoided if Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask pursue a romantic relationship? If Sailor V is indeed the Princess, then this can not be the Serenity/Endymion murder suicide or anything related to the Princess at all. After all Sailor V is the Princess. If Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion were a thing in some past life, then Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask being in a relationship is great news! The tragic events of the past, which in this case would have taken place between Sailor V and Endymion, will not be repeating themselves! Well I’m just ranting. Maybe Minako really is the Princess! Let’s wait and see…

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 8 - Rei and Makoto fight

Act 8 is about Rei’s relationship with her father but it’s also about Nako Nako, Minako’s mascot! There is an absurd contest going on where people can cosplay as Nako Nako, a sort of flying blue horse, and compete in order to win a plush Nako Nako toy. A lot of effort goes into this which makes me wonder if this is perhaps some one of a kind plush not available at retail? The cost and effort put into any of these costumes is much more than I would have expected a plush toy to cost. So Usagi calls in her friends to help with her costume because she didn’t properly prepare for a test. Rei thinks helping her will make her weak while Makoto things helping her will make her stronger. This is sort of a proxy argument for both of them dealing with some other psychological baggage in their lives. Rei thinks she did well on her own and thinks it’s good for a person, but Makoto who was also on her own and wishes for more relationships in her life, believes that’s the way to go. They fight!

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 8 - Rei using up her minutes

Rei is asked to join her father for a meal, a sort of formality they do once a month. She has this conversation on her magical clothes changing phone which makes me wonder… is she using this as a personal phone? Her father’s assistant, who she wants nothing to do with, has this number somehow? Is it listed? Maybe she took her personal phone’s sim card and put it in her magic phone? She doesn’t want to go with her father and is basically forced into doing it, which Makoto believes is a kidnapping! It turns out Rei’s father, the politician, is having an article written about the ideal parent and child relationship, which Rei is pissed about since he abandoned her when her mother died and he’s scared of her magic powers. I wonder how he’d react to her phone and newfound abilities? Some serious themes going on here in this children’s show!

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 8 - A vandalized room service cart

Makoto to the rescue! She sees Rei being taken and literally runs after a speeding car all the way to a hotel. Impressive! When she learns this wasn’t really a kidnapping, though it sort of is, she’s all about being on team Rei and proceeds to be violent with people in order to protect her! You would think Makoto, who’s parents are both dead, would want Rei to have a good relationship with her still alive father but instead she basically says she doesn’t get family stuff because she doesn’t have one and supports Rei. They order room service, perhaps using their magic phones, and then Makoto puts on the room service lady’s clothes and escapes with Rei under the table. Did they like… beat up and strip the room service lady or did they have a nice heart to heart and maybe she had some daddy issues so she offered to trade clothes? Did they expose their identities by using their magic phones to change into her clothes? Where did Makoto’s uniform go? If she left it in the hotel room she’ll probably have trouble replacing it since it’s from her old school which she moved away from and isn’t enrolled in anymore. Also they somehow cut a perfectly circular hole in the room service cart so that we can do a gag where the little cover thing is lifted and Rei’s head is underneath. What sort of tool did they do this with? Oh… it was probably Luna!

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 8 - Zoisite and Jadeite

Meanwhile Zoisite has a pretty decent plan. He can play music which plays through FM radio which can project someone to where a target is. Genius! He uses this on Jadeite to send him to where Sailor Moon is and it works! Does her identity get compromised? Well Usagi is actually wearing a kind of bad Nako Nako costume so I guess Jadeite can’t see through that? The contest is held at a hotel. Rei and Makoto are also at a hotel. Is the same hotel? That’s not really clear but they do get there pretty quickly and when things get serious with Jadeite he is snapped back to Zoisite’s room.

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 8 - Zoisite attacks Minako

Zoisite tries his trick again to find Sailor V. He targets Sailor V who he thinks in the Princess. I wonder could he just have targeted the Princess instead? Who knows. The solution it seems is to turn off the FM radio. Great! Unfortunately Zoisite never tries this trick again, as it seems like it would be a fairly easy way to figure out one of the Sailor Guardians’ identities and then using that information kill all of them, assuming they could be caught off guard while they weren’t in super powered basketball mode or something.

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 8 - A man of no consequence

After Minako gets attacked there’s a man in the car with her that asks her if everything’s okay! Who is this? Could it be Alan, her old love interest from her days as Sailor V in the anime as featured in episode 42? Could it be Kaitou Ace or one of her other half dozen first loves from the Codename: Sailor V manga? No. He’s is of no consequence and we never learn more about him. In fact she later has a flamboyant cartoon character manager who isn’t this guy at all. Abandoned character and plot line or bit actor who was never meant to be anything special? No idea.

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 8 - Rei posing dressed as Nako Nako

Finally both Rei and Makoto enter the Nako Nako contest on Usagi’s behalf. They both have cute and out of character costumes and they both receive consolation prizes for their effort. The two have settled their differences and are now good friends! Rei’s relationship with her father however, is still terrible and that might be fine since he seems to be a bit of a jerk. I don’t think anyone in this show has a good father who is not dead.

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 8 - Makoto dressed as Nako Nako

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.

Keep reading for more screenshots from these episodes.

