- Cast & crew
- User reviews
Sailor Moon R: The Movie: The Promise of the Rose
- TV-14 TV-14
- Kunihiko Ikuhara
- Sukehiro Tomita (screenplay)
- Naoko Takeuchi (author: Kodansha Monthly Nakayoshi)
- Lisa Lumby-Richards (adaptation)
- Kotono Mitsuishi (voice)
- Tôru Furuya (voice)
- Michie Tomizawa (voice)
- 45 User reviews
- 8 Critic reviews
- See more at IMDbPro
- 1 win & 1 nomination
- Usagi Tsukino
- Mamoru Chiba
- Makoto Kino
- Minako Aino
- Flower Youma Gurishina
- Flower Youma Kanpanyura
- Young Mamoru
- Young Fiore
- Xenian Flower
- Serena - Sailor Moon
- (2000 English version)
- Darien - Tuxedo Mask
- (as Vince Corroza)
- Lisa Lumby-Richards (adaptation) (English version)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
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- Trivia Released in North American cinemas for the first time in early 2017, over twenty-three years after its debut in Japan.
- Goofs When Fiore tries to take the crystal from Usagi (on the meteor), Fiore talks while Usagi's lips move.
Chibi-Usa : [the Sailor Scouts are spying on Serena and Darien kissing] Yuck! Serena's gettin' kissed, how gross!
Rei Hino : Just look at Miss Fish Lips, all puckered up like some...
- Alternate versions In both versions the girls are puzzled after Fiore holds hands with Mamoru. In the English version, Amy says "That's not strange seeing as everyone is in love with him", and Raye replies "Everybody including you Amy?". Ami's original line in the Japanese version translates to: "I guess Mamoru is attractive to boys, as well as to girls".
- Connections Featured in Anime Abandon: Sailor Moon R: The Movie (2017)
- Soundtracks Moonlight Densetsu Music by Tetsuya Komuro Lyrics by Kanako Oda Arranged by Daisuke Ikeda Performed by DALI (Misuzu Takahashi, Mari Nishimoto, Akira Ishizawa and Sayuri Tsuchiya)
User reviews 45
- moon_angel2002
- Dec 19, 2002
- February 8, 2000 (United States)
- Sailor Moon R: The Movie
- Toei Animation
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Jan 22, 2017
Technical specs
- Runtime 1 hour 1 minute
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Culture doesn't fit in a box. Neither do we.
Undeniable Comfort and Camaraderie in Sailor Moon R The Movie: Promise of the Rose
Sailor Moon R The Movie: Promise of the Rose
Director: kunihiko ikuhara original screenplay: sukehiro tomita north american voice cast: stephanie sheh, robbie daymond, ben diskin, carrie keranen north american premiere: january 19, 2017 (united states); march 1, 2017 (canada).
It’s the distinctly ’90s thrill of electric guitars and percussion that comes to mind first when I think of the Sailor Moon R movie released 14 years ago. “Moon Revenge,” performed by Peach Hips (the unit name given to the original Japanese voice actresses), is not the kind of song one forgets easily. As news of North American screenings, helmed by Viz Media, trickled through my feed last month, it was “Moon Revenge” that played in the background, the soundtrack of some of my best memories of the series.
Nostalgia like mine will likely have driven some fans to their closest theatres to see the film, eager to see a remastered, high-definition version. For others, it might be the first time they’ve heard of the Sailor Moon movies, unsurprising considering the different experiences many of us had with the show in the 1990s and early 2000s. Viz Media’s rerelease of the original anime with a new dub has certainly brought in a new generation of fans, and their screening of the first film will likely draw in more.
Watching the film myself was an exercise in testing the limits of that nostalgia, seeing where it was carrying me through, and asking myself if the new English voice cast still captured what I had loved about this movie when I first saw it almost exactly ten years ago. This is not to say the film was bad or that the new cast was awful at their jobs–on the contrary. The Sailor Moon R film is my favourite of the three that Toei Animation produced in the early 90s, and to this day, I don’t know that I could really tell you the exact reason why.
It’s a fairly short movie, just over an hour running time, and focused on the relationship between Mamoru and a childhood friend Fiore. We learn that Fiore is actually an alien and that his own young interaction with a kind five-year-old Mamoru, newly orphaned, was the catalyst for Fiore’s own journey back to Earth. Twelve years after Fiore bid goodbye to Mamoru, Usagi Tsukino and friends are visiting a garden greenhouse for the day, bickering and enjoying each other’s company. Fiore arrives in a whirlwind of pink petals to invite Mamoru to come with him and his new friend the Xenian (Kisenian, for those familiar with the old dub) Flower. Usagi isn’t quite on board with this, and Fiore doesn’t react in the most positive way, unleashing a series of events that culminate in a meteoric climax–literally.
