Sailor Moon S

Volluble Essential

美少女戦士セーラームーン S

Anime1994Finished

Overview

Sailor Moon S is a 38-episode television season that gives the magical-girl format a more dramatic, ensemble-driven shape. Its appeal comes from the balance between spectacular transformation and super-powered action on one side, and school life, romance, friendship, and everyday comedy on the other. The result is an urban fantasy with a distinctly communal spirit: its female warriors are defined not only by individual strength, but also by loyalty, found family, and the tension between growing up and carrying adult-sized responsibilities.

This season matters for the way it lets lighter and heavier moods coexist. Slapstick and episodic adventures make the setting welcoming, while themes of tragedy, mythology, alien threats, and coming of age give the story greater emotional weight. Viewers who enjoy character-focused teams, primarily female casts, and heroic stories that treat relationships as a source of power may find it especially approachable. It also offers a useful entry point for audiences curious about classic shoujo anime, magical-girl storytelling, or the roots of many later team-based fantasy series. A finished run, available English dub, and streaming availability on Hulu, YouTube, and Netflix make this individual season relatively easy to sample.

Synopsis

In this television season, Usagi Tsukino and the other Sailor Guardians face a new threat that reaches beyond the ordinary battles of their school-age lives. The enemy is the Death Busters, a dangerous force seeking to bring about an era known as the Silence and rule over the world that follows. As strange incidents begin to point toward a larger supernatural crisis, the Guardians must rely on their powers, teamwork, and growing understanding of what it means to protect one another.

Rei’s troubling premonition connects the coming catastrophe to three powerful Talismans, which are needed to summon the Holy Grail. The search for these objects draws the Guardians into conflict with the Death Busters while raising questions about who can be trusted and what sacrifices may be required. At the same time, two mysterious new Sailor Guardians, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, pursue the Talismans according to their own plan. Their determination to act without Sailor Moon’s help creates tension within the wider group, making the season as much a story about divided responsibilities and uneasy alliances as it is about magical battles.

Trailer

Should You Watch It?

Watch it if you enjoy

  • Watch if you enjoy classic magical-girl action balanced with school life, romance, friendship, and comedy.
  • Best approached after earlier Sailor Moon seasons, since this 38-episode continuation builds on Usagi and the Guardians while introducing the Death Busters, Uranus, and Neptune.

It may not suit you if

  • May not suit viewers seeking a stand-alone story, since it assumes familiarity with the ongoing Sailor Moon cast and setting.
  • Its episodic school-life comedy and slapstick may feel uneven for viewers who prefer a consistently serious supernatural drama.
Volluble Test Drive Try 4 episodes About 1 hour 36 minutes

This automatic starting point balances the series length, pacing, time commitment, and available Volluble research data. Editors can override it when firsthand knowledge suggests a better entry point.

Why It Connects With Audiences

Why people love it

  • The season gives its primarily female team a strong communal spirit, treating loyalty, found family, and teamwork as sources of power.
  • Its mix of transformation spectacle, urban fantasy, tragedy, and coming-of-age themes creates a broader emotional range than its lighter episodes suggest.

Common criticisms

  • The contrast between comedy and heavier themes may make the season's tone feel inconsistent to some viewers.
  • The central conflict involves divided responsibilities and uneasy alliances, which can make the story feel less direct than a simpler team-versus-enemy adventure.

Volluble DNA

A quick profile of the title’s dominant storytelling ingredients.

