A Trip to Nostalgia with the Sailor Guardian’s Art Exhibit in Mori Tower
All girls from my generation probably know the girl with long, pig-tailed, blonde hair sporting a skimpy sailor-like uniform doing cool poses with her equally-coordinated friends at her side. Really, who would have no idea of Sailor Moon?
In my country, around the end of the 20th century until the early 21st century, everyone knows Sailor Moon that many even looked up to her and her friends in terms of the definition of “cool and pretty”. Cosplaying as one of the Sailor Guardians can only be pulled-off by a chosen few but every girl wants to at least try doing the cool poses (if not for the costumes and hairstyles).
In Japan, Sailor Moon’s influence is still strong even if the first episode of the anime version was aired more than 20 years back that you can say its fanbase can be at par of those of Hello Kitty or Doraemon. So it’s not totally unusual for this country to set up an exhibition solely to commemorate the awesomeness of Sailor Moon.
Originally a manga by Naoko Takeuchi, Sailor Moon was turned into an animation series in 1992 and was even given various stage musical adaptations. And from April 16 to July 19 at Roppongi Hills Mori Tower Mori Arts Center Gallery, an special showcase will be running to commemorate the franchise with the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Exhibition. This features more than 20 years of Sailor Moon’s history, memorabilia, music, and more. With that promise, a nostalgic trip from my childhood will surely commence.
Me and a friend went on the first Saturday afternoon since the opening of the exhibit, which is probably a bad idea because of the expected number of visitors that wants to see the exhibit like us. Also, we got ourselves a Tokyo Art Museum + Tokyo City View one-year passport that will let us have unlimited access to specific exhibits in the Mori Museum and the Sky Deck for an entire year. And since the special exhibit then was of Sailor Moon’s, we didn’t get the boring Pass Card but this:
The exhibit is at the 52nd floor of the Mori Tower and as we got there, we were surprised of its prime location. The curtains were up and the area’s backdrop was an awesome view of Tokyo’s sky line.
It took us about ten minutes just taking pictures and we haven’t even entered the main part of the exhibit. Hahahaha
As we tried to move on from the breath-taking Tokyo scenery, a few steps away, we then saw the first indication that we’re on the right place for a trip to nostalgia.
A standee of Sailor Moon with her signature pose was flocked by visitors taking pictures. What’s great about this was that at her back, was a view of Tokyo Tower (which was always present whenever she does that pose in the animated series).
There was even a photographer “directing” the people to have their perfect pose with the Pretty Guardians as their background. We lined up and took the shot but we need to pay more than 1000 yen for an enlarged version. Since we looked really awkward in the picture, we didn’t take it but was, at least, given the small version as souvenir.
The walls too have some murals of the other characters from the series.
Inside the exhibit proper, we were taken to a trip of the manga’s original storyboards. It even displayed the first looks of the characters from the brainstorming stage of the production. Some characters I do not know (that really made me doubt why I have no idea of the handsome friends of Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon’s other child aside from Chibiusa) can also be seen and lots of cool memorabilia ranging from action figures, playing cards, jewelleries, and even game center machines with just Sailor Moon decorated on it. Some of the stuff I was able to remember that I had when I was a kid and it sure took me back and excited me. But what made me have some serious trip to memory lane was the continuous playing of the Sailor Moon animated series’ theme song. It sure gave me a long due of LSS (last song syndrome).
More features were available inside the exhibit. There was a small room that showed a short clip of the Pretty Guardian’s plot history. Also, beautiful posters of the Pretty Guardians were hanged on the walls in this one corner of the exhibit. Every picture was so pretty that I want to take it all home with me. At this part too, I found out that there was an all-girls stage musical version of Sailor Moon. Yes, ALL GIRLS because even Tuxedo Mask was played by a female. The clip being shown from the official DVD was very entertaining that it made me watch, probably, the entire thing even if it already went on repeat. All from the cast were very pretty and I do think that they gave justice to the roles they were portraying.
After going around and taking plenty of pictures, we decided to have a short break from all the Sailor Moon stuff. Luckily, as mentioned earlier, our “Passport” allows us to have unlimited access to Mori Building’s Sky Deck, which for me allows us to have a good feel of the best viewing spot of Tokyo (especially of Tokyo Tower)
We stayed in this area for about an hour (good thing the weather was great, not too cold and not too hot) just chatting and fooling around. If the weather is nice, I also recommend this place as a good hangout spot in Tokyo.
After the sights, we’re definitely up for some food. What’s great about a special exhibit is that the Mori Art Museum transforms their Moon Café into a themed café. This time, it turned into Chibiusa Café.
As expected, their menu was also very much inspired by Sailor Moon with prices ranging from 1000-2000 yen per meal.
There was also the shop that sells all kinds of Sailor Moon goods you can probably think of. From its first edition of mangas of the series, DVDs, photobooks, action figures, expensive jewelries and watches, and even biscuits, they have it. I’m a cheapo so I only bought a postcard as a souvenir.
Overall, the exhibition was an enjoyable experience. The amount of nostalgia got me to enjoy it a lot. And what will make it more worth it is to also avail of the Sky Deck Pass especially for those staying in Tokyo. A pretty nice deal for one year, right? Such a good deal that I’m already planning for my next trip to the Mori Tower for another art exhibit.
