Sailor Moon is an epic saga about a middle school student turned superhero who fights for love and justice, in the name of the Moon. There are five seasons in the original Sailor Moon anime, and three seasons in the anime reboot, Sailor Moon Crystal. There are also two movies between seasons in the original anime series.
Sailor Moon Crystal also has two related, two-part movies, each with its own encapsulated story arc. Some of the Sailor Moon movies are filler arcs, and some tie in with the major plot of the series, but they all cover a story arc in its entirety. All five movies are worth watching, but some have higher production quality, poignant writing, engaging themes, catchy music, and gorgeous animation.
5 The Sailor Senshi Fight an Elegant Fairy Tale Villain in Sailor Moon S: The Movie, Hearts in Ice
Sailor Moon S: The Movie, Hearts in Ice gives a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale the magical girl treatment. The central villain, Princess Snow Kaguya, is directly inspired by the villain in Anderson's "The Snow Queen." Rather than wanting to steal away someone's childhood friend, like in the original fairy tale, Princess Snow Kaguya wants to freeze the Earth over, entering it into a second Ice Age. Armed with her beautiful and threatening Snow Dancers, all Princess Snow Kaguya needs is a comet fragment to make her catastrophic dreams come true.
Hearts in Ice is a filler arc movie. The animation is very pretty, and the concept is both elegant and humorous, but the story isn't quite as epic as other Sailor Moon movies. It's more of a sweet, holiday-themed anime interlude with medium-high stakes. Though Princess Snow Kaguya's story is a filler arc that doesn't advance the central plot of the story, it is based on a canon short story in the Sailor Moon universe by Naoko Takeuchi: "Princess Kaguya's Lover." Though Tuxedo Mask has some humorous cameos and Luna has a bittersweet love story, the villains are what make Hearts in Ice shine. Takeuchi draws from many epochs of folklore and artwork to inspire her manga. Princess Snow Kaguya's design is inspired by an Art Deco antique piece, and dancerlike German china figures inspire her Snow Dancer designs.
4 Chibiusa Gets Trapped in a Nightmare in Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie, Black Dream Hole
Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie, Black Dream Hole has the same '90s cel animation from the original series and very smooth and dreamy colors. So many fans enjoy the blue- and pink-wash Sailor Moon aesthetic and this movie really captures that feeling from start to finish. The villains are threatening in a surreal and beautiful way; the evil Queen Badiane looks like a vampiric goddess and her henchman, Poupelin, is deeply inspired by the fairy tale character, the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
Though Black Dream Hole is a filler movie, the central themes tie in with Sailor Moon Season Four, which takes place around the same time. Season Four's villains are circus-inspired (the Dead Moon Circus), which is very similar to Queen Badiane and the nightmare world she rules, made of broken dreams and twisted fairy tales. The story isn't directly adapted from any Naoko Takeuchi manga or short story, but she did work closely with SuperS anime writers to craft the overall concept, especially for the villains. This movie is criminally underrated, perhaps because it focuses on Chibiusa, who many fans dislike. Disliking Chibiusa isn't very fair considering that she's a child with great responsibilities who is often terrorized by evil forces; avoiding stories about her means missing out on a gem like Black Dream Hole.
3 Sailor Moon Eternal Highlights the Outer Senshi & the Series' Best Magical Boys
Sailor Moon Eternal introduces so many great Sailor Moon events, like the Outer Senshi, and some of Sailor Moon's greatest abilities, like Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss. The Outer Sailor Senshi are Sailor Neptune, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Pluto, and Sailor Saturn. Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune are huge fan favorites, and their talisman powers combined with Sailor Pluto's truly shine in Sailor Moon Eternal.
In the original anime, characters like Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Pluto tend to get shunted to the side, especially when it comes to big battles. Sailor Moon Eternal does a great job of balancing all the characters and their participation in Sailor Moon's battle against Queen Nehelenia. There are also some great magical boy moments. It's Naoko Takeuchi's rule that Sailor Senshi can only be girls, but that doesn't mean she didn't write some amazing magical boys. Pegasus, a.k.a. the priest, Helios, has a beautiful magical boy transformation as he turns from priest to Pegasus. Tuxedo Mask turns out to be integral, as he hosts his own powerful crystal. Everyone combines their powers — Inner Senshi, Outer Senshi, and Tuxedo Mask to assist Eternal Sailor Moon, and it's truly goosebump-inducing. And though there's still plenty of CGI animation in Sailor Moon Eternal, it does a better job of weaving it into the battle scenes than in the earlier parts of the Sailor Moon Crystal series.
As is tradition, this Sailor Moon movie incorporates some fairy tale themes and archetypes, but in a more subtle way than in the other movies; it's not an outright fairy tale retelling. Queen Nehelenia is Sailor Moon's dark double — she's a powerful ruler in her own right, and Nehelenia struggles with fears and insecurities, just like Sailor Moon does. They foil one another like Snow White and the Evil Queen do in the fairy tale "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves." Queen Nehelenia goes down the evil queen path because she gives in to her insecurities.
2 Sailor Moon Cosmos Digs Deep into Lore & Sailor Moon's Future
Sailor Moon Cosmos encapsulates the final Sailor Moon arc. This reboot version promises to dig deep into Sailor Moon's lore and the complicated implications for Sailor Moon's future. The original anime covered this arc in its final season, too, but it ignored and rewrote some of the more complex manga conclusions. Sailor Moon Cosmos promises to confront these complexities head-on.
Sailor Moon has many lighthearted and hopeful themes, like good triumphing over evil, compassion, healing, the power of friendship, teamwork, and selfless love. But to go along with those lofty, optimistic themes, the manga wasn't afraid to get dark and philosophical. A magical girl character destined to fight evil that never sleeps can be quite a lonely existence. Sailor Moon gets her fair share of happiness, like a romantic wedding, a future family, and support from her closest friends. With her great power and happiness, however, comes a mantle of responsibility so heavy that it would suffocate most.
Sailor Moon's final form, Sailor Cosmos, sparks a lot of fan debate, especially because the original anime tried to soften the meaning of Sailor Cosmos. Sailor Cosmos is powerful enough to fight evil, but being the most powerful means that she ultimately fights alone. Sailor Moon Cosmos fully leans into the glitter and the sadness in the Sailor Moon manga.
1 Sailor Moon R: The Movie, The Promise of the Rose Is Pure Romance
Sailor Moon R: The Movie, The Promise of the Rose is the very first Sailor Moon movie, and nothing beats it. It's the movie that fans reference the most. The settings and animation may not be as grandiose as in the reboot movies, but the cel animation is elegant and communicates the movie's bittersweet tone perfectly. The Promise of the Rose is an encapsulated filler storyline, but it sheds some light on key characters, like Tuxedo Mask.
Tuxedo Mask lost his parents and most of his memories at a young age, and The Promise of the Rose explores some of those shadowy memories and how they influence the person he grows into. It also reveals some of his sweet backstory with Usagi when they were children. Sailor Moon R: The Movie, The Promise of the Rose follows the first Sailor Moon season finale, and even though it's just one feature-length movie, the finale feels just as epic and romantic as the Dark Kingdom arc finale.
Fiore makes an excellent, sympathetic villain with plant powers and a touching redemption arc. He's such a dynamic character that it almost feels like a shame that he's only in the one Sailor Moon movie. Interestingly, Naoko Takeuchi butted heads with anime staff over The Promise of the Rose, and the film was mostly written not by her but by Kunihiko Ikuhara. The movie keeps true to many of Naoko Takeuchi's central Sailor Moon themes, though, like love conquering all, swoon-worthy romance, complex villains, and healing and compassion over domination.
