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. Slump'', ...

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 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 ...

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, vide ...

s: the first arc for 22 episodes depicts a mighty deity known as

Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...

, 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, a ...

, 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, an ...

, a group of enemies who dream of remaining young forever, as well as

Queen Nehelenia 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 ...

, 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 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, ...

's Toonami 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 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 Dens ...

", 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'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 titled .

Video games

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

Bandai is a Japanese multinational corporation, 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 ...

. 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. ...

titled ''Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon SuperS: Fuwa Fuwa Panic'' was developed by Tom Create and published by Bandai for

Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South ...

. The next year, also for Super NES the fighting game ''Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon SuperS: Zenin Sanka! Shuyaku Soudatsusen'' was developed by Monolith Soft 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 The (developed under the codename "BA-X") is a fifth-generation home video game console released exclusively in Japan in 1994 at the initial price of ¥24,800. It was intended for a young audience and, like many consoles of the era (e.g. the ...

in 1995.

References

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