Sailor Moon R: The Movie

{{Infobox film

| name = Sailor Moon R: The Movie

| image = Sailor Moon R The Movie poster.png

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| native_name = {{Infobox Japanese|child=yes|hide=no|header=none|kanji=劇場版美少女戦士セーラームーンＲ|revhep=Gekijō-ban Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn Āru|l=Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon R: The Movie}}

| director = Kunihiko Ikuhara

| producer = Iriya Azuma

| based_on = {{based on|Sailor Moon|Naoko Takeuchi}}

| screenplay = Sukehiro Tomita

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| music = Takanori Arisawa

| cinematography = Motoi Takahashi

| editing = Yasuhiro Yoshikawa

| studio = Toei Animation

| distributor = Toei Company

| released = {{film date|1993|12|5}}

| runtime = 62 minutes{{cite web|title=Sailor Moon: The Movie (2017) |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=sailormoonrthemovie.htm |website=Box Office Mojo |access-date=2 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802211021/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=sailormoonrthemovie.htm |archive-date=2 August 2017 |url-status=live}}

| country = Japan

| language = Japanese

| gross = ¥1.3 billion{{cite web|title=1994年 (1月～12月) |url=http://www.eiren.org/toukei/1994.html |publisher=Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan |access-date=1 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802221616/http://www.eiren.org/toukei/1994.html |archive-date=2 August 2017 |url-status=live}}

}}

Sailor Moon R: The Movie{{efn|Originally released in Japan as {{nihongo|Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon R: The Movie|劇場版美少女戦士セーラームーンＲ|Gekijō-ban Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn Āru}}, and later as Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon R: The Movie.{{cite web|url=http://sailormoon-official.com/goods/bluraydvdcd/170702_01t_movie_bd_1993-1995.php|title=初回生産限定「美少女戦士セーラームーン THE MOVIE Blu-ray 1993-1995」|date=2017-07-11|website=Sailor Moon Official|language=ja|access-date=2017-07-11}} Released in the U.S. as Sailor Moon R: The Movie – Promise of the Rose on the Pioneer Entertainment dub in 2000, and simply Sailor Moon R: The Movie on the Viz media re-dub in 2017.}} is a 1993 Japanese animated superhero fantasy film directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara and written by Sukehiro Tomita based on the Sailor Moon manga series by Naoko Takeuchi. Produced by Toei Animation, it takes its name from the second season of the anime series, as Toei Company distributed it around the same time. It centers on the arrival of an alien named Fiore on Earth, who has a past with Mamoru and wishes to reunite with him, but is being controlled by an evil flower called Xenian Flower, forcing the Sailor Guardians to save Mamoru and the Earth from Fiore's destruction. The film stars Kotono Mitsuishi as the voice of Sailor Moon, alongside Aya Hisakawa, Michie Tomizawa, Emi Shinohara, Rika Fukami, Tōru Furuya and Hikaru Midorikawa. It was released in Japan on December 5, 1993, alongside a 15-minute short recap episode titled {{Nihongo|Make Up! Sailor Soldier|メイクアップ!セーラー戦士|Meikuappu! Sērā senshi|later as Make Up! Sailor Guardians}}.

Pioneer Entertainment released it in the United States on February 8, 2000. On January 13, 2017, Viz Media re-released the film re-dubbed and uncut for the first time in US theaters.{{cite news|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-12-08/viz-media-hosts-sailor-moon-r-screening-event-in-los-angeles-on-january-13/.109632|title=Viz Media Hosts Sailor Moon R Screening Event in Los Angeles on January 13|work=Anime News Network|date=December 8, 2016|access-date=December 12, 2020}} The Sailor Moon R: The Movie redub also included the English dubbed 15-minute short Make Up! Sailor Guardians. It was later premiered in Canada on March 1, 2017.{{cite news|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2017-02-16/viz-media-and-eleven-arts-announce-sailor-moon-r-the-movie-canadian-theatrical-premiere/.112327|title=Viz Media and Eleven Arts Announce Sailor Moon R The Movie Canadian Theatrical Premiere|work=Anime News Network|date=February 16, 2017|access-date=February 22, 2021}}

It is the first film installment for the series, and was followed by two standalone sequels, Sailor Moon S: The Movie (1994) and Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie (1995).

