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ADV Films presents

Sailor Moon (DiC) #10: The Trouble With Rini (1995)

"Didn't anyone ever tell you to be careful what you wish for?"- Rini (Tracey Hoyt)

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

MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (nothing objectionable)
Run Time: 02h:10m:42s
Release Date: 2002-10-15
Genre: anime

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

 

DVD Review

The tenth installment of Sailor Moon continues the Rini story arc with another six episodes. The bickering minions of the Negamoon unleash their malicious plots upon an unsuspecting Earth, while the Sailor Scouts battle them back into oblivion, with a little help from Tuxedo Mask. Serena gets her heart stomped on, opening up a new quest to regain Darian's love, but Darien has his reasons for staying out of the romantic picture, which he can't disclose.

In this disc's opener, Serena discover's how Rini has brainwashed her family into believing that the young girl is a relative, and gets another bombshell when Darien dumps her. Meanwhile the new Negavillains hatch a plan to destroy the Crystal Nucleus which will form the Tokyo of the future, and Rini holds the key.

Sailor Mercury is the focus as Amy's acceptance at a school in Germany may spell the end of the Sailor Scouts as they know it, just when the girls get an upgrade to their fighting tools. Rini continues her hunt for the Silver Crystal as the Negaverse continues their quest to infiltrate the first star point, and Artemis gets caught in the chilling crossfire.

Raye's grandpa decides to open a martial arts school, and surf boy Chad is to be the instructor, but the temple just happens to be another star point on the Negaverse's map. When a pair of baddies from the Negamoon take over the self defense class, it's up to the Sailor Mars to take the Negaverse to the mat.

The minions of the Negaverse prey on Serena's fear of thunder to track down Rini, while Serena and Darien also hunt for the girl after she fails to come home from her swimming class. When Rini uses her magic talisman, the world of the Sailor Scouts defies gravity. There is a minor audio blip in this episode.

The evil sisters from the Negamoon plan to take over a store that sells good luck charms. Meanwhile Mina and Lita are at odds over boyfriends, and along with Serena look to the talismans to improve their romantic outlook, but their foes are out to turn them into Negaslaves. Has their luck run out?

Serena is assigned to become a chef when her parents bail on a curry party at Rini's school. Darien reluctantly accompanies the two girls for shopping, when the Negavillains cook up a plot to poison all the food at the supermarket. It's a recipe for disaster, and the Scouts have to come up with the ingredients for a cure.

Rini adds another layer of humor as an additional source of aggravation for Serena, whose separation from Darian already has her flustered. Each episode pairs out a couple of girls as the focus, with clashes of personality pretty common. The formulaic nature of the show makes it better to watch in noncontinuous fashion, but the often corny dialogue is good for a chuckle. Considering the number of episodes produced thus far, there has to be some credit given for coming up with new ideas each week. The Sailor Says portions which end each installment are still only vaguely relevant to the preceeding show, and are definitely aimed at young kids. While it does get repetitive, the series is still fun in moderate doses.

Rating for Style: B
Rating for Substance: B

 

Image Transfer

 One
Aspect Ratio1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratioyes
Anamorphicno


Image Transfer Review: Image quality remains consistent with previous releases. Colors are good, but not overly saturated, and black levels are fine. There is some grain, but it looks natural, and a fair number of minor print defects, like hair or dust. Aliasing is present but not excessive. Overall, there is not much to complain about.

Image Transfer Grade: B+
 

Audio Transfer

 LanguageRemote Access
DS 2.0Englishno


Audio Transfer Review: The English only soundtrack is quite good, with a solid bass presence, and no signs of distortion or excess hiss. Dialogue is clear and easy to discern. While not the most impressive audio in terms of showoff value, it fairs extremely well for its purpose.

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, Chance POP Session, All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku, Sakura Wars, Medabots, Dai-Guard
Packaging: Alpha
Picture Disc
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: dual

Extras Review: Extras are again nonexistent, save for trailers for Princess Nine, Chance POP Session, All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku, Sakura Wars, Medabots, and Dai-Guard

Extras Grade: D+
 

Final Comments

Disc ten brings another six installments of Sailor Moon. Each follows the tried and true formula of the Sailor Scouts battling the evil devices of the Negamoon, and coming out on top. Little Rini adds some more comic relief, and there's a little more in in the way of overall plot exposition, but not much. Fans of the show should be happy with the presentation.

Jeff Ulmer 2003-02-06