This is for all of you who say that the Japanese version is soooo much better than the dub.

Here is the summary I wrote of a random episode, episode 114, fansubbed. I wrote this as I watched. This episode was on my computer and it had been the last subtitled one I watched for a year or so. Now, watching my first subbed episode in a long time, I wonder how anyone can stand this for a minute, let alone the five minutes I had to spend watching the thing (I skipped to a random middle part)!

Um, if you are really worried about this episode being spoiled, don't read this. I don't know if it'd really spoil the episode or what since I didn't even summarise the whole thing, but oh well...

I made a point not to edit this after writing it, so this is a true account of what I felt while I was actually watching the show. (Okay, so I was too lazy to edit, big deal...)

Episode Intro:

Well, it starts out with a sqeaky voice, presumably Serena's. (oops, Usagi's... Oh no, I have just commited the most awful sin of Sailor Moon fandom... Gasp!)

"What is your name? What is your dream?" the voice sqeaks. Well, that *is* a nice, poetic way to begin a conversation...

"It might be difficult, but with persistence and a strong will, your dream will come true!" Come on, we're trying to watch a mindless cartoon here... If we wanted corny clichéd morals we'd watch Cinderella. The scenes show what's-her-name with the red hair (not Molly, that evil girl from Witches # or whatever) twirling in front of a cheering crowd, then facing off against Venus... Yay, I SO can't wait to see *this* episode, I *wonder* what it'll be about?

Red-hair is now twirling with a sparkly stick. What else is new? The caption reads "Say good-bye to the bad girl and always be a good girl." I'm not kidding. Boy the Japanese have a talent for meaningless dialogue.

Now, Venus is in a striped bathing suit, stretching her arms up to show off her large breasts, with a "oh-I'm-so-innocent-and-surprised" look on her face. Meanwhile, the caption says "Mimet, you will be tomorrow's star!" So that's red-haired what's-her-name. Mimet. Again, entirely pointless dialogue. I know Mimet doesn't become a star 'cause I've seen the episode. The dub at least can string several sentences together to form an idea, as opposed to putting random sentences one after another...

Now (still on the caption "Mimet you will be tomorrow's star"), we see Serena's (I will NOT say Usagi!) doing her trademark little hand signs in front of the moon. Of course, usually it says something pleasant like "I will punish you," but this time they've dubbed in the words mentioned above. Of course, since their mouths just go up-and-down with no real shape, they can make her say anything without changing the animation. That's why anime is so cheap (err... "cost-effective")

Theme Song:

Whooooo! The theme song, the famous "Japanese" them song which is "way better" than the English version... Well, there are two long-legged girls who appear to be wearing NO skirts, standing on top of posts in the dark. Of course, they're just wearing short skirts, but seen from a most indecent angle. (fron underneath...) There are... get this... church bells in the background. There's some sort of creepy hissing that, who would have guessed, is vaguely reminiscent of the noise *sparkles* would make...

Oop, now we see that there are several girls on big posts... the scouts, of course... Scouts *always* like standing on posts in the middle of the night. And who is that on the highest, middle post, in front of the moon (which is, as usual, in some sort of perma-eclipsed state)? Gee, Sailor Moon? Meanwhile, pink petals fly around.

Whoa! Sudden zoom in on Serena's face! Talk about startling! The music suddenly picks up the pace, and morphs into the regular them song...

We see some big tall thing which looks like an aztec pyramid. The stairs suddenly light up. Don't ask. The moon in the background looks like the moon in the previous scene. They must've just photocopied it or something to stick here. Now a big beam of that light shoots into the sky. It seems to be daylight suddenly. Red stuff flies up, and in the middle of the red stuff is Sailor Moon!

She flies into the air, we get another oh-so-pleasant close up. Then suddenly all the other scouts come from the side of the screen... Appearing out of nowhere. Now, they're flying and suddenly it's night again. Zoom out. The moon is still in perma-eclipse, but it's different than in the previous two scenes. Must've paid the animators overtime for this one. Now, the semi-transparent Sm logo flutters around the screen, before solidifying. HOT PINK Japanese words appear on top of it, which say "Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon," with a big fancy S for "Super."

Whoo, the song has started! Bubbles everywhere... I won't go into the animation here, but let's examine this oh-so-great JAPANESE theme song... During this song, the animation is typical Scouts-looking-sad and scouts-flying-around and such.

These two images fly by really quickly at some point so that they can corrupt the children and excite the old men without parents complaining.

I am totally sick of watching this. But anyways, now you see a JAPANESE episode of Sailor Moon. Oh, it's SO absolutely fantabulous! Aren't us "dubbies" or whatever really missing something or what?

I might do another episode or another part of this one, if my point hasn't come across. Then again, I might not.