Sailor Moon’s impact on modern American animation remains undeniable
TV Features For Our Consideration
Twenty-five years after its U.S. television premiere, the impact of Sailor Moon on Japanese and Western animation remains undeniable. With its distinct visual vocabulary, story structure, and defined character archetypes, the series not only served as the blueprint for the many Japanese magical girl anime series that would follow it, but also established a visual aesthetic so iconic, we see references, parodies, and direct homages to the series throughout various Western television series—including transformation sequences in Teen Titans Go! and Star Vs. The Forces of Evil, Lisa Simpson dressed as Sailor Moon in The Simpsons, and even an episode of South Park, where Kenny receives a Sailor Moon brooch from the CEO of Sony that turns him into “Princess Kenny,” a play on Princess Serenity. Cartoon Network has even posted a video compiling multiple Sailor Moon references that have appeared across the various series that air on the network. The tropes established by Sailor Moon soon became common features of the magical girl genre: cute, talking guide animals, everyday objects that secretly double as magical transformation amulets, and a tight-knit group of friends represented by different colors and elements.
By the early 2000s, these key story elements and tropes also featured in Western animated series such as Winx Club and W.I.T.C.H, cousins to the growing magical girl anime genre in Japan. These series were not alone in centering on teenagers with superpowers battling evil in between dealing with the trials and tribulations of school. But unlike many Western animated series from the same period that were asynchronous and featured standalone episodes rather than an overarching narrative arc, Winx Club and W.I.T.C.H. delivered serialized storylines with episodes that built upon each other, with a strong focus on friendship and how these relationships evolved over time along with their growing responsibilities as heroes, which allowed for deeper, more complex storylines. By the 2010s, more linear and semi-linear storylines could be found across a broader range of series, from Star Vs. The Forces Of Evil and Adventure Time to Miraculous Ladybug and The Owl House.
Of the many aesthetic touchstones Sailor Moon created, the most iconic may be the magical girl transformation sequence: a full-minute of screentime completely devoted to Usagi Tsukino’s transformation from regular Japanese school girl to Sailor Moon in nearly every episode. While Sailor Moon was hardly the first series to feature characters who transformed from civilian form into superheroes, it was the one of the first on American television where the visual aesthetic was key. The transformation sequences in Sailor Moon take pleasure in the distinct beauty of the transformative process itself, showcasing the striking change from civilian to superhero and highlighting each part of the costume amidst a background of sparkles, ribbons, and light—all in an unabashedly feminine and flashy display.
The showiness of the transformation process and the concept of dual selves intersects with the intrinsic queerness of several other elements of the series. Despite the fact that the initial dub was heavily censored when it first aired in the U.S., the series has cemented its status as a cultural touchstone for LGBTQ+ audiences, with queer characters that are well known and well loved—from the lesbian couple Haruka/Sailor Uranus and Michiru/Sailor Neptune to the genderfluid Sailor Starlights, among others.
In addition to establishing the foundations for the growing number of queer characters on animated series today, Sailor Moon also broke ground with its sincerity and radical empathy for all of its main characters. Although the characters are magical soldiers and reincarnations of celestial princesses, they aren’t required to be serious 100% of the time. The series never forgets that Usagi and her friends are first and foremost teen girls, and as a result, allows them to be unsure and goofy when they aren’t saving the world. It’s also not mean-spirited about their shortcomings or the dreams they have outside of their duty as sailor soldiers. They have a wide range of characteristics as well as flaws: Usagi is a crybaby, bad at school, gets easily frightened, likes to sleep in, and loves to eat. Ami/Sailor Mercury is a shy bookworm who wants a group of close friends. Minako/Sailor Venus has aspirations of being an idol; Makoto/Sailor Jupiter dreams of the perfect romance; Rei/Sailor Mars argues nonstop with Usagi but loves her fiercely at the same time, and Usagi loves her—and all her friends—with an equal level of devotion.
Usagi’s unwavering kindness and faith in friendship, and the impact they have on the people around her, is as much a part of Sailor Moon’s legacy as its visual composition. By allowing Usagi to be empathetic yet flawed, as well as unwavering in her conviction, sincerity, or compassion for her friends and enemies, Sailor Moon has influenced several modern American animated television series that are also groundbreaking in their centering of kindness, empathy, and queerness—in particular, Steven Universe and She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power.
Steven Universe has many visual references that recall Sailor Moon, from the flowing design of Rose Quartz’s gown to visual Easter eggs such as a volume of Sailor Moon manga in Steven’s drawer and a black cat light that looks similar to Sailor Mini Moon’s “Luna-P” and Ringo’s transformation to scene blocking that directly recall scenes from the series. However, Sailor Moon’s influence extends beyond the visual. While series creator Rebecca Sugar credits the anime Revolutionary Girl Utena as a more direct influence upon Steven Universe, Sailor Moon’s inspiration can still be seen in subtler ways: the nuanced treatment of queer characters and queer narratives and centering of faith along with friendship. Like Haruka and Michiru, Ruby and Sapphire are devoted to each other. When they fuse together as Garnet, the strength of their commitment extends to love and protection for Steven the same way Haruka and Michiru protected Usagi. And just as Chibiusa/Sailor Mini Moon’s friendship helps Hotaru/Sailor Saturn, not even knowing that she is being forced to host the body of Mistress 9, Steven’s compassion toward Lapis Lazuli helps her after being trapped in a mirror on Earth for thousands of years—small kindnesses that ultimately result in freedom for both Hotaru and Lapis Lazuli.
