The second season of the ''

Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's Shōjo manga, ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 60 individual chapters (later reorganized into ...

'' anime series ''Sailor Moon R'' (originally released in Japan as , and later as ''Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon R''), was produced by

Toei Animation is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including '' Sally the Witch'', '' GeGeGe no Kitarō'', '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...

and directed by

Junichi Sato is a Japanese anime director. After working for Toei Dōga (currently Toei Animation) and then TYO Animations (formerly Hal Film Maker), he joined Twin Engine in 2017. Sato has been active since the 1980s and is a hit maker who, as serie ...

and

Kunihiko Ikuhara , also known by the nickname Ikuni, is a Japanese director, writer, artist, and music producer. He has created and collaborated on several notable anime and manga series, including ''Sailor Moon'', '' Revolutionary Girl Utena'', '' Penguindrum' ...

. According to the booklet from the ''Sailor Moon Memorial Song Box'', the letter "R" stands for the word "Romance", "Return" or "Rose". Like the rest of the series, it follows the adventures of

Usagi Tsukino , better known as , is a Japanese superheroine and the protagonist of the ''Sailor Moon'' franchise created by Naoko Takeuchi. She is introduced in chapter No. 1 of the manga, "Usagi – Sailor Moon" (originally published in Japan's magazine ...

and her fellow Sailor Guardians and contains two story arcs. The first 13 episodes consist of the self-contained "Makai Tree" arc, while the following 29 episodes consist of the "Black Moon Clan" arc which adapts the fourth through seventh volumes of

Naoko Takeuchi is a Japanese manga artist. She is best known as the author of ''Sailor Moon'', one of the most popular manga series of all time. She has won several awards, including the 1993 Kodansha Manga Award for ''Sailor Moon''. Takeuchi is married to ...

's ''Sailor Moon'' manga. After defeating the

Dark Kingdom The is a group of fictional characters in the ''Sailor Moon'' manga series by Naoko Takeuchi. They are the chief villains of the first story arc in every version of the series, and were first introduced in the first chapter of the manga, "Usagi ...

, the Sailor Guardians are living normal lives, but their memories and powers are then restored after the Hell Tree aliens arrive to harvest energy from people and challenge the Sailor Guardians. Afterwards, the

Black Moon Clan The is a group of fictional characters in the ''Sailor Moon'' manga series by Naoko Takeuchi. It comprises the main villains of the second major story arc, which is called the ''Black Moon'' in the manga and '' Sailor Moon Crystal'', and which f ...

travel to the present to steal energy at the Star Points of the future Crystal Tokyo, forcing the protagonists to confront them with Usagi's future daughter

Chibiusa is one of the main characters from the ''Sailor Moon'' manga series created by Naoko Takeuchi. She is introduced in Chapter 14, "Conclusion and Commencement, Petite Étrangere", first published in ''Nakayoshi'' on July 6, 1993. She is a small ...

. The season initially ran from March 6, 1993 to March 12, 1994 on all

ANN Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie and Ana. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in ...

stations in Japan. In the 1994 "favorite episode" polls for ''

Animage is a Japanese anime and entertainment magazine published by Tokuma Shoten since July 1978. Notable works serialized in the magazine include Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli a ...

'', "Protect Chibiusa! Clash of the 10 Warriors" came in eighth place. The following year, "The Final Battle Between Light and Darkness! Love Sworn to the Future" came in seventh place. The season was licensed for a heavily edited dubbed broadcast in English by

DIC Entertainment DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions, sometimes stylized as DİC) was a French American film and television production company that ...

. Their adaptation were ran on the Canadian channel YTV from October 25 to November 28, 1995. Eventually, the remaining 17 episodes aired from October 4 to November 21, 1997, omitting only one of the season's 43 episodes. Starting with the third season, Cloverway Inc. took over dubbing new episodes for broadcast on Cartoon Network. Eventually,

Viz Media Viz Media, LLC is an American entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California, focused on publishing manga, and distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. The company was founded in 1986 as Viz, ...

began redubbing the series from the start for an uncut release on DVD and

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

and released ''R'' in two boxsets on July 14 and October 27, 2015. This season makes use of two pieces of

theme music Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

: one opening theme and one ending theme. The opening theme, titled "

Moonlight Densetsu is a song that served as an opening theme for the anime series, ''Sailor Moon''. The song's original version was released in Japan on March 21, 1992, on a split single by Dali and Misae Takamatsu titled . The Dali recording of "Moonlight Den ...

", is performed by the idol group DALI. The ending theme "Otome no Policy" is performed by

Yoko Ishida is a Japanese singer. She is known for having performed theme songs for anime shows such as '' Prétear'', '' Ai Yori Aoshi'', the '' Ah! My Goddess'' TV series and the '' Strike Witches'' series, as well as for having sung for the Para Para Max ...

. The DIC Entertainment dub uses an English-language version of "Moonlight Densetsu" in their adaptation.

Episodes

Home media

Japanese

VHS

DVD

Blu-ray

English

VHS

= United States

DVD

= United States

= United Kingdom

= Australia and New Zealand

Blu-ray + DVD combo

= United States

= Australia and New Zealand

Film

''Sailor Moon R: The Movie'', originally released in Japan as , and later as ''Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon R: The Movie'', and in the United States as ''Sailor Moon R: The Movie: The Promise of the Rose'', is an anime film directed by

and written by

Sukehiro Tomita is a Japanese scenario writer. He is known for his work on ''Digimon Frontier'', '' Gall Force'', ''Genesis Climber MOSPEADA'', ''Mobile Suit Victory Gundam'', ''Sailor Moon'', '' Macross II'', ''B't X'' and ''Wedding Peach''. At the 2024 Tokyo ...

. The film debuted in Japanese theaters on December 5, 1993 and

Pioneer Entertainment Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc. (abbreviated as Geneon USA) was an American anime, multimedia production and distribution company that was owned by Geneon Entertainment. It was primarily involved in the production and distribution of anime from ...

released it in the United States on February 8, 2000. On January 13, 2017, Viz Media re-released the movie re-dubbed and uncut for the first time in American theaters, simply titled ''Sailor Moon R: The Movie''. The events portrayed in this film seem to take place somewhere in the very end of the series, as Chibiusa knows about the identities of the Sailor Guardians, the characters are in the present rather than the future, and Mamoru and Usagi are back together. The film centers on the arrival of an alien named Fiore on Earth, who has a past with Mamoru and wishes to reunite with him. Unfortunately, Fiore is being controlled by an evil flower called Xenian Flower, forcing Usagi and her friends to save Mamoru and the Earth from destruction. Japanese theaters featured a 15-minute short recap episode before the film titled . The re-dub also included the English dubbed short.

References

External links

{{Kunihiko Ikuhara 1993 Japanese television seasons 1994 Japanese television seasons 1995 American animated television seasons 1997 American animated television seasons Sailor Moon seasons Anime and manga about time travel Television about alien invasions