#pgsm act zero

[real-life-senshi]

Teletia S

Looking up references for the Teletia S and went back to the official PGSM website archive. Now that I understand Japanese much, much better, I am fascinated by what the official description says.

Translation:

The communication items the Senshi holds are cell phone type, but they are special ones.

Except for Minako, the other four Senshi received their respective item from Luna. Whenever a Youma or other enemy appears, even if the phone is turned off, an emergency signal will still be triggered. As long as there is no direct interference from the Dark Kingdom, the Senshi can contact each other anytime, anywhere. The phone also has a function that allows the user to transform into any costume and appearance by taking a photo, and if the image is saved, the user can transform at any time! It seems that all the Senshi have various outfits saved in their respective phones should the need to use them arise Normally, they can enjoy making phone calls and sending messages as if they were normal cell phones.

I wrote AND rewrote EoT chapter 7 before finding this, so I feel a sense of validation for writing the phones to have operated on a "Senshi signal" based on some sort of "Lunarian communication system." lol

Also, I laughed at the part where they said the respective Senshi had saved up different costumes in their phone, though we know only Rei had saved up the practical ones based on Act 31. XD

Not sure what type of costume Makoto might have saved, but I'd bet Minako has the Sailor V costume saved in hers for a pseudo-transformation since that's how Artemis had her transform in Act Zero.

My specific headcanon about the Teletia S are:

They are waterproof.

They are shockproof and practically indestructible.

They don't need electricity to charge. Just by being near their owners, they are magically charged up.

^Basically it's completely made of alien / Lunarian technology

Emergency signal normally overrides silent/vibrate mode, airplane mode and being turned off. Artemis had to make some special adjustments for Minako's so hers doesn't ring in the middle of her work. Coz.... that'd be awkward.

The only downside of these phones is they look so childishly toy-like. The Senshi all kept theirs even as adults, but everyone but Rei also acquired a normal phone just coz... they got too embarrassed using their Teletia S publicly. Rei feels the same but is too frugal and doesn't use a cell phone enough to bother buying one. :P

Here's my theory/headcanon on how the physical Sailor V costume and Teletia S transformation work together.

[sailormoonsub]

I DON’T BELIEVE IT

AMI INFILTRATED THE CLOWNS, GAINED THEIR TRUST, LEARNED THEIR WEAKNESSES, AND TURNED AGAINST THEM

THIS IS THE FACE OF DECEPTION

[wikimoon]

Random Sailor Moon Trivia:

All four of the actors who played the Shitennou in the live-action series had cameo roles as police officers in the direct-to-video prequel episode “Act Zero - The Birth of Sailor V.”

[rin-the-shadow]

On a related note from the last post, act 16 of PGSM also brought us Kunzite: Least Subordinate Servant Ever.

Between the guy’s barely-even-qualifies-as-a bow, to basically asking Beryl to give him her subordinates, to just his general tone of voice. 

It’s hilarious to me because my first exposure to that character type where I actually recognized them as that character type was the Transformers: Cybertron version of Starscream, and the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles version of Baxter Stockman. Starscream was traitorous and competent at it, but tended to be quieter about what he intended to do, and at least pretend to respect Megatron up until he was ready to make his move. Stockman, on the other hand, was pretty open about how great he thought he was, and made three separate attempts to betray the Shredder before finally getting fired and going to work for Bishop, but as you might have guessed, he was not exactly good at doing the betrayal thing without getting mangled in the process.

PGSM Kunzite is like if you took Cybertron Starscream, but then gave him like zero shame about broadcasting his absolute bare minimum (probably nonexistent) loyalty. And he is amazing.

[sailorfailures]

where do you watch pgsm with subtitles ? Are there any safe anime sites to watch it on ?

There are sites out there but the ones I knew of have been obliterated and I’m not up-to-date with good streaming sites - but I know if you use Sea of Serenity‘s mirror links for their episode downloads, you can stream them directly from Google Drive without having to save them. If you google for drama streaming sites you could probably find one with PGSM on it, too.

