While I was a big fan of the 1990’s Sailor Moon, I remember how useless some of the individual episode villains were (and how ridiculous some of their costumes looked). I guess when you are a throw-a-way villain of the week it doesn’t really matter. Still, here’s my list of top 5 Sailor Moon episode villains. My criteria here are that they had to be introduced and killed in the same episode, they came from season 1 of the original 1990’s anime, and they made me actually remember them. As an added bonus, their outfit had to be totally ridiculous (though that more or less goes without saying).
Please Note – There will be spoilers below.
Honourable mentions this week: Murid (because of her dream or illusion ability) and Petasos (because she looks ridiculous).
Number 5: Ramua
Early in the series, Serena and Ami are investigating some cursed clock and they end up encountering Ramua who apparently has the ability to control time. What’s interesting is that while Sailor Moon gets transformed into a child at one point, Ramua doesn’t just cause her to die of old age instantaneously which is what I would think an effective villain would do at that point in time. Anyway, Ramua makes the list because of her striking facial features, and because they make such a big deal later on about Sailor Pluto being the guardian of time and yet here’s a villain playing with it like it is nothing.
Number 4: Garoben
Garoben isn’t exactly spectacular as a villain and her appearance is pretty cliché, though that weapon attached to her hand looks pretty deadly. The reason she’s on the list is because she was the first villain who made me realise even as a younger viewer that Sailor Moon wasn’t your typical girl’s cartoon. She literally grabs Ami by the head and shoves her face at the computer screen. That kind of hands on violence was almost unheard of in 90’s shows aimed at young girls. Whenever I think monster of the week, Garoben is one of the faces that immediately comes to mind.
Number 3: Cameran
Not entirely sure if I got the name right and googling this one got me more confused as I saw more variations. While she was a later villain in the story and wasn’t particularly noteworthy, except for the part where she foolishly zapped herself with her own power which kind of makes her memorable, Cameran is on the list for the sheer ridiculousness of her design. What is with those shoulders? I honestly had to wonder if she would actually be able to even move her arms properly.
Number 2: Blizzar
Okay, take in that outfit for a moment. Are we actually supposed to take a villain literally wearing snowmen that look like they are screaming in pain seriously? Despite that, Blizzar was actually a pretty decent villain of the week. She transformed from a skier who was very fit so actually had some good moves on her. Plus the scouts were separated so it wasn’t like they could gang up on snow-ball girl.
Number 1: Shakoukai
I don’t know if it is the fact that she was a villain who didn’t resort to screaming or empty threats, or whether it was because she’s covered in clam-shells that somehow shoot clay, but Shakoukai (or the English name: Polite Society) was always one of my favourite villains. I liked that even mid-battle she felt the need to correct Sailor Moon’s grammar and was so upset by getting conflicting commands she literally just stopped fighting and waited for Sailor Moon to heal her. All and all, she was an interesting villain though not perhaps the most effective.
Okay, that was my list of Sailor Moon monster of the week villains. Who would you have chosen from Sailor Moon or who is your favourite monster of the week villain from any anime?
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This list was great! Have you seen the list of Top 10 Sailor Moon Villains of the week by SailorMoonSubs on Tumblr? Snow man tits was also on her list haha! Elephant vaccuum cleaner was one of my favourite villains haha.
http://sailormoonsub.tumblr.com/post/130477377872/top-10-sailor-moon-monster-of-the-week
I hadn’t seen that but thanks for the list.
Very interesting. My favorite is actually your number 5. I found it interesting that she turned Sailor Moon into a child, although nothing ever happened with it in the episode.
I know, it was a cool power and she should have been a really impossible to beat villain. Too bad she didn’t use her skill effectively.
Yeah. I know a separate villain does something similar in SuperS, but it doesn’t go anywhere either other than some Chibiusa development.
I forgot how crazy these character designs were. The 90s were a strange time.
This is why 1990’s Sailor Moon is such a hard sell now. It isn’t that the show isn’t awesome in its own 90’s way, it is more that people take one look at some of those villains, listen to Serena’s wail, and they run screaming in the opposite direction.
It’s a shame people can’t really look past those, uh, features.
I’ve yet to watch any kind of Sailor Moon (oops) so I can’t contribute my own villains but wow, those are some really wild character designs.
Later season villains only get more interesting with their designs (or weird depending on your view). Admittedly, the ongoing villains tend to fair a bit better in their costumes at least than the villains of the week.
Most of the villains in the Sailor Moon were very useless, although some of them were really tough as nails. My favorite would be the cat girl enemy in Sailor Moon Super, The cannon lady (an indestructible force to be recognized) and the kangaroo boxer (melee madness galore) in Sailor Moon SuperS.
Some of the villains of the week got better in later seasons, but they were always very disposable characters really.
The bat monster Kyurene from the jazz club episode (episode 6?) creeped me out.
Look I’ve never been able to get into anime I don’t know why I mean I still like yu gi oh but that’s cause I watched it as a child
Shakoukai also had one of the better designs, that sort of chaotic beauty you’d want out of a magical girl series villain.
I just loved her personality and how she lost the fight because she had to correct Serena’s poor grammar.
If you want odd Sailor Moon ‘monsters of the week’, you should check out Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon some time. I’ll never forget the time the senshi used a monster’s tentacles as jump ropes. (I wish I could remember the ep number…)