You may have seen me either interact with the fans of the franchise or post stuff about said franchise, but you may be wondering if I'd ever review any merchandise at all? Well, in short, Sailor Moon is one of those shows that I kind of have a soft spot for because of how amusing it was to see the Says clips that were sadly taken down by YouTube/Toei. If anything, it later encouraged me to see the rest of the series and better understand what makes it a favorite amongst the fans, and sure enough, I enjoyed my viewings so far! While media like Transformers, Power Rangers, comic books, and Star Wars would be the main juggernauts, Sailor Moon has been one of the few anime that I liked watching because the characters were great overall and are not as flat or forgettable compared to the modern stuff people make. Amusingly, back in April, I thought of just checking out the Figuart of the titular character herself after being intrigued by the series more and more and thought of her as a one-shot purchase to go along with the other one-shot figures I own. Anyways, here's a review of 5 of the currently available Animation Color releases.
Let's first cover Sailor Moon herself. Whether you call her Usagi, Serena, Bunny, or whatever name she was given, this figure looks pretty adorable. The figure's pretty faithful to the character design in the show, and I have to commend them for trying to make the anatomy as natural to the anime as possible while using all of the joints for articulation. I believe that the figure has been used with paint all throughout the toy to make it as consistent as possible, which is something that we've seen mainline toys not do as well as Figuarts. If I can guess accurately, the white part of the suit as well as the short sleeves and gloves are painted white for color correcting while the blue skirt and collar pieces are blue plastic. The bows on the chest and lower back may be painted red to match with the elbow guards, but the boots are red plastic. You can tell because of the sheen they have compared to the aforementioned red parts of her uniform. Her hair may be clear plastic now painted yellow to go with the color correcting matters (they have a bit of subtle sculpting to add a bit of implication that it looks like hair without making it too realistic). Her upper arms and most of her legs have been kept in their natural skin tone, which has a bit of a different feel for the surface compared to the rest of the figure. I think the exposed skin is also painted for color correcting if they're anything to go by when put next to the joints, yet below the neck, the exposed skin is painted in a shade that isn't 1:1 with her face, upper arms, and thighs. Suffice to say, this figure is nicely done and looks quite accurate to the anime (they even have her Season 1 brooch on her bow painted nicely as well as make her choker look accurate).
Head sculpt is adorable as hell, with big, blue eyes, a small smile, and a cute facial expression that fits her character quite well. Her hair is noticeably thicker in appearance than her 2D anime self, but that's how it is for a three-dimensional plastic toy. Her odongos (or spaghetti meatballs if you wanna reference the 90s dub) appear to be slightly sculpted on the buns of her hair, and they have red metallic paint with a surrounding circle of white paint. I guess if you wanted to make a custom version of a civilian Serenagi, just paint over them. Oh, and she has her tiara on her forehead with gold paint and a red jewel as well as earrings underneath her ears. Now normally, I would go over the articulation immediately after commenting on her face sculpt, but I have to go over the accessories of the figure, which is quite a lot: three alternate faces (one yelling, one angry, one crying), a right fist for holding the Moon Stick/Crescent Moon Wand as well as the item itself, a pair of fists, a V-sign right hand, a horns-sign left hand, a pointing right hand, and a half-open left hand. Tagging along the set is also a Luna figurine.
Now this will be pretty lengthy overall, but her articulation consists of a head joint that can look left and right, another meant for looking up and down, another for head-tilting motion, ball-jointed ponytails, shoulders that can move front and back on ball joints, in and out on shoulders, there are swivels within the short sleeves of the figure, deep elbow bends that don't rely on double-joints a la Marvel Legends, and the hands can hinge up and down but you can also swivel the base of the forearm so they can hinge in and out. There is a diaphragm joint and a slight ab-crunch joint that is hindered by her skirt, but the legs can move front and back, in and out (which does require adjusting the skirt and/or pulling on the hip joints), tightly swivel at the thighs, bend at the knees, and the feet can swivel below the boots before having a pivot for the ankles and a hinge. With the alternate hands, I can pose her doing her complete transformation stance, her famous "I'll punish you" pose, and her using the Moon Wand as she restores an enemy in Season 1. I also have her stand handy, which is has the heart symbol and has 6 points of articulation.
As you saw above, the stand may have the tampographs in a spot where the heart is on the right side up, but the figure stands better when the stand is the wrong way, which is a weird design choice if you ask me. And yes, you can pose her with a crying face. Now, I have owned action figures with people having either stern or smiling faces, or ones that are yelling like Wolverine, but never have I owned an action figure that has a crying face, and I can definitely say that if I had a list of achievements that this site would have, Sailor Moon would be honored as the first figure on the site to come with an optional crying face. Oh and we also have Luna, who is only articulated at the head and tail. The figure doesn't really have much else to do other than be Luna, and I appreciate that she has a dark purple appearance (which is closer to black than Siege Shockwave!) One nit-pick, but her eyes should be red instead of orange because they weren't orange in the 90s anime.
