Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon

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Image:PGSM Cover.jpg Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon was a tokusatsu TV series in the Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon fictional universe originally created by Naoko Takeuchi. It is created by Toei, the same company that produces the Super Sentai series, and genre to which the original story arguably also belongs (Toei also created the Sailor Moon anime). It came out in exclusively in Japan. It ran from 2003–2004, and was a retelling of the first major Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon arc (sometimes referred to as the 'Dark Kingdom' arc or just 'Classic') but with considerable plot "divergences" (if compared to the original manga).

The theme song is called "Kirari*Sailor Dream!" and was performed by J-Pop singer Sae. The lyrics were written by Naoko Takeuchi herself.

The series lasted 49 episodes, and also included two separate made for DVD specials.

1 DVD Specials
2 Changes in Story
- 2.1 New Sailor Senshi
3 Cast
4 External links

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DVD Specials

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

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Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: Special Act

A sequel to the series that portrayed the wedding of Mamoru and Usagi (which, in the anime, is first shown in the Dark Moon arc of Sailor Moon R). Before their nuptials they must do battle with Mio Kuroki who has been resurrected and claims to be the new queen of the Dark Kingdom. She kidnaps Mamoru and Usagi and forces Mamoru to marry her. However, the Shitennou are revived and help their master to defeat Mio's youma, Sword and Shield. Meanwhile, the Sailor Senshi, minus Sailor Mars who is bedridden with injuries from battle, use the Moon Sword provided by Queen Serenity to defeat Mio, who had turned into a giant plant monster.

Another thing to notice during the special act is the few sequences where Usagi seems to be getting increasingly ill (most notably during the scene where she is eating the dessert cakes and later when she and Mamoru are in Mio's palace). These allude to the viewer that Usagi may already be pregnant with her and Mamoru's daughter, Chibi-Usa. Due to the characters having black hair in their untransformed states, she would most likely have black hair as well.

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Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: Act Zero

The last special made for the series, ironically, is a prequel of sorts that leads directly to the first episode. In it we see how Minako Aino met Artemis and became Sailor V. She must use her newfound powers to foil a jewel thief called Cutie Kenko. Meanwhile Usagi and her friends decide to dress in their own homemade sailor fuku in order to scare the thieves away from the jewelry store owned by Naru Osaka's mother. The actors who portray the Shitennou are featured as unexperienced police officers for comic relief. The story ends with Luna coming to Earth in order to give Usagi her powers.

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Mini-Episodes

Act Zero also came with two mini-episodes. Each one was approximately five minutes long and told quick short stories. Hina Afterward showed what happened to the character of Hina after breaking off her engagement with Mamoru Chiba. Tuxedo Mask's Secret Birth showed the origin of the Tuxedo Mask persona and a henshin sequence that was put in mainly for laughs.

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Super Dance Lesson

A quick video hosted by Luna, Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Moon, that instructed the viewer how to perform the dances from different songs from PGSM. The dances included were for the songs "Romance" and "Here We Go! -Shinjiru Chikara-" Also demonstrated were "C'est La Vie~ The Loving Part Inside me" and "Kirari*Sailor Dream!" although no formal instructions were given on how to dance to them.

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Kirari Super Live!

This is DVD footage of the live-stage show of the same name. Kirari Super Live featured the actors and actresses from the show singing and dancing to the various songs from the show. The cast of the musical of 2004 was purportedly part of the audience.

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Changes in Story

Although Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (dubbed PGSM by fans) is an adaptation/remake/retelling of the first manga story arc, there are many differences that set it apart from the manga and anime. In fact it could be classififed as being closer to the manga in some instances, but even further from the manga then the anime was in others. The story lines are more character-based and driven, focusing on the girls' civilian lives and their connection to the past. While the first few episodes seemed directly based on anime and manga story lines, by the time Sailor Jupiter had arrived, the show was starting to spin off in its own direction. Additionally, Usagi and Rei's relationship is closer in spirit to the manga; while they have their disagreements, it never gets to the heated level that it got to in the anime.

It is also possible that this series is in fact a complete reboot of the Sailor Moon universe, which means that in order to fully understand this series, one would need to forget everything one knew about "Sailor Moon", the characters, and the universe. This has been evidenced by Kodansha releasing an all-new version of the manga, with Takeuchi rewriting certain parts of it partially to reflect this series and partially to reflect modern times.

For example, in the original version, there was a scene involving Ami and a cassette tape. In the new version, the tape is replaced by a MiniDisc.

