185-633: Sailor Moon , originally released in Japan as Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ( Japanese : 美少女戦士セーラームーン , Hepburn : Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn ) and later as Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon , is a Japanese superhero anime television series produced by Toei Animation using Super Sentai motifs. It is based on the manga of the same title written by Naoko Takeuchi that was published from 1991 to 1997 in Nakayoshi . Sailor Moon first aired in Japan on TV Asahi from March 7, 1992, to February 8, 1997, and
370-559: A pure vowel system, phonemic vowel and consonant length, and a lexically significant pitch-accent . Word order is normally subject–object–verb with particles marking the grammatical function of words, and sentence structure is topic–comment . Sentence-final particles are used to add emotional or emphatic impact, or form questions. Nouns have no grammatical number or gender , and there are no articles . Verbs are conjugated , primarily for tense and voice , but not person . Japanese adjectives are also conjugated. Japanese has
555-465: A Sailor Guardian in her own right, and learns to transform into Sailor Chibi Moon (known as "Sailor Mini Moon" in the English series). At times, she has an adversarial relationship with her mother, but as the series progresses they develop a deep bond, with her wanting to grow up to become like her. Her theme color is light pink . Setsuna Meioh ( 冥王 せつな , Meiō Setsuna , called Trista Meioh in
740-487: A Sailor Guardian, which she is willing to make sacrifices for. Her talisman, the Deep Aqua Mirror, aids her intuition and reveals cloaked evil. Her theme color is teal . Hotaru Tomoe ( 土萠 ほたる , Tomoe Hotaru ) is a sweet and lonely young girl, whose health was compromised following a laboratory accident in her youth. After overcoming the darkness that surrounded her family, she transforms into Sailor Saturn,
925-518: A barrier to keep the enemy from expanding further through the city. Mistress 9 then tricks Usagi into handing over the Holy Grail, allowing her to summon Pharaoh 90 to destroy the Earth. Hotaru awakens as Sailor Saturn, destroying Mistress 9, and intends to sacrifice herself to stop Pharaoh 90. Usagi is able to activate her Super form to assist Saturn in destroying Pharaoh 90 and rescue Saturn. Hotaru
1110-637: A benefit from the in-group to the out-group) means "[I/we] explained [it] to [him/her/them]". Such beneficiary auxiliary verbs thus serve a function comparable to that of pronouns and prepositions in Indo-European languages to indicate the actor and the recipient of an action. Japanese "pronouns" also function differently from most modern Indo-European pronouns (and more like nouns) in that they can take modifiers as any other noun may. For instance, one does not say in English: The amazed he ran down
1295-722: A cast of characters created by Naoko Takeuchi . The series takes place in Tokyo , Japan, where the Sailor Guardians ( セーラー戦士 , Sērā Senshi ) , a group of ten magical girls , are formed to fight against antagonists who aim to take over the Earth , the Solar System and the Milky Way . Each Guardian undergoes a transformation which grants her a uniform in her own theme colors and an elemental power. They are named after
1480-594: A complex system of honorifics , with verb forms and vocabulary to indicate the relative status of the speaker, the listener, and persons mentioned. The Japanese writing system combines Chinese characters , known as kanji ( 漢字 , ' Han characters') , with two unique syllabaries (or moraic scripts) derived by the Japanese from the more complex Chinese characters: hiragana ( ひらがな or 平仮名 , 'simple characters') and katakana ( カタカナ or 片仮名 , 'partial characters'). Latin script ( rōmaji ローマ字 )
1665-440: A crush on Usagi and tries to win her over, much to An's dismay. Despite this, he constantly denies these feelings to her, knowing her tendency to have fits of jealous rage. An later develops a crush on Mamoru and tries to win him over, much to Ail and Usagi's dismay of Ail and Usagi. Ail and An are the only two of their kind. In Japanese, in the original series, they are voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa and Yumi Tōma , respectively. In
1850-414: A distinct language of its own that has absorbed various aspects from neighboring languages. Japanese has five vowels, and vowel length is phonemic, with each having both a short and a long version. Elongated vowels are usually denoted with a line over the vowel (a macron ) in rōmaji , a repeated vowel character in hiragana , or a chōonpu succeeding the vowel in katakana . /u/ ( listen )
2035-436: A faraway planet before creating life and giving energy to its many children. The children became greedy and fought each other until the planet was destroyed, with the tree and Ail and An as the only survivors. The tree became weak and required energy to stay alive, with Ail and An supplying it with human energy to revive it, which eventually stops working. The tree becomes angered and starts to injure those around it, killing An in
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#17328020837502220-419: A glide /j/ and either the first part of a geminate consonant ( っ / ッ , represented as Q) or a moraic nasal in the coda ( ん / ン , represented as N). The nasal is sensitive to its phonetic environment and assimilates to the following phoneme, with pronunciations including [ɴ, m, n, ɲ, ŋ, ɰ̃] . Onset-glide clusters only occur at the start of syllables but clusters across syllables are allowed as long as
2405-440: A group of Sailor Guardians composed of Sailor Star Fighter, Sailor Star Maker and Sailor Star Healer; in civilian form they go by the pseudonyms Kou Seiya, Kou Taiki and Kou Yaten, respectively. They are from the planet Kinmoku ( キンモク星 , Kinmokusei ) , whose princess, Princess Kakyuu , left to escape Sailor Galaxia 's assault and heal her wounds. They tracked Kakyuu to Earth and then Japan, where they disguised themselves as
2590-464: A human form. The two older cats, Luna and Artemis, lived in the Moon Kingdom millennia before the events of the series and were advisors to Queen Serenity ; the third, Diana, is much younger and was born on Earth. The cats serve as mentors and confidantes, as well as a source of information and new tools and items. Although Luna has the largest role of the three, Artemis was the first to appear and
2775-601: A letter from her parents from the future wanting her to return home, but upon helping the Sailor Soldiers and Tuxedo Mask defeat the last Daimon monster, she decides to stay in the present a bit longer. Chibiusa remains in the present day to train as a Sailor Soldier. She meets an alicorn named Pegasus who hides in dreams and forms a secret relationship with her. Pegasus also aids the Sailor Soldiers by upgrading them to permanent Super forms and lending his power when summoned by Chibiusa. The new powers are used to combat
2960-429: A listener depending on the listener's relative social position and the degree of familiarity between the speaker and the listener. When used in different social relationships, the same word may have positive (intimate or respectful) or negative (distant or disrespectful) connotations. Japanese often use titles of the person referred to where pronouns would be used in English. For example, when speaking to one's teacher, it
3145-528: A more elaborate costume than others, and has individual power-ups more frequently than other characters. Sailor Guardians originating from outside the Solar System have different and varying outfits, but the sailor collar serves as a unifying trait in their designs. Most of the antagonists in the series have names related to minerals and gemstones, including Queen Beryl and the Four Kings of Heaven ,
3330-401: A normal girl. As the story progresses, however, she embraces the chance to use her power to protect those she cares about. Her theme color is pink . Mamoru Chiba ( 地場 衛 , Chiba Mamoru , called Darien Shields in the original English dub) is a student who is older than Usagi. When he was young, he was in a car accident that killed his parents and erased his memories. He and Usagi share
3515-536: A pair of extraterrestrials named Ail and Ann descend onto Earth with the Makai Tree , which feeds on human energy. Ail and Ann summon monsters from cards — called Cardians — to prey on humans. In order to defend against these attacks, Luna restores the Sailor Soldiers' memories. Eventually, Ail and Ann are defeated, see the error of their ways, and return to space with the Makai Tree. During these events, Mamoru
3700-427: A plane crash years ago, she lives alone and takes care of herself. She cultivates her physical strength and domestic interests, including housekeeping , cooking and gardening. Her dream is to marry a young handsome man and to own a flower-and-cake shop. Her theme color is green . Minako Aino ( 愛野 美奈子 , Aino Minako , called Mina Aino in the original English dub) is a fourteen-year-old girl who first appears as
3885-408: A sentence need not be stated and pronouns may be omitted if they can be inferred from context. In the example above, hana ga nagai would mean "[their] noses are long", while nagai by itself would mean "[they] are long." A single verb can be a complete sentence: Yatta! ( やった! ) "[I / we / they / etc] did [it]!". In addition, since adjectives can form the predicate in a Japanese sentence (below),
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#17328020837504070-428: A single adjective can be a complete sentence: Urayamashii! ( 羨ましい! ) "[I'm] jealous [about it]!". While the language has some words that are typically translated as pronouns, these are not used as frequently as pronouns in some Indo-European languages, and function differently. In some cases, Japanese relies on special verb forms and auxiliary verbs to indicate the direction of benefit of an action: "down" to indicate
4255-491: A special psychic connection, and he can sense when she is in danger. This inspires him to take on the guise of Tuxedo Mask and fight alongside the Sailor Guardians when needed. After an initially confrontational relationship, he and Usagi remember their past lives and fall in love again. Ami Mizuno ( 水野 亜美 , Mizuno Ami , called Amy Anderson in the original English dub) is a fourteen-year-old bookworm in Usagi's class, who