She looks cute when put next to her owner, though I'm sure it'd be amusing if Tamashii Nations added more expressions on her to further depict the sometimes-on-the-same page and sometimes-at-odds-with-each-other chemistry they display.
For a size comparison with some other tiny cats I have, here she is with, you guessed it, two feline Transformers in the form of WFC Netflix Ravage and his Studio Series ROTF counterpart. She's definitely a small cat, and around the same size as those two.
Next up, it's time for Ms. Moon to be put in a comparison next to some Hasbro figures! She is definitely shorter than both Marvel Legends Iron Man and Black Series Darth Vader. The height makes sense because she was a short character in the anime, especially considering how she is a high-schooler being put for a height difference next to two adults who wear exoskeletons to increase their height somewhat. I do think that Iron Man should have his height swapped with Darth Vader.
And for non-Hasbro size comparison, here she is in-between McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse ZJL Cyborg and Jazwares Halo Infinite Master Chief. On top of being shorter than both of them, her aesthetics clash with the heavy sculpt work of both characters given how she is an anime character juxtaposed with live-action/CGI characters. Once again, I think Cyborg and Master Chief's heights are switched.
Now we shall go over the mold's previous uses. This is the original version of Sailor Moon, depicted in her more metallic pink for the parts that are normally red, paler skin tone, and hair that is slightly transparent at the tips of the ponytails. Her odongos have metallic paint apps which are a little inaccurate. The faces she has that the most recent Figuart lack include the winking face that she is most commonly known to do as well as a tiara-less head face that goes with the effect piece of her using the finishing attack. She also comes with a Moon Stick that has the Silver Crystal attached to it, completing its appearance and proving she is the Moon Princess (though perhaps the hairstyle wasn't a giveaway). This figure has been knocked off countless times, so perhaps it may be best not to be near this one specifically.
There was a previous anime-colored edition that was a convention exclusive, I believe. Basically, she's given much more saturated colors that make her look more like the R movie but with the Season 1 Brooch and accessories. Her hair appears to not be as translucent and is a vibrant yellow on par with Venus's, her bows, odongos, elbow guards, and boots are a normal red, and she has a bonus open smile face that she is also known to pose. There was also a yet-to-be-revealed R version of Sailor Moon, with a Season 2 brooch as well as a Cutie Moon Rod/Moon Scepter. Sadly, that version has yet to be made, though I feel it'd be appreciative if a definitive set for Sailor Moon combines all of the details of her regular, R, and S suits since she was fairly unchanged apart from a few tweaks. Maybe it'd work better on a larger scale figure.
And now we have not the actual Sailor Moon but an evil imposter, that being Zoisite disguising him/herself as the heroine. This release replaces all of the red with purple and has a new evil face that represents Zoisite and not the actual Sailor Moon. Also included is a shocked Luna that I think will compliment the real Sailor Moon. The figure also has a boomerang, but I have to commend them for making a solid repaint out of a niche appearance in the show (one that some TV commercials used to make the series have more action than it really did).
Next up, it's Sailor Mercury, the one many weebs and non-weebs would go for because of her blue hair or her voice or just because of how gentle she is. This blueberry girl has a scoutfit that may seem similar to Sailor Moon's, but there are a few differences apart from the replacement of red with blue, as we'll get to. But with her more normal haircut combined with her use of two shades of blue, this design doesn't have the same traits that Sailor Mercury's leader does yet still feels different in a way from some of its differences.
Face sculpt captures the peaceful expression of Ami Mizuno/Amy Anderson, what with the calmer eyes that aren't as big as Serenagi's, and apart from the details of her eyes being different, her tiara jewel is blue instead of red, and she has her own earring design. While her costume is not as out there as Sailor Moon, Mercury's accessories help her stand out a little more. She has her own unique open smile face to go along with her yelling and angry faces, two hands meant for holding the when it's closed and her activating her visor respectively, two karate chop hands for her blast attack, two splayed-open hands for her Mercury Bubble Blast power-up, two fists, and a hand made for holding the open computer. She also has the aforementioned computer in its open and closed mode as well as an alternate hairpiece depicting her visor.
