Magical girl retrospective - simulwatch starts 1st Feb 2025

[Dai]

On that note, knowing that there were fighting games, I’d expected a little more actual fighting. It’s early days yet, but thus far it does seem like Usagi is very reliant on both Tuxedo Mask and her tiara to get herself out of trouble.

There's a trope in shonen battle manga and tokusatsu where the enemy needs to be softened up and rendered immobile so the heroes can use a finishing move that leaves them vulnerable while it's charging up. In Sailor Moon, the other guardians soften up the enemy and Usagi is the stationary cannon who fires off the finishing move (just with a lot more crying). Sometimes it can be hard to see why the other girls would follow Usagi into hell, but that question always gets answered sooner or later.

If anything, Usagi is more of a fighter in the early episodes of season 1 because she doesn't have a team yet. She even gets a short-lived version of the ubiquitous Rider Kick for a while.

Sailor Moon R: The Movie

This is it: the Sailor Moon formula in its complete form. We start with some rom-com antics, a monster shows up to threaten the town, super-powered action ensues, the stakes are raised to world-threatening levels, the sailor guardians embark on a dangerous mission to the enemy's lair, and when the situation is at its darkest we are reminded why Usagi is truly a warrior of love.

Cutie Honey declares herself a warrior of love in every episode of her show, but it's an affectation; she's a brutal avenger who is out to kill everyone who had a hand in the death of her father. Usagi, on the other hand, couldn't throw a punch to save her life, but she would die for the people she loves and they would do the same for her. This is what makes the climax of Sailor Moon stories so compelling when they reach the point where their special attacks aren't enough anymore.

Kunihiko Ikuhara's fingerprints are all over this movie, whether it's the quirky animation of Ami trying to keep herself from watching Usagi kissing, the homoerotic undertones of the villain, the flower symbolism, or the way he manages to draw out such emotional intensity in the story's climax. If you want to see more of the show done in his signature style, season 3 (Sailor Moon S) is where it's most prevalent, though there's also a lot in season 4 (SuperS).

The action benefits from the movie's increased animation budget. The TV show leans on stock animation for special attacks, with only season 4 bucking that trend. We see the standard special move animations in the initial fight, but everything gets amped up when they're fighting a whole swarm of enemies later on. The shots of beams sweeping across swathes of monsters are reminiscent of Gunbuster.

The music deserves a special mention. We get new arrangements of signature cues from season 2, each sailor guardian gets a new theme during her transformation, the incidental score does a great job of highlighting key moments, and the song Moon Revenge is a large part of why the climax works so well.

Sadly it's time to leave Usagi and co. behind tomorrow as we climb into our most excellent time-travelling phone booth and dial up 1998.

 

[Geriatric hedgehog]

Sailor Moon R The Movie

Spoiler: Usagi does not share

Mask dude love triangle, with the return of a long lost alien boyfriend, sets things in motion for the movie. Certainly darker elements and self-sacrifice are here as you mentioned @Dai , that form the basis of some of the later grimdark shows in the genre. However, the Deus ex machina tidy resolutions prevented them from hitting too hard I felt. Also meant we had much lesser comedy, which was the strongest aspect of the first 2 episodes of the series - I don't think a single villain was dispatched with the Usagi Cry Art. There was no shortage of deadly floral arrangements though.

Spoiler: Please be more responsible when handling flowers

I felt a lot of runtime went to the transformation and special move announcements, but then I'm not a Tokusatsu fan, so that's just me. The latter being integral to, is probably why I'm generally selective about which shows I'll watch in the magical girl genre. Still an enjoyable movie overall, reflecting a lot of potential in the other team members that no doubt would have been developed well over the dozens of episodes of the main series. I didn't realise the director was Kunihiko Ikuhara, which reminded me of Utena. I used to sort of consider that to be in the magical girl genre, though on reflection I guess it was the tokusatsu elements in that which made me think that.

Cutie Honey declares herself a warrior of love in every episode of her show, but it's an affectation; she's a brutal avenger who is out to kill everyone who had a hand in the death of her father. Usagi, on the other hand, couldn't throw a punch to save her life, but she would die for the people she loves and they would do the same for her. This is what makes the climax of Sailor Moon stories so compelling when they reach the point where their special attacks aren't enough anymore.

