Sailor Moon (season)

"From a far away place and time, Earth's greatest adventure is about to begin."

- Opening Scroll

Sailor Moon (美少女戦士セーラームーン), sometimes referred to as "Sailor Moon Classic", is the first season in the Sailor Moon series. The series first premiered August 28, 1995 (in Canada), and September 11, 1995 through November 3, 1995 (in USA), weekday mornings and afternoons on the UPN Network at 6:00am.

The first season of Sailor Moon and its second season, Sailor Moon R, ran on the UPN Network from September 1995 to December 1995. After the series was officially cancelled, it was picked by the USA Network with support from General Mills-sponsored The Program Exchange. Sailor Moon debuted June 9, 1997 on USA's Cartoon Express during the USA Extreme Action Team Block. Reruns of Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon R were aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami during the Summer of 1998 as a lead up to the "Lost Episodes" (episodes unaired by either UPN or USA).

Becoming Sailor Moon
On her way to school, Serena Tsukino sees some cruel kids picking on a cat. After sending the kids away, she sees the cat has a crescent moon on her forehead. Serena is being annoyed by a man named Darien, and goes to a jewelry store with her friend Molly, whose mother runs the store. However, the evil Queen Beryl of the Negaverse sends her commander, Jedite, to gather energy for Beryl's master, the Negaforce. Jedite sends a Negamonster named Morga to impersonate Molly's mother. As she drains energy from the people at the jewelry store, the cat, Luna, talks to Serena and gives her a locket, which she uses to transform into Sailor Moon. She then goes after Morga. After a mysterious masked man named Tuxedo Mask arrives to help her, Sailor Moon destroys Morga with Moon Tiara Magic.

Finding the Sailor Scouts
Sailor Moon foils three more of Jedite's energy-absorbing plans; two of which involve her destroying monsters Fro and Derela, and one of which involves her releasing some men from Jedite's control. Soon, she meets a girl named Amy, whom Central Control warns Luna might be from the Negaverse, however, against an attack from the Negamonster Garoben, Luna discovers that Amy is Sailor Mercury, and gives her a pen that allows her to transform. With Sailor Mercury's help of Mercury Bubbles Blast, Sailor Moon destroys Garoben.

After Jedite's next plan is failed, and his monster Ramwoir destroyed, Raye of the temple is revealed to be Sailor Mars, who destroys Jedite's next monster, Kigaan. After his next two plans are foiled, with Sailor Moon destroying Dream Dolly and Titus, Queen Beryl tells Jedite to defeat the Sailor Scouts, threatening him with Eternal Sleep should he fail. The Sailor Scouts defeat Jedite, and Beryl keeps her promise and condemns him to Eternal Sleep.

A Change of Generals
Neflite becomes her next commander, though he is often insulted by Zoycite. Rather than gather energy from several people, Neflite tries to gather more energy from one person when their energy reaches its highest point. His first target is a girl whose tennis racket he implants the essence of a monster in. When her energy reaches its peak, the monster, Tensie, comes out and drains the girl's energy, but Sailor Moon destroys her. She foils more of Neflite's plans, destroying his monsters Petasos, Black Widow, Kyameran, and Jumo. Neflite then attempts to use Tuxedo Mask as Sailor Moon's weakness, disguising himself as Tuxedo Mask to lead her into a trap, but although his plan fails, he is able to take energy from Molly for the Negaforce.

After Neflite's final energy-absorbing plan is foiled, when the three Sailor Scouts destroy the Gemini Warriors, Queen Beryl decides to find the Moon Princess instead. Neflite soon discovers that Princess Diamond is not the Moon Princess, and his monster, Soul Shadow, is destroyed. Molly falls in love with Neflite, and when he is defeated by the Sailor Scouts, jumps in front of him to protect him from Sailor Moon's tiara. Neflite in turn protects Molly from Zoycite's monster Yasha, who is then destroyed by Sailor Moon.

Neflite soon discovers Sailor Moon's true identity, but goes to save Molly when she is kidnapped by three of Zoycite's monsters. One of them, Housenka, returns and stabs Neflite with thorns. The monsters are killed by Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars, but Neflite dies of his injuries.

Rainbow Crystals and a Moon Princess Revealed
After giving the Negaforce some energy, Queen Beryl is instructed to find the seven Rainbow Crystals so they can have the Imperium Silver Crystal. Beryl tells Zoycite and Malachite that the Seven Shadows, the strongest Negamonsters, were imprisoned in the earth's atmosphere, and reborn inside humans who carry the seven crystals. Zoycite targets a man named Game Machine Joe. Meanwhile, Serena meets a girl named Lita, who falls in love with Joe Zoycite extracts Joe's crystal and awakens one of the Seven Shadows inside him, turning him into Game Machine Man. After Lita is revealed as Sailor Jupiter, transforms, and attacks him, Luna gives Sailor Moon the crescent moon wand, which she uses to heal Joe. She also discovers that Tuxedo Mask has left her a Star Locket that plays the Japanese theme song; this shows their love and affection for each other.

Zoycite extracts the next six crystals, but Tuxedo Mask gets two of them, and the Sailor Scouts get another, but Zoycite gets the other three, however each of the Seven Shadows is killed when the victim turned into a monster is healed by Sailor Moon. Later, Zoycite forces Sailor Moon to hand over the crystal she has, turning the odds of obtaining the Silver Crystal in the Negaverse's favor. Afterward, Malachite decides to attack the Sailor Scouts while Zoycite seeks out Tuxedo Mask's crystals. She tricks him, disguised as Sailor Moon, then stabs him. Right when she has him cornered, she is attacked by Sailor Venus, who then attacks Malachite as he has Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, and Sailor Jupiter trapped inside a dome of darkness. Sailor Venus has a cat with her named Artemis.

