The Manga vs. the Anime

The manga of Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon is very different from the anime extracted from it. The original manga has 18 volumes containing 52 acts, while the reprint has 12 volumes containing 60 acts as well as two seperate volumes containing the side-stories. The anime which was based upon the manga, was made into 200 episodes that aired from 1992 to 1997, as well as three movies, and three specials. Besides differences in art, the story was changed a lot and many characters were lost in the process. The anime has five seasons, Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon R, Sailor Moon S, Sailor Moon SuperS and Sailor Moon Stars.

The Art


When a manga transfers onto the screen, the art is always bound to be slightly different. In the case of Sailor Moon, quite a few changes has been done to the original costumes of the sailor soldiers. Sailor Moon, for example, has gotten her hairpins removed, her choker has been redesigned into a simpler version and her brooch suffered from a complete redesign as well. The anime art is also less detailed, which is natural as it would be impossible to retain the exact style that Naoko Takeuchi uses.

Changes and Missing Parts

The anime is without doubt, very different from its manga counterpart. Most of the 200 episodes are taken up by pointless fillers which created quite a repetive pattern of monster appears - soldiers transform - monster dies without adding anything new to the story. In dubbed versions in other countries, many parts of the anime were simply censored in order to adapt it for a younger audience.

A complete list of differences between the anime and manga can be found below.

List of Changes in Season 1: Sailor Moon

  1. Usagi and Rei are more mature in the manga.
  2. In the manga, Tuxedo Mask do not throw roses.
  3. Princess Serenity never committed suicide in the anime, nor in the past or the present.
  4. Zoisite and Kunzite were never lovers in the manga, and Nephrite never fell in love with Naru.
  5. The Four Heavenly Kings never regain their past memories in the anime.
  6. When the sailor soldiers traveled to the moon, a sword was never present in the anime.
  7. Sailor Venus kills Queen Beryl both in the past and in the present with a sword in the manga.
  8. The Silver Millenium is restored in the manga after Sailor Moon uses the power of the Silver Crystal against Queen Metaria.
  9. After Sailor Moon tries to kill Endymion and herself with a sword, they are absorbed by Queen Metaria. This never happens in the anime.
  10. After Sailor Moon destroyed Queen Metaria in the manga, she realized her friends were dead. She recieved new powers in order to revive them.

List of Changes in Season 2: Sailor Moon R

  1. Al and En never existed in the manga. It was an anime filler.
  2. The Four Weird Sisters were killed in the manga.
  3. Tuxedo Mask gained actual powers in the manga.
  4. Safir does not turn good in the manga, but instead tries to kill Sailor Moon. Even after Prince Demand realized he had been used by Wiseman, he did not stand on Sailor Moon's side.
  5. Safir is killed by his brother, Prince Demand who was in turn killed by Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. Esmeraude was killed by Tuxedo Mask, Rubeus was killed by Wiseman and the Four Weird Sisters were killed by the sailor soldiers in the manga.
  6. Sailor Pluto dies in the manga after breaking the taboo of stopping time.
  7. The sailor soldiers recieved new powers from Neo Queen Serenity in the manga.
  8. In the manga, Sailor Moon and Neo Queen Serenity meet each other.

List of Changes in Season 3: Sailor Moon S

  1. Unlike in the anime, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune are not searching for the heart crystals, but for the talismans.
  2. In the manga, when the three talismans are brought together, they will call upon Sailor Saturn.
  3. Hotaru is weaker in the manga, being captured in the body of a cyborg.
  4. Professor Tomoe never regains his original form, but is killed by Super Sailor Moon after he turns into a daimon.
  5. In the manga, Kaolinite is a Magus and has the ability to contact the master and recieve the blessings of the source of life, the Taioron Crystal.
  6. In the anime, there is no such thing as a Taioron Crystal.

List of Changes in Season 4: Sailor Moon SuperS

  1. At the end of the manga, the Amazones Quartet are revealed to be sailor soldiers. This never occurs in the anime.
  2. The human forms of Artemis and Diana are never seen in the anime.
  3. The two crows Phobos and Deimos are never seen in their human forms in the anime.
  4. In the manga, Mamoru has the Golden Crystal within himself.
  5. The ruler of the Dead Moon, Queen Nehellenia, is purely evil in the manga, unlike in the anime where she is a lonely child.
  6. In the manga, Sailor Chibi Moon revives Helios using her Pink Moon Crystal.
  7. Mamoru and Usagi are affected by the black curse in the manga and coughs up black blood.

List of Changes in Season 5: Sailor Stars

  1. In the manga, the sailor soldiers were killed as the story progressed, rather than at the very end like in the anime.
  2. In the manga, Princess Kakyū is also a sailor soldier.
  3. Sailor Heavy Metal Papillon, Sailor χ (Chi), Sailor φ (Phi), Sailor Lethe and Sailor Mnemosyne never appear in the anime.
  4. Chibi Chibi can speak and is later revealed to really be Sailor Chibi Chibi and Sailor Cosmos in the manga.
  5. The Sailor Starlights dies in the manga.
  6. The Sailor Quartet returns in the manga to fight alongside Sailor Chibi Moon.
  7. Sailor Galaxia's bracelets shatter in the manga which kills her. She does not merge with Chaos.
  8. Sailor Cosmos and Guardian Cosmos never appear in the anime.
  9. Eternal Sailor Moon throws herself down into the Galaxy Cauldron in the manga. The Galaxy Cauldron never played a role in the anime.
  10. Usagi actually marries Mamoru at the end of volume 18.