Plot

= ''Make Up! Sailor Guardians'' =

Usagi and Chibiusa overhear two girls talking about the Sailor Guardians after they see a poster. As the girls debate over the smartest, most elegant, strongest, and the leader of the Sailor Guardians, Usagi grandly claims those titles for herself. Chibiusa shakes her head at Usagi's delusion. Clips appear from the debut of each Sailor Guardian, and that girl's image song plays in the background. When even Tuxedo Mask has been mentioned, and the girls are about to leave, Usagi butts in on their conversation and asks them directly about Sailor Moon. The girls give a series of glowing compliments about Sailor Moon, but unlike their analysis of the other Sailor Guardians, they also list her faults. After the girls leave, Usagi sarcastically apologizes to the viewers for being a clumsy cry-baby and then bursts into exaggerated tears.

= ''Sailor Moon R: The Movie'' =

A young Mamoru Chiba hands a mysterious boy a rose before he disappears, vowing to bring Mamoru a flower. In the present, Mamoru meets up with Usagi Tsukino and the Sailor Guardians at the Jindai Botanical Garden. Usagi attempts to kiss Mamoru, but when he suspects the other girls of spying on him, he walks off outside alone.

The stranger appears from the garden's fountain and takes Mamoru's hands into his own, which makes Usagi uncomfortable. Usagi tries to break the man's grasp from Mamoru but is knocked down. The man vows that no one will prevent him from keeping his promise before disappearing again. Mamoru tells Usagi that the stranger's name is {{nihongo4|Fiore|フィオレ|Fiore}}. At Rei Hino's temple, the Sailor Guardians discusses an asteroid that has started to approach Earth and on which Luna and Artemis have discovered traces of vegetal life. The talk turns into rumors about Mamoru's and Fiore's possible relationship, while Usagi thinks about how Mamoru had told her that he had no family and was alone, and how she had promised him she would be his family from now on.

Fiore sends his flower-monster henchwoman, {{nihongo4|Glycina|グリシナ}}, to Tokyo to drain the population's life energy, but the Sailor Guardians free them and destroy the monster. Fiore appears, revealing his responsibility for the attack, and uses a flower called a {{nihongo4|Xenian|キセニアン|Kisenian}} before severely injuring the Sailor Guardians. Mamoru attempts to talk Fiore out of fighting but the Xenian controls Fiore's mind. After Mamoru saves Usagi from certain death by intercepting his attack, Fiore takes Mamoru to an asteroid rapidly approaching Earth and begins to revive him in a crystal filled with liquid. While in the crystal, Mamoru remembers meeting Fiore after his parents died in a car accident. Mamoru had previously assumed that he had made up the boy as an imaginary friend. Fiore explains that he had to leave Mamoru because of the Earth's unsuitable atmosphere; Mamoru gave Fiore a rose before disappearing. Fiore searched the galaxy to find a flower for Mamoru, finding the Xenian in the process. Seeking revenge on the humans for his loneliness, Fiore returns to Earth.

Meanwhile, Luna and Artemis tell Sailor Guardians that the Xenian can destroy planets using weak-hearted people. Ami Mizuno realizes that the energy from the asteroid matches the flower monster's evil energy, deducing that Fiore has hidden there. The Sailor Guardians decides to rescue Mamoru. Despite her initial reluctance, the Sailor Guardians and Chibiusa convince Usagi to save Mamoru and confront Fiore.

After the Sailor Guardians fly to the asteroid, Fiore reveals his plans to scatter flower seeds to drain humanity's energy on Earth. The Sailor Guardians then fight hundreds of flower monsters, but they end up captured. When Fiore orders Usagi to surrender, she is unable to feel his loneliness; Fiore begins to drain her life force. Mamoru escapes and saves Sailor Moon by throwing a rose at Fiore. The rose embedded in Fiore's chest blossoms, freeing him from the Xenian's control. The flowers on the asteroid disappear, but it continues to hurtle toward Earth. Usagi uses the Silver Crystal to transform into Princess Serenity to change the course of the asteroid. Fiore then attempts to assault the group in a suicidal effort to defeat them, but upon coming into contact with the Silver Crystal, Fiore discovers the truth that when Usagi and Mamoru were children she gave Mamoru the rose that was once given to him after Fiore had left. Emotionally incapacitated, Fiore ignores the Xenian's pleas and allows her and himself to be vaporized by the Silver Crystal's powers. With Fiore and the Xenian destroyed by the Silver Crystal, Serenity, Endymion, and Sailor Guardians combine their powers to divert the asteroid away from the Earth. The Silver Crystal is shattered and Serenity dies of exhaustion. Back on Earth, despite Luna and Artemis' concern over why the Sailor Guardians are taking too long, Chibiusa assures them that the girls are all right.

