Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (live action series)

Plot

The Dark Kingdom, a great evil consisting of Queen Beryl, her generals, the Four Kings of Heaven, and an amorphous evil power named Queen Metaria attempt to steal energy so that Beryl can take over the world.

Standing in their way are the Sailor Guardians, five middle-school-aged girls: perky Usagi Tsukino, genius Ami Mizuno, paranormally gifted shrine maiden Rei Hino, tomboyish Makoto Kino, and J-pop idol Minako Aino, who are sworn to protect the Princess of the Moon and defeat the Dark Kingdom. Two beings that appear to be sentient stuffed toy cats, Luna and Artemis, serve as the girls' mentors. The Guardians also encounter Tuxedo Mask, a jewel thief in search of an immensely powerful, mystical Silver Crystal belonging to the Princess of the Moon.

While searching for the Princess of the Moon and the Silver Crystal, the initially disparate girls develop a strong bond of friendship, while Usagi also struggles with her feelings for the irksome and mysterious Mamoru Chiba. Later in the series, Metaria and Sailor Moon each get too powerful to be reined in, and the conflict shifts to attempting to postpone the inevitable destruction of the planet Earth.

Changes to story

Although Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon is a retelling of the first manga story arc, there are many differences that set it apart from the manga and anime. The storylines are more character-based and driven, focusing on the girls' civilian lives and their connection to the past more than on action sequences. While the first few episodes seemed directly based on manga and anime story lines, by the time Sailor Jupiter had arrived the show was starting to spin off in its own direction. Additionally, Usagi and Rei's relationship is closer in spirit to the manga; while they have their disagreements, it never gets to the heated level that it does in the anime.

One of the most profound changes was to the character of Minako Aino, who, rather than being an ordinary girl among the other Sailor Guardians, is a famous pop idol. When introduced, she is fighting crime as "Sailor V," and makes subtle reference to this double life in her music. Her most popular song, "C'est La Vie (Watashi no Naka no Koisuru Bubun)" (C'est la vie 〜私のなかの恋する部分), is a Japanese pun: "Sailor V" (セーラーV, Sērā Bui) and "C'est la vie" (セ・ラ・ヴィ, Se Ra Vi) are pronounced nearly identically. Minako was also debilitated by a head condition that caused her to have headaches, blurry vision, and fainting spells that plagued her through most of the series. She later agrees to have an operation, but dies before the operation can be performed. This was a major change to the Sailor Guardian makeup as well, although Minako later returns in the Final Act, after Usagi uses the power of the Silver Crystal to restore the world after she destroyed it while being under the influence of her past life.

In addition to plotline changes, some updating has been done to minor elements of the series, making them more in line with modern culture. For example, in the original anime and manga, there were scenes involving Ami and a cassette tape. In the new version, the tape is replaced by a MiniDisc. Instead of a transformation pen and communicators, each Guardian is given a bracelet and a magical camera phone. Also, their secret hideout is not hidden in a video arcade, but rather in a magic karaoke room.

With the new adaptation of the show, certain characters were modified to give it freshness and originality. New characters and plot additions include Sailor Luna, Dark Sailor Mercury, and Princess Sailor Moon. A new antagonist, Mio Kuroki, is also introduced.

Development

The popularity of the SaIlor Moon musicals contributed to the decision to produce another series of Sailor Moon, and Takeuchi was more closely involved in the production than she was for the anime. It was first announced on September 27, 2003, after the final episode of Kirby of the Stars.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: Special Act

A sequel to the series, set four years later, that portrays the wedding of Mamoru Chiba and Usagi Tsukino. Before their nuptials they must do battle with Mio Kuroki who has been resurrected and claims to be the new queen of the Dark Kingdom. She kidnaps Mamoru and Usagi and intends to force Mamoru to marry her. However, the Shitennou are revived and help their master to defeat Mio's monster, Sword and Shield. Meanwhile, the Sailor Guardians, minus Sailor Mars who is hospitalized with injuries from battling Mio while in her civilian state, use the Moon Sword provided by Queen Serenity to restore their power, enabling them to transform and defeat Mio. The story ends with Usagi and Mamoru's wedding, and Motoki and Makoto's engagement. This act is an hour long, twice as long as all the other acts.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: Act Zero

