I’ll admit it from the start; ever since I had to quality check a fansub of Sailor Moon R The Movie, I’ve been a fan of Sailor Moon. I’ve read maybe one or two of the manga books out from Mixx/Tokyopop, and about half of S and SuperS. I’ve seen a number of episodes of the non-lettered anime series (dubbed :P), and it remains in my top ten of must-watch anime out there. I also have this huge love for the Sailor Moon music. I love it to death.

That being said, I was asked to download the new live action series (Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon) for a certain someone (*cough**cough*), and out of a fan-driven curiousity, I watched the first few episodes. At first, I was thrown by the Saban-like monsters and the corny fights (nothing like the anime, of course), but then I noticed that the characters a little less stereotypical and a little more dark. Rei hates everyone, Mako hates Rei, Usagi is still Usagi, and Ami’s a lot more socially-conscious than she used to be. Sailor V (Minako) treats Tuxedo Kamen as her enemy, and while Tuxedo Kamen protects Sailor Moon, Mamoru hates Usagi while Usagi half-hates him. It’s bittersweet, though the little parables try to teach a lesson about friendship, the character interaction is far less sugar-sweet than I anticipated. I see this geared more for an older audience than little kids.

By the way, the opening music sequence kills me every time. Sailor Senshi meets Morning Musume. 🙂