Amazon.com
High-pitched, relentlessly fast-paced, and filmed in eye-gouging, gumball color, this video series collects dubbed episodes of an animated Japanese series about a group of schoolgirl superheroes. In Japan, it's a lighthearted, kiddy variation on a popular sub-genre--stories of alienated, but supernaturally gifted adolescents granted paranormal powers and enlisted in apocalyptic struggles between the dimensions. Imported to the United States in an attempt to create a
Power Rangers-style mega-hit for girls,
Sailor Moon hasn't become a mainstream phenomenon on that scale, although it has passionate, even obsessive fans, many of whom are much older than the intended demographic. (A
Sailor Moon Web search can be a truly surreal experience.) The chirpy, giggly tone may be off-putting for some, but the level of visual imagination (and the self-sufficient courage of the young heroines) is exhilarating, especially when kids and parents watch together. This first video volume includes the "origin" episode, "A Moon Star is Born," in which young Serena is transformed into Sailor Moon by the occult power of a locket provided by Luna, the talking cat. (Serena is still a solo act at this stage; she collects additional Sailor Scout comrades as the series progresses.) In the second episode, "Talk Radio," a phantom radio program is somehow connected with the door-to-door delivery of flowers that put people to sleep. (Running time: 44 minutes)
--David Chute
From the back cover
Serena, an ordinary 14-year old, discovers that she is really SAILOR MOON, a superhero with an extraordinary past that goes back 1,000 years! But the evil forces she escaped on the Moon have followed her, and each day Serena must battle them to save Earth! A Moon Star Is Born. At the mall, women literally shop till they drop, because their life's energy is being drained by the jewelry they're buying! Serena must summon the power of a magic locket given to her by luna, a talking cat, to fight a hideous alien disguised as a saleswoman! Talk Radio. Love letters from female listeners are read on a radio program the station says doesn't exist. Serena smells something fishy when her best friend Molly and their teacher receive a flower after their letters are read on the air...and immediately snooze off!
