There is no doubt that “Sailor Moon R: The Movie” was ahead of its time. A classic, dramatic “Sailor Moon” film that manages to balance drama and action very well. If you are a big fan of the film, definitely own this film on Blu-ray, it’s the definitive version worth purchasing! Recommended!
Image courtesy of © 1993 TOEI ANIMATION. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Sailor Moon R: The Movie
ORIGINAL THEATRICAL DATE: 1993
DURATION: 90 Minutes
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, English and Japanese 2.0 Stereo, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Viz Media
RATED: TV 14
Release Date: April 18, 2017
Originally Created by Naoko Takeuchi
Director: Kunihiko Ikuhara
Screenplay: Sukehiro Tomita
Character Design by Kazuko Tadano
Music by Akiko Kosaka, Takanori Arisawa, Tetsuya Komuro
Art Design by Junichi Taniguchi
Animation Director: Kazuko Tadano
Anime Production: Toei Animation/TV Asahi
Featuring the following voice talent:
Aya Hisakawa/Kate Higgins as Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury
Emi Shinohara/Amanda C. Miller as Makoto Kino/Sailor Jupiter
Kotono Mitsuishi/Stephanie Sheh as Usagi Tsukino/Sailor Moon
Michie Tomizawa/Cristina Vee as Rei Hino/Sailor Mars
Rica Fukami/Stephanie Morgenstern as Minako Aino/Sailor Venus
Kae Araki/Sandy Fox as Chibi Usa
Keiko Han/Jill Frappier as Luna
Tohru Furuya/Robbie Daymond as Mamoru Chiba/Tuxedo Kamen
Yasuhiro Takato/Ron Rubin as Artemis
Hikaru Midorikawa/Ben Diskin as Fiore
Hiromi Nishikawa as Campanula
Mahito Ohba as Newscaster
Megumi Ogata as Mamoru Chiba (as a child)
Tomoko Maruo as Fiore (as a child)
Wakana Yamazaki as Flower Youma Gurishina
Yumi Touma as Kisenian
Long before Mamoru found his destiny with Usagi, he gave a single rose in thanks to a lonely boy who helped him recover from the crash that claimed his parents. This long-forgotten friend, Fiore, has been searching the galaxy for a flower worthy of that sweet gesture long ago. This Xenian flower is beautiful, but has a dark side- it has the power to take over planets! To make matters worse, the strange plant is tied to an asteroid hurling towards Earth! Faced with an enemy blooming out of control, It’s up to Sailor Moon and the Sailor Guardians to band together, stop the impending destruction and save Mamoru!
Back in 1991, mangaka Naoko Takeuchi would create her shojo manga series “Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon”.
Serialized in “Nakayoshi” (from 1991-1997) with a total of 18 tankobon (graphic novel) versions published, the series would reach enormous popularity with over 35 million copies sold worldwide and the release of the anime series would further the popularity worldwide with 200 episodes created (1992-1997), three animated films, a live-action TV series, musicals, video games and more.
In 2016, Viz Media showcased “Sailor Moon R: The Movie” at Anime Expo featuring a new English dub, uncut for the first time in American theaters.
The original film was released in theaters back in 1993 and was directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara and written by Sukehiro Tomita and takes place after the original “Sailor Moon R” series.
And now, “Sailor Moon R: The Movie” will be released on Blu-ray and DVD courtesy of Viz Media.
The film begins with Usagi, Mamoru, Chiba-Usa and friends taking a trip to the Jindai Botanical Garden.
Meanwhile, we see a flashback of a young Mamoru giving a rose to a mysterious boy and the boy promising to return to bring Mamoru many flowers.
As Mamoru steps outside after the other Sailor Senshi are caught spying on the two as they are about to kiss, the mysterious boy, now a man comes to give Mamoru flowers and holds his hand.
Usagi sees the man’s affections towards Mamoru and Usagi tells him that Mamoru is her boyfriend and the mysterious man knocks her down and vows that no one will prevent him from keeping his promise and he disappears.
As the Sailor Senshi are talking among others, they talk about how Mamoru is not only popular with the women but also probably towards men. Meanwhile, a ball of light is seen floating and buries itself to the ground and a flower grows.
The following morning, Rei meanwhile senses an evil aura and she and the other Sailor Senshi follow Rei and find many of the local city people all fallen to the ground. When they go to check on them, the people awaken (like zombies) with plants controlling them and they try to attack them.
They find that the person responsible is a flower monster named Glycina and it drains energy from people. As the Sailor Senshi tries to fight her, Fiore appears and uses a flower called Xenian to hurt them.
As Mamoru shoes up to talk to Fiore and prevent him from fighting the Sailor Senshis, he learns that the Xenian is controlling his mind. As Fiore tries to attack Usagi, Mamoru saves her just in time but is hurt. Fiore manages to take the injured Mamoru away from Earth to an asteroid and plans to revive him in a crystal.
What is this connection between Fiore and Mamoru? And can Usagi and friends save Mamoru and defeat Fiore? And why is Fiore so angry?
VIDEO:
“Sailor Moon R: The Movie” is presented in 1080p High Definition and one must remember that this is an old school anime film and created with cels not digitally as anime is made today. And handling of anime series were done differently back then and so you may see some occasional spotting in certain frames.
