Search - Sailor Moon S - The Complete Uncut TV Set on DVD

The best season I've seen so far

09/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this DVD set at Best Buy after remembering that I watched Sailor Moon on Cartoon Network when I was seven. I had always wondered when all the planets were going to be represented, and now I know. I'm guessing that Cartoon Network showed the first and second seasons (completely dubbed and out of human control, not that I noticed, since I was just a kid).
Anyway, this season is great, because all of the plot twists (they were also predictable at the same time, but a few of the crucial things were a complete surprise to me). Almost all the episodes are the same, as the Sailor Senshi deal with the Death Busters (or Bureau of Bad Behavior, as in the English version) and their evil plot to steal the pure hearts from good people, usually friends of the Sailors and the Sailors themselves. The professor in charge of the Death Busters calls forth Kaorinite, and all of the Witches 5: Eugeal, Mimet, Telulu, Byruit, and Ptirol (Individually, of course, just to stretch out the season). This is also the season where Sailors Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn (Saturn doesn't appear until much later in the season) are introduced, and Pluto comes back halfway through the season. The normal Senshi don't know if Neptune and Uranus are fighting with them or not.
I really like the Japanese version better than the English, because it just makes a lot more sense and the voice acting is SOOOOOOOOOO much easier and less frustrating to listen to. I hate the English voices for the normal sailors, because they just don't match. The outer planet soldiers' voices match better, but I just can't stand listening to the others. But because these episodes were made in the 90's, everything was recorded in mono...which I didn't really notice until I switched between the English and Japanese.
This season is probably the best out of all 4 that I have seen (I haven't seen StarS yet, but I will soon) because it has the best plotline and villains, and it gets to the point without an insane number of filler episodes...the best episode is "Glass Shoes for Her Birthday! Usagi in Tears!" -It's Usagi's birthday and her friends act like it's nothing special and...well...you should see for yourself!
"

Sailor Moon S

Brooks Austin | 03/08/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"With the defeat of the Black Moon, peace has returned to the earth once again, and the Sailor Senshi are now living out their oridinary lives, studying for their high school entrance exams. Unfortunately, the peace doesn't last long as new enemies known as the Death Busters have appeared. Led by the sinister scientist Professor Tomoe, the Death Busters send out their evil monsters, the Daimons, to search for the heart crystals which are found inside the bodies of pure-hearted people. There are three heart crystals which posses special powers which, when combined, can form into the legendary Holy Grail, and depending on the heart of the person who uses it, the Holy Grail can be used to either save the earth or destroy it. The only one powerful enough on the forces of evil who can use the Holy Grail's powers is the Messiah of Silence, and the only one powerful enough on the forces of justice that can use it is the true Messiah. Two new mysterious Senshi, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, have appeared also searching for the talismans in order to save the world. But they know that once the talismans have been found, those heart crystals cannot be returned to their original owners and they will die. Uranus and Neptune are willing to take all risks to get the Holy Grail, but Usagi, naturally, doesn't want anyone to be hurt. So, now the race is on. The Sailor Senshi must find the Messiah who can save the earth from evil while trying to prevent the talismans from falling into the hands of both the Outer Senshi and the Death Busters, but can Sailor Moon really save the world on her own? Who are the holders of the talismans and just who are these new Sailor Senshi? Who is Sailor Saturn, the Senshi of Ruin, and what is her connection to Tomoe Hotaru, the mysterious daughter of Professor Tomoe?

