Wednesday, March 14, 2012

The Rise, Fall and (Possible) Rebirth of Sailor Moon! Chapter 1: Beginnings (Codename: Sailor V)

When we think of anime icons, we think of icons like Astro Boy, Gigantor, Speed Racer and such.  But, no anime icon is more unique and one of a kind than the Pretty Suited Soldier of Love and Justice, Sailor Moon. Since 1992, Sailor Moon has fought evil, not just in anime and manga, but also in real life.  Some battles she won, some she lost. And despite being overlooked by all media and being shunned by controversy, Sailor Moon is still popular than ever 20 years later.  But, how did this popular series came to be and why it is so special?  To answer these questions, we must go back to the beginning.

Narrator: "1,000 years ago, our Moon Kingdom was home to a..."

(stops the clip)

Not that beginning! The OTHER beginning, the one in real life, by a manga-ka named Naoko-chan.

In 1991, up and rising manga artist, Naoko Takeuchi created the starting point of this great series, which became known as Codename: Sailor V. The manga was created in 1991 and the serialization ran from May of 1993 to March of 1997 from Run Run magazine from Kodansha, the famed publisher for manga and other japanese literature.  Here's the story according the manga:

13-year old Minako Aino was just an ordinary girl, very beautiful, very athletic but not always bright when it comes to schoolwork and/or idolizing boys.  But her life changed forever when met a white cat named Artemis, who tells her that a dark, powerful evil force is threating to destroy the entire universe and with the aid of a mysterious benifactor only addressed as "Boss", Minako becomes the Soldier of Love and Beauty, Codename: Sailor V. Intially, she didn't take this senshi business seriously, but overtime, she accepted the responsibility to protect the planet.  Whether it's trapped in a video game or stranded in Greece, Sailor V fought against the evils of the mysterious Dark Agency, which is nothing more but a front of the true enemies, those of the evil Dark Kingdom, which I will talk about later.  Near the end of the series, Minako discovered that she was the princess of planet Venus and was one of the guardians of the moon princess, thus making her the senshi of love and beauty, Sailor Venus.

And that's the story. Codename: Sailor V was a decent series, with action, adventure, comedy and romance, something the sequel will have.  Even though the Sailor V story has ended.  This was just the beginning.

Next time: I will talk about the rise of the Pretty Suited Soldier of Love and Justice, Sailor Moon.

Until then, Stay Gold and Godspeed.

End of Line...

(Ai no Senshi plays in the background)

Fade out

2 comments:

KingsSideCastle said...

Wow...very nicely written background. Great entry!!

Stefan said...

Way cool,Jase. Keep'em coming. I plan on doing one with Dragon Ball Z someday.