Cutie honey is another one I've not watched but that is quite the comparison! Very good point on Usagi's style, as even I was surprised at her more non-aggression approach, which was really heartwarming, if not unrealistic outside the realms of escapist fiction.

Kunihiko Ikuhara's fingerprints are all over this movie, whether it's the quirky animation of Ami trying to keep herself from watching Usagi kissing, the homoerotic undertones of the villain, the flower symbolism, or the way he manages to draw out such emotional intensity in the story's climax.

Couldn't agree more with all these points, and once I saw his name I kept drawing comparisons with Utena heh.

 

[D1tchd1gger]

Sailor Moon R: The Movie
I think I'd echo @Geriatric hedgehog in my thoughts on this. Not enough comedy, a bit too much transformation (did all 5 do that every episode once they were together? That would take up half an episode!) and special move announcements (even if visually they were quite cool). There was a tear in my eye at the end though, although I was pretty sure she wouldn't die! She ended destroying the mcguffin from the first season!
Pretty decent movie, if it was a bit longer they could have added more SoL stuff at the beginning. Maybe fleshing out the flashbacks of when Usagi met the other girls.
Solid 7 I'd say.

homoerotic undertones

I've seen a fair few Shoujo and even some BL stuff, but I think that's the first Yaoi-bait I've seen (maybe there was some in Fruits Basket, but I forget). Seen plenty of Yuri-bait though, do the girls ever get into situations that could be called Yuri-bait?

it gives away a few things from later in season 1, namely: the identity of the princess who Luna is looking for, Tuxedo Mask's identity, and who ends up being Usagi's boyfriend. These are all pretty easy to guess if you don't know already

I think I only guessed TMs real identity, but from their interactions when he wasn't TM in the first 2 episodes I wouldn't have guessed that they'd be together eventually and pretty seriously too from the flashback of them on a bed together! My guess was the arcade guy! I didn't even get that Luna was looking for a Princess! Was that mentioned in those 2 episodes? She gave Usagi powers because she helped Luna, but I don't recall any other motive. Who was the Princess?

 

[Dai]

a bit too much transformation (did all 5 do that every episode once they were together? That would take up half an episode!)

Stock transformation and attack animation sequences are used heavily in Sailor Moon, with only season 4 being the exception. It was a common tactic for smoothing out production schedules back when studios were doing 40-50 episode seasons of anime. You don't always get all the transformations though.

There was a tear in my eye at the end though, although I was pretty sure she wouldn't die!

She did die, albeit briefly until Fiore gave her his life energy. Death and rebirth are recurring themes in Sailor Moon.

I think I only guessed TMs real identity, but from their interactions when he wasn't TM in the first 2 episodes I wouldn't have guessed that they'd be together eventually and pretty seriously too from the flashback of them on a bed together! My guess was the arcade guy! I didn't even get that Luna was looking for a Princess! Was that mentioned in those 2 episodes? She gave Usagi powers because she helped Luna, but I don't recall any other motive. Who was the Princess?

Apologies; I've had this show in my head for three decades and must have overestimated how much these things were foreshadowed early on.

Luna mentions in the first episode that she's looking for a princess, but Usagi isn't really paying attention. I won't spoil who it is if the movie didn't give it away.

 

[D1tchd1gger]

Cardcaptor Sakura ep 1
The mascots are getting more forceful, Keroberos didn't give Sakura much choice! Other than that a lot of the same stuff we saw in other shows are here with the comedy and a bit of SoL stuff, talking of Yuri-bait her friend is very interested in Sakura! And another different profession for her dad, an archaeologists! I guess that's how he got his hands on the book.
Interesting to note that whilst there's no competitive element to this, the capturing of magical beasts reminded me of Pokémon which came out 5 months after the first appearance of the CS manga

 

[Dai]

Cardcaptor Sakura - episode 1

Gonna catch you catch you, catch me catch me, catch 'em catch 'em, gotta catch em all, Clow Cards.

