Sailor Moon’s first movie, Sailor Moon R: The Promise of the Rose, based off its anime was a major hit in Japan and worldwide in its 1993 release.
Highlights
- The Sailor Moon R Movie introduces the character Fiore, a friend from Mamoru’s past with dangerous hidden intentions.
- Usagi and the Sailor Senshi face off against Fiore and his army of Xenian creations on an asteroid heading towards Earth.
- The movie ends with a heart-wrenching sacrifice, tying together the past and present with a poignant resolution.
The Sailor Moon R Movie, known also by its dub release name, Sailor Moon R: The Promise of the Rose, hit the big screen in 1993 in Japan before moving on to the English dub release in 2000. The film is the first of three features covering events from the series of the Sailor Moon anime, acting as stories that occur between seasons, making them canon to the main story line. Due to the knowledge Chibiusa has of the true identity of the Sailor Senshi, Sailor Moon‘s first feature film takes place after Episode 77, “Our Feelings are the Same! Usagi and Mamoru in Love Once Again” and Episode 82, “Journey to the Future! Battle in the Space-Time Corridor“. The two standalone sequels that follow the first film, titled Sailor Moon S: The Movie and Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie, were released in 1994 and 1995, respectively.
Animation director Kazuko Tadano was responsible for the film’s visual presentation, having served in 13 episodes of the Sailor Moon R series in the same role. Sukehiro Tomita serves as the film’s writer, having played a part in 36 episodes of Sailor Moon R, including fan favorite Episode 68, titled “Protect Chibiusa! Clash of the Ten Warriors“, an episode that covers thorough planning of each Sailor Senshi battling their rival counterpart. The Sailor Moon R Movie was well received among critics, earning an A- from Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network, and a positive review from Charles Solomon of the Los Angeles Times.
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What is the Sailor Moon R Movie About?
Director | Kunihiko Ikuhara |
|---|---|
Writer | Sukehiro Tomita |
Animation Director | Kazuko Tadano |
Runtime | 61 Minutes |
Release Date | December 5, 1993 (Japan), February 8, 2000 (North American dub) |
The Sailor Moon R Movie starts off with an unassuming and blissful nature, introducing Usagi and her friends before putting focus onto Mamoru, Usagi’s boyfriend. Flashing back to when he was younger, Mamoru finds a young boy crying and offers him a flower for comfort, bringing a smile to the boy’s face. Upon his departure, the young boy tells Mamoru that he will one day come back and re-pay his kindness. Mamoru is no stranger to flowers, as his Tuxedo Mask alter ego utilizes the power of a red rose as his introduction, along with one of his many attacks. Mamoru, in the current day, is living peacefully with Usagi and the Sailor Senshi until they are confronted by a man of roughly the same age as Mamoru. After tempers boil over and the man shoves Usagi to the ground, he tells Mamoru that he will live up to his promise.
In previous conversations, Mamoru had opened up to Usagi about his past and how alone he felt, coming from a place with no family and no friends. Usagi swore to him that she would be his family forever, but a friend from his childhood put doubt into her mind about the stories she once heard. Mamoru believes that he once thought Fiore was a figment of his own imagination, an imaginary friend built in his mind to cope with the lack of attention and care. As Mamoru faces the realization that the man was the same person from his past, a boy named Fiore, he is now faced with a greater threat.
Unfortunately, Fiore’s present form is possessed by one of Xenian’s machinations, a vegetal alien substance that cannot act on its own but can take control of a host. During their research, Luna and Artemis re-tell stories of how planets were destroyed by the Xenian Flower, and how Earth’s fate may be in peril. Under Xenian control, Fiore launches an attack in the city, releasing a flower-monster by the name of Glycina to collect the energy from all life forms. While the Sailor Senshi are able to destroy the henchwoman, they are promptly attacked and severely injured by Fiore, who takes responsibility for the disaster. The stage is set for Usagi, Mamoru, and the Sailor Senshi, who have a clear-cut enemy in sight, but not one attacking under his own volition.
The sad reality of the situation ties perfectly into the history of Mamoru and Fiore, as the latter comes into contact with the Xenian Flower while searching for his thank-you gift to Mamoru. In doing so, Fiore became possessed by a species aiming to take over planets by inhabiting weak-minded people and recouping the planet’s energy before destroying it and moving on to the next target. With Mamoru captured by Fiore and transported to the home asteroid, Ami Mizuno, or Sailor Mecury by her Sailor Senshi identity, discovers that the asteroid holding Mamoru also inhabits hundreds of flowers that hold the same energy as the enemies they battled on Earth. With their sights set to confront Fiore, Usagi and the Sailor Senshi use Sailor Teleport to reach the asteroid.
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How Does the Sailor Moon R Movie End?
With the final showdown set to take place on the asteroid headed towards Earth, Usagi and the Sailor Senshi confront Fiore and his army of Xenian creations. With the flowers sprouting into Youma, powerful alien creatures that vastly outnumber the Sailor Senshi, they launch their attack and bury all Sailor Senshi except for Usagi. Usagi, as Sailor Moon, leaps to attack Fiore with her Cute Moon Rod but is quickly shown her friends bound up and held captive by the Youma. Fiore threatens Sailor Moon that if she hurts his flowers, he will hurt her friends. As she drops her weapon, Fiore is convinced by Xenian to merge, combining their powers and attacking Sailor Moon.
As Sailor Moon is having her energy zapped, Mamoru breaks free from his confinement and lashes out at Fiore, throwing a rose directly at him. The attack causes the Xenian crystal to crack and shatter, destroying all of its flowers and leaving the asteroid a barren wasteland with no plant life. As Fiore loses the will to live, the Silver Crystal’s powers manage to divert the asteroid away, taking the life of both Serenity and Fiore. The image of the Sailor Senshi and Mamoru is a heart-breaking moment, as their efforts to move the asteroid away from Earth were successful, but the cost was the life of their dearest friend.
Fiore’s voice is heard once more, offering his remaining life energy in matter form to save their friend from the clutches of death. In the flashback that led to these circumstances, the rose Mamoru gave to Fiore was originally gifted by Usagi herself, tying Sailor Moon to the main plot point and giving meaning to Fiore’s decision to save her. Fiore’s final act of kindness saves Sailor Moon, while repaying Mamoru for his gift when they were both young. The story’s starting point reaches its final destination, tied with perfection, and gives the audience a wonderful moment that doesn’t detract from the mainline series or its characters’ development.
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Sailor Moon
Fuente: successacademy.edu.vn
Categorías: Anime
