#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).

[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]

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!

[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. 

[real-life-senshi]

What are your thoughts on Minakos and Usagi’s relationship in PGSM? It’s very different from the manga/anime where they are different but potrayed more as “twins” (so to speak)

Thanks for the ask! :D

Without my own personal headcanon and interpretation going in, I think the first word that comes to mind in terms of Minako and Usagi's relationship in PGSM is "underdeveloped". hahaha

Of course, besides Rei, Minako had spent the most time with Usagi among all the Senshi during the year of fighting against the Dark Kingdom. But whenever Minako's with Usagi, we see her in her Senshi or idol persona more than just being "Aino Minako", unlike when Minako's with Rei, where she's more emotive, showing her competitive, serious side, and also mischievous and playful sides.

Even in Act 45 and 46, we see Minako showing her true self more in front of Makoto than she had done with Usagi, including teasing Makoto about Motoki before telling Makoto to stop her self-sacrificial act.

That being said though, I think Usagi and Minako's relationship is precious in PGSM! And I loved seeing how Minako warmed up to Usagi from Act 11 to Act 12, and how she kept in contact and catered to Usagi's fangirl-ness (e.g. Act 30, 32, 35) before Usagi found out about Minako's identity as Venus at the end of Act 35. In a twisted way, Usagi being Usagi pushed Minako to be warmer and willing to see the girls separately from their past-life selves in her mission-driven mindset, instead of chasing after the ghost of her comrades and princess she remembers from a millennium ago. While Usagi, in her worship over her idol, found strength, encouragement, and joy from Minako's music and general work while trying to fight her way through all the past life hardship.

I'm glad Acts 36 - 46 focused more on Rei and Minako's relationship, as the story is beautiful and deserves the level of detail and attention it was given, but I do wish we had more scenes between Usagi and Minako where Usagi got to acknowledge Minako's responsibility and efforts as Sailor V and Venus. Even in Act 40, they barely got to interact as a pair. As much as I love Rei and Minako's scene in PGSM, I do feel we got cheated a bit on the Usagi and Minako relationship towards the end. I wish we could have seen Minako treating Usagi more like a peer than a princess to protect.

Regarding Usagi and Minako's relationship in PGSM being very different to the "twin" like closeness and similarity in the manga (I can't really speak to the 90's anime or Crystal), yes, that's true. But I think that's just more to do with the fact that Minako IS written completely differently in PGSM! It would be weird for these two to be super close, even if Usagi and Minako were given more story and screen time within PGSM's timeline.

HOWEVER, as a content creator and fanfic writer, I love writing about Minako's relationship and dynamic with all the Senshi, not just reinako, because I think there's so much room for interpretation and creation in writing how Minako gets actually integrated into the Senshi group after Act 49.

Given what Act Zero showed, Minako definitely had a more manga-Minako-like personality before her past life memories got woken. You can even see how she approached being Sailor V with a lot more enjoyment and enthusiasm initially before it became solemn and mission-driven at the end of Act Zero after her encounter with Tuxedo Kamen. I think Minako's fun side would resurface post Act 49. We even see it peek out a bit at the start of Act 47, before her temporary departure.

Would I ever write PGSM Minako and Usagi to have a relationship like manga Minako's and Usagi's twin-like dynamic? Absolutely not! It doesn't make sense to me. Besides Rei and Minako, I think Minako would have a stronger friendship/comradeship with Makoto, given their shared understanding in Act 45 and 46. But would I write Minako and Usagi hanging out, having fun, and the two conspiring and pulling pranks together? Abso-fucking-lutely! Usagi would be the one to initiate and Minako being the one to provide the resource and perfect the prank. And when they get in trouble, Minako's also the one to bail them both out, even when it's Usagi's fault. XD

I certainly do think Usagi and Minako would have gotten much closer post Act 49. If you look at the Special Act, after the Senshi sans Rei finish being badasses and kicked Mio's butt into oblivion, Minako's the one who shoves Usagi into Mamoru as Mamoru got dragged in by Makoto once Usagi declares she and Mamoru are resuming with their marriage plans. You don't do that with someone you are not close with, especially in Japanese culture where their society is so big and fussy about honorifics, physical contact, and distances in respect to interpersonal relationships and hierarchical dynamics.

I hope this is an adequate answer! Sorry I ended up just writing an essay. hahaha

[real-life-senshi]

Surprise!!!! I’m going to live blog.  Somehow, I had 4 calls on Friday night, yet got ZERO last night, so I woke up feeling relatively refreshed.  (Gosh, I really hope I’m not jinxing myself here. *knock on wood*)

I’ll live blog as much as I can on Act 14, and will continue on my new project after that.  In any free time I had in the past 2 weeks, all I’ve done was making gif and writing fanfiction.  My whole brain has again been consumed by PGSM reinako. lmao

[real-life-senshi]

I can’t decide if Venus actually was shocked or would have been caught off guard by the attack or not. If anything, she looked offended that Tux showed up and blocked her path? She also definitely had a calculated look on her face when she looked at Tux and Zoisite, probably already realizing why Zoisite’s hesitating.
She was ruthless in sidestepping Tux and beaming Zoisite with a silent crescent beam! (interesting that Venus never had the attack name mentioned in PGSM), and it’s certainly something Tux was NOT expecting. He even gasped and looked back at Venus, who had zero remorse or hesitation on her face:

I wonder if Tux’s gasp was caused by his general sense of fair play and chivalry, or if it’s because he already had a certain level of impression/remembrance of the princess in his mind, so he was shocked to find Venus - the supposed princess acting this way? 
I REALLY appreciated Venus’ ruthlessness in the PGSM series. As the only person with full remembrance of the past life, it made sense that she knows she failed once and would do anything to not have it happen again, even if it means lying and some times doing things underhanded. It’s sad but understandable, and frankly way more believable and realistic than the “believe in the power of love and friendship” tone in the manga. I have always appreciated the Outer’s early approach to their mission in the manga, and Venus’ approach mirrors that in a way. (I watched PGSM first before reading the manga). 
I know it’s basically impossible, but it would have been so damn interesting had PGSM had a season 2 with the Mugen arc. To see how the writers of PGSM handled the character development of Haruka and Michiru, and play it off against Minako’s character growth and Rei’s tenacity in doing the morally right thing would have been PHENOMENAL.