SAILOR MOON
Name: Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon is the title of a Japanese media franchise created
by Naoko Takeuchi. It is generally credited with popularizing the concept of a
sentai (team) of magical girls, as well as the general (re-)emergence of the
magical girl genre itself.
The story of the various metaseries revolves around the reincarnated defenders
of a kingdom that once spanned the solar system, and the evil forces that they
battle. The major characters—called Sailor Senshi (literally "Sailor Soldiers";
frequently called "Sailor Scouts" in the North American version) are teenage
girls who can transform into heroines named for the moon and planets (Sailor
Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, etc). The use of "Sailor" comes from a style
of girls' school uniform popular in Japan, the sora fuku (sailor outfit), after
which the Senshi's uniforms are modeled. Fantastical elements in the series are
heavily symbolic and often based on mythology.
Creation of the Sailor Moon manga was preceded by another, Codename: Sailor V,
which centered around just one Sailor Senshi. Takeuchi devised the idea when she
wanted to create a cute series about girls in outer space, and her editor asked
her to put them in sailor fuku. When Sailor V was proposed for adaptation
into an anime, the concept was modified so that Sailor V herself became only one
member of a team. The resulting manga series was a fusion of the popular magical
girl and sentai genres of which Takeuchi was a fan, making Sailor Moon one of
the first series ever to combine the two.
The manga resulted in spinoffs into other types of media, including a highly
popular anime, as well as musical theatre productions, video games, and a live-action
(tokusatsu) series. Although most concepts in the many versions overlap, there
are often notable differences, and thus continuity between the different formats
is limited.
Name: Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon is the title of a Japanese media franchise created
by Naoko Takeuchi. It is generally credited with popularizing the concept of a
sentai (team) of magical girls, as well as the general (re-)emergence of the
magical girl genre itself.
The story of the various metaseries revolves around the reincarnated defenders
of a kingdom that once spanned the solar system, and the evil forces that they
battle. The major characters—called Sailor Senshi (literally "Sailor Soldiers";
frequently called "Sailor Scouts" in the North American version) are teenage
girls who can transform into heroines named for the moon and planets (Sailor
Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, etc). The use of "Sailor" comes from a style
of girls' school uniform popular in Japan, the sora fuku (sailor outfit), after
which the Senshi's uniforms are modeled. Fantastical elements in the series are
heavily symbolic and often based on mythology.
Creation of the Sailor Moon manga was preceded by another, Codename: Sailor V,
which centered around just one Sailor Senshi. Takeuchi devised the idea when she
wanted to create a cute series about girls in outer space, and her editor asked
her to put them in sailor fuku. When Sailor V was proposed for adaptation
into an anime, the concept was modified so that Sailor V herself became only one
member of a team. The resulting manga series was a fusion of the popular magical
girl and sentai genres of which Takeuchi was a fan, making Sailor Moon one of
the first series ever to combine the two.
The manga resulted in spinoffs into other types of media, including a highly
popular anime, as well as musical theatre productions, video games, and a live-action
(tokusatsu) series. Although most concepts in the many versions overlap, there
are often notable differences, and thus continuity between the different formats
is limited.