Yes, Sailor Moon, folks! I’m a whiskey drinking, cigar smoking, gun-toting ‘murican, and I’m about to take a look at Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. Got a problem with that? It’s rarely the case that I feel the need to explain why I’m collecting something, but as I’m about to embark on a series of figures based on Sailor Moon, I didn’t want to just throw that out there without some kind of preface, so here goes… Sometime in 1996 I moved to South Florida to go to Grad School and work on my Masters. When I got here I no longer had any family or friends close by and by mere circumstance I latched onto anime as a means to pass the time and keep me company. It’s something that I wasn’t at all into beforehand so it gave me something to dive into with full force. I’m also a chronic insomniac, been one all my life, so part of my newly found lifestyle involved late nights with lots of booze and Sailor Moon, among other shows. I’d watch whatever I could get off of TV or from the Suncoast Video in the local mall. Even today watching the show takes me back to those nights and a pretty great and exciting time in my life.

And that brings me to the first in the S.H. Figuarts line of Sailor Scouts! S.H. Figuarts is a line that is highly revered by many of the collectors I interact with and a number of the podcasts that I listen to. I’ve been curious about the line for a while now, but I’ve never been a big fan of Super Sentai, so when the Sailor Moon line was announced, it peaked my interest as a way that I could finally get into these figures. Yeah, I already looked at S.H. Figuarts Nami from One Piece, but she was a one off purchase, whereas I’m all in for the Sailor Scouts. Obviously, we’re going to start right at the top with Usagi, Sailor Moon herself. To anyone who already collects S.H. Figuarts, a lot of this feature will be common knowledge, but line is still brand new to me, so pardon me my indulgences.

The figure comes in a wonderfully compact and colorful box that is both glorious and emasculating all at the same time. The bright pink, yellow, and blue deco is cavity inducing in its sheer girly sweetness and it’s only because of my extreme confidence in my own masculinity that I’m able to proceed. Despite how compact the box is, it still servess to lay out the figure and all her goodies beautifully. The window box is just big enough to give you a peek at Sailor Moon inside and I really dig the way the die cut front of the box interrupts the window with the illustration of Sailor Moon’s hair. The back of the box shows off more pictures of the figure and some of the accessories. Everything is totally collector friendly and the box serves as a necessary storage for all the extra bits when you’re not using them.

With Sailor Moon out of the box, I was instantly impressed with the way the character is translated to her three-dimensional plastic form. None of the character’s anime aesthetics have been compromised and she just looks magnificent. I was expecting the jointing to be a lot more unsightly, particularly since the elbows and knees are jointed on what is supposed to be bare skin, but happily that’s not at all the case. While essentially the same system of jointing, I think it looks much cleaner here than it did on the Figuarts Nami release. The sculpting in the costume hits all the right points and then some. The pleating on the skirt looks great, as does her collar and bows, but it’s the tiny little touches like the crescents on her boots and the choker necklace that really drive the sculpt home.

While I’ll get to the various faces in a bit, the regular stock portrait that comes on the figure is perfect. You get a tiny smile and the beautifully painted eyes. The hair hair looks great and I love the way the bangs are sculpted so as to hang over the Moon Tiara, which is sculpted as part of the face. Her pigtails are cast in a slightly transparent yellow plastic and since they’re pegged into the hair, they offer some rotation articulation.

About the only place this figure stumbles ever so slightly is in the paint. Overall, it’s excellent. The slightly metallic sheen on the pink boots and bows looks great as does the pearlescent finish to her white gloves and top. The blue for her skirt and collar have a bit more of a matte finish to offer up a nice contrast. The minor issues involve the white trim on the tops of her boots not being as crisp as they could be and a little bit of visible brush strokes here and there. There’s also some transfer between the pink on her right glove and the skin on her arm. Keep in mind, I’m being ridiculously picky here only because so many people have been pumping this line up to be the end all and be all. On any other figure, I probably wouldn’t even have mentioned it.

Before I get to the accessories, let me give mention to the figure stand that’s included, since it has already been so notably featured in the pictures. The stand consists of a crystal clear heart shaped base and a clear grabby arm. The base has a nice deco and “Sailor Moon” printed on it in pink and I really dig the way the two bumps at the top of her heart are perfectly positioned for the placement of her feet. The arm pegs into the back of the base and features three strong hinges versatile enough to go from just propping the figure up to supporting her in some great mid-air action poses.

And that brings us to all the stuff that comes in the box… and it’s a lot. Let’s get the hands out of the way first, because while extra hands are a cool bonus, but I’m not someone who uses them a lot. Sailor Moon comes with a total of four pairs and one extra right fist for holding the Moon Sticks. You get a pair of fists, a pair where the fingers are just splayed out, and two pairs with her fingers doing various gestures taken from common poses in seen in the animation. The hands are on pegs and swap out pretty easily, although they’re also prone to popping off when working the hinges in the wrists. They’re also tiny, so good luck if you drop one. Next up, you get three additional portraits. You get one perturbed expression with her mouth open. I call this the “In the name of the Moon I will punish you!” expression. Next, you get a somewhat neutral expression without the cute little smile from the stock portrait. Lastly, you get a portrait without the Moon Tiara, which is important for use with the next accessory…

Moon Tiara Action! This piece is actually an extra hand with a pearlescent disc stuck to it meant to simulate Sailor Moon throwing her Moon Tiara at the Youmas of the week. This was a tough effect to pull off and all things considered, I’d say they did the best they could with it.

Naturally, you get Sailor Moon’s Moon Stick, or more accurately you get two, one of which is activated. These tiny little accessories are beautifully reproduced and it’s crazy that they included two of these pieces in the box considering the difference between them is so minor, but that kind of attention to detail is what sets these figures apart.

Of course, you can’t release a Sailor Moon figure without Luna. Not only is this a great looking kitty with some nice crisp tampo work on the face, but Luna also has some simple swivels in the neck and base of the tail. Awesome!

And with that, I think I’ve droned on long enough. I promise that my subsequent features on the S.H. Figuarts Sailor Scouts won’t be nearly as long winded. Suffice it to say I’m really impressed with just about everything about this figure. Tamashii Nations is dedicated to completing the line, at least as far as the core Sailor Scouts are concerned, and I’ll be all in. When next I revisit this line, we’ll check out Sailor Mercury!