Customer Reviews

Mercury Rising (Sailor Moon the Novel)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

ok... for all those people who claim they "know" Sailor Moon from watching the Dic episodes are wrong! The true story is nothing like the American versions. The book was horrible and the plot was horrible. If you're used to watching the Dic episodes then I think this book is for you. If your a true fan of the Jap. version, then I recommend buying the manga off the internet or in a japanese bookstore. If your woried about not understanding there are translations avaliable on the interenet. The pictures are beautifully drawn!

I have to start this review off by saying that I am a fan of the original, Japanese version of Sailor Moon. I got this book, along with the other ones purely out of curiousity. I had read the reviews and heard that the books were filled with horrible teenspeak and out-of-place product placement, so I assumed that it would be an amusing read. And besides, it only costs a penny, so why not?

I found out rather quickly why not.

There are two main things that are wrong with this book. The first has already been touched upon by other reviewers: the Americanization sucks. Following in the footsteps of DiC's adaption of the anime, the Sailor Moon novels use the dub names for the characters -- Usagi is Serena, Naru is Molly, Motoki is Andrew, and so on. Oddly enough, some of the attack/transformation names have been kept true to the Japanese version...But not all of them. It ends up just a strange hybrid of the Japanese and English versions, something that I wish could have been avoided.

Of course, the main Americanization that everyone refers to is the product placement. I'm not going to lie: if you are under the impression that it's just here and there, or that it would be funny to hear, I have to say that you're wrong. The product placement and pop culture references are CONSTANT, referencing everything from 'NSYNC to Pokemon cards to Waldenbooks to Laura Ashley blouses -- and that's only the tip of the iceberg. On one memorable occasion, the author inserted four product placements into a single paragraph. It may seem funny at first, but after the 1000th time, it becomes very tiring. As expected, with the Americanization comes annoying teen dialect, but compared to the overwhelming amount of product placement, the teenspeak is hardly noticable. (Though, I was a little taken aback by the amount of times the Lord's name was taken in vain... Couldn't they have said "oh my gosh" instead?)

You might be thinking that, with the Americanization being such a glaring issue, that it is the reason I disliked this book, right? Surprisingly, it's not. I would have been able to deal with it if it wasn't for the simple fact that the characters' personalities were so dramatically altered from their Japanese counterparts.

The most notable change is, of course, Serena, who is the main character of this series. Where do I even begin? If you are familiar with the original Japanese version, then you'd know that Usagi Tsukino is a kindhearted, friendly girl; however, she's the first to admit that she's clumsy and a bit of a crybaby. The most she'd ever say about herself was say that she was "cute", but for the most part, she was rather humble. Such was not the case with Serena. Serena was like a manifestation of Usagi's flaws, but amplified to make it them one hundred times more obnoxious. First of all, she was incredibly conceited, and wasn't above congratulating herself on every occasion. (She once suggested to Melvin that he should "drool over that wicked cool superhero, Sailor Moon" instead of the idol Saffron. And on another occasion, she referred to herself as a "stylin' teenage female" in retort to being called a "little girl".) Whereas Usagi was originally lazy when it came to school, Serena was downright ignorant toward it, brushing off her studying with a wink and a nudge toward the reader, as though we're supposed to agree that it's cool to not care. Her eating habits were simply vile -- I know that Usagi ate a lot, but the scene where Serena shoved an entire cupcake in her mouth and then bragged about being "an expert at scarfing" was just disgusting, as was the fact that she considered being able to eat an entire McDonald's meal in four minutes without choking a "talent". It was not cute, funny, or endearing at all.

And if you think that Serena is the only one with a character change, then you're wrong. Everyone seemed to have nothing but negative things to say to each other. Molly, in particular, was pretty rude when Serena was talking about becoming superstars together. In the original, Naru and Usagi were equally excited to be dance partners, but here, it was completely one-sided. Luna, who was prone to getting pretty frustrated with Usagi in the original, was pretty nasty as well. I know that the DiC dub largely censored the original, but exactly how does making the characters so mean make it more suitable for American children?

It's a shame that the book is like this because the writing style is quite good for what it is. Had it been more faithful, it might have been an entertaining read. But with characters so horrible, and bad product placement to boot, I regret ever getting this. Please, don't waste your money on this. Don't let the $0.01 price tag lure you in... It's terrible. Watch the anime, or even better, read the manga -- it's much more worthwhile than this piece of garbage.