This show ticks a lot of standard magical girl boxes with its monster-of-the-week formula, cuddly mascot (though I've always found Kero's design and personality a bit grating), and toyetic magic device. It varies in some ways though. Rather than fighting an evil organisation, Sakura is instead cleaning up her own mess. Consequently there's an overall lighter tone to the show compared to shows that follow the Sailor Moon template closer. Also she doesn't transform or have a fixed costume. Instead, one of the show's main gimmicks is that her friend Tomoyo makes new costumes for her each episode...just so she can video her wearing them. I crammed CCS into the watchlist at the last moment, so we're not officially covering any more episodes of it after this, but episode 2 establishes Tomoyo's fetishistic obsession with Sakura if anyone wants to watch that as a -{Bonus Round}-.

Sakura is often a lavish production compared to a lot of 90s TV anime. It does make use of shortcuts, but where Sailor Moon flaunts stock animation for signature moments, Sakura mostly bookends the episodes with it. Get used to that dream sequence at the beginning because it gets repeated at least 20 times over the course of the series with barely any variation. Then we have the Leave It To Kero segments at the end, which are a couple of stock shots mixed with design sheets and repeated footage from earlier in the episode. Disguising a cost-saving trick as an early example of a behind-the-scenes bonus is pretty clever.

Tomorrow we move swiftly on from Sakura, but continue to party like it's 1998 with Fancy Lala.

 

[Geriatric hedgehog]

Stock transformation and attack animation sequences are used heavily in Sailor Moon, with only season 4 being the exception. It was a common tactic for smoothing out production schedules back when studios were doing 40-50 episode seasons of anime. You don't always get all the transformations though.

That is quite interesting and smart, if one were to inaccurately assume they had double the time to produce one season if, to create 40 episodes, they're actually making 20 episodes' worth of new material, by reusing sequences for up to half of each episode. Clearly that won't reflect reality, especially if comparing with modern tech, but nonetheless one can't help but feel worse for the poor animators of today, especially with the creative team spirit being increasingly eroded by corporate takeovers and their resulting slave-driving mentality... Now that I'm older, I hate to parrot my elders and go on about "in the good ol' days", but whilst we've progressed on the whole as humanity, team- and community spirit feel sorely lacking in today's individualistic cultures. Apologies, I can't even remember how I got on to this tirade now

Cardcaptor Sakura - Episode 1

First one in this simulwatch that I actually have watched previously, thanks to getting kiddo hooked on it! It was nice to revisit this first episode and I was impressed to see how much they packed into this and so efficiently at that - foreboding prophecy (that's a new one compared to the others we've seen thus far I think), check; intro to likeable and funny characters, check; unveiling the lore and clean-up role for our protagonist, whilst introducing the best supporting character ever

check!; first fight and Amblin™ flight for Sakura, check. That is mighty efficient methinks.

Like Sailor Moon, we have a ditzy, funny and likeable lead, but who does happen to be quite athletic when not spacing out. The interactions with her brother are hilarious and quite realistic of sibling "loving" spats, with him referring to the poor, tiny kiddo as a Kaiju (I think the simple sub translation to "monster", though effective, does lose something in translation). The rollerblading to school/work idea is genius - how has this not taken off as much as cycling/scootering here in UK, or anywhere else for that matter?? As I already mentioned, Kero is one of my favourites, and he always brings the comedy - can someone pleeeaase tell me where I can get a good quality Kero plushie at a reasonable price? For my kid...of course... Like Sailor Moon, the initial crush here is also a misdirection for those who've watched this series. I guess the card-chasing magical girl trope started here then? I really liked future-forward dream prophecy, I remember seeing this done quite a bit on TV shows in the 90s as a kid, so it's adaptation here was also just as cool for me. I think I'm just very tired, confused and rambling today, so will stop for now.

talking of Yuri-bait her friend is very interested in Sakura!

I always found that aspect of her creepy - like the photographer dude from that episode of Momo heh. The perception would be much worse if her character was male.

And another different profession for her dad, an archaeologists!