4440-624: Is compressed rather than protruded , or simply unrounded. Some Japanese consonants have several allophones , which may give the impression of a larger inventory of sounds. However, some of these allophones have since become phonemic. For example, in the Japanese language up to and including the first half of the 20th century, the phonemic sequence /ti/ was palatalized and realized phonetically as [tɕi] , approximately chi ( listen ) ; however, now [ti] and [tɕi] are distinct, as evidenced by words like tī [tiː] "Western-style tea" and chii [tɕii] "social status". The "r" of
4625-492: Is red . Makoto Kino ( 木野 まこと , Kino Makoto , called Lita Kino in the original English dub) is a fourteen-year-old girl who is a student in Usagi's class. She excels at hand-to-hand combat and is rumored to have been expelled from her previous school for fighting. She is unusually tall and strong for a Japanese schoolgirl, and transforms into Sailor Jupiter, the Guardian of Thunder and Courage. Because her parents died in
4810-595: Is a reboot series that more closely follows the manga, began streaming worldwide in July 2014. A 14-year-old underachieving young schoolgirl named Usagi Tsukino (Serena in English) meets a magical talking cat named Luna . Luna gives Usagi the ability to transform into a magical alter ego — Sailor Moon — tasked with locating the moon princess and battling the evil forces of the Dark Kingdom . When Usagi transforms for
4995-722: Is a love song based on the relationship between Usagi and Mamoru ("born on the same Earth"), whereas the English Sailor Moon theme rather resembles a superhero anthem. "Moonlight Densetsu" was released as a CD single in March 1992, and was an "explosive hit." "Moonlight Densetsu" won first place in the Song category in Animage 's 15th and 16th Anime Grand Prix. It came seventh in the 17th Grand Prix, and "Moon Revenge" from Sailor Moon R: The Movie , came eighth. Rashiku Ikimasho,
5180-534: Is able to purify her by activating her final form, Eternal Sailor Moon. Shortly after these events, Mamoru leaves for the United States to study abroad while Usagi and her friends enter high school . Chibiusa also returns to her own time. A group of enemies called the Sailor Animamates —led by Sailor Galaxia—begin targeting humans for their Star Seeds (which serve as a human's life force). Usagi
5365-543: Is able to reclaim his lost memories and begins a romantic relationship with Usagi. Shortly after these events, a pink-haired girl named Chibiusa falls from the sky, revealing that she traveled from the future in order to find the Silver Crystal and use it to save her parents. She is followed by the Black Moon Clan , a new enemy that is trying to kill her and alter the past to further their goals. Eventually,
5550-566: Is actually the reincarnated Princess Serenity. Over the course of the series, Luna develops a close bond with Usagi, though it is initially on uneasy terms, as Luna often upsets her by giving her unsolicited advice. She and Artemis have an implied romantic relationship, which is confirmed when they meet Diana, their daughter from the future. Artemis ( アルテミス , Arutemisu ) is the white cat companion to Minako Aino , who trains her to become Sailor V and remains by her side when she takes on her proper role as Sailor Venus. He first guides Usagi through
5735-574: Is also aided by the Sailor Starlights —Kou Seiya (Sailor Star Fighter), Kou Taiki (Sailor Star Maker), and Kou Yaten (Sailor Star Healer)—who disguise themselves as an idol group named the Three Lights. The Starlights are searching for their ruler, Princess Kakyuu . A young girl—nicknamed Chibi Chibi because of her limited vocabulary that usually involves the word "chibi"—also appears and begins living with Usagi. Sailor Galaxia's past
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5920-448: Is also seen in o-medetō "congratulations", from medetaku ). Late Middle Japanese has the first loanwords from European languages – now-common words borrowed into Japanese in this period include pan ("bread") and tabako ("tobacco", now "cigarette"), both from Portuguese . Modern Japanese is considered to begin with the Edo period (which spanned from 1603 to 1867). Since Old Japanese,
6105-527: Is also used in a limited fashion (such as for imported acronyms) in Japanese writing. The numeral system uses mostly Arabic numerals , but also traditional Chinese numerals . Proto-Japonic , the common ancestor of the Japanese and Ryukyuan languages , is thought to have been brought to Japan by settlers coming from the Korean peninsula sometime in the early- to mid-4th century BC (the Yayoi period ), replacing
6290-440: Is appropriate to use sensei ( 先生 , "teacher"), but inappropriate to use anata . This is because anata is used to refer to people of equal or lower status, and one's teacher has higher status. Japanese nouns have no grammatical number, gender or article aspect. The noun hon ( 本 ) may refer to a single book or several books; hito ( 人 ) can mean "person" or "people", and ki ( 木 ) can be "tree" or "trees". Where number
6475-701: Is associated with comedy (see Kansai dialect ). Dialects of Tōhoku and North Kantō are associated with typical farmers. The Ryūkyūan languages, spoken in Okinawa and the Amami Islands (administratively part of Kagoshima ), are distinct enough to be considered a separate branch of the Japonic family; not only is each language unintelligible to Japanese speakers, but most are unintelligible to those who speak other Ryūkyūan languages. However, in contrast to linguists, many ordinary Japanese people tend to consider
6660-466: Is better documentation of Late Middle Japanese phonology than for previous forms (for instance, the Arte da Lingoa de Iapam ). Among other sound changes, the sequence /au/ merges to /ɔː/ , in contrast with /oː/ ; /p/ is reintroduced from Chinese; and /we/ merges with /je/ . Some forms rather more familiar to Modern Japanese speakers begin to appear – the continuative ending - te begins to reduce onto
6845-646: Is common in anime and manga, it is "almost unheard of in the West." Despite the series' apparent popularity among Western anime fandom , the dubbed version of the series received poor ratings in the United States when it was initially broadcast in syndication and did not do well in DVD sales in the United Kingdom. Anne Allison attributes the lack of popularity in the United States primarily to poor marketing (in
7030-509: Is correlated with the sex of the speaker and the social situation in which they are spoken: men and women alike in a formal situation generally refer to themselves as watashi ( 私 , literally "private") or watakushi (also 私 , hyper-polite form), while men in rougher or intimate conversation are much more likely to use the word ore ( 俺 "oneself", "myself") or boku . Similarly, different words such as anata , kimi , and omae ( お前 , more formally 御前 "the one before me") may refer to
7215-534: Is eventually revealed. She once ended the Sailor Wars by sealing Chaos—the source of all malice—within her body. Unable to resist Chaos's influence, she separated her Star Seed from her body, and it took the form of Chibi Chibi. Sailor Galaxia steals the Star Seeds of Princess Kakyuu and all Usagi's companions, resulting in their deaths. This also includes Mamoru who was targeted and killed before he arrived in
7400-417: Is important, it can be indicated by providing a quantity (often with a counter word ) or (rarely) by adding a suffix, or sometimes by duplication (e.g. 人人 , hitobito , usually written with an iteration mark as 人々 ). Words for people are usually understood as singular. Thus Tanaka-san usually means Mx Tanaka . Words that refer to people and animals can be made to indicate a group of individuals through
7585-449: Is interrupted when Sailor Iron Mouse attacks. Seiya makes their interest in her clear when they spend time together practicing softball, telling her, "I like your light." However, their feelings are not reciprocated and they acknowledge the one-sided romance. The relationship between Sailor Star Fighter and Princess Kakyuu is slightly ambiguous. In the anime, when Seiya daydreams of their home planet, they think of an image of her, which
Sailor Moon (TV series) - Misplaced Pages Continue
7770-482: Is later revealed that she is from the future and that her mother is Luna. Just as Luna and Artemis guide Usagi and Minako, Diana acts as a guardian to Chibiusa . She is curious, eager to help and polite, always addressing Usagi and Mamoru with the Japanese honorific " -sama " and calling Chibiusa by her formal title, Small Lady. Despite her youth, she is occasionally able to help the Sailor Guardians, often because of
7955-755: Is less common. In terms of mutual intelligibility , a survey in 1967 found that the four most unintelligible dialects (excluding Ryūkyūan languages and Tōhoku dialects ) to students from Greater Tokyo were the Kiso dialect (in the deep mountains of Nagano Prefecture ), the Himi dialect (in Toyama Prefecture ), the Kagoshima dialect and the Maniwa dialect (in Okayama Prefecture ). The survey
8140-514: Is meant to be ambiguous as to whether they take on male forms or cross-dress, though their personalities reflect the former. Their story also combines elements from both the manga and the anime; for instance, they travel to the Galaxy Cauldron as in the manga, but survive the battles against Galaxia as in the anime. The pairings with the Sailor Guardians from the anime are also featured in some musicals. Their exact relationship to each other
8325-420: Is often called a topic-prominent language , which means it has a strong tendency to indicate the topic separately from the subject, and that the two do not always coincide. The sentence Zō wa hana ga nagai ( 象は鼻が長い ) literally means, "As for elephant(s), (the) nose(s) (is/are) long". The topic is zō "elephant", and the subject is hana "nose". Japanese grammar tends toward brevity; the subject or object of
8510-506: Is pointed out. She owns a handheld computer which can scan and detect virtually anything which she needs information about. Her theme color is blue . Rei Hino ( 火野 レイ , Hino Rei , called Raye Hino in the original English dub) is an elegant fourteen-year-old miko (English: shrine maiden ). Because of her work as a Shinto priestess, she has limited precognition and can dispel or nullify evil using special ofuda scrolls, even in her civilian form. She transforms into Sailor Mars,
8695-498: Is preserved in words such as matsuge ("eyelash", lit. "hair of the eye"); modern mieru ("to be visible") and kikoeru ("to be audible") retain a mediopassive suffix - yu(ru) ( kikoyu → kikoyuru (the attributive form, which slowly replaced the plain form starting in the late Heian period) → kikoeru (all verbs with the shimo-nidan conjugation pattern underwent this same shift in Early Modern Japanese )); and