I remember that I was absolutely enthralled by this movie when I first watched it, introduced as I was to the post-R pieces of the series by my college roommates. Mamoru’s backstory had intrigued me as a kid, and I never really felt like I got all the answers I wanted off Cartoon Network’s version of the show. Promise of the Rose provides at least some of those answers, as we learn about Mamoru’s earliest memories, the kindness and self-sacrifice that he would continue to display throughout his life, and the two relationships with two people that influenced him most, Fiore and Usagi. Chiba Mamoru gets a lot of flak in the Sailor Moon fandom, but I’ve always liked his character because of the way he reworked the hand he’d been dealt. This film retains the qualities that have always endeared him to me, checking off one of the boxes I had wondered about in anticipation.
The art made me feel similarly. It was a little strange seeing this movie, already well loved in ’90s quality, so crisp and clear on my HDTV screen. There was no noise, no unclear spots, things that you just got used to before the series rerelease. Certainly, I appreciated it–Viz’s production team did a marvelous job brightening and sharpening the original film, bringing details out that I had missed over the years of watching older quality versions. It would be wonderful to see the S and Super S movies in the same quality, and I’ll definitely hope for them to roll out soon.
But I suppose fans familiar with the film might be wondering about “Moon Revenge” just as I did. The sequence is an iconic one, powerful enough that my first viewing elicited goosebumps. Viz keeps the original Japanese song, and I don’t know that I could have accepted anything else. I won’t spoil the sequence for those who might be new to this movie, but the scenes did call back for me the memories of seeing them for the first time on a small laptop, unable to look away and hoping against hope for a happy ending.
It’s the same feeling that has kept me around for Sailor Moon for so long, on top of the decade-long friendships I’ve made because of the series. The R film made me smile at the end of an almost unbearably day, gave me the comfort that I needed. It’s still the same story I fell in love with in 2007, more high-definition maybe, but just as full of heart in that earnest Sailor Moon way.
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Sailor Moon R: The Movie
1993, Fantasy/Animation, 1h 3m
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Sailor moon r: the movie photos.
- Genre: Fantasy, Animation
- Original Language: Japanese
- Director: Kunihiko Ikuhara
- Producer: Iriya Azuma
- Writer: Sukehiro Tomita
- Release Date (Streaming): Apr 29, 2017
- Runtime: 1h 3m
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Sailor Moon R Movie: Promise of the Rose
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Sailor Moon R The Movie Review
Set during the later events of the shows second season, Sailor Moon R The Movie, also often referred to as The Promise of the Rose is a short but entertaining film that provides a self contained story line involving the Sailor Scouts and Mamoru fending off an invasion of a plant-like species trying to destroy humanity on Earth. It has a real focus on friendship and a running theme of eliminating loneliness that provides a heartwarming note that resonates throughout.
The movie opens with a character intro sequence that introduces the Sailor Scouts individually. It acts as more of a refresher for those that may not have watched for some time rather than something that could bring a complete newcomer to the series up to speed to the series’ current events.
This is the first time this film has been available (at least here in Australia) on Blu-Ray and right off the bat the opening sequence showcases how well this film holds up after being remastered. The sequence is full of vibrant foliage and the colours of the various flowers and backgrounds really pop on the Blu-Ray release.
The main plot of the movie revolves around a long forgotten friend of Mamoru’s named Fiore. Long ago he gave the boy a single rose and ever since Fiore has been searching the galaxy for the perfect flower in the hopes that one day he can repay Mamoru for his kindness.
When Fiore eventually returns to Earth many years later he is quite jealous of the relationship Usagi shares with Mamoru and attacks the Sailor Scouts before revealing he has brought the Kisenian flower to Earth and plans to unleash an asteroid filled with the flowers down upon Earth as payback for the loneliness they made him feel many years prior. The Kisenian is a flower with the ability to control weak hearted people and cause destruction massive enough to wipe out life itself.
The Scouts teleport up to the asteroid in space and prepare to stop Fiore before he can achieve his plan. The film up until this point had looked spectacular, especially for something originally released back in 1993. But the shot of the scouts approaching the asteroid had some of the worst 3D CG I think I’ve even seen. I was honestly shocked that it hadn’t been removed or touched up in the many years since the original release.
Without spoiling the ending too much, the Sailor Scouts as expected save the day but not before coming together and showing the true bond they all poses with each other in a moment I found to be quite powerful for the whole group.
The film is quite short, coming in at 60 minutes. It felt more like a long episode with slightly higher production quality rather than a feature length film. But the pacing was pretty much spot on, except for one moment you’ll see in the film that is a static, silent shot that lasts for 30 seconds. And of course there are still the lengthy transformation and special attack sequences which do take away some impact from the action packed battle scenes but that’s fully expected at this point.
The home release Blu-Ray features both the original Japanese dub and the new Viz English Redub and is completely uncut. It has been remastered into a widescreen format in a similar way to how the Dragon Ball Z remastered sets were done by cropping the film to now fit a 16:9 aspect ratio instead of it’s original 4:3.
