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ADV Films presents
Sailor Moon (DiC) #5: Introducing Sailor Venus! (1995)

"I feel serious Negavibes."
- Raye (Katie Griffin)

Review By: Jeff Ulmer   
Published: October 10, 2002

Stars: Tracey Moore, Jill Frappier, Karen Bernstein, Tony Daniels, Naz Edwards
Other Stars: Mary Long, Katie Griffin, Dennis Akayama, Terri Hawkes, Kirsten Bishop, Julie Lemieux, Kevin Lund, Colin O'Meara, Stephanie Morganstern, Roland Parliament, Nadine Rabinovitch, Susan Roman, Ron Rubin
Director: Junichi Sato

Manufacturer: AD/CA
MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (Suitable for all ages)
Run Time: 02h:10m:42s
Release Date: July 23, 2002
UPC: 702727020322
Genre: anime

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
B	B-	B	B+	D+

DVD Review

With disc number five in the English version of Sailor Moon the story takes on a couple of new twists, as the band of young female warriors take on the forces of evil in the search for the moon crystals, gaining a couple of new allies in the process. There are some major revelations in store by the end, as we move into the next phase of the storyline.

With his success limited thus far, Zoycite must pull out all the stops to reclaim the last of the moon crystals, which will allow Queen Beryl the power to unleash the Negaverse. His challenge is compounded by the fact that two of the crystals are in hostile hands, one with Sailor Moon, the other with the troublesome Tuxedo Mask. The disc starts off with a couple of pretty standard episodes, first with Serena getting jealous over Lita's attentions for Andrew, then with Raye's grandfather being targeted as a bearer of a crystal, but as a monk, he is more resistant to the dark side. This episode also introduces the valley boy rock star, Chad. The best of the early installments is Kitty Chaos, where Luna, who mysteriously becomes the target of every feline in town, finds a suitor in a huge cat who comes to her rescue. This is pretty hilarious.

Queen Beryl's patience is wearing thin, so Zoycite decides that exposing the true identities of her foes is the answer, but these Negaverse characters aren't too bright when it comes to speculating, since they have a hard time connecting Sailor Moon—a blonde girl with meatballs in her hair—to Serena—a blonde girl with meatballs in her hair. However, when Malachite (our next major baddie) traps the Sailor Scouts, he is unprepared for the arrival of Sailor Venus and her feline sidekick Artemis. The final episode brings the second story arc of the series to a close as the final battle for the moon crystals gets underway, and the Sailor Scouts learn the identity of the Moon Princess.

The final two episodes made this disc a bit more enjoyable than some of the more formulaic filler episodes have been, and set up the next leg of the story. With our Sailor Scout team complete, the girls face an even more powerful adversary, with a new spin to make their lives interesting. The series still concludes each show with a moral "Sailor Says" segment, some of which are a bit of a stretch from what happened in the episode, and really targets the younger audience. Sailor Moon is still light-hearted fun, if a bit too predictable. Good triumphs over evil, Serena learns a lesson, and the Scouts go on to battle the Negaverse another day.

Rating for Style: B
Rating for Substance: B-

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	no

Image Transfer Review: Video quality remains consistent, if slightly improving here. Source defects are minimal, other than edit marks, and for the most part the image is clear and well defined. A couple of select shots look a bit out of focus, and there is a bit of grain evident. Colors aren't that vibrant, but are relatively solid with only minimal bleed. Typical aliasing, and a bit of rainbowing are also present.

Image Transfer Grade: B

 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
DS 2.0	English	no

Audio Transfer Review: Audio quality remains strong throughout, with a decent bass response, good clarity, and easily discernable dialogue. There is limited directionality, but this is a solid, if not overly exciting soundtrack.

Audio Transfer Grade: B+

 

Disc Extras

Full Motion menu with music
Scene Access with 6 cues and remote access
6 Other Trailer(s) featuring Princess Nine, Sakura Wars 2, Monster Rancher, Medabots, Ruin Explorers, Queen Emeraldas, Nadia
Packaging: Alpha
Picture Disc
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: dual

Extras Review: Extras are limited to ADV previews for Princess Nine, Sakura Wars 2, Monster Rancher, Medabots, Ruin Explorers, Queen Emeraldas, and Nadia.

Menus remain consistent in layout and operation as previous discs with a different background picture. Five chapters are in each episode, with only the first accessable from the main menu.

Extras Grade: D+

 

Final Comments

Another six action-packed episodes of Sailor Moon make their way to DVD in this English-only version. A couple of fillers round out some fun episodes, with the final Sailor Scout making her debut along with another talking cat as our next villian steps up to bat.

 

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