8880-432: Is quiet yet intelligent and rumored to have an IQ of 300. She can transform into Sailor Mercury, the Guardian of Water and Wisdom. Despite her shy exterior, she is passionate about learning and taking care of those around her and hopes to eventually become a doctor like her mother. She tends to be the practical one of the group and is secretly a fan of pop culture and romance novels , and becomes embarrassed when this
9065-462: Is reborn as a baby and returned to her father, now freed from the influence of the Death Busters. Uranus and Neptune then challenge Usagi to a fight to prove to them and everyone that she is the true Messiah and the future queen of Silver Millennium. After the fight, they both acknowledge her as their queen and leave the city knowing their mission is now over. Following this, Chibiusa receives
9250-473: Is restored, and Usagi, once more acknowledging her destiny as the champion of justice, Sailor Moon, shares a kiss with Mamoru under the full moon. Naoko Takeuchi initially planned both the Sailor Moon manga and anime to only run for one season. Due to the season's popularity, Toei Animation asked Takeuchi to continue drawing her manga, but she initially struggled with developing another storyline to extend
9435-473: Is revealed to have been residing within Hotaru's body and awakens upon stealing Chibiusa's Pure Heart Crystal. The Sailor Soldiers go to Mugen Academy to stop the Death Busters and save Chibiusa, Hotaru, and the world. Mistress 9, prevents all but Sailor Moon from entering the academy, though Pluto sacrifices her life to help Uranus and Neptune secretly infiltrate the academy as well. The other Sailor Soldiers erect
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#17328020837509620-415: Is suddenly superimposed by an image of Usagi, much as Usagi had seen Seiya's image overlaid by Mamoru in previous episodes. In the image poem released for their CD single , however, they suggest that their feelings for her are because they are "carrying the heart of a boy" and because they were attracted to her light. In the band, they have the role of lead vocals, guitar and lyrics, but were also playing
9805-402: Is the version of Japanese discussed in this article. Formerly, standard Japanese in writing ( 文語 , bungo , "literary language") was different from colloquial language ( 口語 , kōgo ) . The two systems have different rules of grammar and some variance in vocabulary. Bungo was the main method of writing Japanese until about 1900; since then kōgo gradually extended its influence and
9990-604: Is to locate three specific Pure Heart Crystals that contain special Talismans. Joining the Sailor Soldiers are Haruka Tenoh and Michiru Kaioh, who operate as Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune respectively. The two are also seeking the Talismans for different purposes and come into conflict with the other Sailor Soldiers. Sailor Pluto returns to the present day as Setsuna Meioh; Chibiusa also returns, now donning her own magical girl identity of Sailor Chibi Moon. The Death Busters eventually discover that Haruka and Michiru hold two of
10175-463: Is unknown; according to the manga, they are not siblings. Their name "Kou" (光) has several meanings, including "light", making the name "Three Lights" a pun. In the original English manga, "Kou" was translated to "Lights" and was used as their shared family name. Kou Seiya ( 星野 光 , Seiya Kō ) is the leader of the Starlights as Sailor Star Fighter ( セーラースターファイター , Sērā Sutā Faitā ) and
10360-471: Is used for the present and the future. For verbs that represent an ongoing process, the -te iru form indicates a continuous (or progressive) aspect , similar to the suffix ing in English. For others that represent a change of state, the -te iru form indicates a perfect aspect. For example, kite iru means "They have come (and are still here)", but tabete iru means "They are eating". Questions (both with an interrogative pronoun and yes/no questions) have
10545-564: Is voiced by Yasuhiro Takato in the first anime adaptation, by Yohei Oobayashi in the first three seasons of Crystal , and Taishi Murata in the Eternal and Cosmos films. In the live-action series, he is voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi . He appears in the first Sailor Moon musical, played by a cat-suited Keiji Himeno. In English, he is voiced by Ron Rubin in the DIC/Cloverway English adaptation and by Johnny Yong Bosch in
10730-405: Is why some linguists do not classify Japanese "pronouns" as pronouns, but rather as referential nouns, much like Spanish usted (contracted from vuestra merced , "your ( majestic plural ) grace") or Portuguese você (from vossa mercê ). Japanese personal pronouns are generally used only in situations requiring special emphasis as to who is doing what to whom. The choice of words used as pronouns
10915-676: The Dead Moon Circus , a mysterious circus troupe that targets humans with beautiful dreams. They are led by Zirconia and her minions, the Amazon Trio , who are tasked with looking into humans' Dream Mirrors, hoping to find Pegasus, believing Pegasus possesses the Golden Crystal. With this crystal, the Dead Moon Circus's ruler — Queen Nehelenia — can be freed from the mirror she was sealed in. Queen Nehelenia
11100-642: The Japanese diaspora worldwide. The Japonic family also includes the Ryukyuan languages and the variously classified Hachijō language . There have been many attempts to group the Japonic languages with other families such as the Ainu , Austronesian , Koreanic , and the now-discredited Altaic , but none of these proposals have gained any widespread acceptance. Little is known of the language's prehistory, or when it first appeared in Japan. Chinese documents from
11285-462: The Japonic language family, which also includes the Ryukyuan languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands . As these closely related languages are commonly treated as dialects of the same language, Japanese is sometimes called a language isolate . According to Martine Irma Robbeets , Japanese has been subject to more attempts to show its relation to other languages than any other language in
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#173280208375011470-525: The Philippines ( Sailor Moon became one of ABC (now 5 )'s main draws, helping it to become the third-biggest network in the country), Poland , Russia , Italy , the Czech Republic , Mexico , Guatemala , Brazil , Ukraine , Belarus , Sweden , Germany , Bulgaria , Austria , Indonesia , Croatia , Hungary , Taiwan , Thailand , Romania and Hong Kong , before North America picked up
11655-455: The Philippines , and various Pacific islands, locals in those countries learned Japanese as the language of the empire. As a result, many elderly people in these countries can still speak Japanese. Japanese emigrant communities (the largest of which are to be found in Brazil , with 1.4 million to 1.5 million Japanese immigrants and descendants, according to Brazilian IBGE data, more than
11840-676: The United States (notably in Hawaii , where 16.7% of the population has Japanese ancestry, and California ), and the Philippines (particularly in Davao Region and the Province of Laguna ). Japanese has no official status in Japan, but is the de facto national language of the country. There is a form of the language considered standard : hyōjungo ( 標準語 ) , meaning "standard Japanese", or kyōtsūgo ( 共通語 ) , "common language", or even "Tokyo dialect" at times. The meanings of
12025-606: The Viz Media English adaptation. Diana ( ダイアナ , Daiana ) is a cat, the future daughter of Luna and Artemis, who first appears when the Sailor Guardians travel to the 30th century in the Black Moon arc. After defeating Death Phantom, she joins them after they return to the 20th century. In the anime, she first appears in Sailor Moon SuperS , calling Artemis her father, to Luna's initial dismay. It
12210-806: The de facto standard Japanese had been the Kansai dialect , especially that of Kyoto . However, during the Edo period, Edo (now Tokyo) developed into the largest city in Japan, and the Edo-area dialect became standard Japanese. Since the end of Japan's self-imposed isolation in 1853, the flow of loanwords from European languages has increased significantly. The period since 1945 has seen many words borrowed from other languages—such as German, Portuguese and English. Many English loan words especially relate to technology—for example, pasokon (short for "personal computer"), intānetto ("internet"), and kamera ("camera"). Due to
12395-507: The lucky cat . Luna ( ルナ , Runa ) is a black cat who was a devoted servant to Princess Serenity and advisor to her mother, Queen Serenity. When the kingdom fell, she and Artemis were put into a long sleep and sent to Earth to look after the Sailor Guardians, who are reborn there, with parts of her memory suppressed so that she must find the Sailor Guardians. She also provides them with many of their items. She first encounters Usagi and teaches her to become Sailor Moon, unaware that she
12580-448: The standard dialect moved from the Kansai region to the Edo region (modern Tokyo ) in the Early Modern Japanese period (early 17th century–mid 19th century). Following the end of Japan's self-imposed isolation in 1853, the flow of loanwords from European languages increased significantly, and words from English roots have proliferated. Japanese is an agglutinative , mora -timed language with relatively simple phonotactics ,
12765-527: The 1.2 million of the United States ) sometimes employ Japanese as their primary language. Approximately 12% of Hawaii residents speak Japanese, with an estimated 12.6% of the population of Japanese ancestry in 2008. Japanese emigrants can also be found in Peru , Argentina , Australia (especially in the eastern states), Canada (especially in Vancouver , where 1.4% of the population has Japanese ancestry),
12950-465: The 3rd century AD recorded a few Japanese words, but substantial Old Japanese texts did not appear until the 8th century. From the Heian period (794–1185), extensive waves of Sino-Japanese vocabulary entered the language, affecting the phonology of Early Middle Japanese . Late Middle Japanese (1185–1600) saw extensive grammatical changes and the first appearance of European loanwords . The basis of
