Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Sailor Moon R: Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie Review

A new and improved presentation of Sailor Moon R.

Sailor Moon R continues the wonderful saga of Sailor Moon and her crime fighting companions. The second season expands on the original season and adds to the legacy of the long-running series. An essential anime classic, Sailor Moon R is a wonderful second season and it amps up the drama and action quotient considerably.

Produced by Kenji Ōta (Princess Princess), Munehisa Higuchi (Neighborhood Story), and Iriya Azuma (Cutey Honey Flash), Sailor Moon R adapts the beloved manga by author Naoko Takeuchi. The anime features stunning animation produced by Toei Animation (Digimon, Dragon Ball). Sailor Moon remains the unrivaled masterwork of magical girl anime.

The series explores the journey from ordinary girl to magical superhero for Usagi Tsukino (Kotono Mitsuishi). Being 14 years old and struggling with homework is the least of her worries. Usagi sometimes finds her school work balance in peril because of her mission to save everyone from the evil clutches of villainous foes hell bent on destroying the universe.

Usagi does whatever she can to be her best at school while leading the good fight for justice – fighting every foe that comes between her and her friends. Yet that doesn’t stop Sailor Moon from struggling with some of the most basic things in life at times: her alarm clock is sometimes her greatest foe! Yet Sailor Moon is joined on her mission by the magical black cat Luna (Keiko Han).

As the battle of Sailor Moon R expands, all new foes threaten the fate of the universe. Yet perhaps the universe can survive after all. A new addition to the cast arrives when the young and pink haired Chibi Usa (Kae Araki) joins the epic odyssey of Sailor Moon R.

The second season continues to expand on the sailor guardian concept with Sailor Moon frequently accompanied by her co-stars Sailor Mercury (Aya Hisakawa), Sailor Mars (Michie Tomizawa), Sailor Jupiter (Emi Shinohara), and Sailor Venus (Rica Fukami). Then there’s Sailor Moon’s college age boyfriend, Tuxedo Mask (Toru Furuya). The team fights for justice against the Dark Kingdom.

Sailor Moon became a mega hit worldwide. The series is one of the most charming and delightful anime series ever made. As one of the most popular anime series of all time, Sailor Moon is an essential gem.

An anime essential.

Exploring the ongoing missions of Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Moon consistently finds interesting ways to explore the character dynamics. The cast is wonderful. Everything builds to a wonderful crescendo with the cast of characters. Given each character has distinctive qualities as superheroes, the team element plays out well – and the differences are compelling (with color-coordinated outfits and earth-oriented powers: such as fire and water).

Sailor Moon R continues to showcase the beautiful animation that helped make the series such a huge success. The art direction of Junichi Tanijuchi (Sailor Moon) is exquisite and as they continue to expand upon the art style of the first season. Sailor Moon R has incredible animation: breathtaking, lush, and detailed. The art imbues the production with a sense of raw energy and creativity.

The cell based and traditional animation style is one of the key reasons the series remains such a beautiful production. There is something remarkable about hand drawn animation and the unique manner in which the art helps to convey the storytelling. Modern animation might appear “sleeker” to some viewers but the traditional hand drawn animation seems more organic and unique.

The cell-based animation shines – providing the series animation with a sense of artistry reminiscent of quality paintings – the kind that you might find hanging up in an art gallery. The character designs by Kazuko Tadano (Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal) are part of the series charm as well.

One of the most charming and entertaining elements of Sailor Moon R is the original score composed by Takanori Arisawa (Digimon Frontier, Digimon Adventure). Sailor Moon R expands on the music from the original season. The saga builds on these memorable themes from composer Arisawa. The music is a delight with exceptional themes for the characters and a sense of worldbuilding that is essential. A fantastic score by Arisawa. The opening and closing themes are impeccable as well.

Written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa (Dragon Ball), Shigeru Yanagawa (Ranma ½), and Sukehiro Tomita (Yu Yu Hakusho), Sailor Moon R excels with exceptional storytelling. The production is well written and there is plenty to appreciate about the series. The manga is adapted well and the anime series finds a unique voice at the same time. The series might occasionally sidestep from the original manga but most audiences connected well with the creative style the anime offered and the second season is an absolute blast.

