Sailor Moon (Anime)

Sailor Moon (美少女戦士セーラームーン), is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. It is based on the manga of the same title written by Naoko Takeuchi that was published from 1991 to 1997 in Nakayoshi. Sailor Moon first aired in Japan on TV Asahi from March 7, 1992 to February 8, 1997. This series has been dubbed into English in the United States. In Japan, this series is call Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon. The series follows the adventures of the main character Usagi Tsukino, a middle school student who is given the power to become the titular Sailor Soldier. Joined by other Sailor Soldiers, Usagi defends the planet against an assortment of evil villains. The anime also parallels the maturation of Usagi from an emotional middle school girl to a responsible young adult. Due to the success of the anime in the United States, the manga comprising its story was released by Tokyopop. Sailor Moon's popularity has spawned numerous releases such as 3 films, 39 video games, and numerous soundtracks stemming from this material. A second animated adaptation, Sailor Moon Crystal, began streaming worldwide from July 2014 onwards.

Plot
Usagi Tsukino is a 14 year old middle school student who’s a bit of a klutz and kind of a crybaby. As her day begins, she wakes up late, as usual, and frantically leaves the house in a hurry to make it to school on time. On her way to school, Usagi discovers a group of kids mistreating a cat. Usagi runs over and yells at them, picking up the black cat. She notices there’s a bandage on the cat’s head. Deciding to remove it, she discovers a crescent moon shaped patch of fur on the cat’s head. As the mysterious cat flips over and examines Usagi, the clock tower rings and Usagi hurriedly runs to school.

At school, Usagi is punished by her teacher, Ms. Haruna, for being late again. As she waits in the hallway and begins to snack, Ms. Haruna comes out and explains that behavior like tardiness leads to poor grades, as shown by Usagi receiving a 30% on a recent English test. During lunch, Usagi's best friends Naru Osaka and Umino Gurio comfort her over failing another test, although Naru says this is nothing out of the ordinary. The trio talk about how Sailor V, an unknown crime fighter, has foiled another robbery attempt at a jewelry store. As they’re talking, Naru remembers that her mom's jewelry store is having a huge sale. She invites Usagi to the store and both girls proclaim that they can’t wait for school to be over.

Meanwhile in a dark subterranean layer, Queen Beryl inquires if any of her followers have found the Legendary Silver Crystal. She reminds them that massive amounts of energy are required to awaken their Great Ruler, while they look for the Silver Crystal. A general named Jadeite agrees to use his youma to help gather energy from humans to help awaken the Great Ruler.

Now that school is over, Usagi and Naru make their way to the jewelry store to find it extremely packed. Naru introduces Usagi to her mom and Naru's mom promises to give Usagi an extra special deal because she's Naru's friend. She tells the girls that a ring normally costs 500,000 yen, but she'll sell it for 30,000 yen. As the pair stand in disbelief, it attracts the rest of the store and a brawl ensues. When they finally escape the crowd, Usagi remembers she already spent all of her allowance and her parents aren’t likely to give her more after her failed English test. Naru reminds her there’s always next time and the two part. Outside, Usagi crumples her test and throws it over her shoulder, hitting a boy intently staring at the jewelry store. As she says she’s sorry, the boy calls her stupid for getting a 30% on her test. A mortified Usagi proclaims it’s none of his business and sticks her tongue out at the boy, calling him a weirdo. As Usagi leaves, she passes by a Sailor V poster at the arcade. She wishes she could be “cool like Sailor V” and be free from tests and homework. Usagi looks at her test one more time, cries for a bit, then continues on home as the black cat follows her, proclaiming "Usagi Tsukino, at last I've found you."

As she returns home, Usagi's mother tells her that she bumped into Umino earlier and he told her about the English test. Cursing Umino, Usagi reluctantly hands the test over and, after seeing his 30%, Usagi's mom kicks her out of the house. Usagi's little brother arrives home and berates her for being a dummy. As he runs into the house, Usagi executes a “Sailor V Kick!” only to hit the door. Now crying even louder, she begs to be let in.

Back at OSA-P, Naru notices that customers’ energy is being drained by the items they purchased. She asks her mother what's going on, only to find her acting very strange. Transforming into a youma, Naru's mom begins to attack her.

After a little while, Usagi is allowed back into the house. Instead of doing homework, she naps upstairs. Just as she falls asleep, the mysterious black cat jumps through her window, startling Usagi awake. Even more alarming, the cat begins to talk. Although she thinks it’s a dream, the cat explains that her name is Luna and she’s been looking for Usagi for quite some time now. She elaborates that a powerful enemy has begun to threaten Earth and Usagi is a soldier guarded by moon who can stop this. Still not believing, Luna gives Usagi a special brooch and tells her to shout “Moon Prism Power, Make Up!” Usagi sarcastically shouts the phrase and is surprised when it actually works, transforming her into Sailor Moon, the pretty guardian who fights for love and justice! She begins to cry because she doesn't understand what's happening, however Luna tells her that Naru is in trouble. Hearing her cries through the odango covers on her hair, Sailor Moon and Luna run off to OSA-P.

