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ADV Films presents

Sailor Moon (DiC) #2: Sailor Scouts to the Rescue! (1995)

"I am Sailor Moon, champion of justice. On behalf of the moon I will right wrongs and triumph over evil—and that means YOU!"- Serena/Sailor Moon (Tracey Moore)

Stars: Tracey Moore, Jill Frappier, Karen Bernstein, Tony Daniels, Naz Edwards
Other Stars: Mary Long, Katie Griffin, Dennis Akayama, Terri Hawkes, Kirsten Bishop, Julie Lemieux, Kevin Lund, Colin O'Meara, Stephanie Morganstern, Roland Parliament, Nadine Rabinovitch, Susan Roman, Ron Rubin
Director: Junichi Sato

MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (suitable for all ages)
Run Time: 02h:10m:20s
Release Date: 2002-04-16
Genre: anime

Style
Grade
Substance
Grade
Image Transfer
Grade
Audio Transfer
Grade
Extras
Grade
B+ C+B+A- C-

 

DVD Review

"She will never turn her back on a friend/She is always there to defend/She is the one on whom you can depend/She is the one named Sailor Moon" - ED theme

Sailor Moon is widely regarded as Mahou Shoujo ("magical girl") anime, though it doesn't strictly adhere to the premise, since it also features the concept of banding together to fight evil, which isn't part of the original. The history of the magical girl genre dates back to 1966, when the first ever shoujo (girl's) anime was aired in Japan. Mahoutsukai Sally, whose heroine was a witch princess inspired by the US Bewitched TV series, was extremely popular in its day, running 109 episodes. The first show to feature "normal" girls who transform using magic powers, in this case a compact, was Himitsu no Akko-chan, which aired in 1969, and was the first to spawn mass merchandising based on items seen in the show. By 1992, when Bishoujo Sailor Moon hit Japanese airwaves, the magical girl genre had seen dozens of series produced, but none would have the international impact that the Sailor Scouts would generate.

As mentioned in our first review, when Sailor Moon was brought to America, DiC Entertainment made substantial changes to the series. By the first episode of this disc, three entire installments had been cut for various reasons, including sexual overtones or content deemed unacceptable to US audiences. US episode seven, An Uncharmed Life, had the video of the bus in the show reversed so it would drive on the right side of the road, even though the show takes place in Japan. The CGI tiara transition was also added to the video, as were changes to reduce the amount of written Japanese present or remove lecherous or homosexual references, or fanservice-like panty shots. The "Sailor Says" epilogue, which contained the show's new moral message, was added to aid the networks in their FCC compliance to the Children's Television Act of 1990, which required three hours per day of educational content in their programming, while not specifying how it was delivered.

Through the six episodes contained on this disc, the basic Sailor Moon formula remains pretty much unchanged; the evil Queen Baryl's minions come up with a new plan to drain energy from the human race to feed the Negaverse, and the Sailor Scouts uncover the plot and do battle with them. We do get the addition of a third scout, Sailor Mars (Katie Griffin), joining the team, and the principle villian Jedite gets a successor, Neflite (Kevin Lund), and an introduction to Zoisite (Kirsten Bishop), who had his gender changed (he was originally gay) for the DiC version. We also have an expansion on the romantic content, which had up until now been limited to Serena's love struck daydreams about Tuxedo Mask. With three girls in the picture, there is room for some interpersonal conflict, since each girl has a very different outlook on life, and their role as a Sailor Scout. Serena gets a new voice actor in episode 12 with Terri Hawkes taking over the part.

As presented in its English-only version here, Sailor Moon is pretty safe for younger children, with any "offensive" material, including excessive violence, removed. Humor abounds, action is plentiful, and good triumphs over evil, ending off with the moral of the day's story. I'll admit it is an innocently fun and light-hearted watch, despite its young target audience.

Rating for Style: B+
Rating for Substance: C+

 

Image Transfer

 One
Aspect Ratio1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratioyes
Anamorphicno


Image Transfer Review: Video quality continues to be quite good, considering the age of the show. There is still some softness in places, but colors are generally pretty solid, if not as bold as modern anime, and the fine grain in the show looks pretty natural. Rainbowing is minor, as are any compression issues, and print defects are few and far between.

Image Transfer Grade: B+
 

Audio Transfer

 LanguageRemote Access
DS 2.0Englishno


Audio Transfer Review: Audio is clear and dialogue is easily understood, with no technical deficiencies to report. There is no excess sibilance, hiss and distortion are negligible. Frequency coverage is fine, with a full bottom end. Not much to complain about here.

Audio Transfer Grade: A- 

Disc Extras

Full Motion menu with music
Scene Access with 6 cues and remote access
6 Other Trailer(s) featuring Dirty Pair Flash, Monster Rancher, Queen Emeraldas, Sakura Wars, Martian Successor Nadesico, Princess Nine
Packaging: Alpha
Picture Disc
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: dual

Extra Extras:
  1. Limited edition pack-in
Extras Review: On disc extras are limited to ADV previews for Dirty Pair Flash, Monster Rancher, Queen Emeraldas, Sakura Wars, Martian Successor Nadesico and Princess Nine.

The first pressing of the disc also includes a Sailor Moon Series III collector card as a pack-in.

Menus are similar to the first disc in layout and operation, but with a different background picture. There are five chapters in each episode, but only the first is menu accessable.

Extras Grade: C-
 

Final Comments

Six more action-packed adventures in the Sailor Moon series, presented in a low cost collection. A third Scout joins Serena and Amy, and a new villain takes up the case for the Negaverse. Our transforming heroines are called on to save the day, with help from the enigmatic Tuxedo Mask and Luna, the talking cat.

Jeff Ulmer 2002-04-08