Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie Part 1’ on Netflix, A Magical Take on A Classic Anime Arc

The Sailor Moon saga is one of the longest-running and most popular anime series of all-time. The manga launched in the early ’90s, and quickly morphed into television, movies, video games, toys, board games, trading cards, and more. It’s safe to say it’s one of the world’s most popular franchises, even after 30 years, and today brings the release of a brand new movie to Netflix. Is it worth your time? Read on…

SAILOR MOON ETERNAL: THE MOVIE PART 1: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Netflix’s Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie Part 1 is part of a double feature that acts as the next season of the Sailor Moon Crystal series. It adapts the “Dream” version of the original Sailor Moon manga, which follows Sailor Moon’s (Stephanie Sheh) daughter Chibi-Usa (Sandy Fox) as she is visited in dreams by the mysterious, beautiful Pegasus (Brian Beacock), who calls out to her for assistance. With the arrival of the nefarious Dead Moon Circus in town, spearheaded by the Amazoness Quartet (Cassandra Lee Morris, Xanthe Huynh, Erika Ishii, and Erica Lindbeck), it looks like the Sailor Soldiers are facing a new set of enemies that will threaten their hopes and dreams — but to what end? And how is Pegasus related to it all?

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Though the movies are meant to adapt the “Dream” arc of the original Sailor Moon manga, aside from the Sailor Moon SuperS TV series (the fourth season overall), this film will no doubt remind viewers of the film Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie: Black Dream Hole. It was a very Chibi-Usa-centric movie that focused on dreams, childhood, and mysterious yet benevolent love interests for the young Sailor Soldier.

Performance Worth Watching: Anime dub veteran Brian Beacock offers nothing but soothing, calming comfort to Chibi-Usa as Pegasus/Helios. He speaks to Chibi-Usa with kindness and love, and his voice is a rich salve that heals all. You might just fall in love with the High Priest of Elysion too if you listen to him talk about you being a fair maiden for too long. There’s a certain sweetness and innocence he brings to the role that feels absolutely perfect for a character who’s a part of the dream world.

Memorable Dialogue: “I promise you this. Our paths will cross again, my fair little maiden.” Pegasus/Helios takes human form with some of the last of his limited strength to comfort a crying Chibi-Usa, who believes she won’t be able to achieve her dreams or be like mother Usagi (Sailor Moon) until she’s an adult. Helios sees her as a beautiful young maiden with innocent dreams, and his kind words to her remind her that she’s perfect just the way she is, even though she believes she won’t see him again — especially since he’s in distress.

Sex and Skin: No sexual nudity, though there are brief, paper doll-like silhouettes of the Sailor Soldiers when transforming — nothing new for the series, or for Sailor Moon fans. There are a few slightly tighter and more revealing outfits for some characters.

Our Take: For anyone who’s viewed the original Sailor Moon SuperS anime, this adaptation may feel a bit strange at first. It’s much more faithful to the manga, which, like series like Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, is rife with additional characters and lore that the TV version didn’t have time to address. It’s also a much more introspective, dreamy look at the Sailor Soldiers as individuals, looking into their hopes and dreams, their outward personalities that are occasionally at odds with the way they present themselves, and their duties as protectors of the Moon Princess, Sailor Moon. The added details and information presented alongside the narrative, which is a reboot of SuperS, do add more context to the friend group of Sailor Soldiers we previously saw together in each episode, fleshing them out as individuals with their own wants and needs. It’s not all about Usagi, nor is it all Chibi-Usa’s show, and it’s all the better for it.

Due to its shorter runtime than the equivalency of multiple anime episodes, the first part of the double feature also eliminates much of the “monster of the day” frustration that would set in after watching a story, sub-story, and then a quick montage of Sailor Soldiers beating down an enemy, which makes the narrative feel less like a slog so it can get to the meat of things. There’s suddenly more time for things like meeting Sailor Mercury’s (Kate Higgins)’ mother, and learning about Sailor Venus’s (Cherami Leigh)’s guardian Artemis (Jonny Yong Bosch) in human form, something we didn’t see in the anime series. These added details all sing together for a harmonious new lens through which we can view the classic magical girl series.

Our Call: STREAM IT. If you were disillusioned by Sailor Moon Crystal as a TV series thanks to its unacceptably wonky art style, lazy character designs, and rushed worldbuilding, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie Part 1. From its revamped Sailor Soldier designs, faithful transformation sequences, and added content that draws from the manga to the excellent dub, it’s clear this was a labor of love that Crystal’s team worked to improve dramatically from the series. If this is what’s in store for fans if a Sailor Moon Stars adaptation is on the books, then you should be first in line for tickets.

Brittany Vincent has been covering video games and tech for over a decade for publications like G4, Popular Science, Playboy, Variety, IGN, GamesRadar, Polygon, Kotaku, Maxim, GameSpot, and more. When she’s not writing or gaming, she’s collecting retro consoles and tech. Follow her on Twitter: @MolotovCupcake.

Watch Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie on Netflix