30 years prior, the Sailor Moon anime premiered in Japan. Adjusted from Naoko Takeuchi’s manga of the same name, the anime series follows young protagonist Usagi Tsukino as she becomes a Sailor Guardian to fight insidiousness and searches for a reincarnated moon princess.
Not exclusively was the 1992 anime partially responsible for introducing anime to viewers in the United States, however, the anime would also influence a generation of cartoonists such as Rebecca Sugar and ND Stevenson.
Since then, the anime and its spin-off films have not exclusively been re-dubbed by another English cast, yet they have also spawned a modern remake. In 2014, Sailor Moon Crystal premiered and featured the same eminent characters in storylines that reflected the original manga series.
Sailor Moon is a Japanese media franchise, including manga, anime, musicals, drama, computer games, and various derivative products, created by Naoko Takeuchi in 1992.
Every transformation of the franchise takes up the adventures of Usagi Tsukino, a run-of-the-factory awkward teenager who is really Sailor Moon, a heroine with mysterious powers.
Fighting fiendish for the sake of fondness and justice, she is joined by many allies, all under the protection of a planet in the Solar System.
In this Sailor Moon watch order guide, we are going to give you a thorough insight into the anime. You’re going to get all the necessary information, as well as a total manual for watching the entire series in order, including the four anime movies that have been aired.
As for the movies, they can also be separated based on the two larger anime segments. As far as the original Sailor Moon is concerned, there were three movies in total:
- Sailor Moon R: The Movie (December 5, 1993)
- Sailor Moon S: The Movie (December 4, 1994)
- Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie (December 23, 1995)
These three movies were additions to the second, third, and fourth anime seasons, respectively, with every one of them adding a final story set around every one of the season’s endings. As for Sailor Moon Crystal, there were just two movies, which really closed the anime series and served as Crystal’s ending:
- Sailor Moon Eternal (Part 1, January 8, 2021)
- Sailor Moon Eternal (Part 2, February 11, 2021)
In this part, we will focus on the chronological Sailor Moon watch order, providing you with certain details on every one of the works listed here.
In the early 1990s, 10,000 years after the destruction of the Silver Millennium, the seal that held Beryl broke, and her underhanded kingdom, the Dark Kingdom, was reborn. This occasion triggers the awakening of Luna and Artemis, who lay dormant in outer space, ready to respond in case of a threat.
Realizing that the city of Tokyo, Japan, is the new cradle of the forces of malicious, the little cats set out in search of the descendants of the obsolete Sailor warriors in order to prevent Beryl’s dark designs.
This is how Luna finally meets Usagi Tsukino, a 14-year-old school girl from the Azabu district of Tokyo6. Usagi is the reincarnation of Sailor Moon, the warrior form of Princess Serenity.
Artemis, then again, understands that Minako Aino is the reincarnation of Sailor Venus.
Over time, the two cats find the reincarnations of Sailor Mercury (Ami Mizuno), Sailor Mars (Rei Hino), and Sailor Jupiter (Makoto Kino).
Together, they must use their different abilities and mysterious powers to fight Beryl and his plans to enslave humans and conquer Earth.
They can also rely upon Tuxedo Mask, the reincarnation of Prince Endymion, to help them. Usagi, at last developing the same feelings as his previous incarnation, soon falls in adoration with his savior.
Shortly after defeating the Dark Kingdom, Usagi and her friends see Chibiusa, a mysterious young woman from the future, arrive.
The Sailor warriors discover that Chibiusa has traveled back on schedule to help her mother, trapped in the Tokyo of the future.
The warriors thus meet Sailor Pluto, guardian of the Gate of Time, and travel to the 20th century. There, they discover an Earth ravaged by the Black Moon sect, new enemies that Sailor Moon must destroy.
Right when he was pretty much nothing, Mamoru had met Fioré, a strange youngster who had become a very close friend. The latter was forced to leave yet made a promise to return with roses.
Two or three years later, Mamoru finds Fioré, who has become very strange … and shortly after, the city is invaded by underhanded outsider flowers. Sailor Moon and her friends must step in to protect Earth.
Just weeks after stepping into the future, Sailor Moon must face another adversary, the Death Busters. Indeed, an evil being by the name of Master Pharaoh 90 arrives from another dimension to install silence on Earth.
This intrusion causes the awakening of the Sailor warriors responsible for protecting the solar system from her external enemies, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune.
Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune seek regardless of what to bring up the Grail, a cup of overpowering powers, for just he seems to them fit for preventing the apocalypse from descending in the world.
Thanks to her allies, Sailor Moon manages to transform into Super Sailor Moon and copy her powers.
In any case, the heroine discovers that the assortment of Hotaru, her new friend, is home to two entities: a minion of Master Pharaoh 90, Mistress 9, and the warrior of destruction, Sailor Satur.
Princess Snow Kaguya, an enemy from the far reaches of the system, travels on her comet ship in search of a planet to establish her ice kingdom.
She ends up spotting Earth, which she had already desired centuries prior before her project was aborted by Queen Serenity.