Queen Beryl decides to turn Darien evil. Zoycite challenges Darien to a battle over the crystal at a tower. However, when Serena notices that he is bleeding, she follows him, and is teleported into the tower with Darien. Zoycite double crosses Darien, with Malachite taking all seven crystals. Darien scratches Zoycite's face, which makes her angry and she tries to kill them both (against Queen Beryl's orders). Serena is forced to transform into Sailor Moon in front of Darien to protect them from a fire attack in the elevator. Darien then transforms into Tuxedo Mask. Zoycite stabs Darien with an ice crystal just as the other Sailor Scouts arrive. The seven Rainbow Crystals combine into the Imperium Silver Crystal, and Sailor Moon is revealed to be the Moon Princess, Princess Serena.

Princess Serena defeats Zoycite with Cosmic Moon Power. Malachite snatches Darien away. Beryl kills Zoycite as punishment for disobeying her, then begins to turn Darien evil. Malachite attacks the Sailor Scouts, but Sailor Moon fights him off with Cosmic Moon Power.

The Final Stretch
Malachite seeks out Sailor Moon, turning several people into monsters in an attempt to find her and take the crystal. However, each of his plans is foiled, and the monsters are healed. Tuxedo Mask, now Prince Darien, and turned evil, occasionally helps them out (as he does not want Sailor Moon killed as Malachite does), but sometimes helps out the Negamonsters, and gets into arguments with Malachite.

During this time, Central Control is revealed to be Artemis. Eventually, Darien is healed by Sailor Moon, but is taken back to the Negaverse and brainwashed again. The Sailor Scouts soon trick the Negaverse by pretending to fight, and discover the entrance to the Negaverse. While walking through the cave, they encounter Malachite, only for the silver crystal to take them back through time, where the spirit of Queen Serenity shows them the story of the Moon Kingdom.

The Moon Kingdom was a peaceful place where Princess Serena fell in love with Prince Darien. However, the Negaverse, led by Queen Beryl and the Negaforce, invaded, and nearly killed the Sailor Scouts, Serena, and Darien, forcing Queen Serenity to use Cosmic Moon Power to seal Beryl, the Negaforce, Jedite, Neflite, Zoycite, Malachite, and everyone else inside the crystal. Before dying from using up all her strength, she sent Luna and Artemis into the future, along with Serena, Darien, and the Sailor Scouts to be reborn on Earth.

After the flashback, Luna and Artemis are nearly killed by Malachite, who gets even stronger than before and attacks the Sailor Scouts with energy blades, but Sailor Moon uses Cosmic Moon Power and reflects one of them back at him, killing him.

Facing Queen Beryl
The Sailor Scouts then teleport to the entrance of the Negaverse, but are attacked by the Doom and Gloom Girls. The Sailor Scouts are apparently killed by the Doom and Gloom Girls, though they manage to take all of them down with them. With Sailor Moon alone, Queen Beryl teleports her inside the Negaverse and sends Darien after her. Moon Healing Activation does not work, and neither does Moon Tiara Magic, but she eventually heals him by getting him to touch the Star Locket.

After she throws an ice shard with both their names on it in a last ditch effort destroy Sailor Moon and Prince Darien, Darien then injures Queen Beryl by throwing a rose directly at her. Seeing no other way, the Negaforce merges with Beryl, turning them into a gigantic Beryl. Sailor Moon transforms into Princess Serena and fights Beryl. Powered up from the spirits of the other Sailor Scouts, Serena uses Cosmic Moon Power to form a giant energy ball that completely destroys Beryl.

With Beryl, the Negaforce, and the Negaverse destroyed, all five Sailor Scouts and Darien return to lives on Earth, though their memories of being friends or Sailor Scouts are erased.

Missing Episodes
During the localization process of the first season, forty out of forty-five episodes were ordered. The five episodes omitted were, "The Monster Mansion" (episode two), "Chanela Will Steal Your Love" (episode 3), "Protect the Melody of Love" (episode six), "The Summer, the Beach, Youth, and Ghosts" (episode twenty), and "Shadow in the House" (episode forty-two). Of the five episodes omitted, only episode forty-two contains pertinent plot and character information regarding a central character.

Episodes forty five and forty-six, "The Tragic Final Battle" and "Usagi's Everlasting Wish", were combined and edited to create the fortieth episode "Day of Destiny".

Trivia

 * Queen Beryl and the Negaforce are the central antagonists of the season.
 * Throughout Sailor Moon the Negaverse uses several methods to gather energy to release the Negaforce:
 * In the first half of the season energy is gathered using "Negamonsters" (Ep. 1-20)
 * The second half, Queen Beryl's generals are collecting the Rainbow Crystals (Ep. 21-30)
 * The third half of the season sees Queen Beryl attempt to capture the Imperium Silver Crystal from Sailor Moon (Ep. 31-40).
 * The commercial bumpers were used in the first ten episodes only.
 * From Episode eleven until its cancellation on UPN, a bumper featuring Sailor Moon's Moon Prism Power transformation was the commercial bumper used.
 * The opening scroll at the beginning of each episode early on was only used in fourteen episodes.
 * This is the only season where Rini does not appear, as she is introduced in Sailor Moon R.
 * This is the only season where the major villains get equal screemtime during their missions:
 * Jedite and Neflite both last ten episodes.
 * Zoycite lasts eleven episodes before Beryl kills her (though Zoycite first appears during Neflite's first attempt).
 * Malachite lasts eight episodes (his first appearance was in Episode eighteen. He dies in the thirty-ninth).