Sailor Moon arrives to find Morga at the jewelry store. Using the bodies of people drained of energy as vessels, the monster begins to assemble an army to fight Sailor Moon. Not used to fighting, Sailor Moon is chased, trips and scrapes her knee. Just as a monster is about to kill her, a boy in a tuxedo appears and tells Sailor Moon to not give up and crying won't solve anything. Continuing to cry, Sailor Moon's odango covers emit Supersonic Waves, slowing the monster and the people down. Luna tells her to shout “Moon Tiara Action!” to kill the monster. As Sailor Moon finishes the attack, Morga is destroyed and the people, including Naru and her mom, regain consciousness. Before Tuxedo Mask leaves, he comments on how he will not forget what happened tonight, leaving Sailor Moon infatuated with the handsome hero.

The next day at school, Usagi naps as Naru and the other girls talk about a dream they all had, where a superhero named Sailor Moon saved them all from a monster. As they ask Usagi what she thinks, she responds that she’s too tired to talk about it.

Umino has a crush on Usagi, and accidentally gets her in trouble. He goes to a new fortune teller to find out what he should do to win Usagi's heart. The new fortune teller is actually the youma Balm in disguise. She brainwashes him.

The next day at school, he tries to steal a kiss from Usagi, and flips up Ms Haruna's skirt that has her light pink colored pantie with a happy face on it has been revealed. Naru and Usagi talk about Umino's behavior and realize that it started after he visited the fortune teller. Sailor Moon goes to the fortune teller's parlor and is attacked by lots of fainted boys under Balm's control. She forgets how to use Moon Tiara Action, but then she remembers, and defeats Balm.

The next day while walking to school, Naru tells Umino about what he did yesterday. He feels very guilty and ashamed. Usagi comes up, and he goes to apologize to her, and Usagi tells him not to worry.

Naru, Usagi, and Ms. Haruna listen to a midnight radio program, "Midnight Zero" that reads out love letters and does song dedications for people. A competition is announced for good love letters — if they are read out loud on the radio, the writer will receive a flower brooch prize. Usagi tries to write a love letter, but it's too hard because she doesn't have a boyfriend. Naru and Ms. Haruna get flower brooches from the show and get their energy drained. Usagi and Luna go to investigate, but have trouble getting into the radio station. Luna gives Usagi the Disguise Pen, and she changes herself into a beautiful talent scout, and sneaks in. She confronts J Dite, and shouts out on the radio a warning that the flower brooches are dangerous. Jadeite and the youma Flau attacks her. She fights back, and is overpowered by Jadeite. Tuxedo Mask rescues her, and Jadeite retreats. The next day at school, she writes a love letter to Tuxedo Mask and is teased by Naru and Ms. Sakurada.

Usagi weighs herself and discovers that she has gained half a pound, and because of this, thinks she is fat, and begins skipping meals. Luna draws a picture of a fat Sailor Moon.

Jadeite finds out about the energy people use on fitness, and plans to use this to drain energy.

Umino tells Usagi, Naru, and two other girls that Ms. Haruna is working out at a fitness program, and so they decide to go there. Unknown to them, this fitness program has been taken over by Jadeite, disguised as a man named Jed, whom the girls fawn over. Usagi leaves the gym early, while Naru and the other two girls finish and are taken to a room with relaxation pods, which, once the girls are inside it, drain their energy.

Usagi faints in Motoki's arms because she hasn't been eating, leading to a fantasy sequence where she dances with him and he tells her not to stop eating. After she wakes up, Motoki says he wants to be a doctor, and takes Usagi to a restaurant for dinner. When Usagi is walking and eating donuts, she runs into Mamoru.

Usagi returns to the fitness program after Luna tells her she is being irresponsible. Luna witnesses Jadeite putting Ms. Haruna in a "relaxation pod", and tells Usagi that the Dark Kingdom is behind this. Usagi transforms into Sailor Moon to stop Jadeite, but he sends three bodybuilders (that he brainwashed with gold rings on their heads) after her. Sailor Moon destroys the rings on their heads with Moon Tiara Action, releasing them from Jadeite's control.

Later, Usagi weighs herself, only to find out that she has still gained weight.

Usagi is awakened from her dreams by Shingo, who has discovered Luna sleeping on his bed. Shingo has a fear of cats and demands that Luna be thrown out. Usagi asks her parents if they can keep Luna as a pet and they respond by saying that Usagi and Shingo should work it out between themselves.

