Sailor Moon (TV series)
Naoko Takeuchi initially planned both the Sailor Moon manga and anime to run for only six months. The first season premiered in Japan on TV Asahi on the 7th of March 1992, taking over a timeslot previously held by Goldfish Warning!. Toei Animation asked Takeuchi to continue drawing her manga due to the season's popularity. She struggled with developing another storyline until her editor Fumio Osano suggested focusing the second season on introducing Sailor Moon's daughter from the future. The anime team developed a filler arc known as the Makai Tree arc to give Takeuchi time to write the Black Moon story arc. The series ran for 200 episodes until its conclusion on the 8th of February 1997. Junichi Satō directed the first season while Kazuko Tadano served as character designer. Kunihiko Ikuhara later directed the Black Moon arc and subsequent seasons. Takuya Igarashi helmed the fifth and final season with Katsumi Tamegai as character designer.
A 14-year-old underachieving young schoolgirl named Usagi Tsukino meets a magical talking cat named Luna in Tokyo during the 1990s. Luna gives Usagi the ability to transform into a magical alter ego called Sailor Moon tasked with locating the moon princess and battling evil forces of the Dark Kingdom. Queen Beryl leads the Dark Kingdom and summons various monsters called Youma to sap energy from humans. Usagi battles against the Dark Kingdom while joined by other girls awakening as Sailor Soldiers including Ami Mizuno and Rei Hino. Mamoru Chiba appears as the mysterious Tuxedo Mask whose civilian form is a college student with whom Usagi eventually becomes romantically involved. The Sailor Soldiers learn of their past lives on Silver Millennium an ancient kingdom on the moon where they served Serenity's friends and bodyguards. Queen Metaria attacks and destroys Silver Millennium resulting in the deaths of Serenity Endymion and the Sailor Soldiers. Queen Serenity uses the power of the Silver Crystal to vanquish Queen Metaria and end the war. She sends the fallen Sailor Soldiers into the future to be reborn on Earth hoping to give them a second chance at peace.
In 1995 DIC Productions licensed the first two seasons of Sailor Moon for an English-language release in North America after a bidding war with Toon Makers and SeaGull Entertainment. Bob Summers wrote a new background score for the adaptation created to capitalize on the success of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The series premiered in Canada on the 28th of August 1995, on YTV and in first-run syndication in the U.S. on September 11 but halted production in November 1995 due to low ratings. Watching Anime Reading Manga by Fred Patten notes that the U.S. airing struggled in early morning dead timeslots unsuitable for the target audience. A fan petition that garnered over 12,500 signatures caught the attention of General Mills who agreed to sponsor and syndicate the dub through The Program Exchange in 1997. On the 9th of June 1997 re-runs began airing on USA Network marking an early example of successful fan activism. The original North American release was subject to heavy editing which resulted in large amounts of removed content and alterations that greatly changed the original work including character names clothing scenes and dialogue. Some scenes with brief nudity were censored while any type of violence including violence against children was also removed.
The media franchise became one of the most successful Japan has ever had reaching $1.5 billion in merchandise sales during the first three years. Sailor Moon sparked a highly successful merchandising campaign of over 5,000 items which contributed to demand internationally and translation into numerous languages. Sales of Sailor Moon fashion dolls overtook those of Licca-chan in the 1990s as Mattel attributed this to the fashion-action blend of the storyline. Doll accessories included both fashion items and the Sailor Soldiers' weapons. In 2001 the Sailor Moon manga was Tokyopop's best selling property outselling the next-best selling titles by at least a factor of 1.5. Ten years after the series completion it featured among the top thirty of TV Asahi Top 100 anime polls in 2005 and 2006. The anime series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1993. Spain and France became the first countries outside Japan to air Sailor Moon beginning in December 1993. Other countries followed suit including South Korea the Philippines Poland Russia Italy Mexico Brazil Ukraine Belarus Sweden Germany Bulgaria Austria Indonesia Croatia Hungary Taiwan Thailand Romania and Hong Kong before North America picked up the franchise for adaptation.
Takanori Arisawa composed the score for Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon earning the Golden Disk Grand Prize from Columbia Records for his work on the first series soundtrack in 1993. In 1998, 2000, and 2001 Arisawa won three consecutive JASRAC International Awards for most international royalties owing largely to the popularity of Sailor Moon music in other nations. The first opening theme Moonlight Densetsu was used for the first 166 episodes being performed by DALI for the first two seasons and then by Moon Lips for the next two seasons. Moonlight Densetsu was released as a CD single in March 1992 and was an explosive hit winning first place in the Song category in Animage's 15th and 16th Anime Grand Prix. It came seventh in the 17th Grand Prix while Moon Revenge from Sailor Moon R: The Movie came eighth. Rashiku Ikimasho the second closing song for SuperS placed eighteenth in 1996. In 1997 Sailor Star Song the new opening theme for Sailor Stars came eleventh and Moonlight Densetsu came sixteenth.
On the 16th of May 2014 North American manga and anime distributor Viz Media announced that it had acquired the Sailor Moon anime series as well as the three films and specials for an English-language release in North America allowing Viz to restore the removed content from the first 89 episodes. The Studio City Los Angeles-based Studiopolis was hired by Viz to re-dub the entire series. The series began streaming in the United States on Neon Alley and Hulu on the 19th of May 2014. On the 28th of November 2014 Australian publisher Madman Entertainment announced they had re-acquired the rights to the Sailor Moon anime series for Australia and New Zealand releasing the series in uncut format with the Viz Media English adaptation in 2015. A new animated adaptation Sailor Moon Crystal which is a reboot series that more closely follows the manga began streaming worldwide in July 2014. Re-runs of the series began airing on Cartoon Network's weekday afternoon programming block Toonami on the 1st of June 1998 due to ratings success. In 2010 Toei negotiated to license and broadcast Sailor Moon in Italy on Mediaset resulting in an international revival.
Common questions
When did the Sailor Moon TV series premiere in Japan?
The first season of the Sailor Moon anime premiered on the 7th of March 1992. It aired on TV Asahi and took over a timeslot previously held by Goldfish Warning!.
Who directed the different seasons of the Sailor Moon anime series?
Junichi Satō directed the first season while Kazuko Tadano served as character designer. Kunihiko Ikuhara later directed the Black Moon arc and subsequent seasons, and Takuya Igarashi helmed the fifth and final season with Katsumi Tamegai as character designer.
What happened to the original North American release of Sailor Moon?
The original North American release was subject to heavy editing which resulted in large amounts of removed content and alterations that greatly changed the original work including character names clothing scenes and dialogue. The U.S. airing halted production in November 1995 due to low ratings before fan activism led to re-runs beginning on the 9th of June 1997.
How much money did the Sailor Moon franchise generate from merchandise sales?
The media franchise became one of the most successful Japan has ever had reaching $1.5 billion in merchandise sales during the first three years. Sailor Moon sparked a highly successful merchandising campaign of over 5,000 items which contributed to demand internationally and translation into numerous languages.
When did Viz Media acquire rights to restore the Sailor Moon anime series?
On the 16th of May 2014 North American manga and anime distributor Viz Media announced that it had acquired the Sailor Moon anime series as well as the three films and specials for an English-language release in North America allowing Viz to restore the removed content from the first 89 episodes. The series began streaming in the United States on Neon Alley and Hulu on the 19th of May 2014.