Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon Act 1 Review

Introduction, Part 1:

Recently, it was confirmed that in 2023, Sailor Moon Crystal would finally adapt the Star Arcs with two films under the title of "Sailor Moon Cosmos." The Sailor Moon Manga is my favorite series ever, the Stars Arc being my favorite arc and the 11 chapters that contain it being collectively my favorite story ever, so this was a very exciting, mildly emotional event for me. Being set to release in Summer of 2023, I figure I have somewhere in the ballpark of 60 weeks before it happens, give or take and assuming it isn't delayed. The original Sailor Moon Manga has 60 chapters called "acts." This was the motivation I've been waiting for to finally review fully my favorite series, doing weekly reviews of each act. I'm going to try to keep up a consistent weekly schedule, but I'm bad at doing things consistently. 

Introduction, Part 2:

It's difficult to know what to say about Act 1 of Sailor Moon, being in Japan at least one of the most iconic first installments of any series ever, parodied and referenced in numerous places. Before it begins I want to talk briefly about the full title of the series and the series origin. "Bishojo" is a term meaning pretty/cute girl, and "Senshi" means "Soldier" or "Warrior." "Bishojo Senshi" therefore is a seemingly paradoxical term of "pretty girl warrior." However that contrast is part and parcel of what made Sailor Moon such a revolutionary series for young girls in it's time. That a cute girl, a symbol of innocent and delicateness might also be a powerful warrior was meant to be a striking image.

 At the time of Sailor Moon's creation, Kodansha, a large manga publishing company that published among other things the Shojo magazine "Nakayoshi" and Toei, a massive animation studio would regularly start franchises at approximately at the same time as manga and anime with the idea of making a larger multimedia franchise where the manga and anime would help mutually advertise each other. With the ending of the fairly large shojo anime "Goldfish Warning", a new series was wanted to replace its timeslot on television. Nakayoshi wanting to move away from slice of life romance stories wanted to start incorporating more fantasy stories and after the shift from Studio Pierrot away from producing annual Magical Girl series, the genre was wide open for someone new to take a crack at it. 

The writer of Sailor Moon, Naoko Takeuchi who had already gotten success at Nakayoshi from her prior work "The Cherry Project', wanted to make a series about "girl fighters' and "outer space", drawing from her absolutely immense wellspring of inspirations, she wrote a one-shot story about a fighting magical girl which at her editor's suggestion she put in a Sailor Fuku. This was Sailor V and was immediatly a success, but someone at Toei suggested to her an even more ambitious idea and asked her to make a whole team of Magical Girls. Naoko Takeuchi talked when designing the main character of this new team, Usagi Tsukino, that she wanted to create a more relatable imperfect heroine for young girls to share their experiences with.This was Sailor Moon, a hit widely beyond even Sailor V's success, a magical girl unlike any seen before, and the dawn of Nakayoshi's most famous series that doubled its readership during the first arc, and one of the most famous anime/manga franchises of all time. While prior magical girl series were often fun slice of life fantasy adventures, when Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon came out, one of the first reviews done in Newtype Magazine confusedly but dramatically declared that Sailor Moon was "A new type of magical girl!"

The Actual Act:

The Act begins with a newspaper saying that a figure "Sailor V" stopped the thieves again, saving a diamond and busting a gang of thieves. If you had read Sailor V before now, you might think this is the writer including a cute reference to one of her other series into her new manga series, or given the title picture of a Sailor Suited girl and the title, you might think that this "Sailor Moon" is somehow related to Sailor V, another one of the "chosen ones" from Sailor V. If you don't know anything about Sailor V, then this opening tells you that this is a world where costumed crime-fighters exist though it's not clear if they have special powers or not.

The person reading the newspaper, Ikuko Tsukino, says to herself that her daughter Usagi is "nothing like her" in a bit of humorous ironic foreshadowing and it cuts to Usagi waking up and panicing to get ready for school despite waking up late. Usagi then introduces herself to the readers, explaining she's Usagi Tsukino, 14 years old and in 8th grade, describing herself as "a bit of a crybaby" with a cute little picture of a rabbit sniffling. If you aren't aware in Japan a rabbit looking pattern it seen on the moon and there is folktalks of rabbits living on and coming from the moon, referenced in Usagi's name. Usagi means "Rabbit', Tsuki means "Moon." Usagi Tsukino therefore literally means "Rabbit of the Moon." Usagi, in her haste accidentally trips over a cat with a crescent moon shape on its head, which she hastily apologizes too and kisses and removes bandages the cat paws at annoyedly, showing her first positive trait, her compassion for others. 

