I think it sacred cow status can be attributed to the fact that it was the first Magic Warrior show EVER. Before it, the only similar thing was the Codename: Sailor V manga, which was written by the same person.

It wasn't the first ever, but it was the Codifier. Colorful and pretty at the right time in history to catch attention.

I agree that Sailor Moon (And Dragonball Z) are not the best of the genres they helped launch. And, to tell ya the truth, Sailor Moon is incredibility repetitive and banal. Every season was the near-exact same thing. They really insulted children's intelligences back in the 80s. I like to think that you can look back on alot of these older shows and with a nice chainsaw editor, turn them into REAL classics. That's actually what they are doing with Dragonball Z right now, digitally remastering and editing it to turn 240 episodes into 100. Good job!

..... Really, 40 episodes per season? God damn....

Hey...the manga was good. And before judging the anime too harsly, I suggest getting the dubbed and not the sub version. That said , its not the greatest anime ever, but for what it was, when it was, it was pretty good. Oh, and btw, sailor moon came out in the 90's not the 80's

Wow @ this review. Talk about blatent cynicism and being a critic. That described this review plenty well.

Sailor Moon was the first magical girl show to feature a team of girls that fought against evil. Before Sailor Moon, the magical girl genre was just silly fluff. Sailor Moon revolutionized the genre. Sailor Moon IS a real classic. It's fantastic. Each season is certainly repetative in certain regards, but the show is great regardless. There isn't a magical girl anime better than Sailor Moon. Cardcaptor Sakura is a close second but even it doesn't top Sailor Moon.

And also, Faithful Departed is right. The Sailor Moon anime began airing in 1992, not the '80s.

"Shallow" you say? Sailor Moon teaches to forgive people and give them a chance - is that shallow?

Well, when I get super powers, take up heroics, and finally get the upper hand after fighting some generically evil guy's weekly attempts to attack innocent civilians in his ploy to take over/destroy the world, I'll be sure to remember Sailor Moon's lessons about forgiveness in the face of overwhelming disregard for human life.

Here's the thing: the show doesn't go into any real depth on the motivations or personalities of the characters. It does not portray the villains as anything but pure malice, their goals as anything but completely and knowingly evil, or Usagi as anything but a hero fighting to protect the civilians. Reform never enters the equation except as a cheap way to generate drama and when they need to pull that card, they just jolt from one mode to the next without any real transition.

Shakiness aside, the way they go about such "I forgive you" scenes is piss-awful, too. For example, watch a redemption scene of any of the Phantom sisters from season two. It starts out with their ploy of the week being thwarted and for no discernible reason (especially in the face of all their other, unexceptional failures), the other sisters show up and basically say "you're worthless, go die". The fresh outcast angsts about it and tries to take out the aggression on Usagi, who is suddenly receptive and kind. Distilled in snarkiness, here's how it kind of plays out:

Phantom Sister: "I hate you! DIE!" (desperate attack easily deflected by Usagi that seems to do more harm than good)
Usagi: "I forgive you." (for attacking innocent civilians for the past couple months, apparently).
Phantom Sister: "No!" (more desperation)
Usagi: "No, really. Come on, give up your old, evil ways and see the light." *smile*
Phantom Sister: "...okay." (total 180 of their personality from only a few seconds earlier, usually with an awed expression)
Usagi: "Moon Healing Escalation!" (or whatever the enchantment was for season two)
*Phantom Sister becomes human, loses all her original personality to become a good little human, and is promptly pushed out of the plot*

Back to the point: it is shallow. You never get to know who these villains are or why the deserve to be redeemed. They just jump from one generic mindset to the next, the plot dictating that they reform to give them an exit more dignified than simple defeat (I actually really like Kunzite's statement in season one: "I will not say 'Refresh'!". That's a guy who gets it). This is not depth. This is not a true exploration on the themes of forgiveness or redemption. This is just cheap drama, dumbed down for kids and thrown together piecemeal.

And that, in the end, is really what Sailor Moon is: cheap drama. No depth, no exploration, just a bunch of stock archetypes going through stock motions to fill a stock plot and sell a lot of merchandise. Whether or not one finds it entertaining is subjective, but one can't really argue that it holds any inherent depth but what the audience reads into it.

"Shallow" you say? Sailor Moon teaches to forgive people and give them a chance - is that shallow?

But Sailor Moon rarely EVER does that. The villains usually redeem themselves on their own then die a few minutes later. There's little forgiveness involved. The Four Evil Sisters were about the only exceptions.

No is not true, sailor moon is not cheep drama,its a very good show, Sailor Moon is an exemple of love and peace , of love for people who love and all over the world, all her power is not in the magical cristal but is in the love and her trust in people and the world, her power of love its enormos that can save world from darkness, and thats right, only love for each other can save this world,else the world will be destroyed not by dark kingdom but by dark from peoples hearts, that process has begun because our planet began to destroy us because we want destroy it, think of that more deep and u will see i am right.Sailor movie is trying with her love tobring life in people hearts to make them see how wonderfull can be life if its of love and joy. That is the message of this movie. That Usagi is not perfect, that does mean she is failure, she is better then other because she likes live life intensive, and have fun and joy in everything. She see the good sides of peopele even then all see only what is bad, and i should we must take example from her.If all people would have at leat 10 % of love what she has then in this world would not exit war and all would live happin peace. Because people are selfish and egoist, and many are ready to kill just to have better situation, so Usagi is succes, but not for that cruel world, but for a world of peace and love, that we must learn from her.

I just find an amusing dedication from you to complaining about a show that was meant for kids. If you're trying to put it up to serious psychoanalysis, I can't imagine you taking well to...well...any other action show for kids.

I love Sailor Moon; it's my favorite anime and manga. Does this mean I think it's high literature? Hell no. It's brainless schlock and fluff, and that's why I love it. The manga was better, but it was still contrived. I still love the series, though, mostly because of the *potential* in it. The series itself is worse than sub par; the possibilities in the basic premise are endless. I've read some awesome fanfiction, seen some awesome fanart, and come up with my own complex alternative universes. Sailor Moon isn't high culture, but it can be the basis for some damn fine fandom.

It's still stupid, though.