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Description:
As the Sailor Moon TV episodes tend to be repetitive, the sustained stories in the features allow the artists to explore the familiar characters in a little more depth. In all three films, Serena and her friends Amy, Raye, Lita, and Mina (Usagi, Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Minako in Japanese), aided by Darren (Mamoru), fight off aliens bent on destroying the world. In the R movie (1993), the villain is Fiore, who is held in thrall by the sinister Kisenian Flower. In the S movie (1994), Kaguya wants to encase the Earth in ice; Badiyanu kidnaps children and uses their "dream energy" to create a planet-engulfing black hole in Super S (1995). The two later films include "Outer Scouts" Michiru, Haruka, and Setsuna, a.k.a. Sailors Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto. R enjoys the best reputation among fans and has the most interesting story. Fiore treats Serena as a rival for Darren's affections, and the subtitles suggest the attachment is quite passionate; the dubbed version sounds tamer. A weird subplot in which Luna the cat falls in love with the kindhearted astronomer Kakeru throws the S movie out of kilter. Super S offers imaginative visuals, including elaborate CG effects and brightly colored backgrounds. All three films provide the broad humor, budding adolescent romance, magic, and affirmations of the power of friendship that Sailor Moon fans expect. Suggested 13 Up: Violence, brief nudity. The VHS editions are edited and are suitable for age 6 and up. --Charles Solomon
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