In my country, around the end of the 20th century until the early 21st century, everyone knows Sailor Moon that many even looked up to her and her friends in terms of the definition of “cool and pretty”. Cosplaying as one of the Sailor Guardians can only be pulled-off by a chosen few but every girl wants to at least try doing the cool poses (if not for the costumes and hairstyles).
In Japan, Sailor Moon’s influence is still strong even if the first episode of the anime version was aired more than 20 years back that you can say its fanbase can be at par of those of Hello Kitty or Doraemon. So it’s not totally unusual for this country to set up an exhibition solely to commemorate the awesomeness of Sailor Moon.
Originally a manga by Naoko Takeuchi, Sailor Moon was turned into an animation series in 1992 and was even given various stage musical adaptations. And from April 16 to July 19 at Roppongi Hills Mori Tower Mori Arts Center Gallery, an special showcase will be running to commemorate the franchise with the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Exhibition. This features more than 20 years of Sailor Moon’s history, memorabilia, music, and more. With that promise, a nostalgic trip from my childhood will surely commence.
Me and a friend went on the first Saturday afternoon since the opening of the exhibit, which is probably a bad idea because of the expected number of visitors that wants to see the exhibit like us. Also, we got ourselves a Tokyo Art Museum + Tokyo City View one-year passport that will let us have unlimited access to specific exhibits in the Mori Museum and the Sky Deck for an entire year. And since the special exhibit then was of Sailor Moon’s, we didn’t get the boring Pass Card but this:
The exhibit is at the 52nd floor of the Mori Tower and as we got there, we were surprised of its prime location. The curtains were up and the area’s backdrop was an awesome view of Tokyo’s sky line.
It took us about ten minutes just taking pictures and we haven’t even entered the main part of the exhibit. Hahahaha
As we tried to move on from the breath-taking Tokyo scenery, a few steps away, we then saw the first indication that we’re on the right place for a trip to nostalgia.
A standee of Sailor Moon with her signature pose was flocked by visitors taking pictures. What’s great about this was that at her back, was a view of Tokyo Tower (which was always present whenever she does that pose in the animated series).
There was even a photographer “directing” the people to have their perfect pose with the Pretty Guardians as their background. We lined up and took the shot but we need to pay more than 1000 yen for an enlarged version. Since we looked really awkward in the picture, we didn’t take it but was, at least, given the small version as souvenir.
The walls too have some murals of the other characters from the series.
Inside the exhibit proper, we were taken to a trip of the manga’s original storyboards. It even displayed the first looks of the characters from the brainstorming stage of the production. Some characters I do not know (that really made me doubt why I have no idea of the handsome friends of Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon’s other child aside from Chibiusa) can also be seen and lots of cool memorabilia ranging from action figures, playing cards, jewelleries, and even game center machines with just Sailor Moon decorated on it. Some of the stuff I was able to remember that I had when I was a kid and it sure took me back and excited me. But what made me have some serious trip to memory lane was the continuous playing of the Sailor Moon animated series’ theme song. It sure gave me a long due of LSS (last song syndrome).
More features were available inside the exhibit. There was a small room that showed a short clip of the Pretty Guardian’s plot history. Also, beautiful posters of the Pretty Guardians were hanged on the walls in this one corner of the exhibit. Every picture was so pretty that I want to take it all home with me. At this part too, I found out that there was an all-girls stage musical version of Sailor Moon. Yes, ALL GIRLS because even Tuxedo Mask was played by a female. The clip being shown from the official DVD was very entertaining that it made me watch, probably, the entire thing even if it already went on repeat. All from the cast were very pretty and I do think that they gave justice to the roles they were portraying.
After going around and taking plenty of pictures, we decided to have a short break from all the Sailor Moon stuff. Luckily, as mentioned earlier, our “Passport” allows us to have unlimited access to Mori Building’s Sky Deck, which for me allows us to have a good feel of the best viewing spot of Tokyo (especially of Tokyo Tower)
We stayed in this area for about an hour (good thing the weather was great, not too cold and not too hot) just chatting and fooling around. If the weather is nice, I also recommend this place as a good hangout spot in Tokyo.
After the sights, we’re definitely up for some food. What’s great about a special exhibit is that the Mori Art Museum transforms their Moon Café into a themed café. This time, it turned into Chibiusa Café.
As expected, their menu was also very much inspired by Sailor Moon with prices ranging from 1000-2000 yen per meal.
There was also the shop that sells all kinds of Sailor Moon goods you can probably think of. From its first edition of mangas of the series, DVDs, photobooks, action figures, expensive jewelries and watches, and even biscuits, they have it. I’m a cheapo so I only bought a postcard as a souvenir.
Overall, the exhibition was an enjoyable experience. The amount of nostalgia got me to enjoy it a lot. And what will make it more worth it is to also avail of the Sky Deck Pass especially for those staying in Tokyo. A pretty nice deal for one year, right? Such a good deal that I’m already planning for my next trip to the Mori Tower for another art exhibit.