Steven himself shares traits with Usagi. Young, naive, and kind-hearted, Steven is willing to see the best in people, often setting aside his own emotional well-being to help others, even if it is to his own detriment. Through its lead character, Steven Universe, like Sailor Moon, affords empathy for villains who are always more complex than they appear at first, never outright condemning any character. It’s through this empathetic quality that Steven Universe Future builds upon the foundations established by Sailor Moon. While Sailor Moon proved superpowered stories centered on kindness can be just as compelling as ones that focused on action, Steven Universe Future takes it further and explores the trauma that follows, demonstrating that it’s okay to not be okay—a layered and thoughtful narrative evolution that began with allowing Usagi to be unguarded in her emotions.
Noelle Stevenson’s She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power, a reboot of the 1985 Filmation cartoon, also visually references Sailor Moon in Adora’s transformation sequences. But Sailor Moon’s influence extends beneath the surface, because ultimately, She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power is a series about the importance of being true to yourself, and how love and friendship are the greatest powers of all. Adora’s world is turned upside down when she discovers she has the power to transform into She-Ra; like Usagi, she is also suddenly thrust into a role of responsibility she is hardly prepared to face, although she approaches it with gusto. And as with the sailor soldiers, although She-Ra is powerful on her own, the love and faith of Adora’s friends—and Catra—is what helps her rise above Horde Prime and bring peace to Etheria. It doesn’t matter if Usagi was a princess in a past life (though that might explain why they initially connect with each other); it’s Usagi’s efforts to be a good friend that help her connect with the people around her, not the fact that she is Sailor Moon. Likewise, it doesn’t matter if Adora was born to be (the latest) She-Ra; her friends love her for who she is, and knowing and accepting that is what matters most. As Perfuma says, “It’s hard keeping your heart open. It makes you vulnerable. But it doesn’t make you weak, and I have to believe it’s worth it.” Sailor Moon established the worthiness of that goal, a legacy that’s carried on by later series like Steven Universe and She-Ra.
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I remember being an 8 year old little gay boy and having so much anger because I knew I was different, then I met Sailor Mars in one of the early episodes who also was filled with so much rage and I remember feeling very seen and heard, and watched her overcome that anger with friends. It’s strange that recognition you have as a kid even if you’re not fully aware of what you’re watching, so thank you Sailor Moon and may you continue to inspire new shows and help new kids 🙂
That’s so awesome. Long live Mars and her fiery confidence.
I had a similar experience as a soft-spoken little lesbian who had no idea she was a lesbian yet, seeing a lot of myself in Mercury, who gets to be feminine and quiet but also a hero, and then later in Michiru, who gets to be feminine, quiet, and also as gay as humanly possible while being the idol of everyone around her and throwing fucking tsunamis at monsters. Two decades later, Michiru is still #goals.
that’s amazing, love that each character really had traits that were often seen as negative and then humanized them until it was their strength. it’s awesome the show has such great resonance with queer people, especially probably with millennials since Sailor Moon showed all us baby queers that we could really be in touch with our femininity and still fucking rock it.
Watching season one Mercury is my favorite of the first three introduced for one she’s smart and she isn’t boy crazy like the other two.
I was ten, but had much of the same experience. Sailor Moon was a massive hit here in Canada, airing on YTV (basically our Nickelodeon) right after school whereas in the US I believe it was syndicated and often would air in the early morning hours—if at all.
It’s really surprising that Sailor Moon isn’t as much a household name as Dragon Ball Z-both were so big when I was in elementary school.
Isn’t it though? Sure, if you asked a rando on the street to name the first anime they think of off the top of their head, it probably wouldn’t be Sailor Moon, but name three? After Pokemon and Dragonball, what else would come next?
Probably a localized kids show, like Yo-Kai Watch, or Beyblade. Something that, even if someone avoided the cartoon/family channels on TV, they would see merchandise in stores.They might also say Spirited Away, since that made an impression with Western culture, due to the Oscar win.
Naruto or One Piece, probably.Feels kinda like Virtua Fighter, really. It was actually kinda huge in the 90s, too, and it’s still held up as among the best by the scene. But modern mainstream recognition is… lacking, to be generous.
Digimon.
Probably due to a difference in scope of influence. DBZ certainly wasn’t the first Shonen series to exist, but it certainly created its own formula for the genre that other creators drew influence from. Sailor Moon, by the contrast, popularized and mainstreamed the Magical Girl formula but didn’t originate it, so it wasn’t the only series that later creators drew influence from.
Sailor Moon is absolutely right up there with DBZ in terms of recognition, especially if you watched Toonami at all as a kid, but it had less of a hand in defining its genre than DBZ did for theirs.
Really? But DBZ just took and sanitized the formula of Fist of the North Star and countless other uber violent fight of the week animes that were massive in Japan.
SM took magical girl elements but for the first time mixed them up with Sentai elements—something which is common place now. Can you name me one previous magical girl show that was based around fighting and “killing” monsters of the week? They’d transform to solve problems of the weeks, but they weren’t fighting shows. I’d argue both redefined their genres equally.
While DBZ shares a history with series like Fist of the North Star, it added some key differences to the formula that created its own distinct flavor, such that you can see a major difference between shows inspired by DBZ and those not:
-protagonists who start off relatively weak and must go through training in order to achieve higher levels of power, frequently signified by new transformations. Compare this to Kenshiro of Fist of the North Star, who starts the series off so invincibly powerful that it’s rarely a question of if he will defeat the villains, but how quickly. DBZ and its successors place a greater emphasis on the growth of their protagonists, who often must break through emotional limitations as well as physical ones in order to achieve the strength they need. The transformation is the big signature of the DBZ style: Super Saiyan, Bleach’s Bankai, One Piece’s Gears, Naruto’s Sage Mode, etc.-impossibly powerful villains who define entire story arcs, often with transformations of their own. Where Fist of the North star had invincible heroes stomping overconfident villains-of-the-week, DBZ reversed the formula with underdog heroes struggling to defeat terrifying villains who would routinely snatch victory away by revealing a new, more powerful form. These were the driving force behind the protagonists’ rigorous training, to find the strength to surpass these murderous tyrants who would crush several heroes before finally being defeated in a grand finale.
