The fifth and final season of the '' Sailor Moon'' anime series, ''Sailor Moon Sailor Stars'' or simply ''Sailor Stars'' (originally released in Japan as , and later as ''Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: Sailor Stars'') was directed by

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 Direc ...

and 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. Slu ...

. Like the rest of the ''Sailor Moon'' series, 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 fellow Sailor Guardians. The series is divided into two

story arc A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, board games, vid ...

s. The first 6 episodes consist of a self-contained arc in which the Sailor Guardians encounter Queen Nehelenia again. The remaining 28 episodes adapt material from the "Stars" act of the '' Sailor Moon'' manga series by Naoko Takeuchi, in which the Sailor Guardians meet up with the Sailor Starlights, led by Princess Kakyuu. They discover that Sailor Galaxia, the leader of the "

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 ad ...

" organization and a corrupted Sailor Guardian, plans to increase her powers and rule the Milky Way. The season began broadcasting 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 Comp ...

on March 9, 1996 and ended on February 8, 1997 for 34 episodes. It was later released on DVD in six compilations with five episodes, by Toei, from September 26 to November 21, 2005. In May 2014,

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 ...

announced that they licensed the series from the start for an uncut release, and also that they plan to release the fifth season on Blu-ray and DVD. On December 14, 2015, Viz Media streamed the first episode of ''Sailor Moon Sailor Stars'', along with the series finale of ''Sailor Moon SuperS'', on Hulu in the United States, followed by a streaming release of the entire show on

Tubi TV Tubi is an American over-the-top content platform and ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox Corporation. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In January 2021, Tubi reached 33 million monthly ...

in Canada on July 15, 2016. The first 17 episodes of ''Sailor Stars'' were released on Blu-ray and DVD in a dual-language format on June 18, 2019. The rest were released on November 12, 2019. Three pieces of

theme music Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

were used: one opening theme and two ending themes. The opening theme, titled "Sailor Star Song", is performed by Kae Hanazawa. The ending theme, used for the first 33 episodes, is " Kaze mo Sora mo Kitto..." performed by

Alisa Mizuki is a Japanese actress, singer, and model. Mizuki is represented by the talent agency Vision Factory. Born in Nerima, Tokyo to Japanese-American parents, Mizuki began modelling for magazines and appearing in commercials at the age of four. On ...

. The second and final ending theme that was used for the final episode is "

Moonlight Densetsu is a song that served as an opening theme for the anime series, '' Sailor Moon''. The song's original version was released in Japan on March 21, 1992, on a split single by Dali and Misae Takamatsu titled . The Dali recording of "Moonlight De ...

", The Original Sailor Moon Theme, performed by Moon Lips.

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 ...

released two

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, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedbac ...

in 1996 to promote this season: ''Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Sailor Stars'' for

Sega Pico The Sega Pico, also known as is an educational video game console by Sega Toys. Marketed as "edutainment", the main focus of the Pico was educational video games for children between 3 and 7 years old. The Pico was released in June 1993 in Jap ...

, and ''Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Sailor Stars: Fuwa Fuwa Panic 2'' for Super Nintendo Entertainment System. __TOC__

Episode list (1996–1997)

Home video releases

English

Blu-ray + DVD combo

Japanese

Blu-ray

References

{{Takuya Igarashi Sailor Stars 1997 Japanese television seasons Sailor Stars Milky Way in fiction