I thought it would be a good day today to go ahead and start our Sailor Moon rewatch.  We'll just go with one episode a day and start from the beginning until we reach the end if that's all right with everyone.  

Episode 1-Crybaby Usagi's Magnificent Transformation

This first episode is still one of the best first episodes for an anime series ever because of how much impact it's had on later magical girl series.  It seems like almost every magical girl superherione show since then has followed the same formula that Sailor Moon established.  Ordinary girl goes to school (usually late), has crazy antics with her friends, bad guys plot secret plot to take over the world secretly, ordinary girl finds herself caught up in the plot and that she's special and has magical powers, ordinary girl transforms to fight off the bad guys and wins, bad guys vow revenge and ordinary girl goes back to school and has more crazy antics and learns a valuable life lesson.  But Sailor Moon still handles this formula at its best and what made it so effective was how much information it had in one episode and how fast paced it was without feeling too rushed.  Another thing that made this episode so endearing was how ordinary Usagi was.  

She didn't have psychic powers like Rei or incredible super smarts and strength like Ami and Makoto.  She really was an ordinary girl just trying to make it through life without anything special who was forced to grow up early when faced with a serious situation.  For many of us who discovered Sailor Moon in our preteen and early teen years, this made Usagi an instant relatable herione and likeable character.  The other characters have remained equally timeless also because of how ordinary they are.  Umino and Naru and Ms. Haruna really feel like ordinary people we've known ourselves and not just cardboard cut out stereotypes.  Mamoru also isn't a total jerk yet and Tuxedo Mask still had that romantic and mysterious quality about him that made it easy to see why the Inners all crushed after him in the early days.  

Another aspect I loved about this episode was that the bad guys were actually terrifying.  In later episodes, the MOTDs would become more comical and bizarre but here they were actually a real threat and Usagi could have actually died from her first fight, but she still had the courage to fight to save her friends.  Jaedite's archetype has become almost a cliche in modern magical girl anime and he's probably my least favorite Sailor Moon villain but I still can't imagine the series starting off with any other villain and Queen Beryl is still a classic bad guy.  

One thing I will say about the dub is that I still like Tracey Moore as Serena and I thought she did the perfect job of playing an ordinary teenage girl without that annoying "Serena the Hyena" yodeling voice that Terri Hawkes had or the absolutely horrific bad qualities of Linda Ballatyne.  I also actually prefered Serena's transformation BGM from the dub of this episode over the Japanese BGM.  I normally like the Japanese BGM more and while I don't think Usagi's henshin BGSM for this season is bad, it's not spectacular either.  I was sad DiC changed Serena's transformation BGM in episode two because the music in this episode was very catchy and upbeat and I think it really helped made you excited for the show.

I like the fact that it all begins with Usagi rescuing Luna - an act of kindness which leads to Luna's regain of memory and then her awakening Usagi to her destiny.

Mamoru's claim that paper ball hitting him hurt is ironic, given the later tendency to strike him with various sharp objects and rays of energy.

Episode 2-"Punish Them! The House of Fortune is the Monster Mansion"

This is the first of the episodes DiC skipped in the dub and it's one of my favorites. I really wished this episode was dubbed and I don't think it had that many objectionable scenes in it. The only scene they really needed to cut was the scene where Umino flips up Ms. Haruna's skirt and they've made longer cuts in the episodes they did dub. Power Rangers had several episodes where the Rangers were turned into bullies and it didn't seem to be too big a problem with most kid so I think the scenes of Umino and his classmates misbehaving would have been fine to show. This episode has the introduction of Motoki and it's amazing how skipping a single seemingly unimportant episode can give you a different impression of a character. When I was a dubbie, I had always gotten the impression that Serena and Andrew were long time friends since we never got to see his introduction but in this episode, it implies they haven't known each other for that long.

I also love that we also get to see Usagi learn how to play the Sailor V game for the first time and it was cute when Kenji was helping Ikuko-mamma with the shopping. If Takeuchi based them on her actual parents, her parents would have to be the cutest couple ever. They're just so sweet and innocent and I find it so refreshing in this day and age where American TV thinks it's entertaining to watch parents fight with each other on sitcoms all the time. And it was very kind and compassionate that Usagi went to the old man's fortune telling booth instead of following the popular crowd and Umino's fortune teller game was very funny But why did the animators forget to draw Tuxedo Mask's gloves this time?

I think that Umino forcing Usagi to kiss would be more objectionable that skirt scene. But still, while it's played for laughs, is not presented as ok behaviour, so I see not a reason to cut it or cancel the whole episode. (IMO the only episode deserving canceling is the one with dinosaurs)

I also love Usagi's kindness and compassion.

I can see how that might be concerning to DiC but I don't think it would be any worse than the scenes in Power Rangers where Bulk and Skull flirted with Kimberly and Trini.

Episode 3-"Mysterious Sleeping Illness, Protect the Girls' Hearts in Love"

this episode was the first appearance of the disguise pen which is probably the neatest of Usagi's devices in the series. I wish they had kept it as a pen instead of turning it into cell phones in the live-action. I also wish they had used it more frequently later in the anime. While I generally prefer the Japanese version, I have to admit I really liked this episode in the dub. I thought the scene of Serena falling asleep in class was actually funnier in the dub than the sub. I was sad though that Dic changed Serena's transformation BGM because I liked the music in the first episode better. I thought it was cute that Usagi and Naru were making up future boyfriends to sen their letters to. And Ms. Haruna always tries to act more mature than the kids but she's really just as giddy as they are.

