Welcome to a tiny, but recently-updated corner of the web dedicated to the Japanese animation series 'Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon'. I haven't got that much to say about it which hasn't been said better elsewhere, so I'm not going to say much at all.
For a start, though, I might as well explain the series title. In Japanese it's 'Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon' - this translates to something like 'Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon'. The animated TV series is based on a manga (comic book) by Naoko Takeuchi. There are 200 TV episodes, several feature-length movies, a series of stage musicals, several special extra anomations, and enough merchandise to sink the combined navies of the wntire world.
Well, here you are. If you can't see the graphic, it's simply a head-and-shoulders image of each of the Inner senshi in sailor garb, with their real names and planet identifications cunningly added over the top. Er, I'd prefer it if you didn't nick this picture or the others on this page; they took me a fair while to sort out. If you'd like to use them somewhere else, though, feel free to contact me and ask; I'll probably be so flattered I'll say yes. I can be emailed on lucy at photonhunter dot co dot uk.
The nice young ladies you see above, then, are the central characters in the first couple of series of the show. Frst to awaken is (arguably, since a precursor of Sailor Venus appeared in a Takeuchi manga called 'Sailor V') Usagi Tsukino, Sailor Moon. Over the first few episodes she encounters Ami Mizuno, Sailor Mercury; Makoto Kino, Sailor Jupiter; Minako Aino, Sailor Venus; and Rei Hino, Sailor Mars. They are the Inner Senshi; 'senshi' translates as 'soldiers/warriors'. In later series, the Outer Senshi appear - Michiru Kaioh, Sailor Neptune; Haruka Ten'oh, Sailor Uranus; Hotaru Tomoe, Sailor Saturn; and Setsuna Meiou, Sailor Pluto.
The basic premise of the series is that these ordinary teenagers are given magical items and super powers, and find that they have a mission to save the world from the forces of evil. The individual episodes generally follow a similar pattern, but over the entire series a complex storyline involving mythology, time travel, and many other elements is created.
In Japan the series was aimed at pre-teenage/early teenage girls; in
other countries it attracts a following from all age groups. Originally,
it was a manga (Japanese comic book) written by Takeuchi Naoko; it was
then turned into the television series. Some events in the series are
therefore
not part of the original manga, and some things are differently
emphasised.
Most of the anime has been dubbed in North America by DiC; the manga has
been translated by Mixx. Neither of these translations is considered to
be particularly good by those who know the original.
I have finally managed to get my hands on some subtitled episodes in .rm format; I have recently begun watching the second season as I write, November 3rd 2001. Here are my thoughts after watching the first 11 episodes of the first season. There will be more of my reactions to come as I watch more of the series.
I am proud to be Lost Moonie Number Ten!
This accolade comes from my very minor participation in the newsgroup alt.fan.sailor-moon. It's too busy for me to adequately digest its entire content at the moment, but the bits I do catch are always entertaining and interesting. Not least because AFSM is home to the Otaku Wars!, which have ravaged the surface of Otaku World for about four years now. I intend to get involved shortly - when I do, I'll put up a page with a little more information.
Again, when I have time, I'll try to explain a little more about why the series appeals to me - the reasons are many and varied :)
A comprehensive guide to the series is Hitoshi Doi's Sailor Moon Encyclopaedia.
