I like bad movies, bad acting and all around badness, so I can accept this. Not all hope is lost, there is enjoyment to be had. But like many girls, my imagination was sparked by the colorful excitement of the animated series. For years I thought about (DREAMED about) a live action Sailor Moon being made. Maybe nothing could have lived up to that expectation, but I definitely think they could have done better than this. Some truly epic things could have been done here. Like the Cutie Honey movie, I know it didn't live up to it's TV fan base but it runs circles around Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. Instead we're given something that, quite frankly is an embarrassment to creator Naoko Takeuchi and we the fans who had anxiously awaited a live action adaptation of the show. I'm only basing this on the three episodes I've seen and the trailer above, maybe it gets better. Or maybe not. Maybe it will leave a bad taste in my mouth after having finished the five season animated saga.
Unlike most hardcore Sailor Moon fans, I don't have any problems with the American DIC version that aired on Cartoon Network. The dubbed version that all of we American kids watched in the mid-90's. Little issues like changing them from "Sailor Soldiers" to "Sailor Scouts" aren't very important to me. In fact, I like how naive the DIC version of Sailor Moon is. It reminds me of being a kid and watching it. During season 2 (R) and 3 (S), it's fun to listen to it in English with the English subtitles on. The translations are HYSTERICALLY different. Especially with the introduction of Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, cousins in the American version, lesbians in Japan. The changes you can hear compared to what's actually going on (which you're reading in the subtitles) is borderline wrong. The cousin angle makes it seem really icky. Like most fans I got really into their storyline anyway, it's pretty romantic if you take out the whole kissin' cousins aspect.
My favorite thing about Sailor Moon is the music! Not the sappy Japanese somber romantic pop music. The quirky playful incidental music. I was able to download the COMPLETE Sailor Moon music. Everything from the Brazilian version of Moonlight Densetsu to that little number that plays everytime Luna senses the Negaverse. The only thing I'm missing is this!...
I've heard samples, it's pretty much the most wretched crap ever, but I still need it.
When I got the complete animated series earlier this year it sent me back into a Sailor Moon frenzy! I dug out all my old SM stuff that had been collecting dust in storage. My awesome Sailor Moon purse I got in Chinatown, my dolls, even the Sailor Moon hairbrush I got in the 5th grade at the peak of my magical obsession. And then I painted this...
Which I'm pretty sure is my greatest achievement in art and in LIFE.
During this whirl wind of rediscovery I realized that MAGICAL GIRLS ...is a genre! And it goes WAY further back than Sailor Moon. I used to think I didn't like anime. Sailor Moon was always the exception, but as I get older I find myself wanting other things like Sailor Moon. I realized that there's really just a style of anime I don't like. I'm not fond of the sharp, crisp, "adult" animes with dull colors. It has to be kawaii themed with bright colors, cute girls and a couple of monsters here and there. Such describes the genre of Magical Girl. I find myself more and more interested in shows like Candy Candy , Cutie Honey and Sally the Witch. There are still other SM related thing to hunt for. I'd love to find videos of the stage plays. Even after I've absorbed all the Sailor Moon I can, at least there will always be Magical Girls out there for me to discover, dream about and (secretly) pretend to be ♥
are you familiar with Revolutionary Girl Utena? the creative team has a lot of overlap with Sailor Moon and it gets pretty fucked up and dark (especially by the second season) while still maintaining an adorable base. it's the best of both worlds.
ReplyDeleteI'm familiar with it but haven't seen it. I'll check it out!
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