The poses and display options are plentiful when you manage to make them match up to how they look in the show, especially with the articulation being the same as with Sailor Moon's, but it's her specific accessories and the further addition of display options being what makes them feel more plentiful by comparison, so we have her walking with her computer before she deploys her visor while reading something from the villains, and her initial attack can be recreated with the third and fourth pics if you have the patience to pose her right as well as display the arms properly. Also, the stand she comes with can have the pegs be in other spots. It's something mentioned with Sailor Moon's stand, too, though you may be annoyed with an asymmetrical spot for the crane. Now putting her next to Sailor Moon should give you an idea of what kind of differences there are between the two. Apart from the heads, the two characters have different centers for their bows, with Mercury having a blank button while Moon has her transformation brooch. The bows as well as the elbow guards, tiara jewels, chokers, and boots are blue for Sailor Mercury but red on Sailor Moon. Mercury also has blank spots for her choker and upper parts of her boots while Sailor Moon has the obligated moon crescents added. At first, you may think that the blue on the collars pieces and skirts are the same shade, but Mercury's is more of a normal blue while Moon's is more of a slightly darker shade. And surprisingly, Mercury is slightly taller than Moon, even though one would assume that'd be the opposite, but I guess not every leader is taller than their teammates.
As far as reuses are concerned, this is the first Sailor Mercury, who looks worryingly desaturated and a bit unhealthy with her skin. I do not understand why Tamashii did this with their releases. She otherwise has the same accessories that came with the modern release. This basically applies to all versions of the inners.
Now here we have Super Sailor Mercury, who has glimmery parts on her that are blue, new shoulder pads, an altered back bow, her own harp, and a Crystal Change Rod. While the skin may or may not be super faithful to the way it is on the show, this looks more interesting than the normal version due to the added accessories making it more complete. She even has two different closed-eye faces: one for her smile and one as she prepares for an attack.
Next up, we have Sailor Mars. Whether you spell her name as Rei or Raye, one can find it amusing that the red one isn't the leader of the team (a contrast when put next to the likes of red leaders like the Red Ranger or Optimus Prime). Apart from the red on her scoutfit, the bow is actually purple instead of a different shade of red this time around, and of course, helping her stand out is her black hair, which is pretty spot-on to how it looked, but since it's plastic, it means she may have trouble standing, and my copy has loose knees as well as possibly bent heels on the high-heels she wears (which are different from the first two's boots; that also means her lower legs are more exposed. Amusingly, her back bow is red while the one on her chest isn't, and while one can say how interesting it is that Serenagi and Amiy's uniforms are similar to what they actually wear in school, Mars stands out for having her outfit be nothing like her uniform's. It should be mentioned that she has one white stripe on both sides of her collar piece.
Head sculpt captures Mars' own face quite well, though with how thick the front of her hair is, it's not easy to see the rest of her face. Thankfully, you can tell that her earrings are different as well as the color of her eyes; they're purple like in the anime, though Sailor Mars' hair in this figure is black without the purple highlights like in the 90s anime. Her accessories come with a yelling face, a frowning face, a closed-eyes face, two conjoined hands for one of her attack poses, a pointing right hand, a pair of splayed-open hands, two nearly complete fists, and two normal fists. Unique to her is a right hand made to hold the included paper used to inflict curses onto her enemies.
The poses this figure can be achieved no problem when using the stand, and you can recreate her transformation completed pose, a normal pose of her pointing at an enemy, a pose of her using her fire attack, her preparing to use the sheet on an enemy, and her preparing her Mars Fire Ignite attack. Her hair has two points of articulation to make it much more dynamic than without it. The paper has some nicely applied kanji on it, but I'd prefer if it was glued in place instead of being separate because it's so fucking small!
For her reuses, her regular release is barely different from the first one that I decided to skip it and focus on Super Sailor Mars. Apart from the aforementioned additions to her uniform, she now has a winking face, a looking-at-the right side face, and three flame effect pieces: one for her normal fire ignite, one for her fireball attack, and one for her bow and arrow attack. I forgot to show the multiple paper accessory and her Crystal Change Rod but there's so much this version has anyhow so moving on.
Next up, here we have Sailor Jupiter, who is noticeable for having a new torso that is slightly elongated to make her taller than her teammates. Apart from the green added on her skirt, elbow guards, and collar piece, she also has pink bows on the front and back. She has shoes with nicely detailed laces and even has the little hairband with the marbles on it to give her a distinct ponytail. Her school uniform in the initial seasons was brown given that she was a transfer student, but the brown hair compliments the green, white, and pink outfit quite well. Much like Moon and Mercury, she has two stripes on both sides of her collar piece.
Head sculpt may look similar to Moon's, but her green eyes and distinct paint apps help her stand out, and the unique hairstyle combined with the color being brown makes her stand out more. As far as her alternate pieces are concerned, she has a Jupiter Supreme Thunder Crash face, an open mouth face with slightly different eyebrows, an angry face, a pair of fists and open hands, claw-like hands, web-thwipping esque hands but with the thumbs on the middle and ring fingers, as well as her signature transformation hands. Much like Sailor Mercury, she has an alternate hairpiece meant for her lightning attacks.
