Pretty Guardian

Sailor Moon

DVD 10

Drama builds as the past is revealed.

Cover: Strangely the cover features Minako in the dress and pose that she's in for Act 47 i.e. an episode that's not on this dvd. Though I do guess that since all the Sailor Soldiers, Mamoru, Dark Sailor Mercury and Queen Beryl have been featured on menus and covers Minako Aino seems like an alright candidate for one since her character is so large in the actual show.

Also on the cover is Rei in her cool model look from Act 40 surrounded by screencaps of the other episodes.

The Menus: The menus feature Minako in a slightly different photo than the one on the cover with the usual animated ribbon intro and stars that fly across the screen when the player is left idle.

As usual, very fast loading and well designed.

The only problem someone may have with the menu is that it's basically the same as all the other disks in the series, but for me that helps the whole series look like... well, a series.

The Special Features: The behind the scenes bit on this disk continues the round table conversation started on the previous disk with a little more talk of marriage and then some rather juicy girl talk about which male cast member they all like the most with the Motoki getting the most votes and Shingo surprisingly getting the second most.

As usual there are some great deleted scenes, the best ones here featuring Mamoru and Mio following Usagi and some good fun with Usagi, Shingo and Ikuko on their way to the park to be tv stars.

Of great interest on this disk is the interview with one of the directors, Takamaru Masataka who talks about Keiko Kitagawa's (Sailor Mars) dedication to working hard and doing the best she can. He also discusses trying to do as much as possible effects wise with Luna and Artemis and how the use of them evolved over time. He seems very involved in the series and it's nice to know that the people behind the camera were so into it and were fans of the manga.

The Episodes: Act 37 starts of the disk with some reflecting done by several characters and one heck of a revelation towards the end of the episode that drives the story from now to the finale.
Act 38 builds on the reveal in the last episode and builds towards an emotional finale that is superbly shot and with a great performance from Miyu (something I never thought I'd say back when reviewing the first DVD).
Act 39 gives us our return of Minako Aino's hilarious manager who takes Usagi's family out for an almost comedy style episode which still carries on the seriousness of Usagi's internal struggling.
Act 40 is a Minako based episode that is one of the best acted and written episodes of the series. Some great characterisation from all involved and a rather sad ending that will make you think.

A great selection of episodes (pretty much everything from this point onwards is "must see") and an insightful look behind the scenes make this one great purchase.

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