Sailor Moon is one of the most popular anime series in the magical girl genre. Together with the Sailor Warriors, Bunny (originally Usagi) Tsukino faces the most dangerous adversaries. The anime was originally produced in Japan. However, Toon Makers and Renaissance-Atlantic Entertainment had planned their own series based on the story of Sailor Moon.
What kind of version is this? The American version was also called Sailor Moon. It was not created in anime style but in a cartoon-like appearance familiar from the 90s.
The story is also based here on the Sailor Warriors from the anime, even the useless Tuxedo Mask is included. However, the cast was arranged somewhat differently than before:
- Sailor Jupiter now has dark skin
- Sailor Venus is from Latin America
- Sailor Mercury is in a wheelchair
- Sailor Mars remains the only Asian
- Loona and Artemis were merged into one white cat
Additionally, the Sailor Warriors ride windsurfing boards through space. The whole thing is accompanied by a soundtrack that could also be used as advertising for toothpaste. For the pilot episode and a related music video, about $280,000 was invested according to a YouTube video by Ray Mona.
In the following video, you can watch the pilot episode, which shows about ten minutes of the 17-minute episode:
Only a single pilot episode was created in 1994. It consists partly of animated scenes, while real actors were used for the rest. Even the Loona-Artemis fusion appears once as an animated variant and once as a real cat.
The highlight of the episode is the transformation of the Sailor Warriors. Unfortunately, it is shorter in the YouTube video than it is in the original anime.
If you want to see a reboot of the original, you can watch Sailor Moon Crystal instead:
Sailor Moon episode caused laughter
How was the episode received? The episode was presented with a two-minute opening intro at the Anime Expo 1995. The audience reportedly burst into loud laughter, as a video recording on YouTube shows.
According to CBR, the production team had three more episodes in store, but the deal for a potential order fell through. Instead, FOX simply dubbed the original anime in English.
Ultimately, the US series did not succeed in going beyond a pilot episode. Unfortunately, you can currently only find the original on DVD and Blu-ray. There is currently no streaming service that offers the anime series.
At the moment, it is also possible to watch all three Sailor Moon movies on Joyn. Netflix also has the movie Sailor Moon Eternal in its lineup. This is the fourth season of the reboot Sailor Moon Crystal.
Sailor Moon used to air on RTLZWEI in the midday program. Another anime that was available at that time is Digimon: For 27 years, Pokémon has been the largest anime franchise, but there was once a time when Digimon was ahead