-a growing ensemble of allies who are frequently comprised of former rivals to the protagonist. These differed from sentai series which were typically a group who were already friends who simply shared the same source of power, but instead a steady procession of redeemable villains who are defeated and then befriended by the hero in some fashion and then join the fight against the next villain, gaining training and growth arcs of their own. Series like Fist of the North Star, by contrast, typically had a lone protagonist who did most of the fighting and were supported by allies in non-combat ways.
Can you name me one previous magical girl show that was based around fighting and “killing” monsters of the week?
Cutie Honey. Came about a few decades beforehand and, in fact, you can find elements in Sailor Moon that drew direct inspiration from it. Ever wonder why early episodes of Sailor Moon gave her the ability to take magical disguises for seemingly little reason? Cutie Honey did that. Sailor Moon’s infamous speeches to the monsters when confronting them? Cutie Honey did that. The transformation sequence? Yup.
I really appreciate your detailed argument about DBZ being groundbreaking—and can’t argue any of that.
I still say Sailor Moon’s mix of genres is equally as influential in Japan though. I’m well versed in Cutie Honey (I went through a Go Nagai phase as a teen) but there were still key differences (not the least being that Cutie Honey was assuredly shonen—in the original series she’s often really seen more through the male protagonist. Of course it all goes full circle and post Sailor Moon there was a shoujo Cutie Honey—I wanna say Cutie Honey Ribon? Flash?—that was very inspired by Sailor Moon). Cutie Honey was undeniably an influence (even more so on the initial Sailor V manga which was more of a parody but where those speeches etc come from) though the early transformations into different (adult) disguises probably owes at least as much to the insanely successful Creamy Mami and to a lesser degree Minky Momo (Of course again these could be argued to go back to Cutie Honey once again…).
Regardless, I stand by my position. No show had mixed the various elements before that Sailor Moon had–and post Sailor Moon *dozens* of shows did, from the obvious ones (Wedding Peach) to further hybrids (RayEarth taking CLAMP’s then obsession with RPGs and bringing that into it, for an early example–RayEarth starting its manga run in Nakayoshi after the success of Sailor Moon there).
On a related note, I really liked Dragon Ball Super’s affectionate parody of Sailor Moon:
I feel like it used to be but somehow just fell out of being one of the big names people associate with anime in general. I don’t keep up with the franchise much so I could be dead wrong, but I feel like they just didn’t produce as much Sailor Moon stuff after the show’s run (I know there’s technically a bunch of different ones with various letters on the ends but I’m referring to all the ones that got stitched together and released in English in the 90s). By comparison, DBZ never stopped, there was a sequel series, and soooo many video games, then now another sequel series. I heard SM had a reboot a few years back but hadn’t heard anything about it being really that good, and then radio silence again. As opposed to shows/franchises like DragonBall or Pokémon that are the face of anime, SM (and/or the licenseholders) seem to be content with its legacy of basically inventing the entire genre of magical girl shows (of which there are many) rather than keeping SM itself in the spotlight.
Yeah, this is basically exactly it. Sailor Moon absolutely has it in it to be one of the big-to-the-west anime franchises; probably not challenging the big marketing monsters (Pokemon, Dragon Ball, Yu-Gi-Oh, Gundam) but definitely right next to something like Naruto.I’d say that the main difficulty is that it’s not backed by anything big in Japan. Pokemon has Nintendo behind it, Gundam has Namco-Bandai, Dragon Ball has Shonen Jump, and Yu-Gi-Oh has Shonen Jump and Konami, and to really get into those ranks instead of just being historically relevant you need someone making something cool to sell.What I’m saying is that we need to somehow get Sega to make Sailor Moon games.
The only SM game I’ve ever seen was a beat-em-up a la Final Fight on the NES I think. Surprised there weren’t more of those. I get that maybe a 1v1 fighting game is probably against the spirit of the show, but for a while there, SM was very popular and I feel like so little was done to capitalize on that (at least in the States) and that’s a shame.
There’s an actually pretty decent RPG for the Super Famicom called Sailor Moon: Another Story. The game is pretty grindy, as most RPGs from that era are, but if one doesn’t mind that, it’s pretty easy to find a fan translation of it.
Actually SM’s anime was backed by Bandai who were also responsible for helping to create it and making sure it would give them products to market (ie all the cute gizmos).
Sailor Moon doesn’t have anyone big backing them? Toei is big as hell in Japan, they’re also behind Crystal and have spawned similar large franchises such as Kamen Rider and Super Sentai. Not to mention their other recent large franchise, Pretty Cure.
Oh, Sailor Moon has kept going in Japan, just not in the way a lot of people think. It got a stage musical adapation in 1993 during the anime’s original run, and this turned out to be such a huge hit that they made a sequel a year later, and then just kept making them even after the anime ended, to the point that they’re now telling original stories of Usagi’s further advenures set after the end of the anime. There have been thirty-one unique musical productions based on Sailor Moon to date (play number 32 was set to premiere this year, but it turns out not even Moon Prism Power can defeat Covid-19.)On top of that, there was a deeply weird live action TV series in 2009, and an anime reboot series finally hit in 2014. There’s also an animated theatrical film coming next year.But the thing is, none of these productions really match the charm of the original show. That’s not to say they’re bad (the musicals in particular are a great time) just fundamentally different; the original show had a lightning-in-a-bottle quality that’s proven incredibly hard to replicate (the reboot anime tried, and it didn’t go well.) For that reason, I feel like a lot of Sailor Moon fandom is specifically focused on the classic show, and its place in pop culture history.
