SMS Movie box
SMR Really Was Unedited!

SMS Released With Mixed Reaction

The May 23, 2000 release of "Sailor Moon S" appears to be huge with initial sales stronger than for it's predecessor "Sailor Moon R." The general industry consensus is that "Sailor Moon R" helped get the word out that there was new product available resulting in the higher numbers. Nevertheless, "Sailor Moon S" is expected to not sell as well as the first film. The mixed reviews aren't helping.

Fans are complaining of questionable performances by some of the Voice Actors (when, we believe it may be due to the ADR Direction, Casting and/or the fault of Optimum Productions). There has been almost universal agreement that the direction of the English dub is now firmly headed in the wrong direction. (This, plus some other alarming, deliberate choices by Cloverway & Optimum [and not by any network] have given some of us second thoughts about continuing our support of this property in the English speaking world. Perhaps "Sailor Stars" should be left undubbed? This would encourage truly interested fans to discover and enjoy the Japanese versions of the Sailormoon universe.)

SuperS Movie box
However, the Save Our Sailors campaign was relieved to see that the characters Haruka Tenoh & Michiru Kaioh (Sailors Uranus & Neptune) have, so far, not lost their Japanese names and in the DVD Character Screens are referred to as, "a couple." The handling of these two characters have been the number one hotbed of contention with the fans and the companies involved. We are very happy to see this very first indicator and hope that the companies continue in this direction.

To see how the film is selling, check in on Amazon.com's hourly ranking of the 100 Top Selling Videos & the 100 Top Selling DVDs (we've seen the VHS get up to #4 & the DVD to #21), as well as the Cahners publication Video Business magazine with its weekly (and more important) ranking of the 25 top VHS Best Sellers and DVD Best Sellers in the United States and Canada as provided by Blockbuster, Suncoast, Tower Records, Target & Best Buy stores.

Check out the lower right corner!

Also selling well on Amazon.com is "Sailor Moon" merchandise. In their "zShops" section we've seen the toys & dolls featured as #3 on their "zShops Favorites" (which we suspect isn't a statistical ranking at all).

Back on May 16, Pioneer Entertainment announced that the final animated feature, "Sailor Moon Super S", will be released on August 15 and has been renamed "Sailor Moon Super S - Black Dream Hole". This new title (while unnecessary) marks the first correct usage of the word "Black" in dubbed versions. In the past any reference to "Black" was changed to "the Negaverse". Instead, fans were insulted by the tampering. We welcome this new development. However..... please read our sidebar.

Meanwhile, AnimeOnDVD.com recently posted a comprehensive report of how the release of the "Sailor Moon R" DVD was really unedited! Read of this amazing screw-up but keep in mind that this sort of thing goes on all the time! Our current, favorite example has to be Disney's release of "Tarzan" which has the Left and Right Front Stereo Tracks switched with the Left and Right Surround Tracks.

Keeping Americans Dumb
Play the hand you're dealt!?
Perhaps the pink spore is in on this plot?

We had heard months ago about the choice of changing the name of Chibi Moon to Mini Moon and decided it was (if you'll excuse the pun) too small to quibble over. But now compiled with all of the other problems with the direction of the dub we've decided to speak up a little.

We understand the censoring of sexual material, the editing of violence, the alteration of foreign customs which might confuse the viewer but, once again, some of the companies are needlessly putting their imprint on someone else's work & meaning and contributing to the dumbing down of Americans.

For those of you who don't know, when Chibi-Usa (the majority of fans no longer call her Rini) turns into a Sailor Senshi (okay, Sailor Scout to some of you), she is called Chibi Moon. Chibi means small in Japanese. In the "Sailor Moon S" movie Cloverway & Pioneer changed her name to Mini Moon so as not to confuse the kids (WHO MUST NEVER LEARN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE)!

Compare this situation to what happens in Japan. Do you know what Sailor Moon is called there? It ain't Funanori Tsuki. Yeah, you've guessed it; she's called Sailor Moon. The Japanese are into something called education & exploration of foreign cultures; Cloverway is not.

Furthermore, this absolutely clueless choice was kept even after (and not before) the release of the Austin Powers feature, "The Spy Who Shagged Me" which featured a character named Mini-Me. The usage of Mini Moon is now a constant reminder of this other character and needlessly interferes with the content and meaning of the original work, created by Naoko Takeuchi.




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