13135-625: The Black Moon Clan, Kaolinite and the Witches 5 , as well as most members of the Dead Moon Circus. Members of the Amazoness Quartet are named after the first four asteroids to be discovered. The Sailor Animamates have the prefix "Sailor", despite not being genuine Sailor Guardians in the manga, followed by the name of a metal and the name of an animal. Usagi Tsukino ( 月野 うさぎ , Tsukino Usagi , called Serena Tsukino in
13320-463: The Blu-ray collection of the series was released from June 14 during the franchise's 25th anniversary as Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon , and each seasons consisted 23 episodes per volume. In 2014, Viz Media announced plans to release the series in both Blu-ray Disc and DVD format, with the first set released on November 11, 2014. In addition, the first twenty-three episodes of their redub premiered on
13505-498: The Dark Kingdom attacked and destroyed Silver Millennium, resulting in the deaths of Serenity, Endymion, and the Sailor Soldiers. Serenity's mother — Queen Serenity — used the power of the Silver Crystal to vanquish Queen Metaria and end the war. She also used the crystal to send the fallen Sailor Soldiers into the future to be reborn on Earth, hoping to give them a second chance at peace. The Sailor Soldiers eventually pinpoint
13690-590: The English dub, in the DIC English version they are voiced by Vince Corazza and Sabrina Grdevich , respectively, and in the Viz Media English version they are voiced by Brian Beacock and Dorothy Elias-Fahn , respectively. The Hell Tree ( 魔界樹 , Makai Ju , called the Doom Tree in the DIC English dub) is an alien tree that nourishes Ail and An. It lived alone on an island in a vast ocean on
13875-438: The Golden Crystal, she is betrayed by her minions, the Amazoness Quartet who give the crystal to Chibiusa. Using the crystal, Queen Nehelenia is defeated and begins to wither with age, forcing her back into the mirror she was once sealed within. Helios returns to his home realm of Elysion. Uranus and Neptune are featured in an episode special that indicates that they are aware of the threat of Dead Moon Circus, but determine that
14060-401: The Guardian of Fire and Passion. She is very serious and focused and easily annoyed by Usagi's laziness, but cares about her. In the anime adaptation, Rei is portrayed as boy-crazy and short-tempered, while in the manga and live-action series she is depicted as uninterested in romance and more self-controlled. She attends a private Catholic school separate from the other girls. Her theme color
14245-541: The Guardian of Silence, Destruction and Rebirth . She is often pensive, and as a human has the power to heal others. She wields the Silence Glaive, which gives her the power to generate barriers and destroy a planet. When she uses that power, she kills herself, but Sailor Moon later revives her and she comes to live with Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna like a family. Her theme color is purple . The Dark Kingdom ( ダーク・キングダム , Dāku Kingudamu , called Negaverse in
14430-462: The Hell Tree so that it can give them energy to survive. Unlike other antagonists of the series, their mission was primarily that of survival, rather than conquest or destruction. The DIC dub had Ail and An making a mentioning in their first appearance of having met Queen Beryl at some point in their life. Ail ( エイル , Eiru , called Alan in the original English dub) and An ( アン , called Ann in
14615-416: The Holy Grail to stop the Death Busters. Chibiusa also befriends a sickly girl named Hotaru, unaware that she is the daughter of the Death Busters' leader, Professor Tomoe . Unknown to her, Hotaru is also Sailor Saturn , a Sailor Soldier capable of destroying entire planets. Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna fear that Saturn's awakening will result in Earth's destruction and plead for Usagi to kill her. Mistress 9
14800-486: The Japanese language is of particular interest, ranging between an apical central tap and a lateral approximant . The "g" is also notable; unless it starts a sentence, it may be pronounced [ ŋ ] , in the Kanto prestige dialect and in other eastern dialects. The phonotactics of Japanese are relatively simple. The syllable structure is (C)(G)V(C), that is, a core vowel surrounded by an optional onset consonant,
14985-736: The Old Japanese sections are written in Man'yōgana , which uses kanji for their phonetic as well as semantic values. Based on the Man'yōgana system, Old Japanese can be reconstructed as having 88 distinct morae . Texts written with Man'yōgana use two different sets of kanji for each of the morae now pronounced き (ki), ひ (hi), み (mi), け (ke), へ (he), め (me), こ (ko), そ (so), と (to), の (no), も (mo), よ (yo) and ろ (ro). (The Kojiki has 88, but all later texts have 87. The distinction between mo 1 and mo 2 apparently
15170-506: The River Lethe and Sailor Lethe kills them, but are reincarnated at the end of the series along with everyone else. In the live-action series , Luna and Artemis are portrayed as stuffed toys rather than real cats. They are usually represented using puppets , though CGI effects are used for complicated scenes. Writer Mary Grigsby considers the cat characters to blend pre-modern ideas about feminine mystery with modern ideas such as
15355-488: The Ryūkyūan languages as dialects of Japanese. The imperial court also seems to have spoken an unusual variant of the Japanese of the time, most likely the spoken form of Classical Japanese , a writing style that was prevalent during the Heian period , but began to decline during the late Meiji period . The Ryūkyūan languages are classified by UNESCO as 'endangered', as young people mostly use Japanese and cannot understand
15540-541: The Sailor Soldiers and Tuxedo Mask travel with Chibiusa to the future where Usagi rules Crystal Tokyo as Neo-Queen Serenity. They learn that Chibiusa is actually Usagi and Mamoru's future daughter, and they also meet Sailor Pluto who guards the Door of Space-Time . Eventually, the Sailor Soldiers battle against Wiseman , a dark force that was manipulating the Black Moon Clan with the goal of destroying Earth. Wiseman manipulates Chibiusa into becoming his minion, Black Lady , but
15725-535: The Sailor Soldiers especially Sailor Moon. The Outer Sailor Soldiers—Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Saturn—return, now with their more powerful Super forms to assist the others. Queen Nehelenia places a curse on all mirrors throughout the city, which entrances the civilian population. She then captures Mamoru, who is under her curse, threatening the future and risking erasing Chibiusa from existence. The Sailor Soldiers enter Queen Nehelenia's nightmare dimension to stop her. Usagi eventually comes to pity Queen Nehelenia's plight and
15910-547: The Sailor Soldiers eventually manage to free her of his control. Chibiusa is able to summon the Silver Crystal of the future and aids in the destruction of Wiseman. Afterwards, Chibiusa returns to her own time, now freed from the Black Moon Clan's corruption. Some time later, the Sailor Soldiers encounter the Death Busters , an evil organization based in the prestigious Mugen Academy that is summoning monsters called Daimons to steal Heart Crystals from humans. Their intention
16095-566: The Sailor Soldiers' weapons. The first season holds an approval rating of 90% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes , based on ten reviews. The site's consensus reads "Powerfully feminine and hypnotically cheesy, Sailor Moon ' s iconic anime still sparkles after all these years." Sailor Moon has also become popular internationally. Spain and France became the first countries outside Japan to air Sailor Moon , beginning in December 1993. Other countries followed suit, including South Korea ,
16280-662: The Sailor V video game at the Crown Game Center arcade without revealing his true identity. In the anime, when a technical problem reveals him, Luna is annoyed to learn that he was guiding her. Later, he fills Luna in on the details of her true mission. In the Sailor V manga and the live-action series, he gives special items to the Guardians, but unlike Luna does not seem to produce them himself. He does not seem to mind
16465-404: The Silver Crystal ( 「幻の銀水晶」 , Maboroshi no Ginzuishō , lit. "Phantom Silver Crystal") , a gem capable of limitless power. As Usagi battles against the Dark Kingdom, she is joined by other girls also awakening as Sailor Soldiers: the timid but intelligent Ami Mizuno ( Sailor Mercury ), the hot-headed miko Rei Hino ( Sailor Mars ), the tomboyish but romantic Makoto Kino ( Sailor Jupiter ), and
16650-607: The Silver Millennium of the Moon and the Golden Kingdom. The Hell Tree aliens ( 魔界樹エイリアン , Makai Ju Eirian , called the Doom Tree aliens in the original English dub) are a group who only appear in the anime, serving as the main antagonists of the first thirteen episodes of Sailor Moon R . Ail and An are two aliens who wandered space for many years before reaching Earth, where they collect energy to revive
16835-621: The Space Sword, aids her fighting. Her theme color is navy . Michiru Kaioh ( 海王 みちる , Kaiō Michiru , called Michelle Kaioh in the original English dub) is an elegant and talented violinist and painter. Similar to her partner and lover, Haruka Tenoh, she hails from a wealthy family, though they are not mentioned in the series. She transforms into Sailor Neptune, the Guardian of Ocean and Embrace . She worked alone for some time before finding her partner, Sailor Uranus. Neptune ultimately gave up her dreams and devoted herself to her duty as
17020-539: The Space-Time Door, she carries a deep sense of loneliness, although she is close friends with Chibiusa, who calls her by her nickname "Puu". Her talisman, the Garnet Orb, aids her power to attack and temporarily stop time. Her theme color is crimson . Haruka Tenoh ( 天王 はるか , Ten'ō Haruka , called Amara Tenoh in the original English dub) is a good-natured tomboyish girl who is a year older than most of
17205-441: The Talismans and acquire them at the cost of their lives, but Setsuna — who holds the third — revives them. The Talismans create the Holy Grail, allowing Usagi to acquire a more powerful form: Super Sailor Moon. The Death Busters' intentions then change to harvesting Pure Heart Crystals en masse to resurrect the malevolent entity known as Mistress 9 , while Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto now seek the true Messiah, who can effectively wield
