Sailor Moon R: The Movie

Sailor Moon R: The Movie is the first of three theatrically released Sailor Moon films. Its full name in Japanese, Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon R The Movie, became Sailor Moon R the Movie: Promise of the Rose in the English-language dub. The film debuted in Japanese theaters on December 5, 1993 and Pioneer Entertainment released it in the United States on February 8, 2000. It takes its name from the second arc of the Sailor Moon anime, Sailor Moon R, as Toei distributed it around the same time. The events portrayed seem to take place somewhere near the very end of the series, as Rini knows about the identities of the Sailor Scouts, knows that Serena is her mother and is still around, the characters are in the present rather than the future, and Darien and Serena are back together.

This movie's English adaptation produced by Pioneer and Optimum Productions was released both edited and unedited. The cut version, seen in the VHS and television formats, used the original DIC music from the series, and had the transformation sequences airbrushed to remove bodylines that were tracing the characters' breasts. During the beginning of the end song "The Power of Love", Serenity is completely nude with ribbons flowing around her. When viewed completely from the front the shot is lowered to remove any signs of her lower half below the naval area. The uncut version, only seen in the DVD release, kept the original Japanese music and bodylines as well as the original format during the end song with Serenity complete nude scene untouched

The movie premiered on Cartoon Network's Toonami block on November 2, 2001.

Synopsis
In his youth, Darien hands a mysterious boy a rose before he disappears, vowing to bring Darien a flower. In the present day, Darien meets up with Serena and the Sailor Scouts at the Jindai Botanical Garden. Serena tries to kiss Darien, but when he suspects the other Scouts of spying on him, he walks off alone.

As Darien is standing outside the Garden, the sky turns dark as flower petals begin to fall. In the distance, a stranger appears from the garden's fountain who takes Dariens hand and tells him he found a flower worthy of their friendship. At that point, Serena tries to break the man's grasp on Darien, but is knocked down when the man forcefully pushes her. The man vows that no one will prevent him from keeping his promise before disappearing again. Darien tells Serena that the stranger's name is Fiore. At Raye's temple, the Scouts discuss an asteroid which has started to approach Earth and on which Luna and Artemis have discovered traces of vegetal life. The talk turns into gossip about Darien's and Fiore's possible relationship, while Serena thinks about how Darien had told her that he had no family and was alone, and how she had promised him she would be his family from now on.

Fiore sends a flower-monster, Glycina, to Tokyo, which the following morning, began to drain the population's life-energy, but the Sailor Scouts free them and are confronted by the monster. The monster tries to attack Rini, but Serena jumps in and grabs Rini, while crashing into a restaurant. The Glycina reveals itself, and attacks Amy and Raye. Lita and Mina transform into Sailors Jupiter and Venus and fight the monster. The monster then looses it's grip on Amy and Raye, giving them the chance to transform to Sailors Mercury and Mars and join the fight. As the girls continued fighting, Rini tries to wake Serena up, letting her know that the girls have transformed and are fighting. As Serena prepares to transform, Rini thanks her for saving her life.

Serena transforms into Sailor Moon, and manages to distract Glycina as it was strangling the other girls. Sailor Mercury freezes Glycina, and then Sailor Moon uses her wand to destroy the monster. At that point, Fiore appears, revealing his responsibility for the attack, and reveals he is using a Xenian Flower to further his plans. He then sticks his hand out, and severely injures the Scouts. Before he could attack Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask appears and distracts Fiore. As he tries to talk Fiore out of his evil, he notices the red rose on the ground, which makes him think that Darien remembers the promise he made years ago. Tuxedo Mask, however, does not give in to Fiore's statement, stating his heart is no longer pure. Before Fiore could give in to Tuxedo Mask's request, the Xenian Flower begins to control Fiore, causing him to attack Sailor Moon. Tuxedo Mask then saves Sailor Moon from death when Fiore struck Darien with his stretching claws. Fiore then takes Darien into the sky and disappears with him. Sailor Moon was heartbroken...

Meanwhile, Darien is inside a crystal filled with liquid. While in the crystal, Darien remembers meeting Fiore after his parents died in a car accident. Darien had previously assumed that he had made up the boy as an imaginary friend. Fiore explains that he had to leave Darien because of the Earth's unsuitable atmosphere; Darien gave Fiore a rose before disappearing. Fiore searched the galaxy to find a flower for Darien, finding the Xenian flower in the process. Seeking revenge on the humans for his loneliness, Fiore returns to Earth. Darien, however, explains he has family on Earth, but Fiore refuses to listen due to being controlled by the Xenian Flower.

Meanwhile, Luna and Artemis tell the Scouts that the Xenian flower can destroy planets using weak-hearted people. Sailor Mercury realizes that the energy from the flower-monster's evil energy matches a similar energy being emitted from the asteroid approaching the Earth, deducing that Fiore has hidden there. The Scouts decide to rescue Darien, but as they were leaving, Sailor Moon refuses to do so, stating that she is at fault for Darien's disappearance. At this point, Rini convinces her to save Darien and confront Fiore.

The scouts then use Sailor Teleport to warp into outer space. After their teleportation is finished, the Scouts fly to the asteroid. But as the girls begin to descend onto the asteroid, Fiore sends another monster, a Campanula, to attack the Scouts. As the Campanula begins to turn around, Sailor Venus leads everyone into the Sailor Planet Attack to finish the monster off. They strike head-first into the monster, and land onto the asteroid's surface.

After Sailor Mercury finds Tuxedo Mask's crystal, Sailor Moon tries to run to him, but Sailor Jupter warns that it could be a trap by Fiore. Fiore then appears, and reveals that he will scatter flower-seeds to drain humanity's energy on Earth. The Scouts then fight hundreds of flower-monsters, but the Sailor Scouts are captured. After Fiore orders Sailor Moon to surrender, Sailor Moon is unable to feel his loneliness; Fiore begins to drain her life-force. Darien escapes and saves Sailor Moon by throwing a rose at Fiore. The rose embedded in Fiore's chest blossoms, freeing him from the Xenian's control. The flowers on the asteroid disappear, but it continues to hurdle towards Earth. Serena uses the Silver Crystal to transform into Princess Serenity in order to change the course of the asteroid. Fiore tries to stop Serena's transformation, but he soon realizes that Serena had given Darien the rose that was once given to him. The immense power and energy from the Silver Crystal obliterates Fiore and the Xenian. Darien and the Sailor Scouts lend Princess Serenity their powers and abilities to sustain the Silver Crystal as the asteroid descends towards Earth. The Silver Crystal shatters, the asteroid disintegrates and Serena dies. On Earth, despite Luna and Artemis' concern over why the Scouts are taking too long, Rini assures them that the Scouts are all right.

Meanwhile, on the disintegrated asteroid, the girls and Darien cry over Serena, but Fiore reappears and thanks Darien. Using a nectar-filled flower with Fiore's life-energy, Darien wets his lips with the nectar and kisses Serena, reviving her and repowering the Silver Crystal. Fiore, reduced to the form of a child again, returns to space to live in peace.

Heroes

 * Sailor Moon/Serena
 * Tuxedo Mask/Darien
 * Sailor Mars/Raye
 * Sailor Mercury/Amy
 * Sailor Jupiter/Lita
 * Sailor Venus/Mina

Villains

 * Fiore
 * Xenian Flower
 * Glycina
 * Campanula

Supporting Characters

 * Luna
 * Artemis
 * Sailor Mini Moon/Rini