With that being said, this HD version is no doubt the best version I have seen of this film to date. Having had the original Pioneer DVD, this Blu-ray release from Viz Media is much better in terms of color vibrance and sharpness. I didn’t notice any major artifacts or banding during my viewing of the film.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Sailor Moon R: The Movie” is presented in Japanese and English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio. Both soundtracks are done quite well and dialogue and music are both crystal clear through the front channels. It’s important to note that this animated film on Blu-ray features the current cast featured on the Viz Media releases and not the English dub from the 2000 Pioneer DVD release.
Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Sailor Moon R: The Movie” comes with the following special features:
- Make Up! Sailor Guardians Featurette – (16:32) A special feature about the Sailor Guardians, a recap that was shown originally before the animated film in Japan in theaters (presented in Japanese and English).
- Theatrical Intro with English Cast – (10:46) Featuring the English dub voice talent: Stephanie Sheh, Robbie Daymond and Ben Diskin being interviewed about the film.
- 2017 Los Angeles Premiere – (34:29) Featuring a post-panel with Voice Director – Suzanne Goldish, the English voice talent of “Sailor Moon R” (from the Los Angeles Premiere) and cosplayers.
- Gallery – “Sailor Moon R” image gallery
- Trailer – “Sailor Moon R” theatrical trailer
Back in 1993, “Sailor Moon R: The Movie” was released in Japanese theaters and for many fans of the animated series, this was anticipated holiday movie release during the Christmas time in Japan.
At the time, Toei Animation really did a lot of promotion for the film, going so far to have a special “Sailor Moon and X’mas” event in Ginza limited to several hundred people.
One of the earlier personal anime-driven websites in the early ’90s owned by Hitoshi Doi, said of the movie, “It was a great movie. Maybe my favorite movie of all time”.
Meanwhile, on anime BBS, there was a lot of discussion about the content and possible homosexual storyline about love between two boys. A topic that was debated at the time and while not super controversial, it was enough for Pioneer Entertainment to release it in 1999 on VHS edited and in Japanese only with English subtitles.
But for the bilingual DVD release back in 2000, Pioneer Entertainment released it uncut but also an edited version of the VHS dub as it was censored for content.
Needless to say, with the release of “Sailor Moon R: The Movie”, the goal was to release this film, with the new English voice cast that have been used for Viz releases. But most importantly, to feature a storyline that is not censored but to accept what the original Japanese story had been about and not changing the story to reflect that two young male characters that do care about each other.
So, with the changing of the times, we have a new Blu-ray release of “Sailor Moon R: The Movie” that gets things right by not deviating from the story’s original intention.
I actually wrote back when the original DVD was released, “The movie is actually pretty good. Touching in some areas and it’ll maybe make you want to cry. When people buy this, they may think they can just buy this for their kids but if you want to explain to your children about homosexuality references and so forth, then go ahead and buy it.”
Watching this film nearly 25-years later and 17-years after the DVD was released, I look back and see Hitoshi Doi’s 1993 post and in Japan, they don’t make any references about two boys liking each other, in fact, fans loved it because of its dramatic storyline of sacrifice and love. In addition to the action sequences involved as well.
It’s a shame that back then, companies had to censor the film and it was unfortunate, that I felt the need to warn parents because of the references. Things have changed so much in terms of what can be accepted in film or pop culture in terms of references to LGBT. If anything, there is no warning that should be needed. Children watching this may think friendship, while its the parents who may be doing most of the questioning, hopefully people can watch this film and not make such a big deal of the references made between Mamoru and Fiore.
The story revolves around a young Mamoru and a boy named Fiore. Mamoru gives Fiore a rose and a young Fiore made a promise to bring a flower back to Mamoru. So, Fiore made it his life duty to fulfill that promise by searching for a flower across the galaxy just for Mamoru.
And when Fiore comes back as an adult to Mamoru to give him the flower he had found and showing his true affections that he has long had for Mamoru, Usagi tells Fiore that Mamoru is her boyfriend.
Needless to say, that doesn’t suit well for Fiore and to make things worse, since Fiore is possessed by the Xenian flower, he uses the power of the flower-monster Glycina to feed on people’s energy and uses it against Sailor Moon and friends.
But it’s a battle for Mamoru’s affections…who will win? Usagi or Fiore?
No doubt the ending is quite predictable but the film features a strong dramatic storyline that shows how deep Usagi’s love for Mamoru and her friends. And how far she will go to sacrifice her life for those who are important to her.
As for the Blu-ray release, “Sailor Moon R: The Movie” looks very good in HD. One must remember that this is an old school anime film and created with cels not digitally as anime is made today. And handling of anime series were done differently back then and so you may see some occasional spotting in certain frames. But colors and sharpness are wonderful and this is the best version I have seen of the film to date.
And for lossless audio, we get a lossless audio stereo track that sounds great in HD!
And this release also comes with the original Make Up! Sailor Guardians Featurette, which was shown prior to the film’s screening in Japan, to get fans and also non-fans up to speed about each character and where the story is heading at that point of time. Plus, you get interviews with the English cast and the post-screeening of the film panel shown at the film premiere in Los Angeles.
Overall, there is no doubt that “Sailor Moon R: The Movie” was ahead of its time. A classic, dramatic “Sailor Moon” film that manages to balance drama and action very well. If you are a big fan of the film, definitely own this film on Blu-ray, it’s the definitive version worth purchasing!
Recommended!