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Sailor Moon SuperS episodes 142 and 143 are now available on Hulu

Sailor Moon SuperS episode 142 - Mamoru gets turned down by and older lady

The two latest episodes of Sailor Moon SuperS were added to Hulu and Neon Alley this morning. With the addition of episodes 142 and 143 we are introduced to what seem to be the oldest and youngest targets in the series. First we learn why Mamoru goes after school girls as he and Hawk’s Eye fail to seduce an elderly woman and next Fish Eye goes after a young boy who has his eye on Chibiusa. Also some new outfits.

Sailor Moon SuperS episode 142 - Diana eating delicious stew

Episode 142, The Secret Mansion: a Menu of Love for You, reminds me of a fake movie in Married With Children called “Old Man, Older Woman”. We so rarely see love stories about older people so this episode was a nice change. Early in the episode we are introduced to an elderly woman Mayako. She fights to get a deal at the grocery store and then Mamoru offers to help her cross the street, but she rejects his advances. Mamoru’s charm works quite well on Usagi and Rei or even, as we saw early this season, on fellow University aged girls, but it looks like he’s powerless against an older woman! No wonder his preferences skew more towards what Tiger’s Eye is in to. Diana, mad that Mamoru was shot down, investigates and is fed some delicious stew by Mayako. Do the cats in the Sailor Moon world prefer people food or cat food? We see them eat cat food and other foods which usually appeal to cats, like fish, a number of times, but Luna also has more sophisticated taste such as when she eats Star Candies in the Sailor Moon S movie. So complex. Anyway it turns out this grouchy old lady is just miffed because her lover, Ichirou Ohno, who happens to have just returned to town, left to become the best French cook instead of opening a restaurant with her. Naturally all of this works out by the end of the episode and everything will probably be fine, except for the fact that they both wasted their youth being stubborn. That’s cool though because they open up a restaurant where they can serve great stew and other French food made by a Japanese guy. Hawk’s Eye is naturally the one to target Mayako, as he always has a preference for older women. Though no specific ages are generally given Mayako seems to be the oldest woman ever targeted in the SuperS series. For some reason he wears a shirt which looks like the flag of Turkey in this episode, though Turkey’s flag is a white moon and star, and his shirt has a yellow moon and star on a red background. What’s what about?

Sailor Moon SuperS episode 142 - Mayakou and Ichirou

This episode is somewhat of a retelling of the story of *batteries not included. In this film, which also has robots, Jessica Tandy’s character and the rest of the main cast live in an apartment block which needs to be sold in order to build some fancy new building. Thugery is used to try to kick them out. Similarly in this episode Mayako’s mansion is wanted by many but she refuses to sell. Thugs show up trying to force her out! For more on the hit film *batteries not included watch this video I made about the robots in the movie. It includes some fun props I made in the style of those robots.

Sailor Moon SuperS episode 143 - Aki the Green Power Ranger

The Green Power Ranger's Power Morpher

Episode 143, Believe in Pegasus: The Four Guardians’ Super Transformation, is about a lot of things that are more interesting that the Super Transformations. Yes there’s a thing with Pegasus and he does a thing to Sailor Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus to give them little transparent shoulder things which doesn’t have much significance other that further complicating the view of the future we saw in Sailor Moon R. They will all later have individual episodes where we see them “power up” again so this is really a non issue. Speaking of powering up, is Chibiusa’s friend the Green Power Ranger? In a scene early in this episode we see a young girl, Aki, teasing Chibiusa. She has a logo on her shirt which looks a lot like the the Green Power Ranger’s Power Coin, the symbol of the Dragonzord. This week’s target is Robert, a young boy who has a crush on Chibiusa. Most kids don’t do anything about their crushes but Robert is, as the narrative of the story tries to tell us, a very appealing boy who can get anyone. He aggressively pursues Chibiusa but as we’re starting to figure out, she only has room in her heart for Pegasus. Fish Eye targets Robert. To date Fish Eye has targeted adult men but here he is targeting a child, something similar to what Tiger’s Eye did with the samurai girl Hiharu. It’s not clearly indicated but Robert could be even younger than her. Regardless of gender, this just seems inappropriate. Fish Eye, dressed as a woman as he does when targeting straight men and boys, is quickly turned down by Robert who sees her as an old lady. Good for your Robert!

Sailor Moon SuperS episode 143 - Robert and Fish Eye

In a joke at the end of the episode we learn that Usagi has stood up Mamoru in order to spy on her daughter. The movie he’s waiting to see is Godzilla. This is the second time we’ve seen this movie showcased, the last being only 3 episodes ago with episode 141 when Minako went to see a movie with Hawk’s Eye. In both cases this poster for Godzilla was clearly shown. So what is going on here? Can this be a reference to any real movie out at the time? The two sightings of this poster, in episodes 141 and 143, had air dates of July 8th and July 22nd 1995. There were no Godzilla movies in theatres at the time. Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla was released on November 10th 1994, too early to still be in theatres the next summer, while Godzilla vs. Destroyer would come out later that year on December 9th 1995. Surely some smaller theatres could conceivably have run a rerelease of Godzilla in some limited capacity, but to have them run two weeks apart like this and be chosen to be seen by multiple characters in the series seems somewhat unlikely. Of course the real reason this is here is likely simply that somehow who made these episodes was a fan.

Sailor Moon SuperS episode 143 - Godzilla still in theatres

Episode 143

Sailor Moon SuperS episode 141 - Hawk's Eye and Minako see Godzilla

Episode 141

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Sailor Moon SuperS episode 142 - Hawk's Eye loves Turkey

Sailor Moon SuperS episode 143 - Chibiusa and Robert

Sailor Moon SuperS episode 143 - Sailor Mercury powered up