The long lost Sailor Archery attack
Remember that time when Sailor Moon pulled back on the string of her crescent-moon-shaped bow, let loose, and tore the attacking youma asunder? No? That’s strange, because I’ve got this picture right here in front of me.
Oh, that’s right! The attack never actually existed. But it was briefly considered, and a single animation cel was even made of the attack.
Today, we’re talking about attacks suggested by fans to the anime staff!
The many masks of Tuxedo Mask
Ah, Mamoru – the “cool” guy that young boys wanted to be and young girls wanted to be with. Putting aside his absolutely atrocious fashion sense for a moment, it’s hard to deny that the image of Tuxedo Mask is nearly just as recognizable as that of Sailor Moon herself.
Today we’re going to take a quick look at some of the characters Ms. Takeuchi looked to for inspiration when she created Tuxedo Mask, and her reasons behind making him wear a tuxedo in the first place.
Usagi has to keep these scripts secret!
I was surprised to find out recently that way back when the Sailor Moon anime first aired, Animage1 – one of Japan’s premier anime magazines – held a contest in conjunction with the anime production staff to for fans to send in ideas for what they’d like to see in the series. This was known as the “Sailor Awards” (セーラー大賞; seeraa taishou).
The suggestions were reviewed and comments on several of the better choices were provided by either Junichi Sato (series director)2 or Iriya Azuma (producer).3 The best ideas were even ultimately used in the series!
Today we’re going to look at some of the plot suggestions that these early-adopting Sailor Moon fans sent in.
The original Sailor Moon voice cast and characters
Of the many (many!) things that we can praise the Sailor Moon anime production for, I’d definitely rank the excellent and highly talented voice cast right up near the top. Without their wonderful voice work to strike a chord with the viewers, I’m not sure the anime would have been as much of a success as it was.
But things very well could have turned out differently. As it turns out, Aya Hisakawa – voice of our beloved Ami Mizuno – actually went in to try out for someone else at first.
Let’s take a trip down memory lane!
Sailor-suited soldiers of [noun] and justice!
Admit it, with just these six words, you probably finished the rest of the sentence in your head. Sailor Moon’s self-referential catchphrase is so famous that even the casual fan of the series would probably be able to finish it.
While the catchphrases of the other Sailor Soldiers may be less well known — though I’m sure their fans would be willing to disagree! — the stories behind them are no less interesting.
Today we’re going to talk about who came up with Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars’s catchphrases and what they almost were instead!
What happens if Mamoru eats too many burgers? He has a Moon Spiral Heart Attack.
If you try to sit down with a friend – or worse, older family member – who knows absolutely nothing about anime, in my experience at least, one of the first questions you’ll get asked is “Why doesn’t the enemy just attack them while they’re doing the stupid poses?”
To be fair, it’s actually a pretty legitimate question for ask, especially for the uninitiated who are used to western superheroes who just throw out attacks and utilize their special powers without calling attention to it.
So today we’re going to take a look at why the Sailor Soldiers call out their attacks, and whether or not there’s any meaning behind the poses they do!
TV Asahi Spring Anime Festival
As I’m sure we’ve discussed countless times, Sailor Moon was a media juggernaut throughout the 1990s, as evidenced by it being able to hold onto the leading hour of Japan’s much beloved “Golden Time” – 7 to 10pm at night – for its entire run.
When you’re that famous and and on the top of Japan’s animation game, is it any wonder that there would be crossovers between it and other anime? Today, we’ll talk about one such anime that shares a surprising connection with the story of our favorite sailor-suited soldiers of justice.