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azuriteOnce again, I bring you the differences between the Sailor Moon live action (Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon) and the anime (Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon - Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon). This time I hope to get through Act 5! Shall we get started?
This episode is one of the rare few that has a "character feature." That is, Ami-chan is the focus, and the episode is all about her. Obviously, since the show is called 'Sailor Moon,' the focus doesn't usually sway from Usagi, since she IS the main character. But every now and then we do get a bit of character insight, and this is probably the live action's first attempt at that.
It addresses one of Ami-chan's most obvious fears-- do people really want to be friends with her, or do they just want to use her? Ami first thought Usagi was using her, and only wanted to be friends because they were both Senshi. But since Usagi went out on a limb to save her, and even said "Don't transform if you don't want to!" Ami decided Usagi was being genuine. So now Ami is a dedicated Senshi... but she obviously still has her concerns about fitting in. This is something that holds true with Ami's anime and manga counterpart as well, though it isn't really addressed until Sailor Moon R (the second half), when Ami faces a droid that brainwashes her into going against her friends. Obviously, the droid's plan backfires, and Mercury ends up with a new attack.
How will she fare in the live action? Let's find out! Usagi finally picks up on Ami continually calling her Tsukino-san, rather than Usagi-chan, as she does in the anime and the manga. It's technically more appropriate that they picked up on this little tidbit in the live action; Ami is a very conservative, reserved individual, one who is very shy and hesitant about making friends or being too bold in anything she does. However, one might argue that in the anime and the manga, Usagi's cheery nature just rubbed off on Ami the right way, so she immediately decided to call Usagi "Usagi-chan" rather than "Tsukino-san."
As Ami is walking home from Crown Arcade, she sees a soap opera on a TV (on display). It causes her to worry even more... as if the horoscope for Virgo (Ami's sun sign) in the morning, predicting that her friendships were not as strong as they seem wasn't bad enough! She sees Usagi in place of the woman laughing at her "friend" who ends up being Ami-- while Usagi tells Ami that she was just using her. While it is true that anime!Ami has concerns like these, she suppresses them, as she has for years. It's not that Ami doesn't have any "friends," it's that she doesn't have a solid connection with any of them. Why she suddenly starts worrying in the live action JUST after getting together with Usagi and Rei is beyond me... the anime!Ami seemed much stronger and more perseverant.
Ami passes by a book store and sees a new book titled "How to be a true friend book." She ends up buying the book, and reads that a true friend is not someone who is usually alone and parties, or someone that fights with their friends without knowing if they'll recover or not. Ami remembers how she ate alone on the roof one day when she invited Usagi to come up with her... she remembers everything from that day, and wonders if Usagi will really abandon her.
The next day, Usagi is late to school (what else is new?) but she bothers to say good morning to the janitor sweeping the courtyard. When Usagi's putting on her indoor shoes, Ami appears with two bags in hand-- and she says "Usagi" (no honorific, which must have been extremely difficult for a person such as Ami, who speaks so formally all the time!) and "Ohayou!" (rather than the more formal "Ohayougozaimasu" for good morning). She sounds very stuttered, but she looks absolutely happy- it's no wonder Usagi is surprised! Usagi drags Ami to the classroom, and greets everyone-- and they all respond just as jovially (a stark contrast to Usagi sneaking in between the chairs only to be spotted by Umino...). Ami does the same thing, and everyone responds-- but then they're surprised and all say "EH?!" when they realize it was Ami!
Later on, when Haruna-sensei surprises them with a pop quiz, Ami-chan notices she's the only one NOT booing the possibility of a test (and clean up if you get a red mark). She notices even Usagi booing the test, and though it goes against her nature, she joins in! Later on at lunch, Kanami, Naru, and Momoko are all surprised when Ami says "If you'll excuse me!" to allow herself to join them at lunch-- but Usagi's happy, since she's wanted Ami to eat with them since Day 1!
Ami's remembering everything she read in the book about being friends-- helping clean (she purposefully got a question wrong on the test), skipping cram school to go to a pajama party at Naru's, etc... all of it goes against her character in both the anime and the live action, but it's understandable since she's so afraid of losing her friends.
