Japanese Manga never fails to surprise you with its new series. Sailor Moon is another wonderful addition to the amazing world of Manga, which soon branched out into anime TV series, feature films, a television special, and three short films. The popularity of the series doesn’t seem to fade away with time.
Combining the power of animation and a compelling storyline, Sailor Moon takes you on a journey to the world unknown. The thrilling storyline and the transformation of the character from this nondescript school girl to a war goddess/ moon princess is the heart of the Sailor Moon.
Sailor Moon – The Original Story
Sailor Moon is initially set on earth with the protagonist Usagi Tsukino befriending a talking cat Luna. Luna is not a simple cat, she is a magical cat sent to earth with a mission. The cat offers Usagi Tsukino a magical brooch which gives her power to become the Sailor Moon – a soldier chosen by the destiny to save Earth from the evil powers. Along the way she gathers more Sailor Soldiers - Sailor Mercury (Amy), Sailor Mars (Raye), Sailor Jupiter (Lita), and Sailor Venus (Mina). There is another cat guardian named Artemis. Together they fight the evil Queen Beryl, who is set to take over the world.
The back story
Sailor Moon comes with a very compelling back-story. Once upon a time the Moon was inhabited by a great civilization under the rule of Queen Serenity. Everybody seemed to be happy and content until the evil Queen Beryl plays havoc on the Moon with a special power known as the Negaforce. The evil queen destroys everything and captures the Queen Serenity. Queen Serenity has a special imperium silver crystal and the crescent moon wand, which she uses to send the Princess Serenity and the children of the moon to the future on earth. They all lose their memory though. She also turns her most trusted advisors Luna and Artemis into cats so that they could work undercover and find the princess in the future to save the world.
The Making of the Sailor Moon
No superhero is without their struggle. Usagi Tsukino the intent Sailor Moon is a regular girl. After the talking cat Luna confronts her and tells her about her destnity, Usagi Tsukino is definitely scared like any other normal human being. Even Luna has some doubt that how this clumsy, scared girl can be the Sailor Moon Soldier.
Soon the 14-year-old underachieving schoolgirl transforms into a Sailor Moon and she embarks on the journey to find the moon princess and battle the evil forces of the Dark Kingdom. With the aim to conquer the world, the Dark Kingdom led by the Queen Beryl, calls in various monsters called Youma to sap energy from humans and feed it to an evil being known as Queen Metaria. They are also after the Silver Crystal, a precious gem with a capability of unlimited power.
The beginning and the End of the Adventure
The Sailor Moon along with her soldiers battles the evil powers. Soon Usagi Tsukino finds out that she is the Moon Princess – Princess Serenity and acquires the Silver Crystal. As the Sailor Moon and her allies’ progress they regain their lost memory and it is revealed how they came into being.
The Evil Queen Beryl destroyed everything from the Serenity, Endymion, to the Sailor Soldiers. However, the Queen Serenity used the power of the Silver Crystal to defeat Queen Metaria and end the war. She also used the power of the Silver Crystal to send the dead into the future to be reborn on Earth, in the hope of putting everything right.
Soon the Sailor Moon locates the Kingdom of Queen Beryl to the North Pole and travel with her soldiers. All the soldiers die while defending the Sailor Moon in the fight. Sailor Moon uses the power of the fallen sailor soldiers’ spirits and the silver crystal to defeat Queen Beryl, who seems to have merged with the Queen Metaria.
Sailor Moon uses the last drop of Silver Crystal power to resurrect the fallen soldiers and restore the Earth to its previous state. Everything returns to the normal and everyone seems to forget everything except for Luna and Ameritis.
There are sequels of the series which continues where the first part ended. The anime series and movies have different adaptation of the Manga series. For instant in the US Version, the Moon soldiers retain their memory after the war.
Conclusion
Sailor Moon has earned a wide critical acclaim and is also one of the popular Manga anime series in the world. It has garnered praises for its animation, character, theme and the humor. It has also inspired merchandise including light novels, collectible trading card games, action figures, musical theater productions, video games and t-shirts.