Questions and Answers

Note:  This page is meant for fans who have seen the English TV version of Sailor Moon.
How many episodes of Sailor Moon are there?
· There are 200 episodes in the entire series, however only 159 were shown on TV in the USA and Canada.

How many Sailor Moon movies are there?
· There are 3 Sailor Moon movies...
                     * Sailor Moon R - Promis of the Rose
                     * Sailor Moon S - Hearts in Ice
                     * Sailor Moon SuperS - Black Dream Hole
                                                                                     and all of them are available on home video in English and DVD (released by Pioneer)

What are Sailor Moon R, S, SuperS, and Sailor Stars?
· These are the original Japanese names for the different seasons of Sailor Moon.
Why is there a gap between Sailor Moon R and the rest of the series?
· Sailor Moon was adapted into English by a company called DiC and first broadcast in English in 1995. The series quickly became a hit in Canada, but received low ratings in the USA. On the basis of low American ratings, DiC stopped translation after 65 episodes (7 Japanese episodes were skipped). In 1997, prompted by the success of Sailor Moon in Canada and high sales of Sailor Moon dolls, Irwin Toys of Canada sponsored translation of the rest of the 2nd season (17 episodes) which finally completed the Sailor Moon "R" storyline for English-speaking viewers. Also in 1997, Mixx Entertainment began publishing an English translation of the Sailor Moon manga (comics). In 1999 Pioneer Entertainment released English translations of the three Sailor Moon movies. Sailor Moon finally returned to American television on Cartoon Network's Toonami program shortly thereafter. Proving success, Cartoon Network commissioned translation of the complete next 2 seasons (Sailor Moon S and SuperS series). Cartoon Network's English translation of Sailor Moon S series began airing June 12, 2000 (September 16, 2000 on YTV in Canada). SuperS launched on Toonami September 26, 2000.

What is the History of the Sailor Moon series?
· Sailor Moon originally appeared in the girl's comics magazine Nakayoshi in February 1992.  Written by Naoko Takeuchi, a young female artist with a background in chemistry, it was an instant hit with Japanese girls. Almost simultaneously, it was released as an animated TV series, garnering fans of all ages. It was then adapted for TV by various companies including Toei (in Japan) and DiC and Cloverway (in the USA). Sailor Moon went on to fill 18 volumes of manga (Japanese comic books), 200 television episodes , and three movies, as well as various specials. The main Sailor Moon story (comics and TV) ended in February of 1997. In addition to the manga and anime (comics and cartoons) of Sailor Moon there was also a series of live stage Sailor Moon Musicals (nicknamed "Sera-Myu" for short). Later, Sailor Moon was remade for Japanese TV as a live (not animated) 49-episode series. This version aired in 2003 and starred Sawai Miyuu as Sailor Moon.

Why does some of the scenes repeat it self from either reverse the scene (rewind) or repeat an earlier scene?
· In the Japanese translation, it was more violent and had sexual content for the North American children. So to prevent those scenes from being seen by our children, the dubbers cut them out. From that it would have made the show too short so they added fillers, adding in a previous scene or reversing the same scene around

Why do they wear sailor suits?
· The idea of the sailor suit as a fashion for children started in Europe in the late 1800's/early 1900's and was popularized due to its use by children of the European royal families. The style even reached Japan where it became very common as a school uniform. Variations of the sailor style have remained popular as a Japanese school uniform ever since, especially for middle-school/junior high school girls.

How old are the girls?
· At the beginning of the first series, they are all 14 and in the second year of middle school (roughly equivalent to grade eight or nine in North American schools). At the end they are 16  (Sailor Stars)

What are Raye's extra powers all about?
· Raye works at her grandfather's Shinto temple as an apprentice. At the temple, she wears the traditional temple costume. A Shinto shrine maiden is called a miko. A miko is sometimes described as an intermediary between the supernatural and human worlds (e.g. "Kagome" in Inuyasha). That's why Raye sometimes has visions or can sense things. The paper seals that Raye uses are called ofuda and in Japanese tradition they are able to trap or negate spiritual power. The writing on the seal says "akuryotaisan" which literally means "evil spirits run away".

Why do the girls have different school uniforms?
· Raye wears a gray school uniform and goes to T.A. Private Girls School, Serena, Amy and Lita go to Juuban Jr. High. Lita wears a brown uniform because Juuban Jr. High didn't have any girl's uniforms that would fit her (she is very tall), so she still wears her former school's uniform. Mina goes to a different public school. These details are only explained in the comic books.

Why do they all have huge eyes?
· This drawing style was originated by Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989) who created the first Japanese TV animation Tetsuwan Atom (Astroboy) and many other famous comics and cartoons. Tezuka's works set the standard look for comics in Japan.

What is that red building that looks like the Eiffel Tower?

· It's the Tokyo Tower, a prominent landmark of the Tokyo skyline. It carries broadcasting antennae for the Tokyo area.

Why does Darien call Serena "meatball head"?
· This is a pretty accurate English equivalent to the Japanese joke. He calls her odango atama.  Odango are dumplings which look like little rolled-up balls - just like Serena's hairstyle - and atama means "head".

What is the Negaforce?
· Queen Beryl repeatedly refers to the need for energy in order to release the destructive power of the Negaforce. We sometimes see her consulting this force for guidance.  In the original Japanese story, the villains were trying to gather energy to reincarnate their former empress Queen Metalia who was destroyed by Queen Serenity, and it is her spirit that Beryl speaks with. In the English version the Negaforce is a disembodied evil force that needs to feed on human energy in order to grow.

What is the relation between Sailor Venus and Sailor V?
· They are the same person.  Artemis found Mina before Luna found Serena, and Mina acted as Sailor V until Artemis and Luna got all five girls together, at which point she became Sailor Venus (orange skirt instead of blue and without the pink mask).
· In real life, the character "Sailor V" is actually a comic book and was the first sailor-suited superheroine comic created by Ms. Naoko Takeuchi and when she created "Sailor Moon" - a longer, more complex story based on the Sailor V idea - she decided to incorporate her old character into the new series.

Why is there no Sailor Earth?
· Tuxedo Mask is the hero that represents Earth.  Darien's Japanese name is Chiba Mamoru.  Mamoru means "protector" and chi means "Earth".

Is there a Sailor Sun?
· The 5th season (Sailor Stars) deals with the question of whether there are Sailor Soldiers/Sailor Scouts from other parts of the galaxy.  However, no Sailor Sun is ever specifically mentioned.

Other web pages use the Japanese character names and I'm getting confused!
· It’s because webmasters/webmistresses prefer to use the Japanese names over the English.

home
Japan
English
Broadcast Year
Episdoes
Episdoes
Broadcast Year
Seasons
Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon R
Sailor Moon S
Sailor Moon SuperS
Sailor Moon Stars
1 - 46
47 - 89
90 - 127
128 - 166
167 - 200
1992 - 1993
1993 - 1994
1994 - 1995
1995 - 1996
1996 - 1997
1 - 40
41 - 82
83 - 120
121 - 159
Not Aired
1995
1995 / 1997
2000
2000
N/A
Episode Differences
6 episodes
None
None
None
N/A