We see Nephrite (not Nephlite, and not Nephelite!) report on something that appears to be the Silver Crystal-- and Beryl reprimands him, saying she doesn't want something that APPEARS to be the Silver Crystal, she wants the real thing. Nephrite amends, saying he'll see if it's the real thing, and if so, bring it back to her. Beryl says if he does that, he'll get everything he wants-- and Nephrite says all he wants is her. This is a far cry from the antagonizing Nephrite from the anime, whether you watched the original version or the dub. Nephrite liked to tease Jadeite, but didn't get in his way until after Jadeite was punished-- after all, the generals all had better things to be doing with their time while one of them was out doing "the dirty work." So where's Jadeite now? On top of that, Nephrite was never so quick to acquiesce to Beryl's orders-- he was a very independent mind, and in the anime, the one closest to turning to the side of good. If Sailor Moon had the Crescent Moon Wand in the anime when he died, he might have been saved and Naru kept happy! But here in the live action, Nephrite doesn't seem to have the kind of personality that Naru would like anyway... and even if she did, Moon's already got the Crescent Moon Wand, so if his life WAS put in danger by Zoisite, there would have to be a really good reason for Moon NOT to save him!
We see that Naru's got a house that's nowhere near her mom's jewelry store, as it is in the anime. In the anime, OSA*P is located right below a floor of rooms or apartments that Naru and her mother live in-- which explains why Naru and her mother were always rushing downstairs in their pajamas whenever a monster came to attack. It looks as though Jupiter, the PGSM equivalent of OSA*P, is downtown, and has no apartment rooms on top of the store. (We find out later it's because it's NOT Naru's house at all-- it's Usagi's! So why did Usagi say "Naru-chan is having a pajama party!" earlier?)
Ami's still thinking of going to cram school (it's only 8 o'clock), but she decides to join in on the party after all and karaoke. Before, Naru and Usagi seemed to be the only ones really having any fun, while Ami just sat on the side and clapped. "Faking it" just doesn't seem like Ami-chan at all-- no matter what universe she's from. She does sing though, and Naru's image of Ami (as a stuck-up, genius girl who has "no need" of friends) slowly changes. What they don't notice though, is that Ami is gripping her karaoke microphone as if it's her lifeline...
The girls decide to apply some makeup-- Usagi looks tasteful, but a bit "thick" (like she's going out for a night on the town), Naru looks very thick, almost a bit "dead," and Ami has seriously overdone it, and has blush everywhere, eyeshadow popping her eyes out of their sockets, and lipstick in areas it shouldn't be. Obviously Ami has no concept of how to apply makeup... ;_; This holds true with anime!Ami, too-- though we rarely see ANY of the girls in makeup, unless it's intentionally exaggerated. In fact, the only senshi we ever see with traces of makeup are the Outers, because part of their transformation sequence includes putting lipstick on (similar to the live action's Sailor Moon transformation sequence)! Naru and Usagi laugh at Ami (more like they're laughing at her simple mistake), but Ami takes it to heart-- and though she laughs along, it's fake. She later scrubs her face clean. We also find out that Ami doesn't really need her glasses-- she just wears them because it makes her feel comfortable. Anime!Ami is never seen wearing glasses unless she's doing some in depth reading or studying on a computer; if she is nearsighted, transforming into a Senshi would correct it, or else she has her VR visors to provide additional vision support.
Ami later faints after making the observation that "this" (hanging out with the girls, faking who she really is inside) is harder than studying. None of the senshi, least of all Ami, ever faint in the anime, unless it's due to a youma's energy drain. After Naru and Ikuko-mama leave, Ami says she's sorry for ruining Usagi's party-- to which Usagi responds that Ami's been pushing herself. Ami says that because Usagi told her not calling her Usagi-chan is "like we're not friends," Ami decided to take her literally, and force herself to become what she wasn't. Usagi says that's the number one thing friends don't do-- lie to one another. This is something Usagi holds true regardless of her incarnation-- her friends always mean more to her than anything, and it's simple words like these that forge such a strong connection between her and the other senshi.
Later on, Usagi and Rei meet at the karaoke place, while Rei tells Usagi that people can't change so suddenly. Rei obviously finds some amusement in how open Usagi is with everyone, and how immediately she takes to people, calling them by their given names even if they haven't known each other for very long. Luna then calls, saying that she might have found a crystal that is the Silver Crystal-- a pendant that belongs to a lecturer at a cultural arts exhibit. Usagi and Rei go to investigate. This is nothing like the anime episode's constant string of the generals trying to drain energy through youmas, and Usagi and Rei willingly (and quietly!) working together is even more amazing.