Just make sure wherever you’re watching from you start with Act One, not Act Zero, which is a prequel that won’t make sense until you watch the rest of the series. Enjoy!

[mizusenshisongs]

Hey guys! Long time no post! Unfortunately, NaNoWriMo had my attention all November. But I'm back with yet another birthday cover, this time for Makoto!

For Mako-chan's birthday this year, I decided to do one of her PGSM character songs, "Miracle Dance Night." It has a very disco feel to it. I don't think people know much about Mako's singles for PGSM because they weren't featured at Kirari*Super Live (like Usagi, Minako, and Rei's) or in the show in any way (like how Ami's single "Yakusoku" appeared in Act 34 during the party montage), aside from a bit of her other song "Lovely Yell," which you can hear in the background of Makoto's Act Zero cameo.

The backing chorus was missing from the official karaoke, so I added reverb to those parts in an attempt to recreate the effect. Hope it sounds ok.

Karaoke & lyrics from: Sailormusic.net CD pic from: Three-lights.net Vocals: Me

I DO NOT OWN SAILOR MOON OR PGSM OR THIS SONG. IT IS OWNED BY TAKEUCHI NAOKO, AZAMA MEW, SUGIURA ATSUSHI, YUUTENJI HIROMI, AB, MATSUOKA MAKOTO, SASAMOTO SATORU, TOEI ANIMATION, KODANSHA, BANDAI, VIZ MEDIA, CBC, TBS, AND COLUMBIA JAPAN. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED.

[nocturnal-impala]

Best of PGSM: Episode zero, part 4

I have so many guestions about this but I can wrap them up in one small one: Why?

You can’t begin the series from this episode even if it’s “act 0.” because the parody won’t make any sense unless you’ve watched the series first.

Also a nice parallel for a children friendly program to use candy instead of Valium to calm the guy down.

Damn Jadeite you’re so pretty <3

[pgsm-gal]

🌙PGSM Sunday🌙

The police officers that the Shintennou's actors played in Act Zero are named Hanako (Jadeite), Akai (Nephrite), Shiroi (Zoisite) and Kuroi (Kunzite).

[myucornerorg]

I think PGSM essentially tried to do that. The focus on how their duties as Senshi affected the girls' personal lives was a big part of PGSM, and practically the whole last third of the show is about Mamoru and Usagi being drawn to each other by destiny and both sides - Venus on the Senshi side, Beryl, Zoisite, and to a lesser degree Mio on the other side - trying to break them up so they don't accidentally destroy the world again. Meanwhile you had Makoto and Motoki as the main beta couple, Rei having issues with her estranged father, Ami having difficulties socially and with her mother (and also getting kidnapped and brainwashed by the Dark Kingdom for 8 episodes). Plus all the new stuff like:

Mamoru having an actual OTHER GIRLFRIEND (fiancée actually), Hina, who he tries to still stay with when he starts getting pulled towards Usagi, except that she sees the writing on the wall and breaks up with him.

Naru and Motoki actually learning Moon and Jupiter's identities respectively, which leads to some drama (in Naru's case, getting damaged by an attack; in Motoki's case, drama in his and Makoto's budding romance).

Princess Sailor Moon, a b.a. but also somewhat terrifying Sailor Senshi form of Princess Serenity, who only cares about her prince Endymion, and doesn't think a world without him is worth existing.

Luna gets a human form AND a Senshi form (though she's basically a Chibimoon expy in these forms, and not that useful).

The Shitennou get more character development overall, have drama going on between them, and their relationship with Mamoru is explored a lot more. Nephrite even gets turned into a normal human and then gets hired as a worker at the karaoke parlor where the girls' base is, and has some angsty dynamic with Motoki (as well as possible feelings for Ami, who took pity on him once during her Dark Mercury days).

