J-Drama Femme Fatale: Sato Eriko

As I’ve mentioned many times before on this blog, I am a HUGE fan of Uber-Sexy actress Sato Eriko ever since her turn as Cutie Honey, and have always made a point to try and check out anything she’s been in since, but it wasn’t until I checked out the fractured movie Funuke Domo Show Some Love, You Losers! that I saw just how AWESOME an actress she could be!
Anyone who has enjoyed Sato’s awesomely unhinged performance in Funuke Domo knows how POSITIVELY MENTAL she can get when given the proper motivation and her portrayal of the evil sister Sumika (who’ll do anything and everything this side of MURDER to get what she wants) was a full-blown over-the-top romp into INSANITY!

Far from the adorable performance of sweet and innocent Honey Kisaragi or the prim and proper Ai in Yasuko To Kenji, Eriko showed that when it came to genre types, CRAZINESS was one she EXCELLED in! With those beautiful eyes locked down into a dark, perpetual FROWN, Eriko really exuded a vibe of “DON’T F*CK WITH ME!!!!”

So, a few weeks ago, my friend Car is watching the latest episode of the hugely popular Mizutani Yutaka/Terawaki Yasafumi drama AIBOU(Partners), and after it was done, she IMMEDIATELY called me up, saying, ‘I was watching Aibou and there was this SUPER pretty girl who had Kameyama tied up as her prisoner, and I was thinking, Oh My God, you would LOVE this girl! All dressed in pretty dresses and leather boots, she’s TOTALLY the kind of chick you like!”

She continued, “So throughout the episode I’m trying to figure out who this girl IS! She looked SO familiar and I KNEW that I knew her, but couldn’t quite place her! She looked a little like a cross between Aya Ueto and Rika Ishikawa….Then it came to me…HEY…..is that the Cutie Honey girl?”

Making a mental note to check the ending for the name of the actress, her guess was validated when she saw the credit “Sato Eriko as Misae” Eriko Sato! That WAS the Cutie Honey Girl!

She continued, “She’s is SO pretty in this one and she gets SO Psycho, she was just amazing! And there’s this one scene where, you know how Japanese girls sit, she’s sitting on the ground with her legs bent on either side and her butt touching the ground?” I said I knew what she meant. “Yeah, I think you’ll REALLY like how she looks there!”

“Anyway”, she concluded, “I know that they’re showing Aibou in Hawaii, so you might want to check this one out when it airs over there!” (She saw it in L.A.)

Well, I told her that I wasn’t a big fan of watching shows on TV and would look for the listing and find out which episode it was later when I went online. A day or so later, we were talking about some other thing, and then she interjected, “Hey, did you watch that Partners episode yet?” Well, Um, no I hadn’t. “Well, you should look for it!”

It occurred to me that she REALLY thought I would like this Eriko Sato show, but it wasn’t until just a few days ago (while downloading eps of Guren Onna) that I remembered to check up on it! Researching online I found that it was episode 8 of Season 4 that featured Eriko, and was relieved to find that D-Addicts had the torrent still up for grabs! Sadly, after 2 days, my download for that episode was perpetually stuck at 99%. Ninety-Nine percent!!! D’OH!!!

After waiting another day, I gave up and decided to see if the file would play without that darn 1%, and I was ecstatic to find that it DID!!! I mean, the show kept breaking up every 15 minutes or so, but really wasn’t too noticeable, and I IMMEDIATELY sat down and watched it before it could get away!