17390-491: The U.S. airing struggled in early morning "dead" timeslots; the series originally aired in the U.S. in morning and afternoon timeslots which Anne Allison describes as unsuitable for the target audience. In contrast, due to the dubbing process being done in Canada, the series was considered Canadian enough to be screened in primetime as local content . After the series was canceled, a fan petition that garnered over 12,500 signatures
17575-454: The United States, the series was initially broadcast at times which did not suit the target audience – weekdays at 9:00 a. m. and 2:00 pm). Executives connected with Sailor Moon suggest that poor localization played a role. British authors Helen McCarthy and Jonathan Clements go further, calling the dub "indifferent" and suggesting that Sailor Moon was put in "dead" timeslots due to local interests. British distributor MVM Films attributed
17760-478: The United States. Chibi Chibi transforms into the Sword of Sealing and urges Usagi to kill Sailor Galaxia and thereby defeat Chaos. However, Usagi instead uses the kindness in her own heart to free Sailor Galaxia of Chaos's corruption, allowing Chaos to dissipate back into the universe, restoring the natural order. This also resurrects all of the fallen Sailor Soldiers and any others whose Star Seeds were stolen. Normalcy
17945-543: The addition of a collective suffix (a noun suffix that indicates a group), such as -tachi , but this is not a true plural: the meaning is closer to the English phrase "and company". A group described as Tanaka-san-tachi may include people not named Tanaka. Some Japanese nouns are effectively plural, such as hitobito "people" and wareware "we/us", while the word tomodachi "friend" is considered singular, although plural in form. Verbs are conjugated to show tenses, of which there are two: past and present (or non-past) which
18130-417: The anime "features the best-known yuri relationship in history" between Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. Yuricon said that the relationship could be described as butch-femme and CBR called their relationship one of the most beloved, and complex, in the series. Patrick Drazen states that Sailor Moon has two kinds of villains, the "monster of the day" and the "thinking, feeling humans." Although this
18315-464: The anime version has "a slight male perspective." Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon consists of five separate seasons: Sailor Moon , Sailor Moon R , Sailor Moon S , Sailor Moon SuperS , and Sailor Moon Sailor Stars . The seasons each roughly correspond to one of the five major story arcs of the manga, following the same general storyline and including most of the same characters. Toei also developed five special animated shorts . The anime series
18500-411: The anime, Taiki and Yaten consider them to be prone to bouts of childishness, such as when they show off their basketball skills before the school, but generally follow their lead. Seiya develops strong feelings for Usagi, calling her odango , like Mamoru does, their attempts to forge a bond with her providing the primary romantic tension of the season. The two go on a date at an amusement park , which
18685-407: The aspiring idol Minako Aino ( Sailor Venus ). Minako is joined by Artemis , her feline advisor and Luna's partner. The Sailor Soldiers are often supported by the mysterious Tuxedo Mask whose civilian form is Mamoru Chiba, a college student with whom Usagi eventually becomes romantically involved. After continually thwarting the Dark Kingdom and defeating several of its generals, Usagi awakens as
18870-485: The censorship laws, but by April 1997, Sailor Moon was airing on KBS 2 without issues and was "enormously" popular. Japanese language Japanese ( 日本語 , Nihongo , [ɲihoŋɡo] ) is the principal language of the Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people . It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan , the only country where it is the national language , and within
19055-536: The character designer. The series premiered in Japan on TV Asahi on March 7, 1992, taking over the timeslot previously held by Goldfish Warning! , and ran for 200 episodes until its conclusion on February 8, 1997. Because the manga was often published during the anime's production, the anime would only lag the manga by a month or two. As a result, "the anime follows the storyline of the manga fairly closely, although there are deviations." Takeuchi has stated that due to Toei's largely male production staff, she feels that
19240-411: The concept to include Sailor Venus as a part of a " sentai " (team of five) and created the characters of Sailors Moon, Mercury, Mars and Jupiter. The name "Sailor Senshi" is derived from sailor fuku , a type of Japanese school uniform that the main characters' fighting uniforms are based on, and the Japanese word senshi , which can mean "soldier", "warrior", "guardian", or "fighter". Takeuchi created
19425-443: The country. Sailor Moon ' s original North American release was the subject of heavy editing which resulted in large amounts of removed content and alterations that greatly changed the original work. These changes altered almost every aspect of the show including character names, clothing, scenes and dialogue. Some scenes with brief nudity and bathing were also censored, and any type of violence including violence against children
19610-547: The drums in their hideout because they believed Kakyuu had not heard them yet. According to Takeuchi, when she created them, they were meant to be a combination between Haruka and Mamoru, and were modeled after Jenny Shimizu . Her theme color is sky blue . In Japanese, they were voiced by Shiho Niiyama in the original series in one of her final roles before her death and by Marina Inoue in Sailor Moon Cosmos . In English, they are voiced by Melissa Hutchison in
19795-578: The effect of changing Japanese into a mora-timed language. Late Middle Japanese covers the years from 1185 to 1600, and is normally divided into two sections, roughly equivalent to the Kamakura period and the Muromachi period , respectively. The later forms of Late Middle Japanese are the first to be described by non-native sources, in this case the Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries; and thus there
19980-419: The entire series. The series began streaming in the United States on Neon Alley and Hulu on May 19, 2014. In Canada, it was available with Japanese audio on Tubi TV between July 15, 2016 and November 8, 2023; and with English audio on Crave between September 18, 2020 and September 17, 2023. On November 28, 2014, Australian manga and anime publisher Madman Entertainment announced that they had re-acquired
20165-542: The essence of sentient life, from inhabitants of the Milky Way. Their ultimate goal is to reorganize the universe as desired by Chaos, the overarching antagonist of the series. Luna, Artemis and Diana are cats from the planet Mau, which is named after the Chinese word "貓", meaning "cat", who act as advisors to their owners. They are capable of speech and have a crescent moon symbol on their forehead, and can also assume
20350-434: The fact that he is named after a female goddess, even when Minako teases him about it. He is more easy-going than Luna and has a "big brother" relationship with Minako, although it is implied he is attracted to her. He also cares deeply for Luna, often comforting her when she is distressed and stating his admiration of her. In addition, he is a good father to Diana, as evidenced by her affection for him. In Japanese, Artemis
20535-545: The first time into her magical sailor suit with Luna's help, she overreacts and reluctantly accepts her fate, not sure what has happened to her. At the time she does not know the enemies she will face, the friends she will make, or the experiences ahead of her. As she moves forward, she accepts her destiny, and realizes the importance of fighting evil. The Dark Kingdom — led by Queen Beryl — summons various monsters called Youma in order to sap energy from humans and feed it to an evil entity known as Queen Metaria . They also seek
20720-421: The franchise for adaptation. In 2001, the Sailor Moon manga was Tokyopop 's best selling property, outselling the next-best selling titles by at least a factor of 1.5. Sailor Moon sparked a highly successful merchandising campaign of over 5,000 items which contributed to demand internationally and translation into numerous languages. Sailor Moon has since become one of the most famous anime properties in
20905-486: The future, and four more guardians: Sailors Uranus , Neptune , Pluto and Saturn . The series' antagonists include the Dark Kingdom , the Black Moon Clan , the Death Busters , the Dead Moon Circus and Shadow Galactica . Takeuchi's initial concept for the series was Codename: Sailor V , in which Sailor V discovers her magical powers and protects the people of Earth. After the Codename: Sailor V manga
21090-609: The genitive particle ga remains in intentionally archaic speech. Early Middle Japanese is the Japanese of the Heian period , from 794 to 1185. It formed the basis for the literary standard of Classical Japanese , which remained in common use until the early 20th century. During this time, Japanese underwent numerous phonological developments, in many cases instigated by an influx of Chinese loanwords . These included phonemic length distinction for both consonants and vowels , palatal consonants (e.g. kya ) and labial consonant clusters (e.g. kwa ), and closed syllables . This had
21275-409: The help of the fallen Sailor Soldiers' spirits and the Silver Crystal's power. Usagi dies afterwards, but she is able to use the last of the Silver Crystal's power to resurrect herself, the Sailor Soldiers and Mamoru with one wish that they all get to live normal lives again. Everything on Earth is returned to normal, and no one (but Artemis and Luna) retain any memories of these events. Sometime later,
21460-654: The knowledge she has gained in the future. In Japanese, Diana is voiced by Kumiko Nishihara in the first series and by Shoko Nakagawa in Crystal . In English, she is voiced by Loretta Jafelice in the Cloverway English adaptation, by Naomi Emmerson in Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie , and by Debi Derryberry in the Viz Media English adaptation. In one of her reviews of Sailor Moon Crystal , IGN writer Meghan Sullivan admitted that
