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While I went through the first 7-8 episodes of the original Sailor Moon, I
noticed a few episodes that didn't really advance the plot much. (An example
of this would be the episode where Jadeite poses as a radio announcer and
sucks the energy out of women who receive fake declarations of love.) I have
also found lists of filler episodes on the internet, such as [this
one](http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=23484613), for the
original Sailor Moon.

I've also noticed that a lot of "unnecessary" plot seen in those episodes of
the original anime is cut from Sailor Moon Crystal, though to some extent this
also just makes sense given that they have a limited number of episodes to
work with.

How closely does the original anime follow the manga? (I understand that they
are probably more or less similar in terms of plot, but is there a significant
portion of episodes or "filler" that's original material and not from the
manga?)

**Edit:** I am referring to the original Japanese anime, not the English (or
European) dubs - I already know that those involved quite a bit of censoring
of things like nudity or same-sex relationships. I should also add that I just
got into Sailor Moon, and so am not too familiar with it.


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sailor-moon
How much of the original Sailor Moon anime isn't from the manga?


You are correct that, overall, the classic anime has more non-plot advancing
material (i.e. filler) than the manga does. On the other hand, in many cases,
the anime boasts more plot and depth of storytelling, whereas the manga plows
through each story arc in a more bare-bones, brief, and (arguably) flat style.
As a couple of examples: 1) whether villain or ally, many characters in the
manga are introduced and then promptly killed off in order to move on to the
next character. Only in the anime are enduringly popular minions such as the
Witches 5, Amazon Trio, and Animamates developed into personable and
sympathetic characters. 2) In the manga, it's not as clear as to how the
Starlights enrolling as students at Juuban High School is very necessary to
advancing the plot, whereas in the anime, as a result of their schoolmates
friendship with Usagi, Ami, (Rei: actually, she attends a different school but
she usually comes over to their campus to hang out), Makoto, and Minako, which
took the span of a whole season to develop to the point of mutual trust, leads
the Starlights to end up being the only ones who stand with Sailor Moon and
protect her until the end; without their encouraging pep talk, she _would
have_ given up her star seed to Sailor Galaxia in episode 198 (if she had done
so in order to escape her grief, everyone in the galaxy would die permanently,
the end).

(While it is the case that _Sailor Moon Crystal_ has, for the most part,
avoided filler, the storytelling is arguably lower in quality than that of the
classic anime [ _Crystal_ 's [viewer numbers have sharply
crashed](http://ellephedre.tumblr.com/post/107146770770/crystals-ratings-on-
niconico-japan), a drop of 77%]).

The number of changes in the classic anime from the original manga is so high
that it would take an online encyclopedia to list them all. As just _one_
narrowed example, consider the LGBT content:

The classic anime invented the following popular LGBT-related content which
was NOT present in Takeuchi’s original manga (and thus, is NOT present in the
reboot):

~ Kunzite/Zoicite: in contrast to serving as the 1991 anime’s sole canon gay
couple, in the original manga, Kunzite had a straight romantic relationship
with Sailor Venus ([Codename ha Sailor V volume
3](http://gallery.missdream.org/albums/scanlation_sailorv/sailorv_chapter16/020.jpg)),
and Zoicite is shown in a [manga
illustration](http://gallery.missdream.org/albums/raws/japanese/artbooks/sailormoon_picturecollection_1/028.jpg)
with his arms around Mercury, implying that they were also a heterosexual
couple on the Moon Kingdom. The live-action _Sera Myu_ ( _Sailor Moon_
musicals) incarnations follow these pairings. The 2013 _La Reconquista_
musical paired up the male generals with each of the female sailor soldier
guardians at a ball, and particularly highlights a prominent and cute
relationship between Zoicite and Mercury. The completed 2003-2004 _Pretty
Guardian Sailor Moon_ live-action TV series does not include any romances for
Kunzite or Zoicite.

~ Fiore: one of the classic anime’s original characters, featured in the R
movie and the _Another Story_ video game, could be interpreted as liking
Mamoru, though this was never explicitly affirmed or denied.

