Pretty Guardian

Sailor Moon

Kirari Super Live

Buy from Amazon.jp

A perfect blend of live action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon and the Sailor Moon musicals.

Cover: Being a special release this DVD features a different design than the DVDs of the main series with the use of bright rainbow spotlight colours as well as all five main Sailor Soldiers front and centre in full body poses. As an added bonus, the case itself is a bright pink plastic, helping it really stand apart from the other DVDs which, with the exception of the Special Act and Act Zero DVDs which have white cases, feature regular clear plastic designs.

The Menus: The menus on the disk are also of a different design, departing from the solo character focus of the main series and instead using the same group shot shown on the cover. Also instead of the animated stars against a silent menu on the other disks here we get a nice slow, piano version of the theme song, Kirari Sailor Dream.

Another difference is the placement of the special features (two this time!) being placed in their own submenu and the option for karaoke subtitles in a similar vein to the Sailor Moon musical DVDs that let you sing along with the cast for each song.
As with the Sailor Moon musical DVDs the subtitles are in Japanese and while they mainly focus on the easy Hiragana and Katakana, several songs use quite a bit of Kanji (the complex Chinese characters) that will really test your Japanese knowledge. For some it will be hard but, it's also a very fun way to practice your reading speed if you're studying the language.

Of particular coolness is the use of Chapter Select which has not only cut the chapters up depending on story point but also into separate chapters for each song so you can literally skip to your favourite song with the push (or several pushes) of a button.

The Chapter Select menus are well designed, maintaining the fresh look of the main menu while using screenshots of the performance for the actual chapter buttons as well as the surrounding graphics. All the menus are very fast loading and easy to navigate.

The Special Features: Out of all the live action Sailor Moon DVDs, Kirari Super Live definitely has the most revealing, interesting and entertaining special features. For the first time we get a candid and very genuine look at the cast behind the scenes on the day before and day of the performance. It's great actually seeing all the girls and boys being themselves with some genuine laughs (Keiko [Mars] and Ayaka's [Venus] Japanese idol impersonations being a highlight) and insight given.

The Special Features are split up into two twenty minute specials. The first one giving us our behind the scenes look at the entire cast and crew with the second dedicated solely to the male cast members who seem to relish the chance to finally express their feelings on the show, their own roles and experiences working with each other and the five main girls.

Each of the five guys really gets to shine in this special and it's fascinating just how different they are from their on screen personas. A must see.

The Show: The Kirari Super Live is a completely high energy entertaining experience which mixes the story and plot of the series with the performance and theatricals of the Sailor Moon musicals surprisingly well.

As the show starts, it's obvious that the five main girls are a bit nervous due to it being their first live stage performance but as the show progresses they rapidly becoming more comfortable and by the midway point are enjoying every moment on stage.

The highlight though, ironically is not the Sailor Soldiers but Tuxedo Mask and the four generals who take complete advantage of their roles interacting with the audience and make one think that they are in fact the stars of the show. In retrospect I wonder if the producers saw their superior acting and theatrical presence and expanded their roles to suit.
While the girls' audience interaction come across as shallow and cliché, the mens' offer genuine laughs and improvisations such as Nephrite refusing to follow Kunzite's orders and Kunzite's commands concerning what to do with a girl in the audience who wont stop crying.

Another great bonus is the guest appearance of Sae who originally turned a "Who the Hell are you?" moment into a "Wow, cool!" moment.

Fans of the Sailor Moon musicals especially will get a kick out of the fight scenes and group song finale, both heavily inspired by the musicals. Tuxedo Mask's fight scene and the show's opening narration in particular being direct homages.

The show also has an interesting Sailor Moon anime and manga feel to it as well due to it's storyline and flow.

Kirari Super Live is a great celebration of Sailor Moon that successfully blends aspects of every version of Sailor Moon into one entertaining show that still stands up on repeat viewings.

Highly recommended for live action and musical fans as well as Sailor Moon anime and manga fans who are after something a little different.

Live action Sailor Moon fans should get the DVD just for the special features alone.

5 Stars.

Buy from Amazon.jp

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