Well, Dear Readers, the end of 2022 is a few days away,
which means we’re coming up on the beginning of the Anime Corners biggest
undertaking ever. Beginning in January,
I’ll be taking a look at ALL of the original Sailor Moon TV Series (plus the
Movies) althroughout 2023. I have been
thinking about this for a few years now, especially since I’ve made many
friends in the Sailor Moon community, and since the Anime Corner is heading
into it’s 10th year, this seemed like a pretty fitting undertaking
to celebrate. Actually, this was already
started a few months back. After
realizing that Fullmetal Alchemists 20th Anniversary is in 2023 (and
I’m still deciding which show to review tbh), I decided to look at the First
Season of Sailor Moon as my Extended Summer Series Review of 2022 and it was
interesting to start fresh and look at it through different eyes than when I
first saw the show on Toonami in the early 2000s. Since we’ll be kicking 2023 off with Sailor
Moon R, how about we do a quick refresher of the Greatest Hits of Sailor Moons
debut season to close out 2022? So here
you go Dear Readers, our last Top 5 Wednesday of 2022, my Top 5 Favorite
Moments from Sailor Moon (Season 1).
#5-Usagi and Rei Make Peace At first glance, it’s hard to believe that Usagi and Rei
could be friends.
One is a clumsy girl
who messes up at most things.
The other
is a gorgeous Shrine Maiden who seems perfect in every way.
Such a difference in personality leads to the
two clashing often, mostly with Rei either ridiculing or outright bullying
Usagi most of the time.
However, the two
are united as Sailor Senshi and even Rei starts to see Usagi’s growth as the
season progresses.
It all leads to a
quiet moment where the two are trapped in a snowy canyon waiting for rescue and
Rei gets Usagi to open up about how she’s really feeling about recent mega revelations
about their true origins.
As much as I
despise Mamoru for being Mamoru, it was a very earned moment to hear Rei tell Usagi
she was over him and that Usagi was free to go after Mamoru with not just her
blessing but also her support.
The rivalry
still exists for sure but if Usagi and Rei are meant to be besties later on in
the show, this is where it starts.
#4-Rei finds a better Love Interest
Rei Hino, aka Sailor Mars, is by far my favorite character
in the entire series (so far) but even she isn’t perfect (her good looks,
however, are).
Case in point, she ends
up dating icky douchebag COLLEGE STUDENT Mamoru Chiba for several episodes and the
relationship ultimately go nowhere especially since it’s so one sided.
Luckily, Rei has a good rebound in judgement
when we get introduced to Shrine Attendant Yuichiro Yamada.
Not only is Yuchiro clearly closer to Rei in
age and cooler than Mamoru in the whole of Sailor Moon, he also earns a special
kiss from Rei for stepping in to defend her when her Grandfather is turned into
a Monster by the Dark Kingdom.
Honestly,
any love interest for any character is better than Mamoru but Yuchiro is off to
a good start with Rei and I’m hoping it goes somewhere in later seasons.
#3-Naru and Nephrite’s Tragic Romance
I noted that when it comes to Sailor Moons origins, Usagi’s
transformation into the cute heroine is very much in the same vein as
Cinderella.
Well towards the middle of
Season one, we get another fairy tale classic with an admittedly tragic
twist.
Usagi’s best friend Naru gets
sidelined a lot after the other Senshi arrive but the series was good enough to
give her a strong arc which had her fall in love with one of the Dark Kingdoms
big bads, Nephrite.
The man’s a total
jerk using Naru’s feelings for him to his advantage, especially to draw out
Sailor Moon and the others from time to time.
However, in Nephrite’s final episodes, he realizes he might just have a
spark of romantic feelings for Naru but realizes this far too late.
By the time theyre talking about eating
deserts together, it’s too late for Nephrite as he dies in the arms of the girl
who never gave up on him, the Beast realizing he has the heart of a man after
all…damn this was some heavy stuff for Sailor Moon’s debut season.
#2-Makoto Kino-Superheroine Without the Powers
Sailor Jupiter is one of the most popular characters in
the franchise and that instantly recognized in her very first episode.
Truly, Mako is a power house as Sailor
Jupiter, as beautiful as she is deadly to go up against.
However, there are many times where I feel
like Mako is just as great a superheroine without her Senshi powers or cute
costume.
Just look at her very first
appearance where she saves Usagi from a group of thugs single handedly.
Mako’s strength speaks for itself, especially
when she takes on Zoisite and manages to strike a good blow on him before her
first transformation into Sailor Jupiter.
Tall, gorgeous, a solid fighter and a good cook, Mako is one of the best
allies and friends Usagi could ask for.
She’s a superheroine to the core, magical powers or none at all, she’s a
beast.
#1-The Senshi’s Last Stand
When it first aired in the US, the Season One Finale was
heavily edited to the point where it was totally ripped apart and stitched
together to avoid a pretty dark topic: the deaths of the entire Sailor Senshi
team.
Honestly, I never saw that
iteration and even if I had, I’dve known something was amiss.
But now that I’ve gotten to see the finale in
its truest form, WOW.
This was THE
darkest moment in the Season and probably one of the grimmest in the franchise,
seeing Mako, Ami, Minako and Rei all die fighting the last strongest monsters
Queen Beryl has to throw at them.
But
you know what, for as tragic and sad as it is, each and every one of these
amazing girls goes out like a true boss.
Even Ami, who doesn’t get to destroy any of the monsters still finds a
way to weaken them for the others to finish off.
Each loss is felt by both Usagi and the viewers
but you cant ignore the incredible courage being presented on screen.
These girls are legends in Anime for a
reason.
Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Mercury,
Sailor Venus and Sailor Mars all went out swinging and its as bad ass as it is
heartbreaking.
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