Sailor Moon

Sailor Moon is an anime series, based on the manga by  Naoko Takeuchi, the series was created by Toei Animation and began airing in Japan on March 7, 1992 and ended on February 8, 1997. The series spans 200 episodes, and is one of the longest-running magical girl anime series. The series follows the magical action-adventures of a teenage girl who learns of her destiny as the legendary warrior Sailor Moon and must band together with the other Sailor Scouts to defend the Earth and Galaxy.

Sailor Moon first appeared on Cartoon Network's Toonami block on June 1, 1998 and was steadily in the lineup until 2001. Sailor Moon also appeared on The Rising Sun and The Midnight Run. Season five was never aired due to never being licensed in the United States. All three Sailor Moon movies were also shown on Toonami (Sailor Moon R: The Movie, Sailor Moon S: The Movie, and Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie).

Plot
The story centers around an air-headed crybaby, named Serena, and her friends Amy, Raye, Lita, and Mina. Using special powers, they can transform into Sailor Scouts. They become Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Venus. They fight for love and justice against the evil minions of The Dark Kingdom. To help them in their quest, they heed the advice of two talking cats, Luna and Artemis, and also the mysterious Tuxedo Mask.

Sailor Scouts
The main characters, the Sailor Soldiers, frequently called "Sailor Scouts" or "Guardians" in many Western versions, are teenage girls who can transform into heroines named for the Moon and planets. The use of "Sailor" comes from a style of girls' school uniform popular in Japan, on which Takeuchi modeled the Sailor Scout's uniforms. The fantasy elements in the series are heavily symbolic and often based on mythology.

Sailor Moon (Serena) — is the main character of the series, she is a careless young girl with an enormous capacity for love, compassion, and understanding. She has a companion cat named Luna who guides the Sailor Scouts through their adventures. Serena transforms into the heroine called Sailor Moon, Soldier of love and justice. At the beginning of the series, she is fourteen years old and portrayed as an immature crybaby who hates having to fight evil and wants nothing more than to be a normal girl. As she progresses, however, she embraces the chance to use her power to protect those she cares about.

Sailor Mercury (Amy) — is a quiet fourteen-year-old bookworm in Serena's class. Highly intelligent with a rumored IQ of 300, she can transform into Sailor Mercury, Soldier of water and wisdom. Amy's shy exterior masks a passion for knowledge and for taking care of the people around her, as shown by her desire to one day become a doctor just like her mother. Amy can also be considered the "tech girl" and the "brain" of the group by using her mini data computer, which is capable of scanning and detecting virtually anything she needs.

Sailor Mars (Raye) — is an elegant, fourteen-year-old shrine maiden. Because of her work as a priestess, Rei has limited precognition and can dispel/nullify evil using special Shinto scrolls, even in her civilian form. She transforms into Sailor Mars, Soldier of fire and passion. She is very serious and focused. Rei is portrayed as boy-crazy in the early anime, and short-tempered throughout, but is uninterested in romance and is self-controlled throughout the series. She attends a private, Catholic school separate from the other girls.

Sailor Jupiter (Lita) — is a fourteen-year-old tomboy in Serena's class. Unusually tall and strong for a Japanese schoolgirl, she transforms into Sailor Jupiter, Soldier of lightning and strength. She is also considered the Soldier of Nature. Both Lita's parents died in a plane crash years ago, so she lives alone and takes care of herself. She wants to marry young and to own a flower-and-cake shop.

Sailor Venus (Mina) — is a fourteen-year-old perky dreamer who acted on her own as Sailor V for sometime. she has a companion cat named Artemis who works alongside Luna in guiding the Sailor Scouts. Mina transforms into Sailor Venus, Soldier of love and beauty, and leads Sailor Moon's four inner guardians, while acting as Sailor Moon's closest bodyguard-decoy because of their near-identical looks.

Tuxedo Mask (Darien) — is a student somewhat older than Serena. As a young child he experienced a terrible car-accident that robbed him of his parents and of his knowledge of his own identity. During the series it is revealed he has a special psychic rapport with Serena and can sense when she is in danger, which inspires him to take on the guise of Tuxedo Mask and fight alongside the Sailor Scouts when needed. After an initially confrontational relationship, he and Serena remember their past lives together and fall in love again. Eventually, after some years the two become the king and queen of the earth and get married and have a daughter named Rini.

Sailor Mini Moon (Rini) — is the future daughter of Serena and Darien. She later trains with Sailor Moon to become a sailor scout in her own right. She learns to transform into Sailor Mini Moon. At times she has an adversarial relationship with her mother in the 20th century, as she is more mature than Serena. But as the series progresses they develop a deep bond. Rini wants to grow up to become a lady like her mother.

Sailor Pluto (Trista) — is a mysterious woman who appears first as Sailor Pluto, the Soldier of time and space, who has the duty of guarding the time corridor from unauthorized travelers. Only later does she appear on Earth, living as a college student. She has a distant personality and can be very stern, but can also be quite friendly and helps the Sailor Scouts when she can. After so long at the Gate of Time she carries a deep sense of loneliness, although she is close friends with Rini. Sailor Pluto's talisman is her Garnet Rod, which aids her with her power to freeze time and attacks.