21645-458: The languages of the original Jōmon inhabitants, including the ancestor of the modern Ainu language . Because writing had yet to be introduced from China, there is no direct evidence, and anything that can be discerned about this period must be based on internal reconstruction from Old Japanese , or comparison with the Ryukyuan languages and Japanese dialects . The Chinese writing system
21830-449: The languages. Okinawan Japanese is a variant of Standard Japanese influenced by the Ryūkyūan languages, and is the primary dialect spoken among young people in the Ryukyu Islands . Modern Japanese has become prevalent nationwide (including the Ryūkyū islands) due to education , mass media , and an increase in mobility within Japan, as well as economic integration. Japanese is a member of
22015-427: The large quantity of English loanwords, modern Japanese has developed a distinction between [tɕi] and [ti] , and [dʑi] and [di] , with the latter in each pair only found in loanwords. Although Japanese is spoken almost exclusively in Japan, it has also been spoken outside of the country. Before and during World War II , through Japanese annexation of Taiwan and Korea , as well as partial occupation of China ,
22200-440: The lead vocalist for the Three Lights. In general, Seiya acts arrogant and tends to be, at least on the surface, confident in their own abilities. Seiya becomes the star player of their local high-school American football team and the school's star athlete, upsetting Haruka Tenoh , who was the previous star athlete on the track and field team. Eventually, Seiya raises the suspicions of the Sailor Guardians as to their identity. In
22385-447: The live-action series, she is a successful J-pop singer whom Usagi, Ami and Makoto are fans of and has poor health due to her anemia , causing her to choose to isolate herself from the other Guardians. Her theme color is orange . Chibiusa ( ちびうさ , Chibiusa , called "Rini" in the original English dub) is the future daughter of Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion in the 30th century. She later trains with Sailor Moon to become
22570-593: The location of the Dark Kingdom at the North Pole and travel there. However, Usagi's friends are killed trying to protect her from Queen Beryl's most powerful monsters, the DD Girls . Usagi faces the brainwashed Mamoru alone and frees him from Queen Beryl's control. However, Mamoru is killed protecting Usagi while also striking down Queen Beryl. Using the Silver Crystal, she then faces Queen Beryl (who has fused with Queen Metaria) as Princess Serenity, defeating her with
22755-533: The low sales to the United Kingdom release being of the dub only, and that major retailers refused to support the show leading to the DVD release appealing to neither children nor older anime fans. Due to anti-Japanese sentiment , most Japanese media other than anime was banned for several decades in South Korea. A producer in KBS "did not even try to buy" Sailor Moon because the producer thought it would not pass
22940-484: The main antagonists of the "Black Moon" arc of the manga and its adaptations. They are a terrorist group from the 30th century led by Prince Demand and based on the planet Nemesis, which provides them with the Malefic Black Crystal, whose goal of ending Neo-Queen Serenity's reign is being manipulated by the mysterious Wiseman. The Death Busters ( デス・バスターズ , Desu Basutāzu , called Heart Snatchers in
23125-454: The main protagonist of Codename: Sailor V . She has a companion cat called Artemis , who works alongside Luna in guiding the Sailor Guardians. Minako transforms into Sailor Venus, the Guardian of Love and Beauty, and leads Sailor Moon's four inner Guardians while acting as her bodyguard and decoy because of their similar appearances. She dreams of becoming a famous singer and idol and attends auditions whenever she can. In contrast, in
23310-643: The male pop star group The Three Lights ( スリーライツ , Surī Raitsu ) and embedded their music with a telepathic broadcast to attract her attention. They attend Jūban High School along with Usagi and her friends. Eventually, while headed to the Galaxy Cauldron, Galaxia's henchwomen Sailor Chi and Sailor Phi kill them. In the anime, the Starlights were given a major role. On Earth, they physically change into males in their civilian forms and become women again when transforming into Sailor Guardians, as opposed to their manga counterparts, who disguise themselves as men as civilians. As Starlights, they distance themselves from
23495-445: The manga. Takeuchi wanted to create a series about girls in outer space, and her editor, Fumio Osano, suggested that she add the "sailor suit" motif to their uniforms. Takeuchi settled on a more unified appearance in later stages of character design. Among the protagonist Sailor Guardians, Sailor Venus, during her time as Sailor V, has the only outfit that varies significantly from the others. Sailor Moon, regardless of form, always has
23680-412: The maturation of Usagi from an emotional middle school girl to a responsible young adult. Following the success of the anime in the United States, the manga comprising its story was released there by Tokyopop . Sailor Moon' s popularity has spawned numerous additional media based on its universe, including films, video games , and soundtracks. A second animated adaptation, Sailor Moon Crystal , which
23865-420: The moon princess — Princess Serenity — and acquires the Silver Crystal. However, Mamoru is captured by the Dark Kingdom and brainwashed into working for them. The Sailor Soldiers learn of their past lives on Silver Millennium, an ancient kingdom on the moon. There, they served as Serenity's friends and bodyguards, and Serenity was in love with a prince from Earth named Endymion (Mamoru's past identity). However,
24050-425: The only strict rule of word order is that the verb must be placed at the end of a sentence (possibly followed by sentence-end particles). This is because Japanese sentence elements are marked with particles that identify their grammatical functions. The basic sentence structure is topic–comment . For example, Kochira wa Tanaka-san desu ( こちらは田中さんです ). kochira ("this") is the topic of the sentence, indicated by
24235-434: The original English dub of the first anime adaptation ) is the main protagonist of the series. She is a fourteen-year-old girl who is sometimes careless but has a great capacity for love, compassion and understanding. Usagi transforms into the heroine Sailor Moon, the Guardian of Love and Justice. At the beginning of the series, she is a self-described immature crybaby who resents fighting evil and wants nothing more than to be
24420-470: The original English dub) are humanoid aliens who pose, respectively, as Seijūrō Ginga ( 銀河 星十郎 , Ginga Seijūrō , called Alan Granger in the original English dub) and Natsumi Ginga ( 銀河 夏美 , Ginga Natsumi , called Ann Granger in the original English dub) , siblings who transfer to Usagi's school and live in the Jūban Odyssey apartments. While trying to blend in, Ail acts as An's brother and develops
24605-411: The original English dub) are the first set of antagonists the Sailor Guardians encounter, who appear in the first arc of the manga and its adaptions. Established by Queen Beryl, its members mostly consist of brainwashed reincarnations of residents from the Golden Kingdom of Earth who aim to gather human energy and find the Silver Crystal to reawaken Queen Metaria, who was responsible for the destruction of
24790-497: The original English dub) are the main antagonists of the "Dream" arc of the manga and its adaptations. Led by Zirconia, they seek the Golden Crystal to release their ruler Queen Nehelenia from her mirror prison and take over Earth. Shadow Galactica ( シャドウ・ギャラクティカ , Shadō Gyarakutika ) are the main antagonists of the final arc of the manga and its adaptations. They are an organization of corrupted Sailor Guardians led by Sailor Galaxia, who devote themselves to stealing Star Seeds,
24975-408: The original English dub) are the main antagonists of the "Infinity" arc of the manga and its adaptions. Initially led by Kaolinite and Professor Souichi Tomoe before the resurrection of their true leader Mistress 9, they are human-alien hybrids seeking to bring the alien creature Pharaoh 90 to terraform Earth. The Dead Moon Circus ( デッド・ムーン・サーカス , Deddo Mūn Sākasu , called Dark Moon Circus in
25160-422: The original English dub) is a mysterious woman who initially appears as Sailor Pluto, the Guardian of Spacetime and Change . She has the duty of guarding the Space-Time Door against unauthorized travelers, but later appears on Earth living as a college student. She has a distant personality and can be very stern, but can also be friendly and helps the Sailor Guardians when she can. After her long vigil guarding
25345-468: The other Sailor Guardians, deeming that Earth is not their responsibility. They survive several direct battles with Galaxia herself, and help Sailor Moon defeat Chaos to save Galaxia. Takeuchi expressed surprise at Toei Animation 's decision to make the Starlights lead characters in the anime adaptation, but was even more shocked by their treatment of their sex. In the Italian dub, instead of changing sex,
25530-477: The other Sailor Guardians. She transforms into Sailor Uranus, the Guardian of Sky and Flight. Before becoming a Sailor Guardian, she aspired to become a race car driver, and has excellent driving skills. She tends to dress and, in the anime, speak like a man , with other characters often mistaking her for a man. When fighting the enemy, she distrusts outside help and prefers to work solely with her girlfriend, Sailor Neptune, and later Pluto and Saturn. Her talisman,
25715-472: The others are able to handle it on their own without their intervention. Unlike the manga, the Outer Sailor Soldiers, including Pluto and Saturn, are not otherwise mentioned or involved in the anime's adaptation of the story arc until the following season. The Dead Moon Circus arc concludes when Queen Nehelenia returns after Sailor Galaxia frees her and encourages her to seek revenge against
25900-470: The out-group gives a benefit to the in-group, and "up" to indicate the in-group gives a benefit to the out-group. Here, the in-group includes the speaker and the out-group does not, and their boundary depends on context. For example, oshiete moratta ( 教えてもらった ) (literally, "explaining got" with a benefit from the out-group to the in-group) means "[he/she/they] explained [it] to [me/us]". Similarly, oshiete ageta ( 教えてあげた ) (literally, "explaining gave" with
