Sailor Moon is unquestionably one of the most iconic animes of all time. For more than 35 years the Moon Princess has been fighting evil by moonlight (winning love by daylight), and there’s more on the way: next year will see the release of Sailor Moon Cosmos, the two-part Crystal adaptation of Sailor Stars. The original series have received new HD releases and merchandise for the franchise continues to be a huge hit with adults.
Ironically, despite the anime adaptations, the stage musicals, and the live-action series, there is one spin-off of Sailor Moon that has never received an adaptation of any sort, and it’s strange when you consider what the spin-off is actually about.
Before Sailor Moon
Before she created Sailor Moon, creator Naoko Takeuchi wrote several short manga stories. She did get a series here and there, but few were really successful. Maria lasted just a single volume. So did Chocolate Christmas. A third project – The Sherry Project – lasted three books. Fun fact: this was a series about a figure skater and would be the introduction of Haruna Sakurada, who would show up in Sailor Moon as Usagi’s strict teacher.
Shortly after this project ended, Takeuchi would start a new series called Sailor V, in which a high school student named Minako would fight crime in a fuko uniform. During the day she would go to school and train to become an idol, her lifelong dream. The series was warmly received by audiences, but it wasn’t gaining the kind of traction her editors wanted. One of the editors took a hard look at the series and decided the issue was that Sailor V fought the monsters by herself. There was no one to play off of, and if viewers didn’t like Minako herself then they weren’t going to stick around.
Takeuchi’s editor approached her with a plan to retool the series into a seinin-inspired manga where a team of superhero girls would fight evil together. Rather than force this new premise into the current series, Takeuchi wrapped up Sailor V with a vision of what this team would look like and had her main character heading off to Tokyo to find her teammates. A few months later her new series – Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon – would premier in the pages of Kodansha Comics.
Sailor Moon is a Hit
When Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon hit the magazine stands the series was a minor hit. Not a major one, but popular enough to get an anime commissioned. Toei Animation was chosen as the animators for the series. While there is rumor (and a few magazine screenshots) that suggested they were initially going to adapt Sailor V as an anime first, those plans changed when Sailor Moon came along. This ended up being a good idea as the Sailor Moon anime ended up being a huge hit and major franchise for all involved.
The show ran for 200 episodes, had three movies, and a couple of TV specials. Video games and merchandise were very popular among the fans, and the series remained popular throughout the entire run. After Sailor Stars was produced Toei ended the anime and no more anime was produced for years. A live-action series would come several years later and the franchise would eventually be rebooted with Sailor Moon Crystal. While fans were happy to receive all these productions, there was one notable absence in the Sailor Moon media empire.
Sailor V Never Got an Anime Adaptation
Despite those earlier magazine articles that were released, Sailor V never did get an anime adaptation. The live action series did produce a special on Sailor V’s life before she joined the Sailor Soldiers as Sailor Venus, but this was the closest fans would get to a Sailor V adaptation. While it is true the manga only has loose connections to Sailor Moon itself, many fans still would like to see one someday. Now may be the time for animation companies to consider it. With the Sailor Moon merchandise still making tons of money and the Sailor Moon storyline coming to an end with next year's movies, it might be time for Toei to finally dust off the Sailor V manga and get to work on the prequel series Sailor Moon fans have wanted for years.
Though some story elements would have to be modified to fit into the Sailor Moon storyline, it would be a much appreciated effort from the fans. What’s more, Sailor Moon DOES make cameo appearances in the Sailor V manga, and it would be an excellent way for Toei to extend the life of the current anime without having to resort to another reboot so soon. Time will tell if this becomes a reality (to be clear: there is no evidence any of this is going to happen), but in a day of reboots, spin-offs, and prequels being the norm, it seems weird that the prequel to one of anime’s most popular franchises remains unanimated.