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New Sailor Senshi

With the new adaptation of the show, new Sailor Senshi were added to give it originality and depth.

Sailor Luna - Many secondary characters were modified, most notably Luna. A human-version of the character Luna appears in this live-action series as a young girl that transforms by use of her magical cell phone - she presses the numbers 6, 7 and 2 and says "Luna Prism Power, Make Up!" to transform into Sailor Luna. Initially, she appears as a plush cat and then continues to switch between plush cat and human. Sneezing causes her to lose her human form. Even though she is a plush cat, when Sailor Luna is in her human form she acts much like a normal cat would. Initially, many American fans thought she would serve as the show's counterpart to the original story's Chibiusa due to the character being a child and a Sailor Guardian. The character of Luna does have a human form in the original manga story of Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (and the animated movie for the Sailor Moon S series), although she is portrayed as being older (early 20s to early 30s). Takeuchi Naoko personally designed Sailor Luna herself, perhaps using Sailor Chibi Moon as a model.

As Sailor Luna, she is the "Guardian of Small and Cute Things" and uses candy in her powers. Her only named attack is Luna Sucré Candy in which she makes a barrage of candy and cookies and small explosions attack the enemy (similar to Sailor Chibi Moon's "Pink Sugar Heart Attack"). She also has her own Moon Stick that she can turn into a paper fan used to beat enemies. In one episode she was able to turn the stick into a butterfly net, and in another she turned it into a golden fan. The transformation power of the item altogether was similar to Chibiusa's Luna-P item. She also moved very swiftly and once used a super hearing ability through her candy powers.

Dark Sailor Mercury - Also known as Dark Mercury or Darkury. When Ami (as opposed to Mamoru in the manga and anime) was kidnapped by Kunzite, he used his powers to turn her evil and she became Dark Mercury. As Dark Mercury she was granted a new henshin device that was connected to a black leather strap. Her suit also changed giving her black, tribal designs on her collar and boots and a dark butterfly design on her bow. She also had black tooling on her back bow, under her skirt and under her collar. Her tiara also changed into a tribal design. Her transformation phrase was "Dark Power, Make up!".

Ami's attitude changed drastically as Dark Mercury, especially in her civilian form. However, certain aspects still remained. She still wanted to do well in school, so instead of confronting Usagi during classes, she brainwashed her classmates. She also seemed to have at least some sympathy for people, which was evident when she sewed Nephrite's cape for him, stating that she hated to see anybody be alone.

As Dark Mercury, Ami's powers were the same, but infused with dark energy. She never had a proper attack phrase, but often used a sword made of ice that she made from an icicle. In promotional pictures prior to her premiere, she was shown with a different sword, which seemed to have strings on it like a harp.

She eventually reverted to her former self, after feeling remorse for hurting Usagi. Also, Kunzite seemed to have feelings for her after she became evil.

This story arc "replaces" the "Dark Endymion" arc from the manga and anime.

Princess Sailor Moon - Usually referred to as simply "The Princess" (and twice referred to as Princess Serenity by Sailor Venus in act 25 and act 36), Princess Sailor Moon was Sailor Moon's powered-up form for the series. However, in contrast to previous versions of the story, Princess Sailor Moon was actually introduced when she was "possessed" by the spirit of her former self, ending up being a bit more sinister (this is indicated by her lower-pitched voice, as compared to Usagi's, which is perky). She originally appeared after Queen Beryl took the Shitennou hostage in exchange for Mamoru. Sailor Moon transformed into Princess Sailor Moon and halted Queen Beryl using her sword (which later could be turned into a harp). It was obvious, however, that Princess Sailor Moon was not the same as Usagi when she showed no remorse for the fate of the Shitennou (at least Nephrite's fate), and she referred to Mamoru as "Endymion" instead of "Mamoru".

Princess Sailor Moon later went on to be a major plot point, often showing Usagi trying to suppress her power in fear that she would eventually destroy the world, somthing that came to light in the series' fanale in an Ideon like fashion (the princess takes Ideon's role in the end of the world). Her internal conflict ended up being the major conflict for the rest of the series.

Princess Sailor Moon had a sword, which also doubled as a harp with invisible strings. By playing a melody on her harp she could extract the life energy from people, much in the same way that the Dark Kingdom could do so. However, it was also shown she could heal people with the harp as well. Using the sword, she could deflect enemy attacks and perform an unnamed finishing move that was devastating to say the least. She also had the ability to float using the giant bow on her back.

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