A Note On Reoccurring Theme's In The Anime
By: Brian Bork, Owner of Ginzuishou Plus!
One thing I've always enjoyed about the anime is the use of re-occurring theme's which have to do with an audio visual nature as well as the organized approach to episode formatting. I find that each anime season follows a specific criteria when broken down and analyzed. The following is a list of those themes that I wish to express in word form :).
Colour Coded
The Sounds of Symbols
Villains away!
Episode Organization
That's about it for the moment, if I can think of more I'll add them later. I love the patterns of this show! ^_^
Pocket_Demon's Comments: No comment. I just thought it was a good article to request to post.
This is one of my favorite themes. Each senshi has their own sound that correlates with their planetary symbol. It's best heard during their henshin sequences when they hit their final posses. You'll also notice that Sailormoon's "sound" is the same sound that chimes when she uses her ginzuishou. Their sounds also play at other times like when the senshi combine their powers to help Sailormoon. Also after the three outer senshi (Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto) finish their unified introduction speech that includes their guardian deity phrases, you'll hear one of the three's "sound". To me, the outer senshi have the most unique ones. Next time you watch your fan subs, listen closely for their senshi sounds, it's something you might not have noticed before :).
I like the series system for introducing their villains. For the most part, they introduce them on or two at a time depending on the season. In turn, each villain usually has a certain amount of episodes which he or she has influence over until he or she is terminated by the next villain. It seems that it's better when they introduce villains in pairs or more because the interaction they have is usually funny or at least cool to watch (Crow and Siren, Zoicite and Nephrite, the Amazon Trio). I also like how each villain grouping has their own super boss like Death Phantom, Pharaoh 90, or Galaxia/Chaos.
Each season seems to organize their episodes in a similar fashion as well. The first few episodes are an introduction to the basic plot line as well as the début of the villains and what their mission is. During this time, a new power or henshin could be given to Sailormoon while the other senshi have to wait a bit longer for theirs. Filler episodes follow which usually include comedic situations. The fillers stop when a new villain is introduced because they usually take this opportunity to develop the plot more and throw in some good drama content. Then the other senshi might begin to get their new powers and transformations, it always goes Mercury first, Mars second, and Jupiter with Venus last. For some reason, the animators like to clump those two together when they get new powers. Once the new power episodes are done, they move on to a few more fillers than another villain dies and more drama insures. During the midpoint of the series, a plot twist is usually thrown in which adds a new dimension to how the characters interact (Senshi discover other Senshi's identities, villains find out too sometimes and so on). By now filler episodes are starting to give way to more plot oriented ones, a climax situation is building. Then a clincher episode plays which is a lead into for the concluding episodes of the season. These concluding episodes are drama based for the most part and can run through 6 or more episodes. Some of the seasons have situational episodes that run for a period of time like the Nijizuishou "series" or the adjustment episodes after the Starlight's and the Inner Senshi discover each others identities.