Things I Watched: Sailor Moon S - Magical Girls and Maniacal Villains

Before I start this post I'd like to point out that I don't actually spend time watching a lot of anime. I've seen my fair share sure but it's not something I've done much over the past few years. I got into it quite late anyway. Around my second year of university IIRC. Sure I'd seen Yu-gi-oh and Digimon and Pokemon but that's hardly what I'd call pure-blooded Japanese animation. It's more like child's play. Quite fitting really considering I was indeed a child at the time.

I'm digressing from the point already. This post is about Sailor Moon S: a show I've spent the past two months watching. Yes that means all 38 episodes. Each episode is about 23 minutes long so, minus a minute or so of ending credits, that's almost 14 hours of magical school girl action. Judge me all you like but don't you dare say a bad word against Sailor Mars!

Sailor Moon S is the third season of the popular Sailor Moon series. It first aired in 1994 and came after the show's second season, suitably named Sailor Moon R. The R and S stand for 'Return' and 'Super' respectively. The head director for Sailor Moon S was Kunihiko Ikuhara who later worked on Revolutionary Girl Utena, as well as Mawaru Penguindrum. All three encompass his signature combination of magic, theatrics and melodrama.

Roughly speaking, Sailor Moon is a monster-of-the-week show. As you might imagine, that means a new monster appears each week prompting the Sailor team to band together to fight it off. They usually they do so fairly easily, although it's highly likely somebody will step into save the day after another character gets injured. The second half of every show is dedicated to this format with the first part establishing drama, including insights into individual characters and their relationships with one another.

It might sound boring but it works well. 38 episodes is a lot to fill so the show uses this format as a way to keep the overarching narrative flowing while avoiding the pitfalls of having episodes be about anything irrelevant. With five main sailor soldiers to consider, alongside another five secondary heroes, with a further handful of main villains, it's easy to imagine how time in the first half of each episode is spent.

The show features a lot of quirky enemies, which I think overall sums up the chaotic tone of the show. Where Sailor Moon S differs to other series of its type though is in its establishment of darker themes. The show begins as a typical lighthearted affair but retreats fairly often into using emotional content to shape characters motives.

The most obvious examples are Michiru (Sailor Uranus) and Haruko (Sailor Neptune), two newly-established members of the Sailor Team who emerge fresh for this season. Both are mysterious and offer a sombre and often serious attitude; almost aristocratic. They're joined by the tall and graceful Setsuna (Sailor Pluto) and he three form a triptych of mature, adult figures who contrast with the schoolgirlish charm of Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, and of course Chibiusa, the show's comic relief.

There are several points when it's obvious that the main Sailor team prove to be a hindrance to Pluto, Neptune and Uranus' attempts to save the world from succumbing to darkness (it's not not cliche in that regard). All of them are fighting on the same side but only over time do all overcome their differences. The series ends with betrayal, distrust but eventually mutually-earned respect between both sets of Sailor Senshi.

This tone won't come of surprise to anybody who's watched Revolutionary Girl Utena before as Sailor Moon S is very much the precursor to that show. Although The former retains a much darker approach and is probably nowhere near as fun but both are kindred spirits in taking tropes of a defined genre - the Magical Girl genre - and pushing them as far as they can, often seeking to establish much more personal themes than the show's obvious target demographic - teenage girls - would suggest.

Sailor Moon S succeeds in doing so largely due to a hugely charismatic cast, some kick ass moments and lots of brilliant music. The result is a surprisingly mature show about saving the world from a mad scientist. I personally love the interchange between both sets of sailor scouts and while I feel I might need to revoke my being an adult card by saying it, found the whole show endearing, sweet and just a whole heap of fun.

Here's a fitting kaomoji (ノ°∀°)ノ⌒･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*☆