There’s a reason for that. From what I understand, Naoko Takeuchi, the manga author, was not happy at all with the anime. You can actually see that in the manga, she complains about Sailor Mars’ character assassination in the margins and author notes. Because of that, she refused to allow anything new to be made or reissued until she got control back. Then she authorized the new series, which is available on Hulu. She got what she wanted, but that break of time kept it from being a perpetually favorite like DBZ, with each generation of kids finding it when they were the right age for it.
For the record, I don’t blame her at all for her objections. Some of the changes were flat out gross. Like increasing the age difference between Usagi and Tuxedo Mask. He was a junior in high school in the manga, while Usagi was in about the equivalent of 9th grade. In the show they made him a college student. Yuck! And, yes, they did Sailor Mars dirty.
The most recent reboot Sailor Moon Crystal started out with bad animation but improved as seasons progressed. There’s a movie due out next year that takes place immediately after Crystal’s 3rd season and it will cover the Dead Moon Circus arc. Crystal stays more faithful to the manga so it’s faster paced and doesn’t contain the filler that the 1st series had. So since it’s currently still in anniversary mode, the latest news is the movie and they released a teaser trailer a month ago.
I think it’s because Dragonball is still running as well as all the other big shonen series that get inspiration from it. Magical girl series as a whole I feel like don’t get much attention anymore, although Sailor Moon would still be recognizable if shown to a general audience.
That’s not a surprise. That’s sexism.Girls and boys can both like Dragonball. And it’s acceptable for boys to watch cartoons into their teens. (Or at least the “mature” ones.) But girls can’t and are expected to be that much more mature. And of course boys can’t ever, ever admit to liking something like Sailor Moon.
it helps a lot that Dragon Ball is still being made
Sailor moon is the only one I remember being in a song that charted #2 on Billboard
As someone who doesn’t follow anime, stuff like Pokemon and Dragonball-Z has a lot of name recognition from long-running video game and movie series. Sailor Moon doesn’t have the same cross-platform visibility, probably because it’s a show about women, and it’s still news in this country that women enjoy superheroes and anime.
I remember when Sailor Moon first aired in the U.S. in the early 90s, it was in an early 6am-ish time slot in my TV market, so not as many people were awake to watch (some might have taped it on VCRs though). I think that lack of availability during normal hours blunted Sailor Moon from catching on as quickly as it could have. (During the 90s, certain TV channels still aired cartoons in the 6am-9am time slot and the 3pm-6pm time slot. If Sailor Moon aired in the afternoon time slot after school, it likely would have gotten a bigger audience. The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers aired in the after-school time slot, and it caught on a lot faster.)
However, it is most definitely a household name in Japan and non-U.S. markets. Naoko Takeuchi, the creator of Sailor Moon, apparently had some agreement with the publisher at the time to gain all rights to the Sailor Moon IP back after a certain date. The publisher didn’t really do much with the IP, so the agreement expired. Like George Lucas, Naoko Takeuchi expanded the IP into toys and merchandise as well as new shows and made a ton of money.
I feel she has more visual identity than people give the series credit for; twin tailed blonde hair in a sailor suit. I can’t think of anything else like that out there visually, as opposed to seeing a picture of a GI Joe or obscured super hero that has easily confused visuals. There’s probably plenty of people that haven’t seen one episode of Sailor Moon but I’d surmise the instance they see the trademark pose they know immediately what they’re looking at.It may be worth pointing out too that Sailor Moon is still very much a household name in Japan. When I was there last year Sailor Moon goods were EVERYWHERE, even in many places I didn’t expect them. I was at a random train stop in Kyoto heading to an above-ground stop to switch lines, and in what was a rather bare station stop in a corner was a gashapon station. The only licensed goods in the roughly 16 or so gasha machines were Sailor Moon trinkets. Similar sort of thing in any shop for young girls or women. They’re going to have something with Sailor Moon on it, be it lip balm, faux jewelry, whatever.
It definitely is, at least for people my generation and a bit younger, here in Canada where it was apparently a much bigger hit (the dub was created in Canada and had an afterschool, nation wide time slot). Dragon Ball Z is much less familiar, though maybe to a generation below that it would be better known (the dub still hadn’t really happened when Sailor Moon was a hit here–there was a 13 episode dub I think of the pre-Z show…)
I’m actually born & raised in Alberta, so maybe it was a lot more common for this locality than outside of Canada? The only times I really hear about Sailor Moon nowadays is stuff that leaks out of Tumblr.
Out of curiousity, how old are you? It could be a local thing, though I think it certainly took off in a number of Canadian markets (did you watch YTV?) Despite my name, I grew up mostly in Victoria, BC where I watched it (I was born in Edmonton and lived there till I was 8). But I’m pretty sure my cousin in Edmonton was a watcher at around the same time, and I feel like when I moved to Montreal for university, it was something most of the people my age I met had some awareness of–but again, that could be simply from my perspective.
I’m in my 30s. I also lived in Edmonton until I was 8, so are you sure you’re not me, or that I’m not you?
I imagine one reason is that Shonen series are more well known in the west so Dragonball’s influence is more widely seen as opposed to magical girl genre. Plus DragonBall is still going. The anime of Super wrapped a couple of years ago and its manga is still going.
While series creator Rebecca Sugar credits the anime Revolutionary Girl Utena as a more direct influence upon Steven Universe, Sailor Moon’s inspiration can still be seen in subtler waysIt should be mentioned that the creation of Utena has some overlap with Sailor Moon. Kunihiko Ikuhara was a director for Sailor Moon up through Sailor Moon S, but left over a lack of creative control. Everything you see him trying to do in Sailor Moon was allowed free reign in Utena. I’d say that Utena is basically the younger sister of the original Sailor Moon anime.
it’s also important to note that the plot of Utena was originally envisioned as the plot of the Sailor Moon SuperS movie. but when Kunihiko left that project he turned it into Revolutionary Girl Utena and replaced Uranus and Neptune with Utena Tenjou and Anthy Himemiya.
