T5W#75-Top 5 Personal Sailor Moon Life Moments

I like to think im an equal opportunity Anime viewer.  As much as I love the boy shows like Dragon Ball Z, Gundam, One Punch Man, etc, I do have soft spots for the girl powers shows like Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya, Himouto Utaru Chan and Puella Magi Madoka Magica.  But the defining Girl Power Anime for me is still Sailor Moon.  I was always proud to include it in the ultimate Toonami Summer Line Up along with Ronin Warriors, DBZ, Gundam Wing, Outlaw Star and Tenchi Muyo.  It was always an equal, never a lesser.  I haven’t had a chance to see too much of the newly released ReDubs of the series (I think they just finished putting out S by this point and Super S and (FINALLY) Sailor Stars are not too far off).  But from what ive seen and heard, it’s not bad.  I’m personally excited to hear certain voice actresses and actors in certain roles: like Michelle Ruff (Rukia from Bleach) as Luna, Johnny Yong Bosch (Adam from Power Rangers) as Artemis and Cristina Vee (Mio from K-On) as Sailor Mars.  Anyway, this week, Viz is doing a limited theatrical run of the first Sailor Moon movie: Sailor Moon R-The Promise of a Rose.  It is NOT playing at a theater near me and frankly that pisses me off but I wont rant.  Instead I’ve decided to run down my personal Top 5 Sailor Moon Life Moments, events in my life where Sailor Moon was a defining factor for me and I’m still not ashamed to say I’m a dude and I’m a fan of the Pretty Guardian and her equally pretty Sailor Senshi Squad.

 

#5-Crystal Gets Back to Normal-ish

The first two seasons of Sailor Moon Crystal were not the tremendous return that a lot of fans hoped for, myself included.  While I didn’t mind Usagi getting an attitude upgrade, the show felt like it wanted to spend too much time on her and creepy Mamoru and not enough on the rest of the Senshi.  Factor in some less than stellar (and in the cases of the transformations CRINGE WORTHY) CG animation and Crystal was pretty much written off as we all hoped for the day that Sailor Stars would make its state side English Dub debut.  Season 3, however, got things back to normal…more or less.  Usagi had more of her charming clutsiness back, she bickered with Chibi Usa and everyone looked a lot better than their incredibly skinny Season 1 and 2 versions.  It wasn’t totally perfect, but this was the Crystal we should have been watching from the very beginning.  I’m just hope that things get better and they can somehow make the love story between Chibi Usa and a Pegasus not as creepy as it looks…shudder that was a thing right?

 

#4-The First Senshi Scavenger Hunt-Otakon 2014

To promote the arrival of Sailor Moon Crystal and the long awaited ReDub of the original series, Viz instituted a fun little mini game for the convention scene.  Five “official” (as I called them) Senshi were spread all across the Dealer’s Room and the objective was to find them all, get a card stamped by them and return them to the Viz Booth where Sailor Moon herself awaited travelers to give them an official prize.  This continued throughout Otakon 2015 and 2016.  But the first one in 2014 was probably my favorite.  It was tough but somehow that made the end result all the more amazing.  Not only was the last senshi I had to find my favorite one (more on her in a moment) but I think the prize they gave out that year was the most meaningful, a special Sailor Moon coin.  It was proof I had completed something grand and a bit tiring…but worth it in the end.

 

#3-My First Anime Waifu

I first found out about Sailor Moon through a toy commercial that gave out the full line up.  An all girl fighting force akin to Power Rangers was something not to be forgotten.  But what stood out most was the Avatar of Red and Fire, Sailor Mars.  From first glance, I had a huge crush on Rei Hino.  Sure she was mouthy and gave Usagi a hard time but I don’t know, I couldn’t help but be drawn to her beauty, confidence and bad assery.  Sure other Senshi (and Anime Characters in general, ahem Rin and Misato) would come along to challenge, like Sailor Pluto and Neptune.  But Sailor Mars will always have a special place in my heart as the first Anime character I would come to know as a Waifu.

 

#2-Sailor Moon Photoshoot-Katsucon 2015

Since my first Otakon, I have always tried to attend at least one Sailor Moon photoshoot.  An immense gathering of awesome and pretty cosplayers as the premiere heroines of Anime?  No brainer.  However, few have matched the awesomeness of Katsucon 2015, my first Katsucon.  There was something different about it.  The setting, the energy, everyone was into this in a way I hadn’t really experienced before.  Plus you had a couple of great Sailor Moon cosplayers leading the charge and keeping everyone motivated and excited.  There was great cosplay on display here and even characters not often seen, like the Doom Tree Twins, got represented here.  It was one of my favorite moments of that convention and it is a photoshoot that has never been topped…though Otakon 2016 came sort of close.

Shout out to GC Chan Cosplay (https://www.facebook.com/GCChanCosplay/)  and MinnieMoon Cosplay (https://www.facebook.com/minniemooncos/), those two Sailor Moon cosplayers I mentioned.  They do awesome cosplay work and you should check out their adventures

 

#1-Sailor Moon R: The Promise of a Rose on VHS

It was a cold winter day and the start of school was delayed by 90 minutes due to winter conditions.  So what was there for my sister and I to do when we were up and heard about the delay?  We popped in her recently purchased copy of Sailor Moon R: The Movie-The Promise of a Rose on VHS Cassette (bonus points if you remember those) and watched it for the first time.  It was good and I think it would still hold up if I saw it again.  I was a little unclear, or rather unaware of, the whole reincarnation aspect to Usagi and the others since they appeared as little kids at one point…it would get cleared up later don’t worry.   But frankly, I remember being into it with my sister and having a great time watching it with her, it really made going to school kind of suck later cause it was such a great Anime moment for me and her.  Plus I love “The Power of Love” song that I believe is exclusive to that old dub.  I’ll post a link to it below.  It’s definitely a fitting song for Sailor Moon and much like “Cha La Head Cha La” for Dragon Ball Z or “Rhythm Emotion” for Gundam Wing, this is the song that gets a fan amped and will always see the Senshi bursting into action to. 

 

For those of you lucky enough to catch the rerelease of the new Dubbed version of The Promise of a Rose in theaters this week…congrats.  The power of the Moon has smiled upon you.