In the aftermath, the asteroid now safely drifting in the Earth's orbit, the Sailor Guardians and Tuxedo Mask are devastated by Sailor Moon's death in her still form after her transformation brooch is damaged, saying that it wasn't worth it to survive if they lost the one most dear to them. The spirit of Fiore reappears and thanks Tuxedo Mask and his comrades for freeing him. Using a nectar-filled flower with Fiore's life energy, Tuxedo Mask wets his lips with the nectar and kisses Sailor Moon, reviving her, restoring her transformation brooch, and repowering the Silver Crystal. Fiore, reduced to the form of a child again, ascends to the afterlife to live in peace. She smiles weakly at them and says she told them she would protect everyone. The Sailor Guardians smile through their tears and collapse into her arms.

Voice cast

{{Main|List of Sailor Moon characters{{!}}List of Sailor Moon characters}}

class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
scope="col"\| Character ! scope="col"\| Japanese voice actor ! scope="col"\| English dubbing actor {{small\|(Pioneer/Optimum Productions, 2000)}} ! scope="col"\| English dubbing actor {{small\|(Viz Media/Studiopolis, 2017)}}
scope="row" rowspan="2" \| Usagi Tsukino \| rowspan="2" \|Kotono Mitsuishi !Serena Tsukino \| rowspan="2" \|Stephanie Sheh
Terri Hawkes
scope="row" rowspan="2" \| Mamoru Chiba \| rowspan="2" \|Toru Furuya Megumi Ogata (young) !Darien Shields \| rowspan="2" \|Robbie Daymond
Vincent Corazza Julie Lemieux (young){{Cite web\|url=https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=655784861106988\|title=Unplugged Expo Welcomes Julie Lemieux\|author=Unplugged Expo\|via=Facebook\|date=September 7, 2013\|access-date=August 31, 2014}}
scope="row" rowspan="2" \| Rei Hino \| rowspan="2" \|Michie Tomizawa !Raye Hino \| rowspan="2" \|Cristina Valenzuela
Katie Griffin
scope="row" rowspan="2" \| Ami Mizuno \| rowspan="2" \|Aya Hisakawa !Amy Anderson \| rowspan="2" \|Kate Higgins
Karen Bernstein
scope="row" rowspan="2" \| Makoto Kino \| rowspan="2" \|Emi Shinohara !Lita Kino \| rowspan="2" \|Amanda C. Miller
Susan Roman
scope="row" rowspan="2" \| Minako Aino \| rowspan="2" \|Rika Fukami !Mina Aino \| rowspan="2" \|Cherami Leigh
Stephanie Morgenstern
scope="row"\| Luna \| Keiko Han \|\| Jill Frappier \|\| Michelle Ruff
scope="row"\| Artemis \| Yasuhiro Takato \|\| Ron Rubin \|\| Johnny Yong Bosch
scope="row" rowspan="2" \| Usagi "Chibiusa" Tsukino \| rowspan="2" \|Kae Araki !Serena "Rini" Tsukino \| rowspan="2" \|Sandy Fox
Tracey Hoyt
scope="row"\| Fiore \| Hikaru Midorikawa Tomoko Maruo (young) \|\| Steven Bednarski Nadine Rabinovitch (young) \|\| Benjamin Diskin
scope="row" rowspan="2" \| Xenian Flower \| rowspan="2" \|Yumi Tōma !Kisenian Blossom \| rowspan="2" \|Carrie Keranen
Catherine Disher

class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

scope="col"| Character

! scope="col"| Japanese voice actor

! scope="col"| English dubbing actor
{{small|(Pioneer/Optimum Productions, 2000)}}

! scope="col"| English dubbing actor
{{small|(Viz Media/Studiopolis, 2017)}}

scope="row" rowspan="2" | Usagi Tsukino

| rowspan="2" |Kotono Mitsuishi

!Serena Tsukino

| rowspan="2" |Stephanie Sheh

Terri Hawkes

scope="row" rowspan="2" | Mamoru Chiba

| rowspan="2" |Toru Furuya

Megumi Ogata (young)