Clicking on the episode and the first thing I see is Yasafumi tied to a chair, roughed-up and captive in a basement in front of a huge safe. I was confused- Did I come in the middle of a story? Well, no, as I was to later find out…but before I could think one way or the other, the camera pulled up to slowly reveal a sexy figure draped in a fashionable dress duked out with white boots and then there she was- the GORGEOUS GORGEOUS GORGEOUS Eriko Sato in all her evil glory! Oh MY GOSH was she stunning!
The story is that Eriko’s character Misae has kidnapped Kameyama under the mistaken belief that he is the “brains” of his unit so he can decipher a coded message that will open a wall safe containing a fortune in gold. But of course, Kameyama hasn’t the first CLUE of how to translate the note into a combination, and as he bides time giving false answers, Misae gets more and MORE frustrated with him, resorting to violence, torture and threats of deadly chemical injections, until she’s gone COMPLETELY off the deep end!
Alternately swinging between a sweet cloying sex kitten and a raging demonic inferno, the absolute highlight for me is when Kameyama spits a mouthful of wine into Misae’s face. She’s had enough and goes to prepare a syringe of some questionable drug substance to inject into him, and while her attention is turned away, he grabs a shard of glass and manages to cut his bonds! It’s here that the show reaches its high point as the explosive Eriko and the unchained Terawaki totally have it out!
After this incredible scene, the show comes back down to earth, and in the end, it all boils down to Sugishita using his brain to piece together where Kameyama is held captive and sneaking in in the proverbial nick to save him- The puzzles are solved, the secret of the safe is revealed, and Misae has her complete and utter meltdown, much to the relief of Kameyama, who handcuffs the hysterical girl with a fair amount of satisfaction!

The old adage “Cute, Yet Psycho- Everything Balances Out” IS TOTALLY ON THE MONEY!!! And as long as this saying holds true, I think the beautiful Ms. Sato will have a long and illustrious career ahead of her, a career I will be SURE to follow!

Sailor Tsuki No Koibito

So I'm watching another episode of Tsuki No Koibito, and it comes to the pivotal scene where Ren Hazuki (Kimura Takuya) meets up with cute Xiu Mei (Lin Chi-Ling) who is looking for water striders at the Hotel's waterfront. It's an emotional scene as Xiu Mei has just found a sort of peace with her life in Japan, and Hazuki is finding himself beginning to cherish her. Watching this scene struck me as somehow familiar- and why wouldn't it?

In the craziest coincidence, this Hotel Waterfront was the same place that the Sailor Senshi in PRETTY GUARDIAN SAILOR MOON met up with Usagi who'd been transformed into the cold Princess Serenity!

And the Courtyard shot where Ren finally embraces Xiu Mei...

Is the same courtyard where the Senshi ran down to confront Princess Serenity!

Ahahaha, considering Kitagawa Keiko is in both Tsuki No Koibito AND Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, it woulda been hilarious if her Tsuki No Koibito character was at the waterfornt, too! She would be thinking "Hmm....this pond gives me the strangest sense of...deja vu!"

8/09 Edit: Hahahaha, While going through my Brother Beat episodes looking for Kuninaka Ryoko Screencaps, I came across ONE MORE appearance of this famed watering hole, this time with Tamayama Tetsuji and Mokomichi Hayami enjoying the scenery!

Tsuki No Koibito: 何これ?!?

Just started watching the Fuji TV drama Tsuki No Koibito a few days ago, and though the storyline seems to be interesting enough, Kimura Takuya and Shinohara Ryoko seem capable enough, and Lin Chi-ling is beautiful and captivating as heck, what I REALLY want to know is:
Why the HELL was Kitagawa Keiko given such a CRAPPY role in this drama!?

Seriously!! This one-dimensional and air-headed character of Yuzuki Onuki is the kind of character that you give to a NEWCOMER, not someone as experienced (not to mention popular) as Kei-chan. As the materialistic trophy girlfriend of lead character Hazuki Ren (who’s been seeing her only because she’s the daughter of a rival businessman), all she’s required to do in each episode is act jealous and have spoiled fits of brattiness. Quite frankly, this role is INSULTING to give to someone of her caliber!!!! WTF!!!

