Sailor Moon R: The Movie

Sailor Moon R: The Movie
DVD cover
Japanese	劇場版 美少女戦士セーラームーンＲ
Hepburn	Gekijōban Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn Āru
Directed by	Kunihiko Ikuhara
Produced by	Iriya Azuma
Screenplay by	Sukehiro Tomita
Based on	Sailor Moon  by Naoko Takeuchi
Starring	Kotono Mitsuishi Aya Hisakawa Michie Tomizawa Emi Shinohara Rika Fukami Tōru Furuya Hikaru Midorikawa
Music by	Takanori Arisawa
Cinematography	Motoi Takahashi
Edited by	Yasuhiro Yoshikawa
Production company	Toei Company Toei Animation
Distributed by	Toei Company
Release dates	December 5, 1993 (1993-12-05)
Running time	62 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Sailor Moon R: The Movie, known in Japan as Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon R: The Movie (劇場版 美少女戦士セーラームーンＲ, Gekijōban Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn Āru), is a 1993 Japanese animated film directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara and written by Sukehiro Tomita based on the Sailor Moon manga series written by Naoko Takeuchi. The film debuted in Japanese theaters on December 5, 1993 and Pioneer Entertainment released it in the United States on February 8, 2000 as Sailor Moon R: The Movie: The Promise of the Rose. It takes its name from the second arc of the Sailor Moon anime, Sailor Moon R, as Toei Company distributed it around the same time. The events portrayed seem to take place somewhere in the very end of the series, as Chibiusa knows about the identities of the Sailor Soldiers, the characters are in the present rather than the future, and Mamoru and Usagi are back together.

Japanese theaters featured a 15-minute short recap episode before the film titled Make Up! Sailor Soldier (メイクアップ!セーラー戦士, Meikuappu! Sērā senshi).

Plot

Make Up! Sailor Soldier

Usagi and Chibiusa overhear two girls talking about the Sailor Soldiers after they see a poster. As the girls debate over the smartest, most elegant, strongest, and the leader of the Sailor Soldiers, Usagi grandly claims those titles for herself. Chibiusa shakes her head at Usagi's delusion. Clips appear from the debut of each Sailor Soldier, and that girl's image song plays in the background. When even Tuxedo Mask has been mentioned, and the girls are about to leave, Usagi butts in on their conversation and asks them directly about Sailor Moon. The girls give a series of glowing compliments about Sailor Moon, but unlike their analysis of the other Sailor Soldiers, they also list her faults. After the girls leave, Usagi sarcastically apologizes for being a clumsy cry-baby and then bursts into exaggerated tears.

Promise of the Rose

A young Mamoru Chiba hands a mysterious boy a rose before he disappears, vowing to bring Mamoru a flower. In the present, Mamoru meets up with Usagi Tsukino and the Sailor Soldiers at the Jindai Botanical Garden. Usagi attempts to kiss Mamoru, but when he suspects the other girls of spying on him, he walks off outside alone.

The stranger appears from the garden's fountain and takes Mamoru's hands into his own, which makes Usagi uncomfortable. Usagi tries to break the man's grasp from Mamoru, but is knocked down. The man vows that no one will prevent him from keeping his promise before disappearing again. Mamoru tells Usagi that the stranger's name is Fiore (フィオレ, Fiore). At Rei Hino's temple, the Sailor Soldiers discuss an asteroid which has started to approach Earth and on which Luna and Artemis have discovered traces of vegetal life. The talk turns into rumors about Mamoru's and Fiore's possible relationship, while Usagi thinks about how Mamoru had told her that he had no family and was alone, and how she had promised him she would be his family from now on.

Fiore sends his flower-monster henchwoman, Glycina (グリシナ), to Tokyo to drain the population's life-energy, but the Sailor Soldiers free them and destroy the monster. Fiore appears, revealing his responsibility for the attack, and uses a flower called a Xenian (キセニアン, Kisenian) before severely injuring the Sailor Soldiers. Mamoru attempts to talk Fiore out of fighting but the Xenian controls Fiore's mind. After Mamoru saves Usagi from certain death by intercepting his attack, Fiore takes Mamoru to an asteroid rapidly approaching Earth and begins to revive him in a crystal filled with liquid. While in the crystal, Mamoru remembers meeting Fiore after his parents died in a car accident. Mamoru had previously assumed that he had made up the boy as an imaginary friend. Fiore explains that he had to leave Mamoru because of the Earth's unsuitable atmosphere; Mamoru gave Fiore a rose before disappearing. Fiore searched the galaxy to find a flower for Mamoru, finding the Xenian in the process. Seeking revenge on the humans for his loneliness, Fiore returns to Earth.