26085-415: The particle wa . The verb desu is a copula , commonly translated as "to be" or "it is" (though there are other verbs that can be translated as "to be"), though technically it holds no meaning and is used to give a sentence 'politeness'. As a phrase, Tanaka-san desu is the comment. This sentence literally translates to "As for this person, (it) is Mx Tanaka." Thus Japanese, like many other Asian languages,
26270-547: The planets of the Solar System, with the exception of Earth but including its moon. While many characters are humans who possess superhuman strength and magical abilities, the cast also includes anthropomorphic animals and extraterrestrial lifeforms. The series follows the adventures of the titular protagonist, Sailor Moon , her lover Tuxedo Mask , her cat advisor Luna , and her guardians and friends: Sailors Mercury , Mars , Jupiter and Venus . They are later joined by Chibiusa , Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask's daughter from
26455-436: The popularity of Sailor Moon music in other nations. The first opening theme, Moonlight Densetsu ( ムーンライト伝説 , Mūnraito Densetsu , Lit. Moonlight Legend) , was used for the first 166 episodes, being performed by DALI for the first two seasons and then by Moon Lips for the next two seasons. The second opening theme, for the remaining episodes, is "Sailor Star Song" performed by Kae Hanazawa. The last ending theme, used for
26640-552: The process. Sailor Moon uses her power to purify the Tree and resurrect An, who, along with Ail and a reborn tree in the form of a small sapling, leave Earth for a better life. In Japanese, the Hell Tree is voiced by Taeko Nakanishi . In the English dub, it is voiced by Elizabeth Hanna in the DIC English adaptation and by Erin Fitzgerald in the Viz Media English adaptation. The Cardians ( カーディアン , Kādian ) are monsters of
26825-481: The proposed larger Altaic family, or to various Southeast Asian languages , especially Austronesian . None of these proposals have gained wide acceptance (and the Altaic family itself is now considered controversial). As it stands, only the link to Ryukyuan has wide support. Other theories view the Japanese language as an early creole language formed through inputs from at least two distinct language groups, or as
27010-628: The rights to the "Sailor Moon" anime series for Australia & New Zealand and will release the series in uncut format with the Viz Media English adaptation in 2015. Madman had previously held the Australian license for Sailor Moon on VHS & DVD. On May 31, 2024, the Viz dub began airing on Cartoon Network as part of the newly launched Toonami Rewind programming block, marking the first broadcast of Sailor Moon on American television after 23 years of absence, also showing episodes previously unaired in
27195-549: The romance between Usagi and Mamoru. Usagi and Mamoru's romance has been seen as an archetype where the lovers "become more than the sum of their parts", promising to be together forever. In contrast, others see Sailor Moon as campy and melodramatic . Criticism has singled out its use of formulaic plots, monsters of the day and stock footage . Screen Rant called the anime "partly revolutionary for how it depicted its heroines" as it featured women who were "distinct because of their personalities," while AfterEllen said that
27380-459: The same structure as affirmative sentences, but with intonation rising at the end. In the formal register, the question particle -ka is added. For example, ii desu ( いいです ) "It is OK" becomes ii desu-ka ( いいですか。 ) "Is it OK?". In a more informal tone sometimes the particle -no ( の ) is added instead to show a personal interest of the speaker: Dōshite konai-no? "Why aren't (you) coming?". Some simple queries are formed simply by mentioning
27565-431: The scene in which Diana tells Sailor Pluto to go and help Chibiusa and the Sailor Guardians while she guards the Door of Time and Space made her tear up, stating: "Here was this tiny cat—who by her own admission has no powers and is too small to fight, offering to help however she could. It's moments like these that remind me why I love Sailor Moon so much." The Sailor Starlights ( セーラースターライツ , Sērā Sutāraitsu ) are
27750-462: The second closing song for SuperS , placed eighteenth in 1996. In 1997, "Sailor Star Song", the new opening theme for Sailor Stars , came eleventh, and "Moonlight Densetsu" came sixteenth. In Japan, Sailor Moon received VHS releases during its run. The first VHS was released on July 25, 1993. Sailor Moon did not receive a DVD release until 2002. Mass-produced individual six-episode DVDs were released beginning on May 21, 2002. On January 25, 2017,
27935-484: The series completion, the series featured among the top thirty of TV Asahi 's Top 100 anime polls in 2005 and 2006. The anime series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1993. Sales of Sailor Moon fashion dolls overtook those of Licca-chan in the 1990s; Mattel attributed this to the "fashion-action" blend of the Sailor Moon storyline. Doll accessories included both fashion items and
28120-461: The series finale at episode 200, is Moon Lips's version of "Moonlight Densetsu". The DiC/Cloverway/Optimum English adaptation of the anime series used the melody of "Moonlight Densetsu" with very different English lyrics. At the time, it was unusual for anime theme songs to be translated, and this was one of the first such themes to be redone in English since Star Blazers . The English theme has been described as "inane but catchy". The Japanese theme
28305-497: The series. At the suggestion of her editor, Fumio Osano, Takeuchi decided that the second season would focus on introducing Sailor Moon's daughter from the future. To give Takeuchi time to write the Black Moon story arc, the anime team developed a filler arc known as Makai (Lit. Hell ) Tree arc. Sailor Moon is adapted from the 52 chapters of the series which was published in Nakayoshi from 1991 to 1997. The first season
28490-478: The show has not been aired before. On May 16, 2014, North American manga and anime distributor Viz Media announced that it had acquired the Sailor Moon anime series, as well as the three films and specials for an English-language release in North America, allowing Viz to restore the removed content from the first 89 episodes. The Studio City, Los Angeles -based Studiopolis was also hired by Viz to re-dub
28675-817: The state as at the time the constitution was written, many of the elders participating in the process had been educated in Japanese during the South Seas Mandate over the island shown by the 1958 census of the Trust Territory of the Pacific that found that 89% of Palauans born between 1914 and 1933 could speak and read Japanese, but as of the 2005 Palau census there were no residents of Angaur that spoke Japanese at home. Japanese dialects typically differ in terms of pitch accent , inflectional morphology , vocabulary , and particle usage. Some even differ in vowel and consonant inventories, although this
28860-493: The story continues and for an ability to appeal to a wide audience. Writer Nicolas Penedo attributes the success of Sailor Moon to its fusion of the shōjo manga genre of magical girls with the Saint Seiya fighting teams. According to Martha Cornog and Timothy Perper, Sailor Moon became popular because of its "strongly-plotted action with fight scenes, rescues" and its "emphasis on feelings and relationships", including
29045-566: The streaming sites, Hulu and Neon Alley , beginning September 5, 2014. The first part of season one was released on DVD and Limited Edition Blu-ray on November 11, 2014, and the second part was released on February 10, 2015. The last part of the anime series was released on November 12, 2019. During the series' broadcast run, three theatrical animated Sailor Moon films were produced: Sailor Moon R: The Movie (1993), Sailor Moon S: The Movie (1994), and Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie (1995). The films were released in December to line up with
29230-481: The street. (grammatically incorrect insertion of a pronoun) But one can grammatically say essentially the same thing in Japanese: 驚いた彼は道を走っていった。 Transliteration: Odoroita kare wa michi o hashitte itta. (grammatically correct) This is partly because these words evolved from regular nouns, such as kimi "you" ( 君 "lord"), anata "you" ( あなた "that side, yonder"), and boku "I" ( 僕 "servant"). This
29415-516: The team has six members, as the Three Lights summon their twin sisters instead of transforming, as the original depiction was very controversial in Italy . The Starlights are featured in several of the Sailor Moon musicals ( Sailor Stars , Eien Densetsu , and their revised editions, as well as Ryuusei Densetsu , Kakyuu-Ouhi Kourin and Le Mouvement Final). Despite being portrayed by women, it
29600-438: The term by fusing English and Japanese words. DIC Entertainment / Cloverway 's English adaptation of the anime changed it to "Sailor Scout" for most of its run. According to Takeuchi, only females can be Sailor Guardians. In the anime's fifth season , the Sailor Starlights are depicted as men transforming into women when changing from their normal forms into Sailor Guardians, rather than women disguising as men as they appear in
29785-611: The topic with an interrogative intonation to call for the hearer's attention: Kore wa? "(What about) this?"; O-namae wa? ( お名前は？ ) "(What's your) name?". Negatives are formed by inflecting the verb. For example, Pan o taberu ( パンを食べる。 ) "I will eat bread" or "I eat bread" becomes Pan o tabenai ( パンを食べない。 ) "I will not eat bread" or "I do not eat bread". Plain negative forms are i -adjectives (see below) and inflect as such, e.g. Pan o tabenakatta ( パンを食べなかった。 ) "I did not eat bread". List of Sailor Moon characters#Queen Serenity The Sailor Moon manga series features
29970-419: The two consonants are the moraic nasal followed by a homorganic consonant. Japanese also includes a pitch accent , which is not represented in moraic writing; for example [haꜜ.ɕi] ("chopsticks") and [ha.ɕiꜜ] ("bridge") are both spelled はし ( hashi ) , and are only differentiated by the tone contour. Japanese word order is classified as subject–object–verb . Unlike many Indo-European languages ,
30155-577: The two methods were both used in writing until the 1940s. Bungo still has some relevance for historians, literary scholars, and lawyers (many Japanese laws that survived World War II are still written in bungo , although there are ongoing efforts to modernize their language). Kōgo is the dominant method of both speaking and writing Japanese today, although bungo grammar and vocabulary are occasionally used in modern Japanese for effect. The 1982 state constitution of Angaur , Palau , names Japanese along with Palauan and English as an official language of
