Out and About: The Exhibition of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon

The Exhibition of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon

Believe it or not, I actually do get out into the real world. One of the benefits of living in Tokyo, when it comes to anime and manga, I get to very easily see awesome stuff like this.

The Exhibition of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon featured a large collection showcasing the past two decades of the Sailor Moon franchise. Ranging from the manga, to the television series, to merchandise, this was a wall to wall gallery located at Tokyo City View in Roppongi Hills.

Without any hint of exaggeration, this was a paradise for any Sailor Moon fan, both young and old, and I am incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to see it for myself.

So I’m here to give you my experience at this one of a kind exhibit.

The Entrance Hall

We start off with a bang immediately.

Before getting into the actual collection itself, let me first say that Tokyo City View is an amazing venue and one I hope to revisit sometime in the future. Located on the 52^nd floor of the Mori Tower in the center of Roppongi Hills, you are treated to an outstanding view of all of Tokyo. From this vantage point, you can see many of the city's greatest landmarks; including both Tokyo Tower and Skytree in same shot. So having the gallery here made it all the more impressive.

Getting into the event itself, this opening hall is spectacle to behold. All along the upper windows were giant posters of the Sailor Soldiers drawn in their original manga style. Unfortunately, there weren't any replicas for sale which is a bummer because I would've been all over that.

In display cases around the central hub were replicas of all the major relics used by Usagi in order for her to transform into Sailor Moon. This included the Moon Stick, the Cosmic Heart Compact, the Spiral Heart Moon Rod, the Cutie Moon Rod, and of course Usagi's Transformation Broach.

The real highlight of this area was in the center. Here you could see a wide assortment of Sailor Moon merchandise; comics, figures, video games, you name it, and it was probably here. This was also a perfect chance for a commemorative photo opt with the five main Sailor Soldiers, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus. On a side note, to the guy taking these pictures, kudos to you sir because you seemed to be having a lot of fun.

Sailor Moon Chronicles and Mini Movie

Next was the entire time timeline of Sailor Moon; starting from the birth of Princess Serenity all the way to Galaxia’s defeat.

Now usually with a display like this, I have a horrible habit of skipping right through it. Therefore, I’m glad I took the time to really look at this one. For those of you who might be wondering, yes the near entirety of the displays were in Japanese. While I can read Japanese to a certain extent, it did add an extra bit of challenge, but it was one I was happy to take on.

I’m aware that the anime series didn’t include everything that happened in the manga, but the two remained very close. I've never read the comics and like I said my Japanese isn’t great so I can’t tell you every single detail that was left out between the iterations.

A few details that did stick out to me involved the fates of some the characters we saw throughout the anime. For instance, it appears that the Amazon Quartet, made up of VesVes, CereCere, JunJun, and PallaPalla either went on to be or were destined to form a new Sailor Soldiers team led by Chibiusa.

The mini movie was pretty much the same thing as the physical timeline, but it did make it a lot more clear what we just saw was the official timeline according to the manga.

Sailor Moon Volume One

This part was really cool. Although it was solely focused on the Sailor Moon manga, it was very easy for me to appreciate what was going.

The main items in this area were the large images of the first volume of Sailor Moon. What made it special was that for the first time this original story was colorized. The pages were in the same full, vivid, bright colors we saw in the anime series.

Alongside that was also the entire Sailor Moon manga collection as well as many other printed materials involving the series. And as an added bonus, this gallery also included the entire library of Sailor Moon’s predecessor manga Sailor V, which chronicled the adventures of Minako before she became the fifth member of the Sailor Soldiers.

Sailor Moon Escalation

If you were a kid growing up in the 90's, it's impossible to image that you never came across Sailor Moon in some shape or form. This series was everywhere; not just in Japan, but all around the world. This section of the exhibition chronicled the vast amount of Sailor Moon merchandise, including figures, play houses, capsule machines, and even one those rides you sometimes see outside of supermarkets.

While it was interesting to see all this variety, if that's all you were looking at you missed half of what was going on. Plastered all around the room was concept art for the anime series. Everything from items, to villains, to side characters, it was all there. In addition, there were replicas of some of the major weapons wielded by the Sailor Soldiers such as Sailor Pluto’s Garnet Rod and Sailor Saturn’s Silence Glaive.

The true highlight of this area was, surprise, the artwork and designs for the Sailor Soldiers themselves as well as the other major characters like Tuxedo Mask. Since I’m only familiar with the anime, this is the section I got the most out of.

Naoko Takeuchi’s Art Gallery

I said I wish the large posters from the entrance had replicas for sale, the same is true here.

This section was a small art gallery of about thirty or so paintings. These were not stills or images, but original works that were, I think, drawn and, definitely, hand selected by Sailor Moon’s author and illustrator Naoko Takeuchi.

When I think of the Sailor Moon anime, the animation style doesn’t immediately come to mind. It just wasn’t a highlight of the TV series, but if you look at season one the budget constraints are very apparent.

However the style of the show is not what is in the manga. I’m not sure how to describe it, but the art and design created by Takeuchi isn’t as physically solid compared to what can be found in the show. There’s a more lucid feel and it translated beautifuly into the artwork of this gallery.

Sailor Moon in the New Century

Finishing of the exhibit was a look at what became of Sailor Moon following the end of both the manga and anime.

The series has continued to remain relevant in popular culture and its influence has not gone away. This can be seen in the many posters showcasing several live action projects including movies and TV shows.

And at the final leg of the exhibition we got to see Sailor Moon as it is today, specifically in the form of the current anime Sailor Moon Crystal. I'm very much looking forward to giving this series a look. The problem is, waiting until it’s completely over. So don’t be expecting a review in the near future.

Final Thoughts

The Exhibition of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon was a lot fun. It was a fantastic and in depth look at one of the most influential manga and anime that has ever been created.

Before I end this, there’s still something I have not mentioned. The one thing that completely summed up this entire collection the most didn’t come from any of the items in it. Instead it came from the people in attendance.

I only got down to watching the Sailor Moon anime about six months ago. Despite enjoying the hell out of the show, it wasn't something I grew up with. I cannot even begin to tell how many people I heard reminiscing and recalling their nostalgic feelings for this series. Whether it was a page in a manga, a still from the anime, or hearing that theme song again, Sailor Moon has been part of many people’s lives.

Not only did I see a lot of adults remember a series they enjoyed as kids, I saw many of those same adults showing their kids an important part of their past.