So how accurately is he depicted in your professional opinion heh? So far Hollywood certainly puts Archeologists in a fantastic light (Indy, Sam Neil in Jurassic park, The Mummy iirc?). Also did anyone else get really jealous of this guy's basement "library"?? How I would love to have shelves and shelves that I could fill with all the media and books I want to collect! Why do we not do basements here - due to flooding risk or something??

capturing of magical beasts reminded me of Pokémon which came out 5 months after the first appearance of the CS manga

Interesting fact that I was not aware of!

(though I've always found Kero's design and personality a bit grating)

Oh noooo! I love Kerooo! Where else do you have a mascot that is more interested in spending the day playing video games and eating pudding Did you prefer his normal form in the later episodes? I was aghast that we may not get the cuddly comic version anymore after!

Get used to that dream sequence at the beginning because it gets repeated at least 20 times over the course of the series with barely any variation

I'd forgotten that yes, it doesn't really change heh

Disguising a cost-saving trick as an early example of a behind-the-scenes bonus is pretty clever.

Definitely impressive when this is done without making it obvious

 

[D1tchd1gger]

Sam Neil in Jurassic park

puts on nerdy voice err actually he's a Paleontologist

So how accurately is he depicted in your professional opinion heh?

Probably more than those mentioned. Regular guy with loads of books in his personal library. Although nowadays a lot of information will be online.

 

[Professor Irony]

Sailor Moon ep3



Roses are red, Violets are blue, In the name of the moon, Imma punish you

Yeah, that one was quite fun, I thought it was nice to see Haruna get in on the joke at the end rather than chastising everyone, Handled differently, I think the mysterious radio show could be quite creepy, but I just kept thinking of the radio show you can mail postcards to in Yakuza. Fully expected a letter from Judgement Kazzy…

Sailor Moon R: The Movie



I too missed the comedy, I’m afraid, although I did enjoy the visuals. Not super familiar with Ikuhara’s work, but even beyond all the flower imagery, I did think there were a few bits and pieces that seemed recognisably like his hand - the striking use of silhouettes when Fiore stabbed Mamoru stood out in particular. ‘Operatic’ seems like the word here.

Coming from the first couple of episodes, it’s a bit of a shock as well to suddenly find that the gang’s all present (or most of them at least, I notice Uranus and Neptune are still absent). This is the first time I’ve found out what their personalities are like - I’ve seen their character designs often enough, but wouldn’t have actually guessed what they were like based on that alone. Would especially never have twigged that Jupiter was the delinquent, my money would have been on Venus being that archetype.

The very casual way the film deals with Fiore’s love for Mamoru feels very progressive for its time too. Even now, it feels like there aren’t many anime that will deal with lgbtq relationships in such a straightforward manner, outside of things explicitly tagged as yaoi or yuri.

 

[Dai]

Coming from the first couple of episodes, it’s a bit of a shock as well to suddenly find that the gang’s all present (or most of them at least, I notice Uranus and Neptune are still absent). This is the first time I’ve found out what their personalities are like - I’ve seen their character designs often enough, but wouldn’t have actually guessed what they were like based on that alone. Would especially never have twigged that Jupiter was the delinquent, my money would have been on Venus being that archetype.

Including the R movie in the watchlist was perhaps a misstep on my part. On the one hand it was the easiest way to see a self-contained story with all of the core Sailor Moon cast and formula in place, but based on people's reaction it seems that the story hits harder if the viewer is already emotionally invested in all the characters and their relationships.

That is quite interesting and smart, if one were to inaccurately assume they had double the time to produce one season if, to create 40 episodes, they're actually making 20 episodes' worth of new material, by reusing sequences for up to half of each episode.

Thankfully I've never seen a show that uses that much stock animation. I'd say a typical episode of Sailor Moon has about a minute. The main place it gets out of control is the latter part of season 3 when Usagi gets a double transformation, sometimes shown back-to-back. Thankfully that's dropped by season 4.

Some directors became adept (some might say shameless) at disguising animation shortcuts as artistic intent in the 90s. Anno infamously did this in Evangelion with his minute-long static shots. Ikuhara was perhaps even bolder in the the shortcuts used in Utena. By designing the entire concept of the story around rituals, the use of lengthy mantras and stock animation became integral.