Action
82
Comedy
58
Emotion
84
Mystery
62
Romance
48
Horror
18
Philosophy
44
Anime/Manga Convention Intensity
88
Characters and Voice Actors25 characters

Usagi Tsukino

Main character
  • Japanese: Kotono Mitsuishi
  • English: Stephanie Sheh
  • English: Linda Ballantyne

Ami Mizuno

Main character
  • Japanese: Aya Hisakawa
  • English: Kate Higgins
  • English: Liza Balkan

Rei Hino

Main character
  • Japanese: Michie Tomizawa
  • English: Cristina Vee
  • English: Katie Griffin

Makoto Kino

Main character
  • Japanese: Emi Shinohara
  • English: Susan Roman
  • English: Amanda Celine Miller

Minako Aino

Main character
  • Japanese: Rica Fukami
  • English: Emilie-Claire Barlow
  • English: Cherami Leigh

Chibiusa

Main character
  • Japanese: Kae Araki
  • English: Sandy Fox
  • English: Stephanie Beard

Setsuna Meiou

Main character
  • English: Veronica Taylor
  • English: Susan Aceron
  • Japanese: Chiyoko Kawashima

Michiru Kaiou

Main character
  • Japanese: Masako Katsuki
  • English: Barbara Radecki
  • English: Lauren Landa

Haruka Tenou

Main character
  • Japanese: Megumi Ogata
  • English: Sarah Lafleur
  • English: Erica Mendez

Hotaru Tomoe

Main character
  • Japanese: Yuuko Minaguchi
  • English: Jennifer Gould
  • English: Christine Cabanos

Mamoru Chiba

Main character
  • Japanese: Tooru Furuya
  • English: Vincent Corazza
  • English: Robbie Daymond

Souichi Tomoe

Main character
  • Japanese: Akira Kamiya
  • English: Jeff Lumby
  • English: Keith Silverstein

Luna

Supporting character
  • English: Michelle Ruff
  • Japanese: Keiko Han
  • English: Jill Frappier

Artemis

Supporting character
  • English: Johnny Yong Bosch
  • Japanese: Yasuhiro Takato
  • English: Ron Rubin

Naru Oosaka

Supporting character
  • English: Danielle Judovits
  • English: Mary Long
  • Japanese: Shino Kakinuma

Gurio Umino

Supporting character
  • Japanese: Keiichi Nanba
  • English: Benjamin Isaac Diskin
  • English: Roland Parliament

Kaolinite

Supporting character
  • English: Tara Platt
  • English: Kirsten Bishop
  • Japanese: Noriko Uemura

Mistress 9

Supporting character
  • Japanese: Yuuko Minaguchi
  • English: Jennifer Gould
  • Japanese: Yukiyo Fujii
  • English: Christine Cabanos

Motoki Furuhata

Supporting character
  • Japanese: Yuuki Satou
  • English: Colin O’Meara
  • English: Lucien Dodge

Unazuki Furuhata

Supporting character
  • English: Veronica Taylor
  • Japanese: Miyako Endou
  • English: Catherine Disher

Yuuichirou Kumada

Supporting character
  • English: Wally Wingert
  • Japanese: Bin Shimada
  • English: Damon D’Oliveira

Eudial

Supporting character
  • Japanese: Maria Kawamura
  • English: Erin Fitzgerald
  • English: Loretta Jafelice

Mimete

Supporting character
  • Japanese: Mika Kanai
  • English: Kira Buckland
  • English: Catherine Disher

Tellu

Supporting character
  • Japanese: Chieko Honda
  • English: Julie Lemieux
  • English: Laura Post

