

Original Japanese intro: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WdSzmL80eE>

Swedish intro: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2tQKejS9Fo>

American/English intro (if true):
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxjlcUw1Wkw>

Having never heard or seen the American/English version, I was shocked and in
disbelief when I looked up what appears to be the English/American version of
the intro.

Not only does it contain a weird intro part not even seen elsewhere, but it
announces main characters which only join very late in the series, right away
in the intro for the first episode. If this is true, that is. I looked through
numerous videos and couldn't find a different "original" intro in English/for
the USA audience.

Why did they so heavily change the already perfect intro sequence and opening
theme like that? I'm really dying to know.

The Swedish version (which I grew up with and thus included as a reference)
only has very minor changes from the Japanese original. For example, when the
three girls fly toward the camera as silhouettes, in the original Japanese
version, they never get "light" shone on them, but in the Swedish (and
American) ones, they "light up" when they get close to the camera. But that's
a **very** minor detail compared to the entire re-cut American/English one,
which also has changed the theme song entirely.

Wasn't the point of importing this very Japanese show to the West to keep the
look, sound and atmosphere, rather than changing it all around? I mean, wasn't
there already a wealth of American-origin animated shows? Why did they have to
change around Sailor Moon like this?

This is neither a rant nor really me being "upset". I'm just baffled by this
decision and feel as if I'm missing some major understanding about this world
since they changed it like this for the American/English-speaking audience.
I'm not sure, but I believe that they didn't touch the show itself. (Perhaps
they did, though. I can imagine that certain shots where you see the
underpants of the girls when they jump around might have been cut away.)

I'd love to hear if there are any interviews or reliable sources discussing
what could've justified this decision to so completely change the opening
theme and intro cut. Even if the answer is that it had to attract a very
different audience who expects things to be a certain way, it still doesn't
explain why they would introduce characters from far into the series right
away.

I almost wonder if this can really be the original intro, or if it's
consistently mislabeled, and this is for season three or something instead?


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music anime-production anime-history theme-song sailor-moon
Was this really the original American/English-language opening/intro to Sailor Moon? If so, why was it so heavily changed?


I'll preface this answer by admitting that I couldn't find any interviews in
which DiC (the company responsible for the original English-language dub)
explained why they changed the opening so much. I've nonetheless tried to
provide the best explanation possible for why it was done.

* * *

> Was this really the original American/English-language opening/intro to
> Sailor Moon?

Sure was, and for those who grew up with it, it's arguably just as iconic as
(say) [the original English-language _Pokémon_
intro](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xKWiCMKKJg).

> Why did they so heavily change the already perfect intro sequence and
> opening theme like that?

Because that was the done thing. Back in the 90s (and in fact, up until quite
recently), it was common practice to "Westernise" imported shows as much as
possible, to make them more familiar and relatable to Western audiences. This
included replacing the Japanese intros and outros with brand new ones - in
English, of course.

According to
[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailor_Moon_\(TV_series\)#Music),
the _Sailor Moon_ intro was actually unusual for the time in that it kept the
melody of the Japanese intro and just changed the lyrics. Most dubbed anime of
the time just threw the intros out entirely and made new ones from scratch
(see the Pokémon example above, and also [Sonic
X](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG8O2jOAYvg), [Yu-Gi-
Oh](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bd7fwU1poQ), [One
Piece](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSe8D2wfGKI)... basically anything
4Kids got their hands on).

> Wasn't the point of importing this very Japanese show to the West to keep
> the look, sound and atmosphere, rather than changing it all around?

Nope. The point of importing it was that it was insanely popular and it was
going to make a lot of money. As noted above, keeping the Japanese atmosphere
was not only _not_ the point, it was the complete opposite of what actually
happened, not just to _Sailor Moon_ but to pretty much every anime that made
its way to the US until about the late 2000s.

> I'm not sure, but I believe that they didn't touch the show itself.

I'm afraid they did. Changes included:

  * Giving everyone American names instead of Japanese ones (Usagi Tsukino -> Serena, Ami Mizuno -> Amy Anderson, Mamoru -> Darien, etc.)
  * Adding "Sailor Says" segments to the end of every episode in which Serena gives the viewer life advice ([example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE5AWSaDbIs))
  * The removal of any hints of nudity or violence against children (and yes, probably the pantyshots)
  * Making Uranus and Neptune cousins and removing any romantic subtext between them
  * Making Zoicite a woman so their love for Kunzite/Malachite wouldn't be gay

And probably a whole load of others. Mind you, _Sailor Moon_ got off pretty
lightly compared to _Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger_ (from which the fight scenes in
the original _Power Rangers_ were taken; they threw literally everything else
out and filmed their own plotlines with Western actors), and the three
different anime that were torn apart, mashed together, and re-dubbed to create
_Robotech_.

> [Why would they] introduce characters from far into the series right away?

I can't answer that, but [spoiler
openings](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SpoilerOpening/AnimeAndManga)
are ubiquitous in anime. Even the original Japanese intro(s) contained one or
two spoilers.


