Category Archives: Making Of

5 Often Misreported Sailor Moon “Facts”

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Filed under Articles, Lists, Making Of
That's not true, I tell you!!!

That’s not true, I tell you!!!

When you dedicate a large portion of your free time to crawling through 25+ years of Sailor Moon sources, you eventually just learn to accept that running across inaccurate information is simply a fact of life.

However, thanks to the recent releases of Kodansha and Viz’s manga and anime translations along with the rise of curated (… okay, not really) wikis, the general quality of information you’re going to run into nowadays is worlds better than what I started with as a fan in the late 90s.

That being said, today I’d like to tackle five of the more common myths I often run across in my research and see if I can set them straight. Who knows, maybe some piece of Sailor Moon trivia you’ve “known” about for years could be on this list!

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Who Is the Real Princess Kaguya in the Sailor Moon S Movie?

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Filed under Articles, Language, Making Of, Movie
Won't the real Kaguya please stand up?

Won’t the real Kaguya please stand up?

The nice thing about writing a blog covering a series that went off the air over 20 years ago is that it’s not like there’s any chance that I’m going to be spoiling the story for anyone. Even with the recent U.S. screenings of the Sailor Moon movies, I’d be willing to bet that the majority of those in the audience had already seen the movie, or at least knew what it was about.

So with that said, I really don’t feel too bad about dissecting story of the Sailor Moon S movie, or peeling back the layers to take a deeper look at the Japanese folktale Ms. Takeuchi based her story on.

If you’ve ever stayed up late at night wondering who the heck Princess Kaguya is, this one’s for you!

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What Were Director Shibata’s Inspirations for the Sailor Moon S Movie (Part 2)?

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Filed under Articles, Interview, Making Of, Movie
Closing out the story on Sailor Moon S

Closing out the story on Sailor Moon S

Whether you love the Sailor Moon S movie or think that it is a lackluster performance in an otherwise excellent brand, I probably won’t be changing your mind through this series. But regardless of which side of the fence you fall on, I think it can be immensely helpful — and even entertaining — to get a little insight into just what the creative minds behind a movie were thinking as they made it.

Today we’re going to continue our journey through Hiroki Shibata’s1 commentary regarding his directorial debut in Sailor Moon‘s theatrical universe. If we’re really lucky, we might even learn something new by the time we’re done!

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What Were Director Shibata’s Inspirations for the Sailor Moon S Movie (Part 1)?

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Filed under Articles, Interview, Making Of, Movie
Aww, it's okay Luna!

Aww, it’s okay Luna!

Asking a Sailor Moon fan which of the three movies is their favorite is akin to walking into a crowded room of strangers and asking them all what they think about the latest political hot-button issue: it’s not going to end well.

While I personally prefer the Sailor Moon R movie, all three of the movies are definitely worth watching, and I can understand why they have their fans.

Today we’re going to try to get a little more insight behind the story of the Sailor Moon S movie by looking at some of the director’s notes provided with the Laser Disc release of the Sailor Moon S movie. If anyone can help win my heart over with a deeper interpretation of the movie — putting aside for a second Naoko’s amazing manga version on which it’s based — I’d say the director is probably out best bet!

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What Are 5 of My Favorite Bits of Sailor Moon Trivia?

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Filed under Articles, Making Of
ChibiUsa wants to know more!

ChibiUsa wants to know more!

It should probably come as no surprise that, in the course of researching the 270+ articles posted on Tuxedo Unmasked, I happen to run across a lot of small bits of trivia. While some of what I find is interesting (and detailed) enough to turn into a full-blown article, more often than not it’s just something I note down for future reference and go on with my life.

Today we’re going to do a bit of a “spring cleaning” of sorts and share five of my favorite bits of Sailor Moon-related trivia that I’ve run across over my nearly 3 years of researching the series. Though I’m sure most of you reading this are already pros when it comes to everything about the series, hopefully you’ll find at least one gem in this list that you’ve never heard before!

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What is Kazuko Tadano’s Secret to Drawing Sailor Moon?

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Filed under Anime, Articles, Characters, Interview, Making Of
The Sailor Team

The Sailor Team

One question I often (not unreasonably) get asked is: why do I so rarely talk about Sailor Moon Crystal on this blog?

Truth be told, it’s not that I don’t want to talk about it. It’s rather that bringing the Sailor Moon Crystal series into the equation introduces several key issues into what we discuss here, including:

  1. the series takes place decades after the original manga/anime ran, and the world has since changed;
  2. the story tracks closely with the manga and doesn’t add too much new information; and
  3. Sailor Moon Crystal is still a work in progress, so any theories unique to the series could still change.

Fortunately for us, with the recent announcement1 that Kazuko Tadano — character designer for the first two seasons of the 1990s Sailor Moon anime — will be reprising her role as character designer for the upcoming Sailor Moon Crystal movie, this gives us a chance to take a look back into the past to hopefully answer some questions about the series’ future.

Today, we’ll be taking a deeper look into what Ms. Tadano thought of the characters in Sailor Moon, and her philosophy in how she draws women. Stick around, because things are about to get interesting!

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Where Did the Concept of Sailor Moon’s Star Seeds Come From?

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Filed under Articles, In-Universe Lore, Making Of, Shadow Galactica
A Star Seed... maybe?

A Star Seed… maybe?

I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that the world of Sailor Moon must be a tough one to live in.

After all, on any given day you could just be waltzing along, minding your own business, when all of a sudden some jerk comes along and saps your life force energy, snatches your Pure Heart Crystal, removes your Dream Mirror, or tears away your Star Seed. And if your name is Naru, it’s pretty much guaranteed that every single one of these will happen to you. Poor thing.

But out of all of these enemy-luring plot devices, the idea behind the Star Seeds always seemed the most confusing to me, especially as they relate to the general “citizenry” of the Sailor Moon universe. So, in an attempt to try to make some more sense of the whole thing, I decided to do some research into what a Star Seed actually is.

Join me as we take a trip back to the 1970s, and explore some New Age religions in an attempt to unravel what Star Seeds are, and how they tie into Sailor Moon. Sit tight, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride!

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