Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 1 (Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon Renewal Edition, #1)

Reading this brought back so many memories.

As a kid, watching Sailor Moon on TV, I was obsessed with Serena’s (Usagi) and Darien’s (Mamoru) relationship.

Unfortunately, the manga is a mess. There is poor character development, cluttered panels, and a lack of focus on the overall story.

In terms of pace, it is incredibly fast. The story took days, not weeks. Although it may seem unfair to compare the manga with the anime, this read disappointed me, since I am a huge Sailor Moon fan. The filler episodes improved the plot greatly. The villains got a chance of being evil and to discover who they are.

The anime was full of suspense and drama. In fact, there were a few battle scenes where I wasn’t sure about the Sailor Warriors’ victory, and they even lost some battles, like normal heroines do sometimes. The manga rushed through all of that quickly. Soon after, they were going to fight a new foe.

Based on the writer’s confirmation, the author ran out of ideas and threw random things into the story.

As I mentioned, Sailor Moon’s character development is lacking. Having hardly any character characteristics or emotions beyond the surface level prevented me from becoming invested in the characters. As for the romance, it was chaotic as well. The two love interests start out hating and despising each other. Their hatred for each other suddenly disappears when they kiss. In a previous life, they were lovers.

The blandness and flatness of every character annoys me? All the girls discuss friendship and love, but I’ve never seen them casually hang out and discuss feelings like normal people. Every time a character died, it did not bother me at all. My goal was to write this review and move on to my life as quickly as possible. There is one prop I give Sailor Moon, which is that it has so much open lesbian representation for a story written at the time it was written.

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I love Sailor Moon.


I watched all the anime (the original one, that is).

Anyhow. There was nothing worthwhile about this third volume. I found it to be very confusing and messy. I can't even begin to describe how the translation has been done - it's like it's been done by a child.

The anime handled the plot better as well. In my opinion, the original manga is too self-destructive. So far, Usagi has killed herself twice because she didn't want Mamoru to live without her. I'm not interested in that kind of life.

I think the anime's creators realized that romanticizing suicide for loved ones was unwise, so they changed it. Likewise, I love it this way.


That's just my opinion. Perhaps that's why I've never really liked Romeo and Juliet. The final battle was messy, with lots of drama, twists, and tears. There was nothing there. I find it too gimmicky.

The epic, world-shattering battle full of dramatic self-sacrifice, and then reincarnation, that ends the first story arc concludes, and then we immediately move on to the beginning of this new story.

Chibi-Usa's introduction is odd and half-stupid, and her setting herself up as a cuckoo in Usagi's home by hypnotizing Usagi's parents doesn't sit well with me. It's obvious to me who Chibi-Usa is, and there are plenty of clues that make it clear why she's drawn to Usagi and Mamoru, but still. Both as a character and as a plot device, she does not appeal to me. So it's just as well that the story quickly shifts the emphasis to the new enemy, the Black Moon Kingdom, which is kidnapping one by one the guardians.

Takeuchi's art improved in this volume, but I cannot say exactly how.

As for this series, I don't see myself continuing it.

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There is a slight improvement in the storyline from the previous volume, so this volume gets a star more than the previous volume. Sailor Moon: Pretty Guardian, Volume 2. The story becomes a little more detailed, and we get a sense of the plot as well. It’s much more enjoyable now!

Although I love the art style, something still bothers me. There is literally a ZERO development for the side characters outside of Chiba Mamoru/Tuxedo Mask, Usagi Tsukino/Sailor Moon, and a glimpse of Queen Beryl’s past.

Usagi is the focus of this book, and the world obsesses so much about her it’s impossible to ignore her. If you are not an Usagi fan, you are most likely to be VERY disappointed. Is there any point to including them at all? I don’t get it.

There was Sailor Venus pretending to be a princess when she was not one. In the pre-canon Silver Millennium, Princess Serenity/Usagi killed herself after Prince Endymion is murdered. Usagi is sad and has no idea what to do. A cliffhanger ends this volume.

My memory recalls that Naoko Takeuchi wanted to kill the Sailor permanently, but her editors talked her out of it. Therefore, her motivations are much more tragic than her publishers’.

Nevertheless, I had a great time with this one, and I can’t wait to read the next volume.

You can also find this review on my blog: Click Here