Animisery – A Blog About Living Miserably with Anime (Among Other Things)

When I was younger, I used to love the Toonami block particularly the anime. I knew there was something innately different about the anime as the stories tied into each other and every episode was important to the next. They were fun to watch but also were essential to get the most out of the show. I’m waxing poetic but one of my favorites was actually Sailor Moon! I loved Sailor Moon for how colorful and adorable every character was yet I found myself keeping it within myself just how much I adored it. My classmates were also super stoked on Dragon Ball Z and Pokemon and the one time I had dared to mention Sailor Moon had me met with looks of apathy and concern for my elementary school masculinity. My dad even once turned it off while I watched it in the living room as, and this a paraphrase, “boys shouldn’t watch girl shows”. To circumvent my dad and the scrutiny of my friends, I watched Sailor Moon alone in my room on a smaller often malfunctioning TV professing to no one that I did so.

Anyways I eventually become older and got to have friends as an adult who didn’t care what I was interested in and finally got around to living the mahou shoujo life that was so cruelly denied me as a kid. It was phenomenal. I finally got to watch Sailor Moon with reckless abandon and other magical girl shows and, while I’m not as deep in the trenches as some other people i know, I’m pretty content with it all. Needless to say as the title of this blog post has spoiled, I went to the Sailor Moon The Super Live stage play that finally made its way to the US of A. I fought for these tickets too as the venue I went to, the Fox Theater in St. Louis, had tickets available on their website and were disappearing rapidly by the minute. I ALMOST got VIP tickets for me and my girlfriend but alas. Someone was swifter than I to input their credit card info. Regardless, I got close enough to the stage and it was outstanding!

I think that anime fans might have heard the term stage play but maybe haven’t gotten a chance to experience one. I was certainly part of that group as I watched anime such as Oshi no Ko which featured a stage play as a crucial element to the plot but didn’t exactly elaborate on what it was. I know plenty of my favorite anime have gotten the stage play treatment as well but I’ve just not had the chance to really understand what that is. As far as marketability goes, Sailor Moon was probably the safest bet to jump the ocean because I think the overlap of people who enjoy Sailor Moon also love it enough to see and engage with whatever they can of it. The Sailor Moon Super Live show was essentially a retelling of the first season of Sailor Moon with delightful musical numbers and even a mini concert on the end featuring the cast. I absolutely adore the choice of the Super Live to restrict the usage of cell phones for photography and recording as it really enforced that feeling of “oh I’m seeing an actual play now” when half the audience weren’t recording the entire session. I can’t say that I wouldn’t have held my phone up during the first appearance of Sailor V but I’d like to think I’m above it.

The stage play employed the outline of a lit up cityscape background of Tokyo that flashed during musical sequences and it really evoked the dreaminess of a pastel Tokyo that persisted in Sailor Moon. It always gave the feeling that the senshi were fighting in the midst of a lively Tokyo and was one of the first noticeable features of the set for me. It wouldn’t do well of me not to mention how talented the actual cast is! All of the performers on stage were brimming with hectic fun energy and really brought the play to live as they overindulged in their acting to give off the vibe of a real episode of Sailor Moon come to live. My personal highlight for my viewing were Sailor Venus, Tuxedo Mask, and Queen Beryl. I love Sailor Venus and her actress was so deep into the role giving off radiant confidence. Tuxedo Mask also proceeded to steal the show whenever they were on screen as the actress (it’s not uncommon for women to play all the roles in productions like this) had an absolutely hypnotic voice with a range that almost seduced me! I would’ve fallen for this version of Mamoru if I were Usagi for sure. Lastly, Queen Beryl’s sultry voice and certified banger of a music number were a huge highlight! I’d listen to her song on loop if I had access to it! That’s not to even say that the other members of the cast were not amazing (they were), these are just my personal highlights.

Overall, it was an absolute blast of a time. I had an amazing time and immediately wanted more as they rounded out their concert finale which included a performance of “Moonlight Densetsu” where you could use your camera. They even ended up running out into the grounds during a bridge in the song and if I almost dove out of my seat to get a high five courtesy of Sailor Jupiter. I adored this experience and St. Louis as a city was honestly very enjoyable as well! I’ve never been but I did the obvious tourist things such as seeing the Gateway Arch and going to a few museums including the City Museum which was a fun as hell playground experience. If you ever go, get knee pads. Trust me.

Yet I found myself feeling like I was closer to death when I went to the Super Live. There’s just something about seeing such obviously younger fans at a gathering like this that makes me aware of how old I am really getting. There were several kids cosplaying as characters and I heard so much brain rot at times as I waited in line. That’s not to say that I didn’t see people around me of my own age group (I’m not that old anyways) but it’s just the act of seeing something that was so quintessential to my childhood have heirs apparent that made me feel the years. I was once huddled in front of my small TV with the volume low in case my dad knew what Sailor Moon sounded like and now a generation ahead of me can just watch it was no restrictions. They’re not beheld to the time slots of Cartoon Network and they live in a world of greater kindness (for the most part as long as you don’t involve yourself with politics) where you can be who you want and enjoy Sailor Moon with less restrictions to your fragile social credit. It’s a better world to live in yet I found myself recalling those times on my way back home on that long drive. Some day I’ll perish but the things I loved will outlive me. Maybe there will be some little boy who adores Sailor Moon yet has a father like me who’s concerned that his son could be shifted by the media he consumes. That kid will watch it in secret and it’ll be no different than I was in my room all those years ago.

Regardless, Sailor Moon reminded me that I will die. I guess that’s kind of weird. The Super Live also reminded me to live though! There are all these things out there that can make me so happy and I need to go out and experience them with no hesitations and that’s what I’m going to do. I’m rewatching Sailor Moon and I’m wearing my Sailor Merch out in public and I am not confined to what people are supposed to expect out of me. The Super Live was an amazing show for a Sailor Moon fan and is apparently just a fun time regardless as my girlfriend has never seen a lick of it yet still had a great time. If it comes back, I’m definitely going to go see it again and hopefully with VIP tickets in hand this time!

If you went to go see the Sailor Moon The Super Live then tell me all about your experience! Did you want to go and just couldn’t? Do you have any Sailor Moon memories that you want to share? Let me know! I’d love to read from you! If you want to hear me talk anime then go check out my podcast, the Anime Brothers Podcast (episode 200 and beyond), wherever you get your shows! I’d love to have you. Thanks for reading this! I hope to see you soon!