AKA: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon SuperS
	Genre: Magical girl sentai (hero-team)
	Length: Television series, 39 episodes, 23 minutes each
	Distributor: R1 DVD from Pioneer out of print.
	Content Rating: Y7 (fantasy violence)
	Related Series: Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon R, Sailor Moon R the Movie, Sailor Moon S, Sailor Moon S the Movie, Sailor Moon Super S the Movie, Sailor Moon Sailor Stars, Sailor Moon: Ami's First Love
	Also Recommended: Magical Project S, Nurse Witch Komugi-chan, Sailor Moon Super S the Movie: Black Dream Hole
	Notes: Based on the Dream Arc of the Sailor Moon manga (though VERY loosely) by Takeuchi Naoko.
	Rating:

Sailor Moon Super S

Synopsis

Shortly after the defeat of the Death Busters, a new force has come to terrorize Japan. One day, during a solar eclipse, the Dead Moon Circus arrive in town. The cirus is led by the vain Queen Nehelania, who wants to stay young and beautiful, but needs the Golden Crystal to do so. Where is this Golden Crystal? On the horn of Pegasus, who protects the dream world and rests inside of those who have beautiful dreams. One night, he meets up with Chibi Usa (Rini), and seeing as how she has the most beautiful dreams according to him, helps her and the rest of her friends from Nelehania's hencmen. However, Pegasus hides many secrets, as do the Dead Moon Circus...will Chibi Usa, Usagi (Serena) and the others be able to find out about the Dead Moon Circus as well as defeat them, considering that the Outer Sailor Soldiers are no longer there to help them? You have to watch to find out.

Review

I think it's really funny that people point out this particular season by such things as being nothing but a childish filler season of Sailor Moon. Similar to Dragon Ball, I have to put a false accusation such as that to rest.

So, Super S is nothing but cute, huh? Well, what about Zirconia, Nehelania's second in command? She looks like a decayed fish zombie, and her voice sends chills down my spine (her Japanese voice, not her, er, "his" Yoda-like English voice. Read below to see what I mean). And the Amazoness Quartet and Amazon Trio might look/act cutesy, but they also like to toy with their targets' emotions, often luring them into depression/temporary happiness before looking into their dreams for Pegasus through force.

Compared to previous villians, the Amazon Trio and Amazoness Quartet have a much more hands-on approach when it comes to handling victims-of-the-day, often blending themselves in to the events happening to the character in that episode. This is far more entertaining than the previous two seasons' villians, who just send out a monster and watched it wreak chaos in the city. And unlike the Witches Five, the Amazon groups don't come off as annoying: everyone from the Trio and Quartet have their neat little perks that prevent from being shallow or annoying. Even the childish Palla-Palla has a dark side to her..very amusing indeed.

As for the new non-villians..well, Pegasus is more like a deux ex machina than anything else for quite a bit of the season, allowing Sailor Moon and Chibi Moon to become Super Sailor Soldiers (and eventually, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus), and using a super-powerful attack to defeat the Monster of the Day (tm) with. He also makes occassional chit chat with Chibi Usa, but it's more of an excuse to extend the episode's length of the required 24 or so minutes an episode than anything else.

Speaking of Chibi Usa...those who thought she was a pain in the butt the last two seasons will be glad to know that she's matured quite a bit. She is no longer annoying, nor is she a notoriously weak Sailor Soldier anymore (in terms of strength and ability, that is...goodbye "Pink Sugar Heart Attack"). However, her maturity comes at a cost of another character's maturity...Usagi's. Usagi has become little more than a bully in this season, constantly scaring Chibi Usa about things she doesn't understand (like how she won't walk out of the dentist's office alive), teasing her, telling her to stay away from Mamoru (Darien), and constantly butting into her life. Maybe it's to counter the "goody-goddy two shoes" Usagi from last season, but this was a major change of character from someone who we're supposed to respect and look up to. As for Ami (Amy), Rei (Raye), Makoto (Lita), and Minako (Mina)...well, they're still in character, but similar to the S season, they play very little in the overall plot. Aside from a couple of episodes here and there dedicated to each of them, and them becoming Super Sailor Soldiers and getting new attacks, they really don't do much.

