R Movie (Promise of the Rose - English Dub)

Contiuing the theme of bonds in the second season, the film focuses on the bonds of love between Usagi and Mamoru, and friendships. Underneath these is the ever present theme of loneliness that led the senshi to Usagi, and Fiore (an alien child from Mamoru's past) to seek out his friend.

Possessed by a seductive alien flower come to drain the life-force from Earth, Fiore seeks the boy who befriended him so many years ago and return the gift given to him in kind. Jealous of Usagi's presence, Fiore faces the senshi and kidnaps Mamoru from Sailor Moon's arms. What results is a climatic battle on an asteroid headed for Earth, filled with floral and sacrificial imagery beautifully animated to reflect the hearts (loneliness, sorrow, longing, deep love) of all involved.

A movie not to be missed by fans, it features one of the best songs from the series, the rousing and sensual Moon Revenge. From the film one can see the foreshadowing of Ikuhara's next big animated project after Sailor Moon, Shoujo Kakumei Utena.

Fiore
flower (Italian)

Forget-Me-Not
Symbol of both true love and remembrance. Seen at end of opening credits, and after Mamoru's flashback to his childhood.

Gurishina
From the Japanese word gurishin, glycine.

Kanpanyura
Campanula, a bell-shaped flower.

Lotus
Primarily it is a death, then a rebirth symbol in this first movie. The Xenian flower is a symbol of death, destroying both the soul of the possessed and the world to which it is brought. At the film's end, Serenity's crystal becomes a lotus shape (a protective symbol, but also salvation since she is knowingly sacrificing her own life to use her full inner strength to save the lives of those with her). The flower Fiore gives Mamoru afterwards with his life-energy, is also a lotus (now a symbol of rebirth, since it holds the very power of life that is needed to restore Usagi).

Xenian
"The name 'xenian' refers to the term 'xenia.' In botany, any effect produced on the endosperm of an angiosperm by pollen from a plant having a different kind of endosperm is called 'xenia.' The word 'xenia' comes from the Greek word 'xenia' which means 'gifts of friendship,' and ultimately from the word 'xenos' which means 'strange.' Also, the term 'xenia' refers to quest-friendship. Barry B. Powell's 'Classical Myth' talks about the concept of 'xenia.' Above all, Zeus protected the custom called 'xenia,' which we can roughly translate as 'a formal institution of friendship.' Xenia enabled Greeks to travel safely to distant lands where other Greeks lived. A relationship was established when a wanderer was received into someone's household, entertained, and given a gift. Should the host one day visit the wanderer's home, he could expect to be received similarily. Obligations of reciprocal hospitality fell not on the individuals involved origianally, but also on their entire families and on their descendants. A host violated 'xenia' if he killed or robbed his guest, as did a guest who stole from his host or seduced his host's wife.'" This is quoted and sent from Ian Miller. And that serves as a pretty good summary of the story between Mamoru and Fiore.

S Movie (Hearts of Ice - English Dub)

Taken from the manga volume 11. The story revolves around the love triangle between Luna, Takeru (an astronomer and romantic), and his fiancee Himeko (an astronaut). She sees the Moon as part of her explorations, but has long abandoned childhood legends and beliefs about it. Takeru believes in the princess who resides on the Moon, Kaguya, and his convictions are only strengthened when a fragment of crystal falls to Earth and he begins to see a woman he's sure must be Kaguya. The love triangle is very sweet and Luna fans will enjoy the chance to see human Luna animated.

The Kaguya tale is the legend that Volume 11 and the second movie are based on.

Oozora Kakeru: oozora means sky or heavens; kakeru means to soar (definition comes from Alex Glover's translation of The Lover of Princess Kaguya)

Nayotake Himeko: hime means princess

Correlation to Takeuchi's tale: Kakeru finds Luna (who's of the Moon Kingdom), and takes her home to take care of her. Also, he is a little sad and lonely when he finds her, not unlike the bamboo cutter. And at the story's end Luna appears to him as a beautiful young maiden (she tells him she is Kaguya-hime) of the Moon, and says she must return there, but also that he must live to meet his real Princess Kaguya when she returns (meaning Himeko). Also, since the title is The Lover of Princess Kaguya, Kakeru could likely represent the young emperor from the fairy tale who falls in love with the princess, but is destined to part with her, just like Luna must part from him.

In dealing with Princess Snow Kaguya, Kakeru gives the name to the comet since it seems to come from the Moon. Also, later when he's feeling lonely, she appears to him from the crystal he had found and says she is the one he named Snow Kaguya and that she understands his feelings (again like the bamboo cutter finding the child when lonely).

One interesting point in Naoko's story is the appearance of Kaguya in three characters. This could be another manifestation of the triple moon or goddess image. Snow Kaguya as the villainess is the crone aspect. Luna, the maiden. Finally, Himeko is the mother aspect. Though not mentioned in the anime, in the manga Himeko is pregnant at the story's end. When she's watching the sunrise from space, she holds her stomach and wishes for the three of them to come to the Moon Kingdom one day (meaning herself, Kakeru, and their unborn child).

A note: In regards to the evil ice queen the senshi must fight in the story: In Chinese folklore, the goddess of ice inhabited the Moon as well. This could possibly be a basis for the villainess. Or she could be based on Yuki-Onna. The Snow Dancers are most likely based on the Japanese figure of Snow Spirits.

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon SuperS TV Special

The TV special that aired during the fourth season between episodes 131 and 132 consisted of three mini-stories:

An Elegant Transformation? Crybaby Usagi's Growth Record
This short was a recap of the happenings in the first three series of the show.

The Return of Haruka and Michiru, The Ghostly Puppet Show
This short was an original story concerning a possessed puppet. It was a short produced for all the Haruka and Michiru fans as they didn't appear in the fourth season (neither did Hotaru or Setsuna). At one point Haruka flirts with a maid and Michiru gets jealous, though the bond between them is shown to be strong in this story.