Kuroki Mio, who actually does a decent job being a villain in both plots, as a rival idol to Minako and a classmate of Usagi's, but also essentially being Beryl's eyes and ears on Earth and even manipulating Mamoru to a degree. She also does petty things like trick Usagi into trying to win back her classmates' favor with a private Minako concert, while secretly setting her up to fail and be humiliated, whisking Rei off the Dark Kingdom one time cause she was bored, and kidnapping Usagi so she can witness Endymion and Kunzite's duel with each other. She also comes back in Special Act as the main villain, taking over a circus and kidnapping Mamoru in order to force him to marry her.

We also got an origin episode for Sailor V (Act Zero) that is pretty consistent with the overall plot of the Sailor V manga (with some PGSM twists of course). The other four girls also appear in it, with Usagi getting the biggest role. (The others are reduced to cameo appearances). The Shitennou's actors also appear as a quartet of bumbling police officers.

There are probably other things I could think of, but I think you get the point.

Personally I think PGSM had great potential. It started off following the manga, but then went its own way and did some cool stuff. If it had been longer, what could it have been?

Also a while back I wrote up my idea for if PGSM got made into an American show. Not the exact same concept as your idea, but just putting it out there.

I JUST REALIZED WHAT MAKES SABAN MOON SO APPEALING

Okay so I've been drafting out a fun show bible for a modern take on the Saban Moon premise so I could write a pilot for fun because I screenwrite for fun anyway

and as I was figuring out how to incorporate a lot of the changes/ideas from the Sailor Moon adaptation I realized why I don't hate it even though it's so different - like it's different but I'm still fine with it calling itself Sailor Moon? I'm not, like, offended?

and I realized it's because at its heart the framing of it sets up the proposal of an AU that is basically, "What if the Modern Day Superhero-ing and Classical Romantic Space Opera were happening simultaneously?"

And like as AU ideas go, that one's not terrible.

[real-life-senshi]

I am SO glad I didn't ask the omelette question, coz Naoki volunteered to talk about it.

He was disgusted by the colour and shared it tasted bad. Said it contributed to him not liking the acting shoots much.

They couldn't remember which episode it was so I posted in the chat about the blue sauce and green sauce omelette's episode and it got read out. <3

Naoki remember blue sauce, but not the green sauce episode. lol

[real-life-senshi]

Aino Minako's Discography

So I was chatting with a friend who I dragged into watching PGSM about how Minako's portrayed in PGSM and all the hints we get in subtler ways about her change in character throughout the timeline and story... and then this led to us chatting about Minako's music. So now here's my brain dump. lol

From the PGSM Memorial Art Book, the CD listed here from left to right are:

I'll Be Here (album)

C'est La Vie (single)

VENUS (album)

IMITATION (album)

Kiss^2 Bang^2 (single)

There could be more singles before that, but if there are we don't know what they are. We do know there are other new songs Minako produced in-universe, including Happy Time, Happy Life from the Special Act, but we do not have a copy of the CD past Act 47.

For each of the albums, we find the name of the songs are very telling, and often very connected to the wider PGSM and Minako's storyline.

Act Zero states that IMITATION is Minako's 1st album.

Translations of the song titles:

始まりの伝説 [Hajimari no Densetsu] (The Legend of the Beginning)

IMITATION

負けるな!クリスマスガール [Makeruna! Kurisumasu Gaaru] (Don’t Lose! Christmas Girl) Act Zero is hinted to take place on Christmas Eve (the Silent Night bgm), or at least definitely near Christmas.

LOVE vs DREAM

うれしくて… [Ureshikute…] (I'm So Happy... / Be Happy...) There's a double meaning that without knowing more detail it'd be hard to determine the best way to translate the song title.

ナ���ショ! [Naisho!] (SECRET!)

ハートはORANGE [Haato wa ORANGE] (Heart is ORANGE)

白い出会い [Shiroi Deai] (White Rendezvous) As both Endymion and Serenity have white outfits in PGSM, I imagine this is alluding to past life.

MAKE UP! POWER!!