Meanwhile, Luna and Artemis tell the Sailor Soldiers that the Xenian can destroy planets using weak-hearted people. Ami Mizuno realizes that the energy from the asteroid matches the flower-monster's evil energy, deducing that Fiore has hidden there. The Sailor Soldiers decide to rescue Mamoru. Despite her initial reluctance, the Sailors and Chibiusa convince Usagi to save Mamoru and confront Fiore.

After the Sailor Soldiers fly to the asteroid, Fiore reveals his plans to scatter flower-seeds to drain humanity's energy on Earth. The Sailors Soldiers then fight hundreds of flower-monsters, but they end up captured. When Fiore orders Usagi to surrender, she is unable to feel his loneliness; Fiore begins to drain her life-force. Mamoru escapes and saves Sailor Moon by throwing a rose at Fiore. The rose embedded in Fiore's chest blossoms, freeing him from the Xenian's control. The flowers on the asteroid disappear, but it continues to hurtle towards Earth. Usagi uses the Silver Crystal to transform into Princess Serenity to change the course of the asteroid. In an attempt to stop Usagi, Fiore soon realizes that when Usagi and Mamoru were children, she gave Mamoru the rose that was once given to him after Fiore had left. With Fiore and the Xenian destroyed by the Silver Crystal, Usagi, Mamoru and the Sailor Soldiers combine their to divert the asteroid away from the Earth. The Silver Crystal is shattered and Usagi dies of exhaustion. Back on Earth, despite Luna and Artemis' concern over why the Sailor Soldiers are taking too long, Chibiusa assures them that the girls are all right.

In the aftermath, the Soldiers and Mamoru are devastated by Usagi's death, but Fiore reappears and thanks Mamoru. Using a nectar-filled flower with Fiore's life-energy, Mamoru wets his lips with the nectar and kisses Usagi, reviving her and repowering the Silver Crystal. Fiore, reduced to the form of a child again, returns to space to live in peace.

Cast

Make-up! Sailor Senshi

English release

The film was first released in North America on VHS by Pioneer Entertainment on August 31, 1999 in Japanese with English subtitles.^[2] Pioneer later released the film to uncut bilingual DVD on February 8, 2000 alongside another VHS release containing an edited version of the English dub.^[3][4] Pioneer re-released their DVD on January 6, 2004 under their "Geneon Signature Series" line.^[5] The DVDs later fell out of print when Pioneer/Geneon lost the license to the film. The edited version was also shown on TV in Canada on YTV and in the US on Cartoon Network's Toonami block.

The English dub was produced in association with Optimum Productions in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and featured most of the original DiC English cast reprising their roles. The edited version of the dub was censored for content and replaced the music with cues from the DiC version of the first two seasons of the anime; the vocal song "Moon Revenge" was also replaced with "The Power of Love." The uncut version of the dub was only seen on the bilingual DVD, featured no censorship, and all of the original Japanese music was left intact, with the exception of the DiC theme song being used. However, no DVD or VHS release contained the "Make-up! Sailor Soldier" short.

In 2014, the film (including the "Make-Up! Sailor Soldier" short) was re-licensed for an updated English-language release in North America by Viz Media, who has plans to produce a new English dub of the film in association with Studiopolis in Los Angeles, California and re-release it on DVD and Blu-ray.^[6] It has also been licensed in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment.^[7]

Reception

Alison Hynes of Anime News Network said the Sailor Moon R film is an ideal introduction to the series.^[8] Chris Beveridge of Mania said the film was essentially "a solid long episode".^[9] Rob Lineberger of DVD Verdict said the film stays true to the Sailor Moon formula and also said that the film contains "real drama and emotion".^[10] Ikuhara's direction has also been praised, and the artwork in the film is superior to that of the series, although it has deteriorated slightly, and that the pacing is good.^[11][12] Patrick Drazen considers the opening flashback to be "reminiscent of François Truffaut".^[13]

References

External links

• Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon R The Movie
• Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon R The Movie at AllMovie
• Sailor Moon R: The Movie at the Internet Movie Database
• Animerica review

Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi Media Chapters Codename: Sailor V Live-action series Musicals Video games Collectible card game Anime Episodes Sailor Moon Sailor Moon R Sailor Moon S Sailor Moon Super S Sailor Moon Sailor Stars Sailor Moon Crystal Films Sailor Moon R Sailor Moon S Sailor Moon Super S Music Soundtracks "Moonlight Densetsu" "Kaze mo Sora mo Kitto..." "Moon Pride" Characters Protagonists Sailor Moon Tuxedo Mask Sailor Mercury Sailor Mars Sailor Jupiter Sailor Venus Chibiusa Sailor Pluto Sailor Uranus Sailor Neptune Sailor Saturn Antagonists Dark Kingdom Black Moon Clan Death Busters Dead Moon Circus Shadow Galactica