The last special made for the series is a prequel of sorts that leads directly to the first episode. Minako Aino meets Artemis and becomes Sailor V on Christmas. She must use her newfound powers to foil a stage magician/jewel thief called Q.T. Kenko and his Killer Girl assistants. Meanwhile, Usagi and her friends decide to dress in their own homemade sailor fuku in order to scare the thieves away from the jewelry store owned by Naru Osaka's mother, (Usagi as Sailor Rabbit, Naru as Sailor N, and their other friends, Kanami and Momoko as sailors K and M) only for Usagi to get kidnapped by Kenko. The actors who portray the Four Kings of Heaven are featured as the inexperienced police officers group self-dubbed the "Police Four Kings of Heaven" for comic relief: Captain Kuroi (Kunzite), Officer Akai (Nephrite), Officer Shiroi (Zoisite), and female Officer Hanako (Jadeite). The story ends with Luna coming to Earth, feeling the burn of hitting the atmosphere, to give Usagi her powers.

Mini-episodes

Act Zero also comes with two mini-episodes. Each one is approximately five minutes long and tells a quick short story. "Hina Afterward" shows what happened to Hina after breaking off her engagement with Mamoru Chiba. "Tuxedo Mask's Secret Birth" shows the origin of the Tuxedo Mask persona. It includes a joke-transformation sequence in which, rather than transforming magically, he pulls his clothes on with dramatic flair.

Super Dance Lesson

A quick video hosted by Luna, Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Moon, that instructed the viewer how to perform the dances from different songs from Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. The dances included were for the songs "Romance" and "Here We Go! -Shinjiru Chikara-" (Here We Go!-信じるチカラ-) Also demonstrated were "C'est La Vie ~ Watashi no Naka no Koi suru Bubun" (C'est la Vie〜私のなかの恋する部分, Seito ra Bui ~Watashi no Naka no Koi suru Bubun) and "Kirari*Sailor Dream!" (キラリ☆セーラードリーム!, Kirari Sērā Dorīmu!) although no formal instructions were given on how to dance to them.

Kirari Super Live!

A Special Live Event occurred on May 2, 2004 at Yomiuri Hall. This Special Event was held for the 1,000 winners of the Sailormoon Campaign (a contest held earlier in the year, in which viewers had to send in UPC symbols to enter). The event combined musical performances, in which the cast members sang and danced to songs from the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon soundtrack, and a dramatic storyline with spoken dialogue, in which the Sailor Guardians had to stop the Four Kings of Heaven from stealing the energy of the audience members. The concert was recorded and released on DVD. It also included bonus behind-the-scenes footage of the performance and interviews with the cast members.

Cast

Music

In March and April 2004, singles for each of the five Sailor Guardians were released with image songs on them. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Original Song Album ~ Dear My Friend was released in June 2004. A 3-CD box set, "Moonlight Real Girl" was published in September 2004.

DJ MOON

Koro-chan Packs

Moonlight Real Girl

Other albums

Singles

Distribution and reception

There are several radio programs called "DJ Moon" based on the show that originated from Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting radio and were broadcast on other radio networks in Japan. The shows were a combination of a radio drama and promotional tool for the TV series, often foreshadowing upcoming events. These shows were later sold on CD.

The broadcast's ratings were not as high as those of the anime. The show had a high start, but then the ratings declined. They picked up in January 2004 and then again at the end of the series.

In addition to the series, there was also a stage musical performance, Kirari Super Live! by characters on the show. Some footage from the filming of the stage show was used in the television broadcast. A special limited-edition promotional video, Super Dance Lesson, was available for purchase only through order forms found in the magazines Youchien, Mebae, and Shougaku Ichinensei in July 2004.