Welcome back to Rising Sun, and we have a little Moon Prism Power to shine on you today!

Who here remembers the Toonami block on Cartoon Network? Personally, I was never one of the “Toonami Faithful”, although last year, I have fallen in love with one of the oldest shows on the block, Sailor Moon.

Sailor Moon, created by Naoko Takeuchi, is a show that doesn’t need an introduction but deserves one anyway. The two hundred episode series was the story of Usagi Tsukino (pictured above), a clumsy schoolgirl who discovers that she is one of the Sailor Guardians tasked with protecting the Earth from various threats.

In the first season, Usagi gathers the other Sailor Guardians; Ami Mizuno, Rei Hino, Makoto Kino and Minako Aino to do battle against the Dark Kingdom. It’s a strong narrative that showcases each of the girls’ central strengths and faults, while also showcasing the power that love and kindness can hold over individuals. And the season one finale, whoo boy! It’s hard to not cry about it when seen uncut, but is definitely worth seeing through. It can serve as a definite conclusion to the series right there, but it leaves plenty of room for the second season coming to DVD and Blu-Ray this summer.

I’m well aware of the nostalgia of fans who grew up with the edited dub on Toonami (which I have never seen), but the subject of our conversation is the uncut dub that began in November 2014, but first a little history needs to be brought to light.

After the show ended its successful run on Toonami, the show quickly disappeared from distribution until May 2014, when Viz Media picked up the rights to the show and began re-dubbing it with an all-star cast that includes Stephanie Sheh and Cristina Vee, planning to add special episodes, the three feature films and the never-before-seen fifth and final season to their repertoire.

The re-dub respects the Japanese Sailor Moon’s pacing and suspense, which is something Toonami sometimes failed to do. The original character names were also left intact. Serena is a nice name, but Usagi Tsukino (meaning ‘moon rabbit’) is more appropriate in context. I also enjoyed the episodes that were omitted from Toonami’s run of the show, one of which is set in a haunted house. On top of that, some jokes were actually funnier in the dub than in Japanese. For example, in episode eight, Usagi’s nerdy classmate Umino states that Ami’s IQ exceeds 9,000, a over-the-top measurement and a fun little nod to Toonami’s other big show Dragon Ball Z.

On that topic, both Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z have filler episodes, material created specifically for the adaptations due to publication contrast. Case in point, Sailor Moon’s first 46 episode season has 33 filler episodes. With Dragon Ball Z, this was a problem since DBZ was an action show. But on Sailor Moon, I can comfortably say that the filler episodes here were enjoyable because it’s a show that wasn’t reliant on fight scenes. I particularly loved the episode where the characters are visiting an anime studio and while Ami is doing Guardian business, Usagi and Rei are interfering with the production of a anime film they’re looking forward to.

With the release of the redubbed season two on the horizon, I can happily say those looking for a superhero series that can appeal to both genders really should look into the uncut Sailor Moon on Hulu and DVD.