Sailor Moon R: The Movie

Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon R The Movie
File:SailorMoonRmovie.jpg Movie Poster
Directed by	Kunihiko Ikuhara
Written by	Naoko Takeuchi, Sukehiro Tomita (screenplay), Lisa Lumby-Richards (English adaptation)
Starring	Kotono Mitsuishi, Tôru Furuya, Hikaru Midorikawa, Yumi Tōma (Japanese version) Terri Hawkes, Toby Proctor, Joel Feeney,
Cinematography	Motoi Takahashi
Edited by	Yasuhiro Yoshikawa
Music by	Takanori Arisawa
Distributed by	Toei Company, Ltd. Japan Walt Disney Pictures (U.S.) Pioneer Entertainment (U.S.) Optimum Productions (U.S. and Canada)
Release date	1993 December 5 2000 February 8
Running time	61 min.
Country	Japan
Languages	Japanese, English

Sailor Moon R: The Movie is the first of three theatrically released Sailor Moon movies. Its full name in Japanese is Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon R The Movie (劇場版 美少女戦士セーラームーンＲ, Gekijouhan Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon R). The English dub is called Sailor Moon R the Movie: Promise of the Rose. It debuted in Japanese theatres on December 5, 1993 and was released in the United States on February 8, 2000. It is named for the second arc of the Sailor Moon anime, Sailor Moon R, as it was released around the same time. The events portrayed seem to take place somewhere in the middle of the second part of the series, as Chibiusa can still be seen.

Plot

The movie opens with a young Mamoru on the roof of a hospital and he hands another small boy a rose. The little boy thanks him and says "No one has ever given me a gift before" and dissolves into thin air as he vows to bring Mamoru a flower. The movie flashes to the present day. Mamoru, Usagi, and the rest of the four "Inner" Senshi are at a botanical garden. Usagi tries to steal a kiss from Mamoru, but when he notices that they're not alone anymore he walks off outside alone.

Suddenly the fountain a few feet from him mysteriously goes silent and a pink rose petal floats past him. The sky goes dark and thousands of flower petals fall out of the sky as the girls come outside, Usagi and Chibiusa laughing and giggling. A young man, about Mamoru's age appears and the flower petals stop. Usagi runs up to Mamoru asking him if he saw the flower petals and is interrupted by the young man, who takes Mamoru's hand. Mamoru has no idea who the man is and Usagi is terrified of what's occurring. She tries to remove the man's hand from Mamoru, but the man gets angry and pushes Usagi down. He vows that no one will prevent him from keeping his promise and shoots flower petals at the group and then vanishes in a flurry of them. While the girls question the identity of the young man, Mamoru mutters "Fiore...it can't be."

Later, back at Rei's temple, the group (without Mamoru) discuss an asteroid that is coming to Earth and that Luna and Artemis had discovered traces of vegetal life on it. The talk degenerates into gossip about Mamoru's and Fiore's possible relationship, while Usagi thinks about how Mamoru had told her he had no family and was alone, and she had promised him she would be his family from now on.

Fiore sends a flower monster, Glycina, to Tokyo where it begins draining the life energy from the populace. The Guardian Senshi free the people, but are injured. It is revealed that Fiore is working with a Xenian flower. Fiore resumed his attack and was about to kill Sailor Moon by impaling her on his claw-like fingernails but Tuxedo Mask jumped in front of her and took the hit himself. Mortified, Fiore took Mamoru's limp body back aboard an asteroid that was rapidly approaching Earth and began to revive him in a crystal filled with liquid.

Mamoru remembers a young Fiore, who had made friends with him just after his parents died. Mamoru had assumed that the boy was an imaginary friend. Fiore had had to leave Mamoru as the Earth's atmosphere was unsuitable for him, but before they parted, Mamoru gave Fiore a rose. After that, Fiore wandered the galaxy, searching for a worthy flower of Mamoru, and found the Xenian blossom, who takes over his mind. He then returns to Earth, seeking revenge on the humans who'd made Mamoru lonely.

Meanwhile the Senshi had found out that the energy from the asteroid matched the evil energy of the flower monster, and concluded Fiore must be hiding there and keeping Mamoru prisoner too. After being told by Luna and Artemis about an old legend regarding the Xenian flower and how it destroyed planets by using weak-hearted people, the Senshi teleport to the asteroid to battle Fiore and rescue Mamoru.

The asteroid is covered with hundreds of flowers. Fiore confronts the Senshi and tells them of his plan to scatter flower seeds all over the planet, draining humanity's energy. The Senshi then fight hundreds of flower monsters. The monsters then combine into one and ensnare the Guardian Senshi; Mars tosses Moon aside before it can get her too. Fiore orders Moon to drop her weapon, the Cutie Moon Rod, and surrender, or her friends will suffer. They urge her to fight, but she drops the weapon and begins to cry. Xenian's control over Fiore is laxed by the display of emotion and the flower monsters disappear.

The Xenian then possesses Fiore body. Mamoru breaks free as Fiore begins to attack Moon. Fiore accuses Usagi of not being able to understand his loneliness, causing the Guardian Senshi to remember their own loneliness. The Guardian Senshi tell Fiore that without Usagi, they all would have been alone, and beg him not to kill her. Fiore goes to stab Usagi, and Mamoru throws a rose and collapses. Usagi is safe. The rose embedded in Fiore's chest blooms and causes the Xenian's possession of Fiore to break.