Usagi is my favorite character of all time, and I think act one does a fantastic job setting up her character. 4 pages into the story, not including things like title pages and the like, Naoko has alongside setting up other developments, introduced Usagi as a clumsy irresponsible crybaby that nonthless has great compassion within her. 

After that the act continues to showcase Usagi's nature as a flawed relatable protagonist while introducing some other characters showing her getting in trouble in school, getting a bad grade on a test, eating her lunch early when she's supposed to be standing in the hall etc. It's arguably a bit repetitive, but I think it makes the character moment later in the chapter stand out. This part also introduces us to numerous other characters, Usagi's "ladylike" friend Naru, the nerd in their class Umino, their teacher Haruna-sensei, Usagi's little brother Shingo, the manager of the local game arcade Motoki and a strange fellow dressed all in dark clothing with dark sunglasses, looking all serious, Mamoru Chiba. One thing that I think is, maybe not a flaw exactly in the first chapter, but is somewhat suboptimal is that outside of Mamoru Chiba all of these characters are minor characters at best for the rest of the manga, yet the presentation quickly in the first chapter might make you suspect they're important.

I understand that the mundane-ness of the chapter early on makes the magical events of the chapter later seem more dramatic by comparison, and I also understand that the reason these characters are given importance is that we're following Usagi and these being the regularly important people in Usagi's civilian life, they are important to her, especially at this moment. But returning to it in retrospect, it does somewhat feel like Naoko had bigger plans for these characters and it's somewhat strange so much of the first act is taken up by random civilian characters that will show up a handful of times in the manga at most. 

Speaking of the mundane-ness of the start, I also like how they very slowly start to feed in supernatural elements. It starts with Sailor V on the newspaper and Usagi's class speculating about her, going further with Mamoru after Usagi has left saying to himself mysteriously that maybe this jewel store has it...the "Silver Crystal." and Morga's mother saying to herself sinisterly she needs more of their "youthful energy." All of this is could individually be execused as a strange detail in a more mundane Shojo's first chapter, but it builds the atmosphere of the chapter. This is what one of the things I think the Sailor Moon manga, and the franchise in general does best, creative a strong sense of atmsophere. The normal mundane life of Usagi the schoolgirl as normal as can be at first, seems to be drenched in supernatural elements creeping in the shadows. Strange and important events are going on all around Usagi though she only has the most basic awareness of it. 

It's a feeling I don't know if is universal...the sensation as you go through life that uncountable strange and hidden things are occuring all around you and you can just barely sense the edge of it. Not neccesarily supernatural like the manga, but every person and event you come across holds its own story, may contain its own huge secret world that impacts you.

Halfway through the act the secret world starts to reveal itself. Tuxedo Kamen first appears transformed at the jewelry store, sneaking around as it's revealed Naru's mother is something...else. She holds a container of....energy...declaring her evil scheme to steal everyone's energy and when Naru comes searching for her....turns her head revealing a glassy otherworldy eye and fangs. Once again we see a slow build-up of the supernatural elements to this first revelation. It's so quick it may leave a reader to wonder if it even meant what it seemed...is Naru's mother really some otherworldy monster?

Cuts back to Usagi. Usagi previously played the Sailor V game, and now is having a dream of being a Sailor Senshi "like Sailor V" rescuring Motoki and Luna from a dragon. While more funny foreshadowing for what's about to happen, this also is the first instance of a major theme in the Sailor Moon manga, that being dreams and their ability to divine a truth we aren't aware off. That Usagi dreams even now of being a Sailor Senshi reinforces Usagi's desire to be a heroine as she stated back when playing the Sailor V game and is a looking glass into her true identity. 

The dream is interrupted by Luna, the cat from earlier, waking her up and to Usagi's shock, speaking to her. Luna says that the bandage those kids put on her as a prank covered her crescent moon and inhibited her "locator" abilities and kept her from locating Usagi. This will come up much later. Usagi does the common gag of thinking she's still asleep and tries to go back to bed but Luna grants her a present, a magical brooch. As Usagi admires herself with the brooch in the mirror, Luna tells her that "strange incidents" are happening across Tokyo, things the police can't stop. She goes on to say Usagi is one of the chosen ones, and that she must find the find her "allies" and the princess and stop their enemy. This leads into Usagi's first henshin.