Yep so glad someone pointed this out. I believe the most Kunihiko Ikuhara influence-heavy Sailor Moon anime products we got were the R movie and the S series–which as far as I am concerned are the peaks of the Sailor Moon anime. (Utena of course also owed a lot–superficially anyway–to Ikeda’s Rose of Versailles manga and the Dezaki anime series…)
I totally agree. I also want to mention that the Revolutionary Girl Utena movies is fucking nuts and I love it.
To this day, Utena remains my favorite anime of all time (and was why I started fencing). Juri ain’t taking anyone’s shit.Stars would have been infinitely better with Ikuhara at the helm. Shit got DARK in the manga.
Wasn’t the plan for a prequel movie about Uranus and Neptune that get denied and thats how he went off to do Utena?
It’s funny as Sailor Moon initially bombed. There was a long gap between the initial wave of episodes and the rest of the series. It really grew by word of mouth.
I think it’s more that first season aired in syndication which was almost always a death sentence for cartoons in the 90’s, even for critically acclaimed shows featuring pretty prolific voice actors (RIP Phantom 2040). The same with happened with Dragon Ball Z actually. Then Dragon Ball Z became this huge hit and Cartoon Network were ready to air any kid friendly anime they could get their hands on, one of which was Sailor Moon leading to a new audience for the show.
Yeah, I remember how the original Dragon Ball died after a single season in… ‘95? And then DBZ came out in something like ‘97 or ‘98 and just puttered out 2/3rds of the way through the Saiyin storyline. I don’t think it really picked-up again until ‘00 or so. (As I try to recall super vague memories of dates from like twenty years ago.)I do remember I got into DBZ right away and started picking-up the VIZ monthly comics, which quickly caught up and passed the series. By the time the TV show finally caught up, passed it, and then went on a between season break (in the middle of the Freeza arc) I was so irritated waiting to see how things ended I just downloaded a so-so fan translation of the comic.
And this was amazing to me, as it was a phenomenon among my age group from the start here in Canada. (I believe we even got some episodes they didn’t even bother airing in the US–or at least there was talk that we would?) The difference of course was that here, since it fit CanCon (Canadian Content regulations), it was the centrepiece of YTV (our Nickelodeon equivalent)‘s afterschool programming–airing nationally. Within six weeks or so it seemed like everyone at school was, at least, aware of it and I remember being shocked when I found out it wouldn’t continue.
I was watching the SAYU boss fight in the game “No Straight Roads” yesterday and the boss used the phrase “In the name of love, I’ll punish you!” referencing the Sailor Moon “In the name of the moon, I’ll punish you”. I was like, “Woah, how many players are going to get that reference?”
Puppycat!
If you’re interested, season two was leaked a while ago and you can find it on shady internet cartoon streaming sites.
I have been a fan of Sailor Moon since I stumbled on it one summer in 1996. Something about the show stuck it’s hooks in me and didn’t let go. Even now, as a 43 year old man, I love this series and all of its foibles.I know the DiC dub gets a lot of flack – and rightfully so, but I love it to bits; Terri Hawkes will always be there voice I hear when I see Sailor Moon.
This was a fantastic article. Thank you for this. ^^“Moon Revenge” for everybody!
What’s the episode people here remember most? For me, it’s the first part of the initial “season” finale. Even though the DIC Entertainment syndicated version wiped all mentions of death, those horrified facial expressions for the Inner Senshi evoke it in all but name. “Oh my god! Is EVERYBODY going to die?!?!” And I think that’s when Usagi/Serena becomes the eternal audience surrogate (if she hadn’t been already by this point). Because she’s just as emotionally obliterated by each new turn of events as we are. And still she finds the strength to keep going. Sailor Moon S is the best “season” of the show, so to speak, but that episode’s the one that floored me the most 20+ years ago.
For me, it’s the episode Sailor Saturn finally shows up, near the end of Sailor Moon S. She was the last remaining “planet” who hadn’t shown up yet, and the build up to her arrival was immense. She showed up so briefly that I’ve heard some describe it as a let down, but for me, it was a testament to how, in the story, she really is the last resort and she only shows up when the situation is absolutely dire.Not to mention the acting of Usagi/Sailor Moon’s VA in the scene where she is trying to transform into Super Sailor Moon without the Holy Grail. The desperation and sadness in her voice in that scene is really really something.
Sensational pick. That episode’s in my Top Five as well. Just as you say, it’s not just the arrival of Saturn, but the culmination of all the arcs and themes of Sailor Moon S hitting at once. Sailor Saturn being so resolute but somber, Sailor Moon breaking down hysterically, Uranus enraged at her for just giving over the grail like that. “It’s all over now. You must be happy with the results, huh? ANSWER ME!!!” It’s anime at its best.
The one that really made me notice, when I was 12 and it first aired here in Canada (a week before the US I seem to recall) was the one where it is revealed that she’s the Moon Princess and it seems that “Darian” has been killed. DIC even commissioned one of several original songs for it, and the best, My Only Love (I swear I used to own a soundtrack CD but now only have Japanese ones…) Sure I would learn that the music was never as good as the Japanese originals, but I give DIC credit for actually recording some songs (however I have no sympathy for the crappy new background music they used—but I guess it was partly needed with how much they chopped up the episodes).