The posing options work so well if you want to go for her iconic pose after her transformation as well as her thunder attack, and the articulated ponytail makes it even better. I always found it amusing that Jupiter's angry eyes look very different from her normal eyes, which makes her look like a different character just from that emotion. I think you could pose her ready to fight because she is the strongest of the team in terms of human strength. I should mention that the antennae for the headpiece should be a little more centered with where the jewel is.
The reuses for Jupiter include the first version and the Super version, which has new lightning pieces as well as new winking and closed-eye expressions that further give her the personality she has in the show. The green is more forest green to go with the new outfit changes.
And here is Sailor Venus, who interestingly went from having a uniform similar to Sailor Moon's when she was Sailor V to having her own standard uniform (though she had this outfit in the past before she was reincarnated. She has a creamsicle deco to her scoutfit with a nice mix of orange and white, with other colors like the blue bow and the back bow being yellow like her hair. She also has a red bow on her hair, and I should mention that despite being blonde like Moon, her hair color is a different shade, which is consistent with the show sometimes. Much like Mars, she has her own long hair with articulated points, though it's hard to tell if their hair sculpts are reused or not. She does have a single line for the collar piece, and she has her own footwear.
Head sculpt may be similar to Sailor Moon's at first glance, but it has a few differences of its own as we'll get to. Then again, it makes sense since it appears Naoko decided to have the character design be retooled for Sailor Moon as Sailor V came first in terms of appearance (especially in the manga). Her alternate accessories include her own yelling, angry, and open smile faces, a pair of fists, a pointing hand, a karate chop hand, her own horn pose hands, and splayed-open hands. Unique to her is an alternate right hand holding her shades, an alternate headpiece with the glasses attached, and Artemis.
The display options are once again great to have for her character, whether she's completed her transformation, is about to do her Venus Crescent Beam, or is set to wear her shades. Artemis is a nicely detailed accessory with the same points of articulation Luna had, but the white makes it easier to see the whiskers and mouth better, even if they may be a little too thick than they normally are. The paint application for his forehead crescent may not be complete, but at least the eyes are accurate.
And of course, you can always display Artemis with Venus the same way you would with Luna and Moon, though let's be honest: Luna has better chemistry with her owner than Artemis does.
And finally, we have Sailor Venus's Super form, who has her own effect pieces for her attacks as well as an alternate face for looking to the right, a winking face, and a cutesy face when she sees someone she goes gaga for, which was the case for SuperS when she meets the Amazon Trio.
It should be worth mentioning that Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus may seem like they have similar faces, but the paint apps and the molding of each alternate faceplate make them distinct from one another. Sailor Moon's eyes are a lighter shade of blue, her eyes are slightly bigger, there is an extra white anime eye detail that Venus lacks, her eyebrows are a different shade from Venus's, the tiara jewel for Moon is Red while Venus's is metallic orange, the subtle smile sculpts are different, as are the frowns, but the open mouths are different from one another. Most notable difference for the sculpting is that the top of Sailor Moon's alternate faceplate is flatter while Venus's has a point, likely to accompany the inner space of their hairpieces.
I even have to say the same for Luna and Artemis and commend Tamashii Nations for making their sculpts different from each other; I suppose you can say they mirrored the sculpt so they can be distinct from one another. There's not much else I expect from them, though maybe have Artemis's face a little thinner than Luna's? IDK, much like G1 Transformers before it, Sailor Moon's Toei animaters fluctuate between animation styles sometimes.
And that covers the core team! This has been quite a lengthier than expected review, mostly because taking the photos of these figures isn't always easy, and I don't like having to contend with issues like figures that have small feet or feet that suck at keeping a figure standing. I don't always have an issue with the Marvel Legends, and it varies with Transformers. Another issue comes from how frail the figures are, which is especially concerning with how thin their limbs are and how bending a part funny may result in it being damaged. These figures lack the same durability found with Hasbro stuff, so they're much more like display pieces than before, though the cheaper Figuarts like the Mario Bros and Pac-Man have better durability due to their character designs. But that being said, I have to commend them for being faithful to the series as well as adding as much articulation as possible, though the bicep swivels and thigh swivels are nearly impossible to access. The alternate accessories for them are neat, though some effect pieces could help make their attack poses look even better like with some Marvel Legends and Lightning Collection figures; Sailor Moon could use more accessories like the Moon Tiara effect piece and as well as the extra faces and her extra Moon Stick with the Silver Crystal. Still, unless you're into the plushes or chibi figurines, these are the most definitive versions of these characters yet. After all, unless Bandai America does their Anime Heroes line some Moon magic like they do with the other Toei properties, you've got only these since the older merch was just dolls that looked ugly as fuck, especially the American ones. Then again, I collect action figures so I have my own priorities set. These being the anime color editions means they may be the best options right now, the older releases may have knockoffs everywhere.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (overall)
