Category Archives: Making Of

Were the Sailor Senshi Dating Endymion’s Shitennou?

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Filed under Articles, Dark Kingdom, In-Universe Lore, Inner Senshi, Making Of, Manga
True love at last? Or something else...?

True love at last? Or something else…?

Broken down to its simplest elements, Sailor Moon is the story of a bizarrely talented totally ordinary junior high school girl who is actually the reincarnation of a princess from a long-forgotten space kingdom fighting against the forces of evil in defense of truth and love.

Though this isn’t in itself noteworthy, what is surprising is just how unlucky in love everyone else in the series tends to be. After all, outside of Haruka and Michiru’s relationship, none of the other main cast members are ever really paired off with a romantic partner.1

… except that’s not entirely true.

Today we’re going to talk about the surprisingly controversial relationship between the Sailor Senshi and the Shitennou, from its inception to where it stands in Sailor Moon canon. Whether you love it or hate the pairing, there’s something interesting to learn for everyone!

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Sailor Moon Editor Fumio “Osabu” Osano Discusses the Series’ Creation (Part 3)

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Filed under Articles, Interview, Making Of, Manga
Sailor Moon: The Next Generation

Sailor Moon: The Next Generation

In this third and final installment, Ms. Takeuchi’s friend, editor, and partner-in-crime Fumio “Osabu” Osano goes deep and discusses the inspiration behind some of Sailor Moon‘s most pivotal scenes and the impact the series has had on society as a whole!

Don’t miss out on this rare behind-the-scenes look into the history of our favorite series!1

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Sailor Moon Editor Fumio “Osabu” Osano Discusses the Series’ Creation

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Filed under Articles, Interview, Making Of, Manga
The Sailor Team

The Sailor Team

Whether you’re a casual fan of the series or a dyed-in-the-wool Moonie, you have to admit that very few anime series do birthdays quite like the Sailor Moon franchise does.

The June 30, 2019 event was no different, with a slew of large announcements awaiting eager fans, including some tantalizing glimpses of the character art for the upcoming Sailor Moon Crystal movie, led by the 90s Sailor Moon art director veteran Kazuko Tadano, as well as information on a Sailor Moon ice show, cafe, and more.1

But in addition to offering this exciting images of Sailor Moon‘s future, we were also lucky enough to get a “behind the curtain” look at the creation of the series through the eyes of Naoko Takeuchi’s Nakayoshi editor, Fumio “Osabu” Osano, via an interview with the Japanese pop culture news site, Natalie.2

There’s a lot of interesting background information here that I wanted to share, so I decided to translate the whole interview across several parts. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

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3 Problematic Names in Sailor Moon Translations

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Filed under Articles, Fandom, Language, Lists, Making Of
Usagi's got some serious questions here

Usagi’s got some serious questions here

One thing that I find fascinating is the concept of what is the “official” Sailor Moon translation. In North America alone, both the anime and manga have had a whopping three different officially licensed adaptations since hitting this side of the Pacific.1

This, of course, doesn’t even take into account all of the subtitled versions, scanlations, and other fan-established terminology.

So what’s the right answer, and why is it so hard for all these qualified translators to “get it right”?

Today we’re going to take a look at some of the more challenging names to translate in Sailor Moon, and about some of the strategies used to get around them. Be sure to take notes — there might be a test at the end!2

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Is Usagi Just a Copy of Minako from Codename: Sailor V?

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Filed under Articles, Characters, Making Of, Manga, Minako Aino, Usagi Tsukino
♪ One of these things is not like the other ♪

♪ One of these things is not like the other ♪

Whether Minako is considered a prototype for Usagi or a completely unique character seems to be a matter often debated among fans — and not without good reason. After all, it’s a well known fact that Ms. Takeuchi originally started Codename: Sailor V as a one-shot story meant to tell the tales of a sailor-suited warrior of justice. Only later did that idea get transformed into the Sailor Moon world that we came to know and love.

The anime even played heavily, perhaps too heavily, on this trope, adding further fuel to the Usagi/Minako copycat fire.

And yet, like practically everything else in the Sailor Moon universe, things are not as simple as they seem.

Today we’re going to take a look at Usagi and Minako’s characters in-depth and and see if we can settle once and for all just how similar (and different!) they really are. I hope you’ve got a talking cat handy, because you just may need one to untangle this mess!

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What Is a Sailor Yell? The Sailor Star Song Explained

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Filed under Anime, Articles, Making Of, Music
A Sailor... Yell??

A Sailor… Yell??

Despite having debuted over 25 years ago, Moonlight Densetsu still consistently ranks in the top 100 songs played in karaoke.1 While it may be the pride and joy of the Sailor Moon fandom, there’s always been a special place in my heart for its oft-forgotten younger sibling, Sailor Star Song.

The song is probably best remembered for setting the dramatically different tone of Sailor Moon‘s fifth and final season, as well as for… well… bordering on being nonsensical.

But today I hope to change that.

Though I may not be able to explain what makes this song so awesome, I hope to at least shed a little light about the story Ms. Takeuchi was trying to tell through her lyrics.

Read on as we discuss just what’s involved in a good, proper Sailor Yell, and how you can give one too!

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