So yeah I seem to have picked up a copy of the new re-release of
Sailor Moon...
For those who don't know (and if you are over 25 and have never heard of it you should be ashamed of yourselve for being that oblivious to pop culture osmosis) Sailor Moon is a classic
Magical Girl Manga/Anime series that has proven to be popular world round. It was one of the largest and most popular non Disney properties during the 90s.
I have to say it was a fairly enjoyable read. It didn't do much of the whole poor kid who everyone fears/hates that wants everyone to respect/like them suddenly becomes the only one who can save everyone. Usagi (sp?) is just an average (below average even) girl and it shows.
The book has some pretty nice romancy-type moments and the art is a nice change from what I usually read. Though it does have some problems. The art can be a little too detailed at times, making some things hard to discern. Some of the battles arent too clear, and at least one is annoying in how it doesn't really explain how the heroes won it, although that may be part of a set up for the next volume. The only other major problem is that the introductions to the characters seems to be rather fast,a little forced, and a tad episodic (that probably worked better for the show, but not so much here). Some more build-up for the joining probably would work to fix that, and give the girls some more time to settle into the story.
Those flaws are not deal breakers though, and the story stands the tests of time. For something that was released back in 1992 or '93 it's still an enjoyable read. The premise and the fact that this is just the first volume(a re-release even) show promise for the series as a whole(the fact that it got a several hundred episode anime, various other media, and its earlier succsess kind of also indicate that).
In this volume the best story would have to be the one dealing with a foreign princess and her country's great treasure. It's not an intro story so it lets the character develope a little more than they had previously. Some touchy-feely moments, fancy disguises, a tish of mystery and humor (the princess' appearnace mainly, along with Moon's reaction to just a smidge of alcohol by mistake), and what not all come together to make a good solid story. Jupiter's introduction after this story is the next best in the volume, probably due to the development the other got in the earlier story.
I also ended up grabbing a copy of Codename: Sailor V, a prequel of sorts that actually got Sailor Moon its start. It's essientially a bunch of one-shots collected together so its very episodic, but a bit more peppy. It only focuses on one girl (the one who hasn't joined up with the others yet in Moon) so it doesn't need to focus on introducing people all the time. It's episodic nature would lend itself well to an animated adaption, but here makes it a little tiring to read alot of in one sitting. It's best story is the Hawaii/Greece vaction one, its rather silly but sticks in my head more than the others. I think it's also the only multi-part one. It looks like it has some hints in it to the main story arc of the Moon series as a whole. Also enjoyable was a handful of cameos by some of the girls from the main series, though one was rather major probably done at the same time the main series was released.
Some notes on the actual books, they dont have any info on the back only some cute little pictures, and no ads for other books on the inside. They just go right on into the story, and the only things in the back are some translation notes, images of the rest of the books in the series, and in Sailor Moon a preview for volume two, an untranslated preview at that.
Back when Sailor Moon phenomenom was at its peak I didn't really care for comics or have cable to see the show. I knew it existed, and that it was a girly type show but that was it (well that and that there was a fun game on cartoonnetwork.com where you had to destroy particular colored monsters in a circle and not let one of the other girls [Jupiter?] go beserk and kill the other colors), so it never really caught my eye until
recently. I don't think I'll go out of my way to watch the show (maybe some movies but I doubt it), I have other things to watch and its 200+ episodes, but I think I will continue to snag the comics, at least volumes 2 of Moon and V. They're decent reads, classics to boot, and it is nice to see what alot of the older fans are making such a fuss about.
Some links of note; two tvtrope pages and the article that convinced me to look into the series and try it out.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SailorMoon
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagicalGirl
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/house-of-1000-manga/2011-03-03