Usagi is searching for the lecturer, but ends up running across an abandoned name tag. She thinks the tag says "Chijou Ei," but it really says "Chiba Mamoru," the man of the minute! They keep running into each other whenever a Crystal is involved, but obviously neither of them have made the connection yet. Also, if Mamoru knows Minako Aino is Sailor V, wouldn't he also have recognized Usagi from her "Sailor Rabbit" get up before? Still, this is the first time they've actually run into each other and one of them knows the other's name... (before, it was just insults; in the anime, it was just name-calling. I don't really think the live action has improved in that respect... but then again, how can it? The dynamic between Usagi and Mamoru when they first meet is hilarious!) Usagi challenges Mamoru to read her name, but even though her given name is written in hiragana (it can be written in Chinese characters/kanji; Usagi just chooses not to, because it's simpler to write hiragana), he purposefully calls her "Kobuta" (Piggy) instead of "Usagi." (Rabbit) He was intentionally riling her up; there's no way you can mistake Usagi for Kobuta!
Mamoru and Usagi both part ways to look for the crystal, while Ami arrives just on time to see a youma attack a woman and take her crystal pendant. She transforms into Sailor Mercury (ever notice how all the actresses start smiling REALLY WIDE once they transform?) and decides to take matters into her own hands. However, even when she successfully locates the youma (it bounces really fast) she gets trapped under a tree, and decides to call Usagi, remembering that "lying" is the worst thing friends can do to one another. Moon and Mars arrive without Mercury completing the call anyway.
Later on, Ami decides not to join Naru, Usagi, Kanami, and Momoko for lunch-- so the girls blame it on Usagi, saying a genius like Ami wouldn't want to hang out with Usagi anyway. Usagi knows the truth, but she doesn't say anything-- but she does notice Naru and the others calling Ami "Ami-chan," rather than Mizuno-san or just plain "Ami," which might indicate indifference or dislike of her. This never happened in the anime, obviously-- in fact, after Usagi became a senshi, Naru almost dropped out of sight, except for a few episodes where she was youma bait!
Ami's eating lunch up on the roof, and reaches to adjust her glasses-- when she realizes (with a smile) that her glasses aren't even there! She's taken Usagi and Naru's advice and chosen not to wear them if she doesn't need to...
Hopefully these little comparisons of mine aren't turning into an entire episode recap-- I do want to be providing new information. So what do you think?
This episode is one of the rare few that has a "character feature." That is, Ami-chan is the focus, and the episode is all about her. Obviously, since the show is called 'Sailor Moon,' the focus doesn't usually sway from Usagi, since she IS the main character. But every now and then we do get a bit of character insight, and this is probably the live action's first attempt at that.
It addresses one of Ami-chan's most obvious fears-- do people really want to be friends with her, or do they just want to use her? Ami first thought Usagi was using her, and only wanted to be friends because they were both Senshi. But since Usagi went out on a limb to save her, and even said "Don't transform if you don't want to!" Ami decided Usagi was being genuine. So now Ami is a dedicated Senshi... but she obviously still has her concerns about fitting in. This is something that holds true with Ami's anime and manga counterpart as well, though it isn't really addressed until Sailor Moon R (the second half), when Ami faces a droid that brainwashes her into going against her friends. Obviously, the droid's plan backfires, and Mercury ends up with a new attack.
How will she fare in the live action? Let's find out! Usagi finally picks up on Ami continually calling her Tsukino-san, rather than Usagi-chan, as she does in the anime and the manga. It's technically more appropriate that they picked up on this little tidbit in the live action; Ami is a very conservative, reserved individual, one who is very shy and hesitant about making friends or being too bold in anything she does. However, one might argue that in the anime and the manga, Usagi's cheery nature just rubbed off on Ami the right way, so she immediately decided to call Usagi "Usagi-chan" rather than "Tsukino-san."
As Ami is walking home from Crown Arcade, she sees a soap opera on a TV (on display). It causes her to worry even more... as if the horoscope for Virgo (Ami's sun sign) in the morning, predicting that her friendships were not as strong as they seem wasn't bad enough! She sees Usagi in place of the woman laughing at her "friend" who ends up being Ami-- while Usagi tells Ami that she was just using her. While it is true that anime!Ami has concerns like these, she suppresses them, as she has for years. It's not that Ami doesn't have any "friends," it's that she doesn't have a solid connection with any of them. Why she suddenly starts worrying in the live action JUST after getting together with Usagi and Rei is beyond me... the anime!Ami seemed much stronger and more perseverant.