I enjoyed it before then—something to look forward to after school everyday—but I never really took it seriously till that moment. And that was also what caused me to start looking into the Japanese originals (I found a Japanese grocery that had them taped off Japanese TV that you could rent—and I would despite not speaking Japanese lol), started to find fansubs (remember those?) of key episodes and the R movie, etc, etc.
Sidenote, I think it amused the Japanese grocery people that I would come in and rent the videos, obviously not knowing Japanese (I’d ask for help to read the labels)—I was really into soccer back then so to have a white, non-Japanese speaking, teen boy usually in his sweaty soccer uniform stop in and rent the videos stood out in our smallish city. Back then there was a network of Japanese groceries that would all dub from each other current Japanese tv shows, and rent them out (and get new replacement tapes every few weeks). I believe Sailor Moon was in the S or SuperS season at the time. One woman there started recommending I watch other shows that she felt were similar which is how I discovered (still, watching unsubtitled Japanese that I didn’t understand) early anime faves of mine like Marmalade Boy, RayEarth and especially Fushigi Yuugi (it blew my mind when all of these eventually found their way to domestic releases). It got to the point where they would phone me when a new tape came in.
I also remember a (female) friend of mine who at the time lightly mocked me for watching Sailor Moon, phoned me up immediately after that episode aired demanding to know if I knew what would happen next—she had been watching secretly all along.
In hindsight of course I don’t think anything from that dub would rank as my fave SM stuff—it’s painful to hear the voices and dialogue even in this brief clip now—but as my first exposure to the potential of the show, it’s tops.
Yeah, I remember the lovably cheesy DiC music from the original syndicated run! “My Only Love” is really great, but the song that sticks in my head most is “She’s Got the Power” from the Sailor Moon R dubbed episode featuring it:Definitely not as fantastic as “Ai no Senshi,” but I give it an A for effort.Rayearth and Fushigi Yuugi are solid segues from a start in Sailor Moon! I believe beyond Oh My Goddess! and Tenchi Muyo, my next big anime was Macross 7 (still not released over here, sadly), which is definitely a notch higher in terms of weirdness and plot coherency. Superb soundtrack though.
Going back to the magnificent episode you reference, I also distinctly remember the follow-up entry has one of the key Usagi/Rei moments in the series, where she slaps her to try to get through to her about the gravity of everything happening. Those tentpole episodes for any given arc could get so emotionally gripping, especially for their time.
“Ai no Senshi” was my favourite of the Japanese songs for a very, very long time. That being said, seeing it in the context of the episode it was originally placed in makes it even more satisfying. Not that R was any less intense (“Here’s your daughter from the future, who believes you are an unstoppable force as your superhero alter ego, but won’t get out of your chair and manipulates your boyfriend as a civilian!”) but, as others have noted – The S season was intense.
I’ve since read the comics of course, and while S is just as intense – as noted downthread, Stars is DARK. And I really hope that the eventual release of that season in Japan under the Sailor Moon Crystal banner will do it justice.
Well said, and hearing “Ai no Senshi” here makes its return in Sailor Moon S all the more resonant. In Sailor Moon R, this “Ai no Senshi” scene makes clear and cements that, no matter the person involved, Usagi will give her all to protect them. And then when she’s in the car during Sailor Moon S with Haruka and Michiru and they’re bending her ear about the utilitarian nature of sacrifice, “someone falling to help the greater good,” “Ai no Senshi” plays again and even an Usagi devoid of her transformation powers remains resolute— there’s always got to be a better way. No one’s dying on her watch. So convincing is she that Uranus decides against her usual instincts to help the Inner Senshi out later, because Usagi’s optimism and compassion are that infectious. /cheer “Ai no Senshi.” I hope the new version of Stars goes well too. At the very least, we finally got a US release for the original version after all these decades.
Believe it or not, that’s Stan Bush performing that song, which I consider kind of a younger sister to ‘The Touch’, the song he performed for Optimus Prime in the original Transformers movie.
Whoa~~ I did NOT know that was Stan Bush, but that totally syncs up now. That’s pretty cool, actually. Sailor Moon has its own version of “The Touch” now, just as you say. Thanks for the info!
Ha I love BOTH of those songs—had completely forgotten about She’s Got the Power. As much as I can crap about the DiC dub, I think in general they get an A for effort—I can’t think of any other syndicated cartoon from that time that was actually getting original pop songs, for example. And at the time it was probably the most we could hope for from an anime dub made for tv—replacing the background music and edits were par for the course back then but no one else was trying to even follow the original story arcs of these shows, etc.
Macross 7 was another title I rented from the Japanese grocery (and maybe the first TV anime soundtrack I got) and my first Macross (a series I still go back and forth on—no surprise, I tend to enjoy the more soapy installments).
You are spot on about how emotionally gripping those key SM episodes were. To be honest, I’m not sure if the show came out now if I’d have the same patience for it–a dozen episodes for some emotional payment seems a lot at this point lol. But the show definitely came around at the best possible time for myself.
“My Only Love” is an absolute adult-contemporary bop. I’m sure my mom was sick of heating her tone deaf kid swanning about the house, belting it out…
The uncut version of the season 1 finale is absolutely gut wrenching. The final episodes of Stars is also an emotional roller coaster.
Sailor Moon’s impact?I’m not quite clear…what’s a Sailor Moon?
> The tropes established by Sailor Moon soon became common features of the magical girl genre: cute, talking guide animals, everyday objects that secretly double as magical transformation amulets, and a tight-knit group of friends represented by different colors and elements.Hmm. Talking guide animals were done before by Magical Princess Minky Momo in the early 80s and by Hana no Ko Lun Lun in 1979. Everyday objects that double as magical transformation amulets, was also done by Minky Momo. Tight-knit group of friends represented by different colors and elements clearly comes from Super Sentai.Sailor Moon was indeed influential, specially in the west, but it used tropes which were established long before by other shows.
