Sailor Moon’s Lost Live-Action Cartoon is Weird (And I Love It)
“ONCE UPON ANOTHER TIME, ONCE UPON ANOTHER PLACE, OUR SOLAR SYSTEM WAS BESIEGED” -Queen Beryl (But… American)
It’s been about a week since Youtuber Ray Mona found Toonmaker’s lost Sailor Moon Pilot in the Library of Congress (yep, THAT Library Of Congress). The mysterious Power Rangers-inspired “Saban Moon” live-action cartoon hybrid comes with decades of history and a LOT of 90’s feels.
@CheynneTheGeek
Upon initial watch, the 10-minute pilot is dated, unfinished, and the characters pale in comparison to their fully-fleshed-out anime counterparts. But there’s some spark of Sailor Moon’s messages about friendship, dreams, and love hidden in the inclusive, totally rad episode. Where else can you find a black Sailor Jupiter or a Sailor Mercury who uses a wheelchair?
@ElMangoDeFuengo
Could anime be as big as it is nowadays had a network picked up this style of cartoon overdubbing the Japanese anime, or would it have flopped upon release? We’ll never know, but if actual 90’s kids have a say, it looks like an American Sailor Moon could have gone over VERY well:
@Elcucuyfeo
Twitter has been moon-dusted this week with fanart from around the world, lovingly created and often showing Sailor Moon with… Sailor Moon (let’s just say Usagi and Victoria, their respective secret identities).
@Hana_keijou
@Skullbow09
I’m optimistic that more internet sleuths will do their best Nicolas Cage impression and go National Treasure on other lost media. Like Ray Mona, they’ll probably find other totally rad lost media they never knew, they never knew, and I’m here for it.