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.

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 is a reboot series that more closely follows the manga, began streaming worldwide in July 2014.

When Usagi transforms for 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.

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.

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.

Eventually, the Sailor Soldiers and Tuxedo Mask travel with Chibiusa to the future where Usagi rules Crystal Tokyo as Neo-Queen Serenity.

Eventually, the Sailor Soldiers battle against Wiseman, a dark force that was manipulating the Black Moon Clan with the goal of destroying Earth.

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.

Following this, Chibiusa receives 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.

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.

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 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.

Usagi eventually comes to pity Queen Nehelenia's plight and is able to purify her by activating her final form, Eternal Sailor Moon.

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 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.

[10] The series premiered in Japan on TV Asahi on March 7, 1992, taking over the timeslot previously held by Goldfish Warning!,[citation needed] and ran for 200 episodes until its conclusion on February 8, 1997.

[16][17] 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.

That same year, production on the series' English dub was resumed with the last 17 episodes of the second season, Sailor Moon R, and was broadcast in Canada from September 20 to November 21, 1997, to wrap up lingering plot lines.

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.

[33] On May 31, 2024, the Viz dub began airing on Adult Swim 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 the country.

[37][38][39][21] Sociology professor Rhea Hoskin specifies that the removal of homosexual and gender-fluid characters in the 1990s Sailor Moon highlights the exclusivity of what was otherwise representation of LGBTQ in a female-lead superhero show.

[57] On January 25, 2017, 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.

[66][68] 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.

[62] Other countries followed suit, including South Korea, 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 the franchise for adaptation.

[75] Sailor Moon sparked a highly successful merchandising campaign of over 5,000 items[66] which contributed to demand internationally and translation into numerous languages.

[25] Critics have commended the anime series for its portrayal of strong female friendships[76] as well as for its large cast of "strikingly different" characters who have different dimensions and aspects to them as the story continues[77] and for an ability to appeal to a wide audience.

[78] 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.

[69] 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 the romance between Usagi and Mamoru.

[16] 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.