Sailor Moon, originally released in Japan as Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon (Japanese: 美少女戦士セーラームーン, Hepburn: Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn; later translated as Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon), is a Japanese superhero anime TV show produced by Toei Animation. It is based on the manga of the same name written by Naoko Takeuchi, which was published in Nakayoshi magazine from 1992 to 1997. Sailor Moon first aired in Japan on TV Asahi from March 7, 1992, to February 8, 1997. The show was translated and released in other regions around the world, including North America, Southeast Asia, Greater China, Australia, Europe, and Latin America.
Set in the 1990s, the series follows the adventures of the main character, Usagi Tsukino, a middle school student who gains the power to become a Pretty Soldier. With the help of other Sailor Soldiers, she protects Earth from evil villains. The anime also shows Usagi growing up from a young girl into a responsible adult.
After the anime became popular in the United States, the manga was released there by Tokyopop. The success of Sailor Moon led to many other media, such as movies, video games, and music. A new animated version called Sailor Moon Crystal, which follows the manga more closely, began airing worldwide in July 2014.
Plot
In the 1990s in Tokyo, a 14-year-old girl named Usagi Tsukino, who is not doing well in school, meets a magical cat named Luna. Luna gives Usagi the power to change into a magical hero named Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon's mission is to find the moon princess and fight the evil forces of the Dark Kingdom. When Usagi first transforms into her magical sailor suit with Luna's help, she becomes very nervous and agrees to take on this new role, even though she does not understand what will happen next. She does not yet know the challenges she will face, the friends she will make, or the journey ahead. As she continues, she learns to accept her role and understands the importance of fighting evil.
The Dark Kingdom, led by Queen Beryl, creates monsters called Youma to take energy from humans and give it to an evil ruler named Queen Metaria. They also want to find the Silver Crystal, a powerful gem. Usagi fights the Dark Kingdom with help from other girls who also become magical heroes. These girls include Ami Mizuno (Sailor Mercury), a smart but shy girl; Rei Hino (Sailor Mars), a strong-willed girl who is a religious girl; Makoto Kino (Sailor Jupiter), a tough but kind-hearted girl; and Minako Aino (Sailor Venus), a girl who wants to be a singer. Minako is helped by Artemis, a cat who works with Luna. The magical heroes are also supported by a mysterious man named Tuxedo Mask, whose real name is Mamoru Chiba, a college student who later becomes Usagi's boyfriend.
After many battles, Usagi becomes the moon princess, Princess Serenity, and gains the Silver Crystal. However, Mamoru is captured by the Dark Kingdom and forced to work for them. The magical heroes learn about their past lives in Silver Millennium, an ancient moon kingdom. There, they were friends and protectors of Princess Serenity, who loved a prince from Earth named Endymion (Mamoru's past name). The Dark Kingdom destroyed Silver Millennium, killing Serenity, Endymion, and the heroes. Serenity's mother, Queen Serenity, used the Silver Crystal to defeat Queen Metaria and send the heroes to the future to be reborn on Earth, hoping for peace.
The heroes find the Dark Kingdom at the North Pole but lose their friends while trying to protect Usagi. Usagi faces Mamoru alone, frees him from the Dark Kingdom's control, and saves him from dying. She then uses the Silver Crystal to fight Queen Beryl, who has joined with Queen Metaria. Usagi defeats Queen Beryl with the help of the heroes' spirits and the Silver Crystal's power. Usagi dies but uses the last of the crystal's power to bring herself, the heroes, and Mamoru back to life, allowing them to live normal lives. No one remembers these events except Luna and Artemis.
Later, two aliens named Ail and An arrive on Earth with a tree called the Makai Tree, which takes energy from humans. They create monsters called Cardians to attack people. Luna helps the heroes remember their powers, and Ail and An are defeated. Mamoru regains his memories and starts a relationship with Usagi.
Soon after, a girl named Chibiusa falls from the sky, revealing she came from the future to find the Silver Crystal and save her parents. She is chased by the Black Moon Clan, who want to destroy her and change history. The heroes travel to the future, where Usagi rules Crystal Tokyo as Neo-Queen Serenity. They learn Chibiusa is Usagi and Mamoru's future daughter and meet Sailor Pluto, who guards the space-time door. The heroes fight Death Phantom, who controls the Black Moon Clan and tries to destroy Earth. Death Phantom tricks Chibiusa into becoming his servant, Black Lady, but the heroes free her. Chibiusa uses the future Silver Crystal to defeat Death Phantom, then returns to her time.
