Hello, everyone, this is Psyga315. Anyone remember Sailor Moon? Who has not? It was parodied to hell and back. It defined the Magical Girl genre and many people fell in love with the characters. Despite them being fourteen. There was tons of merchandising, from lunchboxes to dolls to video games to card games. Our focus? A role-playing game. That is right. The creators of Big Eyes Small Mouth made a tabletop role-playing game for Sailor Moon. As odd as that sounds, it sounds like a good game. Hell, someone made a tabletop role-playing game of Snakes On A Plane, so why not Sailor Moon? Well, let us find out.
So our cover has the five scouts standing on a roof top looking all badass. Hell, Sailor Jupiter is in that Badass Arm-Fold pose. However, one problem is the moon. It looks like a gigantic tombstone with that whole moon dropping down thing.
Continuing on, we see the foreword, which gives us our answer to how many pages this thing is: 208. Jesus HC Hammer, that is very big. Granted, some might be dedicated to explaining the back-story for Sailor Moon, because this was made before the internet (and more importantly, The Wiki Rule) was invented. This foreword has “Armed with Canon” and “Running the Asylum” written all over it. This thing boasts to cover every single episode of Sailor Moon, all their movies, and that one special (though sadly, because of how old it is, it does not cover the live action show or Sailor V) so it doubles as a writer’s guide to the Sailor Moon universe. The book also said that this could get girls into role-playing games and thanks to the dub of Sailor Moon; this could double its exposure. Also the otaku, you cannot forget the otaku. So, what did this accomplish? Well, seeing, as I had never heard of this until just now... Yeah, it failed. However, is it still a hidden gem? Let us continue.
The book gives us a little preview of what’s to come. Chapter 1 is a guide for anyone who is new to Sailor Moon and Role-Playing (which I will skip lots of). Chapter 2 is creating a character. Chapter 3 is the game mechanics. Chapter 4 is the setting detail. Chapter 5 is advice for game masters. Chapter 6 has two sample adventures (which I may partake in when I am done with this). And chapter 7 is the writer’s guide I mentioned.
That ends our post... Well... Not really. See, to quote Paul: We are not up to feature length yet. So let us dig into chapter 1 while we are at it.
Chapter 1 contains a page on the history of the Magical Girl genre. Which we could just use TV Tropes for. However, this info looks more detailed than TV Tropes (no offense, Fast Eddie) so if you really want to, you can read it. I won’t stop you. For me, however, I do not care. I just care about the game. I mean, if I were to read this (judging from what I could read) I’d have to put the book down, raise my arms and shout “SYMBOLISM!” every time I see a symbolic connection (and not always to Jesus). This thing dips into the very meaning of the genre, from the “Coming of Age Story” to the “I Just Want to Be Normal” aspects. Finally, the author shuts up about what we might already know by now and then talks about the story of the anime. Again, I am skipping this because I came to review the game, not the anime. It then talks about what role-playing is. I already know what role-playing is so I do not need another lecture. I know, it is meant to capture a new generation and all but seriously? Okay, I will let you read if you want as well. What interests me though is the list of options this game gives you. You can play as...
- A Sailor Scout
- Darien (Okay, it says Knight, but if I recalled correctly, the only two knights were Tuxedo Mask and Moonlight Knight. And they are the same dude!)
- A villain (Hurray! I call Chaos!)
- A descendent of a character (WARNING: INCOMING SUE)
- An Original Character (Don’t steal!)
Okay, so more chatting up about things I know, and then we hit the example of play. If I were working on an RPG, the Example of play would be near the end as a form of an exam for the person reading, so that way they can remember what they read. Anyways, the Example of play... has a guy named Michael playing... Look, I know the boys loved the show as well, but this is like how a boy uses the Easy Bake Oven. It is just weird... Then again, I am considering playing this too... Anyways, I will snark at this as if I am watching an episode of Sailor Moon.
So the example begins with the trio (as in before Jupiter and Venus joining in) reaching the fourth floor. (They are in an apartment) Mercury activates her VR visor (what does it say about the Youma’s power level?), Moon whines that Luna is not here, and Mars does me a favour and tells her to shut up. The trio split up and guess who the Youma attacks? Yep, Sailor Moon. She fails her roll and is about to get pwned by the Youma (who I believe is a blue human-sized Oozaru) before Mars comes in. They demand that Mercury’s transformation pen be returned and Mars roasts the Youma. I like how the player is asked to act it out and Mars’ player is concerned if she’s making too much noise. It is somewhat funny that way. The youma gets knocked out of the window and Mercury snatches her pen as the monster falls, right out of the youma’s paw. Then Molly’s boyfriend comes in and is about to pwn the trio. No, I will Never Live It Down. And it ends Sopranos style. As will this post. I will leave it on this note: There is a great Crack Fic idea offered: Amy quits being a Sailor Scout, becomes president of the United States, and then marries the ghost of Malachite.
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