Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 52 individual chapters were published in 18 volumes. The seri ...

'', originally released in Japan as , and later as ''Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon'', is an anime series adapted from the manga series of the same name written and illustrated by

Naoko Takeuchi is a Japanese manga artist. She is best known as the author of ''Sailor Moon'', one of the most popular manga series of all time. She has won several awards, including the 1993 Kodansha Manga Award for ''Sailor Moon''. Takeuchi is married to ...

. The series was directed by

Junichi Sato is a Japanese anime director, best known for working on '' shōjo''-based anime and in the magical girl genre. He was formerly associated with TYO Animations (formerly Hal Film Maker). Born in Ama, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, his first major ...

Kunihiko Ikuhara , also known by the nickname Ikuni, is a Japanese director, writer, artist, and music producer. He has created and collaborated on several notable anime and manga series, including ''Sailor Moon'', ''Revolutionary Girl Utena'', ''Penguindrum'' ...

and

Takuya Igarashi is a Japanese freelance storyboard artist and director who has worked for Toei Animation and currently Bones. He has also sometimes used the alias . Anime involved in Director ''TV Series'' ''Films'' Other *''Alien Nine'': Episode Direct ...

and produced by

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...

and

Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' ''GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' ''Mazinger Z'', ''Galaxy Express 999'', ''Cutie Honey'', ''Dr. Slump'', ' ...

. The first four seasons were dubbed and released in North America by

DIC Entertainment DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production comp ...

(now

WildBrain WildBrain Ltd. (formerly known as DHX Media, Ltd.) is a Canadian media, animation studio, production, and brand licensing company, mostly associated as an entertainment company. The company is known for owning the largest library of children' ...

) and

Cloverway Cloverway Inc. (abbreviated as CWi, also branded as Cloverway) was a media licensing agency based in Long Beach, California which specialized in Japanese animation and Manga licensing, and they were best known for being the representative office ...

. The series concentrates on the adventures of

Usagi Tsukino , better known as , is a Japanese superheroine and the main protagonist and title character of the ''Sailor Moon'' manga series written by Naoko Takeuchi. She is introduced in chapter #1, "Usagi – Sailor Moon" (originally published in Japan' ...

, a schoolgirl who learns that she and several other girls can transform into superheroines, the Sailor Guardians, and fight against evil forces that threaten the world: the

Dark Kingdom The is a group of fictional characters in the ''Sailor Moon'' manga series by Naoko Takeuchi. They are the chief villains of the first story arc in every version of the series, and were first introduced in the first chapter of the manga, "Usagi ...

, the

Makaiju The ''Sailor Moon'' manga series features an extensive cast of characters created by Naoko Takeuchi. The series takes place in Tokyo, Japan, where the , a group of ten magical girls, are formed to combat an assortment of antagonists attempting t ...

, the

Black Moon Clan The is a group of fictional characters in the ''Sailor Moon'' manga series by Naoko Takeuchi. It comprises the main villains of the second major story arc, which is called the ''Black Moon'' in the manga and ''Sailor Moon Crystal'', and which fil ...

, the

Death Busters The are a group of fictional characters in the '' Sailor Moon'' manga series written by Naoko Takeuchi. This group comprises the villains of the third major story arc, which is called the ''Infinity'' in the manga, ''Sailor Moon S'' in the firs ...

, the

Dead Moon Circus The are a group of fictional characters from the ''Sailor Moon'' manga series created by Naoko Takeuchi. They serve as the main antagonists of the fourth arc, called ''Dream'' in the manga, ''Sailor Moon SuperS'' in its first anime adaptation, an ...

, and

Shadow Galactica are a group of fictional characters in the ''Sailor Moon'' manga series created by Naoko Takeuchi. They are the villains of the series' fifth and final story arc, called ''Stars'' in the manga, ''Sailor Moon Sailor Stars'' in the first anime ada ...

