The first season of the ''

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 ...

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series was produced by

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'', ' ...

and directed by Junichi Sato. It was broadcast from March 7, 1992 to February 27, 1993 on

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 ...

. This season adapts the first arc of the ''

'' manga series 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 "Dark Kingdom" arc. It follows 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' ...

and her friends. After the magical cat Luna reveals Usagi's true identity as the titular character, Usagi fights to protect the Earth from the Dark Kingdom, who previously destroyed the ancient Moon Kingdom. In the 1993 favorite episode listings for ''

Animage is a Japanese anime and entertainment magazine which Tokuma Shoten began publishing in July 1978. Hayao Miyazaki's internationally renowned manga, ''Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'', was serialized in ''Animage'' from 1982 through 1994. Oth ...

'', "Loved and Chased! Luna's Worst Day Ever" came in first place, with "Naru's Cry! Nephrite Dies for Love" coming in third place, "The Sparkling Silver Crystal! The Moon Princess Appears" coming in sixth place, "Memories Return! Usagi and Mamoru's Past" coming in ninth place and "Love for Ami?! A Boy Who Can Predict the Future" coming in eleventh place. The following year, the two-part series finale "The Sailor Warriors Die! The Tragic Final Battle" and "Usagi's Everlasting Wish! A New Reincarnation" took first and second place respectively. Eight DVD compilations were released in Japan between May 21 and July 21, 2002, and the series was later released in a remastered edition in two box-sets from December 11, 2009 to January 21, 2010. In the English language adaptation of the series by former licensee DIC Entertainment, the season was cut down to 40 episodes and also added an ending segment, "Sailor Says," to teach a moral based on the story that had just been shown. The episodes were first broadcast on YTV in Canada from August 28 to October 24, 1995, and later had its

first-run syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...

in the United States from September 11 to November 3, 1995. The first season was later released by

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 ...

in a subtitle-only DVD box set in 2003. Eventually, on May 16, 2014, the season 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 ...

and they released the season in two uncut DVD and Blu-ray compilations on November 11, 2014 and February 10, 2015 for parts one and two respectively.

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

began streaming the series in the United States on May 19, 2014, with Tubi TV following suit in Canada on July 15, 2016. The score was composed by Takanori Arisawa. Three pieces of theme music are used for the episodes; one opening theme and two closing themes. The opening theme for the whole season is "

Moonlight Densetsu is a song that served as an opening theme for the anime series, ''Sailor Moon (anime), Sailor Moon''. The song's original version was released in Japan on March 21, 1992, on a split single (music), single by Manish (band), Dali and Misae Takam ...

" performed by the idol group DALI. "Heart Moving", performed by Misae Takamatsu of Sakura Sakura, is used as the ending theme for the first 26 episodes, and "Princess Moon", performed by Ushio Hashimoto, is used for the remainder of the season. DIC Entertainment made an English-language version of the Japanese opening theme for its adaptation. Several

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

were released to promote this season. In 1993, Angel (a subsidiary company of

Bandai is a Japanese multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and Richmond ...

), published ''

'' for

Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...

. Also in 1993, Black HCS developed and published a

beat 'em up The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels, ...

video game called ''Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Kessen Dark Kingdom'' for

Sharp X68000 The is a home computer created by Sharp Corporation. It was first released in 1987 and sold only in Japan. The initial model has a 10 MHz Motorola 68000 CPU, 1 MB of RAM, and lacks a hard drive. The final model was released in 1993 wit ...

. In 1995, Gazelle developed the arcade game ''

Pretty Soldier 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 ...

'', which was published by Banpresto.

Episode list (1992–1993)

Home media

Japanese

VHS

DVD

Blu-ray

English

VHS

=United States

=United Kingdom

=Australia

DVD

=United States

=United Kingdom

=Australia and New Zealand

Blu-ray + DVD combo

=North America

=Australia and New Zealand

References

{{Sailor Moon 1992 Japanese television seasons 1993 Japanese television seasons Sailor Moon seasons