The set also includes the Make Up! Sailor Guardians bonus feature. This originally aired before the theatrical release of the film but has now been dubbed for the first time and included on the disc. It’s a 15 minute sequence that does a more in depth recap of the series’ core characters than the one we see at the beginning of this film.
Make Up! Sailor Guardians is comprised of some original animation as it’s a short story told from Usagi’s perspective but the recap sequences are segments pulled from the anime series. If there was someone out there using this film as their entry point to Sailor Moon this short feature does a fairly decent job bringing them up to speed, at least enough to enjoy the film.
Final Thoughts
Sailor Moon R The Movie is a great stand alone companion piece to the Sailor Moon R series and truly showcases the bond that the core characters in this series share with each other. It is short for an anime movie but the story they wanted to tell was presented well and didn’t need a longer run-time. In fact it’s short run-time is probably what kept the pacing of the film near perfect.
Keep an eye out on the site real soon as we’ll have our full season review of Sailor Moon R going up really soon.
A Blu-Ray review copy was provided by Madman Entertainment for the purpose of this review.
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- + Great original companion piece to the series
- + showcases the bond between the characters well
- + Make Up! Sailor Guardians dubbed for the first time
- - Bad CG asteroid
- - Transformation and attack sequences hindered the action packed moments
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Sailor Moon R: The Movie
This is one of those reviews where I feel like literally every single person interested enough to read it already knows far, far more about the topic than I do and is just waiting for me to make a massive ass of myself. I never watched Sailor Moon growing up and was only vaguely aware of it as the animé that most people think of when they hear the word “animé”. So I went on a rather fascinating tvtropes binge (did you know that the entire Japanese magical girl genre was inspired by the American sitcom Bewitched ?) and I’m proud to report that I’ve gone from being absolutely clueless to loveably befuddled in record time.
Okay. So. Let’s start at the end and work our way backwards.
What is Sailor Moon R : The Movie?
Sailor Moon R is a movie based on Sailor Moon R.
What is Sailor Moon R ?
Sailor Moon R is the second season of the Sailor Moon animé.
What is the Sailor Moon animé?
The animé adaptation of Naoko Takeuchi’s manga about schoolgirl Usagi Tsukino who discovers that she is the reincarnation of an ancient warrior princess from a kingdom on the Moon. As Sailor Moon she battles evil monsters with the help of other girls/reincarnated warriors such as Sailor Mars, Sailor Venus, Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter. It’s a fusion of the magical girl genre with the sentai superhero genre.
What is best in life?
To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you and to hear the lamentation of the women.
Why don’t girls like me?
Because you’re not actually a person, you’re just a rhetorical device I’m using for this review.
What? Wait come back!
We begin on the roof of a psychiatric hospital where two young boys are talking. One of the boys, whose name is Mamoru Chiba, hands the other a rose. The other boy vanishes, but promises that he’ll return with a flower for Mamoru.
In the present, Mamoru is a teenager and is visiting the local botanical gardens with Usagi and the other sailors. Alright, so let’s fill in a little backstory here. Mamoru was a recurring character in the series who was just this guy that Usagi didn’t have a lot of time for.
No, Usagi only had eyes for Tuxedo Mask, a dashing mysterious superhero who would always show up and help her in the nick of time.
Yeah, you can probably guess how that particular plot thread was resolved. So this movie is set some eighty episodes into the animé’s run and Mamoru has unmasked and is dating Usagi. They find themselves alone and Usagi tries to steal a smooch while the other sailors spy on them like a bunch of pervs. With the sailors is Chibiusa, a small pink haired child who is very jealous of Usagi trying to kiss “my Mamo” which is super weird because Usagi and Mamoru are her parents in the future or something, I dunno guys, it’s a weird show.
Anyway, Mamoru’s drama sense starts tingling and he leaves Usagi mid-pucker to go outside. There, he finds an extremely sexy young man.
This tall drink of water apologises to Mamoru for taking so long but says he finally found the perfect flower for him. He then takes Mamoru’s hands in his in just the straightest way.
Usagi and the other girls see this and Usagi rather politely but firmly tells the newcomer to “step off, skank” and the stranger knocks her to the ground. Fioré (for ’tis his name) tells Mamoru that he will fulfil his promise to him and then leaves in the traditional manner of spurned ex-boyfriends, vanishing into the sky in a flurry of rose petals.
The sailors return to Hikawa Shrine which essentially functions like their Batcave and their talking cats (they have talking cats) named Artemis and Luna tell them that a big asteroid is headed towards Earth. The asteroid isn’t expected to strike Earth, but the cats are worried because the rock is giving off “strange plant” energy. The sailors quickly derail the meeting though by speculating on Mamoru and Fiore’s relationship. Because this is the 2014 Viz English dub and not the original Optimum dub from the 2000s, this means actually acknowledging that Fiore and Mamoru might have had a romantic relationship. I mean, no one actually says “dem boys fuckin'” but from context its unambiguous that that’s what they’re talking about. Unlike in the original dub where Fiore and Mamoru are just good friends .
