Transformation" is a new story inserted into the story - What happened in "Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon R the Movie"? Nostalgic Anime Retrospective No. 88

The first part of "RE:cycle of the PENGUINDRUM," the movie version of "Mawaru Pingu Drum," will be released next month. Director Kunihiko Ikuhara's most famous work is the "Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon" series. Director Ikuhara's theatrical animation debut was also "Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon R the Movie" (1993).

Sailor Senshi (Sailor Senshi) shedding tears from the same angle and in the same order.

Sailor Moon R the Movie" is an extra story in which Fiore, a boyhood friend of Mamoru Chiba, the boyfriend of the main character, Usagi Tsukino, appears as a villain.
Fiore attempts to send an asteroid down to earth, but Usagi, transformed into Sailor Moon, uses the power of the silver crystal in her chest to stop it. The other four Sailor Soldiers join her, but everyone may notice that their emotional portrayals are extremely stylized.

As the Sailor Senshi watch Usagi (Sailor Moon) being hurt by Fiore, a scene is inserted in which each of them was troubled in the past by classmates talking behind their backs. Ami Mizuno (Sailor Mercury), Makoto Kino (Sailor Jupiter), Minako Aino (Sailor Venus), and Rei Hino (Sailor Mars), in that order. During the time these women were reminiscing, Sailor Moon would have been tormented by Fiore the entire time.
After recovering from the damage inflicted by Fiore, Sailor Moon releases the power of the Silver Crystal to stop the asteroid. Behind the determined Sailor Moon, the Sailor Senshi link their hands together to support her. The warriors recall conversations they have had with Usagi in the past. Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus, in that order, for approximately 8-10 seconds each. The camera moves closer to their faces, the focus blurs to a reminiscence scene (always a single cut), then blurs again to a close-up of their faces, and then, poof, the tears dissipate.
The four people take turns reminiscing about the past, and all four scatter tears at the same time - it's not realistic, but it's a good thing. Although lacking in reality, this is the most efficient way to depict the personalities and emotions of the four, and it seems to match the style of the film. This is because the stylized recollection scene at the climax of the film was probably inspired by the transformation scenes that are common in hero stories.

The patterned transformation scene makes the emotional differences stand out.

In the first half of the film, people in the town where Usagi and her friends live are attacked like zombies, losing their souls. The Sailor Senshi transform and defeat the demons (enemy characters like the monsters in this film) who are controlling the people, but once they are defeated, they find themselves in a pinch. Let's take a closer look.
The demons capture Ami and Rei in their hands before they transform and suck their energy. To save Ami and Rei, Minako first transforms into Sailor Venus. The background becomes an abstract pattern of stars and lights, and she has 24 seconds to strike a pose to end the transformation. Next, Makoto transforms into Sailor Jupiter. The effects have been replaced with a lightning bolt of transmitted light, but the background still looks like an alien space. It takes 19 seconds for Makoto to strike a pose. This means that Ami and Rei were still sucking energy for a total of 43 seconds during the transformation scene.

Thereafter, it takes 19 seconds for Rei to transform into Sailor Mars and 17 seconds for Ami to transform into Sailor Mercury. The camera work is common, starting with a close-up of a hand, then grabbing a stick for the transformation (since the transformation goods are marketed to children, it is probably necessary to show the product to the audience for as long as possible).
And because the images are patterned in a commercial-like manner, the icons differentiated for each character, such as water and flames, stand out. The stylized recollection scene at the climax of the film may have the same structure as the transformation scene. The same cutting and the same direction are repeated in exactly the same way, which means that the differences in the emotions of each character can be expressed in a short number of seconds.

Only Chibi-Usa witnessed the back view of her transformation into Sailor Moon.

The transformation of Usagi, the main character, into Sailor Moon takes a total of 47 seconds. Perhaps because she uses a new transformation item that was introduced in the fifth episode of the TV version, it takes longer than the other members.
However, Usagi has collapsed in a restaurant in town because she saved "Chibi-Usa," a character who cannot transform. As he transforms from that state, Usagi turns his back to the audience when he poses by saying the password "Moon Crystal Power .......
Not only that, the transformation process is interrupted when Chibi-Usa stops Usagi as she is about to transform. Chibi-Usa cheers, "Thanks for saving me. Good luck," he cheers. From there, a new transformation scene begins. Usagi's background is not the usual abstract background painting, but the restaurant where she had fallen.
In other words, another time axis, the "transformation scene," is interrupted by the time axis of the story. Only Chibiusa, who is always nearby watching the battle, knows this structure. No matter how many tens of seconds it takes for the transformation, it does not erode the time of the story. The transformation and reminiscence scenes, which begin anew and are completed in only a few dozen seconds, may actually be an attempt to depict a subjective concept such as "the significance of the event. When Usagi struck the transformation pose with her back to the background of everyday life, I felt that I caught a glimpse of a cross section of expression that was more puzzling than "I want to sell makeover goods" by the people involved. It was as if a story from another dimension and a story from another dimension unintentionally collided with each other.

(Text by Keisuke Hirota)