Ranked #224

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (Manga)

You are going to find that this is a very biased review. Because I LOVED THIS MANGA. I have perferred the manga over the anime before I had even read the manga, and now that I have... Wow. It did not disappoint me.

Story: The story, and all five story arcs, were great. My favorite arcs were Black Moon and Stars. The story rather quickly goes from 'pretty girls in uniforms saving the world from aliens' to something much deeper, and that is a great thing.

Art: The art is great as well. I love Naoko Takeuchi's style; it is so flowy and pretty.

Character: Great characters, although, it focused a lot on Usagi, Mamoru and Chibiusa. I know that there were side stories about some of the other characters, but I didn't get to read those since Neo Nobility didn't have them. The Princess Kaguya story that focused on Luna was also great like its anime counterpart, "Sailor Moon S The Movie: Hearts In Ice". I'll give the characters a 10 anyway since the main characters were great.

Enjoyment/Overall: As I said, I loved this manga. It took me a couple of weeks to read since it was eighteen volumes/fifty two acts long, but it was well worth it. I recommend this to any Sailor Moon fan; it's a great read. This gets a ten. read more

Story: The Sailor Moon series (dubbed) is what got me into anime and manga. Fans of the anime or of shoujo in general would love this series. The story spans over 17 of the 18 volumes in 5 arcs (one of the volumes is filler). The manga story often deviates from its anime counterpart, often taking a darker turn. However, the manga still has plenty of comedy, especially in the Exam Battle Chapters. Fans of romance would enjoy the story as well. I gave the story a 10 because I found it epic, classic shoujo.

Art: The artwork is great. I really love the trademark long, flowing hair.The covers, both original and reprint, are well designed and eye catching. My only complaint is that the main bad guys often look the same- Chaos, Pharaoh 90, and Queen Metallia all look like big black blobs to me.

Character: While Usagi, Chibi-usa, and Mamoru are well developed and interesting, the vast majority of the others aren't. They are often put aside to make more room for the other characters. The other sailor senshi are given personalities and backstory, but they don't really mature or change. This is understandable because of the lack of time, but some of the characters spend a significant amount of time completely out of the picture- kidnapped or dead.

Enjoyment/Overall: As I said in the story section, I went into my first read already enjoying the Sailor Moon story, and the manga version did not disappoint. It offers the same basic story I came to love while giving me enough different things to keep me interested. The artwork is good looking as well. Sadly, the English version of the manga is out of print. I would highly recommend the purchase of this series if you ever come across it. I would also recommend the artbooks as well. read more