Fiore feels betrayed by Mamoru and all the flowers on the asteroid vanish. However, the asteroid is still hurtling towards Earth. Usagi wakes up and uses the Ginzuishou, despite her friends' warning, to try to change the course of the asteroid. However, Fiore suddenly grabs Usagi's brooch in an attempt to stop her. Usagi grabs Fiore, who is suddenly shown a vision. Fiore realizes that Usagi had given Mamoru the rose that Mamoru eventually gave to Fiore. Fiore becomes overflown with emotion, and the Xenian is destroyed. Fiore vanishes, and Mamoru and the Guardian Senshi lend Princess Serenity their powers to sustain the Ginzuishou as the asteroid descends towards Earth. The Ginzuishou breaks, the asteroid breaks up, and Usagi dies. The girls and Mamoru cry over Usagi, but Fiore reappears and thanks Mamoru. He gives Mamoru a nectar-filled flower with Fiore's life energy. Mamoru wets his lips with the nectar and kisses Usagi, reviving her.

New characters

Fiore

File:Fiore.JPG

Fiore in his adult alien form.

Fiore (フィオレ, Fiore, Lit. Flower (Italian)) is one of the main antagonists in Sailor Moon R: The Movie. Fiore is a lonely alien who takes great strength from his friendship with Mamoru Chiba, spending many years searching for a worthy flower for Mamoru. It is heavily implied that he possesses an unrequited love for Mamoru, but it is never officially confirmed or denied. He had arrived on Earth at around the same time that Mamoru's parents had died. The two boys became close friends at this time, but Earth's atmosphere was unsuitable for Fiore to breathe, so he had to leave Earth. Mamoru gives him the gift of a rose, and Fiore resolves to return some day with a worthy flower for Mamoru. This quest for a flower puts him in the path of the Xenian flower.

Fiore is Italian for "flower." According to the Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn R Movie Memorial Album, director Kunihiko Ikuhara noted that Fiore's full name is written in Japanese as Fiorieiru (フィオリエイル, [Lit. Fiore (フィオレ) + alien (エイリアン)] Error: {{nihongo}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 13: フ) (help))

Fiore's character was similar to Ail and Ann, the Makaiju children from the first arc of Sailor Moon R. His clothing, which changes several times during the course of the movie, greatly resembles that of the aforementioned characters and he shares a similar history as well as an aversion to the environment on Earth.

In the Japanese version, he is voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa as an adult and Tomoko Maruo as a child. In the English version, he is voiced by Joel Feeney as an adult and Mary Long as a child.

Xenian Flower

File:Kisenian.JPG

The Xenian Flower.

The Xenian (キセニアン, Kisenian) Flower is one of the main antagonists in Sailor Moon R: The Movie. In the English dub, she is known as the Kisenian Blossom. Its name is based in the botanical term "xenia," which according to the OED is a term for a specific action of hybridization which refers to "direct action or influence of foreign pollen upon the seed or fruit which is pollinated." The word itself is based on the Greek concept for hospitality.

The Xenian Flower has to destroy stars and planets to survive. Alone, she holds no power. Thus, she needs a host, preferably someone with a 'vulnerable heart' (like Fiore). Luna calls the Xenian the 'most dangerous flower in the universe', and Artemis says that hundreds of planets have been destroyed in this galaxy due to a Xenian Flower.

Once picked, the Xenian Flower begins pouring 'hatred' into the weak heart of her victim, causing them to fall under her spell and carry out her every whim. Eventually, through her subject, she will have grown powerful enough to destroy the entire planet along with the unfortunate individual whom she had deceived. After the flower has destroyed any star or planet, she sits and waits once more for the next unsuspecting person to come along and succumb into her allure.

In the original Japanese, she is voiced by Yumi Tōma. In the English dub, her voice performer is Susan Aceron.

Reception

The Sailor Moon R movie has been said to be an ideal introduction to Sailor Moon, and the best of the three Sailor Moon films plot-wise, although one critic said it is essentially "a solid long episode", rather than a movie. Another critic disagrees, saying that although the movie is true to the Sailor Moon formula, it has "real drama and emotion". Ikuhara's direction has also been praised, and the artwork in the film is superior to that of the series, although it has deteriorated slightly, and that the pacing is good. Drazen considers the opening flashback to be "reminiscent of François Truffaut".

Make Up! Sailor Senshi

Shown in Japanese theatres as a trailer before the Sailor Moon R movie was a 15 minute short named Make Up! Sailor Senshi. Usagi and Chibiusa overhear two girls talking about the Sailor Senshi after they see a poster. As the girls discuss which is the smartest, most elegant, strongest, and the leader of the Senshi, Usagi grandly claims those titles for herself. Chibiusa shakes her head at Usagi's delusion. Clips are shown from the debut of each Sailor Senshi, and that girl's image song is played in the background. When even Tuxedo Mask has been mentioned, and the girls are about to leave, Usagi butts in on their conversation and asks them directly about Sailor Moon. The girls give a series of glowing compliments about Sailor Moon, but unlike they did for the other Senshi, they also list her faults. After the girls leave, Usagi sarcastically apologises for being a clumsy cry-baby and then bursts into exaggerated tears.

The poster the girls see is the poster for the R movie, with a new background and sans logo.

External links

• Soldier Sailor Moon R: The Movie at IMDb