Sailor Moon, Vol. 10: The Trouble with Rini (1996)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

English Adaptation by Mycheline Tremblay
Based upon the original manga by Naoko Takeuchi
Directed by Junichi Sato and Roland Parliament

Dindrane's Anime Warnings:

• More of the irritating brat
• A couple of particularly goofy villains
• Darien "doing the right thing" and being a wanker

Released by: ADV
Region: 1
Rating: safe for all ages
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 format

My Advice: Buy it.

In "The Cosmetics Caper," Darien is having disturbing dreams about Serena’s death amid a shattering city of crystal, and he is also hearing a disembodied voice telling him that if he stays with Serena, her death is assured. Because of this, he breaks up with Serena, but does not tell her the real reason. Meanwhile, Birdie chooses a new focus point in new Tokyo and turns a cosmetics store into a locus for the Dark Moon. Next, in "Sailor Mercury Moving On?", Amy has earned a scholarship to study in Germany, but can she really bring herself to leave the Scouts and her friends at such a young age? New power sticks are introduced here. "Gramps in a Pickle" brings Raye’s grandfather attempting to open a martial arts school with Chad, but it’s Mars versus Katzy when the villainess turns her attacks to Rini.

In "Trouble Comes Thundering Down," Rubeus and the evil sisters try to use Serena and Rini’s fear of thunder to draw them out, which almost works. Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon must team up again to try and save Rini, who still won’t tell everything she knows. Next, in "A Charmed Life," Prizma uses a charm store to attempt to secure a focus point for Rubeus, but will Mars and Company be able to foil her in time? And why is Darien acting so mean to Serena? Finally, in "A Curried Favor," Rini has to admit that she needs Serena’s help...at least with making curry, but Serena needs Darien’s help. Can they work together long enough to help Rini? And why is Serena off fighting a villain just when Rini needs her most?

This group of episodes does quite a bit to develop Rini’s character; while she’s still the trademark annoying anime kid, she also has some depth to her and shows signs of the fine woman she will be when mature. There’s a bit more soap opera, given the floundering relationship between Darien and Serena and how he is keeping secrets from her, but it’s downplayed enough to be interesting and tense.

Now that we’ve moved well and truly into the Sailor Moon R sequence of episodes, the action with Rubeus and his evil sisters is heating up. We get to see a bit more behind the scenes of the Dark Moon and confirm that Queen Beryl, powerful as she was, may have been the least of the Dark Moon’s lackies.

There are still no features, but again, since there are a generous six episodes per disc, features would have just jacked up the price unnecessarily. It’s too bad that we can’t have both the uncut original versions and the American release versions on the same disc; the differences are quite minor, but there are always otaku who are purists and will balk at this edited version.

In short, you need this disc just like the rest of the Sailor Moon series. This is one anime title that blends the magical girl genre with real action, team ethics, interesting, complex villains, and real characterization. You will feel as if the Scouts are your friends, too, and even when you want to strangle Rini for being a precocious brat, at least you can hope, like Serena, that everything will work out in the end.