Live Action Sailor Moon update (Toei 'Napalm' Making of Special Part 1)

Wednesday, July 7th - 4:45 am
Update - Jay Navok

Live Action Sailor Moon update (Toei Napalm "Making of" Part 1)

It's just like the real thing!

A couple weeks ago the Toei page put up a 'making of' special below the previews that discuss the big explosion scene with Princess Sailor Moon from Act 36. I've provided a translation of the first half of that page, and will hopefully find time to complete it later in the week. Since we continue to not use images from the Toei page, I recommend reading this alongside the page itself as with the previews. I have, however, MS Painted a few equivalent pictures of what's located on that page for, uh, reference.

Starting right below the picture that says "Staff interview" in the box located next to the picture of Princess Sailor Moon walking out of the fire:

Act 36, Princess Sailor Moon's appearance.

"Let's go napalm!" calls out supervisor Suzumura. Saying, "You cast have been working here at Toei but without the real Toei experience..." and combined with his desire to "represent" the Princess, this fiery introduction is a form of parental affection. (Uh, really?)

So, this is the "Explosion scene" making of special. (While it's a making of, be aware that some of the photos may not be appropriate for young children.")

First section between the red header and the flower image:

What's napalm?

We had thought, "This isn't something 'Sailor Moon' would do" and "There'd be no reason to film any 'napalm' [in this case, large explosives]" and yet here we all came to the [napalm] shooting location.

In film terminology, what we're calling "Napalm" is actually gasoline-fueled explosions.

While it shares the same explosive name, it doesn't have the same ever-burning nature of the incendiary bomb used as the root term. The "napalm" used for shooting combusts instantly so its power to kill and wound someone is pretty small.

Of course, a bomb is still a bomb.

Picture caption 1: Places that allow explosions in the Kantou region are on the verge of extinction. This shooting location was referred to us by the sentai series production department.

Picture caption 2: "Yahooooo!" Taking in the beautiful scenery is the "Master" and his mysterious blonde-haired young colleague.

Now below the first flower; the section with a picture of Princess Sailor Moon pointing her sword toward a camera, and Dekaranger running through fire (the caption says, "From Dekaranger. Episode 13, Dekamaster Hinoshita-san's gallant figure.")

The best scene in today's shoot is when Princess Sailor Moon (stage nickname: P-Moon), whilst eluding her enemy's attacks, calmly walks through the heart of the explosion.

The actress herself, Sawai Miyuu, told us, "Oh I do this kind of stuff all the time" but that's a half-truth. (A good natured lie, at least.)

"Advancing through fire" seems to be Toei's hallmark, of a sort. But 9 times out of 10, it's an action scene where a, "masked character goes through the fire recklessly." What Miyuu-san challenged in this scene was "previously-unperformed territory" of sorts, wasn't it?

Below the next flower, it has a picture of Beryl, Endymion, and company, and a picture of the explosion:

To begin with, there was a preliminary test.

The first napalm explosion in the "Sailor Moon" series comes from Queen Beryl (Sugimoto-san). In this scene cut, P-Moon returns the attack in the star barrier and reflects the energy's impact onto Mamoru and the others' side.

Now the area between the red reader and a flower image:

The moment of explosion.
While she's blinking, her body is standing perfectly still!
(Since the hanging hair [wig] can get easily bruised, a protective cover over it is worn. These things are also known as "Umbrella bags.")

The picture caption for the image with Mercury and Jupiter in a screen covered with smoke says: Old hands at getting hit, from Act 10. While it was the same supervisor Suzumura, the scale in this case is way too different!

Hama-san and Azama-san eek in response. This is the correct reaction. When/If a fireball as large as a building comes out in front of you, and hot winds as well as loud reverberations pass over you, you mustn't/can't be peaceful at all.

5 seconds later.
The two of them can't hide their trembling. Miyuu-san calmly observes ground zero's appearance?

10 seconds later.
"Whoah, as I'm thinking how hot it is, there are sparks of fire! They've flown all the way over here!"

Miyuu-san finally recovers her senses.
By the way, for the sake of weight training, she's been walking around carrying her sword the whooole time.

We asked her for her impressions of the scene.

"You didn't quiver at all during the first explosion. (Do you think it's because) your getting 'inside her' is already perfect?"
Miyuu: "It wasn't that I didn't move, it was that I couldn't move. My face was pale white. Will I be able to act..."
So the first thing she's concerned about is her "acting" huh...

That's all for the time being. Thanks kenji for corrections!!

The MS Paint contest has been won and since there was a tie we had two winners. I'd like to thank everyone who entered; even if you didn't win, there'll be another contest, and all entries will be displayed in the main article.