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> what appears to be the English/American version of the intro.
>
> I almost wonder if this can really be the original intro, or if it's
> consistently mislabeled, and this is for season three or something instead?

The links you supplied are for the **Canadian** _Sailor Moon_ opening
animation sequence and for the _Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon_ ( _Bishoujo Senshi
Sailor Moon_ [『美少女戦士セーラームーン』] [far later, the official English translation of
the franchise changed to _Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon_ ]) Season 1 first
opening animation sequence (out of 3 opening animations for that season).

> I'd love to hear if there are any interviews or reliable sources discussing
> what could've justified this decision to so completely change the opening
> theme and intro cut.

Rather than seek an interview or statement from the companies involved that
addresses their thought process on the opening sequence, it may be helpful to
consider the historical background of the decision...

Not many anime series had made it to American broadcast television at the time
that _Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon_ [『美少女戦士セーラームーン』) was picked up for
adaptation into _Sailor Moon_ , which was [dubbed and aired in
Canada](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailor_Moon_\(TV_series\)#English_dub_production_and_broadcast)
before subsequent export to the United States. Almost all of the anime that
had previously aired were heavily edited _shounen_ or children's anime, such
as the largely re-written mash-up of the 3 Japanese series _[Super Dimension
Fortress
Macross](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Dimension_Fortress_Macross)_ (
_Choujikuu Yousai Macross_ [『超時空要塞マクロス』]) + _[The Super Dimension Cavalry
Southern
Cross](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Dimension_Cavalry_Southern_Cross)_
( _Choujikuu Kidan Sazan Cross_ [『超時空騎団サザンクロス』]) + _[Genesis Climber
MOSPEADA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesis_Climber_MOSPEADA)_ (Kikou
Souseiki MOSPEADA [『機甲創世記モスピーダ』]) into 1 American series called
_[Robotech](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotech)_ , or cutting out content
viewed as inappropriate for children in
_[Noozles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noozles)_ (originally, _Mysterious
Koala Blinky_ [ _Fushigi na Koala Blinky_ , 『ふしぎなコアラブリンキー』]). _[Mighty Morphin
Power Rangers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mighty_Morphin_Power_Rangers)_
had used footage from the live-action
_[sentai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Sentai)_ (superhero team) TV
series _[Dinosaur Squad Beast-
ranger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ky%C5%8Dry%C5%AB_Sentai_Zyuranger)_ (
_Kyouryuu Sentai Zyu-ranger_ ,『恐竜戦隊ジュウレンジャー』) for all scenes in which
characters were in battle costume (helmets covering their faces) but replaced
the Japanese cast of the characters' un-transformed civilian mode with
completely different characters of other ethnicities who lived in a completely
different setting. The goal in every case was to make **the cost of dubbing
and broadcast rights** worth it, by appealing enough to what the anticipated
American child audience would be interested in and avoiding angering parents
who might boycott the product, so as to at least making enough money to break
even, but preferably to be able to **sell merchandise to profit** from it.

In contrast to these, the Canadian _Sailor Moon_ broadcast took **three main
risks**. **1)** It did not include any main male characters, so it was not
expecting to appeal to boys. (An example of a company attempting to mitigate
this risk is the later American broadcast of _[Card
Captors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardcaptor_Sakura#Anime_series)_ , an
adaptation of _Cardcaptor Sakura_ [『カードキャプターさくら』] heavily-edited to make it
seem to be a team fighting story focusing a disproportionate amount of screen
time on Li Syaoran compared to his smaller-scope role in the original Japanese
series.) **2)** Furthermore, when _Sailor Moon_ aired in America, it was
**very different from what American girls or _even_ Japanese girls had been
used to seeing**: a group of superhero girls who fight as a team against evil
forces threatening the Earth. While many people who discovered the [_mahou
shoujo_ genre](http://shoujo.tripod.com/lingo.html) (of any female character
who has magical powers while living in a non-magical environment) either
through or after _Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon_ are unaware of the fact, the
_Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon_ manga **pioneered _sentai_ -style _mahou shoujo_
(magical girl) within the _mahou shoujo_ genre**; before this series, the
history of magical girls in manga and anime usually used their powers for
_nichijou_ (daily life) matters or for moonlighting as an idol singer rather
than for protecting the world against evil powers, and they did not cooperate
with a team of comrades (some of the primary examples include _[Magical Mako-
chan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C5%8D_no_Mako-chan)_ [ _Mahou no Mako-
chan_ ,『魔法のマコちゃん』], _[Witch Meg](http://shoujo.tripod.com/megu.html)_ [
_Majokko Meg-chan_ ,『魔女っ子メグちゃん』], _[Witch
Sally](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_the_Witch)_ [ _Mahoutsukai Sally_
,『魔法使いサリー』], _[Magic Angel Creamy
Mami](http://shoujo.tripod.com/creamymami.html)_ [ _Mahou no Tenshi Creamy
Mami_ ,『魔法の天使クリィミーマミ』]), _Magical Princess Minky Momo_ [ _Mahou no Princess
Minky Momo_ 『魔法のプリンセス ミンキー モモ』], