Naoko Takeuchi (武内直子) born March 15, 1967, a manga artist (mangaka), lives in Tokyo, Japan. Takeuchi's works have a wide following among anime/manga fans. She has become a well-known mangaka worldwide. Her most popular work, Sailor Moon, rose to become one of the most recognized manga/anime figures to date.
Takeuchi is married to Yoshihiro Togashi, the author of the YuYu Hakusho series and Hunter × Hunter series.
Please note that anime related books are listed under Kōdansha.
When I was eight, I was all good with these storylines, but at 24 I am realizing these storylines are only scratching the surface of what it could have been. I do feel like we're skimming the plot, but I get that graphic novels can't go too deeply into it.
*Disclaimer for this series: The nostalgia is so real. I'm reading the '98 English translation versions because that is what I grew up with. So as I re-read this, essentially all of them will be 5-star because 7 year old Lainey won't allow me to rate them any less. So if you're looking for a critical review on these volumes, lol, you will not get it.
Tiene más acción que contenido este tomo. Las escenas entre Mamo y Usagui, en especial los paralelismos con Serenity y Endymion, son todo, TANTO drama, tanta ternura. Solo por eso van las tres estrellitas.
Sagas manga leídas: ''Sailor Moon'', y ''Sailor V'', de Naoko Takeuchi. Glénat, edición española. 18 y 3 tomos. Heroínas, superheroínas, magical girls, cómic, aventuras, acción, romance... Otro de los mangas que compré en cuanto se editaron en España. La serie de televisión la descubrí, en verdad, después... El dibujo es precioso, detallado, divertido y elegante... Entre el manga clásico y moderno de hace una generación. Debo aclarar que antes que ''Sailor Moon'', va ''Sailor V''. Una especie de 'episodio piloto' de 3 tomos, que ya avanza la trama de la serie. Quizás inspirada en una época en la que las mujeres se hartaron de ser consideradas las 'segundonas' en un mundo más bien lleno de mallas masculinas... En un Japón rodeado de seres malvados, unas estudiantes con traje de marinera, nos van a demostrar de lo que son capaces entre familia, amigos, colegio, chicos monos, gatos misteriosos, videojuegos, y que no se nos olvide el almuerzo... para que triunfen la paz, la justicia, la amistad y el amor. Aparecerán muchos personajes, con una historia personal cada uno: los buenos y los malos. La luna, siempre presente, nos mostrará sus varios rostros y secretos... Buenos que se transforman en malos y extraños que se transforman en familia. Y máscaras que ocultan rostros que a veces no pueden ocultar el amor. ¿Quién no conoce ''Sailor Moon''?
I'll just say that the ending of the Dark Kingdom arc proved me something once and for all: this is not the Iconic Usagi you learn to appreciate from the anime, meaning there is nothing about friendship, the power or relationships or the importance of self-sacrifice but it ONLY comes to the superpowered princess and her lover, since the other senshis factually have NO bearing on the ending outcome except sacrificing their sticks (so much for being more "mature" than the anime, where they literally sacrifice themselves and their life to help a friend in need). As a second element, I'm REALLY laughing my ass at the idea that anybody EVER saw this manga as empowering because apparently Usagi gets powered thanks mostly to A MAN AND HIS MINIONS while the senshis are out there doing absolutely nothing worth of mentioning except hoping Usagi defeat Metallia. I'm not a person who obsesses about female empowerment bla bla bla every single moment, but there is nothing of that in here and there has never been. The ending of the Dark Kingdom arc also is extremely jumpy in terms of plot, more than the original anime was. Things pick up in that sense at the start of the black moon arc, but seeing Koan being dispatched in seconds hurts since I liked her redemption in the anime. And what's up with Mamoru being so Gary-stuish? I don't get it.
4.5/5STARS! although this one was filled with a ton of shit going down, (especially in that first act.) I found I to be a bit repetitive,(janine, you know what I'm talking about.) and the parts that were slow, (even though it was kind of needed, from all the shit going down, it dragged a little.)
What I did enjoy, was everything else. The characters, Everyone. They're all so fabulous. I love them all!! I'm excited to get to the next volumes soon!
I think this is as far as I'm going to go in the series for right now, there are certain story lines that I'm just not following and I really think I need to be able to watch it to understand. I'll have to set some time aside to watch the show and see if it becomes any easier to understand.
This third volume of the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon wraps up the Dark Kingdom arc in act fourteen, about halfway through the book. Finally having discovered the identity of Queen Beryl and what part she played in the war between the Moon Kingdom and the Earth all those years ago, the Sailor Senshi make ready to battle her on her own ground.
However, things are made infinitely more difficult for our heroine Usagi as she discovers that Tuxedo Mask, the young man she loves, has been brainwashed by Beryl. In order to stand against Beryl and the darker evil that lurks behind her, Usagi will need to stand up against Tuxedo Mask.
The climax of the battle against the Dark Kingdom is properly exhilarating, exciting, and its stakes are high. Usagi needs to fight with all her might to protect her friends and fellow Sailor Senshi, using the Legendary Silver Crystal to do so – but the power and strength of that crystal depend on the strength of her own heart, and how powerful can your heart be when you need to fight the person you love most?
This volume definitely puts poor Usagi through emotional turmoil, but also manages to show her development into an at first tentative but eventually resolute leader. It also fleshes out her relationship with Tuxedo Mask and the other Senshi, and fully establishes her role as the reincarnation of the Moon Princess Serenity.
The other half of the volume marks the start of the Black Moon arc. Just as Usagi and her friends are enjoying the peace, and Usagi and Tuxedo Mask (or Mamoru Chiba, in his civilian identity) have some time to focus on their romantic relationship, a new plot point comes falling out of the sky – quite literally. Enter a small lady with pink hair who looks a lot like Usagi with a bratty attitude and who also wants to get her hands on the Legendary Silver Crystal.
Our characters soon take to call her Chibi Usa, since the child swears her full name is Usagi Tsukino, just like our heroine Sailor Moon. And Sailor Moon is more than fed up with the shenanigans of Chibi Usa, who soon charms her way into her family and circle of friends while not divulging whether she’s a friend or an enemy. Meanwhile, a gang by the name of Black Moon are terrorizing the town, luring Rei Hino – Sailor Mars – out first through a supernatural club and wrong predictions of people's futures. Despite the Sailor Senshi’s efforts, Rei eventually gets spirited way by the enemy... and the gravity of the situation only increases after the same happens to Ami Mizuno, Sailor Mercury, after the Black Moon members lure her out on her own for a chess contest. Heartbroken by the loss of two of her friends, Usagi feels lost.
Readers always seem divided on the role of Chibi Usa, who I must admit is very bratty and annoying from the moment you meet her. And Usagi, still just entering her role as a leader of the Sailor Senshi and as Mamoru’s girlfriend, cannot properly focus on the battle against Black Moon while having the ambiguous Chibi Usa running around and messing up her life.
A satisfying conclusion to the Dark Kingdom arc, but a somewhat shaky start to the Black Moon arc, though both Usagi’s and Chibi Usa’s emotional reactions and annoying behaviour are (eventually) quite understandable.
To be honest, I didn’t think I was going to like this manga. In fact, I was expecting to loathe it. To my surprise, I didn’t.
To be clear, I didn’t love this manga. I don’t know what it is about this series but it’s a manga that I would love to bash but at the same time there’s this charm and likability to it that I just can’t bring myself to hate it. (On a side note, I don’t know why people label this as a sci-fi manga. I mean, yeah, the characters came from the moon, but the rest of the elements make this manga a fantasy.)
So, now that I got that out of the way let’s take a look at the story. Sailor Moon is the shojo manga that basically started the magic girl story in manga. It’s very predictable and cheesy. I mean unbelievably cheesy. Like nacho cheese cheesy. Since it is also a romance, it tends to have those romantic clichés such as the main couple being total opposites and not getting along.