Songs 1, 7, 8 and 9 have very clear past life or Sailor Venus lore connection. While 3 and 5 seem to allude more towards Minako's story of battling her illness. Songs 2, 4 and 6 have more of a vague name that could allude to the duality of Minako's position as a teenager and idol, her secret about her illness, or her memory of Sailor Venus.

Regardless, the song titles suggest that even before meeting Artemis, Minako seems to have dreams or impressions of her past life. Possibly between these impressions/memories and her illness, Minako copes and processes her thoughts and emotions by making music. This has become my headcanon and how I write Minako in my fanfiction.

VENUS - released in Act 1 is Minako's 2nd album.

Translations of the song titles:

C'est la Vie~私のなかの恋する部分 [Se ra Bi ~ Watashi no Naka no Koi Suru Bubun] (That’s Life ~ The Part Inside Me That's In Love) The pronunciation of "C'est la Vie" is synonymous with the Japanese pronunciation of "Sailor V". Mischievous, punny Minako strikes again.

Star girl

For your dream

ETERNITY

Come again

月のキセキ [Tsuki no Kiseki] (Miracle of the Moon)

Be Free!

A Q U A  This song's name was likely done to allude to Ami it's shown in Act 2, Sailor Mercury's debut episode.

Happening ☆

戦う女神⋅おんな [Tatakau Megami ⋅ Onna] (Goddess of Battles ⋅ Woman) This could have been translated to Goddess of War as well. Googling the 4 first characters yields results that include Japanese articles on Athena. In-universe, since Ami has been referenced in AQUA, this title could be alluding to Sailor Mars, but it's more likely to be alluding to the collective Sailor Senshi team.

Lucky Joker Possibly alluding to Usagi? Or maybe Motoki? lol

ア⋅イ⋅ノ♡セレナーデ [Ai no Serenado] (Serande of Love)

The song name of VENUS is a bit more mixed bag of meanings, including song 8 alluding to Ami. But the allusion to the past life and Minako's identity as Sailor Venus is significantly more prominent. There doesn't seem to be any mention or allusion to Minako's illness.

This makes sense, since in Act 2 we viewers wouldn't have a clue about that part of Minako's storyline yet. In-universe, this suggests Minako embracing more and more her past life duties and being on the path of deprioritizing her personal situation and health condition.

I'll Be Fine is Minako's 3rd album, released sometime after Act 47.

Reminder in Act 47, Artemis and the Senshi were given a pre-release of the album, as Minako wanted to surprise Artemis and Usagi with gifts.

Romance

I’m Here

C'est la Vie~私のなかの恋する部分 [Se ra Bi ~ Watashi no Naka no Koi Suru Bubun] (That’s Life ~ The Part Inside Me That's In Love)

肩越しに金星 [Katagoshi ni Kinsei] (Venus Over My Shoulder)

Kiss!2 Bang!2

さよなら～sweet days [Sayonara~ Sweet Days] (Farewell~ Sweet Days)

This album has nearly all the insert songs we hear between Act 1 - Final Act that Minako sang. The only exception is I'm Here.

Songs 1, 3, 4 and 5 have names that allude to the idea of love, which is Sailor Venus's power. Songs 2 and 6 specifically have names that match the theme of the song lyrics, revealing Minako's candid personal thoughts and feelings surrounding her illness.

The fact that Minako passed away in Act 47 before the album was officially released to the public... my friend @greenyoshi72 said Minako wrote her own requiem... 😭

[real-life-senshi]

Happy new year, everyone! In trying to think about my 2023 goals for this blog, I had to look back on how I did in 2022, which had me realize 2022 had been a year of progress and brand-new content on this blog! This means I have many things I need to keep track of and work to continue on, and I had to go through my blog to do some record keeping. This led to me writing this 2022 highlight.

1. Continuation and expansion of PGSM Liveblogs!

In addition to completing the liveblog of Act 14 - Act 17, on Feb 26, 2022 I also woke up at 3am to liveblog PGSM's Director Suzumura Live Guest Talk with Komatsu Ayaka! What a blast that was! And I can totally die happy knowing I was able to actually interact with Ayaka (PGSM Minako) through the live chat!