Ami passes by a book store and sees a new book titled "How to be a true friend book." She ends up buying the book, and reads that a true friend is not someone who is usually alone and parties, or someone that fights with their friends without knowing if they'll recover or not. Ami remembers how she ate alone on the roof one day when she invited Usagi to come up with her... she remembers everything from that day, and wonders if Usagi will really abandon her.
The next day, Usagi is late to school (what else is new?) but she bothers to say good morning to the janitor sweeping the courtyard. When Usagi's putting on her indoor shoes, Ami appears with two bags in hand-- and she says "Usagi" (no honorific, which must have been extremely difficult for a person such as Ami, who speaks so formally all the time!) and "Ohayou!" (rather than the more formal "Ohayougozaimasu" for good morning). She sounds very stuttered, but she looks absolutely happy- it's no wonder Usagi is surprised! Usagi drags Ami to the classroom, and greets everyone-- and they all respond just as jovially (a stark contrast to Usagi sneaking in between the chairs only to be spotted by Umino...). Ami does the same thing, and everyone responds-- but then they're surprised and all say "EH?!" when they realize it was Ami!
Later on, when Haruna-sensei surprises them with a pop quiz, Ami-chan notices she's the only one NOT booing the possibility of a test (and clean up if you get a red mark). She notices even Usagi booing the test, and though it goes against her nature, she joins in! Later on at lunch, Kanami, Naru, and Momoko are all surprised when Ami says "If you'll excuse me!" to allow herself to join them at lunch-- but Usagi's happy, since she's wanted Ami to eat with them since Day 1!
Ami's remembering everything she read in the book about being friends-- helping clean (she purposefully got a question wrong on the test), skipping cram school to go to a pajama party at Naru's, etc... all of it goes against her character in both the anime and the live action, but it's understandable since she's so afraid of losing her friends.
We see Nephrite (not Nephlite, and not Nephelite!) report on something that appears to be the Silver Crystal-- and Beryl reprimands him, saying she doesn't want something that APPEARS to be the Silver Crystal, she wants the real thing. Nephrite amends, saying he'll see if it's the real thing, and if so, bring it back to her. Beryl says if he does that, he'll get everything he wants-- and Nephrite says all he wants is her. This is a far cry from the antagonizing Nephrite from the anime, whether you watched the original version or the dub. Nephrite liked to tease Jadeite, but didn't get in his way until after Jadeite was punished-- after all, the generals all had better things to be doing with their time while one of them was out doing "the dirty work." So where's Jadeite now? On top of that, Nephrite was never so quick to acquiesce to Beryl's orders-- he was a very independent mind, and in the anime, the one closest to turning to the side of good. If Sailor Moon had the Crescent Moon Wand in the anime when he died, he might have been saved and Naru kept happy! But here in the live action, Nephrite doesn't seem to have the kind of personality that Naru would like anyway... and even if she did, Moon's already got the Crescent Moon Wand, so if his life WAS put in danger by Zoisite, there would have to be a really good reason for Moon NOT to save him!
We see that Naru's got a house that's nowhere near her mom's jewelry store, as it is in the anime. In the anime, OSA*P is located right below a floor of rooms or apartments that Naru and her mother live in-- which explains why Naru and her mother were always rushing downstairs in their pajamas whenever a monster came to attack. It looks as though Jupiter, the PGSM equivalent of OSA*P, is downtown, and has no apartment rooms on top of the store. (We find out later it's because it's NOT Naru's house at all-- it's Usagi's! So why did Usagi say "Naru-chan is having a pajama party!" earlier?)
Ami's still thinking of going to cram school (it's only 8 o'clock), but she decides to join in on the party after all and karaoke. Before, Naru and Usagi seemed to be the only ones really having any fun, while Ami just sat on the side and clapped. "Faking it" just doesn't seem like Ami-chan at all-- no matter what universe she's from. She does sing though, and Naru's image of Ami (as a stuck-up, genius girl who has "no need" of friends) slowly changes. What they don't notice though, is that Ami is gripping her karaoke microphone as if it's her lifeline...
