We almost got an American cartoon based on Sailor Moon like Speed Racer did. Also known as Saban Moon made by Toon Makers. While it was interesting to see how Americanizing Sailor Moon influenced the franchise worldwide, it’d be even more interesting to see how much a western Sailor Moon cartoon would’ve changed what people think Sailor Moon is and what damage it could’ve done to the franchise in general. The pilot gives us an idea of where the series would’ve gone so let’s take a look at this alternate history.
It really seems they were going for a Power Rangers vibe counting the live action segments would seem to be the character driven plot of the day while the transformation and fights would all be animated. I wonder how 50/50 they would’ve gone with it or if perhaps one of the two styles would have more focus. I would guess that the live action segments would be cheap and not have too many settings, a bedroom, school hallway, classroom, a park. I would also think this would be an aspect that could have more girl appealing content with some drama between characters and whatnot. The actresses did seem a little too old for the parts, they don’t seem the strongest point in the pilot to be honest.
As for some of the localization of the characters I have to say I do like the dub names but some of the arly ones here like Victoria just don’t click.I think the ethnicity of the Sailor Scouts actually works really well, it gives each one their own look. Having a catchphrase like Moon Power would’ve made sense. The animation is of course cheap, it really looks like those bad 90s DIC shows. The early CG however is decent enough for its time, it’s only seen in the transformation but perhaps it might’ve been used a bit more on other similar stock segments.
The story is completely different here but they take elements from the anime and well work with the theme which I think works for the story. They captured the outer planets so now they have to protectearth from Queen beryl. There is a lot of details to the plot told quickly in a narration but that would’ve been slowly retold not to mention it’d mostly be episodic. I do like they are sky flyers and basically sail through space. It makes sense that the Sailor Senshi from different planets would be well…in space.
The intro theme is ok, a bit generic but it’s gets the job done I guess. It’s cool to see them have a henshin device and the transformation while it can’t compare to the original, it’s there and does its job. They are princess warriors and have jewels of powers, they are a royal family which works with the japanese canon with Queen Serenity making the moon the capital.
“If I break a nail” yeah, they went there. The pilot also hints that it could all just be Victoria day dreaming. Sailor Moon’s mom shows a bit too much cleavage but that’s fine. White Luna would take some getting used to but it could work, but it makes you wonder if Artemis would ever show up since Venus is already there. I would guess they’d skip him though I would’ve liked a black Artemis. Darien is just damn ugly here, I wonder how Tuxedo mask would’ve been handled.
Victoria – Sailor Moon – Usagi Tsukino – Serena
Blue – Sailor Mercury – Ami Mizuno – Amy Anderson
Sarah – Sailor Jupiter – Rei Hino – Raye Hino
Dayna – Sailor Mars – Makoto Kino – Lita
Carrie – Sailor Venus – Minako Aino – Mina
I don’t think the names fit the characters as well as the dub names did.
If the show had actually been picked up I wonder if they would’ve ditched the live action segments either since the beginning or for a second season. I guess it would’ve depended a lot on costs or even how the audience felt about them. If they had done more seasons I don’t think they would’ve changed the format too much or taken much stuff from R or S or Stars. We would still have the same villains but perhaps they would’ve introduced the Outer Senshi and Chibi Usa.
Overall like the American Saint Seiya cartoon, this would’ve been a shadow of its formerself compared to the original. But you can’t help but wonder how it would’ve utilized some of the things people love about Sailor Moon and seeing an entirely different take from the anime.