Hot off the heels of my manic obsessive marathon of PRETTY GUARDIAN SAILOR MOON, I couldn’t wait to dive into a new Kitagawa Keiko drama, and expectations were riding high on Tsuki No Koibito as it was another BIG Kimura Takuya vehicle. I DID wonder just what role she’d be playing since it didn’t look like they’d given her the romantic lead, but imagine my surprise as I watched that first episode, and found she’d been given such a RIDICULOUS character to play!
You know, when they first introduced Kitagawa as the dense socialite girl who’d deluded herself into thinking that Hazuki loves her, I was initially hoping that they’d crafted a sympathetic role for her and would develop her into a strong character for the show, but as the episodes went by and they showed scenes of her getting jilted by Kimura for comedic effect (such as him telling her to “jump in the car” before speeding away in a cloud of dust), or portraying her as a selfish b*tch (such as laughing at Lin Chi-ling’s character as she stumbles and struggles to become a model), it slowly began to dawn on me that this character was never going to be anything but the well-worn j-drama cliché of the evil ex-girlfriend.

Don’t get me wrong- Keiko’s acting here is awesome as always and she’s unquestionably gorgeous, but I’m REALLY holding onto hope that they will do SOMETHING to make this character worthwhile!!! Grrrr…

Crush Of The Day: Ito Misaki

I began watching YAMA ONNA KABE ONNA, (the drama about a big busted girl befriending a flat-chested co-worker) naturally for the uber cute Fukada Kyoko in the titular (no pun intended) role, but I have to say that the real heart of this show comes from actress Misaki Ito as the flat-chested “wall-woman” role of Aoyagi Megumi!
Misaki Ito- WOW! What a joy she is to watch! Perhaps it’s due to the fast pace /great dialog of this light-hearted comedy, but just about every scene she’s in makes me smile! Ito is SO GREAT as the highly efficient but tightly wound-up girl with a MAJOR inferiority Complex about her bust, and whether its’ making stunned observations about Fukada’s ample bosom,wisecracking at snippy co-workers or duking it out with her brash childhood friends, I just find myself CRACKING UP every episode!! Even just watching a scene where she doesn’t do anything except come home and flop onto her bed, I find myself chuckling for no reason!
There’s this one running passage throughout the series that I find PARTICULARLY HILARIOUS, and that’s when Megumi’s father, concerned about her not having a husband, suggests she try Feng Shui. He tells her she must buy a pink pig and keep it in her house, and here’s where the fun ensues- She buys a pink ceramic piggy bank to position at home, and whenever she has “good luck” with work, prospective boyfriends, etc, she happily pets the ceramic pig, calling him “Pinky!!!” ...
But when things are going BAD, she vents her anger on the pig, calling it “Oni-Buta (Devil-Pig!!) and threatens to destroy it! But poor Megumi- when she tries to break the pig, it always backfires on her and she ends up hurting herself: AHAHAHA More hilariously is the fact that even when Megumi tries to thow it away, somehow it ends up back in her apartment!!

Funny thing is, (and you knew this was coming) the very first time I saw Misaki Ito, I wasn’t much impressed with her. Perhaps it was simply the circumstances that led me to that summation. This was back when I was browsing around on VEOH- I’d just finished watching Hotaru No Hikari and was hoping to come across a new show to start on, when I discovered what I THOUGHT was a Nakayama Miho drama. So I’m watching this, thinking to myself, “Hey, how come Miho Nakayama looks so YOUNG? Hey WAIT…is this even HER?”

The point soon became moot, because by the time co-star Kamenashi Kazuya came onto the scene, I’d completely lost interest in the drama (Sapuri) and clicked off onto greener pastures. I found out a bit later that it was some NEW actress I hadn’t seen before named Ito Misaki, and from there on I always referred to her as “The Bargain-Basement Nakayama Miho”.

Next time I came across Misaki Ito was when my friend Car had told me that she’d missed an episode of a drama she was watching, and I went online looking for that missing part so she could continue her drama watching without hitch. The show was EDISON NO HAHA, and I think I’ve already mentioned how much I HATE shows with kids in it. This one was no different, and by the end of that show I’d had enough of screaming, spoiled kids, screaming spoiled teachers, screaming spoiled parents AND Misaki Ito to last me a lifetime!

The next time I saw Misaki was when got around to watching the wildly successful Yukie Nakama drama GOKUSEN, and though I actually liked that drama (and Misaki) quite a bit, I had a hard time believing Ito’s role as the “Hot” teacher. No matter, I thought she was okay in this drama, and it paved the way for me being a LOT more “open” to Ito’s future endeavors!

