Sailor Moon
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 60 individual chapters and several side stories were compiled into 18 tankōbon volumes. Set in Tokyo in the 1990s, the series follows the adventures of a schoolgirl named Usagi Tsukino as she transforms into the eponymous character to search for a magical artifact, the "Legendary Silver Crystal". She leads a group of comrades, the Sailor Soldiers, called Sailor Guardians in later editions, as they battle against villains to prevent the theft of the Silver Crystal and the destruction of the Solar System.
The manga was written in conjunction with the airing of an anime series produced by Toei Animation, which was broadcast in Japan from 1992 to 1997. Toei also developed three animated feature films, a television special, and three short films based on the anime. A live-action television adaptation, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, aired from 2003 to 2004, and a second anime series, Sailor Moon Crystal, began simulcasting in 2014. The manga series was licensed for an English release by Kodansha Comics in North America, and in Australia and New Zealand by Random House Australia. The entire anime series has been licensed by Viz Media for an English-language release in North America and by Madman Entertainment in Australia and New Zealand.
Since its release, Sailor Moon has received critical acclaim, with praise for its art, characterization, and humor. The manga has sold over 46 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling manga series, as well as one of the best-selling shōjo manga series of all time, marking its importance in the history of manga. Additionally, the television series played a major role in popularizing anime in the Western world, particularly in the United States. The Sailor Moon franchise has generated over in worldwide merchandise sales.
Plot
The series focuses on Usagi Tsukino, a young middle school student in the Azabu-Jūban district of Tokyo in the 1990s, who learns from the talking cat Luna that she is actually a reincarnation of a princess from the Moon Kingdom, Sailor Moon. They are joined by Ami Mizuno, a student who awakens as Sailor Mercury; Rei Hino, a local Shinto shrine maiden who awakens as Sailor Mars; Makoto Kino, a tall and strong transfer student who awakens as Sailor Jupiter; and Minako Aino, a young aspiring idol who had awakened as Sailor Venus a few months earlier, accompanied by her talking feline companion Artemis. As they set out on their adventures, others join the Guardians later in the series, including Mamoru Chiba, a high school student who occasionally assists them as Tuxedo Mask; Chibiusa, Usagi and Mamoru's future daughter who awakens as Sailor Chibi Moon; Haruka Tenoh, a car-racer who can transform into Sailor Uranus; Michiru Kaioh, a violinist who can transform into Sailor Neptune; Setsuna Meioh, a physics student who can transform into Sailor Pluto; Hotaru Tomoe, who awakens as Sailor Saturn; and the Three Lights, pop idols who are really the Sailor Starlights. Together, they encounter extraterrestrials, space travelers, and other Guardians as they protect the Earth and the Moon from destruction by malevolent forces.Production
Concept and creation
, after working on the 1991 Nami Akimoto manga Miracle Girls, redeveloped Sailor Moon from her manga one-shot Codename: Sailor V, which was published on August 8, 1991, and featured Sailor Venus as the main protagonist. Takeuchi wanted to create a story with a theme about girls in outer space. While discussing with her editor, Fumio Osano, he suggested the addition of Sailor fuku. When Codename: Sailor V was proposed for adaptation into an anime by Toei Animation, Takeuchi redeveloped the concept so Sailor Venus became a member of a team. The resulting manga series became a fusion of the popular magical girl genre and the Super Sentai series, of which Takeuchi was a fan. Recurring motifs include astronomy, astrology, gemology, Greco-Roman mythology, Japanese elemental themes, teenage fashion trends, and schoolgirl antics. Codename: Sailor V would continue to run parallel to Sailor Moon as a serial, now recontextualized as an origin story for Sailor Venus.Takeuchi said discussions with Kodansha originally envisaged a single story arc; the storyline was developed in meetings a year before serialization began. After completing the arc, Toei and Kodansha asked Takeuchi to continue the series. She wrote four more story arcs, which were often published simultaneously with the five corresponding seasons of the anime adaptation. The anime ran one or two months behind the manga. As a result, the anime follows the storyline of the manga fairly closely, although there are deviations. Takeuchi later said because Toei's production staff was mostly male, she felt the anime had "a slight male perspective".