The girls decide to apply some makeup-- Usagi looks tasteful, but a bit "thick" (like she's going out for a night on the town), Naru looks very thick, almost a bit "dead," and Ami has seriously overdone it, and has blush everywhere, eyeshadow popping her eyes out of their sockets, and lipstick in areas it shouldn't be. Obviously Ami has no concept of how to apply makeup... ;_; This holds true with anime!Ami, too-- though we rarely see ANY of the girls in makeup, unless it's intentionally exaggerated. In fact, the only senshi we ever see with traces of makeup are the Outers, because part of their transformation sequence includes putting lipstick on (similar to the live action's Sailor Moon transformation sequence)! Naru and Usagi laugh at Ami (more like they're laughing at her simple mistake), but Ami takes it to heart-- and though she laughs along, it's fake. She later scrubs her face clean. We also find out that Ami doesn't really need her glasses-- she just wears them because it makes her feel comfortable. Anime!Ami is never seen wearing glasses unless she's doing some in depth reading or studying on a computer; if she is nearsighted, transforming into a Senshi would correct it, or else she has her VR visors to provide additional vision support.
Ami later faints after making the observation that "this" (hanging out with the girls, faking who she really is inside) is harder than studying. None of the senshi, least of all Ami, ever faint in the anime, unless it's due to a youma's energy drain. After Naru and Ikuko-mama leave, Ami says she's sorry for ruining Usagi's party-- to which Usagi responds that Ami's been pushing herself. Ami says that because Usagi told her not calling her Usagi-chan is "like we're not friends," Ami decided to take her literally, and force herself to become what she wasn't. Usagi says that's the number one thing friends don't do-- lie to one another. This is something Usagi holds true regardless of her incarnation-- her friends always mean more to her than anything, and it's simple words like these that forge such a strong connection between her and the other senshi.
Later on, Usagi and Rei meet at the karaoke place, while Rei tells Usagi that people can't change so suddenly. Rei obviously finds some amusement in how open Usagi is with everyone, and how immediately she takes to people, calling them by their given names even if they haven't known each other for very long. Luna then calls, saying that she might have found a crystal that is the Silver Crystal-- a pendant that belongs to a lecturer at a cultural arts exhibit. Usagi and Rei go to investigate. This is nothing like the anime episode's constant string of the generals trying to drain energy through youmas, and Usagi and Rei willingly (and quietly!) working together is even more amazing.
Usagi is searching for the lecturer, but ends up running across an abandoned name tag. She thinks the tag says "Chijou Ei," but it really says "Chiba Mamoru," the man of the minute! They keep running into each other whenever a Crystal is involved, but obviously neither of them have made the connection yet. Also, if Mamoru knows Minako Aino is Sailor V, wouldn't he also have recognized Usagi from her "Sailor Rabbit" get up before? Still, this is the first time they've actually run into each other and one of them knows the other's name... (before, it was just insults; in the anime, it was just name-calling. I don't really think the live action has improved in that respect... but then again, how can it? The dynamic between Usagi and Mamoru when they first meet is hilarious!) Usagi challenges Mamoru to read her name, but even though her given name is written in hiragana (it can be written in Chinese characters/kanji; Usagi just chooses not to, because it's simpler to write hiragana), he purposefully calls her "Kobuta" (Piggy) instead of "Usagi." (Rabbit) He was intentionally riling her up; there's no way you can mistake Usagi for Kobuta!
Mamoru and Usagi both part ways to look for the crystal, while Ami arrives just on time to see a youma attack a woman and take her crystal pendant. She transforms into Sailor Mercury (ever notice how all the actresses start smiling REALLY WIDE once they transform?) and decides to take matters into her own hands. However, even when she successfully locates the youma (it bounces really fast) she gets trapped under a tree, and decides to call Usagi, remembering that "lying" is the worst thing friends can do to one another. Moon and Mars arrive without Mercury completing the call anyway.
Later on, Ami decides not to join Naru, Usagi, Kanami, and Momoko for lunch-- so the girls blame it on Usagi, saying a genius like Ami wouldn't want to hang out with Usagi anyway. Usagi knows the truth, but she doesn't say anything-- but she does notice Naru and the others calling Ami "Ami-chan," rather than Mizuno-san or just plain "Ami," which might indicate indifference or dislike of her. This never happened in the anime, obviously-- in fact, after Usagi became a senshi, Naru almost dropped out of sight, except for a few episodes where she was youma bait!
Ami's eating lunch up on the roof, and reaches to adjust her glasses-- when she realizes (with a smile) that her glasses aren't even there! She's taken Usagi and Naru's advice and chosen not to wear them if she doesn't need to...
Hopefully these little comparisons of mine aren't turning into an entire episode recap-- I do want to be providing new information. So what do you think?