So when I came across Yama Onna Kabe Onna starring Ito and Fukada, I had no qualms at all about checking the show out. I knew that at the very least, Fukakyon in "cutesy" mode would hold my interest if not the very fake looking big boobies she had in tow, but whodathunkit- from the very first episode, Misaki was making me laugh and soon enough She became to sole reason for me to watch the show! After each episode I would find myself talking to friends about the wacky hijinks of the latest episode and I'd be laughing out loud!
PS: Hahaha, even just going back to the past episodes to make screencaps for this blog entry I found myself cracking up and sitting down and re-watching some of the funnier passages of those "pinky" episodes...TOO FRICKING FUNNY!! Ah, Misaki-chan, so sorry to have slighted you in the past, but I'm Luvvin' Ya now!!

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon 終わり

After a long and exciting PGSM Marathon session full of ups and downs and highs and lows, I’ve finally finished watching the series, and I have to say that without a doubt this show will remain in my heart as one of the best (and most unusual) little trips I’ve taken in my years of J-drama viewing!

Anticipation was running high as that last episode loomed closer and closer, and with the fate of Princess Serenity, Usagi Tsukino AND the ENTIRE PLANET EARTH at stake, the  there was so much going on that I wondered if they were going to be able to answer all the questions properly as well as wrap the show up in enough time!

*  *  *  WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD   *  *  *

Well, when “Final Act” Episode #49 finally came around and the show reached its inevitable conclusion, I hve to admit, I was mostly…underwhelmed. Though (to me) the story seemd to have remained intact and they answered all (or at least, most) of the questions and tried to tie everything up nicely, I have to say that the last episode DID seem a bit…rushed. I think the show REALLY could have benefited from being a longer show rather than trying to squeeze the entire epic ending into 27 minutes. Plus, it really would have given more impact if they had invested  more time and $$ into the special effects regarding the show’s huge climax and  solution, i.e: The  destruction and subsequent re-creation of no less than the Planet Earth itself! No matter, I still thought the last episode was O.K.

What really helped make the show end on a high note and made me leave the series with a warm feeling in my heart was the following PGSM SPECIAL, and though helplessly zany beyond belief, it is THIS movie that I consider the "final" chapter in the PGSM story : SAILOR MOON SPECIAL ACT: WATASHITACHI KEKKON SHIMASU!!

Usagi And Mamoru Get Hitched

The show centered around the lives of the Senshi years after the conclusion of free webpage countersepisode #49, and we find that all the girls have moved on and are living their own paths. It's only the announcement of Usagi and Mamoru's wedding (and the re-emergence of the evil idol Kuroki Mio) that brings them all together again. Though the girls have long since forsaken their powers, for this special they have been granted a "one-time" spell that will transform them in time to save the day and start the wedding!

Yeah, it may seem predictable and at times cliched, but this ending was really what I needed to really give the show the strong finish I missed in the last episode of the series. Clocking in at an Hour, this show gave enough time to properly say goodbye to the girls, and it was also nice to hear the show close with "Kirari Sailor Dream", the beloved PGSM theme song sung by SAE, since they'd chosen a different song for the #49 ending credits !

Just about the only things I can find to complain about is that they dropped the storyline between Sailor Mercury/Ami-chan and Shitennou Soldier Nephrite which was progressing very nicely in the series. Just a nod towards the relationship would have been nice, but that idea seems to have been completely dropped.

Sailor Senshi Minus Mars

The OTHER thing that bothered me, and is there ANY fan who watched this that didn't think this: How could they have a Sailor Senshi revival without Sailor Mars?! Granted, Kitagawa Keiko IS in the movie, but to have Rei laid up in a hospital while the battle is going on is unforgivable!

Ah well, those points aside, this was still a very, very good way to end the series, and along with PRETTY GUARDIAN SAILOR MOON : ACT ZERO, helped give the characters in the show a proper send-off, and by it’s end, I finally realized just how much I was going to miss those girls, especially  Usagi and her heartwarming smile!

