Summary
- Sailor Moon is a timeless romance classic with enduring themes of love, justice, and friendship, appealing to both old and new audiences.
- The series features a diverse ensemble cast of Sailor Guardians, each with unique powers and personalities, and explores their internal growth and development.
- With high stakes and intricate storytelling, Sailor Moon combines action, mythology, and romance, making it a must-watch for fans of character-driven stories and epic sagas.
Naoko Takeuchi's magical girl series is considered a romance classic that holds its own across decades to audiences old and new. It's about a young girl with a star-crossed destiny as the superhero Sailor Moon who must defend the Earth from the forces of evil. Sailor Moon is about thirty years old and has a complete manga series, a spin-off prequel manga, several seasons of the original anime, an anime reboot titled Sailor Moon Crystal, and several movies scattered throughout both the original anime and the Crystal reboot timelines.
The original Sailor Moon manga is such an enduring series that there are several different versions including the original (now out-of-print) manga, several pocket-sized reissues, and the new manga compendium: the Eternal Editions. Naoko Takuechi actually started with the series with a kind of prequel about Sailor Venus, Codename: Sailor V. Codename: Sailor V is available in the Eternal Editions, as well.
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What To Know About Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon discusses themes like love, justice, and the power of enduring friendship. The saga follows Usagi Tsukino from where she starts out as a lazy and easily frightened young teen, to a mature and powerful future queen. Part of what makes Sailor Moon such a classic is its ensemble cast. Each of the Sailor Guardians has a distinct personality, beautiful and on-theme outfits and uniforms, and unique powers that level up as the story progresses. Shojo anime like Sailor Moon are character-driven stories that focus largely on interpersonal relationships like romance, family, and friendship. Sailor Moon stands out among many other shojo because it has strong internal arcs with the main characters, but it also has a lot of action.
The stakes are very high for Sailor Moon. If she and her fellow Guardians don't defeat the forces of evil, no one else will. They are, of course, guided by a few mentor characters like Luna the cat from the Moon Kingdom, and the spirit of Princess Serenity's mother. There are many moving parts in Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon must save innocent humans from evil forces like the Dark Kingdom and its agents, and she needs to uncover the rest of the Sailor Guardians' identities. Together, they must find and protect Princess Serenity, the Moon Princess who was killed and has been reborn on Earth. They're also aided by a handsome caped man, Tuxedo Mask. Though he's handsome and charming, Sailor Moon and the other Guardians are not totally sure where his loyalties lie. And those are just the questions from the first arc of the series.
An anime released and dubbed in the 1990s and early 2000s is going to have some discrepancies in names and titles. Though the 1990 dub calls Sailor Moon's friends Sailor Scouts, the newer version calls them Guardians which is far closer to the original Japanese title Senshi. The Inner Guardians/Inner Senshi refers to the first four Guardians who are introduced in the first season. Despite the title change from Scout to Guardian, they refer to the same characters, like Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars. Senshi means "warrior" whereas the '90s translation "Scouts" waters down the idea behind the Guardians. They don't make knots and practice wilderness survival like Girl Scouts, they summon storms and mystical swords to battle ancient evils. This isn't a slight to Girl Scouts, of course, they just have wildly different stakes and functions. Don't be confused if old-school fans mention names like "Serena" and "Darien"; the '90s dub also switched Usagi to Serena and Mamoru to Darien, while the current subs and dubs just call them by their original Japanese names.
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Who Should Read Or Watch Sailor Moon?
Sailor Moon is sure to please any fan of romance and character-driven stories. Likewise, anyone with an interest in chemistry, astronomy, and folklore will find something to like in Sailor Moon. Fans of Greek and Japanese mythology will spot many Easter Eggs in the series and its characters which help foreshadow events down the line. Sailor Moon is crafted for a younger audience and there's no doubt that people who grew up watching the series as it was released in real time have a special connection to the story. But even newcomers will appreciate the romance and excellent writing in the series. Some of the plot points may be glaringly obvious to adult viewers, but that by no means takes away from the well-crafted tension in the series. And the stakes only rise higher and higher as the Senshi battle through every story arc.
Usagi is a very lovable protagonist. She starts out as whiny, but her flaws are far more relatable than a Mary Sue kind of character. When she unlocks her identity as Sailor Moon in the first episode, her development doesn't come overnight. It takes time for her to step into her true heroic self, and she has help along the way from Luna, Tuxedo Mask, and her fellow Senshi. The first season mainly focuses on introducing each of the Inner Senshi, but even more appear in later seasons.
Though the series has a lot of moving parts, it doesn't feel like a slog. There's careful thought, symbolism, and character work with each of the characters and arcs. The villains in Sailor Moon would fit in well in a classic shonen anime like InuYasha. They're truly threatening, and while some of them can be rather funny or charming, a fair few of the villains are rather frightening in ability and character design. It's part of what makes Sailor Moon appealing beyond a shojo audience. Viewers who enjoy slow-burn romances, epic sagas, and the Chosen One trope need to put Sailor Moon on their watch list. There's a way to watch and enjoy this series for every kind of anime audience. People who just want to see the basic story can read the manga or watch the reboot of Sailor Moon Crystal and the movie Sailor Moon Eternal, then call it a day. If a viewer loves the story and wants more of it, they can dive into all the content released prior to Sailor Moon Crystal.
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Where To Read And Watch Sailor Moon
Not only are there several places to watch Sailor Moon, but there are also a couple of ways to watch it. The first two seasons of the original anime have many filler episodes. These filler episodes are a lot of fun, they either have humorous and self-contained stories, or they shed more light on character development and motivations. Not everyone wants to jump into a massive series full of filler episodes, though. That's where the reboot Sailor Moon Crystal comes into play. Many fans enjoy both anime versions of the Sailor Moon saga, but Crystal stands apart because it has no filler episodes; it only follows the events laid out in the finished manga series by Naoko Takeuchi. Sailor Moon Crystal and the original Sailor Moon anime are all available to watch for free on YouTube via VizMedia's official channel.
There are a few Sailor Moon movies, as well as specific names for each of the original series arcs, which can make things confusing. For the full experience, newcomers should watch in this order:
-Sailor Moon season one on YouTube or Hulu
-Sailor Moon season two (also called Sailor Moon R) on YouTube or Hulu
-Sailor Moon R The Movie: The Promise of the Rose which is available for purchase on DVD or through Amazon
-Sailor Moon season three (also called Sailor Moon S) on YouTube or Hulu
-Sailor Moon S The Movie: Hearts On Ice which is available for purchase on DVD or through Amazon
-Sailor Moon season four (also called Sailor Moon Super S) on YouTube or Hulu
-Sailor Moon season five (also called Sailor Moon Stars) on YouTube or Hulu
The reboot has a more simplified watch list. Sailor Moon Crystal seasons 1–3 are all available on Hulu and for free on YouTube on the same channel. After the third Crystal season comes the movie Sailor Moon Eternal, which is available now on Netflix. Then stay tuned for the streaming release of the new 2023 movie, Sailor Moon Cosmos. The entire Sailor Moon manga series is now available in a gorgeous compilation including footnotes called the Eternal Editions. The twelve-edition manga series also includes the Codename: Sailor V prequel and is available for purchase wherever books are sold.
