Background

     A long time ago there was a beautiful kingdom on 
the moon.....
Princess Serena (Serenity), of the moon was engaged to 
marry Prince Darien (Endymion), a prince of the earth.  
Everything was calm and peaceful until......
Queen Beryl, queen of the evil dimension known as the 
Negaverse wanted queen Serenity's moon kingdom to be 
destroyed.  She sent her evil armies and destroyed the
 moon kingdom.  Everyone was destroyed....
        .........Except Queen Serenity........
Queen Serenity, devastated, used the power of the Silver
 Emperiam crystal as a final hope....
Sacrificing her own life in the process, she used the 
power of the crystal to make all of the principal 
defenders of the moon kingdom to be reborn....
in the future......
Prince Darien (Endymion) was reborn as Darien (Mamoru).....
Princess Serena (Serenity)
     was reborn as Serena (Usagi Tsukino).....
Guardian Amy of Mercury was reborn as Amy (Ami Mizuno).....
Guardian Raye of Mars was reborn as Raye (Rei Hino).........
Guardian Mina of Venus was reborn as Mina (Minako Ai)............
Guardian Lita of Jupiter was reborn as Lita (Makoto)...........
And finally, Queen Serenity's faithful cat advisor's, 
Artemis and Luna were sent to the future as they were 
the only ones who would recall the past to train these 
new warriors to defend the Earth once more, from the 
evil forces  of the Negaverse.   

Last updated: 01-May-95

With the enormous success of Sailor Moon, it seems that this series
is unstoppable.  To put things in perspective, here is a brief outline
of how "Sailor Moon" came to be...and where it is going...

Thanks to the following people who provided corrections and additions
to the historical summary:
   Christian Balzer
   Gene Fornario
   Titus Hsu
   Joe Petrow


Tsukini Kawatte...Oshiokiyo!

   SAILOR 1991:
      - Naoko Takeuchi, a manga artist who worked under Kodansha,
	 got some pages in "Run-Run" (billed as "Nakayoshi's
	 younger daughter") to do a story on anything she wanted.
	 She decided to do something that paralleled the live-action
	 "sentai" show.

      - Her editor, Fumio Osano, liked the idea and he added a slight
	 twist...he wanted to see a girl fighting in a school
	 uniform.

      - For this project, Naoko Takeuchi creates a manga story 
         entitled "Codename is Sailor V".  This is a story about an
	 ordinary girl named Minako Aino and what happens to her
	 when a cat gives her the power to become Sailor V.

      - The first installments of "Sailor V" go on sale in Aug. 1991.

      - The initial sales of the manga go well, and prove so promising
	 that Takeuchi-san is asked to create a treatment for an
	 anime series.  Taking the cue from "Sailor V", she creates
	 a series called "Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon".


   SAILOR 1992:
      - "Sailor Moon" debuts in Nakayoshi in Feb. 1992.  Word gets out 
         and rumors fly that anime fans should watch *this* series when 
	 it appears on TV.

      - "Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon" premieres on TV Asahi in
	 March 1992.  Viewers are introduced to the ditzy
	 Usagi Tsukino and her transformation to Sailor Moon.
	 Ratings show a slow start, but they will pick up as
	 the series progresses.

      - Episode 8 and 10: Sailor Mercury (Ami Mizuno) and Sailor   
	 Mars (Rei Hino) are introduced.  This was a turning point
	 in the series, since the formula plotline was broken up
	 by the interplay between the three girls.  Things became
	 MUCH more interesting from this point on.

      - In July 1992, Anime America '92 was held in San Jose, California
	 in the US.  The anime convention was fun to go to (along with
	 the concert by Megumi Hayashibara), but along the way, somebody
	 decided to show some Sailor Moon episodes in an unscheduled
	 block.  This was my first exposure to the series...

      - Animage Magazine holds a monthly poll for the readers' favorite
	 characters.  At that point, Nausicaa had an unbreakable hold
	 on the #1 spot.  This changed when Ami Mizuno (Sailor Mercury)
	 took that spot...

      - As a topic, "Sailor Moon" takes over the rec.arts.anime newsgroup.
	 It seems that more and more Usenet people have seen the
	 series...

      - According to Bandai, there are shortages of the "Moon Stick" 
	 (Usagi's weapon) in stores.


   SAILOR 1993:
      - "Sailor Moon" takes a surprising turn as the conclusion of the
	 series turns deadly serious.  This starts a controversy as
	 many mothers write in to complain about the death of their
	 daughters' favorite heroines...

      - The series and manga are so popular that "Sailor Moon" is
	 renewed.  A new series called "Sailor Moon R" ('R' stands
	 for Return) debuts the week after "Sailor Moon" ends.  The
	 new series starts in February 1993.

      - Kodansha, the publishers of the manga, have doubled their
	 size in only 1 year.  This can be traced directly to the
	 success of "Sailor Moon".

      - Bandai, the toy company who holds the rights, reports that
	 sales of "Sailor Moon" merchandise has skyrocketed.

      - Many articles appear trying to answer the question: "Why
	 is 'Sailor Moon' so popular?"

      - An interview of Naoko Takeuchi reveals, among other things,
	 that she was surprised at the success of "Sailor Moon" and
	 still has trouble believing it...

      - "Sailor Moon" makes it to the big screen!  The "Sailor Moon R"
	 movie premieres and is popular.

      - For December 1993, the "Sailor Moon R" musical plays.  This
	 is a live-action musical with actors playing the roles.

      - "Codename is Sailor V" reappears in Nakayoshi.  These are
	 not reprints...Takeuchi-san is retelling the story.  Cameos
	 have already been made by Usagi and Rei before they became
	 Sailor Senshi.


   SAILOR 1994:
      - "Sailor Moon R" ends.  "Sailor Moon S" ('S' stands for Super)
	 begins.  The popularity of "Sailor Moon" shows no sign of
	 abating.

      - After the success of "The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers",
	 Bandai is looking for other properties to license.  One
	 property frequently mentioned is "Sailor Moon"...

      - "Sailor Moon" appears on French television on the "Dorothee"
	 show.  This version is dubbed and turns out to be very
	 popular...

      - In December, the "Sailor Moon S" musical makes its debut.


   SAILOR 1995:
      - The "Sailor Moon S" movie opens in theaters.

      - Bandai and DIC announce that they are bringing the story
	 of a "heroine who shouts feminist slogans" to the US.
	 DIC will handle the dubbing and TV release of "Sailor Moon".

      - "Sailor Moon S" ends.  This is followed by "Sailor Moon SS"
	 (SS for SuperS).  The series is currently running as of
	 this writing.

      - Following the success of "Sailor Moon", other anime series
	 have been created in the same mold, hoping to capitalize
	 on that success.  Such series include:
	    - Magic Knight Rayearth
	    - Wedding Peach
	    - Nurse Angel Ririka	
Where it goes from here, nobody knows...