The next day, the sailors mosey into town and are attacked by ordinary Tokyoites who have been turned into zombies by mysterious vines. The sailors defeat the zombies and Sailor Mercury traces the attack to a single innocuous looking flower.
The flower turns into an evil sexy flower lady called Glycina and the sailors transform to battle her. I…kinda feel like bringing up the fact that the transformations are ludicrously over-sexualised is beating a dead horse at this point. It’s one of the things the show is most famous/notorious for and I don’t really have anything more to add other than “yup, that is “child beauty pageant” levels of uncomfortable”.
Anyway, the flower captures Mars, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter in her vines and starts draining their energy. But they’re rescued at the last moment by Sailor Moon who cuts through the vines yelling: “The life of a flower is too short! That’s why girls should fall in love while they can!” which is just a great message for this movie’s fanbase god DAMN. Anyway, they defeat Glycina but Fioré shows up and reveals that this was just an experiment to see if his flower could survive on Earth. Fioré reveals his true form, which is much more “David Bowie in Labyrinth “.
Fioré is wearing a flower that Artemis and Luna identify as a Kisenian and which is clearly mind controlling the poor lovesick putz. Fioré attacks Sailor Moon but is stopped by the sudden arrival of Tuxedo Mask, most dapper of all superheroes. Fioré is delighted because he instantly recognises that Tuxedo Mask is Mamoru. Something that, I hasten to add, Sailor Moon only figured out after EIGHTY ONE EPISODES. AFTER HE TOLD HER.
Fioré decides that his beloved Mamoru has been enmeshed in the wiles of a diabolical intellect of unfathomable depth and tries to kill Sailor Moon. Mamoru takes the hit and lies dying in Sailor Moon’s arms. Horrified by what he’s done, Fioré whisks him away to his base on the asteroid and stores him in a magical crystal so he can heal and to give good old Stockholm Syndrome a chance to work its magic.
We learn more about Fioré and Mamoru’s past. Fioré was wandering through space when he fell to Earth, exhausted. Mamoru, who had just been orphaned in a car crash, took care of Fioré. But Fioré couldn’t stay on Earth because of the atmosphere so he had to return to space. Tearfully, Mamoru gave him a rose as a parting gift and Fioré was so touched he decided to scour the galaxy to find the perfect flower to give him in return. Then he found the Kisenian flower which suggested that Fioré should wipe out all of humanity for leaving Mamoru alone and sad and Mamoru’s all “whoah, no, you completely misread me on that one”. Fioré then tells Mamoru that “no one’s allowed give you flowers except me”.
Back on Earth, the sailors plan to teleport to the asteroid to rescue Mamoru and save the Earth but Sailor Moon doesn’t want to go because she doesn’t want to put the other sailors in danger. Of course, if they don’t go, the whole planet’s doomed anyway so…guys I’m starting to worry this girl just ain’t that bright. Anyway, Chibiusa tells her to buck up and get back out there and give one more for the gipper and rescue her future Dad.
The sailors travel to the asteroid and battle an entire army of flower monsters. They fight them off but the Fioré appears and captures Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Mars. The other sailors yell at Sailor Moon to keep fighting to save the Earth but Fioré tells her to surrender or he’ll kill her friends and she’s all…
…and drops her wand. Fioré begins drains Sailor Moon’s energy but before he can kill her, the other sailors beg for her life, saying that without her each one of them would be alone. This just further convinces Fioré that Sailor Moon is a devious, manipulative home-wrecking skank who must be destroyed before she steals ALL the boyfriends in the universe but just before he can land the killing blow Mamoru breaks free and throws his rose into Fioré’s heart. This (somehow) causes all the flowers on the asteroid to die but also causes the asteroid to change course and it’s now headed for an impact so, y’know, swings and roundabouts.
Sailor Moon decides to use the Silver Crystal, an immensely powerful magical artifact to change the course of the asteroid which will probably kill her. Fioré attacks her and touches the crystal, which causes him to see a memory which reveals that it was actually Usagi who gave Mamoru the rose in the first place that he then gifted in turn to Fioré.
Realising that he’s been just a Grade A chump, Fioré allows himself and the last Kisenian flower to be vaporised. As the asteroid enters Earth’s atmosphere, the sailors combine their powers. It’s the power of friendship versus gravity and, not surprisingly, they make gravity their bitch.
They succeed in redirecting the asteroid but they’ve paid a terrible price; Usagi is dead. But, the ghost of Fioré appears before Mamoru and gives him a flower. He says that this flower contains the last of his life energy and that he most draw the nectar out with his mouth and then kiss Usagi.
He kisses her, she comes back to life, she decides not to ask what that weirdly familiar taste in her mouth is I am skirting on reeeeeal thin ice with this whole review everyone’s happy let’s just end it there.