Using the live chat as a catalyst, I fully dove into doing some fan-translation work as well. In addition to completing a translation on the aforementioned guest talk, I also started doing more detailed translations embedded in my analysis and general liveblogging.

Then, out of nowhere in September, Sawai Miyuu started doing a live broadcast of PGSM viewing party, a hilarious and fun time where she rewatches PGSM, and we audience get to see her live reaction and interact with her! (And she actually reads and speak some English too!)

2. More Fanart

I haven't done too much fanart, my long-time followers knows drawing takes much more time for me since I don't do it enough. Still, 2022 featured some of my best pieces so far!

My personal favourite is Reinako in onesies! The Nako Nako took me forever to figure out how to draw! Additionally, I had my first time drawing something a bit smutty. I also discovered transparent art on Tumblr, and it is my new favourite thing to work on! (Though challenging to figure out.)

I can say without a doubt my latest art that celebrates the anniversary of PGSM Final Act has been the best I've done so far, and I am still incredibly proud of it! I experimented with so many things making this piece - format, composition, layering (& the transparency), coloring, etc. It was also my first time drawing Makoto, Ami, Usagi, Princess Sailor Moon, Mercury, and Jupiter in such detail!

3. More Reinako

Of course, there can never be too much Reinako! In fact, my love for Reinako colours everything I do - even when liveblogging and making fanart. :D

2022 saw me making NINE Reinako gif set in a year, an all-new high! 6 of them are from the new series(?) I started called PGSM Reinako Things I want to Yell About, which basically is just me talking about all the things PGSM does that make me love Reinako and me analyzing the shit out of the smallest hint I can see, because I have zero self-control.

4. Fanfic Writing

2022 also got me back into writing for 4 months, where I've successfully rewritten 8 chapters of my old unfinished story - Echoes of Times. I hit a slump again in April and only wrote a paragraph here or there since... :( But the fact I've written more than I've ever done is a great sign that I can indeed get back into it!

Hopes for 2023

So it’s been proved that I’m not someone that can stick to a “new year resolution” at all, so instead, I’m gonna share what I HOPE to do and see where that takes me.

I will definitely continue liveblogging. This includes keeping tabs if Director Suzumura might invite any other PGSM cast member to his guest talk, and also joining Miyuu's viewing party where possible! I'd also like to see if I can get my PGSM rewatch liveblog to progress into Darkury Arc within the year! I'd be too ambitious to say finishing the arc, since that's over 10 episodes away, but I def want to get into episodes in the 20s.

Keep writing fanfiction! And actually start publishing the rewritten chapters onto AO3! (I will upload on FF.net as well). Year after year I say this, but I would LOVE to publish a new chapter...

I've not finished any fanvideos since 2020, even though fanvideo is actually the first form of fandom content I've done. Here's hoping I can get something done and posted this year!

I definitely have a bunch of WIP fanart and gifsets waiting to be finished. My hope is to finish and share make more Reinako fanart, and dabble more on the transparent art format!

Continue on the PGSM Reinako Things I want to Yell About gif sets. I've done 6 last year, let's see if I can get another 6 done this year? (That's on average 2 per month, doable, right?)

[real-life-senshi]

Those two have immediately entered into eye contact-only mode with each other, with zero verbal communication as they run laps around the Youma. Mars nodded signaling she'd be the decoy as Venus attacked, and Venus immediately took her shot once the Youma's attention was on Mars... like JFC how are they achieving this already? None of the Senshi were able to do that immediately with each other, we even had the hilarious C'est La Via singing in Act 4 to prove this point. PGSM really set Mars and Venus up to be a special case with each other from day 1. lol

All the posing and reaction after the Youma deflected the attack... what's the point if there's no immediate follow-up?

