What References Did the Animators Fit Into the Sailor Moon Anime?

Think the Sailor Moon offices looked like this?

Think the Sailor Moon offices looked like this?

A question I (and many other Sailor Moon fans) often get asked is: Which do you like better? The anime, or the manga?

Nearly 20 years ago, when I was first getting into Sailor Moon, this was an easy answer for me — the manga, of course! It’s closer to Ms. Takeuchi’s vision and tells a more mature, concise story.

But now, I’m not so sure about that. As weird as it is to say, I think they’re both my favorites, but precisely because they are so different, and how much fun you can tell the animation staff had in creating some of their wacky monsters of the day and sub plots. Today, we’ll talk about one such episode!

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Whose Real Life Parenting Experience Inspired a Sailor Moon Episode?

... I'm not sure how I'd feel about seeing this

… I’m not sure how I’d feel about seeing this

As I’m sure I’ve mentioned on many different occasions, I absolutely adore the Cardian story arc from the first half of Sailor Moon R. It’s not so much to do with the fact that the story itself is particularly interesting or that I’m a huge fan of Moonlight Knight,1 but rather it’s precisely because the story itself is less epic in nature. The whole storyline felt like a series of “slice of life”2 episodes where you actually got a know a little more about the day-to-day lives of the characters.

And today, we’re going to talk about one such episode.

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Why Were Both Queen Beryl and Luna Voiced by Keiko Han?

The Evil Queen We Will Defeat

The Evil Queen We Will Defeat

One of the more endearing “behind the scene” mysteries to me about the development of the Sailor Moon anime is just why, exactly, did Luna and Queen Beryl share a voice actress. Certainly, Keiko Han was a very talented – and veteran – voice actress who’s been active in the industry since her debut in 1977,1 but that doesn’t explain why the anime would choose to reuse her talent for two major roles. Today, we’ll take a look at one theory to explain this.

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What Magical Girl Was Sailor Moon Based On?

The Masked Belle Poitrine

The Masked Belle Poitrine

Over this past year of exploring all of the hidden histories and minor intricacies in the world of Sailor Moon, one point that we’ve continuously come back to is that nothing is ever quite as simple as it seems. Much like an onion, there are layers and layers of neat bits of trivia. So in honor of the one-year anniversary of this blog, I’d like to go back way to the beginning: what was the inspiration behind the magical girl known as Sailor Moon?

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