It’s the 25th anniversary of “Sailor Moon,” the beloved 90s anime series! While the manga started in 1991, the anime series premiered in 1992. From then on, “Sailor Moon” would become a global sensation that redefined the magical girl genre. With video games, movies, toys, musicals, a live-action series and most recently an anime series reboot in the form of “Sailor Moon Crystal,” which started in 2014, “Sailor Moon” has consistently sustained its popularity around the world.
RELATED: 15 Crazy Similarities Between Buffy The Vampire Slayer And Sailor Moon
For those who don’t know, “Sailor Moon” follows a 14-year-old girl, Usagi Tsukino ("Serena" in the English dub), who discovers that she’s the reincarnation of Princess Serenity as well as a sailor scout, sworn to fight for “love and justice.” With her talking cat Luna, she finds the rest of the Sailor Scouts (and Tuxedo Mask) to fend off the evils that plague the Earth. Unfortunately, the creator, Naoko Takeuchi, was never able to craft another hit series. If she ever does return to the franchise, however, we hope she takes part in these 15 spinoffs!
15 SAILOR MOON X JUSTICE LEAGUE
How cool would it be to see the Sailor Scouts team up with the Justice League? We can only imagine Batman’s brooding ways mixed with Sailor Mars’ serious, yet fiery, persona or the wonders that Aquaman and Sailor Mercury can conjure up. Not to mention, just the idea of Wonder Woman and Sailor Moon standing side-by-side makes us feel powerful. There’s also a chance that the sailor scouts already exist in the DC universe (pre-New 52, anyway) as well.
In “Justice League of America” #27, Bruce Wayne is able to see through Martian Manhunter’s shape-shifted disguise because J’onn J’onzz used the name Rei Hino (Sailor Mars’ real name in the Japanese version), a “giveaway” according to Bats. This could mean that Batman is a fan of the series or that he knows the Sailor Scout’s secret identities. We’ll go with the latter theory for the sake of the argument. And if they are in a shared universe, a team-up is long overdue.
14 MAU: LUNA & ARTEMIS
It’s a small fact in the series, but, Luna and Artemis are not actually cats, per se. Instead, they are aliens from the planet Mau who also have a human form that’s rarely seen. While we saw Luna’s human form in “Sailor Moon S: The Movie” (“Hearts in Ice”), fans have yet to see an animated version of Artemis or Diana’s human form. Artemis did transform into his human self for a brief time in Act 41 of the manga.
However, a series dedicated to the people of Mau will provide more opportunities to see Luna and Artemis’ human forms. It would bring fans to a whole new world, literally. As a prequel to “Sailor Moon,” it could explore Luna and Artemis’ backstories including how they were selected to become advisors for Queen Serenity, as well as how they fell in love. It would also provide more opportunities to show Luna and Artemis’ human forms. An entire series about cats? Sign us up!
13 MISTRESS 9 AND BLACK LADY
Chibiusa (or Rini in the English version) and Hotaru Tomoe become close friends in "Sailor Moon S." However, their love for boys, ice cream and sailor scouting as Sailor Mini Moon and Sailor Saturn, respectively, aren’t the only things that the two have in common. They’ve also both been possessed by evil forms at one point or another.
In "Sailor Moon R," Chibiusa becomes Black Lady, an adult version of herself filled with hatred and jealousy that’s offset by the villain Wise Man who brainwashes her. On the other hand, Hotaru becomes possessed by Mistress 9, a daimon who attempts to open a portal for her master, Pharoah 90, in "Sailor Moon S." While both were eventually defeated by the sailor scouts, we couldn’t help but fantasize about what kinds of mischief the two could get up to as a villainous duo. Double the trouble, double the interest -- and a whole new challenge for the crew to defeat.
12 SAILOR MOON X POWER RANGERS
A Sailor Moon and Power Rangers crossover series is something that’s been dreamt up by many fans through fan fiction series. This would especially be cool since Sailor Moon drew inspiration from "Power Rangers." That’s right, Naoko Takeuchi wanted to craft her own superhero team, except with all magical girls. Naturally, a team-up between the two only seems natural.
This would also bring big robots into the Sailor Moon universe -- and perhaps give the sailor scouts an opportunity to get their own giant mechs! In "Power Rangers," the team gets together to form the big robot, Megazord. With a crossover series, perhaps the sailor scouts could get the chance to form together as one in a big robot as well. Not to mention, there’s already a "Justice League/Power Rangers" crossover comic book series that kicked off earlier this year, so why not keep the good times rolling with a mix of Sailor Moon and Power Rangers?
11 SAILOR MOON X TEENAGED SUPERHEROINES
This one might be a bit difficult to pull off, but we’re too hyped up about it to not mention it. Imagine Sailor Moon, Batgirl, Supergirl, Riri “Ironheart” Williams, Ahiru (“Princess Tutu”), Kamala “Ms. Marvel” Khan, and Starfire on one team. This spin-off series would follow a group of teenage superheroines from across the globe in their own Justice League-esque way, similar to "DC Super Hero Girls" or "Teen Titans." There could even be cameos from Sakura Kinomoto ("CardCaptor Sakura") and Lunella “Moon Girl” Lafayette, who are a bit younger but equally gifted in defending the world.
Additional cameos could appear from the slightly older Squirrel Girl, the little known character Cipher, other girls from "X-Men" like Jubilee or from Brian K. Vaughn’s "Runaways." Unfortunately, this spinoff might meet its greatest foe -- licensing. It would take a nearly-impossible deal between DC, Marvel, Viz Media and AEsir Holdings, but we’re crossing our fingers for this one to happen. (I mean, we did get Spider-Man in "Captain America: Civil War" and "Kingdom Hearts")
10 SAILOR MOON VS. CLASSIC SUPERNATURAL CREATURES
The sailor scouts have fought a number of unique-looking monsters of the week. There’s Boxy, a demon-like boxing creature with wings, a snow-woman named Blizzard and an elephant-like woman, Osoji. But the team rarely fends off classic supernatural foes like vampires, zombies or werewolves. Although we got a taste of this idea when Chibiusa and the team encountered a vampire, Lilica Hubert, in “Chibiusa's Adventure! The Dreaded Vampire Castle,” we haven’t seen the team fight off other classic monsters.
This spinoff series could provide an opportunity for that and we’re more than ready for it. With the zombie craze still in play thanks to "The Walking Dead," "Resident Evil" and the most recent film, "The Girl With All The Gifts," a Sailor Moon short series dedicated to classic supernatural foes would certainly be a great addition to the series. Plus, we could see if Sailor Moon's powers work on creatures that are not so otherworldly.
9 SAILOR STARS PREQUEL
In "Sailor Moon: Sailor Stars," fans get introduced to the Sailor Starlights, the first set of Sailor Scouts from outside of the solar system. Together, the Starlights (Sailor Star Healer, Sailor Star Maker and Sailor Star Fighter) make their way to Earth to find Princess Kakyuu, who disappeared in hopes to find the Light of Hope. But before all of this, they all fought in the Sailor Wars against the enemy Chaos who embedded itself in Sailor Galaxia.
This spinoff series would focus on Sailor Galaxia’s journey as she seizes power from star seeds from around the universe up until the final battle between Sailor Galaxia and Princess Kakyuu. "Sailor Moon: Sailor Stars" also showed fans the various amount of Sailor Scouts across the universe like Sailor Lead Crow, Sailor Iron Mouse, Sailor Tin Nyanko, Sailor Aluminum Siren, Sailor Phi and Sailor Chi, among the previous mentioned. So, with this series, there could be an infinite amount of Sailor Scouts from the planets and stars in the universe. With that, the prospects for storytelling is limitless.
8 TUXEDO MASK PREQUEL
Tuxedo Mask often comes in the nick of time to distract the villain with a rose, provide some advice or fight alongside the Sailor Scouts. But little is known about the Sailor Scouts' rose-throwing ally. This prequel could follow the past of Mamoru Chiba (or Darien Shields in the English version), including the time he lost his parents in a car crash on his sixth birthday and subsequently his time as an orphan.
It could also answer questions about his time in middle and high school, whether he had any other love interests besides Serena or the first days of caped crusader’s time as Tuxedo Mask. It could also provide an opportunity to show off his other powers like psychometry and super-healing that’s shown more in the manga than in the anime. The spinoff could also explore Tuxedo Mask’s perspective of the events in “Sailor Moon” as well with him as the central focus of the series.
7 ALL ABOUT MOLLY
Serena and Molly Baker (Naru Osaka in the original Japanese) were best friends in the beginning of “Sailor Moon.” But as the series moved on, Serena became increasingly preoccupied with defeating the monster of the week alongside her newfound friends, a.k.a. the Sailor Scouts. Unfortunately, this meant that viewers saw less of Molly as their friendship naturally waned. However, that doesn’t mean that there couldn’t be more for Molly.
As a quirky red-headed girl, her character could easily lend itself to a romantic comedy spinoff series. Other ideas to explore could be Molly’s mourning after Nephlite's death, the moments that lead up to her decision to date Melvin, their budding relationship in "Sailor Moon R" and her time spent in her mom’s jewelry store. (We wouldn’t be opposed if her Brooklyn accent from the original dub made a reappearance either.) This would especially work since Molly is one of the few characters who isn’t related to the Sailor Scouts which makes for more wiggle room in her story.
6 PRINCESS NAOKO TAKEUCHI’S RETURN TO SOCIETY PUNCH!!
After the wide success of “Sailor Moon,” Naoko Takeuchi released three series “Miss Rain,” “Prism Time” and “PQ Angels.” However, none of the manga series saw the same success as “Sailor Moon.” Afterward, she launched another short comic strip series, “Princess Naoko Takeuchi’s Return-to-Society Punch!!”