~ Fish Eye: a gay cross-dresser who fell for Mamoru in the classic anime, is,
in the manga, merely an mildly-effeminate monster-of-the-day (the same could
be said of Hawk’s Eye and Tiger’s Eye - all three of their outfits are…
unique). In the manga, he never cross-dresses or expresses any homosexual
interest. He only
[attempts](http://gallery.missdream.org/albums/scanlation_smoon/smoon_act40/038.jpg)
to
[seduce](http://gallery.missdream.org/albums/scanlation_smoon/smoon_act40/039.jpg)
Ami (Mercury).

~ Sailor Starlights: in the classic anime, this trio flipped back and forth
between female and male when they transformed from sailor soldiers into
civilian guise and developed intriguing relationships to varying degrees with
the Earthling sailor soldiers but, in the manga, there are no fun Taiki (Star
Maker)/Ami (Mercury), Taiki/Makoto (Jupiter), Yaten (Star Healer)/Minako
(Venus), or Yaten /Luna vibes. Those were introduced in the anime along with
the sex-switching that challenged gender norms. In the manga original, Ami
hates Taiki, Michiru (Neptune) hates Yaten, and Haruka (Uranus) hates all
three - that’s really the entire extent of the interaction between these
extraterrestrials and the solar system soldiers. [Usagi, Minako, and
Makoto](http://gallery.missdream.org/albums/scanlation_smoon/smoon_act51/026.jpg)
blush and get [heart
eyes](http://gallery.missdream.org/albums/scanlation_smoon/smoon_act51/027.jpg)
when the Three Lights transfer to their high school, that’s it. Even Yaten’s
passionate and undistracted devotion to Kakyuu Princess is original to the
classic anime, and the anime’s Haruka vs. Seiya rivalry and Seiya/Michiru
flirting were not in the original manga… heck, basically anything you liked
about the Starlights in the classic anime wouldn’t show up in a reboot.
Taiki’s softening toward his astronomy teacher and his sweet hospitalized fan
or laughing for the first time in years; Yaten as a cat person who constantly
flips his bangs in annoyance; Seiya’s boy-next-door softball training,
amusement park date, and conflicted, unrequited love in the vein of Taylor
Swift’s _You Belong With Me_ that spanned 28 episodes (82% of the final
season) with Usagi? That’s all original to the classic anime. The manga Three
Lights are always female and demonstrate zero personal preference for passing
as male. Manga Yaten and Taiki are merely girls without any sexual preferences
indicated, who disguise themselves as boys for a mission. Since neither of
these characters display any attraction to anyone, they’re not lesbians. Since
they’re not particularly masculine by any stretch of the imagination, don’t
identify as male, don’t evidence any interest in gender identity whatsoever,
and wear [feminine
clothing](http://gallery.missdream.org/albums/scanlation_smoon/smoon_act56/042.jpg)
in private, even attempting to identify them with cross-dressers is a little
shaky - in their minds, their boy band costuming is just a disguise rather
than a conscious lifestyle choice. That leaves us with Seiya (Star Fighter)
alone, who is attracted to Usagi in the manga.  
Seiya (Star Fighter)/Kakyuu: it can be interpreted that manga Star Fighter had
feelings for Kakyuu Princess before arriving on Earth but this is not overt.
Kakyuu resting her head on Seiya’s shoulder was only shown in the classic
anime, not in the manga.

In contrast, in the original manga, there was:

~ Sex-switching Usagi (Moon) and Minako (Venus), which was not included in the
anime. Many English-language websites bemoan the fact that Takeuchi-sensei was
shocked that, in the classic anime, the Starlights were male in civilian form
- but she’s the one who thought up sex-switching in the first place. In the
manga, Usagi uses the Hensou Pen (Disguise Pen) to transform herself into a
man (a groom [pages 190-191 of volume 1 of the Kanzenban {Perfect Edition}])
and Minako uses her compact to transform into a male in BSSM itself (a Mugen
Gakuen [Infinity Academy] student [pages 167-169 of volume 5 of the
Kanzenban]) using the phrase “Moon Power!” (「ムーン・パワー」). As an aside, Minako
also twice used her compact to transform into male form in Codename ha Sailor
V (a teen idol [pages 115-118 of volume 1 of the Shinsoubon {Reprint Edition}]
and a samurai [pages 140-141 of volume 2 of the Shinsoubon]), both using the
phrase “Mikazuki Power Transform!” (「三日月パワー・トランスフォーム！」).

