Why Was the Sailor Moon SuperS Anime So Different From the Manga?

Sailor Moon SuperS: What Went Wrong?

Sailor Moon SuperS: What Went Wrong?

In all my years of writing about Sailor Moon, I’ve found that Sailor Moon SuperS seems to be the odd duck of the series. Some fans swear by it as peak Sailor Moon while others recommend skipping it entirely.1 And yet I hear none of these complaints levied against the manga. In fact, it’s generally well-loved among fans — which I suppose bodes well for the upcoming movies!

The reason for all this, of course, is due to the peculiar decision to take an extreme departure from Ms. Takeuchi’s storyline and try new things with the anime.

But that’s not good enough for me. I want… nay, need answers! Why did the anime production staff decide to deviate from the manga story? Why did they cut so many characters? And why did the story take such a comical turn?

Today we’re going to take a look into what the anime staff were thinking and the reasoning behind their changes. Sit back, grab a coffee, and read on — things are about to get Super!

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Why Was the Sailor Moon Eternal Movie Delayed?

Sailor Moon Crystal Eternal -- Coming to Theaters September 11, 2020

Sailor Moon Eternal — Coming to Theaters September 11, 2020 January 8, 2021

Three years. Three very long years have passed since the initial June 30, 2017 announcement1 of the continuation of Sailor Moon Crystal. As we sped toward the third anniversary from the announcement, we found ourselves less than 100 days away from the long-awaited theatrical debut.

That was, of course, until the surprise June 18 announcement that the movie would be pushed back until January 2021.2

So how did we go from Sailor Moon‘s editor-for-life Fumio “Osabu” Osano announcing that we were moving full steam ahead toward a September 11 release3 to a 4 month delay, all in the span of a little over a week?

Today we’re going to take a deep dive into this troubled production and look into this most recent development. Whether you’re a die-hard fan of the 90s anime of a Sailor Moon Crystal devotee, there are some interesting insights for everyone!

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What Is the SuperS Movie’s Three O’Clock Fairy Song Referring To?

ChibiUsa is very unimpressed

ChibiUsa is very unimpressed

While the Sailor Moon series is generally a challenge in its own right to translate in such a way that not only gets across what’s being said, but the style and nuance as well, my heart truly goes out to those who are tasked with translating the lyrics to the series’ music.

As a wise person (me) once said (right now): 80% of the meaning of music cant be found in the words that go unspoken.

Today we’re going to take a look back at yet another Sailor Moon lyrical mystery, as we try to uncover just what this fanciful song about fruits, pies, and kidnapping children is all about!

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Why Does Ami Think Vampires Like to Eat Flowers?

Lilica Hubert (spoiler: she's a vampire)

Lilica Hubert (spoiler: she’s a vampire)

In the spirit of the season – and for all of you reading this in the future, that means Halloween – I desperately wanted to find some sort of story or mystery relating to Sailor Moon that I could talk about, but unfortunately I didn’t have much luck. There just isn’t a lot of scary things that happen in the show, unless you’re talking about Mamoru’s fashion sense or Taiki’s obnoxiously large forehead.

So I took to social media for suggestions and, as expected, I got a lot of great suggestions that never even crossed my mind. You people rock.

Today, we’ll be talking about about the story of the vampire who once graced the pages of Sailor Moon, and Ami’s seemingly bizarre leap in logic in how she determined this young girl was a blood-sucking demon of the night.

Stick around!

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What is the SuperS Ending Song Rashiku Ikimasho Talking About?

We're Ikimasho-ing, in a Rashiku-manner

We’re Ikimasho-ing, in a Rashiku-manner

“La la la never give up, ganbaru wa!” – these truly are words to live by, and I don’t think any of our beloved sailor-suited girls of love and justice could have said it any better (absent the help of the musical genius of Stan Bush) in the second ending to the Sailor Moon SuperS anime, Rashiku Ikimasho.

But there’s a problem: when you stop and read through the lyrics, it doesn’t actually make a whole lot of sense.

Today we’re going to talk about some of the confusion surrounding this awesome song, and what makes the song so powerful. This may get a bit detailed, so be sure you’ve had a nice cup of coffee (or delicious Pop-Tart?) before we dive straight in!

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