Sailor Moon R: Season 2, Part 2 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		1.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Sailor Moon R: Season 2, Part 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 14, 2017

Viz Pictures has released 'Sailor Moon R: Season 2, Part 2' to Blu-ray as a three Blu-ray (plus 3 DVD) set that has been made to fit perfectly inside the pricey but desirable limited edition box set which also includes R Part 1. This set, as with the previous 'Sailor Moon' releases, will certainly prove to be controversial considering its troubled and disappointing 1080p video presentation. Read on for more on the season and the Blu-ray presentation.

Some spoilers follow.

R Part 2 picks up right where R Part 1 ended. The Dark Moon Clan is attacking Tokyo and has its eye on capturing Chibi-Usa. The Sailor Guardians, of course, are trying to stop them and keep Chibi safe. As the season progresses, the Sailor Guardians learn more about Chibi-Usa's mysterious past as they battle enemies attacking not only in the Sailors' time, but in Chibi's, too. Meanwhile, a confused Usagi continues to try to win back the affections of Mamoru who claims he doesn’t love her but continues to rescue her as Tuxedo Mask anytime she's in trouble.

As it was with R Part 1, characters continue to grow and develop and the audience becomes more in-tune with who they are on both sides of their personas and learns new and interesting angles to their relationships with one another. More and more character episodes are included that help better define various aspects of who they are, one of the best coming when Minako is left to nurse her friends back to health, all of whom have come down with the flu. Chibi-Usa's character comes more into focus, both as the Guardians learn more about her but as she learns more about them, including their split identities. Her relationship with Usagi is one of the main focal points as their bond grows ever closer as they work together to save Crystal Tokyo and as they come to realize and understand their shared bond. Feline heroes Luna and Artemis grow substantially throughout this half of the season as well as they further their roles in aiding the Guardians' battles with bad guys.

One of the more interesting aspects from this part of season two is in the way the Guardians deal with enemies. Rather than simply vanquishing them, they come to understand them and help them. Many of the attacks from throughout this half of the season come at the hands of the Spectre Sisters. As the battles rage, the Guardians come to realize that much of what makes them the antagonistic foes they are is a lack of love; they've never experienced it, shared it, understood it. Instead of simply destroying them to save the day, the Guardians are able to transform them into normal humans to experience the joys of life, just without their powers, reinforcing one of the season's themes that revolves around second chances for all. The Black Lady adds some interesting sparks and spice to the end of the season as Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask attempt to convince her that Wiseman has lied to her and she is not really alone. The character portrayal as a lonely, unloved, and unwanted person resonates deeply with the season's themes and stories, and with the audience, too, allowing for some deeper exploration and richer themes beyond the simple actions that make the show exciting.

Sailor Moon R: Season 2, Part 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sailor Moon R: Season 2, Part 2's 1080p transfer regrettably and irritatingly carries on with the previous split season one's well-documented problems, as well as those featured in this season's first half. Rather than regurgitate all the drama and dissect the image all over again, it seems best to simply refer readers to the previous releases' comprehensive breakdowns and know to expect more or less the same basic visual presentation here. All of the core problems remain, and though the image maintains a base foundational boost in overall color and clarity thanks to the 1080p resolution, it's otherwise a disaster, so troubled even those who generally dismiss any video deficiencies will be left wondering what went wrong. Few Blu-ray releases exhibit so many problems, consistently and egregiously, as this; a poor master has been put through the processing ringer and come out much worse for wear. Please click here and here for more.

Sailor Moon R: Season 2, Part 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As with previous season releases, Sailor Moon R: Season 2 Part 2 features a pair of DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtracks, one each for the original Japanese and newly dubbed English voice presentations. The lack of surround implantation can limit some scenes, particularly when big action, would-be immersive reverberation, or ambient support plays. Stretch to the edges is impressive, depth and detail are decent, and pinpoint effects and transitional sounds are presented with generally adequate placement. There are definitely some instances -- more than is ideal to be sure -- where music and effects go more shrilly and unkempt than tight and precise, but the presentation generally satisfies with adequate clarity and balance along the front. Dialogue is clear and pushes naturally to the center. There's not much difference in the tracks; dialogue has a slightly different pitch, but music and effects are effectively identical.

Sailor Moon R: Season 2, Part 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Sailor Moon R: Season 2 Part 2 contains galleries on all three discs and additional extras on disc three. Note that a humorous "bonus episode" which recaps this season and previews next season is included.

Disc One:

• Gallery (1080p): Still images including various poses of Chibi-Usa, Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Venus, and a group shot of all of the Guardians in their school girl costumes.

Disc Two:

• Gallery (1080p): Still images including several poses of Sailor Pluto, a group shot of the Sailor Guardians, and Chibi-Usa with Sailor Pluto, Neo-Queen Serenity, and King Endymion.

Disc Two:

• Sailor Moon at Otakon (1080p, 19:39): An interview with Stephanie Sheh (Sailor Moon) & Robbie Daymond (Tuxedo Mask) in which they discuss their roles on the show, their adventures at Otakon, their thoughts on the characters they play, and the show in general.
• Dub Recording Behind-the-Scenes (1080p, 11:52): Cherami Leigh (Sailor Venus) discusses her role, meeting the fans, and becoming her character. Veronica Taylor (Sailor Pluto) discusses recording her scenes, getting to know her character, and the science tie-ins to the show.
• Welcome, Chibi-Usa! (1080p, 7:06): Sandy Fox (Chibi-Usa) discusses her role on the show and voicing two versions of her character. Amanda Miller, Stephanie Sheh, Chermai Leigh, and Christina Vee join in to share their thoughts about Chibi-Usa's parentage and their favorite episodes involving Chibi-Usa.
• Sailor Moon Anniversary (1080p, 3:35): A visit to Anime Central 2015 in Chicago to celebrate Sailor Moon. The piece includes interviews with cosplay fans and scenes of fans celebrating the show.
• Gallery (1080p): Still images including two images of Black Lady, Usagi, Ami, Makoto, Minako, Rei, a group shot of the Guardians, Tuxedo Mask, Chibi-Usa, and a group shot of Neo-Queen Serenity, Sailor Moon, and Chibi-Usa.
• Clean Opening (1080p, 1:33): With English and Romaji subtitles.
• Clean Ending (1080p, 1:31): With English and Romaji subtitles.
• Trailers (1080p): Additional Viz Pictures titles.

Sailor Moon R: Season 2, Part 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sailor Moon R: Season 2 Part 2 stands as another fine collection that expands on the Sailor Moon universe. Action is plentiful but so too are much more satisfying character arcs, discoveries, and a sense of compassion and humanity that adds much to the season and the Sailor Moon universe. Unfortunately, the set is, again, besieged with video problems. Audio is fine and supplements are decent. It's hard to recommend given the poor video quality. The show is definitely worth watching, but fans will have to weigh their love of the material with the shoddy video quality. At a rock-bottom sale; pick it up for sure. Otherwise, cross those fingers and hope for a future reissue with the many video kinks ironed out.