Immediatly after transforming Usagi hears Naru's cries in her hair bauble and sees them in her goggles being attacked by a creepy clawed hand belonging to "Naru's mother." Then comes my favorite part of the first act, possibly the most important part of the act. Sailor Moon declares to Luna that she doesn't know what's going on, but her friend Naru is in danger, she has to go help her.

A major theme of Sailor Moon is the ennobling power of love, the strange ability of love to make us rise to become better people than we were before. Usagi this whole chapter has been shown to be the exact unheroic type; she's compassionate sure and she wants to be a hero, but she's cowardly, a crybaby, irresponisible, avoids conflicts. But even an unreliable person can be greater for the people they love. In such a beautifully underplayed way, the manga tells it's reader, even if you're an insecure scared young girl like Usagi, you can be a hero! It's somewhat akin to the moment in MHA where All-Might tells Deku that despite lacking a quirk that he too can be a hero, though while that's a large pronounced moment, this is in contrast underplayed. The narrative doesn't draw attention to it, it takes for granted a young girl, even one whose a cowardly crybaby, would rush to help her friend from danger. It is to me, the moment Usagi first REALLY becomes Sailor Moon, the champion of love and justice. 

Meanwhile we see Tuxedo Kamen sneaking around as "Naru's mother" continues to degenerate in humanity, revealing itself as a monsterous figure "Morga." Morga tells Naru her real mother is actually trapped and starving in the basement. This is something that doesn't super make sense on any reflection. This Morga is obviously a horrendous monster without regard for human life, why would she not just kill Naru's mother. I know narratively that would be probably seen as a gruesome and needlessly dark thing to put into a Shojo manga, but Naoko DID draw attention to it. This will be a recurring semi-issue in Sailor Moon. Things will make sense emotionally, symbolically, narratively, but will sometimes seem somewhat strange and arbitrary taken literally. 

Sailor Moon shows up and demands Morga stops. Morga asks her to identify herself and Sailor Moon stutters for a bit until Luna nyan's at the Moon, causing Sailor Moon to declare herself the Champion of Love and Justice, Sailor Moon. Morga declares "Sailor Moon? I've never heard of something like that!" which I mean, is decently funny but what? She hasn't heard of Sailor V? You'd think the Dark Kingdom would be staying up to date on the Sailor Senshi, especially one whose pretending to the Moon Princess, but that's a super nitpick.

Morga brainwashes the humans she's stolen the energy from and they all somehow instantly get to the Jewelry store before attacking Sailor Moon. Usagi...doesn't do that well

Once again showing that Usagi is a highly flawed heroine at the beginning of the series, meant to be a relatable teenage girl with insecurities and not used to fighting. 

Usagi then cries which is amplified by her hairpiece to create a "supersonic wave" that knocks out the zombies and disorients the monster. A common trope about girls is that girls are more emotional then guys, sometimes stated too be too emotional. I love how the Magical Girl genre turns statements like that on their heads, saying that the emotions of girls are powerful things. Even though Usagi is acting fairly unheroic, and is in a moment of vulnerability her tears are still strong enough to be used as a weapon.

Tuxedo Kamen emerges from the shadows to tell Usagi to stop crying because now's her chance as Morga has gone completely defenseless from the crying. I won't compare the manga to the anime very much but I find it weird that the anime turned this scene around where Usagi starts crying to little effect, Tuxedo Kamen tells her that crying won't help, and then Usagi cries more knocking out Morga's minions and weakening Morga. The way the anime does it seems almost done to make Tuxedo Kamen look purposefully wrong but in the manga Tuxedo Kamen is completely right here.