. The series aired from March 7, 1992 to February 8, 1997, on TV Asahi in Japan. In addition to the 200 episodes, three feature-length films were produced, as well as five

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s. In North America, the episodes aired from August 28, 1995 to December 21, 2000, on YTV in Canada, and in first-run syndication (and later on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

) in the United States. The first two seasons of the series, ''Sailor Moon'' and ''Sailor Moon R'', were sold across 20 VHS volumes in Japan in 1995, and by the end of that year, each volume had sold more than 300,000 copies. In 2001,

ADV Films A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt Gre ...

released the English dubs of the first two seasons to 20 VHS volumes. The first two English-language seasons were released on 14 Region 1 DVDs in 2002 by ADV. ADV also released subtitled and uncensored and uncut versions of the first two seasons in two separate Limited Edition DVD box sets in 2003.

Pioneer Entertainment (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise headquartered in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo. It is primarily involved in the production and distribution of anime within Japan. The ...

released both edited and unedited versions of the third and fourth seasons, ''Sailor Moon S'' and ''Sailor Moon Super S'' respectively, on DVD and VHS in 2001 and 2002. In 2004, the international rights to the series expired. At the start of ''Sailor Moon S'', the episode numbers for the dub were adjusted by YTV to match those of the original Japanese version. There had previously been a gap in numbering because of the seven episodes that had been cut or merged in the previous two seasons. Because of this, episode numbers 83-89 were never used for the dub. However, in the United States, 83-89 were used for the dub on Cartoon Network, and did not match those of the original Japanese version. On May 16, 2014, the entire anime series (all 200 TV episodes, all three movies, and the TV specials) was re-licensed for an updated English-language release by

Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...

Series overview

Episode list

Season 1: ''Sailor Moon'' (1992–93)

Season 2: ''Sailor Moon R'' (1993–94)

Season 3: ''Sailor Moon S'' (1994–95)

Season 4: ''Sailor Moon SuperS'' (1995–96)

Season 5: ''Sailor Stars'' (1996–97)

Specials

Short anime specials

Two short episodes were created to be shown with the

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

theatrical films of the ''Sailor Moon'' anime. The first, entitled " Make Up! Sailor Guardians", is a comical introduction to the cast of the series for those not familiar with the franchise, while the second, " Ami's First Love", is an adaptation of an extra story (

omake ''Omake'' (, usually written ) means ''extra'' in Japanese language, Japanese. Its primary meaning is general and widespread. It is used as an anime and manga term to mean "extra or bonus." In the United States, the term is most often used in ...

) from the ''Sailor Moon'' manga. In 2014,

licensed the shorts for an English language release in North America.

''Sailor Moon SuperS'' special

The latter three specials, collectively called the "SuperS Specials", were released together, airing in lieu of a regular episode near the beginning of the ''SuperS'' season. The first special, "An Elegant Metamorphosis? Crybaby Usagi's Growth Diary", is a summary of the first three seasons of the ''Sailor Moon'' series. The second special, "Haruka and Michiru, Again! The Ghostly Puppet Show", features

Haruka Haruka may refer to: People *Haruka (given name), a Japanese given name *Haruka (model) (born 1975), Japanese fashion model Music * "Haruka" (Melody song) * "Haruka" (Scandal song) * "Haruka" (Tokio song) * "Haruka" (Yoasobi song) Other uses * ' ...

and Michiru in a luxury hotel on a cliff. In the third special, "Chibiusa's Adventure! The Dreaded Vampire Castle",

Chibiusa is a fictional main character from the '' Sailor Moon'' manga series created by Naoko Takeuchi. She is one of the main characters of the series. She is introduced in Chapter 14, "Conclusion and Commencement, Petite Étrangere", first published ...

uncovers one of her classmates as a monster and fights it with the other Sailor Guardians.

Films

References

{{Sailor Moon

Episodes Episodes may refer to: * Episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption. The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Gree ...