DreamSword Watches Unfamiliar Toku: Part 8 - Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
 

To be upfront, I'm technically cheating with this one.

Because I have seen this early 2000s tokusatsu adaptation of Sailor Moon before. And I remember rather liking it.

However, that was ages ago, and by this point in time, I barely remember anything about the show except for some very specific plot beats. So I figured, hey, why not give the show a rewatch after all this time?

Plus, from what I understand, this version of SM actually got some new content somewhat recently? So the timing really couldn't be much better. For me, atleast. And hey, maybe some of you aren't familiar with this version of the story, and perhaps this thread could serve to provide some insight.

The rules are the same as usual(keep it civil, no spoilers, etc). And with this preamble done, let's dive right in!

There's an aspect that tokusatsu and Sailor Moon both share.

And most people's' immediate thought would probably be the whole "transforming superheroes fight monsters" aspect, and yeah, that is true.

But the other thing I love about both is how unapologetic they are in what they set out to do, even if what they're doing might sound very stupid on paper. If anything, they lean even harder into it.

Because really, most people would probably read the premise of "school girl gets chosen by a cat plushie to transform into a sailor in order to fight cgi monsters and people in fancy make up" and write the whole thing off as not worth their attention. Probably rolling their eyes at it too.

Me, however? I love this stuff, and it was so great to see this show playing up all the aspects of what it is for all that it's worth. Sure, while the visuals might be dated(though the blu-rays do look rather nice), the writing and overall atmosphere really does a ton of carrying here. I was engrossed in the episode practically right off the bat and never taken out of it.

It's got fun, drama, and comedy all in one go, without any one aspect feeling like it's stepping on the toes of the other. It helps that our lead shows herself to be rather likable too. Serena might be the poster child for "generic school girl" nowadays, but I think episodes like this help to highlight why that makes her such a likable character. She's a klutz and she does her best to stay out of her destiny as a Sailor Scout, sure, but she's also very caring and doesn't hesitate to save her friend in need.

This was a rather nice premiere, and I can see why the me of over a decade ago took a shine to this show, just as kid me liked the anime back in the 90s.

And if you're wondering, yes, I grew up on the 90s dub, so expect me to use alot of dub names. Sorry!

^That's perfectly fine. I also grew up on the English dub from the 90's myself. In fact, that was my very first exposure to Sailor Moon, both as a series and the overall franchise, along with a few of the toy commercials from back in the day. It took me some time to get used to the original Japanese names of the characters by the time I got around to reading the original manga and especially watching the original Japanese version of the 90's anime for the first time years later. Anyway, I watched this particular incarnation of the show just last year and despite its obvious flaws brought upon by its limitations, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon is a very good show and I would go as far as it being as one of my favorites, Toku series-wise, and it is, arguably, Yasuko Kobayashi's best Toku work since Timeranger and Kamen Rider OOO.

Yes, it's a truly wonderful version. The fact that the writers didn't stick to the original (I'm talking about both the manga and the 90s anime) and instead created their own version really benefited the show. And the actors, despite their young age, deliver engaging and lively performances. So, it's fantastic!