!Darien Shields

| rowspan="2" |Robbie Daymond

Vincent Corazza

Julie Lemieux (young){{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=655784861106988|title=Unplugged Expo Welcomes Julie Lemieux|author=Unplugged Expo|via=Facebook|date=September 7, 2013|access-date=August 31, 2014}}

scope="row" rowspan="2" | Rei Hino

| rowspan="2" |Michie Tomizawa

!Raye Hino

| rowspan="2" |Cristina Valenzuela

Katie Griffin

scope="row" rowspan="2" | Ami Mizuno

| rowspan="2" |Aya Hisakawa

!Amy Anderson

| rowspan="2" |Kate Higgins

Karen Bernstein

scope="row" rowspan="2" | Makoto Kino

| rowspan="2" |Emi Shinohara

!Lita Kino

| rowspan="2" |Amanda C. Miller

Susan Roman

scope="row" rowspan="2" | Minako Aino

| rowspan="2" |Rika Fukami

!Mina Aino

| rowspan="2" |Cherami Leigh

Stephanie Morgenstern

scope="row"| Luna

| Keiko Han || Jill Frappier || Michelle Ruff

scope="row"| Artemis

| Yasuhiro Takato || Ron Rubin || Johnny Yong Bosch

scope="row" rowspan="2" | Usagi "Chibiusa" Tsukino

| rowspan="2" |Kae Araki

!Serena "Rini" Tsukino

| rowspan="2" |Sandy Fox

Tracey Hoyt

scope="row"| Fiore

| Hikaru Midorikawa

Tomoko Maruo (young) || Steven Bednarski

Nadine Rabinovitch (young) || Benjamin Diskin

scope="row" rowspan="2" | Xenian Flower

| rowspan="2" |Yumi Tōma

!Kisenian Blossom

| rowspan="2" |Carrie Keranen

Catherine Disher

= ''Make-up! Sailor Guardians'' =

class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
scope="col"\| Character ! scope="col"\| Japanese ! scope="col"\| English
scope="row"\| Yui \| Chieko Nanba \| Carrie Keranen
scope="row"\| Aya \| Rumi Kasahara \| Cherami Leigh
scope="row"\| Garoben \| Hiroko Emori \| Megan Hollingshead
scope="row"\| Katarina \| Yūko Mita \| Veronica Taylor
scope="row"\| Queen Beryl \| Keiko Han \| Cindy Robinson
scope="row"\| Alan \| Keiichi Nanba \| Wally Wingert
scope="row"\| Queen Serenity \| Mika Doi \| Wendee Lee

class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

scope="col"| Character

! scope="col"| Japanese

! scope="col"| English

scope="row"| Yui

| Chieko Nanba

| Carrie Keranen

scope="row"| Aya

| Rumi Kasahara

| Cherami Leigh

scope="row"| Garoben

| Hiroko Emori

| Megan Hollingshead

scope="row"| Katarina

| Yūko Mita

| Veronica Taylor

scope="row"| Queen Beryl

scope="row"| Alan

scope="row"| Queen Serenity

| Mika Doi

| Wendee Lee

Production

The film was created by the same production staff of Sailor Moon R, with Kunihiko Ikuhara as a director, Sukehiro Tomita as a screenwriter, and Kazuko Tadano handling the character designs and animation direction.

Release

= Japanese release =

The film was released in Japanese theaters on December 5, 1993.

The Japanese Blu-ray collection of the three films was released on February 7, 2018, with this film titled Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon R: The Movie.

= English release =

The film was first released in North America on VHS by Pioneer Entertainment on August 31, 1999, in Japanese with English subtitles.{{cite web|title=Sailor Moon R [VHS] |url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00000JDIL |website=Amazon.com |date=31 August 1999 |access-date=4 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804170455/https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00000JDIL |archive-date=4 August 2017 |url-status=live}} Pioneer later released the film to uncut bilingual DVD on February 8, 2000, alongside another VHS release containing an edited version of the English dub.{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00003E47V|title=Sailor Moon R - The Movie|website=Amazon |date=8 February 2000|access-date=2011-08-15}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00003E47U/|title=Sailor Moon R The Movie - The Promise of the Rose VHS|website=www.amazon.com|date=8 February 2000|access-date=2019-03-06}} Pioneer re-released their DVD on January 6, 2004, under their "Geneon Signature Series" line.{{Cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00012QLVE/|title=Sailor Moon R: The Movie - Geneon Signature Series|website=www.amazon.com|date=6 January 2004|access-date=2019-03-06}} The DVDs later fell out of print when Pioneer/Geneon lost the license to the film. The edited version was also shown on TV in Canada on YTV and in the US on Cartoon Network's Toonami block.