Miyuu Sawai As Usagi

The Strange Trajectory of the Sailor Moon Episodes

Funny thing about this Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon series is the way that whenever a story arc climaxes with a TERRIFIC story arc, the episodes that follow it tend to be a bit on the … mediocre side. So it seems like whenever I’m blown away by an episode and run online to declare “it’s awesome!”, suddenly I find myself watching sub-par shows and my interest starting to waver! Then just when I resign myself that the best has come and gone, the show will suddenly begin to gain traction again and build up to another incredible arc with another conclusion that blows me away all over again!

It’s almost as if the show is run by two bosses, one that wants to steer the show into more drama and action oriented, while the other wants to make sure the show stays locked in a zany “Disney” kid-friendly type of shows. It’s all fine, and I actually like the balance of the two genres when it’s done right, but when you see a story where Sailor Mercury is enslaved by the dark Empire in one episode, and the next one Usagi is happily teaching rei how to sing karaoke for an idol contest is a juxtaposition that’s too much for my brain to handle!

Noticing this, I began trying to assign rating stars to each episode I saw, and when I finally had the time to chart them all out, it was petty interesting to see the distinct pattern of the show’s highs and lows. It would seem that (at least in MY opinion, and I should repeat that louder: IN MY OPINION!!!!)  after every BIG show, the story drops back down to a manageable (re: mediocre) level until the next BIG arc.

Now, the thing that’s worrying me is that at episode #45, I am now officially into the HOME STRETCH, making my way down the big finale in episode #49, PRETTY GUARDIAN SAILOR MOON’s last show… and as you can see by the chart, the past few episodes have been ROCKIN’ MY WORLD! Of course, I’m now worrying that the inevitable “drop” will be coming soon, and I’m PRAYING that it doesn’t happen at the END of the series!!!

K, Back to more PGSM…

Notes on the Graph: It’s pretty funny that just by looking at the chart I instantly remember what story was happening at that point to either make my rating spike or drop! AHAHAHAHA!

Episode 6 is where the girls go on a group date with the Karaoke Crown guys, and Mamoru witnesses Usagi, who he’s up to that point thought of as a clueless bimbo, transform into Sailor Moon! Fun!

Episode 14 is another Ami-chan tour de force as she shows her devotion and love for Usagi as she’s being turned into a Youma. Particularly painful-looking fight scenes, too.

Episode 19-28 are, of course, the awesome Sailor Mercury /Darkury episodes, only dropping slightly in Ep.22 because of Rei Hino  turning into a Singing Idol.

Maybe you like this. Not Me!

Episodes 29-32 are the aforementioned Mio Kuroki episodes which weren’t helped by an 8 year old human girl Luna. I’ve just never been a fan of the bullying girl in calss kind os stories, never mind tokusatsu ones.

Episode 34-35 shoots back up with the introduction (at last) of Princess Serenity…

Dark Phoenix For D-Addicts

Yeah, yeah, I KNOW that just about EVERY single one of you out there is downright SICK and TIRED of hearing me babble ON and ON about this whole “Sailor Moon” Thing, but HOLY CRAP this show just keeps BLOWING ME AWAY and there just ain’t NUTHIN’ I can do about it! Cackle! Cackle! Cackle!

What follows is MORE Sailor Moon gushing, skip if you want or proceed at your own risk. You have been duly warned Aha Ha Haaaaaaaaaaaaa

Sorejya…

When they revealed Usagi “Sailor Moon” Tsukino’s transformation/possession into Princess Serenity back in episode #36, I thought it was an interesting facet of her past persona, meant to be used as a metaphor for her past life’s memories, but as the episodes went by, the mystical crystal that was so heralded in earlier times was slowly staring to take over Usagi’s total embodiment- and each time the persona reappeared, she became more and more powerful, til the transformation was a thing to be DREADED rather than celebrated…

Finally, with this, the 41st episode in the series, we see for the first time the very, very, dark and utterly DESTRUCTIVE nature of Princes Serenity’s powers as she battles a youma and ends up totally decimating the place and injuring her friends  who have been caught in the maelstrom as well! It has been rumoured that Usagi has within her the power to destroy the world, and for the first time, the truth of this fact has become terrifyingly proved to her!

