Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon

General Information

      Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (translates as "Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon") is originally a Japanese manga (comic) written by Takeuchi Naoko. She was born in the city of Kofu, and already as a small child she loved to draw manga characters.
    Before Sailor Moon, she drew a manga, wich was about a girl called Sailor-V who tried to save the world from evil. She beared much resemblance to Sailor Venus, her real name was also the same: Aino Minako.
    In 1992 the company Toei Animation asked her to contribute to the anime version of Sailor-V. Naoko accepted the offer, and worked through the manga, rewrote the story and created a whole bunch of new characters. Thus Sailor Moon was born.
    Paralell to the anime she also worked on the manga, but there are some differences between the two versions. The anime's aim were mainly chilren between 6 and 12, but as the series became more and more popular among  people of all ages, a more serious story was created.
    The series finished in 1997. There were also 3 movies about Sailor Moon and her comrades. It's international sucess is very likely because of the romantic and humoruos plot filled with dramatic and sometimes heart-wrenching scenes.
   Sadly, mangas and anime aren't that popular in Europe and the USA as they are in Japan, where it is common that even 30 year old businessmen read mangas, whereas here in Europe, the "comics" are considered to be entertaining only for small children. 
   Sailor Moon's basic story is also a bit far from the European way of thinking, it's a bit complicated, but it's message is obvious. Sailor Moon's and her friends' duty is to always protect the love and truth.

The Story of Sailor Moon

     According to the basic plot, thousand years ago there was peace in the whole Universe, this era was called the Silver Millenium. Queen Serenity was the ruler of the Moon, and the Moon Kingdom ruled the other planets of the Universe.
  But there was the evil Dark Kingdom, led by Queen Beryll, who attacked the Moon Kingdom during a moon eclipse. The Moon Queen, her daughter, the princess and the four senshis (fighters) tried to resist the attack- but had no sucess. During the battle, the lives of Moon Princess Serenity and her fiancee Endymion, Prince of the Earth were put in danger.
  The forces of the dark were already close to winning the battle, but Queen Serenity, knowing that she couldn't let the Dark Kingdom take over the Universe, used the power of the Silver Chrystal and sent her daughter, the senshis of the four planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter) and two cats into the future, sacrificing  her life. She knew, that her daughter had to live, because she wouldl be the ruler of the whole Universe, and Neo-Queen Serenity of Chrystal Tokio in the distant future.
     And that's where the sory of the anime starts. Princess Serenity is living in our century as Tsukino Usagi, but she has no memories of her real identity. Slowly she starts to discover who she really is, getting help from the black cat, Luna. The senshis also live a normal life in Tokio, until Luna finds them, and helps them remember. Together with the princess, they start their fight against evil, protecting the present and the future. As the plot evolves, other senshis are also introduced.

The Characters

     The Inner Senshis

      The word senshi means fighter. The Inner Senshis are Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter. Their main duty is to protect the fifth senshi, Sailor Moon, who is the princess, and the series is mostly about their adventures.  There is also a mysterious warrior helping the senshis, called Tuxedo Kamen, who is none other than Prince Endymion, Serenity's fiancee in Silver Millenium, and Neo-Queen Serenity's husband in Chrystal Tokio. Their daughter, Chibi Usa was born in the 30th century. She's also worth of to be  mentioned together with the Inner Senshis, because the little girl visiting back from the future is also an active member of the fighter team.
    Here you can find some information about the Inner Senshis and Tuxedo Kamen:

Sailor Moon
Sailor Mercury
Sailor Mars
Sailor Jupiter
Sailor Venus
Sailor Chibi Moon
Tuxedo Kamen

    The Outer Senshis

     The Outer Senshis differ from the Inners in the way, that they only interfere if the princess is threatened by danger coming from out of the Galaxy.  Three of them, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune and Sailor Pluto are carrying the three talismans, wich make the Holy Grail appear and help Sailor Moon to transform into Super Sailor Moon. The fourth, Sailor Saturn differs in a lot of things from the others: she has the greatest power of all the senshis, she's even capable of destroying planets.
     The anime isn't connected to the life of the Outers too much, they sometimes disappear for a long time.  They are mainly featured in the Sailor Moon S series.
     And here are the Outer Senshis:

Sailor Uranus
Sailor Neptune
Sailor Pluto
Sailor Saturn

What is Sailor Moon all about?

Now it is time to look in depth the essentials of Sailor Moon. I give the microphone to Tekno-Kekko, who will follow you to the inner chambers of Sailor Science. In his analysis we learn about the general history of Shoujo manga and anime, and we realize the wealth of cultural, religious and freudian references in the world of Sailor Moon.