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Sailor Moon DVDPretty Soldier Sailor Moon Vol.4
CoverThe front cover features a very well drawn image of Sailor Moon with her moon kitty companion, Luna against a white backdrop. The Japanese logo for the series is placed on the bottom while the words "Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon" are displayed in a circular design behind the main character. Overall it's designed very well and looks great. The rear cover is rather jammed but this is rather normal with Japanese releases. Basic info on each episode is listed as well as the usual DVD stats.
The MenusThe DVD menu loads very fast and is super easy to navigate (even if you can't read Japanese) but there is one rather big flaw,  the main menu is really badly designed. With all of the still images of Sailor Moon available I have no idea why they decided to crop an image from the opening credits. Not only is the choice of image rather random but it's also edited extremely unprofessionally. It almost looks as if the "designer" had never used Photoshop before and simply used the feather tool to crop the image in 2 minutes.
From my experience Japanese DVDs usually have much blander designs than their Western counterparts but the creation of this menu just looks lazy which is The Chapter Select menu looks a bit better though with some nice (though at times random) music playing and small touches such as the different flower borders that adds to it's value. It is a little jarring though how different the main and chapter menus are in style. Kudos to the production team though for cutting the episode up into so many parts. Hard core fans who want to watch certain scenes will definitely enjoy this feature.
The Special FeaturesUnfortunately as is keeping with Japanese DVD releases the special features are pretty bare-bones. We do though get creditless versions (strangely called "Non-Super") of the first opening and closing credits which most fans will appreciate as well as 15 second teasers for each episode.
The EpisodesThe episodes are what these DVDs are about and Moonies will be very pleased with what we have here. All the episodes have been digitally re-mastered and the image quality is the best it's ever been (Check out my screencap comparison here to see just how big the difference is). The sound while still in it's original Mono has also been cleaned up considerably and sounds great. All the episodes are  in their original uncut Japanese audio form and while there are no subtitle options for English speakers, most Sailor Moon fans shouldn't have too much of an issue understanding the plot.
This disk without a doubt is mostly made up of "fillers" until Sailor Venus arrives (on the next disk) though that doesn't necessarily mean they're bad.The first episode focuses a bit on the mystery of Tuxedo Mask and his dynamic with the Sailors. The next one though really stands out and I think for many is on of the memorable "Monster of the Day Episodes" in the first season. It focuses on two animators almost exclusively and shows how their friendship is tested when the Dark Kingdom gets involved. The following episode is a classic based on an arc in the Sailor Moon Manga. It features some great Moon Kingdom dream sequences and the first non-consentual kiss between Mamoru and Usagi. The final two episodes are a perfect example of how awesome and moving anime only storylines can be as Naru (Molly) and Nephrite's (Nephlite's) relationship comes to a head with tragic results for everyone involved. These final two episodes make the disk worth buying on their own.
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