I’m not very well acquainted with American version. I could believe that different standards of censorship could be applied to live-action series and cartoon series, because many people regard animated for little kids.



Transformation pen seems to be a plot device similar to magical mirror from the series I once watched. This series was much more centered on ordinary life of little schoolgirl. It was forgotten in Sailor Moon when the plot became more epic.

Sorry I'm a day late with the next episode. My Internet connection was down yesterday. This day's episode- "Usagi Will Teach You How to Lose Weight!"

This is another episode where I actually liked the dub version of it. I thought the scene where Serena and Molly were chasing Melvin for Ms. Haruna's pictures was funnier in the dub than in the sub. I also thought it made more sense at the end that Sammy was pulling a prank on Serena to make her think she gained weight rather than Shingo just hanging around to find out if Usagi gained weight. I do like that funny scene in the Japanese version though where Motoki says he likes chubby girls more. But I don't understand why Usagi thinks she's overweight just for gaining half a pound when she's still so freaking skinny in the episode. I'd love to have Usagi's weight size.

I think that anime drawing sometimes doesn't match to what is decribed by characters - like Mako is supposed to be such a big girl that no guy likes her, yet we can see most men taller than her. Similarly with Usagi's chubbines everybody talks about.

Episode 5-""A Monster's Scent! Chanela Steals Love"

This is another episode I don't understand why it was skipped. The only scene they really needed to cut out was the scene where Shingo kicked Luna which is barely a few sec of the episode. This episode also makes things confusing later on when Mika randomly shows up with no introduction as to who she is and how she knows Shingo. I liked this episode because it was a Shingo-centric episode and we don't have enough episodes focused on Usagi's family. I also like it because it shows Usagi really cares about her brother's safety even if they fight a lot and it explains how Luna got accepted into the Tsukino family. In the dub, it's like she spends the first couple of episodes in Usagi's room and then she's randomly out and about among everyone else like she's always been there. And it was cute that Shingo became a Sailor Moon fan without klnowing that she's really his sister. Though I don't understand why they never had Usagi use her Moon Tiara Stardust attack again.

Parents telling kids to decide for themselves whether to keep Luna seems interesting way of parenting...

Episode 6- ""Protect the Melody of Love! Usagi is a Cupid"

This is another skipped episode and another of my favorites. I can see this episode as being a little more difficult to dub than the others because of the scene of Usagi turning into an adult to sneak into a bar but I think they could have made it work if they used a little creative rewriting. Like instead of Usagi turning into an adult, they could have changed it so that Serena needed a ticket to get into the concert so she turned into a rock star to get in or something like that. But they probably would have had to cut out my favorite scene of the episode where the waiter thinks Usagi is an adult and asks her what she wants an she just casually says "orange juice!" in that innocent and naive sort of way that makes her such a cute character. I liked the cute joke where Usagi confuses Haydn with Bach and Yusuke's relationship with Akiko was cute. It's a shame that the anime didn't include more older characters like Yusuke and Akiko in the series. By the way, what happened to the interested posters in that other thread that were up for this rewatch?

Please, don't give up. Maybe somebody will appear after the plot thickens.

I wonder about those skipped episodes - was it stated openly that it was because of censorship?

Episode 7-"Usagi Learns a Lesson! The Road to Stardom is Tough"

This filler in was really cute and I thought it was funny seeing the crazy ways Usagi's friends tried to become stars. I especially love how Naru tries to get Umino wrapped up in her schemes to win stardom by crossdressing to sing Moonlight Denetsu by using Usagi as bait basically. Another of my favorite scenes is when the Tsukino family is all watching an entertainer on TV training his monkey and Usagi gets her idea to be a star from it and everyone isn't phased by Usagi's scatterbrainness.

Do you have the DVD's or are you watching online? All of my places online to watch don't work anymore and it's driving me crazy

This is posted on another thread here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC-4Q_PIljc

Has all the episodes in the description.

AHHHH thank you!

Episode 8-"Is the Genius Girl a Monster? Brainwashing School of Terror"

This is the introduction of Usagi's first teammate, Ami Mizuno, aka Sailor Mercury. Ami is not my favorite of the Sailor Soldiers, but I think her shyness and respectfulness are cute and I love how quick she and Usagi become friends. But I do wish the anime made Ami's powers stronger instead of having her use that silly bubble attack.

I think "brains" characters are often presented as weaker. It was however remedied later.

Episode 9-"Usagi's Misfortune! Watch Out for the Rushing Clocks"

This was a really cute filler in. I liked seeing Usagi and Ami just hanging out with each other like normal girls, having fun, going shopping, and just being their ordinary selves. It was cute that Usagi actually tried to get to school on time but poor Usagi never seems to have luck with her plans. One of my favorite scenes was when everyone was under the time curse and Umino couldn't wait any longer so he just decided to flirt with both Usagi and Naru at the same time. I also liked this episode because Usagi and Ami actually used some strategy when fighting the youma as opposed to just shouting out random Engrish attack phrases and I liked that we got to see Ami use her supercomputer since she seems to forget about it later in the series.

Yes, Ami and Usagi are great together - I wonder why they were given only one episode as two of them alone.