Launched in 2014 in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Sailor Moon shojo (girls) anime franchise—a megahit in manga comics, TV shows, video games, and knickknacks—Sailor Moon Crystal retells the origin story of the iconic magical-schoolgirl team. Typical 14-year-old student Usagi idolizes a mythic superheroine named Sailor V (mild spoiler alert: Sailor V turns out to be a multimedia hoax to lure the genuine superheroines out of obscurity). Usagi meets a talking cat who teaches her a spell that turns Usagi herself into a “Sailor Moon” guardian against evil. Soon four other classmates are similarly transformed—into Sailor Mercury, Sailor Venus, Sailor Mars, and Sailor Jupiter—to battle against evil (often mothers, or persons of authority corrupted by nefarious forces). The team learns that they are reincarnations of ancient, Moon-based mystical figures who were originally intended to protect and guide human evolution. Longstanding series characters make appearances, such as boy adventurer Tuxedo Mask (aka Tuxedo Kamen, aka Mamo), who is Sailor Moon's great love, and frequent villain Queen Beryl. The CGI-assisted animation is slick and occasionally striking, and it's worth noting that this iteration premiered as a made-for-Internet streaming presentation, not a TV show or direct-to-video release. Presenting the first 14 episodes in separate dual-language Blu-ray/DVD Combo and DVD sets, rated TV-14, this is recommended. (C. Cassady)
Sailor Moon Crystal, 1
(2014) 2 discs. 320 min. DVD: $44.98, Blu-ray/DVD Combo: $69.99. Viz Media (avail. from most distributors). Volume 32, Issue 1
Sailor Moon Crystal, 1
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