Noting that the Moon is not generally inhabited by the protectors of the Earth, it sends fragments of its comet to the blue planet to prepare for its invasion. These trigger snowstorms from one side of the planet to the other.
One of these fragments is found by Kakeru Ozora, a young astronomer who had distinguished the strange comet inhabited by Princess Snow Kaguya.
For his part, Usagi Tsukino and her friends, Ami Mizuno, Rei Hino, Makoto Kino, and Minako Aino are worried about the disappearance of their little feline Luna.
She was run over by the astronomer Kakeru, while she was uneasy on the road. Luna gradually falls in fondness for her savior, while Princess Snow Kaguya sends her minions, the Snow Dancers, in search of the missing fragment.
In the fourth arc, Sailor Moon must clash against the Dead Moon Circus and her sovereign, Queen Nehelennia.
Jealous of the supremacy of the Silver Millennium, she seeks to seize the powers of Sailor Moon and the Golden Crystal to become Queen of the Moon and Earth.
Super Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon meet Helios, guardian of the Golden Crystal and the kingdom of Elysion, from which Tuxedo Mask hails.
To confront this formidable adversary, Super Sailor Moon reaches its definitive form and becomes Eternal Sailor Moon.
From one side of the planet to the other, while they sleep, children are seized. They are spellbound by a piece of strange music that leads them straight to the seat of Queen Badiane, the Marzipan Castle.
There, the malicious sovereign, assisted by her four minions With pearling, Poupelin, Banana, and Orange, puts the children to sleep forever, whose sweet dreams feed the abyss of nightmares.
This strange dark opening is growing from night to night, ready at any second to swallow the entire Earth.
Finally, in the final arc, Sailor Galaxia and her empire, the Shadow Galactica, dreaming of conquering every one of the planets in the cosmic system, invests Earth.
Eternal Sailor Moon is assisted by three new Sailor warriors from a distant planet, Sailor With starring Fighter, Sailor Star Maker, and Sailor Star Healer.
They are also in search of their princess, Kakyû, while a mysterious kid girl, Chibi, moves in with the Tsukino family.
This remake of the Sailor Moon anime is a more steadfast transformation of the manga. The first season is known as ‘The Dark Kingdom’ arc and has the Sailor Guardians battling Queen Beryl as well as a dark element known as Queen Metalia.
Next is the second season known as ‘The Black Moon’ arc, which tells a fuller version of the Sailor Guardians’ adventures in the 30th century. In addition to the fact that there is richer character improvement for Usagi, Chibiusa is shown in a more sympathetic light.
Finally, the third season is known as the Death Busters arc and features a more tragic and confident story for the character known as the Messiah of Silence. This multitude of seasons is accessible with subs and dubs by means of Tubi, Hulu, Netflix, and Crunchyroll.
Picking up where the third season of Sailor Moon Crystal left off, this is a two-part movie that covers the Dead Moon Circus arc of the manga. Similar to Sailor Moon Super S, this film features the Sailor Guardians battling the foes from the Dead Moon Circus.
However, there is more lore in this film in regards to Tuxedo Mask and Pegasus and more serious character improvement for the Sailor Guardians. The film can be streamed on Netflix.
Since the series does follow a certain timeline, we’d advise you to really watch Sailor Moon in order. This is the best strategy for getting a hold of the entire story and understanding what occurred in the series.
Just follow the release order and do remember that the initial fillers are both great and important, so try not to skip them.
As far as Sailor Moon Crystal is concerned, we’d advise you to do the same – just follow the release order, yet do try to watch Crystal after the original series.
The second part of Sailor Moon Eternal closed with a “To be continued… ” tagline, suggesting that more Sailor Moon anime is coming.
Since then, we haven’t had any official news about the anime, so we won’t be aware if and when we’ll be seeing some new Sailor Moon material. Be that as it might, as things stand now, a continuation of the series is particularly probable.
1. In what order do you watch the Sailor Moon movies?
The order to watch the Sailor Moon series is mentioned above and also we will be mentioning a broad list down below too:
- Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon
- Sailor Moon R
- Sailor Moon R: The Movie – Promise of the Rose
- Sailor Moon S
- Sailor Moon S: The Movie
- Sailor Moon SuperS
- Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie
- Sailor Moon Sailor Stars
- Sailor Moon Crystal
- Sailor Moon Eternal
2. What comes first Sailor Moon R or S?
If we go by reports, the entire Sailor Moon franchise started off with the Sailor Moon R series in the first compared to S.
3. How many movies does Sailor Moon have?
In Japan, three animated theatrical feature films based on the original Sailor Moon series were released which include:
- Sailor Moon R: The Movie in 1993,
- Sailor Moon S: The Movie in 1994 and
- Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie in 1995.
- Do I have to watch the Sailor Moon movies?
Sailor Moon series is a popular based Japanese manga series and have gained a lot of followers in a few years. However, if you are also among the Japanese manga lovers then definitely you will love this manga franchise for sure.
