This is Act 1 of manga that started the "Sailor Moon" phenomenon. The story progresses much more quickly in the manga than in the anime. Any notes that I make based on the text will be in this colour; these notes are just for clarification and speculation. Enjoy!
While running to school, Bunny steps on something. She realizes that is was a small black cat, with a bandage on its head. She apologizes to the cat and kisses it (because it’s so cute). The cat has a fit, and scratches Bunny all over her face. Bunny then takes off the bandage. She notices that the cat has a crescent moon on its forehead. The bell rings, and Bunny runs to school, but still ends up being late.
Miss Haruna, her teacher, yells at Bunny for being late, and afterwards, Bunny begins eating her lunch in class because she missed breakfast. She introduces Miss Haruna. "This is my homeroom teacher, Miss Patricia Haruna. Everyone just calls her Miss H."
Miss H then hands back a quiz that the class had taken. Bunny gets a 30, and is embarrassed. A boy with spiral glasses brags that he didn't study, but still got a 95. Bunny introduces the boy. "Here’s our class nerd, Melvin. He’s gross." Another girl with short wavy hair and a bow at the back of her head comes up to Bunny. She got an 85, and the girl says Bunny is just like a guy, always eating. Bunny introduces the girl, "This is my best friend, Molly. Molly’s pretty and smart. And from a good family."
Later, at lunchtime, Bunny, Molly and their friends eat lunch while talking about Sailor V. Melvin comes in and then tells the girls how Sailor V managed to stop thieves from robbing a jewelry store. Bunny then gets the idea to ask Molly if her friends can visit her mother’s jewelry store after school.
After school, they arrive at Molly’s mother’s store, the OSAP jewellery store. It's crowded with many women, and Molly's mother is announcing a big sale with a megaphone. Secretly, Molly's mother thinks, "Give me all your energy. I need more. MORE!!"
Bunny eyes some jewelry, but then realizes that her daddy will never buy it for her because of her lousy grades. She takes out her quiz, and then leaves the store. She then bunches up the quiz and throws it over her shoulder. The quiz hits a man in a tuxedo with dark hair and sunglasses on, right in his face. He says to Bunny, "Thanks a lot, Cow-tails. Right in my face. Try a wastebasket next time." Bunny gets angry at him. "These are not ‘cow-tails’, they’re called ‘pig-tails’, stupid. PIG-TAILS!" [Note : In the original manga, Usagi was called "odango atama", meaning dumpling head. An odango is a round dumpling, popular in Japan]. The man then looks at Bunny’s test, seeing her mark of 30. "30?" he says. "Who’s calling who stupid, Pig-tails," and then throws the quiz back in Bunny’s face. Bunny storms off.
Alone, the man then spots the jewelry store. "Hmm...a rather large jewelry store. Maybe I can find it here...the SILVER IMPERIUM CRYSTAL," he says.
Bunny, on her way home, passes an arcade. She sees a poster for the new Sailor V game, and goes inside to play it. The arcade guy comes in, and talks to Bunny. She introduces him, while grinning like a fool. "Heh-heh. This guy works at the arcade. He’s nice. Cute, too. I guess I like him a little."
While still playing the Sailor V game, Bunny hears a ‘meow’ and sees the black cat from the morning. The arcade guy tells Bunny that the cat has been hanging around the arcade for the past few days. Bunny begins to laugh at the cat. "Ha, ha, ha...Look! He’s got a crescent moon BALD SPOT!" The cat stares very hard at Bunny, who is a little freaked out by it.
Bunny then returns home, and is met by her mother. Bunny’s mom then questions Bunny about her quiz, saying that Melvin had earned a 95. Bunny gets angry at Melvin. "MELVIN! That jerk blabbed!" she mutters. Bunny shows her quiz to her mother, who gets very angry with her and kicks her out of the house. Her brother comes in and this time literally kicks Bunny. He says "Nice going, Bunny. Now you’ve got Mom all ticked off again. Some role model you are!" Bunny retorts "Some little brother you are, Sammy!" Bunny then does a "SAILOR V KICK" aiming for Sammy, but ends up hitting the closed door. She makes a racket, crying very loudly, and then her mom finally lets her back in the house.
Back at the OSAP jewelry store, a man in a top hat, tuxedo, and a face mask steps into the store. The monster that pretended to be Molly’s mother is pleased by how much energy she has gathered. "Selling this special gem was brilliant - with its energy-sapping powers." Molly comes into the room. "Mom?" she asks. Her mother turns and grins evilly at Molly.