This sailor mercury book is good for only one type of fan: The newbie dic fan. What i mean by that is that the fan reading this book has just started watching sailor moon and has never watched any other type besides the dic version. The jap version is completly different(believe me). Don't let this recommendation swing your vote because i am nothing like you. I am merly advising those newbie dic fans down the correct road of sailor moon dic enlightenment. Gotta Book It! Lita_E (Slr Atlantis@aol.com)

In this story: Serena decides she wants to be a superstar. But the Negaverse also thinks this would be a great way to get enegry. (Based on episode #4 So you want to be a Superstar). Also: when new girl Amy shows up, Luna is sure she is from the Negaverse. Only Amy is not what she seems. (Based on episode #5 Computer School Blues). And: With Sailor Mercury new to the the team Serena is sure she won't have to work so hard. But when the Negaverse puts a spell on all of Crossroads' clocks Serena won't have to much time to releax. (Based on episode #6 Time Bomb) Buy this book!

Okay, I know that most of you otakus out there might buy this expecting it to be like the original manga or show. But in all reality, it most likely won't turn out that way. Why? For one simple reason: all of the novels now written by Lianne Sentar are done so by an original Otaku and fanfic writer. Fanfic writer, you ask? A fanfic writer is someone who writes stories about the original characters, keeping them in character or going on a total tangent. I have read some of Lianne-sama's original fanfics, and if they are any indication as to her writing talents, then I would definatly say you should pick up her novels. As for the other guy... well, I don't know about him. Support fanfic writers everywhere by buying Lianne-sama's Sailor Moon novels! ...

Hey, all you Sailor Moonies! This book is pretty good compared to the last two--actually, it's great compared to them! Lianne Sentar writes stories much better than Stuart Levy. For all you Mercury fans, this is a must-buy! The more books you have, the better! ^-^ I, for one, have 9 SM books, not including my role-playing game book, so I know what's good and what's not. And this is a pretty good book! Well, i'm outie!

~Princess Usagi

This was over all a good book. Compared to the last two books, it was much better, probably because the job of writing the books was passed from Stuart B. Levy to Liane Sentar. The book is based more on the DiC series than anything. The frequent mentionings of brand names and celebrities became quite annoying, but even the avid Sailor Moon fan, like myself, enjoyed it a lot. It was fun going through to see how well it followed the episodes and how Americanized it was, but it was well written and would be given a better rating from a person that had not heard of Sailor Moon before. The best thing to do is to sit back and let the story envelope you and try to forget that it's something you've heard of before. I like it, and I hope everyone else does. Good job Lianne Sentar!

this was the first book out of the sailor moon series that i read. i was very surprised when i read this book besause it had a lot of american words in it like n'sync, britney spears, and the internet. i thought that was pretty weird. but if your a real sailor moon lover who doesn't care about all the american stuff in it and just wanna know the story, then this book is for you. if you really want the japanese version, then i dont think you should get this. i for one enjoyed this because it was in english because i cant readd japanese. i had gotten the japanese version of this book and it wasnt much fun trying to find the real story by looking at the pictures. overall, this was a fairly good book that i recommend to real sailor moon fans.

I'm so sick and tired of how these people do Sailor Moon. They don't know jack about it, all they want is the money and it's just plain SAD! I'm not going to blame Lianne because I KNOW Mixxine are the ones making her write these books in such a [bad] not even KINDERGARDEN fashion. All this American additive stuff. Uh-uh. It's just so STUPID! The only reason I gave this book 2 stars was because it's the only one I read twice. They all look cute on bookshelves though... And they rate this "Young Adult." PUH-LEEZE. I hate it. It makes me literally want to cry seeing how Sailor Moon is slowly being chewed up to be spat out resulting in nothing. Mixxine needs to get their ACT together and start making some REAL stuff. These Sailor Moon novels could be great if people wouldn't act so DUMB with it's writing. Those harpies. They really get on my nerves. If you want some REAL Sailor Moon stories your best bet is fanfics.

I have absolutely no problem with the basic storyline. It's written fine if they're trying to reflect the badly dubbed DiC series. However, in various points of the book, Mixx advertises...FOR THEMSELVES! At one part, Serena(Who SHOULD be called Usagi) is reading a Mixx magazine called Smile Magazine, and says, "Oh Kemmy, you are so rockin'! I wish I could be a sushi delivery girl!" Kemmy is Mixx's character from SushiGirl. Then, when Serena is recommending MANGA(Japanese Comics)to Amy(Ami) she says,"Sailor V is a perfect start."(Sailor V being Mixx's eqivalent of Sailor Moon.)Serena also states "I also think that Magic Knight Rayearth 1-3 and the first SushiGirl should do it!" In case you didn't know, Mixx has the rights to all of these. So in conclusion, another piece spoiled by Mixx's shameless self-promotion.