It’s weird to feel nostalgic for a show that you never watched as a kid but I gotta say, I really liked this. It hits that real sweet spot of being good enough to enjoy unironically while being deliciously, hilariously “nineties animé”. This actually made me genuinely sad that, as a 39 year old man, I almost certainly can’t start ordering DVD boxsets of the show and trade paperbacks of the manga without getting put on a watchlist.
Animation: 06/20
So, there’s clearly been a bump in the animation budget from the TV show and the action now has a pleasant zip and fluidity to it. It’s hardly top tier though and the character models are often painfully generic, to the point where it can be difficult to tell characters apart. I mean, look at this picture of Sailor Moon…
…which is actually a picture of Sailor Venus which you didn’t even notice thereby proving my point.
Lead: 10/20
I like that Usagi is an unapologetically feminine girly girl who nonetheless wrecks shop on a cosmic scale.
Villain: 08/20
Look, who HASN’T turned into a world-threatening supervillain after a bad breakup?
Supporting Characters: 12/20
The Sailors make for a great team of contrasting archetypes. Smart one, nice one, tough one and…um…weird psychic one. Re-inventing the wheel? No, but good, solid fundamentals.
Music: 11/20
Light, breezy little J-pop numbers for them who wants ’em.
FINAL SCORE: 47%
NEXT UPDATE: 31 October 2022
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20 comments.
Thanks for the review. My own feelings about Sailor Moon are pretty vague, but I do appreciate how hugely influential it is. Even though the main character is a bit…well. 😅
Reading this review reminded me of the childhood games me and my siblings would play with legos and stuffed animals.
“But his old boyfriend says ‘everyone has to die!’ and sends the asteroid towards earth – ” “But then Sailor Moon saves everyone with the silver crystal!” “But then she dies!” “No!” “YES! But then the boyfriend is sad and gives him a flower to bring her back to life!” “YES!”
“Everything proof shield!”
I know very little about this series, my sister used to watch the DIC dub back when we were kids but my memory’s a little hazy. Mostly I remember the arguments to switch the channel to Beast Wars.
Man, I hope Beast Wars won. That show was fire in its day.
I think Mom tried to give us equal time. Which naturally neither of us wanted.
Weird to think that for a while this was THE anime. A couple of years later that would be either Pokemon or Dragon Ball Z, but for a while the one anime absolutely everybody could name was Sailor Moon.
I never developed any attachment to it, though I did watch sometimes with my sister. I do appreciate it for being ahead of its time in many ways, though.
“(did you know that the entire Japanese magical girl genre was inspired by the American sitcom Bewitched?)” I kinda hate this common talking point, the shows that were inspired by Bewitched I do not consider the same genre as Sailor Moon.
I don’t not consider the transformations “Sexualized’ at all, not even 1% the fact that that’s all Westerners can think looking at is says more about us then the Anime.
Actually in the series Mamoru and Usagi’s identites were revealed to each other around liek episode 31, less then 10 epsidoes after Mamouro himself became aware he was Tuxedo Mask. In the Manga/Crystal it happens episode 6.
I give this movie a 10/10, it’s a perfect encaslations of Sailor Moon.
As a cootie-hating young boy, I never watched Sailor Moon. These days, my girlfriend really likes it, so I hear about it sometimes. Which is fair, since I talk about Yu-Gi-Oh a lot.
Regarding the transformations, it is important to remember that the actual main audience for Sailor Moon in Japan, the TV viewing target, the ones buying most merchandise, were little girls. For them the Barbie-like nudity while shiny pretty clothes were put on the protagonists were, well, like dressing a Barbie with fancy clothing while identifying with her. The whole creepy older men are just a side-product, but there are alleged adults who are going to sexualize Spongebob, there is no escape.
In defense of Usagi herself, it is only in the anime that it takes her over eighty episodes to learn Mamoru’s secret identity. In the manga she knows it by volume two. The anime has tons of filler, which to be fair fleshes the characters out a lot.
Nobody is going to put you on a watchlist for ordering Sailor Moon stuff, Jesus. We are not so far into the global police state yet. Yet. Enjoy it while you can.
I caught the first episode of the DIC version when I was . . . I dunno, 12 or 13? And then I didn’t see another episode until I was a couple decades into adulthood. So like a stereotypical golden retriever, I was happy to just trot alongside you in this review.
Fun fact: in Italian, the word for “flowers” is “fiore.”
Heh heh, he’s studied up on Magical Girls. NOW we dump Modoka Magika on him!
Actually, you’d probably like it, but it is best gone into as cold as possible, and best watched about 3 episodes at a time (of 12).
I swear to God if it’s another Flip Flappers…
Nah, it’s more often called, “The Evangelion of Magical Girl Shows”. It IS a fairly complicated storyline, like Flip Flapers, but much less fanservice (although figuring out which Magical Girl property each character is “drawn from” would get the “geek quotiant” going.