The English dub was produced in association with Optimum Productions in Toronto, Canada, and featured most of the original DIC Entertainment English cast reprising their roles. The edited version of the dub was censored for content and replaced the music with cues from the DIC version of the first two seasons of the anime; the vocal song "Moon Revenge" was also replaced with "The Power of Love." The uncut version of the dub was only seen on the bilingual DVD, featured no censorship, and all of the original Japanese music was left intact, with the exception of the DIC theme song being used. However, no DVD or VHS release contained the "Make-up! Sailor Soldier" short.

In 2014, the film (including the "Make-Up! Sailor Guardian" short) was re-licensed for an updated English-language release in North America by Viz Media, who produced a new English dub of the film in association with Los Angeles-based Studiopolis and re-released it to DVD and Blu-ray on April 18, 2017.{{cite news|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-05-16/viz-licenses-original-sailor-moon-anime-franchise|title=Viz Licenses Original Sailor Moon Franchise|work=Anime News Network|date=May 16, 2014|access-date=November 12, 2016}} It has also been licensed in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment.{{cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-11-28/madman-entertainment-acquires-sailor-moon-series-and-sailor-moon-crystal/.81519|title=Madman Entertainment Acquires Sailor Moon Series and Sailor Moon Crystal|date=November 28, 2014|access-date=November 12, 2016}} In addition, Viz gave the film a limited theatrical release in the United States, beginning January 17, 2017 in association with Eleven Arts.{{cite news|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-11-11/viz-media-to-release-sailor-moon-r-anime-film-in-u.s-theaters-in-january/.108745|title=Viz Media Plans To Release Sailor Moon R Anime Film In U.S. Theaters In January|work=Anime News Network|date=November 11, 2016|access-date=November 12, 2016}} The redub premiered in the United Artists Theater at the Ace Hotel, where it retained just the original title of Sailor Moon R: The Movie, rather than the subtitle The Promise of the Rose. The theatrical release included the "Make-Up! Sailor Guardian" short, and was available in both dubbed and subtitled screenings. The film was screened in North American theaters again nationwide with one-day showings as a double feature with Sailor Moon S: The Movie in association with Fathom Events. Dubbed screenings were on July 28, 2018, and subtitled screenings on July 30.{{cite news|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2018-05-19/viz-media-to-screen-sailor-moon-s-the-movie-sailor-moon-supers-the-movie-films-in-n-american-theaters/.131770|title=Viz Media to Screen Sailor Moon S The Movie, Sailor Moon SuperS The Movie Films in N. American Theaters|work=Anime News Network|date=May 19, 2018|access-date=August 4, 2018}}

Reception

Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network gave the film's Viz Media dub an "A−". She praised the animation, stating that it was "several cuts above what we typically see in the TV series". She also praised the film for distilling the franchise's themes effectively, its soundtrack and use of imagery relating to flowers.{{cite news|last1=Silverman |first1=Rebecca |title=Sailor Moon R: The Movie - Review |url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/sailor-moon-r-movie/promise-of-the-rose/.111156 |work=Anime News Network |access-date=4 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201151837/http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/sailor-moon-r-movie/promise-of-the-rose/.111156 |archive-date=1 February 2017 |date=19 January 2017 |url-status=live}} Charles Solomon of the Los Angeles Times also reacted positively to the film's portrayal of the main characters' "sisterly friendship" and praised Viz Media's dub for not censoring Fiore's implied feelings for Mamoru, unlike previous English translations.{{cite news|last1=Solomon |first1=Charles |title=Girl power and pratfalls prevail in new dub of 1993's 'Sailor Moon R: The Movie' |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-mini-sailor-moon-review-20170115-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=4 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202101104/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-mini-sailor-moon-review-20170115-story.html |archive-date=2 February 2017 |date=19 January 2017 |url-status=live}}

Notes

References

External links

{{IMDb title|0106417|Sailor Moon R: The Movie}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20040407174710/http://www.animerica-mag.com/features/sailor_movies.html Animerica review]

Category:1993 anime films

Category:1993 films

Category:1990s animated superhero films

Category:1990s Japanese superhero films

Category:Japanese superhero films

Category:1990s superhero films

Category:1990s Japanese films

Category:1990s teen fantasy films

Category:Fiction about near-Earth asteroids

Category:Films directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara

Category:Films scored by Takanori Arisawa

R: The Movie

Category:Toei Animation films

Category:Animated films about friendship