Flash Back Friday - Sailor Moon Season 1 Box Set

Sailor Moon Season 1 Box Set

Quality - ♥♥♥

Appearance - ♥♥♥♥♥

Packaging - ♥♥♥♥♥

Art - ♥♥♥♥♥

Functionality - ♥♥♥♥

Fun - ♥♥♥

Cost - ♥

Availability - ♥

It's another Flash Back Friday and this Friday we're going to take a look at the Sailor Moon Season 1 Box Set. This set was made by ADV and released in 2003.

Quality - The quality of the episodes is less than par. Unfortunately, since the series was much older than the actual release date for the box set, the animation looks quite old. The sound quality is more than horrible.. it's muffled and far too quiet. Leaving you to turn up that surround sound to MAXIMUM and order everyone in the neighborhood to be quiet. The subtitles are nice and having everything UNCUT is a definite plus. Especially after the dubbed versions that aired seemed to have butchered a lot of the episodes.

Appearance - Taking a look at the box set, it's amazingly well done for it's time. Although we were just getting into the "thin pack" phenomenon, this set seemed to keep it's bulky ways. The disks aren't very different from each other, aside from telling which episode is on each. Otherwise, each disk looks the same as the other. Finally we get this small little insert with a brief rundown of each episode that is in each pack, which is a nice refresher for anyone looking for that specific episode to watch.

Packaging - The packaging for this item is very well done. With very thick cardboard to hold in those large disk boxes themselves done in a relatively thick plastic themselves. Atop this, we have this metallic artwork to really stand this box set out. Each disk is as well put into a separate holder on each side, which is a relief from the cardboard sleeves we've seen lately from a lot of other companies selling disk sets.

Art - The artwork is what really makes this box set shine. Literally! We have this foil Sailor Moon silhouette posed on the front and back. Then we have the crescent moon wand on the bottom lined with all the information and on the top, the Japanese logo. The box sets themselves have some nice anime artwork on them, to make each set stand out. We also have on the sides of the boxes two very nice pictures of Sailor Moon and a bonus Artemis and Luna on the bottom. Linking them together they look so adorable! On the one side of the box, we have one more foil silhouette of Sailor Moon in her signature pose. So if you want to display them with disks out or in, you can really set this set apart from any other in your library. Finally, on the back we have a rundown of thumbnails of every episode on the disks. Which is great if you don't recall the name of the episode! Below each of the thumbnails we have the ORIGINAL episode names along with the disk number each episode is on. ADV was certainly VERY thorough in getting this down for us Moonies!

Functionality - Functionally speaking, this DVD set sets out what it's meant to do. Be watched and enjoyed. Unfortunately, with the sound quality being what it is, and being spoiled to HD television, it's hard to look at this particular box set and really get the full enjoyment of it all. Especially after the HD release of the original episodes in Japan. Fortunately though, it really doesn't matter all too much if it's high quality or Dolby Digital sound. The fact that one can still watch these episodes to their hearts content anytime they wish, is enough to make anyone squee with joy.

Fun - Here's where I'm a bit biased, as far as fun goes, it's always a blast to catch up on old Sailor Moon episodes! Unfortunately, the fact that I have to crank my TV up to 70 to hear it really brings down the fun factor for me. Especially when I ADORE the Japanese voices so very much!

Cost - Because this DVD set is sought after and cost SO much upon release, you'll find this for anywhere from $170 to $1,500. It really depends on where you go, the condition you'd like it in, or if you would like it new or used. Originally though, this box set went for $149.99 in most stores and online.

Availability - Unfortunately, there are only 2 places I know of that you can find this set. And if you're lucky, you'll get it close to cost too. First we have eBay running it at a moderate price and then you have Amazon running it from near cost to obscene.

If you're looking to satisfy your Moonie needs in watching all of the old episodes to recap on what's to come in summer of 2013 in it's ORIGINAL format, then this is the box set for you. Because unfortunately, you won't find another boxset like this that ISN'T bootlegged. Also, if you're used to the dub, you might want to get your reading glasses out, as there is no dub in this set, it's all gloriously subtitled. 

Just remember to crank your television up AFTER you put this in and turn it down BEFORE you remove the disks. Nothing like turning on your TV at 7AM to watch some PowerPuff Girls only to have yourself blown off the couch and setting off some neighborhood car alarms in the process to get your day started if you forget to do so. 

Sailor Moon Chan Says!