Viluy

Supporting character
  • English: Julie Ann Taylor
  • Japanese: Yoshino Takamori
  • English: Daniela Olivieri
Production and Staff26 credits
Animation StudioToei Animation
Original CreatorNaoko Takeuchi
DirectorKunihiko Ikuhara
Character DesignIkuko Itou
Art DesignTakamura Mukuo
MusicTakanori Arisawa
Script (eps 3, 12-13, 18, 29)Katsuyuki Sumisawa
Script (eps 7, 11, 17, 21, 25-26, 30, 35-36)Youji Enokido
Chief Animation DirectorIkuko Itou
Key Animation (eps 3, 5, 10, 14, 20, 26)Hideyuki Morioka
Theme Song Performance (ED)Kotono Mitsuishi
Theme Song Performance (ED1)Youko Ishida
View all 14 additional credits
Theme Song Performance (ED)Rica Fukami
Theme Song Performance (ED)Michie Tomizawa
Theme Song Performance (ED 2)Aya Hisakawa
Theme Song Performance (OP)Sakurakko Club Sakura-gumi
Theme Song Performance (ED 2)Emi Shinohara
Script (eps 1, 5, 9, 20, 22, 33, 38)Sukehiro Tomita
Script (eps 2, 6, 14, 16, 23, 28, 32)Shigeru Yanagawa
Episode Director (eps 14, 20)Kazuya Kuroda
Episode Director (eps 1, 8, 15, 20)Junichi Satou
Episode Director (eps 17, 26, 32, 35)Takuya Igarashi
Episode Director (eps 6, 10, 19, 25, 30, 34, 38)Harume Kosaka
Episode Director (eps 3, 14, 21, 28)Kunihiko Ikuhara
Assistant DirectorHarume Kosaka
Assistant Director (ep 29)Masahide Yanagisawa

Production Background

Sailor Moon S is a television anime adaptation of the manga written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. The series was produced by Toei Animation and TV Asahi, with Junichi Sato, Kunihiko Ikuhara, and Takuya Igarashi credited among its directors. As a 38-episode installment, this production continues the anime’s central magical-girl framework while introducing the Death Busters as its principal opposing force. The story also brings Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune into focus as mysterious Sailor Guardians pursuing the Talismans for their own reasons.

The Japanese broadcast began on March 19, 1994, and concluded on February 25, 1995. Each episode has a listed runtime of approximately 24 minutes, and the work is recorded as finished. Its source is identified as manga rather than an original anime concept. The anime’s English-dub history is connected to the North American releases of the first four seasons, which were handled by DIC Entertainment and Cloverway. An English dub is available for this work, and the title is listed through Hulu, YouTube, and Netflix. These release details belong to the television anime production and should be distinguished from the source manga and other adaptations.

Franchise Context

Sailor Moon S is a continuation of the main Sailor Moon television anime, not a remake, spin-off, or separate interpretation. As a 1994 TV series with 38 episodes, it carries the ongoing story of Usagi Tsukino and the Sailor Guardians into a new stage. The series remains part of the original anime adaptation associated with Naoko Takeuchi’s manga, following the earlier Sailor Moon installments rather than functioning as a stand-alone entry.

Within the wider anime storyline, this installment marks a significant turning point through the arrival of the Death Busters and the introduction of the mysterious Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. Their presence expands the established team and changes the balance between the Guardians’ shared mission and competing approaches to protecting the world. Sailor Moon S therefore serves as a central continuation in the core TV series, building on its established cast, magical-girl setting, and serialized conflicts while opening the franchise’s next major chapter.

Where This Fits in Sailor Moon

A spoiler-light guide to where this exact work fits within the broader Sailor Moon franchise.

Exact position: This is Main anime entry 3 and main anime entry 3 of 6. It follows Sailor Moon R.

  1. Step 1
    If you are beginning the anime franchise, start with the earlier Sailor Moon television seasons to follow Usagi and the Sailor Guardians from their introduction.
  2. Step 2
    Watch Sailor Moon S as the next main anime season. It is a continuation, not an alternate version or optional side story, and centers on the Death Busters and the arrival of Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune.
  3. Step 3
    After Sailor Moon S, continue with the subsequent Sailor Moon anime season to follow the franchise's next major threat.

Franchise Path

  1. Sailor Moon
  2. Sailor Moon R
  3. Sailor Moon S (current)
  4. Sailor Moon SuperS
  5. Sailor Moon Sailor Stars
  6. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal: Season 3

After You Finish

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Sources2 sources
  1. AniList - Sailor Moon S
  2. Wikipedia: List of Sailor Moon episodes

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