Exactly. It’s influence really was taking those magical girl tropes and mixing them with the sentai tropes–something which is standard now. But, just as this article mentions Western animation drawing inspiration from Sailor Moon and adapting it–Sailor Moon did the exact same in Japan, it didn’t originate anything.
I don’t understand why they can’t give those pieces to write to someone who knows their stuff
Also, weren’t transformation scenes in basically everything long before Sailor Moon?It could go all the way back to something like the 60s Thunderbirds or 70s Wonderwoman. But also Gatchaman, Voltron, He-Man and She-Ra, Transformers (although they didn’t really drag it out), Power Rangers…I remember Samurai Pizza Cats aired here at around the same time as Sailor Moon, and had a bunch of the same beats.Presumably it was just a cheap way for shows to pad each episode by reusing footage, so SM can’t really take any credit for it.
I know I probably shouldn’t root for disney to buy up properties but I kinda hope that they might try again to get the rights for it like they almost did back in the day. At some point some movie company is going to try and cash in on the 90s nostalgia and Disney could probably do alot with the characters. Plus princesses and superheroes are right up their alley. I also wouldn’t mind Marvel doing a limited run or something like they are currently doing with Ultraman. Marvel lacks asian characters and I’m tired of new comic characters always being a clone or child of an established character. Sometimes you gotta be like WWE and buy the biggest stars from NJPW. Sailor Moon could be Disney’s Bullet Club which would make Usagi A J Styles.
Hopefully they do something good with Luna. I want to see a realistic non creepy live action talking cat. That Netflix Sabrina hardly showed Salem.
I swear to God that at some point it was said Geena Davis was in talks to play Queen Beryl in a movie version. Am I just imagining that??
That might have been at the time back in the early 2000s when Melissa Joan Hart was in talks to play Sailor Moon in a live action film. I guess plans fell through though cuz nothing came of it.
That certainly sounds right. This piece on SM rumours does mention the Geena Davis thing–which reassures me I at least didn’t pull it out of thin air…
https://nerdbot.com/2018/08/07/5-most-insane-sailor-moon-rumors-ever/
Never got past development due to an inability to come to terms with Kodansha.
Makes sense, Kodansha used to be ridiculously difficult to deal with for such things.
There’s a strong protectionist streak among the Japanese rightsholders, which themselves are fractured—Naoko Takeuchi, the creator of the manga, has moral rights (a concept which doesn’t really exist in America), Toei Animation has the anime rights, Kodansha has the publishing rights, etc. None of them would ever sell, least of all to Westerners.(The only reason Disney was even involved with SM was that they had owned DiC through their purchased of Cap Cities/ABC.)
See the thing Japanese company have never given control over manga to western corporations . So chances of disney buying any manga like sailor moon property is slim to none . can they make there own American adaption of yeah ? but manga is owned by the author and Japanese company closely guard there own property from foreginer ownership . and Focus on Japan First and the West is an after thought … I think it’s actually illegal for a non japanese company to own japanese company . it a matter of national security . Also like Death note and countless other failures adaption from Dragon ball Live action . Any time American company touch something from japan made by a japanese artist for japanese fans , usually end up like garbage 99 % of the time . Or will just end up with Mulan live action adaption + 2 . look at how awful mulan was mangled and still failed the chinese audience and was called western garabage.
I’m a simple person, I see a random Puppycat, I click the link. Here’s to hoping Season 2 will get a full release (it’s currently leaked in full on a few sites) and a season 3 can start. Even though I’ve seen season 2, I’ll happily buy it on any physical format.
Sailor Moon’s impact on modern American animation remains undeniable inexplicable
Yes. You broke that for us, definitely.
I’m just breakin’ yer balls a little bit.
This reads like an essay for English class in high school.
Despite the fact that the initial dub was heavily censored when it first aired in the U.SThis is one of the scenes that were censored.“DATE-OH?”
Well… I wouldn’t call that the “initial” dub*, but it was just as badly censored.That episode, though, is proof that it can be friggin’ hilarious to use both the Dub and Sub simultaneously.Paraphrased:
Sub: “There are plenty of fish in the sea, Mako-chan!”
Dub: “I WANT ICE CREAM TOO, LITA!”*Initial would be the beginning through (I think) R, done by DiC, while that clip is from S, done by Cloverway.
This show is a cultural touchstone for me, to the point where I still buy Sailor Moon merchandise as a 36 year old man. What set it apart from other cartoons of the same period, I think, is that since the main cast is mostly female, it really allowed to deeper, 3 dimensional female characters. Many other superhero shows of the 80s and 90s had female characters whose sole trait was that they were “the girl” of the group. (Not all of them, before anyone jumps down my throat; I love the animated X-Men’s female characters as well, for example)Sailor Moon had many, many relatable, flawed, and well-rounded female characters, and for that alone it was pretty ground breaking. So much that you can ask any Sailor Moon fan which character was their favorite, and no matter who they answer, you can understand why they like that character. (For the record, I’m a Sailor Venus stan myself; I especially love her development in Sailor Moon S. The experienced guardian with leadership skills who begins to resent her duties as a guardian because she starts to feel it’s robbed her of her childhood and innocence? Because of that she starts to act more irresponsible and childish? What a great character moment to explore).Moreover, I still think the show is flat-out funny.
This is a great post—and since I admit to being largely out of touch with the modern American tv animation scene (what I know about works like Steven Universe is almost entirely due to how often they get referenced in articles and on sites I read), pretty informative.
