Sailor Moon Supers
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Sailor Moon Supers is the shortened title of Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon Supers (美少女戦士セーラームーン SuperS Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn Sūpāzu?), the fourth major story arc and series in the Sailor Moon anime. The "Supers" in the title is pronounced [súːpāzŭ] (as in more than one "super") and typeset "SuperS" in the series eyecatches.
This arc is largely centered on the character of Chibiusa,[1] who is brought to the same level of prominence as the title character, Usagi Tsukino. In the anime, she gains her own cat guardian, Diana, although in the manga Diana had first appeared in the second arc. She is visited in her dreams by a being called Pegasus who seeks her help in escaping the Dead Moon Circus. This is led by the evil Queen Nehellenia and her second-in-command, Zirconia. They command the Amazon Trio and the Amazoness Quartet to search Earth for Pegasus and for the Golden Crystal.
This arc was the least popular of the five anime series in the United States because of the slow-moving plot and the increase in sugary cuteness.[2]
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[edit] Story
During an eclipse of the sun, a strange circus floats into Jūban, Tokyo, but no one seems to take notice. The Dead Moon Circus has discovered that the Golden Crystal is possessed by one Pegasus, who is hiding in the beautiful dream of an unknown human. It is the job of the Amazon Trio to find this person and capture Pegasus. Pegasus is hiding in someone's dreams. To find Pegasus, the Dead Moon Circus remove innocent people's dream mirrors. Dream Mirrors, when removed from their hosts, make it possible to literally look inside someone's dreams. After many failed attempts, Zirconia allows the Amazoness Quartet to exterminate the Trio and take over. They eventually learn that they can discern Pegasus's presence at once just by looking at the mirror's color—a golden mirror will be the one with Pegasus inside.
They are ultimately thwarted by the Sailor Senshi, and Queen Nehellenia is returned to her banishment inside the mirror. Here, though trapped and in solitude, she can retain her false dream and remain beautiful and young forever.
In the anime, Nehellenia returns for the first arc of Sailor Stars when her seal is broken by an unknown female. This person is later revealed to be Sailor Galaxia, who knew that her jealousy towards Sailor Moon and her sorrow in her solitary life would ensure the premature awakening of Sailor Saturn. Nehellenia tries to steal Mamoru Chiba away from the Moon Princess, but Usagi uses the power of her forgiveness to give Nehellenia a second chance at life.
[edit] Production
The manga version of the story arc, created by Naoko Takeuchi, is called Dream. It was first published in book form by Kodansha in 1995-1996, encompassing Acts 34-42 (volumes 12-15 of the original manga, 7-10 of the re-released editions). In the late 1990s, the manga series was released in English by Tokyopop, though as of May 2005 it is out of print.[3]
Because the series was already so popular, Toei Animation started adapting Supers into an anime before it was even finished. As a result, there are significant differences in the thematic tone of the two adaptations.[2] The series spans episode 128 through episode 166—39 in all. Its first episode was aired on March 4, 1995. It was dubbed into English in 2000, and no episodes were cut.
By the time SuperS was released, the original audience of the Dark Kingdom arc had largely grown out of Sailor Moon. The story's focus fell on Chibiusa as it was believed that the new, younger fans of Sailor Moon could more easily identify with her. However, Kunihiko Ikuhara's use of weighty subtexts and fairy tales were not appreciated by the audience.[1]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Clements, Jonathan; McCarthy, Helen (2001-09-01). The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917, 1st ed., Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press, p. 338. ISBN 1-880656-64-7. OCLC 47255331.
- ^ a b In Defense of Supers. Retrieved on 2007-05-30.
- ^ Tokyopop Out of Print. Retrieved on 2006-10-18.
- Takeuchi, Naoko (September 6, 1995). Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Volume 12. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-178814-0.
- Takeuchi, Naoko. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Volume 13. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-178820-5.
- Takeuchi, Naoko (March 6, 1996). Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Volume 14. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-178826-4.
- Takeuchi, Naoko (July 5, 1996). Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Volume 15. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-178835-3.
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