ADV Films presents

Sailor Moon (DiC) #8: The Doom Tree Strikes (1995)

"There must be some other evil force that's causing these problems."- Artemis (Ron Ruben)

Stars: Terri Hawkes, Jill Frappier, Karen Bernstein, Susan Roman, Katie Griffin, Stephanie Morganstern, Ron Rubin
Other Stars: Colin O'Meara, Mary Long, Roland Parliament, Nadine Rabinovitch, Toby Proctor, Tracey Moore, Julie Lemieux, Terri Hawkes
Director: Junichi Sato, Tracey Hoyt, Vince Corazza, Sabrina Grdevich

MPAA Rating: GRun Time: 02h:10m:42s
Release Date: 2002-09-03
Genre: anime

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

 

DVD Review

The eighth installment of the English language version of Sailor Moon continues the second season which began on the previous disc. After briefly losing all memory of their past as Scouts, they return to battle the Negaverse's latest threat, and learn some new tricks along the way. With Queen Beryl defeated, a new adversary is introduced in Alan and Anne, a pair of aliens who summon evil creatures known as Cardians from their deck of cards, to steal energy for the Doom Tree that supports them. Disguised as brother and sister high school students, the pair are also causing havoc in the Serena's regular lives, as Anne has set her sights on Darien, and Alan is courting the young Moon Princess, unaware of her Scout identity.

The battle gets personal when Lita's best friend Ken is attacked, and the Sailor Scouts try to figure out what the latest threat to the world is. Serena begins her plan to get Darien to remember the past, but encounters a new mystery man when Moonlight Knight (who seems very much like Tuxedo Mask in an Arab outfit) comes to the rescue.

A new virtual reality theater opens up, which becomes the latest center of attraction. Alan and Anne decide it would make the perfect place to harvest the energy they need. Once again the game gets personal when Serena's family become the prey for the latest creature from the Negaverse.

Next, it's cherry blossom time, and the ensuing festival is candidate for finding humans for the Negaverse to extract energy from, and this time the Scouts have met their match. When they are trapped by a evil cardian, Serena has to learn how to control her own power, and inherits a new tool in her fight against evil.

Sailor Venus finds her hidden power when Mina befriends a kindergarten student who is being bullied by her classmates for believing in Sailor Moon. When her class becomes the latest target for the Negaverse, Sailor Venus and Sailor Moon have to summon the courage to defeat the cardian, with a little encouragement from Moonlight Knight.

The Scouts are on the lookout for a Cardian harvesting baby energy, and it's Mercury's turn to get a power upgrade. Darian and Serena have a lot to learn when they volunteer to look after baby Jordan while his mom's in the hospital. (This episode has a video defect with a strip on the extreme left of the image missing its color information.)

Raye is in charge of the autumn festival, but is getting frustrated with the responsibility. Anne and Alan get enlisted as models, providing a perfect opportunity to drum up energy from the crowd. Sailor Mars learns her new abilities this time out.

The new formula is firmly entrenched in this collection, with Alan and Anne summoning a new Cardian creature, and the Scouts fighting back with the help of new hero, the Moonlight Knight, arriving just in the nick of time. Although some new segments have found their way into the routines, there is still plenty of repetition in the animation, with each of the girl's transformation sequences, making the show easily identifiable for younger viewers. As always, the relationships and petty jealousies between the girls provides additional comic relief, with Serena the flakiest of the bunch. The Sailor Says segment continues to espouse moral correctness at the end of each episode.

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: Image quality is consistent with what has come before. The look is a bit grainy, and there is the odd speck of dust about. Apart from the defect in Much Ado About Babysitting episode (which should be hidden by overscan on most 4:3 televisions), the video is consistent, not overly saturated, blacks appropriate, and little aliasing or other problems.

Image Transfer Grade: B+
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
DS 2.0	English	no

Audio Transfer Review: English audio is full-bodied with an even tonal response. Dialogue is clear and easily understood. There isn't much in the way of flashiness to the mix, but it suits the program and doesn't get in the way.

Audio Transfer Grade: A- 

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, Medabots, Dai-Guard, Martian Successor Nadesico, Dirty Pair Flash.
Packaging: Alpha
Picture Disc
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: dual

Extras Review: Extras are limited to previews for Princess Nine, Sakura Wars 2, Medabots, Dai-Guard, Martian Successor Nadesico and Dirty Pair Flash.

Extras Grade: D
 

Final Comments

With a few new twists, the Sailor Moon formula rolls on into its second season with another six episodes. This disc marks the transition to the Scouts' new powers and the introduction of another mystery saviour in Moonlight Knight. If the show has held your interst this long, there are a few surprises.

Jeff Ulmer 2002-12-18