Ask John: What Are The Successors of Sailor Moon?

Question:
What are successors of Sailor Moon?

Answer:
Although 1992 Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon television series is far from the first magical girl anime, it is the magical girl anime that introduced the concept of a group of magically empowered schoolgirls that defend the world from the forces of evil. Sailor Moon is also the first magical girl anime to receive major mainstream distribution in America. So the successors of Sailor Moon are the programs influenced by Sailor Moon – the anime productions since 1992 that exhibit the characteristics that Sailor Moon pioneered.

Sailor Moon revolutionized anime by introducing the concept of a team of magical girls motivated by a sense of justice and responsibility to oppose evil and defend the world from harm. This is a departure from the majority of earlier magical girl anime such as Fushigi na Melmo, Majokko Tickle, Majokko Megu-chan, Mahou no Angel Sweet Mint, Maho no Tenshi Creamy Mami, Maho no Yousei Pelsia, and Mahoutsukai Sally that depict magical girls who use their powers to help themselves and their neighbors. The 1973 Cutey Honey television anime did feature a transforming heroine that stood against an evil organization, but Cutey Honey involves neither magic nor a team of heroines. The 1982 Minky Momo television series loosely revolves around a magical girl’s struggles against an amorphous malicious influence, but this plot isn’t the series’ primary narrative conflict. The 1985 Leda OVA depicts a magically empowered girl defending the world from evil, but Leda is not set on Earth, nor does it involve a heroine team.

Sailor Moon was particularly striking and influential because it emphasized “girl power.” Sailor Moon provided a new feminist role model for young girls because it depicted girls who were assertive, empowered, and able to defend what was precious to them while not sacrificing their friendships, interest in boys, their fashion sense, and their feminine personalities. Previous magical girls were cute, non-threatening entities like angels, fairies, witches, or princesses. However, the girls of Sailor Moon were “beautiful soldiers.” The aggressive, militaristic label “senshi” is tremendously different from anything that had appeared in magical girl anime before. Sailor Moon struck a chord, and just as the popular 1986 St. Seiya hero team anime was followed by the similar Shurato and Samurai Troopers series, Sailor Moon quickly had imitators and descendants.

The most obvious descendants of Sailor Moon are anime that feature teams of magical girls that battle evil or threatening villains, including Maho Kishi Rayearth (1994), Ai Tenshi Densetsu Wedding Peach (1995), Tokyo Mew Mew (2002), Rikujo Boueitai Mao-chan (2002), Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch (2003), the 2003 Kido Shinsengumi Moeyo Ken OVA series and its 2005 TV series incarnation, Chou Henshin Cos-Prayers (2004), Futari wa Precure (2004), Sweet Valerian (2004), Ryusei Sentai Musumet (2004), the 2005 Magical Canan TV series, Papillon Rose New Season (2006), Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z (2006), and Saint October (2007). Sailor Moon also seemingly inspired a number of other anime productions. The 1997 Alice in Cyberland OVA series doesn’t involve magic, but does feature a transforming heroine trio that battles evil monsters. Similarly, the 1998 Super Doll Ricca-chan TV series doesn’t involve magical transformations, but otherwise owes its fighting girls concept to Sailor Moon. Nurse Angel Ririka SOS (1995), the Mahou Shoujo Pretty Samy OVA series (1995), Cutey Honey F (1997), Corrector Yui (1999), Shin Shirayukihime Densetsu Pretear (2001), Nurse Witch Komugi-chan (2002), Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha (2004), and Tenbatsu Angel Rabbie (2004) all exhibit the magical fighter influence of Sailor Moon but star one girl instead of a team of girls. The 1994 Sailor Senshi Venus Five adult anime OVA series, 2003 Papillon Rose OVA, and 2004 Magical Canan OVA series all draw obvious inspiration from Sailor Moon, but these titles aren’t typically considered legitimate spiritual successors of Sailor Moon because they’re not intended for the normal audience of magical girl anime.

Numerous magical girl anime have premiered since Sailor Moon’s 1992 debut, including Miracle Girls, Fancy Lala, Akazukin Chacha, Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne, Ojamajo Doremi, Fushigiboshi no Futago Hime, Tonde Burin, Card Captor Sakura, Shugo Chara!, and Princess Tutu, just to name a few. But these magical girl anime don’t involve girls that fight for justice or battle the threat of evil. Similarly, anime releases such as Desert Rose (1993), SM Girls Saber Marionette R (1995), and Akihabara Dennou Gumi (1998) have featured teams of fighting girls, but the absence of magic, the lack of a motivating sense of justice or responsibility to defend the world from the forces of evil, and the fact that these titles aren’t “magical girl” anime exclude them from strict classification as descendants of Sailor Moon’s influence.