Kunihiko Ikuhara (Penguindrum) and Junichi Sato (Kaleido Star) serve as the chief directors of Sailor Moon R. Sailor Moon R continues the formula established by the original series. The second season expands on the saga and provides audiences with even more thrilling adventures with the cast of characters – as Sailor Moon and the others always strive to defeat the villains and save the world. Building on the concept, Sailor Moon R remains a thrilling entertainment (with first-rate direction). Classic anime doesn’t get much better than this. A gem.

Sailor Moon R: Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from VIZ Media, Sailor Moon R is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full frame. The series has a new presentation that exceeds that of the original release. The new presentation offers a significantly improved presentation.

The original release was one marred by some controversy with fans as the encoding was lackluster and had a number of presentation errors (artifacts and aliasing being some of the big detractors from the previous Sailor Moon R sets). The previously poor encodings was the result of some weak upscaling efforts from VIZ Media. For the complete collection, VIZ has course-corrected the presentation.

At the same time, even though this is a beautiful new master of Sailor Moon R, as derived from the Japanese upscale masters, Sailor Moon R could still theoretically look even better in high definition. Japanese distributor Toei Animation either couldn't locate the original master tapes or didn't want to pony up for the expensive restoration costs to be completely cell-based. As a result, Sailor Moon R has a worthwhile looking upscaled presentation but not a native 1080p master (scanned and restored entirely from film).

Considering the excellent work some distributors have done with restoring cell-based anime from film (such as the work being done by distributor Discotek Media), it is a bit frustrating that such an important anime classic hasn't received the same level of restorative treatment from Toei. Nonetheless, outside of an extensive and expensive restoration effort for the series happening in the future, Sailor Moon R looks significantly better on these newly improved upscaled presentations in comparison to past editions. This is the best the series looks on the Blu-ray format and until (or if) Toei can ever manage such an exhaustive restoration project, Sailor Moon fans will have to do with these quality upscales.

For Sailor Moon fans seeking the best available presentation of this beloved classic, VIZ Media did well to upgrade the upscales to the superior Japanese masters – and as a result the presentation no longer looks like an old and outdated master (with excessive DNR, aliasing, and artifacts as on the previous edition). The previous Sailor Moon R sets (released in "parts") offer an inferior presentation to this complete collection.

Sailor Moon R: Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release provides a selection of lossless audio options: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with English subtitles). The release provides the newer VIZ produced dubbed edition and not the original U.S. broadcast dub. The reason why is because the original English dub wasn't fully uncut and some edits were made the first go around. The audio is perhaps not as crisp as modern productions but it sounds reasonably clear and engaging. Purists will prefer the original Japanese language audio and the English subtitles provided on the edition are quite excellent (and are free from any significant spelling or grammatical errors).

Sailor Moon R: Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc 1:

Art Gallery with 10 click through illustrations.

Disc 2:

Art Gallery with 8 click through illustrations.

Disc 3:

AX Cast Interview (HD, 20:00)

Dub Recording Behind the Scenes – with Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter (HD, 15:41)

Clean Open & Ends (HD, 4:36)

Art Gallery with 6 click through illustrations.

Disc 4:

Art Gallery with 7 click through illustrations.

Disc 5:

Art Gallery with 5 click through illustrations.

Disc 6:

Welcome, Chibi-Usa! (HD, 7:05)

Sailor Moon Anniversary (HD, 3:35)

Sailor Moon at Otakon (HD, 19:38)

Dub Recording Behind the Scenes – with Sailor Venus and Sailor Pluto (HD, 11:51)

Art Gallery with 13 click through illustrations.

More from VIZ (HD, 1:40)

Sailor Moon R: Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sailor Moon R is the second season of the beloved anime franchise. Sailor Moon is one of the best anime series of all time. The series combines exceptional storytelling with beautiful animation for a rewarding experience. The Sailor Moon R: Complete Collection Blu-ray release from VIZ Media features new and improved upscaled presentations (surpassing the quality found on the previous VIZ Blu-ray editions).

Gone are the smeary DNR messes with excessive aliasing and artifacts. The new upscaled masters are from the Toei Japanese upscales. Until (or if) a proper cell-based restoration is completed from the ground up, Sailor Moon R won't look better on Blu-ray than it does on this edition. Fans will find the release worth picking up. An essential anime classic that belongs in the collection of every anime fan. Highly recommended.