Sailor Moon S Part 1 Limited Edition DVD Review

25th February 2017 at 5:36 pm

Dear Chibi,

Sailor Moon S Part 1 DVD Madman

After a one and a half year wait since Sailor Moon R part 2, Sailor Moon S part 1 is finally here!! :D This is my review of Madman’s Australian and New Zealand release, which contains Viz Media’s new English dub along with the original Japanese audio. This is the 5th volume of the set and contains 19 episodes on 3 discs. Only 5 volumes to go!

See my review of Sailor Moon: Part 1 & Part 2
Sailor Moon R: Part 1 & Part 2

Sailor Moon S is my second favourite season (just behind Sailor Stars) and introduces two new outer senshi Sailor Uranus & Sailor Neptune. The popularity of the third season is largely due to this pair, and it’s not hard to see why. THEY ARE JUST. SO. COOL. And ruthless. They also happen to be lovers. What makes this release special is that we finally have an English uncut version that aims to preserve the integrity of the original Japanese scripts. They are no longer “cousins” (Which is pretty hilarious.. xD). This is long overdue, don’t you think? ;)

Now, let’s take a look at the beautiful design & packaging (Click on the thumbnails for a larger view):

I love the blue on the box! It’s a nice refreshing change from all the pink in the first 2 sets.

Booklet

This limited edition release also comes with a thin booklet, containing some character profiles. There are no episodes guides like the US version (which has 96 pages)

Comparing the booklet with the first two limited edition, they are pretty similar and the profiles are basically the same with slight change in copy. The main difference are the images.

Sailor Moon S booklet (Madman)

Sailor Moon S booklet (Madman)

The first double page features a character relationship chart and I couldn’t help but notice the following:

Sailor Moon S Haruka and Michiru Friendship

Professor Tomoe & Kaolinite are listed as lovers, while Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus have “friendship” WHY? ;p

DVD Menus

Sailor Moon S Part 1 Menu screen (Madman)

The DVD menus are pretty basic and consistent with all the other volumes. My only issue is with disc 1 which did not have any music. All the other menus featured “Moonlight Densetsu”. I’m not sure if this happens across all the DVDs or just my copy. Did anyone else experience the same thing?

Sailor Moon S Part 1 Menu screen (Madman)

Sailor Moon S Part 1 Menu screen (Madman)

Extras: Textless Opening and Closing

I always loved how Sailor Moon opening clips contained various versions to avoid spoiling characters that haven’t been introduced. Sailor Moon S is no different. There are a total of 3 versions, one with just the inner senshi, one with the addition of Sailor Uranus and Neptune, and finally the epic version with everyone, including Sailor Pluto, Hotaru, Chibimoon and Super Sailor Moon. I was a bit disappointed that the Textless opening did not contain all 3 versions :( I wouldn’t mind as much if the English subs weren’t hard-coded onto the video.

The video quality of the extras were also lower quality than the normal episodes. The footage is slightly tilted and has some black bars on the side. Here are some comparison shots:

SailorMoonS-comparison-textless

Textless opening (top) vs normal opening (bottom)

Textless opening (top) vs normal opening with hardcoded subs (bottom)

These don’t seem to be remastered.

Screenshots

Thankfully, the rest of the video quality looks pretty good :D Check out some of these screenshots:

Sailor Moon S Screenshots (Madman)

Sailor Moon S Screenshots (Madman)

Sailor Moon S Screenshots (Madman)

Sailor Moon S Screenshots (Madman)

Sailor Moon S Screenshots (Madman)

All in all, this new box set is everything we’ve come to expect from Madman’s Sailor Moon releases. The design and packaging are really pretty~ an excellent addition to any fan’s collection. I’m generally quite happy with the video quality, despite some issues with the ‘extras’ in the textless opening and closing.

And that’s it for now :D Time to watch more episodes!

What do you think of this release? Comment below and share your thoughts!

Note: This is Madman’s AU/NZ release of Sailor Moon S (Limited Edition) part 1, kindly provided by Madman for review. Standard edition is also available without the box and booklet. DVD is Region 4. If you’re interested in getting a copy, you can order it here. For more links to other merchandise, check out our Sailor Moon Shopping Guide!

11 Responses to “Sailor Moon S Part 1 Limited Edition DVD Review”

  1. Lina Scott says:

    Must get DVD’s!! ?

  2. Zac Hobbs says:

    Hope S part2 won’t be as long as a wait as part1 was

  3. Jess Garcia says:

    They did a really good job with part 1

  4. Omg! Can I buy? In USA

    • Maria, you can buy this season on Amazon and Rightstuf, it’ll be region 1, so it’ll play on American DVD/Blu-ray players. Region 4, like the page mentioned, won’t play on our DVD players.

  5. Anna says:

    Hey. Wonderful edition even better than with Viz Media from the USA, which I have. I have a request to the author blog, can I ask for scans from booklet where there is a biography of all the Sailor Senshi? Thank you and best regards

    • Chibi says:

      Hi Anna, thanks for dropping by. Unfortunately I don’t have a scanner though I assume they would be pretty similar to the US version (with different images)

  6. Sera Mun Doremi says:

    I am man but Sailor Moon is one of my fav animes and didn’t watched it in my childhood, just 3 years ago or so i watched all seasons, movies, ovas & specials… got in love, because it’s much more than an anime for girls, also Crystal and the manga are so cool.
    Tbh Many animes considered only for girls are a lot more than the expectatives and i am glad to love some of them :)

  7. Mark says:

    I’ve tested the DVDs myself, and the subtitles are actually softcoded (even the songs and signs), and although there’s no option to switch them off on the main menu, you can switch the subtitles off completely during playback.

    • Chibi says:

      Oh that’s interesting, thanks for sharing!

      • Mark says:

        No problem. The only thing that’s truly hardcoded are the song lyrics (written in Japanese) at the bottom during the OP and ED (the textless OP and ED don’t have the Japanese lyrics), although it was like that on the original broadcasts (if I’m correct).