While the main character is a bit whiny and a crybaby at times, I didn't find her so unbearable that I couldn't stand her at all. But I will say that her slightly annoying personality is a lot better than having no personality at all.
Regardless, no matter how many flaws this manga has, I have to admit that there is this charm to it that just makes it kind of likable. Some of the characters are likable and the plot did move surprisingly fast. I’ll probably read the rest of the series, who knows?
Revisiting a childhood favorite... and not disappointed.
Life has kept me from concentrating on any heavy reading, so when I stumbled across my old copies of the Sailormoon manga in an old box, I happily began reading again. It's a personal nostalgic favorite, especially since I'm not a huge fan of manga/anime. Takeuchi's art has a lovely art nouveau feel to it that I've adored since I first came across it when I was in middle school.
La historia de Usagi y las Sailor Scout se pone mejor a cada tomo, sin lugar a dudas esté ha sido mi favorito, especialmente por que POR FIN aparece mi personaje favorito (ChibiUsa) y por que la historia de amor entre Mamo-chan y Usagi es taaaan bella que no puedo con esos dos, fangirleo al mil por ciento >.<
Sailor Moon is a fundamental series of manga. Most manga fans and readers will have read it or at the very least be familiar with the character and plot. I was one of those who did not grow up with Sailor Moon; I never really saw the anime episodes and by the time I started to read the manga the Sailor Moon series was long out of print. Nonetheless, I had an idea of what the series was about, the characters and of course the fact that it was famous and very popular. By now I have watched the first season and have read the series. Prior to reading it my expectations of this series were not too high – sure, there must be something about it that so many people would love it. But I also thought that a lot of its high praise must come from that air of nostalgia that Sailor Moon will always have. Despite my doubts, after having read it I feel that this manga truly deserves all the praise it receives!
There are a few things that I did not like – but that holds true for most things. For one thing, Sailor Moon does, in no way, look or act like a 14-year old. I would have been much happier if she were just a few years older. Mamoru is a nice character but the poor guy is pretty much the only representative of males. All other male characters that appear are only around for a couple of chapters, villains, minor characters or women disguised as men. And then, although it is typical for magical girl manga, the name of their attacks. I do not mind them having hearts and whatnot all over their costumes – but all the spells with sugar heart rains and the like were too much for me.
However!
Sailor Moon was so much more than what I expected of a magical girl series. Magical girl types of series often leave me with a lot of disbelief and hardly ever do more than just provide a bit of entertainment. I always thought of Sailor Moon to be just like that but the author delivered such beautiful and logical explanations to all the events happening. I loved the whole concept of the story and it let the characters be true guardians of the earth rather than teenagers in sparkly costumes. I am no big fan of science fiction but I loved how the author played with time and space. Because she managed to make Sailor Moon's role so much more believable for me, it was so much easier to route for her and feel with her through all the hardships.
I loved the power of friendship in this work and the romance between Sailor Moon and Mamoru was beautiful. I watched the first season of the anime before reading the manga: the relationship between Sailor Moon and Mamoru was ridiculous but the manga version just made my heart feel warm. The beautiful artwork of the author helped, of course. But all scenes between Sailor Moon and Mamoru were so gentle and warm. I loved how their memories of their past lives slowly returned to them.
The other thing is the art. The artwork is one of the most important things for me when reading a manga and Sailor Moons is just so astonishingly beautiful. Sailor Moon as a character was also very nice – she grows so much throughout the series and she is nowhere as annoying as she was in the anime adaption. It is also nice how the author goes into the other characters dreams and wishes and does not only focus on Sailor Moon – another thing that many magical girl manga do.
The series delivers many lovely and also comical scenes which is good because it also has many (to me unexpected) dark scenes. I probably enjoyed the middle arcs the most. However, I was very interested in the final arc about Sailor Galaxia and was rather disappointed that it fell so short. I think there could have been a lot more about that arc and I would have liked to have learned more about Sailor Galaxia’s motives and origins as well as the purpose and system of the Cauldron and how it creates the stars and planets.