Later, the heroes face the Death Busters, a group at Mugen Academy that creates monsters called Daimons to steal special crystals from humans. Haruka Tenoh and Michiru Kaioh join the heroes as Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. They also search for special items called Talismans. Setsuna Meioh, who is Sailor Pluto in the past, helps revive Haruka and Michiru after they are killed. The Talismans create the Holy Grail, giving Usagi a stronger form: Super Sailor Moon. The Death Busters try to collect more crystals to bring back a powerful enemy named Mistress 9, while Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto search for the true Messiah. Chibiusa befriends Hotaru, who is secretly Sailor Saturn, a hero with the power to destroy planets. The heroes fear Saturn's power might destroy Earth but Usagi refuses to harm her.
Mistress 9 lives inside Hotaru and takes Chibiusa's crystal, allowing her to summon the Death Busters' leader, Pharaoh 90, to destroy Earth. Hotaru becomes Sailor Saturn and fights Mistress 9, planning to sacrifice herself to stop Pharaoh 90. Usagi uses her Super form to help Saturn defeat Pharaoh 90. Hotaru is reborn as a baby and returned to her father. Uranus and Neptune challenge Usagi in a final battle to prove she is the true Messiah and future queen. After the battle, they accept her as their leader. Chibiusa later receives a letter from her parents.
Production and broadcasting
Naoko Takeuchi first planned the Sailor Moon manga and anime to last only one season. Because the first season was popular, Toei Animation asked Takeuchi to continue writing the manga. However, she had difficulty creating a new story for a second season. Her editor, Fumio Osano, suggested introducing Sailor Moon’s daughter from the future as the focus of the second season. To give Takeuchi time to write the Black Moon story, the anime team created a temporary story called the Makai (Hell) Tree arc.
The Sailor Moon anime is based on 52 chapters of the manga, which were published in Nakayoshi magazine from 1992 to 1997. The first season was directed by Junichi Satō, with Kazuko Tadano as the character designer. For the second season, Satō directed the Makai Tree arc, while Kunihiko Ikuhara directed the Black Moon arc. Ikuhara directed the third and fourth seasons, and Ikuko Itoh became the character designer starting with the third season. The fifth and final season was directed by Takuya Igarashi, with Katsumi Tamegai as the character designer. The series first aired in Japan on TV Asahi on March 7, 1992, replacing the show Goldfish Warning! It ran for 200 episodes until it ended on February 8, 1997.
Because the manga was often published while the anime was being made, the anime was only slightly behind the manga by about one or two months. As a result, the anime closely followed the manga’s story, though some differences occurred. Takeuchi noted that because many of the anime’s producers were men, the anime version has a slight male perspective.
The Sailor Moon anime consists of five seasons: Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon R, Sailor Moon S, Sailor Moon SuperS, and Sailor Moon Sailor Stars. Each season corresponds to a major story arc in the manga, following the same general storyline and featuring most of the same characters. Toei also created five special animated shorts. The anime was sold in Japan as 20 volumes, with each volume selling about 300,000 copies by the end of 1995.
In 1995, after a competition between companies, DIC Productions, SeaGull Entertainment, and Sachs Finley Media licensed the first two seasons of Sailor Moon for an English-language release in North America. Optimum Productions was hired to dub the anime, and Bob Summers created a new background score. DIC made changes to the content and length, shortening the first 89 episodes by seven. These changes were meant to make the show similar to the popular Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
The series premiered in Canada on YTV on August 28, 1995, and in the U.S. on September 11, 1995, but production stopped in November 1995 after two seasons due to low ratings. Although it had some success in Canada, the U.S. version aired during early morning timeslots, which were not ideal for the show’s target audience. Because the dubbing was done in Canada, the series was considered Canadian enough to air in prime time as local content. After the series was canceled, fans created a petition with over 12,500 signatures. This led General Mills to sponsor and syndicate the Sailor Moon dub in 1997. Reruns of the canceled dub began on USA Network on June 9, 1997. Production on the second season’s final 17 episodes, Sailor Moon R, was later completed and aired in Canada from September 20 to November 21, 1997. Reruns of the series began on Cartoon Network’s Toonami block on June 1, 1998. Additional episodes, called "The Lost Episodes," were later aired in 1999. In 2004, the series was removed from YTV in Canada.