Man, when I first checked out the Wiki synopsis about the series and read that the second half of the series was “darker” than the first half (not to mention the manga or anime, for that matter), I had NO IDEA just how TRUE that would be!!! “How Dark Can a show Like sailor Moon get?” I thought. Silly Me!

Up to Episode #35 and no signs of Stopping

Moving along with my continued addiction with PGSM, I have to say that this shoujo manga tokusatsu* drama is really turning into one of the most rewarding  shows I’ve ever seen! Maybe it’s simply because of how long the series went on, but I really feel like I’ve gotten to know the characters deeply, and I find that I love and care about them and am simply beside myself with what’s gonna happen next!

This comes as bit of a surprise, because there was a brief time there (right after the awesome Darcury arc) where the series seemed to have “plateaued”; the storyline seemed to turn into a one dimensional high-school type drama, and I suddenly felt like I was watching mediocre cliched episodes. This would be the time they introduced Mio as Usagi’s weaselly adversary, but I think it has more to do with (as I mentioned before) Luna turning into an 8 year old girl than anything else. I REALLY had a problem with that! Funny, I never blinked when the Sailor Senshis were talking to Luna as a stuffed cat, but MAN, once they turned her into that little kid in a superhero costume battling alongside them, that was the first time I actually felt like I was watching a show for children.

It was during this time that I mentioned to Car that I was starting to lose interest in the show, and though she never said anything, you could feel her breathing a sigh of relief as if to say, “Thank God He’s finally getting over this embarrassing Sailor Moon obsession!”… but no sooner had I said that when the show suddenly shifted into high gear and got awesome ALL OVER AGAIN!

A large part of what makes this second run so engaging is the fleshing out of the Shitennou, the Dark Kingdom Generals, who, with their colored wigs and garish soldier outfits, seem to be male counterparts (of sorts) to the Sailor Senshi themselves. Whereas in the first half them acted more in the shadows, but the time of episode 20 they were regularly coming”above ground” to battle the girls firsthand, and as the storyline gets more complex, they are interacting more and more with each other, even to the point of shaky but necessary alliances between certain members.

Another point is the fact that Aino Minako’s character of Sailor V /Sailor Venus is almost non-existent in the first half of the series and when she finally makes her (official) appearance in episode 18 with the group, we don’t know quite what to make of her. It is only in these latest episodes that I find how much I like her character, probably because they’re finally devoting enough time to show where her heart lays. Or Lies. Whatever, I love her now!

I’ve read in several Sailor Moon sites that the PRETTY GUARDIAN SAILOR MOON Live-Action series is more CHARACTER driven than the original manga and anime series, and while not having either read the manga or seen the anime series, I can see where that could be true! They’ve done SUCH a great job of selling me on these people, and with the terrific acting of everyone (ESPECIALLY Miyu Sawaii…though I think I mentioned that already), the end product is nothing short of AWESOME!

Ah, I’m starting to approach the quandary I come across with most of the dramas I fall in love with- I want to hurry up and finish watching it because I’m dying to know what happens, but at the same time, I’m trying to watch them as SLOWLY as possible to prolong my time with them! Just the thought of no more episodes to watch SERIOUSLY bums me out!

Thank GOD Hotaru No Hikari 2 has started…I’m REALLY gonna need something to “latch onto” when this is all over!

* Yametekudasai states emphatically for the record: “Tokusatsu? I just can’t see that this SAILOR MOON thing has ANYTHING to do with REAL Tokusatsu heroes (like Ultraman, Kamen Rider, etc), and therefore cannot label it as such.” Or word to that effect.

Sailor Mars Rocks!

Short but sweet clip of Rei Hino/Sailor Mars kicking the butt of a decidedly funky-looking Youma (demon).

The Monster emerges from a glowing Flower bed in an overly-dramatic fashion with the intent to wreak havoc, but after Kitagawa Keiko shows up and BBQ's his head, he opts instead for a hasty departure!

Nobody Mess with the Senshi of Flame and Passion! I Pity Da Fool!