I guess the card-chasing magical girl trope started here then?

I couldn't tell you if Sakura was the first, but it was certainly part of that first major wave of stories about collecting cards and/or catching monsters. As the Sakura anime aired around the same time as Pokemon, likewise the Sakura manga started around the same time as the first Pokemon game and trading cards a couple of years earlier.

I'm surprised that there never seemed to be a major trading card version of the Clow Cards, since it seems like a no-brainer. You could buy a full set, but I'm not aware of them ever being done as blind-bagged trading cards. There were other CCS trading cards, but those tended to be general character art.

 

[Dai]

Fancy Lala - episode 1

I've only seen half of this series so far, so I don't know if the opening dream sequence is prophetic, a past life memory, both, or neither. I'm suspicious that the two self-proclaimed "something like fairies" have dinosaur-like features similar to the two kaiju in the dream. They don't seem to mean Miho any harm, but it's also clear that they're not telling her everything.

Miho is another magical girl who starts with her head in the clouds. The gap between the person she wants to be and how she acts in the moment is pretty wide, and the magic she's given offers her the chance to do something about it. Unlike Minky Momo, this isn't a glamour; Miho is ageing up to her future teenage body. When most shows do this, it's usually accompanied by a more mature voice and personality, but Miho still sounds and acts the same when in her Fancy Lala form. It's an interesting story choice, since it highlights that she will need to handle the challenges she faces with only the knowledge and maturity of a 9-year-old.

By giving Miho the ability to design clothes and make them real, the show leans into the dress-up fantasy element of magical girls. I like the wrinkle that they don't automatically appear on her. Having to find somewhere to change is one of those little hurdles that makes things more interesting.

 

[Mini1]

Cardcaptor Sakura ep 1
The mascots are getting more forceful, Keroberos didn't give Sakura much choice! Other than that a lot of the same stuff we saw in other shows are here with the comedy and a bit of SoL stuff, talking of Yuri-bait her friend is very interested in Sakura! And another different profession for her dad, an archaeologists! I guess that's how he got his hands on the book.
Interesting to note that whilst there's no competitive element to this, the capturing of magical beasts reminded me of Pokémon which came out 5 months after the first appearance of the CS manga

Yeah, Keroberos definitely threw Sakura into the deep end without much say! Classic magical girl trope though getting roped into a huge responsibility out of nowhere. And yeah, Tomoyo’s interest in Sakura is definitely strong, lol.

It’s cool you noticed the Pokémon parallel too. The whole “catching magical creatures” vibe feels similar, even if the tone and style are different. Funny how close their release dates were, makes you wonder if there was any influence or just a coincidence

 

[Geriatric hedgehog]

puts on nerdy voice err actually he's a Paleontologist

Oh my good God, I am so embarrassed , I am not allowed to post anything when not in my right mind...

Some directors became adept (some might say shameless) at disguising animation shortcuts as artistic intent in the 90s. Anno infamously did this in Evangelion with his minute-long static shots. Ikuhara was perhaps even bolder in the the shortcuts used in Utena. By designing the entire concept of the story around rituals, the use of lengthy mantras and stock animation became integral.

Fascinating stuff! I'm biased, but Anno's static shots I actually really liked and did think that, whilst they were clearly helping reduce workload, their implementation did serve an artistic purpose quite effectively - so two birds, one stone scenario for me that. Now, Ikuhara's rituals and transformations in Utena on the other hand, whilst again very clever, I just found painful and far too repetitive, so couldn't help but forwarding through; but that's just how bloody good Utena is that it is still not held back by those, for someone with as little patience as myself.

I'm surprised that there never seemed to be a major trading card version of the Clow Cards, since it seems like a no-brainer. You could buy a full set, but I'm not aware of them ever being done as blind-bagged trading cards. There were other CCS trading cards, but those tended to be general character art.

I was thinking just that, how on earth did they not capitalize on this?! Was sort of assuming they did so in the domestic market but not international, but guessing it wasn't really in either.