The third season of Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon S, based on the Infinity Arc of the original manga, written and drawn by Takeuchi Naoko-san, is considered by many Sailor Moon fans to be the best out of the five seasons. Indeed, the S season certainly is the most exiciting season, with the introduction of brand-new Sailor Senshi and featuring edge-of-your-seat plot twists. Sailor Pluto and Chibi-usa also return for this season, as a senshi in training, Sailor Chibi Moon. Unfortunately, her powers are weak compared to the other Senshi's, and while this does make for some amusing comedy relief, it gets old fairly fast after awhile. We're also introduced to one of the newest and most mysterious of the Senshi, Sailor Saturn, who is actually a threat to both sides of the battle. This season also has a darker atmosphere than what the first two seasons had, but the show never loses its comicial moments that have always put a smile to its audience's faces. Unfortunately, Mamoru is reduced to nothing more than Usagi's perfect boyfriend this time around, which is one of the reasons so many fans hate him. The S season also continues to suffer from rocky-pacing, but it seems to have less filler-in episodes than the previous two seasons. The ending to this season is also exiciting and will have you coming back for more. The animation is a little different in its style than the first two seasons, but it's still quite lovely even with all the animation errors, and the music for the S season is excellent, as usual. Geneon's DVD release of Sailor Moon is also a huge improvement over ADV's. Fans don't need to worry about any errors with this release. The video quality on these discs look fantastic. The audio quality is also quite good, even if it is in monotone. While the episodes on Geneon's DVDs are actually presented in their proper order (the episode previews appear before the opening credits, for example), Geneon skipped the first two opening credits. The opening credit animation is supposed to change three times during the course of this season, and Geneon just skips to the third opening for reasons unknown. They did include the first two openings as bonus features though, and the next episode previews are still omitted on these DVDs, but those basically only showed clips of next week's episode, so their absence doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the actual show any.

Speaking of extras, while there's nothing particulary outstanding about them, Geneon actually took what little they had and made some fairly nice bonus features out of them. Basically, all you get on these DVDs are the textless opening/ending credits (with karaoke versions available, too) character profiles, and an art gallery. This may not be anything too thrilling, but it is nice that they actually took the effort to include them on here. While the first two seasons of Sailor Moon had sub-only DVD boxset releases, the S DVDs are bilingual, containing both the original Japanese version with English subtitles, and an uncut English dubbed version. Actually, the uncut dub on these DVDs isn't purely uncut. What Geneon did was they took all of the visual footage that Cloverway cut out from the edited dub and re-inserted it into the episodes, and recorded any new dialog that was required for the re-inserted scenes, but the rest of the show itself is identical to the edited dub. So, until Sailor Moon gets a proper uncut dub (which is highly unlikely to ever happen), fans are better off watching the Japanese version, which was thankfully included on the DVDs. While Geneon's Sailor Moon DVD release may be far from being perfect, they are a huge improvement over the first two seasons' DVD releases, and S is definetly a season Sailor Moon fans shouldn't miss out on. This is Sailor Moon at its best and is highly recommened to all fans. Sailor Moon S is rated 13+ for animated violence, strong language, brief nudity, and homosexuality."

S is Best

D. C. Powers | 03/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Not ever being a big fan of anime, Sailor Moon caught me off-guard several years ago. Even thought the show is very "little girl oriented" I fell in love with it instantly.

Sailor Moon S is the third of five seasons of Sailor Moon. It is also my very favorite. This season introduces Sailors Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn while giving Sailor Pluto a more important place with the Sailor Soldiers.

Sailor Moon S is also the darkest of the five seasons of Sailor Moon. The deaths of the villains (Witches 5)are also very entertaining.

If I were to recommend a cartoon/anime to pretty much anyone, I would definitely recommend Sailor Moon S

[As an added hint, watch the English dub with the subtitles for the Japanese version. This may help you uncover information that is unclear in the English version.]"

Sailor Moon S is super

Shannon | Flower Mound, TX United States | 03/02/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This to my mind is the best of the 5 seasons of Sailor Moon, so I was eager to get the DVD box set. I'll divide this review into *detailed* info about the characters/story and the translation/packaging.

Characters/Story:
If you've only seen the first two seasons of Sailor Moon, this one may come as a bit of a shock, since it takes quite a different turn in theme, especially in the latter half (in this set, the 2nd half of disc 4, plus discs 5 and 6).

