I have to thank Sailor Moon for one thing and that was getting me to watch anime. I was about nine years old when I first watched it on "NBC" and despite the face that the show's heroes were teenage girls, I got hooked.
Fast forward nearly eleven years later and I decided to re-watch it in its native (Japanese) language and format. It was far better than the one that I watched on NBC.
Simply put, if you can get over the weird transformations, this season is alot of fun to watch. All the main characters give you reason to care about what they are doing. Usagi, Rei, Minako, Ami and Makoto (or Serena, Raye, Mina, Amy and Lita if you watch the English version) all have vibrant personalities that often are odds with one another, often making for some very funny episodes and good laughs.
Even the bad guys are interesting in their own right. The relationship of one of the main antagonists, Nephrite, and Naru (known as Molly, being heroine's best friend) is very touching yet solemn as it is a doomed love. This probably had to be the best part of this season, the relationship between these two characters. As a guy, I have to say, the end of their tragic relationship nearly moved me to tears.
I cannot tell you the story outright otherwise I will spoil it but it is good though it starts off really slow in the beginning. Basically, it is about an evil witch named "Queen Beryl" who is attempting to revive her former master, "Metallia", an ultra uber creature I suppose, by using the life force of humans by taking their energy. It is up to the Sailor Scouts to prevent this from happening. This is the main gist of the story though there are several twists and turns.
The art not great. Perhaps the greatest weakness of the show, some of the fights look real choppy. There are times where it seems as if the animators just skipped an entire fight scene by having Sailor Moon throw her tiara at the enemy and obliterate them. In that case, why have other Sailor Senshi then?
The music and voice acting in the original is great. "Moonlight Denetsu" is a very catchy opening and most of the in show music uses baroque and classical elements.
In all, the first season of Sailor Moon blasted off on the right foot and set the standard of other magical girl animes that came after it. Definitely one of the strongest seasons in the entire Sailor Moon series.