I could nit pick some of the info about how groundbreaking it was or wasn’t in Japan itself (it’s mentioned that it was not the first magical girl anime to have a transformation sequence but it took other tropes from Creamy Mami, etc, etc, before it like the animal-like sidekick, the cute power objects that could be marketed, the relationship to a Tuxedo Mask type figure, the cosmic past lives, etc etc). One of its innovations was Takeuchi’s brilliant idea to mix this up with the Sentai/Power Rangers formula (I believe initially, in the original Sailor V manga, more as a parody). Which leads to cynically perhaps one of its other biggest innovations—the media synchronicity.
While it’s true that most manga has restraints put upon it and often, especially manga aimed at a younger audience, the editor of the magazine it’s serialized in is as important in his decisions as the manga-ka is, but Sailor Moon also had to deal with everything being worked out with Bandai/Toei. I’m sure their were earlier examples, but Sailor Moon was one of the first major instances where the product was created by committee… There was interest in doing a Sailor V anime, but the sponsors Bandai wanted an entire team, so with Tekeuchi they worked out the new Sailor Moon format, coming up with key plot points, reveals and twists together and making sure they would occur at roughly the same time (of course Takeuchi increasingly was allowed to do what she wanted around these points in her manga). For a lot of subsequent anime, this became pretty standard practice. But of course there also were all the direct copies—the most shameless and one I have a weird soft spot for being Wedding Peach… Which admittedly makes you appreciate the genuine artistry and brilliance of Sailor Moon.
The thing about getting into too much Sailor Moon was, those cartoons have got the boom anime babes that make me think the wrong thing.
I am also a big fan of the TV show.
Who’s Usagi? =DI’m kidding. I’ve only ever seen the dub on YTV. Watched the shit out of it, though. GO, 14-year-old me!
In Japan, I would say that the torch of Sailor Moon is being carried by Pretty Cure. It’s been the big “magical girl warrior” anime for 12 or 13 years, at least. It’s … kind of dreadful, and targeted pretty strongly at the younger child demographic. It adds and extra layer of bows and ribbons, makes the sentai uniform look more like a maid/princess, adds in a few fight scenes straight from DBZ, and somehow doubles up every element for every yearly reboot.
Glitter Force on Netflix is somehow part of Pretty Cure, right?
I know it’s cliche to suggest that things like Buffy came out of Sailor Moon (which was still relatively new when Buffy—the TV series—was even being created) but… I couldn’t help at the time thinking the whole “revelation of true love—plus having sex in Buffy—causes the mysterious helper figure/love interest Angel/Tuxedo Mask to become bad” sequences from Sailor Moon R and season 2 of Buffy shared a lot in common. Of course, that concept isn’t a unique idea, and the situations are by no means exactly the same (Angel isn’t being controlled by a bigger “big bad” for example), but… At the time, as a young teen, it just seemed so similar to me.
I think Ms. Bose is selling SM short. The LGBT themes are strong and undeniable, but I think the feminine tones play a bigger part especially in the 90’s. From main characters having flaws, to friends having fights and disagreements, Sailor Moon was refreshingly different to many shows at the time. Something emulated in so many shows since. In the 90’s many advocated stronger female roles but few had an idea what that actually meant. I think that’s what gives Sailor Moon such an iconic status.
Great article, however, regarding the transformation sequences, these were hardly innovations… They’re the magical girl equivalent of giant robots assembling (think Voltron). Those sequences are well-known to be made with the purpose of reusability throughout several episodes, with the intent of cutting down the actual runtime of new animation, reducing production costs. It’s the same logic behind repeating backgrounds in Scooby-Do chase scenes.I 100% agree that Sailor Moon brought a different vibe and aesthetic to those bits of animation, but they were very likely introduced from the start as a means of keeping production costs in check, like every other series that preceded and used lengthy canned animation sequences for that purpose. Heck, the original Filmation She-Ra and Masters of the Universe before that also had transformation sequences (and correct me if I’m wrong but I believe both predate Sailor Moon?)In an interesting note, the recent She-Ra and the Princesses of Power has amazing transformation sequences, but apart from the very first transformation, and a few especially epic moments after that (incluing the “true She-Ra” transformation near the series end), most of them are truncated or non-existent. This is the opposite logic from before: save as much of the runtime as posssible for meaningful animation, keep filler content to a minimum. Production costs are also very different nowadays with new development techniques and commercial models.
This was such an insightful piece! It really paints a picture of how far influence can spread and I absolutely love to see it. Reminds me of how elements of Shakespeare are found even today in a lot of different genres, so now I realize that Sailor Moon is actually modern-day Shakespeare.
It’s funny this posted this weekend because I just started re-watching Season 5 yesterday. I absolutely loved this show growing up and still do. It’s my favorite anime of all time. I own the full manga (both the original from the 90s when I initially collected it as well as the Viz release from a few years ago) and loved the anime reboot too. Slowly but surely, I’m working through buying the blu-rays; I own season 4, season 5 part 1 and the three movies. Seasons 4 and 5 are my favorites- anything involving the outer sensei is great. I used to pretend to be Sailor Neptune before I even knew there was one (yes, I’m gay lol), and she ended up being my favorite (along with Pluto). I loved reading this article and finding all these fans in the comments.
This show also pretty much singlehandedly kickstarted the anime boom in the USA, as it got big ratings when it was shown on Toonami, which made CN realize that anime was worth big bucks and that led to them picking up DBZ which also got big ratings and both shows were then able to get new English dubs to continue airing. That also led to 4Kids deciding to dub Pokemon and it proved that anime could also be big on public TV. Then the rest was history.
This was the first show with main female characters that I regularly watched as a young boy and it led to me seeking out more stuff that wasn’t squarely aimed at young guys.
I haven’t seen Sailor Moon in a while but those transformation sequences were annoying after awhile. The first few times are pretty cool if there’s only one character transforming but if the whole team transforms, it’s a slog to push through.