At Bunny’s house, Bunny goes to her room. Deciding not to do her homework, she lies down on her bed for a nap. She dreams that she is Sailor V (in a really cute costume, but with her own hair). She fights off some evil monsters, and then saves the arcade guy and the black kitty. "I saved the cat’s life. That crescent-moon bald-spotted cat," she thinks, still dreaming. Then Bunny receives a huge scratch on her face, waking her up.
Bunny sees the black cat on her bed. "It’s not a bald-spot. What a rude thing to say," says the cat. Bunny is extremely shocked that the cat can talk. "This cat talks?!" she thinks. The cat continues to speak. "I’ve been searching for you, Bunny. My name is Luna. Thanks for removing the band-aid. With that thing on, I couldn’t talk or investigate. There are so many punk kids in this area - it’s been horrible. I’m glad I found you. I was becoming concerned that I wouldn’t."Bunny, still in shock, goes back to bed, pretending that she’s still dreaming. Luna tells her it’s not a dream, and then gives Bunny a beautiful brooch. Bunny is intrigued by the brooch. Luna, meanwhile, is telling Bunny about her role. Luna says, "You’ve noticed all the strange events lately? On the news and in the papers... unsolved crimes. You see...You are the chosen warrior. It’s your mission, Bunny. You must find your team and defeat the enemy! Then we will search for our queen..."
The brooch begins to glow. "Luna! The brooch is glowing!" Bunny says. Luna says "You still don’t believe what I’m saying? Yell out ‘MOON PRISM POWER! MAKE UP!’"
Bunny yells out the words, and transforms into a sailor suit. She has a face mask (sort of like Tuxedo Mask’s, but bigger, and you can see her eyes through the mask). Bunny is shocked, but then hears cries for help from those red things on her buns (I don’t know what to call them) and sees Molly being strangled by a monster through her face mask. Bunny says "Luna! I don’t get any of this, but Molly’s in trouble!" Bunny runs off to save Molly.
At the jewelry store, Molly is being attacked by the monster. The monster says "I’m not your mother, little girl! Your mother’s tied up in the basement." A scene is shown where Molly’s real mother is tied up in the basement, still alive. Meanwhile, the man in the tuxedo and top hat is watching the scene.
All of a sudden, Bunny bursts into the room, telling the monster to let go of Molly. The monster says "And who are you?" Bunny says "A Champion of Justice and Defender Against Evil! Sailor Moon!" The monster then calls up all the women who are wearing the jewelry that she had sold. The women attack Sailor Moon, who gets hurt. Sailor Moon realizes that this isn’t a dream, after all. Luna jumps on Sailor Moon and tells her to fight. However, Sailor Moon is terrified and begins to cry. Those red things on her buns amplify her cries, and the women and monster are repelled (just like the first episode in the anime). The man in the tuxedo and top hat says "Don’t cry, Sailor Moon! Now’s your chance."
Luna tells Bunny to use her tiara to destroy the enemy. Sailor Moon takes off her tiara, and throws it at the enemy, yelling "Moon Frisbee!" The monster is sliced in half and is destroyed. Sailor Moon is shocked that she actually killed the monster.
The man in the tuxedo jumps into the air. "My name is Tuxedo Mask. I won’t forget you, Sailor Moon," he says, and leaves. Bunny immediately falls in love with him. Luna congratulates Sailor Moon, but she isn’t paying attention. Instead, she has hearts in her eyes, and is thinking about Tuxedo Mask. The women and Molly return to normal, and nobody remembers anything. Luna yanks Sailor Moon home.
From a crystal ball, a man with short, light coloured hair (Jadeite) watches the scene. "Sailor Moon...not a bad showing at all. Looks like I must hurry up. The SILVER IMPERIUM CRYSTAL has become indispensable.
The next day, Molly is telling her friends how "Sailor V’s partner" came and rescued her. Her friends tell her it was only a dream. Bunny is listening from afar, with Luna on her shoulder, and seems a little angry and exasperated. Luna says "Bunny, what’s wrong?" Bunny sighs, "It seems that it wasn’t a dream." Luna grins and winks.
Notes from Naoko
Exclusive MixxZine interview with "Sailor Moon" creator Naoko Takeuchi!end of Notes from Naoko
| Act 1 | Act 2 | Act 3 | Act 4 | Act 5 | Act 6 | Act 7 | Act 8 | Act 9 | Act 10 | Act 11a | Act 11b | Act 12 |