To make an analogy, Sailor Moon S is the "Empire Strikes Back" of the Sailor Moon series: it comes in the middle of the series, but more than that, it also alters the tone of the series; the other seasons surrounding it are much more light-hearted. S is significantly darker, with more mature themes (the emphasis on world destruction is prominent), and the addition of new characters adds new blood to the series. These new characters and their personalities (to my mind) are more interesting: they have a more serious agenda, more strength and more evolved personalities; this tempers the sometimes-annoying aspects of the younger Usagi and friends (and Chibiusa). The manner in which Uranus, Neptune and Pluto play off of the original Sailor Soldiers helps to add depth to the characters of Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus and Sailor Moon. Each of the original characters gets at least one "personalized" episode focusing on their own obstacles, as does Haruka/Uranus (in which Michiru/Neptune plays a big part, as one would expect).

There is still some silly stuff (the Daimons in the early part of the series are all pretty goofy) but as the season progresses the intensity of the enemies and the issues increases.

This particular season is also where the tide turns from being a kid-friendly cartoon into something rather more serious. Again, despite some silly enemies and friendship-oriented storylines, the increased focus on destruction, "The Silence," and a child whose possessed father has twisted her into a force of evil with apocalyptic powers certainly has the potential to freak out a lot of kids. As viewers may or may not be aware, in Japan this wasn't really meant as a kids' show (as is the case with many anime programs), which is why some of the characters/plotlines had to be manipulated to make them fit the audience to which the show was ostensibly marketed when it was aired on U.S. tv (i.e. children). This box set recommends that the show is suitable for ages 13+, which sounds accurate to me based on the content of this season.

Also, less-than-liberal-minded folk might be distraught over the fact that Haruka and Michiru are a lesbian couple. In the dub [more on that in a minute] they are said to be "cousins," though one would have to suspend disbelief quite a bit to buy that story, considering the events of various episodes. In my opinion, their relationship is much deeper, and sweeter, than the oft-cloying one of Usagi and Mamoru. Uranus and Neptune's combined powers also make them a well-matched team during battle sequences, as do their personalities in their everyday surroundings. They also work side by side, unlike Tuxedo Kamen (Mamoru -- whose very name means "to protect" or "guard"), who usually swoops in to save Sailor Moon when something has gotten too hard for her to handle, though he isn't consistently present.

Translation/Packaging:
Like many other viewers, I prefer the subtitled version [this is the case for anything foreign that I watch, really], and once you've seen it in the original format, the dub comes across as pretty dreadful, but in this case part of that is due to the changing of the characters' relationship (Haruka and Michiru) and how some episode plots were tinkered with to accomodate the idea that they are supposed to be "cousins" rather than partners. (If you want to see the difference between the real story and how it's been changed in the dubbing process, when you're on the menu page at the beginning of any of the discs, go to the Setup section and choose English language with subtitles On; this way you are watching the dub but with the subtitles from the original Japanese version, so you can follow along and see what was warped during the translation. This is particularly enlightening for the episode "The Distant Days of Uranus.")

Though I prefer the subtitles, there were a couple of strange discrepancies, such as name spellings, between discs; in one, the name of the first of the Witches 5 is spelled "Yujiel" and thereafter it's "Eugeal." Not a big deal, but a little editing would have helped continuity.
Also, as others have mentioned, the translation of "odango atama" (dumpling head -- a reference to Usagi's hairdo) to "buns-head" is just plain wrong. (One line in particular in a subtitled episode comes out really badly with this translation...I'll let you find it.) Even "meatball-head" from the dub would be preferable to this.

As to the physical aspects of the box set, the slimline packaging doesn't bother me, though some other people don't seem to care for it. It was easy to get the DVDs out of their plastic holders within the cases (which isn't always true!), and the thick cardboard slipcase seems like it will be durable, which are the most important elements to me.

I do wish that there were some special features with these DVDs! That may be the biggest disappointment.

Overall, this is a great season and a decent set. Enjoy it!"