30340-480: The two terms (''hyōjungo'' and ''kyōtsūgo'') are almost the same. Hyōjungo or kyōtsūgo is a conception that forms the counterpart of dialect. This normative language was born after the Meiji Restoration ( 明治維新 , meiji ishin , 1868) from the language spoken in the higher-class areas of Tokyo (see Yamanote ). Hyōjungo is taught in schools and used on television and in official communications. It
30525-407: The verb (e.g. yonde for earlier yomite ), the -k- in the final mora of adjectives drops out ( shiroi for earlier shiroki ); and some forms exist where modern standard Japanese has retained the earlier form (e.g. hayaku > hayau > hayɔɔ , where modern Japanese just has hayaku , though the alternative form is preserved in the standard greeting o-hayō gozaimasu "good morning"; this ending
30710-406: The week Ail and An use to obtain energy to revive the Hell Tree. They are kept in cards until Ail summons them by playing a tune on his flute, causing it to come alive. When a Cardian is destroyed, it changes back into its card form and the picture of it on the card fades to black. The Black Moon Clan ( ブラック・ムーン一族 , Burakku Mūn Ichizoku , called Negamoon Family in the original English dub) are
30895-475: The winter vacations of Japanese schools. The films were typically double features paired up with other anime films, and were thus usually an hour or less in length. Each film features an original story that takes place during the season it is based on. Originally planned to run for only six months, the Sailor Moon anime continued due to its popularity, concluding after a five-year run. In Japan, it aired every Saturday night in prime time at 7 p.m. and its run there
31080-573: The world. Due to its resurgence of popularity in Japan, the series was rebroadcast on September 1, 2009. The series also began rebroadcasting in Italy in Autumn 2011, receiving permission from Naoko Takeuchi , who released new artwork to promote its return. Critics have commended the anime series for its portrayal of strong female friendships as well as for its large cast of "strikingly different" characters who have different dimensions and aspects to them as
31265-548: The world. Since Japanese first gained the consideration of linguists in the late 19th century, attempts have been made to show its genealogical relation to languages or language families such as Ainu , Korean , Chinese , Tibeto-Burman , Uralic , Altaic (or Ural-Altaic ), Austroasiatic , Austronesian and Dravidian . At the fringe, some linguists have even suggested a link to Indo-European languages , including Greek , or to Sumerian . Main modern theories try to link Japanese either to northern Asian languages, like Korean or
31450-495: Was dubbed for release in various regions around the world, including North America, Southeast Asia, Greater China, Australia, Europe, and Latin America. The series follows the adventures of the titular protagonist whose name is Usagi Tsukino, a middle school student who is given the power to become a Pretty Soldier. Joined by other Sailor Soldiers, she defends Earth against an assortment of evil villains. The anime also parallels
31635-657: Was also prominent in Codename: Sailor V . In Act 55 of the manga, Sailor Tin Nyanko , a false Guardian from Mau, attacks them. Artemis calls it a peace-loving world, but Tin Nyanko informs him that Sailor Galaxia wiped out its people after he and Luna left. She blasts them on their crescent moon symbols and they turn into ordinary cats, unable to speak. Later, as they care for the cats, Princess Kakyuu informs Usagi that they have powerful Star Seeds which are as brilliant as Sailor Crystals. In Act 56, they are brought to
31820-405: Was also removed. The series also faced censorship in various countries that ranged from changing a character's gender to removing gender fluidness in characters, or editing romantic pairings into close relationships between family members. Sociology professor Rhea Hoskin specifies that the removal of homosexual and gender-fluid characters in the 1990s Sailor Moon highlights the exclusivity of what
32005-539: Was based on 12- to 20-second-long recordings of 135 to 244 phonemes , which 42 students listened to and translated word-for-word. The listeners were all Keio University students who grew up in the Kanto region . There are some language islands in mountain villages or isolated islands such as Hachijō-jima island , whose dialects are descended from Eastern Old Japanese . Dialects of the Kansai region are spoken or known by many Japanese, and Osaka dialect in particular
32190-604: Was broadcast in Canada from September 20 to November 21, 1997, to wrap up lingering plot lines. On June 1, 1998, reruns of the series began airing on Cartoon Network 's weekday afternoon programming block, Toonami . Due to the ratings success of these reruns, the remaining seventeen episodes (promoted as "The Lost Episodes") also began airing on November 30. In 1999, Cloverway Inc. once again contracted Optimum Productions to produce English-language adaptations of Sailor Moon S and SuperS with Pioneer Entertainment handling home video distribution. This dub featured less censorship and
32375-497: Was created. It caught the attention of General Mills , who, in 1997, agreed to sponsor and syndicate the Sailor Moon dub through The Program Exchange . This was later considered an early example of successful fan activism. On June 9, 1997, re-runs of this canceled dub began airing on USA Network . That same year, production on the series' English dub was resumed with the last 17 episodes of the second season, Sailor Moon R , and
32560-421: Was directed by Junichi Satō with Kazuko Tadano as a character designer. For the second season, Sato directed the Makai Tree arc while Kunihiko Ikuhara directed the Black Moon arc. The third and fourth seasons were directed by Ikuhara, with Ikuko Itoh taking the role of character designer starting from the third season. The fifth and final season was directed by Takuya Igarashi , with Katsumi Tamegai as
32745-461: Was first broadcast on YTV in Canada and later on Toonami in the United States. The dub finished airing on Toonami on September 13, 2002.. Due to the series' resurgence of popularity in Japan, re-runs of the Sailor Moon series began on September 1, 2009, on Animax . In 2010, Toei negotiated to license and broadcast Sailor Moon in Italy on Mediaset , resulting in an international revival. Later, Toei licensed Sailor Moon episodes to countries which
32930-609: Was hired to dub the anime. Bob Summers wrote a new background score. DIC had mandated cuts to content and length, which reduced the first 89 episodes by seven. Their adaptation was created to capitalize on the success of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers . The series premiered in Canada on August 28, 1995, on YTV and in first-run syndication in the U.S. on September 11, but halted production in November 1995 after two seasons due to low ratings. Despite moderate success in Canada,
33115-680: Was imported to Japan from Baekje around the start of the fifth century, alongside Buddhism. The earliest texts were written in Classical Chinese , although some of these were likely intended to be read as Japanese using the kanbun method, and show influences of Japanese grammar such as Japanese word order. The earliest text, the Kojiki , dates to the early eighth century, and was written entirely in Chinese characters, which are used to represent, at different times, Chinese, kanbun , and Old Japanese. As in other texts from this period,
33300-474: Was lost immediately following its composition.) This set of morae shrank to 67 in Early Middle Japanese , though some were added through Chinese influence. Man'yōgana also has a symbol for /je/ , which merges with /e/ before the end of the period. Several fossilizations of Old Japanese grammatical elements remain in the modern language – the genitive particle tsu (superseded by modern no )
33485-413: Was once a queen of her own kingdom who was absorbed by vanity. In fear of losing her beauty, she consumed the dreams of her subjects to stay young. She sought the Golden Crystal in the possession of a priest named Helios (Pegasus's true form) and was sealed within a mirror by Queen Serenity as a result. Queen Nehelenia formed the Dead Moon Circus with the purpose of tracking Pegasus down. Although she obtains
33670-561: Was otherwise representation of LGBTQ in a female-lead superhero show. Modern releases restore the censored material cut from the original Japanese version. Takanori Arisawa composed the score for Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon . Arisawa earned the Golden Disk Grand Prize from Columbia Records for his work on the first series soundtrack in 1993. In 1998, 2000, and 2001 Arisawa won three consecutive JASRAC International Awards for most international royalties, owing largely to
33855-456: Was proposed for an anime adaptation, Takeuchi changed her concept to include ten superheroines who defend the galaxy. The manga's anime , live-action , musical and video game adaptations feature original characters the production staff created rather than Takeuchi. Naoko Takeuchi initially wrote Codename: Sailor V , a one-shot manga that focused on Sailor Venus . When Toei Animation proposed it for an anime adaptation, Takeuchi changed
34040-500: Was sold as 20 volumes in Japan. By the end of 1995, each volume had sold approximately 300,000 copies. In 1995, after a bidding war with Toon Makers & Renaissance-Atlantic Entertainment, who wanted to produce an American live-action/animated hybrid adaptation , DIC Productions, L.P. (now Wildbrain ), SeaGull Entertainment and Sachs Finley Media, licensed the first two seasons of Sailor Moon for an English-language release in North America. The Mississauga -based Optimum Productions
34225-418: Was very popular, with an average viewer rating of 11–12% for most of the series run. Commentators detect in the anime adaptation of Sailor Moon "a more shonen tone", appealing to a wider audience than the manga, which aimed squarely at teenage girls. The media franchise became one of the most successful Japan has ever had, reaching $ 1.5 billion in merchandise sales during the first three years. Ten years after
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