"A thousand years ago, our moon was home to a great civilization ruled by Queen Serenity. Everything was peaceful until the arrival of the evil Queen Beryl. To conquer the moon, Queen Beryl unleashed the awesome power of the Negaforce. Although her world was destroyed, Queen Serenity's last hope was the power of the Imperium Silver Crystal and the Crescent Moon Wand. Frozen in moon beam crystals, the Queen sent the Princess and the children of the moon to the future on Earth. Their memories lost to them all, the Queen's cat advisors, Luna and Artemis, must find the Princess so she will at last be safe. And so our story begins..."

   Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon (Pretty Soldier Sailormoon) is, without a doubt, the most popular magical girl anime series ever made. The television show is based on the shoujo manga of the same name from acclaimed Japanese artist and storyteller Naoko Takeuchi. Since Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon made its debut on March 7, 1992, it has reached millions of anime fans in Japan and many other countries around the globe. The series was originally translated into English as Sailor Moon by DIC Productions L.P. with some changes to the characters, themes, overall story, and dialogue. Although the show was originally created to target a young female audience, it has managed to achieve phenomenal levels of popularity among both male and female viewers of all ages!

   The show depicts the adventures of five young school girls who magically transform into the powerful Sailor Scouts, protecting Tokyo and all of mankind from the evil beings and aliens of the Negaverse. Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Venus are aided in their battles by two faithful cat guardians, Luna and Artemis, and the mysterious Tuxedo Mask.

   The origins of Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon go back to Naoko Takeuchi's first heroine of justice story, Codename Wa Sailor V. Toei Animation, Co. was initially interested in turning the Sailor V manga into an anime series. However, it was later decided that it would be best to create a new series for animation with a continuing and broader story line (Codename Wa Sailor V was only intended to be a one-time story). Naoko had long been a fan of shows that feature a team of hero warriors, and thus decided to expand on the concepts in Sailor V to create the Sailor Soldiers of Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon. The manga series, which won Naoko the prestigious 17th Kodansha Manga award, began publication in February 1992 -- just one month before its television debut. The support shown for the anime and manga series by both Kodansha and Toei Animation in this co-production quickly raised the popularity levels of Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon. Sales of merchandise and all other items related to the series increased tremendously, causing Sailormoon-mania to spread all over Japan!

Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon's five television series include:

* 1992 Sailormoon (Episodes #1 - #46)
Features Queen Beryl and the Negaverse (Dark Kingdom)

* 1993 Sailormoon R Part I (R=Return, Episodes #47 - #59)
Features Alan and Ann from the Doom Tree series

* 1993 Sailormoon R Part II (R=Romance, Episodes #60 - #89)
Features the enemies from the Black Moon, Nemesis

* 1994 Sailormoon S (S=Super, Episodes #90 - #127)
Features Professor Tomoe and the Witches 5/Death Busters

* 1995 Sailormoon Super S (Super Super, Episodes #128 - #166)
Features the Amazon Trio, Neherenia and the Dead Moon

* 1996 Sailor Stars (Episodes #167 - #200)
Features Queen Galaxia and the Sailor Animates

Additionally, three unconnected theatrical movies were released:

* 1994 Sailormoon R The Movie
Features Fiore and the Kisenian Flower

* 1995 Sailormoon S The Movie
Features Princess Snow Kaguga and the Snow Dancers

* 1996 Sailormoon SuperS The Movie
Features Badiyernu and the Black Dream Hole