Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon was created by the very talented Japanese storyteller and artist Naoko Takeuchi. Although she's most widely known for the creation of Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon, Naoko has contributed to the manga industry with many other works.

   Without a doubt, Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon (Pretty Soldier Sailormoon) is the most popular magical girl anime series ever made. The television show is based on the shoujo manga of the same name. Since its debut on March 7, 1992, Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon 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 initially 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!

   Naoko Takeuchi was born on March 15, 1967 to Ikuko and Kenji in the city of Kofu, Yamanashi prefecture. Currently she resides in Azubu Juuban in Tokyo, the same area where Usagi (Serena) and Mamoru (Darien) live, and where the Sailormoon story takes place. While attending Kyoritsu Yakka University (a school of pharmacy) in 1986, Naoko was awarded the Nakayoshi New Manga-ka artist Award for her short manga story "Love Call". The story was published in the September 1986 issue of Nakayoshi Deluxe and later republished in the short manga compilation Prism Time Volume 2. After receiving her pharmacy degree and practicing license, she took a full-time position at Keio Hospital. She continued to draw manga in her spare time, eventually turned her true calling into a full-time career.

   Naoko's first major series, The Cherry Project, focused on a young girl named Asuka Chieri who pursues her dream of becoming a figure skater. The series was featured in Nakayoshi from October 1990 to December 1991 and has been collected into three graphic novels. In the summer of 1991, Nakayoshi released another manga called RunRun and asked Naoko to submit a story about any subject of her liking. She told her assistant editor that she always wanted to write a heroine story and agreed to outfit the main character in a sailor uniform at his request.

   The manga Codename wa Sailor V made its debut in July 1991. It told the story of a young girl named Minako Aino and her transformation into Sailor V; the sailor-suited defender of justice. Sailor V was only supposed to be a single-episode story, but when Toei Animation, Co. expressed interest in turning it into an animated television series, Codename wa Sailor V was expanded into a manga series. The series was published on and off from 1991 to 1997 until the story's completion in November 1997. It's now available in three graphic novels. Although it was the story of Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon that was eventually transformed into the anime series, Codename wa Sailor V offers greater insight into Minako Aino's character and into Naoko's first take on the heroine of justice theme.

   Naoko's most successful manga series to date, Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon, first appeared in Nakayoshi's February 1992 issue. With the series completed in March 1997, Naoko turned her attention to two other manga stories in the same year. The first story, Rain Kiss, was published in March 1997 in Prism Time Volume 2 and is the fourth part of the Rain series. The second and greatly anticipated manga series, PQ Angels, premiered in Nakayoshi's September 1997 issue. PQ Angels is a romantic comedy featuring two 14-year-old girls, Peanut (P-ko) and Kyuuri (Q-ko), who arrive in Tokyo with a secret mission. The two girls have been followed by unfriendly strangers who are determined to reach their own goals before the two girls complete their mission. Four chapters of PQ Angels were published in 1997.

   A special thanks on behalf of all anime and manga fans goes out to the talented Naoko for sharing her brilliant work with the rest of the world. But, most importantly, for the creation of Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon!