The fourth season of the '' Sailor Moon'' anime series, ''Sailor Moon SuperS'' (originally released in Japan as , and later as ''Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon SuperS'') 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. Slu ...

and directed by

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' ...

. It adapts the "Dream" arc of the '' Sailor Moon'' manga series by Naoko Takeuchi and 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 Super 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 arc for 22 episodes depicts a mighty deity known as Pegasus, entering

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 in ...

's dreams to flee from the Amazon Trio, minions of 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 ...

, who are trying to steal the legendary Golden Crystal from him. The second arc for 17 episodes depicts the arrival of the

Amazoness Quartet 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, ...

, a group of enemies who dream of remaining young forever, as well as Queen Nehelenia, the depraved ruler of the Dead Moon Circus. The season began broadcasting on TV Asahi on March 4, 1995, and ended on March 2, 1996. It was licensed by Cloverway Inc. and produced by Optimum Productions for an English-language broadcast in North America in 2000–02. The series was broadcast on YTV in Canada and on Cartoon Network's

Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...

programming block in the United States. It was the last season to be licensed by Cloverway and the last to be dubbed by Optimum. Edited VHSs and unedited DVDs of their adaptation were released by

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 ...

. Eventually, the season was re-licensed 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 ...

in 2014 for an updated English-language release, produced by Studiopolis. The first 18 episodes of the season were released as Part 1 on Blu-ray and DVD on April 24, 2018, and the other 19 episodes were released as "Part 2" on November 13, 2018. Three pieces of theme music were used: one opening theme and two ending themes. The opening theme, an updated version of "

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 ...

", is performed by MoonLips. The first ending theme, used for the first 13 episodes, was performed by Miwako Fujitani. The second ending theme, used for the rest of the season, is performed by Miyuki Kajitani, who is credited as Meu. Cloverway used the English-language version of "Moonlight Densetsu" first commissioned for

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 com ...

's dub of the first season and ''R'' for their adaptation. __TOC__

Episode list (1995–1996)

Specials

Home video releases

English

DVD

= United States

= Australia and New Zealand

Blu-ray

= Japan

= United States

= Australia and New Zealand

Film

''Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie'', originally released Japan as , and later as ''Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon SuperS: The Nine Sailor Guardians Unite! Miracle of the Black Dream Hole'', and released in the U.S. as ''Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie: Black Dream Hole'' in the Pioneer Entertainment dub, and simply ''Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie'' in Viz media re-dub, is an anime film directed by Hiroki Shibata and animated by

. The film debuted in Japanese theaters on December 23, 1995, accompanied by a 16-minute

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 ...

titled .

Video games

Several video games were released to promote this season, most of them developed or published by

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 ...

. In 1995, a

puzzle video game Puzzle video games make up a broad genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including logic, pattern recognition, sequence solving, spatial recognition, and word completion. H ...

titled ''Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon SuperS: Fuwa Fuwa Panic'' was developed by Tom Create and published by Bandai for Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The next year, also for Super NES the fighting game ''Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon SuperS: Zenin Sanka! Shuyaku Soudatsusen'' was developed by

Monolith Soft trading as Monolith Soft, is a Japanese video game development studio originally owned by Namco (later Bandai Namco) until being bought out by Nintendo in 2007. The company was founded in 1999 by Tetsuya Takahashi with the support and coope ...

and published by Angel, a subsidiary company of Bandai. In the same year, ''Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon SuperS: Various Emotion'' was released for Sega Saturn. Angel also published '' Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon SuperS: Shin Shuyaku Sōdatsusen'' for PlayStation. Three miscellaneous game titled ''Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon SuperS: Sailor Moon to Hiragana Lesson!'', ''Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon SuperS: Youkoso! Sailor Youchien'', and ''Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon SuperS: Sailor Moon to Hajimete no Eigo'' were released for Playdia in 1995.

References

{{Toei Animation OVAs 1995 Japanese television seasons 1996 Japanese television seasons Circus television shows Sailor Moon seasons Television shows about dreams