Reviews

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Short Stories, Vol. 1 by Naoko Takeuchi

mehsi's review against another edition

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4.0

Re-read 2020: A cute short story collection featuring various characters from the Sailor Moon universe.

I decided it was high time to re-read these short stories volumes. I was eager to get to reading and go back to the Sailor Moon universe. I knew that I may not enjoy it fully as I remember + read my old review that the books have a hefty dose of characters I wasn't a fan of.

And that is true. The first one features a lot of Chibi-Usa, who is one of the most annoying, frustrating and cringy character of the SM universe. The second short story volume features Luna, the second one on my list of annoying characters. Don't get me wrong, I loved the stories in the end, but I was a bit frustrated that these two characters got so much attention while others get less. I would have loved to see a Mamo story, or some romantic dates between Mamo and Usagi.

But still I had fun reading these stories and see what the girls are up to. See strange and mysterious things happening in the city they live. Yep, the big bosses and enemies may not be around but aliens still love to go to earth and have a bit of fun with the humans there (or you know, suck out their souls). The girls still have to do all they can to save the world. And that in between studying (because in one of these volumes the girls are on their way to high school in Japan that means you have to study or not get anywhere which I still think is a tad silly), meeting new friends (as Chibi-Usa goes to school for the first time), and more. It was a delight and I definitely loved the story of Ami falling in love with someone, yes, she calls it being better than someone but we all know what is going on there. It was kind of cute to see strict and studious Ami fall in love.
I did think the story about the girls' children was a bit odd given how much ALIKE they were to their parents, it was just so boring and I would rather have seen a bit more mix-up.

I loved the various enemies that popped up and which girls fought against them. Sometimes it was just a duo, sometimes all of them, sometimes just Chibi-Usa. It made the fights even more fun and interesting.

I still think it is funny everyone knows Sailor V but barely anyone knows Sailor Moon. Poor Usagi.

The art is, as always, just so pretty! I love how the girls are drawn and I love that as times goes on you do see the girls grow up.

I would definitely recommend this two volume short stories series.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

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Read: 2013: This was a wonderful book, it was full with stories about every character! Ok except Mamo (I so wish for a story about him).

Really recommend this book to the sailor moon fans! Since the manga is now over, you can still read about your favourite sailor girl.

lahariel's review against another edition

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fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

A collection of short stories for mainly the inner senshi. This particular volume has the famous Ami no Hatsukoi (Ami's First Love) story that was later adapted into a special OAV episode during the original 90's anime run.

pawspagesandpurrs's review against another edition

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4.0

3.75*

Some of these were good and some were not so good. It's a bit confusing to tell where they would fit in between the main story... if they are meant to fit at all. Most felt like mostly fillers and just a bit weird?! I don't know.

anastasiaadamov's review against another edition

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4.0

I love when an author can play jokes on her characters the way this one can. Compilation of short stories on Sailor Moon characters.

jem_read6's review against another edition

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3.0

Very cute little stort story bind up of some stories taking place between Arc 2 and right before the final arc. These are really good to read after the fact because you can see where they fit into story timelines. Very fun little read (even though I wasn't a huge fan of the last story)

loriemegistus's review against another edition

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5.0

These are just a bunch of fun short stories that take place in the Sailor Moon universe! They’re all hilarious and wholesome!

kitsunebi_reads's review against another edition

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4.0

cute for what it is, but a little boring as the book progresses.

thegalaxypanda96's review against another edition

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4.0

I really enjoyed these short story's so much I love sailor moon so reading more of her world was great and we got to read a lot from Chibi-Usa which was a lot of fun

misssusan's review against another edition

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3.0

cute! these are super light weight but in a fun way. i'm going to borrow some fanfiction terminology here and say these are all fluff fic. there's a bit more traditional gender role stuff then i typically see in sailor moon -- one of the villains is basically caricature feminism with a rallying cry of 'who needs men! women: let's get careers and be independant!' and i was nodding along like well, she has a point tho when chibi-usa makes a valiant stance for the importance of the male species: 'without men, there won't be offspring. women can't live on their own!'

...in retropect that is actually a hilariously half-hearted defence. are men not good for anything else chibi-usa? xD

in general i liked the exam side-stories more then i did the chibi-usa shorts; the inner senshi are my favourite and it's nice getting some time devoted to them. also takeuchi flies her minako/rei banner high in their story and i'm always here for that :D

3 stars

gperez11's review against another edition

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fast-paced

5.0