PGSM "Darkury" Storyline

Just finished watching the storyline in Sailor Moon where Sailor Mercury gets captured by the Dark Empire and is transformed into the evil (and admittedly pretty sexy) DARKURY. This story arc (spread between chapters 20-28) is DEFINITELY my favorite of the series so far, and that’s no small feat, considering how much I’ve loved each episode up until this point!

So many things happen in this one! Storylines get concluded, mysteries get answered and everything gets set up for the next volume in the series…and of course there’s the actual Darkury story itself, and I have to say that it was Hama Chisaki’s acting that really did it for me- (in fact, I’ve noticed that just about all of my “favorite” episodes seem to center around her) playing the double role of both protagonist AND antagonist and making them both believable and sympathetic, she REALLY sold the character and I found myself just LOVING her more and more!

That I loved this arc is even MORE impressive when you consider that this storyline ALSO featured two of the only things I’ve HATED in the series so far, namely turning Luna into a 8(?) year old girl, as well as featuring a silly episode where Rei becomes an idol singer. An Idol Singer?!

Fortunately, everything gelled by the time of the arc’s conclusion and the ending was very, very satisfying!

Making Of A Banner

So I don't know if you caught the gist of what I've been babbling about for the last few posts, but, yeah, I'm into Sailor Moon. Go Figure. Anyway, Over lunch to day I was relating to a friend about how long it took me to make the banner for yesterday's post (which I worked on in Photoshop), and then I decided, what the hey- I'll SHOW you!

It all started with the PGSM Opening Credits, which I think I've mentioned I think totally rocks (in that 80's Pony Canyon style, don't you know), anyway, within the credits my favorite part is this montage of the five girls in their "HASHIRE!!" poses (check the video at 0:58-1:01), and I REALLY wanted to make THAT into a banner!

So what I did was capture each of the girls when they appeared in the screen, till I had about six or seven usable frames to work with:

From there, I took the first shot Of Usagi / Sailor Moon Running, and created a canvas underneath to paste onto.

Then Added Mako / Sailor Jupiter...

Then Rei / Sailor Mars (Keiko, Keiko, Keiko!!! Oops, sorry, i couldn't help myself, heh heh):

Then Ami / Sailor Mercury:

And the rest of Minako / Sailor Venus' body and arms.

From there I had to photoshop out all the credits and blend together the separate frames before finally centering the characters, color-correcting the picture and framing it to get the final product: Viola! A Sailor Moon Banner!

HEEEEELLLLLLLLPPPPPPP!!!! I'm Addicted!!!!!!!!

Man, for a show that I only initially checked out to see Kitagawa Keiko, PRETTY GUARDIAN SAILOR MOON has unbelievably turned into a MUST-WATCH show! Every day I have to watch at least two or three episodes, and right now I’m extremely grateful that there are 49 episodes and several specials in supply!

Going in, I was expecting one dimensional plots a la Saturday Morning Cartoons, where the heroes are simply there to be “Good Guys” and foil the “Bad Guys” evil plots. What I got INSTEAD was a very well thought-out series with an actual linear story to it, and characters and sub-plots that you actually care about!

Great detail and care is given to each member of the group (as well as the supporting cast i.e. villains, colleagues and classmates) and I found it particularly interesting that they paced their introductions into the story with such care that they didn’t become the five-member group until episode 18! And by that time, it goes without saying that you REALLY know the characters by heart!

I could go on and on about how great the actors and actresses are, but I feel special mention MUST be made for Miyu Sawaii who is ABSOLUTELY the ‘heart” of the show, and not just ‘cuz she’s the titular character. She’s got this infectious goofy charm about her that makes everyone around her smile, and when watching the interviews and commentaries that accompany the DVD set, you find that she has pretty much the same effect on everyone in real life as well! Every scene she’s in cracks me up!

Sure, there are some flaws to the show, but none that I really feel are worth mentioning, because at the end of the day, it’s all about if the show has entertained me or not, and in this regard, PRETTY GUARDIAN SAILOR MOON has succeeded completely!