30 years of winning love by daylight: why audiences are still obsessed with Sailor Moon

Sailor Moon has been with us for over 30 years, but the cartoon series is popular enough that brands are still producing themed merchandise – everything from high end, crystal-encrusted Jimmy Choos to Black Milk leggings and speciality stationary. As we approach the release of the final instalment of the Sailor Moon Crystal reboot, I can’t help but wonder: why are we still obsessed with fighting evil by moonlight and winning love by daylight?

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon

• Yet there was something about Sailor Moon that caught the public’s imagination, and changed anime in Japan – and later the rest of the world – for good.
• Written by Naoko Takeuchi as a continuation of her series Code Name: V, Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn (Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon) ran from 1991-97.
• Sailor Moon takes stories about friendship and love and mixes them with a monster of the day format and colour-coded superheroes.

Girls comics

• Both shōjo (girls) and shōnen (boys) manga can include fast-paced, action-packed narratives, love stories, science fiction, high fantasy and suspense.
• Manga for girls and young women are more likely to be linked to fashion and will often include full body images of characters to illustrate the latest styles.
• For western and Anglophone viewers in the late 1990s, Sailor Moon provided a role model alongside Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Xena: Warrior Princess for girls and young women, showing that being a princess didn’t preclude kicking arse.

Anniversary fancy goods

• These might be as simple as pre-cut cardboard toys that can be torn out and folded, or designer collaborations on bags, pencil cases and other accessories.
• Causing more of a stir was a collaboration with lingerie company Peach John, which saw sailor collar padded bras and matching panties released as part of Sailor Moon’s 20th anniversary.
• At that time, 20 was the legal age of adulthood in Japan (this has recently been lowered to 18).

Coming of age in Sailor Moon

• The characters are now at the age of shoe appreciation – as is her global audience of fans, similar to Sex and the City protagonists.
• While some questioned Sailor Moon’s suitability as a mascot for STI awareness, in many ways this is just another monster of the day to be vanquished.

A queer wonderland

• Sailor Moon Cosmos, the final two-part film, is due to be released on June 9 and June 30.
• These two films cover the final season of the 1990s anime, Sailor Moon Sailor Stars, and the equivalent manga.