Dancer
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Sailor Moon
The original series, given no unique name, covered the first 46 episodes of the metaseries. Like the manga, it is sometimes referred to by fans as the "Dark Kingdom" arc, a reference to the major villain group which features in the story. It has mostly the same plot as the first story arc of the manga, as well as the more recent live-action television series. When it was translated into English by DiC, five episodes were cut and two merged, making the final episode count 40.
This first arc introduces the major characters Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Venus, and Tuxedo Mask, as well as the guardian cats Luna and Artemis. Recurring minor characters include Usagi's family and classmates, as well as Queen Serenity.
Sailor Moon R
The letter R in this series title, according to the Memorial Song Box booklet, can be expanded into "Return" or "Romance." It is divided into two sub-arcs. First are the 13 "Makaiju" episodes (47-59), which were used as filler while the creators of the anime waited for Naoko Takeuchi to conclude the manga version of the first plot arc. The remaining episodes (60-89) roughly match the plot as contained in the Black Moon arc of the manga (named for the story's primary villains, the Black Moon Clan).
All in all, the R series has 43 episodes. Only one was cut from the 1995 English dub, but the first version of the dub stopped 17 episodes before the end. These episodes were not adapted into English until 1997. The break in the adaptation was halfway through the Black Moon arc, at no particular point in the plot.
New characters introduced include the Makaiju aliens (Ail and Ann), Chibiusa, and Sailor Pluto, as well as the possible future of all other characters in a utopic city called Crystal Tokyo.
Sailor Moon S
In the animation before and after commercial breaks, the letter S in this series' title is pronounced "Super" ([súːpā]). This name probably reflects the introduction of Super Sailor Moon. It covers 38 episodes (90-127) and follows the same general story as the third manga arc, Infinity, fighting against a group called the Death Busters. It was not dubbed into English until 2000, this time by Cloverway Inc., and no episodes were cut. In fact, English episodes 83-89 do not exist; at the start of S, the dubbed episode numbers were adjusted by YTV (which first broadcast the show, in Canada) to match those of the original Japanese version.[3]
Newly introduced characters include Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, and Sailor Saturn.
Sailor Moon SuperS
The fourth series name, SuperS, is pronounced "Supers" ([súːpāzŭ]). It probably reflects the powering-up of the four "Inner Senshi" and Sailor Chibi Moon in ways similar to what Sailor Moon had experienced in the previous series. It spans 39 episodes (128-166) and follows the same general story as the fourth manga arc, Dream, although none of the four Outer Senshi appear at any time. The English dub did not cut any episodes.
New characters include Pegasus/Helios, Diana, the Dead Moon Circus, and the Amazoness Quartet.
Sailor Stars
The fifth and final series was also the shortest, at 34 episodes (167-200). Its name is a recurring motif throughout the story and among the new characters introduced. This series begins with six episodes which reintroduce and then tie up a part of the previous season's plot (anime production having gotten slightly ahead of Takeuchi's drawing of the manga). The Outer Senshi also return. This series has not been released in English, and is unlikely ever to be.
Many new characters are introduced in this arc, which focuses largely on other Sailor Senshi from distant parts of the galaxy. These characters include Chibichibi, the Sailor Starlights, and Princess Kakyuu, as well as the evil Shadow Galactica, led by Sailor Galaxia and the ultimate enemy, Chaos.
Takeuchi was shocked by some of the changes made to the final series.[4] [5] The most infamous of these is the gender of the "Starlights", who in the manga were women that disguised themselves as men via crossdressing. In the anime, the female Sailor Starlights physically transform into male bodies to create their civilian alter-egos. This change is also largely cited as the cause for the last series being withheld from the English-speaking Western market. It has, however, aired in Germany, Spain, Italy (with alterations), Poland, Portugal, Latin America and the Philippines.
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