Chibi Usa's Adventure, The Dreaded Vampire Castle
Chibi Usa and her friends get a new mysterious girl in school who turns out to be a vampire. The senshi step in and help them defeat her.

Ami-chan no Hatsukoi

Ami-chan's First Love. This short which appeared in theaters was only 15 minutes long and taken from one of the Exam Battles in the original manga. Ami is studying hard but has a mysterious rival named Mercurious. Meanwhile, she's being targeted by an energy stealing spirit which she finally battles and believes is her rival. Really the rival was one of Umino's (the class nerd's) friends, but the gang decides not to tell Ami.

SuperS Movie (Black Dream Hole - English Dub)

The original title is: Sailor Moon SuperS Movie: The Nine Sailor Soldiers Unite! The Miracle of the Black Dream Hole

The film starts out very fantastical or like a children's story (a Pied Piper leading children from a village, fairies, candies and cookies, and soft colors). It's a story about childhood dreams and those dreams following into that time of life when one is passing out of childhood. To show this we have scenes such as Makoto talking about how the cuckoo reminds her of her mother baking her cookies (she's here now with her friends baking as a young woman), Usagi and Chibi Usa are both baking their cookies for Mamoru (Usagi actually does give hers to him, he is her true husband-to-be and the relationship is gradually moving closer to that time). Chibi Usa is another story. She comes upon a young boy in a suit happily peering into the window of a sweets shop. Taken with Chibi Usa he plays his flute for her and causes the cookies to dance. She is delighted and quickly forgets she was not only on her way to see Mamoru but to give him the cookies (he was her childhood fancy and crush, her little girl's love for her father). She instead gives the bag of cookies as a present to her new friend. The two meet again when the senshi are forced to fight against the fairies working for Badiane who are stealing sleeping children, and while much of the movie is taken up with the journey to Marzipan Castle (where Badiane is) and the battle with her, the movie shouldn't be taken as being strictly about this.

The Nutcracker is a story set among childhood dreams and fancies over the period of a night spent in a waking dream. It is more importantly the story of a young girl passing during that night from her girlhood into her womanhood. This is important because there are parallels and references in this film to the Nutcracker and similar children's stories such as the Pied Piper. The story is Chibi Usa's and her waking dream from childhood fancies and love to a love that is her own, a glimpse into something more by her feelings for the young fairy. This movie takes place after the fourth season and is separate from the TV series. It shouldn't be forgotten this was the main theme of the fourth season, Chibi Usa's time of reaching puberty and finding her new love in Helios. The two periods represent themselves first in the innocent friendship with him as the Pegasus and then into the transforming love for him as the young priest of Elysian. The parallel is here with her love for a fairy (a childhood figure), but seeing him as a suited young boy on the sidewalk who wakes feelings of love and represents that time for a child where they are between two places in their life, and ultimately the one will be left behind and remembered like a dream as they pass into adulthood.

Badiane
The evil queen. Her name comes from the plant badiane or star anis. The fruit is used in Chinese cooking. Its scent is said to be very attractive and sweet. It has an eight-pointed star shape, which explains the shape on the queen's forehead and staff. It is also used as a sedative and is sleep inducing, which fits in with the theme of sleep in the SuperS film (from John Pollard).

Badiane seals the children within "coffins of dreams," in which they remain in a death-like sleep feeding their Sugar Energy in their dreams to the Black Dream Hole.

Black Dream Hole
Black holes are possibly caused by a star's collapse. They are an area in space where gravitional pulls are so great that even light can't escape.

Fairies
Nature spirits. Fairies in folklore vary in size and appearance, but many are said to be beautiful, some with delicate wings, and resemble small humans. They have a reputation for rewarding those they favor or causing mischief for others. In England they were said to possess magic and have the ability to shape shift or turn invisible. In Ireland the fairies were said to come from fallen angels.

3 o'clock Fairies: The children sing about them in the opening of the third film as they are being lead to Poupelin's gondola. Makoto talks about them. She tells everyone the story that at 3 o'clock her mother would bake her cookies or snacks because the three o'clock fairy told mothers to at that time; Makoto used to think the three o'clock fairy was the cuckoo bird in the clock that popped out at 3:00.

Cuckoo Fairies: Both Banane (whose name is French for banana) and Orangeat (whose name is French for candied orange peels-from Ian Miller) are cuckoo fairies. When their flutes are destroyed they turn into orange and red cuckoo birds respectively, they make the "cuckoo" call too when they transform back.

Hummingbird Fairies: Both Perle (French for pearl) and Poupelin (from French pastry-Ian Miller) are hummingbird fairies. When Poupelin's flute is destroyed he turns into a blue hummingbird. Perle says at the end of himself that he protects Sugar Energy that grows inside children's dreams.

At the opening of the movie and later, Poupelin lures the children ala Pied Piper with the music of his flute. Each of the four fairies all use magic through the playing of their flute and they retain their human-children-like form only as long as their flute exists. For information on magic flutes see Flute under Magical Objects in the Encyclopedia.

Marzipan Castle
Marzipan is an almond paste shaped into figures of animals or other things, and sold in pastry or candy shops, and used in cakes and candies. Marzipan Castle is also the home of the Nutcracker in E.T.A. Hoffmann's story The Nutcracker. He travels with Marie through a land of sweets, sugars, and pastiries (when they arrive at the Castle, little men are on a scaffold constructed of cinnamon sticks fixing the tower).

Papillote
En papillote. Means that the food is wrapped in foil or paper. This was the attack phrase the fairies used to launch the wrapped candy pieces that had the Bon Bon Babies inside, Bon bons are a french candy.