Tag Archives: Hidden History

What Were Some of the Inspirations Behind Tuxedo Mask?

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Filed under Articles, Characters, Mamoru Chiba
The many masks of Tuxedo Mask

The many masks of Tuxedo Mask

Ah, Mamoru – the “cool” guy that young boys wanted to be and young girls wanted to be with. Putting aside his absolutely atrocious fashion sense for a moment, it’s hard to deny that the image of Tuxedo Mask is nearly just as recognizable as that of Sailor Moon herself.

Today we’re going to take a quick look at some of the characters Ms. Takeuchi looked to for inspiration when she created Tuxedo Mask, and her reasons behind making him wear a tuxedo in the first place.

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What Fan Suggestions Were Considered for Sailor Moon Episodes?

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Filed under Articles, Fandom, Making Of
Usagi has to keep these scripts secret!

Usagi has to keep these scripts secret!

I was surprised to find out recently that way back when the Sailor Moon anime first aired, Animage1 – one of Japan’s premier anime magazines – held a contest in conjunction with the anime production staff to for fans to send in ideas for what they’d like to see in the series. This was known as the “Sailor Awards” (セーラー大賞; seeraa taishou).

The suggestions were reviewed and comments on several of the better choices were provided by either Junichi Sato (series director)2 or Iriya Azuma (producer).3 The best ideas were even ultimately used in the series!

Today we’re going to look at some of the plot suggestions that these early-adopting Sailor Moon fans sent in.

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Which Character Did Sailor Mercury’s Voice Actress Apply For First?

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Filed under Ami Mizuno, Articles, Characters, Making Of, Usagi Tsukino
The original Sailor Moon voice cast and characters

The original Sailor Moon voice cast and characters

Of the many (many!) things that we can praise the Sailor Moon anime production for, I’d definitely rank the excellent and highly talented voice cast right up near the top. Without their wonderful voice work to strike a chord with the viewers, I’m not sure the anime would have been as much of a success as it was.

But things very well could have turned out differently. As it turns out, Aya Hisakawa – voice of our beloved Ami Mizuno – actually went in to try out for someone else at first.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane!

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Who Came Up With Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars’s Catchphrases?

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Filed under Ami Mizuno, Articles, Characters, Rei Hino

Sailor-suited soldiers of _____ and justice!

Sailor-suited soldiers of [noun] and justice!

“In the name of the Moon…!”

Admit it, with just these six words, you probably finished the rest of the sentence in your head. Sailor Moon’s self-referential catchphrase is so famous that even the casual fan of the series would probably be able to finish it.

While the catchphrases of the other Sailor Soldiers may be less well known — though I’m sure their fans would be willing to disagree! — the stories behind them are no less interesting.

Today we’re going to talk about who came up with Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars’s catchphrases and what they almost were instead!

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Why Do the Sailor Soldiers Call Out Their Attacks?

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What happens if Tuxedo Mask eats too many burgers? He gets a Moon Spiral Heart Attack.

What happens if Mamoru eats too many burgers? He has a Moon Spiral Heart Attack.

If you try to sit down with a friend – or worse, older family member – who knows absolutely nothing about anime, in my experience at least, one of the first questions you’ll get asked is “Why doesn’t the enemy just attack them while they’re doing the stupid poses?”

To be fair, it’s actually a pretty legitimate question for ask, especially for the uninitiated who are used to western superheroes who just throw out attacks and utilize their special powers without calling attention to it.

So today we’re going to take a look at why the Sailor Soldiers call out their attacks, and whether or not there’s any meaning behind the poses they do!

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What Crossovers Did Sailor Moon Have With Other Anime?

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TV Asahi Spring Anime Festival

TV Asahi Spring Anime Festival

As I’m sure we’ve discussed countless times, Sailor Moon was a media juggernaut throughout the 1990s, as evidenced by it being able to hold onto the leading hour of Japan’s much beloved “Golden Time” – 7 to 10pm at night –  for its entire run.

When you’re that famous and and on the top of Japan’s animation game, is it any wonder that there would be crossovers between it and other anime? Today, we’ll talk about one such anime that shares a surprising connection with the story of our favorite sailor-suited soldiers of justice.

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What Legal Troubles Were Caused by Moonlight Densetsu?

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Filed under Anime, Articles, Making Of, Music
The People vs. the Princess of the Moon et al.

The People vs. the Princess of the Moon et al.

What’s that? Didn’t I already talk about the possible plagiarism by everyone’s favorite Sailor Moon theme song, Moonlight Densetsu?

Of course I did! But thanks to the wonderful readers here, commenters on Twitter, and further research, it’s come to my attention that there was not only an even earlier song that sounds suspiciously similar to DALI’s hit, but they were actually even accused of copyright infringement.

Well, let’s get started!

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