Takeuchi later said that she planned to kill off the protagonists, but Osano rejected the notion and said, " is a shōjo manga!" When the anime adaptation was produced, the protagonists were killed in the final battle with the Dark Kingdom, although they were revived. Takeuchi resented that she was unable to do that in her version. Takeuchi also intended for the Sailor Moon anime adaptation to last for one season, but due to its immense popularity, Toei asked Takeuchi to continue the series. At first, she struggled to develop another storyline to extend the series. While discussing with Osano, he suggested the inclusion of Usagi's daughter from the future, Chibiusa.
Westernization
When the Sailor Moon anime was first released in North America and dubbed in English in 1995, fans and academics alike noted that the dub had westernized the series by altering or removing Japanese names and cultural references. These included, but were not limited to, Sailor Moon's real name, Usagi Tsukino, being changed to Serena, and the name of Mamoru Chiba, Usagi's love interest, being changed to Darien Shields. The original main theme was changed from a romance ballad discussing Serena's eternal love for Darien to an anthem focused on Serena's newfound identity as the superheroine Sailor Moon. The nature of Serena and Darien's relationship – a minor who is romantically involved with an adult – was interestingly unchanged from the Japanese anime, although attempts were made to obscure the age difference in the Western adaptations.Other examples of westernization referenced by Sailor Moon
According to Bandai America, the company in charge of Sailor Moon merchandise in the Western Hemisphere, the approach to advertising Sailor Moon was to make the show and superheroine "'culturally appropriate' for the American market".
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi, Sailor Moon was serialized by Kodansha in the manga anthology Nakayoshi from December 28, 1991, to February 3, 1997. The side-stories were serialized simultaneously in RunRun—another of Kodansha's manga magazines. The 52 individual chapters were published in 18 tankōbon volumes by Kodansha from July 6, 1992, to April 4, 1997. In 2003, the chapters were re-released in a collection of 12 shinzōban volumes to coincide with the release of the live-action series. The manga was retitled Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon and included new cover art, and revised dialogue and illustrations. The ten individual short stories were also released in two volumes. In 2013, the chapters were once again re-released in 10 kanzenban volumes to commemorate the manga's 20th anniversary, which includes digitally remastered artwork, new covers, and color artwork from its Nakayoshi run. The books were enlarged from the typical Japanese manga size to A5. The short stories were republished in two volumes, with the order of the stories shuffled. Codename: Sailor V was also included in the third edition.The Sailor Moon manga was initially licensed for an English release by Mixx in North America. The manga was first published as a serial in MixxZine beginning in 1997, but was later removed from the magazine and made into a separate, low print monthly comic to finish the first, second, and third arcs. At the same time, the fourth and fifth arcs were printed in a secondary magazine, Smile. Pages from the Tokyopop version of the manga ran daily in the Japanimation Station, a service accessible to users of America Online. The series was later collected into a three-part graphic novel series spanning eighteen volumes, which were published from December 1, 1998, to September 18, 2001. In May 2005, Tokyopop's license to the Sailor Moon manga expired, and its edition went out of print.
In 2011, Kodansha Comics announced that the company had acquired the license for the Sailor Moon manga and its lead-in series, Codename: Sailor V, in English. They published the twelve volumes of Sailor Moon simultaneously with the two-volume edition of Codename: Sailor V from September 2011 to July 2013. The first of the two related short story volumes was published on September 10, 2013; the second was published on November 26, 2013. At Anime Expo 2017, Kodansha Comics announced plans to re-release Sailor Moon in an "Eternal Edition", featuring a new English translation, new cover artwork by Takeuchi, and color pages from the manga's original run, printed on extra-large premium paper. The first Eternal Edition volume was published on September 11, 2018; the tenth and final volume was published on October 20, 2020. On July 1, 2019, Kondasha Comics began releasing the Eternal Editions digitally, following an announcement the day before about the series being released digitally in ten different languages. In November 2020, Kodansha Comics announced plans to re-release the Sailor Moon manga again as part of their "Naoko Takeuchi Collection". The company described the new edition as a "more affordable, portable" version of the Eternal Edition. The first volume was published on April 5, 2022, and the last on September 17, 2024.
Sailor Moon has also been licensed in other English-speaking countries. In the United Kingdom, the volumes are distributed by Turnaround Publisher Services. In Australia, the manga is distributed by Penguin Books Australia.
The manga has been licensed in Russia as well as the CIS for distribution by publishing company XL Media. The first volume was released in 2018.