In the manga, Takeuchi talks about her creative downswing after “Sailor Moon” as well as meeting and marrying her husband, Yoshihiro Togashi, creator of “YuYu Hakusho” and “Hunter x Hunter.” The series ran for six years (from 1998-2004) in Shueisha's "Young You" magazine during the time Takeuchi and Togashi started a family. This spinoff series could bring this period in her life to another medium either through animation or a documentary. It could also bring fans up-to-date on Takeuchi’s life and discover if she's attempting to create something new. (There’s also rumors that she’s helping her husband with the “Hunter x Hunter” manga that could be explored.)
5 CRYSTAL TOKYO
In "Sailor Moon R," the sailor scouts traveled to the future, a.k.a. to Crystal Tokyo, where Darien and Serena rule the Earth as King Endymion and Neo-Queen Serenity, respectively. But, at the end of the last season, the only step towards this utopia is that Darien proposes to Serena.
This spinoff could pick up where the series left off to show how present-day Tokyo becomes Crystal Tokyo. In the manga, Takeuchi explains that Crystal Tokyo formed six years from the end of the series when Serena was 22 years old. As she took over the throne, Earthlings gained longer lifespans around 1,000 years thanks to the power of the Silver Crystal. During their rule, Rini becomes a Sailor Scout as well, even having her own court in the form of Sailor Juno, Sailor Vesta, Sailor Pallas, and Sailor Ceres. This spinoff could show what happens in the six years between the two realities and onward from there for the next thousand years.
4 SILVER MOON MILLENNIUM
Little is known about the time Queen Serenity ruled the Moon Kingdom before the attack of Queen Metalia (or Queen Beryl.) This spinoff could focus on the Silver Millennium, the time period where the universe was at peace. Considering moonlings and earthlings weren’t allowed to be together, it could explore Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion’s forbidden love and why the rule was set in the first place.
It could also show Queen Metalia’s hidden love for Prince Endymion and her growing jealousy that led to her attack of the moon. Viewers could also see life on Earth during this time. (We’re thinking it could be Middle Earth-like a la “Lord of The Rings.”) This could also provide answers to whether or not Princess Serenity had a father, since he’s never shown in the manga or anime. This would provide an opportunity to see the lives of the other Sailor Scout as princesses on their respective planets as well.
3 SAILOR SCOUTS
When the Sailor Senshi meet Sailor Moon, they’ve been through quite a lot. Mina (Sailor Venus) was in London, had her heart broken and crusaded as a Sailor Scout all by her lonesome. Lita (Sailor Jupiter), who lost both of her parents, was rumored to have gotten into a bunch of fights at her previous school. Amy (Sailor Mercury) worked to become a top student and befriended a possible love interest named Greg before transferring to Serena’s school. Raye (Sailor Mars) worked at her grandfather’s shrine and is known for reading auras and having premonitions.
Michelle (Sailor Neptune) and Amara (Sailor Uranus) fell in love and discovered they were Sailor Scout while Trista (Sailor Pluto) lived a life of solitude. Hotaru Tomoe (Sailor Saturn) was critically injured at some point and transformed into a cyborg. This is all to say that each of the Sailor Scouts have plenty of backstory on their own to create a miniseries based on each of them. And needless to say, we'd love to see it!
2 SAILOR MOON X DRAGON BALL Z
“Sailor Moon” and “Dragon Ball Z” are often pinned together as the two series that made anime popular in the Western world. So, it’d only be natural that the two global sensations get together for the ultimate spinoff series. We’re sure Serena would get along with Goku as they can both be naive, easygoing and powerful while the rest of their respective crews would make a dynamic force against any threat to the Earth (or universe.)
Not to mention, between the two, they have a multitude of villains to choose from -- Queen Beryl, Chaos, Majiin Buu and Cell to name a few. It could also be an entirely new villain for the crew to fend off. And who knows... perhaps there's a Sailor Vegeta or Sailor Namek who has yet to be discovered. Since both aired on Toonami roughly around the same time, they could make their return to the previously Cartoon Network-owned brand.
1 CODENAME: SAILOR V
Although Sailor Venus is the last of the inner Sailor Scout to join the gang, she’s actually the first Sailor Scout to be awakened and the only other one to have her own solo manga series, “Codename: Sailor V,” which kicked off the “Sailor Moon” franchise. In the two-book series, Sailor Venus not only fights off villains in Tokyo, but in London as well. In the latter, she befriends two people, Alan and Katarina, the former of which she develops feelings for. But, after seeing that Katarina and Alan had a mutual love for each other, she left so they could be with each other.
This spinoff could delve more into Sailor V’s life before meeting Artemis, the moment she discovers that she’s a Sailor Scout and her rise to stardom as a video game protagonist. It could also show viewers additional moments of her as a superheroine fighting by herself against villains across Europe and Asia.
Be sure to tell us in the comments what kind of Sailor Moon spinoffs you want to read!