~ Haruka (Uranus)/Michiru (Neptune): yes, they have a romantic relationship in
the manga, BUT very little is shown or said of it when you contrast it with
their classic anime version: although you would see a good amount of
Haruka/Usagi action including their manga kiss, manga Haruka/Michiru romantic
scenes and dialogue are sparse. Almost all of their suggestive lines, Haruka’s
clearly stated answer to what her _koibito_ ’s name was ( _"koibito"_ is a
Japanese word which can mean either simply "girlfriend"/"boyfriend" or can
mean "lover"; usually in the context of shoujo anime, it refers to the
former), and their moving interlude after Galaxia removed their bracelets
originated in the classic anime. Fans who met Haruka through the anime might
also happen to be surprised to discover that her manga version wears a high
school girl’s school uniform, mini skirts, girly blouses that show off her
cleavage, and a polka-dotted scarf - in the manga, sometimes she presents as a
man, but other times she’s rather feminine; it was only in the older anime
that she consistently dressed masculine.

~ Haruka (Uranus)/Usagi (Moon): Haruka/Michiru fans may be disappointed to
realize that there’s a lot more Haruka/Usagi than Haruka/Michiru visuals in
the manga, and there’s also a brief Mamoru/Michiru vibe. People who like the
idea of Haruka/Michiru being monogamous would be challenged by manga Haruka’s
amorous advances toward Usagi in full knowledge that Usagi has a boyfriend and
while being in an apparently open relationship with Michiru. The classic anime
Haruka flirted with Usagi and Minako, but it was only in 2 episodes
accompanied by Michiru’s bemused comments which indicated she didn’t consider
it anything serious, whereas the manga Haruka pursued Usagi a lot more
seriously.

~ Seiya (Star Fighter)/Usagi (Moon): in the manga, there’s some chemistry and
a kiss, but most of what Seiya does in the manga is send Usagi anonymous
postcards. The duration in which the Three Lights attend school with Usagi and
friends is all too brief.

So that's just _one_ example of the countless large and small differences
between the manga and the classic anime.

There are positive changes (Serenity/Sailor Moon committed suicide twice in
the manga, whereas in the anime, she didn't), neutral or disputed ones (some
fans like the serious manga Rei [Mars], whereas others like the anime Rei who
teases Usagi as a friendly sort of love/hate rivalry), and generally-received-
as-negative ones (the manga Shitennou had served Prince Endymion in the Silver
Millennium and returned to loyalty, giving him strength, whereas the anime
version had no backstory of their being loyal to him). The aspect where the
manga/anime difference is greatest is that the end of the manga and the end of
the anime are completely different. Some fans like the manga version better,
some like the anime version better.


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answer


Instead of revisiting all the differences between the original, the dub, and
the manga, I wanted to contribute some input on the filler.

According to Wikipedia, the original anime and the manga were produced almost
simultaneously (the manga had a 6-week head start). Different studios deal
with this situation differently. Fairy Tail took a one-year hiatus when the
anime caught up with the manga. Bleach introduced anime-only story arcs that
would last about a year and return to the manga story arc once that was done.

Instead of waiting for the manga to get a head start or coming up with filler
story arcs while the author came up with more material, Sailor Moon was rife
with filler episodes. As a result, the plot is slow to advance and some of the
deeper, character-building aspects of the manga were left out. Though it isn't
the origin, Sailor Moon is definitely a poster child for the Monster of the
Week trope.

Today, Sailor Moon Crystal is essentially covering a chapter of the manga with
each episode. The Dark Kingdom story arc was completed after 46 episodes in
the original anime, but Sailor Moon Crystal packed it into 13 episodes and
deviated from the Monster of the Week trope set by its predecessor.


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