In 2009, re-runs of Sailor Moon began in Japan on Animax. In 2010, Toei licensed the series for broadcast in Italy on Mediaset, leading to an international revival. Later, Toei licensed the series for countries where it had not previously aired. In 2014, Viz Media acquired the rights to the Sailor Moon anime, films, and specials for an English-language release in North America. Viz also hired Studiopolis to re-dub the series. The series began streaming in the U.S. on Neon Alley and Hulu on May 19, 2014. In Canada, it was available on Tubi TV with Japanese audio from July 2016 to November 2023 and on Crave with English audio from September 2020 to September 2023. In 2014, Madman Entertainment in Australia re-acquired the rights to the series for release in uncut format with the Viz English adaptation in 2015. On May 31, 2024, the Viz dub began airing on Adult Swim as part of the Toonami Rewind block, marking the first broadcast of Sailor Moon in the U.S. in 23 years.
The original North American release of Sailor Moon included many changes, such as altering character names, clothing, scenes, and dialogue. Some scenes with brief nudity or bathing were censored, and all violence, including violence against children, was removed. In other countries, changes included altering a character’s gender or editing romantic relationships between characters. Sociology professor Rhea Hoskin noted that the removal of LGBTQ+ characters in the 1990s version of Sailor Moon highlights the limited representation of these groups in media at the time. Modern releases restore the censored material from the original Japanese version.
Music
Takanori Arisawa created the music for the anime series Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon. In 1993, he received the Golden Disk Grand Prize from Columbia Records for his work on the first series' soundtrack. From 1998 to 2001, Arisawa won three JASRAC International Awards for earning the most international royalties, which was largely due to the worldwide popularity of Sailor Moon music.
The first opening theme, "Moonlight Densetsu" (ムーンライト伝説, Mūnraito Densetsu; meaning "Moonlight Legend"), was used for the first 166 episodes. It was sung by the group DALI during the first two seasons and by Moon Lips during the next two seasons. The second opening theme, "Sailor Star Song," performed by Kae Hanazawa, was used for the remaining episodes. The final ending theme, used in the series finale at episode 200, was Moon Lips's version of "Moonlight Densetsu."
The English version of the Sailor Moon anime, produced by DiC, Cloverway, and Optimum, used the melody of "Moonlight Densetsu" with new English lyrics. At the time, it was rare for anime theme songs to be translated, and this was one of the first such translations since Star Blazers. The English version of the theme was described as "simple but easy to remember." The Japanese version is a love song about the relationship between the characters Usagi and Mamoru ("born on the same Earth"), while the English version sounds more like a superhero anthem.
The song "Moonlight Densetsu" was released as a CD single in March 1992 and became a major success. It won first place in the Song category of Animage's 15th and 16th Anime Grand Prix. It placed seventh in the 17th Grand Prix, and "Moon Revenge" from Sailor Moon R: The Movie placed eighth. "Rashiku Ikimasho," the second closing song for SuperS, placed eighteenth in 1996. In 1997, "Sailor Star Song," the new opening theme for Sailor Stars, placed eleventh, and "Moonlight Densetsu" placed sixteenth.
Related media
In Japan, the anime series Sailor Moon was first sold on VHS tapes during its original broadcast. The first VHS was released on July 25, 1993. The series did not get a DVD release until 2002. DVDs containing six episodes each began being sold on May 21, 2002. A Blu-ray collection of the series was released on January 25, 2017, to celebrate the franchise's 25th anniversary as Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. Each season in the collection had 23 episodes per volume.
In 2014, Viz Media announced plans to release the series on Blu-ray and DVD. The first set was made available on November 11, 2014. The first 23 episodes of the redubbed version were also shared on streaming platforms, Hulu and Neon Alley, starting September 5, 2014. The first part of season one was released on DVD and Limited Edition Blu-ray on November 11, 2014, and the second part came out on February 10, 2015. The final part of the anime series was released on November 12, 2019. A complete box set containing all 200 episodes, three films, five specials, and five memorials was planned for release in 2026.