So Sailor Moon does her iconic tiara throw attack where she takes off her tiara and throws it at the villain where it proceeds to SLICE OFF HER HEAD

Prior to Sailor Moon, magical girl series tended to be pretty innocent and childish, but Sailor Moon has this super adult edge to it and will just suddenly go into brutal violence, sexuality, or dark subject matter and I kinda love it. I love the way Naoko takes inspirations and styles from anywhere she damn well pleased, and didn't care that it was seen as strange for the genre. You certainly weren't going to see Flower Witch Mary Bell slice off someone's head with a pretty princess tiara

Something common to all my favorite series and especially seen in Sailor Moon is taking inspirations from a very large variety of sources so that when you return to the series, you see more than you didn't see before. There are parts of Sailor Moon I don't understand currently, or understand only the basics because it's tied into subjects I don't know like cars or fashion or chemistry yet that's part of what makes the work so exciting. 

Anyway after having her neck sliced, Morga turns to dust...I presume from the Tiara or something? and Tuxedo Kamen addresses Sailor Moon saying he didn't find the "Silver Crystal" but he did find something very interesting and leaving. Usagi mentions she's heard the voice before referring to the earlier brief conversation with Mamoru she had...because in the manga there isn't the weird "disguise magic" and people can tell the Senshi and their civilian identities are one and the same (as they can with Mamoru) if they see both.

Usagi is immediatly smitten with Tuxedo Kamen and even Luna congratulating her on a job well done, telling her that this is one step in the enemy invasion and even carrying her off by her hair does not break her stupor as everyone in the Jewelry store awakens from Morga's magic

meanwhile, a bishonen-looking boy in a military uniform, Jadeite (though he is not named this chapter) looks on from a crystal ball saying that Sailor Moon has some nerve, and that he will do whatever it takes the Silver Crystal, setting up an ominous greater scope villain to fight as well as more subtly hinting at a villain hierarchy. That he considers Sailor Moon a brat for killing Morga suggests he was connected to her and he's more powerful given his lack of worry and his military uniform suggests something akin to a military organization. 

The chapter ends with Usagi listening in to her friends at school talking about the incident with Morga, and sadly concluding to herself that she guesses that means it wasn't a dream afterall.

Talking about Act 1 is, as mentioned above, very difficult just because it's so iconic. It's like asking how you would review the first appearence of Superman or Spider-Man, especially if you're as close to this franchise as I am. I don't think Sailor Moon has the absolute best start in all of fiction or anything. My favorite start to a series as a self-contained story would be the first episode of Yu Yu Hakusho, and my favorite start to a series AS a start to a series would be the first episode of Princess Tutu. With that said I think Sailor Moon's start is REALLY good for a first chapter, in both regards above, and it's not hard to see why it was immediatly popular.

As a self-contained story Act 1 of Sailor Moon is mysterious and more than almost anything atmospheric. It starts by introducing a fairly mundane Shojo set up with a relatable flawed protagonist slowly dribbling in supernatural elements until suddenly Usagi metaphorically crosses into the Underworld, into the mystical fairy other world where strange supernatural things happen. Usagi also has both clear characterization an clear character development in just the first chapter. It has a sense of mystery and intrigue and it says to the viewer even if you think you're just a crybaby, you too can be a hero for the ones you love.

And it also sets up the series well. It doesn't set up that many characters that will be important for more than 3 chapters but it does set up Usagi, Mamoru, Luna, most of the minor civilian characters of importance, the temporary villain Jadeite as well as the villain hierarchy, the Silver Crystal, that Usagi is one of the chosen one the "Sailor Senshi", the need to find "the princess", and Sailor V. 

It does spend kind of a while on the more mundane things that really aren't what the story of Sailor Moon will be about mostly but that's sort of neccesary to highlight the strangeness of the supernatural and to set up Usagi's characterization so I'm not really sure one could improve that. The fight with Morga is also really basic and the magic system is also completely unexplained, which will be a recurring issue with the manga. It's not one I feel that strongly about, but is it there and it may bother. It also has a couple of contrivances for the sake of being a manga for teen girls such as Morga for some reason leaving Naru's mom alive...though nothing that really impacts its message in my eyes and also Naoko shows she's perfectly willing to ignore that if she feels like it with Sailor Moon cutting off Morga's head. 

Overall however, Act 1 of Sailor Moon is classic for a reason. It's a start that fills with mystery and intrigue, introduces us into a strongly atmospheric world with characters of strong personalities, and contains some I think very well integrated archetypes and themes of someone unreliable and cowardly becoming heroic for the sake of those she loves. What astounds me is that Act 1 of Sailor Moon is average for a Sailor Moon chapter, there are worse chapters and there are much better chapters. This is the baseline for this manga.