But enough, too much telling spoils the watching, especially of THIS one.
Dear Mouse, I hope you’re enjoying a little schadenfreude over there in the Emerald Republic because SOMEBODY should be able to get a few laughs out of the three ring circus these clowns are laying on for us.
If you’re ever curious as to why we Britons are generally keen on keeping the monarchy, days like today generally loom large – at least nobody ever voted for a right Royal noodle!
Mouse, you’re a rodent with a record of knowing his folklore, mythology and other occult oddities so please help a Briton out – has somebody been exporting Fairy Tale tricksters on the sly or have elements in the Irish Netherworld just moved beyond cussing out old GB and actively started hexing us?
This whole sequence of events feels like the writers of a rather dark political comedy have become authors of the United Kingdom’s fate and I DON’T LIKE THE SCRIPT.
Anyway, I hope your wife and mini-mice are doing well at the House of Mouse (Emerald Isle), also that things continue well for you with the Muse.
Best Wishes!
Well look, at least the clumsy attempt to write back in the fan favourite comedy relief prime minister seems to have been dropped.
I’d love to recommend an underrated anime film worth reviewing: “Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise”. It was the first anime film produced by Gainax and has some of the greatest animation of any 80s anime. I think it would a be very interesting film for talk about.
Whoops! Thought I replied here but I did not. I’m so glad you enjoyed! I love Sailor Moon. It hits that Disney Princess meets Superheroes sweet spot and it rules.
I can assure you watching the show/reading the comics are not gonna end you on some kind of list LOL. It’s foundational to the modern magical girl genre and quality storytelling (most of the time.) It’s no weirder than watching Disney movies, promise.
If you do watch the OG anime I’d recommend a viewing guide to skip some of the most egregious filler. (Including like…almost all of Season Four. It is Not Good.)
Quickie guide for S1 (technically including some ‘filler’ because they’re good character episodes): 1, 3, 5, 8-15, 21-42, 44-46 Bare minimum: 1,8, 10, 13, 14, 22-25, 33-36, 44-46.
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Sailor Moon R The Movie~ The Promise of the Rose Review
25th June 2017 at 9:00 pm
Dear Chibi,
Sailor Moon R The Movie: The Promise of the Rose is out on DVD remastered! I haven’t seen this movie in quite a while, but it was by far my favourite of the 3 Sailor Moon movies. Seeing it again so many years later, my thoughts largely remain the same.
“Long before Mamoru found his destiny with Usagi, he befriended a lonely boy who helped him recover from the crash that claimed his parents. This long-forgotten friend, Fiore, has been searching the galaxy for a flower worthy of that sweet gesture long ago. The mysterious flower he finds is beautiful, but has a dark side. Faced with an enemy blooming out of control, it’s up to Sailor Moon and the Sailor Guardians to band together, stop the impending destruction and save Mamoru!” As with most anime movies, this film is best enjoyed as a standalone. Nothing in the film affects the main story at all, and the actual villains from the series (The Black Moon Clan) are never mentioned. The events portrayed in the film seem to take place somewhere between episode 77 and 82, after Chibiusa learns of everyone’s identity and when Usagi and Mamoru get back together. It makes sense since the film debuted in Japanese theaters on 5 December 1993, a week before episode 77 aired. While it’s not necessary to watch the movie, it’s a delightful experience with plenty of emotion and drama.
What I love about the movie is that it captures the essence of “Sailor Moon” beautifully. Themes of friendship and loneliness is also very apparent. The pacing is excellent as it never feels draggy or too rushed. With 62 minutes of run time, they did a great job balancing action and story. Speaking of action… fans of the 90’s anime will appreciate all the non stock footage used for the fighting scenes. We’ve become so accustomed to the same attack sequences, it’s refreshing to see some new animation! :D
I also think Viz Media’s English cast did a wonderful job. I had no issues with it and the script is pretty faithful to the original. A big tick :)
The product packaging
Let’s have a look at the packaging of this Australian release by Madman:
I’m happy they used the original art for the cover :) For whatever reason, it was redrawn for the US release which left many fans displeased. The culprit? This . I’ll let you decide which looks better ;)
Overall, the slip design is simple and pleasing. The print on the disc itself is a bit plain for my liking though:
Moving onto the DVD menu screen, I always find these a complete let down :(
There is so much potential to make this exciting and engaging, but it’s the same background used for all of Madman’s other Sailor Moon DVDs. This time it’s worse because there’s not even a picture on the right >.< At least “Moon Revenge” plays in the background…~ sigh~
Thankfully, the video is fabulous. While we never got a Bluray release from Madman, the DVD picture quality is stunning. I’m thoroughly impressed by how crisp and colourful everything looks :O Check out some of these screenshots:
Ahh..so clear and sharp!!!! :D It’s amazing seeing something so old look so new again :’) I love it.