During the series' original broadcast, three animated films were made: Sailor Moon R: The Movie (1993), Sailor Moon S: The Movie (1994), and Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie (1995). These films were released in December to match the winter school breaks in Japan. They were often shown together with other anime films and were usually less than an hour long. Each film had an original story that connected to the season it was based on.
Reception and legacy
The Sailor Moon anime was originally planned to run for six months. However, it became popular and continued for five years. In Japan, it aired every Saturday night at 7 p.m. during prime time. The show was very popular there, with an average of 11 to 12% viewer ratings for most of its run. Commentators note that the anime version of Sailor Moon has a more "shonen" tone, which appeals to a wider audience than the manga, which was aimed at teenage girls. The Sailor Moon media franchise became one of the most successful in Japan, with $1.5 billion in merchandise sales during its first three years. Ten years after the series ended, it ranked among the top thirty in TV Asahi's Top 100 anime polls in 2005 and 2006. The anime series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1993. Sales of Sailor Moon fashion dolls surpassed those of Licca-chan in the 1990s. Mattel said this was because the story combined fashion and action. Doll accessories included both clothing and weapons used by the Sailor Soldiers. The first season has a 90% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on ten reviews. The site's summary says, "Powerfully feminine and hypnotically cheesy, Sailor Moon's iconic anime still sparkles after all these years."
Sailor Moon became popular worldwide. Spain and France were the first countries outside Japan to air the show, starting in December 1993. Other countries followed, including South Korea, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Italy, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, Ukraine, Belarus, Sweden, Germany, Bulgaria, Austria, Indonesia, Croatia, Hungary, Taiwan, Thailand, Romania, and Hong Kong. North America later adapted the franchise. In 2001, the Sailor Moon manga was Tokyopop's best-selling property, selling at least 1.5 times more than the next best-selling titles.
Sailor Moon led to a merchandising campaign with over 5,000 items, increasing international demand and translations into many languages. It became one of the most famous anime properties globally. Due to its popularity in Japan, the series was rebroadcast on September 1, 2009. It was also rebroadcast in Italy in autumn 2011, with permission from Naoko Takeuchi, who provided new artwork for promotion.
Critics praised the anime for showing strong female friendships and a large cast of characters with unique traits and development throughout the story. They also noted its ability to appeal to a wide audience. Writer Nicolas Penedo said Sailor Moon's success came from blending the shōjo genre of magical girls with the Saint Seiya fighting teams. Martha Cornog and Timothy Perper said the show became popular because of its action scenes, rescues, and focus on emotions and relationships, including the romance between Usagi and Mamoru. Usagi and Mamoru's relationship is seen as an example where lovers "become more than the sum of their parts" and promise to stay together forever. Others think the show is campy and melodramatic. Critics have pointed out its use of repeated plots, daily monsters, and reused footage.
Screen Rant said the anime was partly revolutionary for showing heroines who are "distinct because of their personalities." AfterEllen said the anime features the best-known yuri relationship in history between Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. Yuricon described their relationship as butch-femme, and CBR called it one of the most beloved and complex in the series.
Patrick Drazen said Sailor Moon has two types of villains: "monsters of the day" and "thinking, feeling humans." While common in anime and manga, this is rare in Western media. Despite its popularity in Western anime fandom, the dubbed version of the series had poor ratings in the United States when it first aired on weekdays at 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. DVD sales in the United Kingdom were also low. Anne Allison said poor marketing was the main reason for its lack of success in the United States. Executives involved with Sailor Moon suggested poor localization played a role. Helen McCarthy and Jonathan Clements called the dub "indifferent" and said the show was scheduled during "dead" timeslots. British distributor MVM Films said low sales in the UK were due to the DVD only featuring the dubbed version, which appealed to neither children nor older anime fans.
For decades, most Japanese media was banned in South Korea due to anti-Japanese sentiment. A KBS producer did not even try to buy Sailor Moon, fearing it would fail censorship laws. However, by April 1997, Sailor Moon was airing on KBS 2 without issues and became "enormously" popular.