The plot of this season is really simple comapred to the more complex previous season. Each episode goes like this:

1.) Zirconia finds a target
2.) Zirconia tells Amazon Trio/ Amazoness Quartet to find target, forcing one of the members of the Amzon Trio/ Amazoness Quartet go out to find the target
3.) We see the "target" struggling with something
4.) Chibi Usa/ Usagi/ someone else finds the "target", get introduced to him/her, and give that person encouragement
5.) "Target" is happy for meeting said person, and leaves on his/her way
6.) The member of the Amazon Trio/ Amazoness Quartet sent out on the mission put on a civilian disguise, talk to the "target", and check his/her mirror. Pegasus is NEVER inside of that person
7.) Sailor Moon, Sailor Chibi Moon, and sometimes the other Sailors, confront a weird, hilarious Lemures (the name of the monsters of the day this season)
8.) The Amazon Trio/ Amazoness Quartet member sent out to do the job retreats, leaving the Lemures in charge
9.) Sailor Soldiers get the crap kicked out of them by the Lemures until Tuxedo Mask distracts the Lemures long enough for Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon to finish the Lemures off with the deux ex machina that is Pegasus
10.) "Target" regains renewal in what he/she does, and thanks Sailor Moon-tachi

A simple formula, perhaps, but wasn't Sailor Moon S's formula just about the same, except with pure hearts? The sub-plot of pure dreams allows for a variety of episodes, ranging from an obligatory beach episode, flying, idol singing, school sports festivals, and of course, a trip to the deranged people who perform in the Dead Moon Circus (it's a real circus...a real sick one, indeed. The Dead Moon Circus makes the Dark Kingdom and Dark Moon's minions look classy). Although there is lots of filler, who cares when nearly every episode is very funny and touching? Granted, there are serious moments in this season, like when Chibi Usa finds out the truth of Pegasus's identity and mission, but they are handled very well, preventing Super S from switching from a laugh fest to dark drama like Trigun and the last few episode of the first season of Slayers did.

The animation is this season is probably the best in the whole series, with lots of colorful, well-drawn backgrounds, lots of cute character designs, and a consistent flow of animation. This season uses an art style for the characters different from the last three seasons, and in my opinion, it looks a lot nicer (interestingly enough, the same character designer for the Super S season of Sailor Moon is also the same character designer of one of the Editor-In-Chief's wife's favorite anime, Nurse Witch Komugi-chan).

The music, especially the OP and ED, get stuck in your head, and quickly. Lots of great new background music this season fits the mood around the characters perfectly. The more laid-pack Amazon Trio, for example, has this lazy, jazzy music playing around them, and the Amazoness Quartet have a more upbeat tune, complete with a violin thrown in for good measure. And Sailor Moon's transformation music, for a change, doesn't like sound like 70s disco: we now have a trumpet fanfare playing instead during her transformation, as well as in her speeches, and it's much more fitting than previous season's transformation themes (which isn't to say they aren't good...they just sounded kind of, well, funky).

And finally, the dub. Along with the usual name changes, we also get a sex change for Fish Eye (no big surprise there), as well as a gender change for ANOTHER character..Zirconia. This is just plain stupid, as there was nothing wrong with Zirconia in the first place. It's not like she was a sexist stereotype or anything, but voice recording group Optimum changed her into a guy, and gave "him" a Yoda-ish voice. Also, the dialogue, in general, is really doinky, and contains constant inconsistencies and slang, as well as added talking everywhere. Oh, and don't forget the horrible voice acting, as well. Follow Tim's advice: avoid the dub. Only watch it to make fun of its crappy dialogue and voices (as dub Zirconia says, "It will be mega-fun and then some!").

Sailor Moon Super S isn't for everyone: older Sailor Moon S fans will turn away from it because of the lack of Haruka and Michiru almost immediately, as well as those who can't stand Chibi Usa, let alone the idea of her loving a horse. Also, those who read the Dream Arc part of the manga are going to be let down by the numerous changes made to it in the anime.

However, those looking for a funnier, more light-hearted counterpart to Sailor Moon S's dark tone will feel right at home with Super S.

A fun, fourth season of Sailor Moon. Those upset by the lack of Outer Sailor Soldiers, or those that feel the anime is nowhere near as good as its manga counterpart, can take off two stars. — Tim Jones

Recommended Audience: Seven and over, for both the American and Japanese versions. Yes, the Japanese version had nudity, but never in a gratuitous or sexually-oriented way, and never detailed at that. The fight scenes are standard, as the enemies turn to dust, with a few exceptions, which are handled tastefully.