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Sailor Moon Musicals and Sera Myu
Off and on since 1993, Japan has seen many Sailor Moon
musicals, though none of the elaborate productions were performed outside of Asia
until the late 2010's, despite a cult following of both the metaseries of Sailor Moon and bootlegs of the VHS taped plays. For the
original plays, there would be 2 or more plays each year from 1993 to 2005.
After a hiatus, new plays began to run with one new story each year from 2013
with occasional dueling shows from Team Star and Team Moon. While initially based on the original 90s anime, most of
the plays exist in their own universes and are largely considered to be
non-cannon. Few plays even link up to each other as a series. As such, the
plays usually take liberties with the story, sometimes adding new characters
to the plot or killing off characters that are otherwise alive in the anime
and manga. Older plays take very little from the manga, while the more recent
plays use the manga as a jumping point, even going to far as to introduce
previously manga only characters, such as Sailor Cosmos. While many of the 90s plays featured a mix of men and
women, starting in 2013 male roles have been exclusively played by women. With the exception of a few late Dream Arc/SuperS plays
and StarS plays, Chibiusa is usually played by two children. This is because
of child labor laws in Japan stating how many hours a child up to a certain
age can legally work. Chibi Chibi is also played by two children. Hotaru, the
Amazoness Quartet and some incarnations of Sailor Chibi Moon however are
played by only one child per role, as these are usually tween roles. The 90s plays usually ran alternate versions of the same
play. For example, the SuperS themed play Love into Eternity had a first run
ending where Hotaru is revived as a normal little girl and a new life, while
Mamoru is killed and reincarnated in the 30th Century, never to
return. The revision play the following year has an alternate ending in which
Hotaru becomes Sailor Saturn and revives Mamoru, saving Chibiusa from fading
out of existence and saving Usagi from a lonely life. Most of the musicals feature thicker costumes, sometimes
with gold piping on the skirts and bodices and extra skirts underneath. This
is an old theater trick that makes them more visible to those sitting in the
back "nosebleed" seats. Bandai has on rare occasion released dolls, musical
instruments and cosplay toys for some of the Sera Myu plays. Irwin in 1997 released a set of Sailor Moon dolls with
gold trim and metallic costumes that somewhat mimic the musical costumes. Despite the darker tone, the 90s musicals were often marketed
to families with small children, while the newer plays are mostly marketed to
adults. Five plays were never released on VHS, Laserdisc, DVD or
Blu-Ray. They Are in order: |
Plays:
1993 Summer Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ An Alternate Legend - Dark Kingdom Revival
Story
1994 Summer Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon S ~ Usagi - The Path to Become the Warrior
of Love
1995 Summer Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon SuperS ~ Dream Warriors - Love - Into
Eternity
1996 Spring Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon SuperS (Revision) ~ Dream Warriors - Love -
Into Eternity... Saturn Revival Chapter
1996 Summer Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon Sailor Stars
1997 Winter Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon Sailor Stars (Revision)
1997 Summer Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ Eternal Legend
1998 Winter Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ Eternal Legend (Revision) - The Final
First Stage
1998 Summer Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ Beginning of the New Legend
1999 Spring Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ Legend of Kaguya Island
1999 Summer Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ The Legend of Kaguya Island (Revision) -
Summer Vacation! The Jewel Expedition Team
2000 Winter Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ New/Transformation - The Path to Become
the Super Warrior - Overture of Last Dracul
2000 Summer Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ Decisive Battle / Transylvania's Forest -
New Appearance! The Warriors Who Protect Chibi Moon
2001 Winter Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ Final Fight / The Forest of Transylvania
(Revision) - The Secret of the Most Powerful Enemy Dark Cain
2001 Spring Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ Last Dracul
Final Chapter - The Seal of the Super Planet Death Vulcan
2001 Summer Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ Birth! The Princess of Darkness - Black
Lady
2002 Winter Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ Birth! Princess of Darkness - Black Lady
(Revision) - The Secret of the Planet Nemesis
2002 Spring Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ 10th Anniversary Festival - Sanctuary of
Love Memorial Talk & Live Show
2002 Summer Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ Infinity Academy - Mistress Labyrinth
2003 Winter Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ Infinity Academy - Mistress Labyrinth ~
(Revision)
2003 Summer Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ Starlights - Legend of the Shooting Stars
2004 Winter Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ The Advent of Princess Kakyuu - The Second
Stage Final
2004 Summer Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ New Legend of Kaguya Island
2005 Winter Special
Musical Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ New Legend of Kaguya Island (Revision) - Marinamoon Final
Summer 2013: Pretty
Guardian Sailor Moon - La Reconquista
Summer 2014: Pretty
Guardian Sailor Moon - ~ Petite Étrangère ~
Summer 2015: Pretty
Guardian Sailor Moon - ~ Un Nouveau Voyage ~
Autumn 2016: Pretty
Guardian Sailor Moon - ~ Amour Eternal ~
October 2017 : Pretty
Guardian Sailor Moon - ~ Le Mouvement Final ~
2018, June Pretty
Guardian Sailor Moon - Nogizaka46 Version
2018, September
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon - The Super Live
Nogizaka46 Version Musical 2019 (2019)
Kaguya-hime no Koibito (2021)
30th Anniversary Music Festival – Chronicle (2022)
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Um…
are we getting anything else?
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me back to Sailor Moon Cosmos
Follow me back to Moon Sisters!