Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: Live Action

In 1992 a very popular anime was released, "Sailor Moon". In 2003, as some sort of a 10 year anniversary, "PGSM", the live action version of the anime, was made. The story is probably known to everyone: Usagi, a normal teenage girl living in Tokyo, meets a talking cat named Luna ( in this version a stuffed puppet ) and gets a mission to transform into Sailor Moon and fight against evil forces of Queen Beryl...

Although the live action is weaker than the anime ( the flaws are plot holes, the lack of spectacle, the mild intensity and the range of the story ) it is much better than it seems. In some other director's hands this could have ended in an catastrophe, but in Ryuta Tazaki's hand "PGSM" turned out to be an excellent show. The wild enthusiasm of the authors and their weird special effects are incredible: Ami's transformation into evil Sailor Mercury is somehow cool. Actually, it's rather got „show-off" written all over it ( when she stomps her boot into the water, and then those dark purple „wings" on her dress ), but it's stylish. Or the Sailor Luna ( a 10 year old girl form of Luna )transformation: it was so hilarious and senseless! You see her shake her butt, then Luna shows up, then there are psychedelic colors in the background, the girl makes some moves as if she is licking her hands as a cat and … presto, she is a sailor senshi too. Rarely will you ever see more kitsch than you get to in that transformation scene. But the authors still did it without a blink of the eye, and you have to give them credit for such courage.

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Miyuu Sawai is absolutely fantastic as Usagi. It's almost impossible not to like her. She is wonderful in many of the comical situations ( when she has a huge fight with her mom a frightened Shingo is hiding under the table and eating his breakfast ) and later proves to be equally effective in drama ( her mourning all day long in bed after finding out Mamoru is already engaged ). The weird part of the story had Minako being a famous rock star, but even that worked. "PGSM" is a sight to behold. In their mix of camp and art, the authors bravely turned the impossible things of the anime into reality ( the costumes, demons, flashing rays )and got away with it. I counted all the grades of all the Act's and the show's average grade is 8.3/10, believe it or not. I don't know how they did it, but they did.

Grade: 8/10

Let's get one thing straight: this is by no means a masterwork. In fact, it's flawed in many ways: the special effects are bad, the production doesn't seem much more complicated than a DV home movie shot in various places in Tokyo, the costumes seem recycled from Power Rangers as does the action, and the acting needs a lot of polishing.

That having been said, it's an addictive show to watch, even for those far older than the target audience of... 4 to 7 year old girls?

The actresses, for better or worse, nail their characters. Usagi is a klutzy underachiever with no more ambition than going to the mall and singing karaoke. Ami is a super- genius who feels burdened by expectation. Rei is intense about her Shinto duties and wants nothing to do with anyone else. Makoto is a rough tomboy who hides her femininity and feels as if most people will eventually abandon her. The only one who seems different is Minako, a superstar, but for me I think it's only appropriate. For the most part, the charm of these first time actresses, picked from thousands in rehearsals, far outweighs their neophyte status.

I do understand there are many, many changes that upset some people but you have to understand that stuff that works in manga or anime form may not work in live action.

So, even though the show isn't great, why is it so fun to watch? I think it's mostly because of the charm and the heart of the show. Most people who are aghast about it haven't seen it and aren't interested in "getting it." But that's okay; it's not for everyone, certainly. If you do get it, however, it's a guilty pleasure and a very fun show.

My sister first told me about the Live Action series when she got back from visiting Japan over the summer. She brought me back a sketch book with Live Action Sailor Moon on it. I found it interesting cause I've loved the anime series since like 3rd or 4th grade, so i looked it up on the internet and read a few transcripts and looked at some of the pictures. Next thing I knew I bought all the ep. on DVD over Ebay!! I even got my sister into it!!! It IS addictive!! Like subliminal messages or something!! But it's totally awesome and I liked how it followed more to the manga, and I thought it was neat that their hair changed when they changed as well. Very cool I love it!! Wonder if they'll come out with a S or SuperS version? I want to see what Neptune Uranus, Pluto, Saturn and Chibi-Moon look like!!! I give it a 10 out of 10!!!!

I've watched the entire season from episode/Act 00 through the Special DVD aka Act 50...including the two short mini dramas. In the beginning I thought that it was more on the cheesy side but decided to check out the original Manga before I made anymore thoughts and or comments unlike some people here who've pretty much ragged on it after seeing only 30 episodes. Let alone that this is originally a kid's show.

First of all someone said that the acting was horrible and that the girls are untalented. This is very SO not true. They are acting entirely to the Manga series. Usagi being all jumpy and funny, Ami being all monotone and serious about herself, Rei being serious on all levels and "bossy", Makoto being all protective over Usagi and kicking guy's asses across the blacktop, and Venus being extremely stern. If you actually check out the Manga you will see that though the characters are different from today's standards of Sailor Moon to the yesterday's standard of Sailor Senshi, the characters and acting is all the same. They did a GREAT job.

It's true that in the beginning that the special effects were less than "really cool"...but as a pilot the production crew wasn't entirely too sure if it was going to fly well when they made the first 5 episodes before it originally aired. But you will notice that the effects got better and again...the effects followed the Manga effects of boom, pow, and whoosh. And what do you want the kids to see??? BATTLE ROYALE EFFECTS??? I know I wouldn't want that.

I think that the puppets and CGI used to make Luna and Artemis was actually good from a kid's point of view. From an adult's point of view I think it was corny on a professional level. My reason of thought is this. If you make the cat look too real, who in their right mind is going to take the cat seriously...if you can with all the j-pop faces it makes. And I might add that towards the end the cats got better.

All in all, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon is a great show for kids and adults with open minds alike. For one thing there isn't any blood and believe me, my friends and I watch a lot of movies with someone getting their hands, head, arms, legs, and necks blown off. It's nice to see something that is refreshing as PGSM. And one more thing about the acting. It is clear to me that some people just don't get how hard it is to act like the Manga series. Kitagawa Keiko did an awesome performance when a particular incident happened in episode 47. Above all else before you watch PGSM, you need to have an open mind as well as an intelligent one.

If you're a fan of the Sailor Moon manga or anime you will love this television series. It was a bit cheesy at first and it still is at times but it's so much fun to watch. It really captures the mood of the manga. However, I don't like some of the things they changed. For instance, Luna is now a talking stuffed animal. Thankfully she's not around too much. Crown Arcade is now a karaoke center. Usagi doesn't seem to have a father. And Minako is a popular teen idol. What's with that?! Anyway, I highly recomend it despite those things. You can find fansubbed versions online.