Growing up, I wasn’t allowed to watch much television. Though it has left me conversationally stunted when it comes to discussing ’90s pop culture, there was one glorious exception to the no-TV rule: Sailor Moon.

So far, the Geek Chic column has focused predominantly on science fiction and fantasy, but the world of geek definitely extends far beyond those two genres. This time, we’re boldly exploring a medium we haven’t covered before: animation (specifically, Japanese animation, commonly referred to as anime). Though there are scores of notable anime series, Sailor Moon is among the most popular.

Note: This post is about the English adaptations of the anime only, so I’ll be using the translated character names/terms, e.g. “Sailor Scout” instead of “Sailor Senshi.”

Need more Geek Chic? Check out previous posts about Doctor Who-inspired fashion (plus part 2 and part 3), BBC’s Sherlock-inspired fashion, Star Wars-inspired fashion, The Hunger Games-inspired fashion, The Big Bang Theory-inspired fashion, The Lord of the Rings-inspired fashion, and Star Trek-inspired fashion.

Table of Contents

Know Your Geek: About Sailor Moon

• Created by Naoko Takeuchi, the Sailor Moon franchise began as a manga (printed animation) and has branched into various media forms including: TV anime series, live-action series, stage musicals, movies, and video games.
• The anime aired from 1995 to 1996 in the United States and was later picked up by Cartoon Network. The show is often credited with helping anime enter mainstream Western culture; indeed, Sailor Moon, with her iconic golden pigtails and red odango, is one of the most recognizable anime characters ever.
• Millions of years ago, Princess Serenity was the princess of the moon. However, she was sent into the future to be reborn as a defender of the Earth. In the present day, the princess has been reincarnated as Serena, a ditzy 14-year-old who has no memory of her celestial past.
• After Serena learns of her alternate identity as Sailor Moon, she is tasked with finding the other Sailor Scouts (who are the reincarnations of her royal guardians) and ultimately, to find the Moon Princess and restore unity to the galaxy. Of course, neither Serena nor her advisers realize that she is the princess.

Outfits Inspired by Sailor Moon

Get ready to fight some evil by moonlight and win some love by daylight in these looks inspired by the world of Sailor Moon!