All in all: nothing but the highest praise for Sailor Moon! I liked this series so much more than what I always what I always thought I would and I think it is never too late to become a fan!
"Sailor Moon #3" es el tercer volumen, que recompila los capítulos del 10 al 12 del manga.
En este volumen lo que prebalece es el drama.
Nos encontramos en Luna y se nos cuenta el pasado de las Sailor Guardians y como se sacrificaron para proteger a la Princesa Serenity y al Reino de la Luna, así como también el origen de la Reina Beryl y se descubre la identidad de la Reina Metalia, la verdadera villana detrás de todo esto y quién estuvo detrás de todo el ataque al Reino de la Luna en el pasado.
En la actualidad, la Reina Beryl tiene bajo a su control a Mamoru Chiba (Tuxedo Mask) lo que ocasiona un nuevo conflicto interno en Sailor Moon, pues para vencer a Metalia, debe utilizar el Legendario Cristal de Plata que ahora se encuentra en el interior de Mamoru y para extraerlo, debe de sacrificarlo.
The Dark Kingdom arc is almost at a close by the end of this volume. The Scouts travel to their home Kingdom on the Moon to learn their pasts and meet the hologram of Queen Serenity and retrieve the stone sword needed to vanquish the Darkness. Bunny is having some difficulties though when faced with the task of saving Endymion as he's been posessed by Kunzite. The strength of their love however helps Bunny find the resolve she needs to vanquish the evil Queen once and for all. This is definitely an instance where I enjoyed the anime better than the manga. Sailor Moon taking down Beryl was an epic part of my childhood, but the manga merely brushes over Beryl's death and gives Venus more of the spotlight. Not a bad entry to the series, but not as strong as it could have been.
I’m rating this 5/5 not for the intricate story line (not applicable for these series as they were written for young girls in the early 90’s) but for the absolutely gorgeous graphics/art work. I find myself staring at just how adorable, gorgeous, creative & talented it all is. These mangas are perfect for young girls who have to fight their way through this male dominated world!
So, this particular book resonated the importance of womankind friendships. How when the going gets tough our friends will have our back! And that girls are tough, you may push us down but we get back up! Fighting til the end!
This is the third book in the manga serie and again I like it very much.
This tells some part of the story that I could not remember and introduce more characters to the plot. The one I'm so curious about is chibiusa because again I could not remember her story from the time I see the TV show.
I gave 3.6 out of 5* to this book and will for sure continue this série.
Don’t know why this took me forever to read. The plot slows down and all, but I still love everybody. Also the art is so beautiful. Guess sometime in the near future I’ll have to invest in more of this series because eventually, I’d like to own it all. For now, I’ll keep rereading my favorite parts.
I enjoyed this book a lot. But, this book left me hanging there. I don't want to spoil so, I will not say some things about this book. This book can also work on character development more. I feel like it focuses on one character. Which is sailor moon but, the name of the series is Sailor Moon.
I see some obvious flaws in these chapters, too much storytelling in too little space, but after learning this whole series was thought up and drawn by a 14 year old and has inspired so many people at a young age (including me) I just see past most of them.
Al principio empieza muy lento, y se hace un poco pesado, pero cuando llega al nudo, la cosa se pone realmente interesante y te engancha sin que te des cuenta y el final es apoteósico y te deja con la miel en los labios. ¡Deseando empezar el 4º! :D
La historia de amor entre la princesa Serenity y Endymion parece sacada de Shakespeare. 😅
Me gusto que nos relatan la historias del planeta de la Luna en forma de flashbacks y justo en este volumen pasa todo lo que puedes esperar de las sailors scouts.
No, pues ahora sí ya la hicimos, estás estuvieron peor que Thomas, se les desapareció Mars y se fueron a nadar, no se que decir, chicas las amo, pero no me tiznen la amistad!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.