I guess the point of this scene was the time-lapse. But also holy crap, this is the longest enemy encounter ever?? Like typically a battle takes around 5 minutes to finish? Even Ultraman has a 3minute timer they operate on... this battle is getting hours long, how on earth are Mars and Venus, not to mention also the Youma, keeping this up?????

The logic for plot convenience. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[real-life-senshi]

We’ve gone full circle again!!!!!!  I LOVE PGSM’S STORYTELLING SO MUCH!

Minako had lost motivation and grew “tired” because she met Usagi in person, but now she has renewed her motivation and felt rejuvenated because she got to KNOW Usagi as a person!  Knowing the whole story, it’s also highly significant and important that just from taking action, at this moment, Minako had arrived to the conclusion that Usagi is someone worth fighting for. 

On a very different note... FAN THEORY TIME!

okay, I know many people have given PGSM flak for the plot hole of this Sailor V transformation scene, because we saw the V costume in Minako’s suitcase earlier in Act 11.  Honestly I was critical of this too. But now, I have A THEORY. A theory that might close the hole.

First of all, Sailor V wasn’t Minako’s true transformation; it’s different to Sailor Venus and thus the power/magic doesn’t source from the Sailor Jewelry Bracelet.  In fact, in Act Zero, Artemis had actually used Minako’s Teletia S to snap Minako into the Sailor V appearance.  As we’ve learnt since Act 2, the Teletia S can manifest and snap the girls into any costume or outfit from just a click of a button, but for it to happen, it NEEDS TO HAVE SOMETHING TO GO OFF OF -  A SOURCE. It’s like copy and paste from an Excel spreadsheet.  If the cell is empty when you copy, there is nothing you can paste from.  SO. Because Sailor V costume wasn’t purely manifested from magic, there needs to be the source, and that source is the costume Minako kept in her suitcase.  As long as the “original”, the source exists, Minako can transform into it whenever she wants to.  But if the original, the source is destroyed/not with her, she will just lose the Sailor V persona completely. 

There. Theory end!

[ironvandyne]

Ah yes, clueless Usagi not knowing for a fact that Mio did commited lies and crimes about her one time.

*flashes back to episode 29 of PGSM*

Mio is the Azu of PGSM, change my mind.

Bless Usagi’s pure heart, after all the absolute bullshit Mio put her through, she still calls her “Mio-chan”

[real-life-senshi]

PGSM Reinako things I want to yell about, in no particular order (1/∞) 

Mars & Venus’ battle juxtaposed with Moon & Mercury & Jupiter’s battle

In the first half of Act 18, we audience are introduced to Rei and Minako’s complicated and banter-filled relationship, involving one-upmanship, sniping remarks and disjointed priorities. Yet when we get to the climax action scenes in the later half of the episode, Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus worked in perfect sync (with lots and lots of ust) to defeat the Youma with barely any words exchanged, despite having only met one episode ago.  

This scene is immediately and hilariously followed by Moon, Mercury and Jupiter’s battle against Jadeite and Nephrite, where despite the three Senshi are established friends and comrades for eleven episodes, they had failed to coordinate their attacks and had to redo it a second time.  Not to mention their coordinated attack is significantly less action-intensive than what Mars and Venus pulled off!

The two scenes juxtaposed to each other seems such deliberate script writing, and especially highlights the undeniable bond and partnership Mars and Venus share, regardless of their butt-heading and tension!

Also, who decided the Mars Venus’ acting directions? Like did Ayaka and Keiko just decided to wink at each other themselves???? OR WAS IT WRITTEN INTO THE SCRIPT????? And Mars mimicking Venus’ kiss motion even though it does nothing for her???????? HELLO????

---

So I’m trying a new thing, because I’m just too damn slow at liveblogging. At this rate, I’ll never get to yell about the Reinako significant moments as I’m still 3 episodes and a DVD special Oshiokiyo away from Act 17. So voilà, I’m starting another project for the simple purpose of talking about anything I want about Reinako, coz I have zero control over myself. lol It’ll be to no particular order, and some will be silly, and some will be me writing serious analysis.