This release contains 2 ‘extra’ items. One is standard Madman anime trailers and the other is a 15-minute recap of the series titled “ Make Up! Sailor Guardians “. It was shown in Japanese theaters before the actual movie. This comes included with the English dub as well. To be honest, I didn’t enjoy the segment that much since the drawings aren’t…that nice.
‘Make Up! Sailor Guardians’ title screen
Not a huge fan of this art style. Usagi also acts really weird. OH WELLS XD.
I hope you enjoyed this review and found it helpful in some way. Feel free to drop a comment below with your thoughts!
Note: This is Madman’s AU/NZ release of Sailor Moon R: The Movie. DVD is Region 4. If you’re interested in getting a copy, you can order it here . For more links to other merchandise, check out our Sailor Moon Shopping Guide !
19 Responses to “Sailor Moon R The Movie~ The Promise of the Rose Review”
Love the fact they used the 90’s movie poster for the cover. Much better than Viz’s “re-imagining”. So bland. I was blown away by the HD quality…can’t wait for the S movie to get the same treatment. Love the poster for that one.
Hopefully Viz doesn’t re-image the other 2 movie posters ^^”
I went to a movie theatre for a special screening of it!!! It was wonderful to see on the big screen! It’s my favorite.
Yah, lucky you!!
Good to see they used the HD master for the DVD version too. Shame they didn’t do the blu-ray version like Viz released. It looks amazing in 1080p
Yeah, Madman doesn’t release many Blurays it seems o.o
Aww boo. They should
This looks so beautiful! ? And I kinda like the galaxy print on the CD, the cover has so much going on in it and it looks so cool but the only thing I don’t like is “Sailor guardians Make-Up!” Only from looking at those to pictures all in all I think “Sailor Moon R The Movie: The Promise of the Rose” looks great with the pictures you have shown!
haha, I guess the CD print isn’t too bad, just seemed a bit too simple for my taste.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! :)
Hi. I’m just wondering, does this versin cone with the original audio or is it a dub verdion? Thank you.
Hi José! Sorry I forgot to mention it on my post. Yes, there’s the original Japanese audio with English subtitles too :)
Are you serious? You guys got the Japanese poster as your cover!!! What even…
haha… we got lucky…. ^^”
I can’t wait to pick it up myself! The cover is so static in the american release ;.; i wish we got the original japanese cover too!! The picture is stunning at how clear it is!! i hope this quality continutes for sailor moon dvds, and i find the slip with the inside with fiore and usagi goregous~ <3 great review!
Hi Pie! Good to hear you enjoyed the review :) I agree, the Fiore & Usagi pic looks pretty good :D
Really strange that Viz Media had the cover redone by an artist other than Marco Albiero to be honest.
Love how new and fresh the colours look on this! =)
I agree with the DVD screen though- would be so much nicer with animated sections from the movie (if not still a picture!)
The best of the 3 Sailormoon movies :)
I’m disappointed about the menu screen indeed… at least the important stuff like the actual video quality is good :D
I haven’t bought this movie yet. I’m holding out for Madman to release a boxset of the movies like Pioneer did back in 2001. I know it’s something that probably will not happen until they release the entire series first and than the remaining two movies individually.
Ah yup! It will take a while, but it does seem highly likely something Madman would eventually do.
Hi! I'm Chibi Jen. Mummy to P-chan, wife, a twin sister and comic artist from Sydney. This is my journal to capture my little daily adventures. Photography by Jaychan. More about me >
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Sailor moon r: the movie.
1993 ‘劇場版 美少女戦士セーラームーンＲ’ Directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara
The Future Depends On Scout Power!
While enjoying the flower gardens, Sailor Moon (Usagi) and friends encounter an old childhood friend of Mamoru's: an alien! He's come back to give Mamoru a special flower, but doesn't like Usagi and the rest of the planet's inhabitants. Sailor Moon must defend the earth from the evil Kisenian Flower he's brought back... before the evil vines and blossoms overrun the planet!
Kotono Mitsuishi Toru Furuya Michie Tomizawa Aya Hisakawa Emi Shinohara Rica Fukami Keiko Han Yasuhiro Takato Kae Araki Wakana Yamazaki Hiromi Nishikawa Megumi Ogata Tomoko Maruo Mahito Ohba Hikaru Midorikawa Yumi Touma
Kunihiko Ikuhara
Tsutomu Tomari
Sukehiro Tomita
Yasuhiro Yoshikawa
Cinematography
Motoi Takahashi
Art Direction
Junichi Taniguchi
Arisawa Takanori
Toei Animation TV Asahi
Alternative Titles
Sailor Moon R the Movie: Promise of the Rose, Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon R The Movie, 美少女戦士セーラームーンＲ THE MOVIE, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon R: The Movie, Sailor Moon R - Le Film, Sailor Moon R - Promise of the Rose, Sailor Moon R - The Promise of the Rose, Sailor Moon Super R: The Promise of the Rose
action fantasy animation romance
Monsters, aliens, sci-fi and the apocalypse Epic heroes earth, sci-fi, space, spaceship or mankind sci-fi, aliens, space, spaceship or earth storytelling, graphics, emotion, breathtaking or emotional monster, creature, dinosaurs, scientist or beast martial arts, kung fu, choreography, cool or action-packed Show All…
61 mins More at IMDb TMDb Report this film
Popular reviews
Review by KYK ★★★½ 1
THE HAPPENING but gay
Review by Andrea ★★★★
"sailor moon" (1992-1997) has raised MILLIONS for the lgbtq community.