Sailor Uranus (Amara) — is a good-natured, masculine-acting girl. A year older than most of the other Sailor Scouts, she can transform into Sailor Uranus, Soldier of the sky and fury. Before becoming a Sailor Scout, she dreamt of being a racer, and she has excellent driving skills. She tends to dress and, in the anime, speak like a man. When it comes to fighting the enemy she distrusts outside help and prefers to work solely with Sailor Neptune and, later, Pluto and Saturn. Sailor Uranus's talisman is known as the Space Sword, which aids her with her fighting and attacks.

Sailor Neptune (Michelle) — is an elegant and talented violinist and painter with family money. Michelle, like her partner Amara, is one year older than the rest of the Sailor Scouts. She transforms into Sailor Neptune, Soldier of the ocean and intuition. She worked alone for some time before finding her partner, Sailor Uranus. She is fully devoted to her duty and willing to make any sacrifice for it. Sailor Neptune's talisman is her Deep Aqua Mirror, which aids her with her intuition and revealing cloaked evil.

Sailor Saturn (Hotaru) — is a sweet, lonely young girl. Daughter of a mad scientist, a terrible laboratory accident in her youth significantly compromised her health in the anime. After overcoming the darkness that has surrounded her family, Hotaru is able to become the Soldier of death and rebirth, Sailor Saturn. She is often pensive, and as a human has the inexplicable power to heal others. Sailor Saturn's weapon is her Silence Glaive, which aids her with her power to generate barriers. It also gives her the power to destroy a planet, but if she uses that power, she dies herself.

Episodes
Sailor Moon is a Japanese anime series that spans 200 episodes, and is one of the longest-running magical girl anime series of all time. The series consists of five separate story arcs. The titles of the series are Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon R, Sailor Moon S, Sailor Moon SuperS and Sailor Moon Sailor Stars. Each series roughly corresponds to one of the five major story arcs of the manga, following the same general storyline and including most of the same characters. There were also five special animated shorts, as well as three theatrically released films: Sailor Moon R: The Movie, Sailor Moon S: The Movie, and Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie.

The first English dubbed version of the series was produced by DIC Entertainment, DiC — then owned by The Walt Disney Company — and Optimum Productions, DIC acquired the rights to the first two seasons of Sailor Moon, from which they cut a total of six episodes (five from the first season and one from the second season) and merged the final two episodes of the first season into one. Editors cut each of the remaining episodes by several minutes to make room for more commercials, to censor plot points or visuals deemed inappropriate for children, and to allow the insertion of "educational" segments called "Sailor Says" at the end of each episode. The second season, named Sailor Moon R in Japan, was dubbed solely as Sailor Moon with the "R" removed from the logo.

The English adaptations of Sailor Moon S and Sailor Moon Super S, produced by Optimum Productions and Cloverway, stayed relatively close to the original Japanese versions, without skipping or merging any episodes. Some controversial changes were made, however, such as the depiction of Sailors Uranus and Neptune as cousins rather than lesbian lovers. Toei never licensed the fifth and final series, Sailor Stars, for adaptation into English. In 2004, the rest of the media franchise officially went off the air in all English-speaking countries due to lapsed and unrenewed licenses.

Viz Media announced in May 2014 that it licensed Sailor Moon, including the first North American release of the final television series, Sailor Stars. The release will be unedited in its original uncropped 4:3 aspect ratio, with the original Japanese names, story elements, and relationships. Viz is also producing an uncut English dub with a new voice cast. Viz began releasing the franchise digitally with English subtitles starting in the summer of 2014, followed by the English dub starting on November 11, 2014. Viz is releasing the series on DVD and Blu-ray in half-season sets.

Broadcast History

 * Japan (TV Asahi) – March 7, 1992 - February 8, 1997
 * Canada (YTV) – August 28, 1995 - 2001
 * United States (First-run Syndication) – September 11, 1995 - November 28, 1995
 * United States (USA Network) – June 9, 1997 - December 1997
 * United States (Cartoon Network) – June 1, 1998 - May 3, 2001  ; June 3, 2002 - July 5, 2002
 * United States (Kids' WB!) – September 3-14, 2001
 * United Kingdom (Fox Kids UK) – 1999 - 2002

Toonami Broadcast History
Sailor Moon premiered on Cartoon Network's Toonami block on June 1, 1998 and was steadily in the lineup until 2001. Sailor Moon also appeared on the Rising Sun from July 8, 2000 to September 16, 2000 and the Midnight Run from July 10, 1999 to March 4, 2000. The first previously syndicated and heavily edited 65 episodes aired in 1998, the 17 "Lost" episodes aired in 1999 and new less edited episodes from the third and fourth season aired throughout 2000. All three Sailor Moon movies also aired on Toonami. The television rights expired in 2003 and the series hasn't appeared on American television since.