Tag Archives: Making Of

How Similar Is the Sailor Moon World to the Actual Azabu-Juban?

Posted
Filed under Articles, Crystal, Making Of, Real World
Disclaimer: this is not a real photo

Disclaimer: this is not a real photo

One thing that I’ve always loved about the world of Sailor Moon just how how much of the real world Ms. Takeuchi, and later the anime staff, included into the series. You can really feel tell that she really did live in Azabu-Juban before choosing it as the backdrop for her series in how detailed and alive the various locations are.

Today, we’re going to talk about something near and dear to my heart – real life locations that appear in the world of Sailor Moon! For the sake of simplicity, we’ll be talking about Sailor Moon Crystal today, but I do plan on sitting down to write an article about the old 90s series and manga once I get enough old pictures together.

Well, let’s get started!

Continue reading →

What Were Naoko’s Sailor Moon Comedy Comics About?

Posted
Filed under Articles, Making Of
Oh, Naoko, you and your jokes...

Oh, Naoko, you and your jokes…

If we were to sit here and talk about everything I love about Ms. Takeuchi and her work on Sailor Moon, we’d probably be here for quite awhile. Since we neither have that kind of time, nor is anyone really interested in reading my open love letter to the creative force behind this series, I’ll spare you.

But there is one point that I’d like to highlight today, and that’s how often she was willing to step outside her comfort zone to try new things with her characters, both in her art and in her storytelling.

Today we’re going to take a look at when Naoko branched out into comedy strips starring our favorite soldiers of love and justice! If that interests you, stick around!

Continue reading →

What Are Some Difficulties Faced in Translating Sailor Moon?

Posted
Filed under Articles, Fandom, Language, Making Of
What translating feels like

What translating feels like

One common theme that runs through many of the topics I end up discussing is that of the differences between Japanese and English nuance, and how much of that gets lost in translation.

I want to make it clear that I don’t mean this as an indictment against some of the translators who have taken on (or been assigned) the challenge that Sailor Moon has to offer. In fact, I’d like to take a look at some of the challenges people face when translating Sailor Moon – or really, any Japanese media with a sufficiently deep enough plot – into another language.

This topic may be a little inside baseball, but if you’ve ever been interested in the art of translation, this article may be for you!

Continue reading →

What Inspired the Design and Name of the Legendary Silver Crystal?

Posted
Filed under Articles, Language, Making Of, Real World
The Legendary Silver Crystal

The Legendary Silver Crystal

Discussions about the Legendary Silver Crystal are always an interesting issue because there’s simply so much we don’t know about it, and even what we do know about it changes depending on which season you’re talking about or whether we’re discussing the anime or the manga.

But interestingly enough, there’s actually some more information to be had if we step outside the Sailor Moon universe and take a good hard look at the real world. Like, specifically, where the design for the powered-up flower form of the Legendary Silver Crystal comes from.

That’s right, my friends, today we’re talking about flower power! I hope you stick around.

Continue reading →

How Did Figure Skating Influence Sailor Moon?

Posted
Filed under Articles, Making Of
Grace isn't exactly what Usagi is known for...

Grace isn’t exactly what Usagi is known for…

If you’re anything like me – which hopefully you aren’t – the idea that there is some sort of connection between Sailor Moon and figure skating probably never even crossed your mind. But when the words are put together in the same sentence, as I’ve done here, it all kind of clicks together. Or at least it did for me once I actually started to put all my information together.

Today we’re going to take a look at how Ms. Takeuchi was influenced by figure skating, and what kind of impact that had on how Sailor Moon developed. I hope you stick around!

Continue reading →

Why Are There Numbers in Mistress 9 & Pharaoh 90’s Names?

Posted
Filed under Articles, Death Busters, Language, Making Of
U + Me = Mistress 9

U + Me = Mistress 9

Anyone who has been a fan of Sailor Moon for any significant amount of time – which, let’s face it, is probably most of you – has probably been more than a bit perplexed about what was going on with the naming of our two lead villains in the third story arc of the series.

While Queen Metalia was pretty easy to understand and Sailor Galaxia really didn’t leave anything to the imagination in the name department, the seemingly random numbers that came up in the Infinity arc always left me puzzled.

So today we’re going to take a look at one possible explanation for why Ms. Takeuchi chose those numbers, and what significance they may have on the story. I hope you join along!

Continue reading →

Why Were Dracula, a Wolfman and Frankenstein’s Monster in Sailor Moon?

Posted
Filed under Articles, Making Of, Other Series
Rei ain't afraid of no ghosts

Rei ain’t afraid of no ghosts

Never one to turn down the opportunity to talk about old anime and manga that are relatively unknown to the west – and tie that into a Halloween-themed article to boot! – I thought it might be worthwhile to take a look at the time when three of our favorite Sailor Girls found themselves in what basically amounts to a Scooby Doo-themed filler episode.

That’s right, I’m talking about episode 20 of the first season of Sailor Moon, the aptly-named “The Summer, the Beach, Youth and Ghosts.”1

Anyway, today we’re talking about some of the “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it” references in this fun summer romp. I hope you’ll stick around!

Continue reading →