Sailor Moon S: Hearts in Ice

a.k.a. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon S: The Movie

Genre: Action/Romance
Company: Toei Douga
Format: 1 movie
Dates: 12/4/1994

An icy meteor hovers ominously above the earth. The Snow Queen sends her crystals to the planet, which are instrumental for her plot to cover the planet in ice and destroy all life. However, one crystal has been found by an innocent astronomer whose life is now in danger. Can Sailor Moon and the Sailor Senshi help the astronomer and defeat the Snow Queen before it is too late?

summary by Madoka

 

Reviewed: 12/31/1969 by
Grade: 86% 

Highs: Full of romance; high quality animation

Lows: Moral of the story too jarring

Sailor Moon S is arguably the best Sailor Moon story presented in any form. Although only sixty minutes in length, this movie gives a real voice and heart to characters that normally do nothing more than provide exposition.

The characters of Luna and Artemis get to shine as the emotions Luna develops for Kakeru lead to the awareness of Artemis’ feelings for her. This romantic theme is prevalent throughout the movie. At times the two stories are interwoven in one, with the villain disappearing behind the more prominent storyline of what it means to be in love. Instead of detracting from the story, this provides new sympathy and compassion for Luna and Artemis, who are usually detached and unremarkable in the Sailor Moon universe.

But of course this wouldn’t be a Sailor Moon movie if it wasn’t filled with minions, transformations, Moon Spiral Heart Attack… you get the idea. Suffering from the same plot limitations as the series, this movie still follows the “Monster of the Week” format, but with better animation quality than any episode.

And true to the format, Sailor Moon delivers the moral of the story to the villain when it suddenly seems like a different movie begins. Random scenes are abruptly inserted to reinforce Sailor Moon’s lesson of the day, completely jolting the viewer out of the story and making it difficult to get involved again. But once the villain is dispatched, it is well worth the effort when the romantic storylines come to fruition.