Meanwhile in the Dark Kingdom, Jadeite informs Queen Beryl of a plan to gather energy by harnessing and enhancing human desires. Meanwhile, Luna's attempts to get on Shingo's good side backfire. Shingo confesses his fear of cats to his friend Mika, who shows him a new kind of pet called a chanela. Chanelas are fluffy rabbit-like creatures that emit a powerful scent and are only sold at a newly owned pet shop, Pet Shop Perfume. The animals exhibit a hypnotic power over Shingo and Mika and they both buy one. Once with their pets, they lose interest in anything else. When Luna tries again to get Shingo to like her, he kicks her away. Usagi's parents decide that the family will keep both Luna and the chanela, but Shingo is still not satisfied. He goes to his room with it and refuses to come out, even for school.

Many of Usagi's classmates have also bought chanelas. They hide them when Haruna comes into the classroom, but soon cannot resist trying to look at them. When Haruna tries to confiscate the pets, the students turn violent and leave the class in protest. Usagi and Naru are suspicious of the chanelas and Usagi decides to investigate the pet shop.

She enters the shop and meets Luna, who is also investigating. Failing to heed Luna's warnings, she falls under the spell of a chanela and takes it home. Seeing the effect it has on Usagi, Luna takes the animal away and Usagi is returned to normal. They try to take Shingo's chanela too, but he runs away. Usagi becomes Sailor Moon and follows him back to the pet shop. There, the assembled chanela owners come under the influence of Jadeite's Youma, Iguara, and prepare to spread chanelas across Azuabu-Juuban. Sailor Moon returns Shingo and the others back to normal using Moon Tiara Stardust and destroys the Youma with Moon Tiara Action. After the battle, Shingo follows her, believing that she Usagi is Sailor Moon. Hiding from her brother, Sailor Moon introduces herself and tells Shingo to be nice to a cat he knows called Luna. Shingo complies and completely spoils Luna from that moment on.

Theme Songs

 * Opening


 * Moonlight Legend (Ep. 1 – 46)
 * Closing


 * Heart Moving (Ep. 1 – 26)
 * Princess Moon (Ep. 27 – 46)

Voice Cast

 * Japanese


 * Kotono Mitsuishi as Sailor Moon/Usagi Tsukino & Chibi Chibi
 * Emi Shinohara as Sailor Jupiter/Makoto Kino
 * Michie Tomizawa as Sailor Mars/Rei Hino
 * Aya Hisakawa as Sailor Mercury/Ami Mizuno
 * Rica Fukami as Sailor Venus/Minako Aino
 * Yasuhiro Takato as Artemis
 * Keiko Han as Luna
 * Toru Furuya as Tuxedo Mask/Mamoru Chiba
 * Kae Araki as Sailor Mini Moon/Usagi Tsukino
 * Megumi Ogata as Sailor Uranus/Haruka Tenou
 * Masako Katsuki as Sailor Neptune/Michiru Kaioh
 * Chiyoko Kawashima as Sailor Pluto/Setsuna Meioh
 * Yuko Minaguchi as Sailor Saturn/Hotaru Tomoe
 * Yuri Amano as CereCere
 * English


 * Stephanie Sheh as Sailor Moon/Usagi Tsukino
 * Amanda Celine Miller as Sailor Jupiter/Makoto Kino
 * Cristina Vee as Sailor Mars/Rei Hino
 * Kate Higgins as Sailor Mercury/Ami Mizuno
 * Cherami Leigh as Sailor Venus/Minako Aino
 * Johnny Yong Bosch as Artemis
 * Michelle Ruff as Luna
 * Robbie Daymond as Tuxedo Mask/Mamoru Chiba
 * Sandy Fox as Sailor Mini Moon/Usagi Tsukino
 * Erica Mendez as Sailor Uranus/Haruka Tenou
 * Lauren Landa as Sailor Neptune/Michiru Kaioh
 * Veronica Taylor as Sailor Pluto/Setsuna Meioh
 * Christine Marie Cabanos as Sailor Saturn/Hotaru Tomoe
 * Sandy Fox as Chibi Chibi
 * Cassandra Lee Morris as CereCere

Trivia

 * Johnny Yong Bosch admits at Comic Con that he wasn't too familiar with the Sailor Moon series.
 * When it comes to doing Artemis in Sailor Moon. Johnny Yong Bosch was clueless how the character look, and did research upon looking at images of guys having the name. He thought the character was a guy but when the director show him how Artemis really looked like, Johnny was surprise to see that Artemis was a white cat. He enjoys playing the character a lot and wouldn't mind getting a lot of merchandise products off of Artemis.
 * As of now in 2018, this Anime will be forbidden to watch on YouTube because Funimation the company that owns the Anime in English has blocked anyone on YouTube from uploading full episodes and the movie on their own YouTube account without the company's permission. Therefore this Anime will be blocked if you try to watch an episode in Japanese or in English. Other animes that share this issue on YouTube are Trigun, the Dragon Ball franchise, Code Geass, Eureka Seven, Wolf's Rain, Mars Daybreak, Digimon Adventure 02, Claymore, Deadman Wonderland, Fruits Basket, YuYu Hakusho, Soul Eater and Sengoku Basara. Therefore you would have to either buy all these anime on DVD, or watch all these anime on the Funimation website instead of YouTube.