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A review by 2kimi2furious
Sailor Moon Box Set 1 by Naoko Takeuchi
5.0
I got into the anime when I was in fifth grade and I had no idea it was a manga until about 2002 when I was finishing up the eight grade. I'd been able to read a few of the series, but I never had a chance to finish it until Kodansha Comics released a re-printing last year for the 20th anniversary of the series.
When I was younger, I didn't really care much about the story. I liked that they were girl super heroes and that Sailor Jupiter looked and acted like me so my friends and I could pretend to be Sailor Scouts at recess. I knew that they had awesome super powers and could fight for themselves and that was enough for me. I never thought too deeply about it.
Now that I'm older, I realize just exactly how great this series is. It's not just about girls kicking butt (although it definitely is about that), but it's about girls kicking butt together. They sometimes get into spats with each other, but overall, strong, positive relationships among females are stressed and that's such a positive message to send to girls.
I also like that each of the girls has a different strength and different personalities and different ways that they present as feminine and none of these different things are ever seen as wrong or inferior to another way. They're all important and all just as strong as the other. You don't ever get that sort of positive message in books (or any media, really) and I just love that it exists here.
The first box set focuses on the first half of the series which is a lot lighter than the second half. The girls are still sort of immature and getting used to their powers, so you're sort of growing with them. It's charming, but way more suited to a younger audience, which isn't to say an older audience wouldn't enjoy it. It's just that the power of nostalgia is more likely to keep them hooked than being able to relate to the characters. Still, once you get past that, it's still super good and very positive.
When I was younger, I didn't really care much about the story. I liked that they were girl super heroes and that Sailor Jupiter looked and acted like me so my friends and I could pretend to be Sailor Scouts at recess. I knew that they had awesome super powers and could fight for themselves and that was enough for me. I never thought too deeply about it.
Now that I'm older, I realize just exactly how great this series is. It's not just about girls kicking butt (although it definitely is about that), but it's about girls kicking butt together. They sometimes get into spats with each other, but overall, strong, positive relationships among females are stressed and that's such a positive message to send to girls.
I also like that each of the girls has a different strength and different personalities and different ways that they present as feminine and none of these different things are ever seen as wrong or inferior to another way. They're all important and all just as strong as the other. You don't ever get that sort of positive message in books (or any media, really) and I just love that it exists here.
The first box set focuses on the first half of the series which is a lot lighter than the second half. The girls are still sort of immature and getting used to their powers, so you're sort of growing with them. It's charming, but way more suited to a younger audience, which isn't to say an older audience wouldn't enjoy it. It's just that the power of nostalgia is more likely to keep them hooked than being able to relate to the characters. Still, once you get past that, it's still super good and very positive.