Review by felicia 🤠 ★★★½
this was basically just an hour long episode but mamoru is a bi icon
Review by liz c. ★★★★★ 1
imagine wrecking a planet just because the guy youre gay for has a girlfriend
Review by Carol Grant ★★★★
Kunihiko Ikuhara may secretly be one of the best directors of queer stories in film. Sailor Moon R: The Promise of the Rose , like his best work, is sweeping and emotional and visually breathtaking, laying the groundwork for his themes of queer affection poisoned into hatred and jealousy by heteronormative structures that would later be further explored in his ultimate masterwork Adolescence of Utena .
Review by Yvette ★★★★
I can’t believe sailor chibi moon pulled a gun on sailor moon but I’m glad I got to see it
Review by Noah Thompson ★★★★ 2
I am the only one who's allowed to give you flowers.
I don't really know why I haven't tried getting into Sailor Moon before. I like anime even if I'm not obsessed with it. When I was a lad, I really liked The Powerpuff Girls , so I can absolutely vibe with superpowered girls kicking ass and being cute. Running at a very smooth sixty minutes, Sailor Moon R: The Movie feels like what I have to imagine is the series at its best encapsulated in an hour. The animation is gorgeous, it's almost entirely either action or stunning transformation sequences, and when you don't get that, you get genuinely emotional and well-done character work. I know a lot of anime…
Review by lou ★★★
All cis gay men are totally and utterly misogynistic, even alien ones, thanks sailor moon for confirming it
Review by Zegan ★★★
Gaylor Moon
Review by CaviII ★★★★
when i log sailor moon movies it's not in a weeb way but in a kafkaesque, post modernist, nietzschean, neo-romantic, anti-modernist, bergmanesque, dadaist way
Review by 🪐Dames🪐 ★★★★
90’s anime aesthetic🌸 + gay vibes✨= this movie🌙 A simple story, yet heartwarming nonetheless. Sailor Moon never ceases to make my heart happy. And the soundtrack is banging as usual. Great film for you anime nerds out there
Review by Tito ★★★
I got really horny in the middle of this and i don't know why
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Sailor Moon R the Movie: The Promise of the Rose
In the past, Mamoru (Darien) gives his friend Fiore a single rose. Fiore is very happy and tells Mamoru that when they next meet he will have many flowers. As the story progresses, Fiore thinks of Usagi (Serena) and her friends as having stolen Mamoru away from him. Eventually Fiore decides to get rid of the Sailor Scouts through a flower filled with evil energy and a meteorite. Will the Sailor Scouts be able to conquer both and defeat Fiore?
Overall the movie is pretty good. It's a must-see for any fan of Sailor Moon.
— Bri Lockett
Recommended Audience: Anyone should be able to watch this show. However a few of the fight scenes and some scenes near the ending may scare small children if they don't understand what's happening. Editor's Note: Though Pioneer gives the movie a 13+ rating, it's really no worse than the TV series, and therefore really ought to be a 6+. Your mileage may vary.
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Sailor Moon R: The Movie is really really good. Even if you are not a big fan of the show, you will enjoy this film. The animation is terrific and the story
Overall, the uncut movie has an engrossing plot that shows how Sailor Moon has matured both as a character and a phenomenon from the first season. The film has
It's a fairly short movie, just over an hour running time, and focused on the relationship between Mamoru and a childhood friend Fiore. We learn
There are no critic reviews yet for Sailor Moon R: The Movie. Keep checking Rotten Tomatoes for updates! Audience Reviews for Sailor Moon R: The Movie. There
Physical attacks, specifically on the girls, look very painful, with bodies showing the effects of being slammed into a steel door or a phone
Sailor Moon R The Movie is a great stand alone companion piece to the Sailor Moon R series and truly showcases the bond that the core characters
It's weird to feel nostalgic for a show that you never watched as a kid but I gotta say, I really liked this. It hits that real sweet spot of
Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network gave the film's Viz Media dub an "A−". She praised the animation, stating that it was "several cuts above what we
What I love about the movie is that it captures the essence of “Sailor Moon” beautifully. Themes of friendship and loneliness is also very
While enjoying the flower gardens, Sailor Moon (Usagi) and friends encounter an old childhood friend of Mamoru's: an alien! He's come back to give Mamoru a
The entire plot of the movie is like the episodes though a little more complex since it's dealing with Mamoru and not one of the Scouts as is usually seen in