In 1992 a very popular anime was released, "Sailor Moon". In 2003, as some sort of a 10 year anniversary, "PGSM", the live action version of the anime, was made. The story is probably known to everyone: Usagi, a normal teenage girl living in Tokyo, meets a talking cat named Luna ( in this version a stuffed puppet ) and gets a mission to transform into Sailor Moon and fight against evil forces of Queen Beryl...
Although the live action is weaker than the anime ( the flaws are plot holes, the lack of spectacle, the mild intensity and the range of the story ) it is much better than it seems. In some other director's hands this could have ended in an catastrophe, but in Ryuta Tazaki's hand "PGSM" turned out to be an excellent show. The wild enthusiasm of the authors and their weird special effects are incredible: Ami's transformation into evil Sailor Mercury is somehow cool. Actually, it's rather got show-off" written all over it ( when she stomps her boot into the water, and then those dark purple wings" on her dress ), but it's stylish. Or the Sailor Luna ( a 10 year old girl form of Luna )transformation: it was so hilarious and senseless! You see her shake her butt, then Luna shows up, then there are psychedelic colors in the background, the girl makes some moves as if she is licking her hands as a cat and
presto, she is a sailor senshi too. Rarely will you ever see more kitsch than you get to in that transformation scene. But the authors still did it without a blink of the eye, and you have to give them credit for such courage.
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Miyuu Sawai is absolutely fantastic as Usagi. It's almost impossible not to like her. She is wonderful in many of the comical situations ( when she has a huge fight with her mom a frightened Shingo is hiding under the table and eating his breakfast ) and later proves to be equally effective in drama ( her mourning all day long in bed after finding out Mamoru is already engaged ). The weird part of the story had Minako being a famous rock star, but even that worked. "PGSM" is a sight to behold. In their mix of camp and art, the authors bravely turned the impossible things of the anime into reality ( the costumes, demons, flashing rays )and got away with it. I counted all the grades of all the Act's and the show's average grade is 8.3/10, believe it or not. I don't know how they did it, but they did.
Grade: 8/10
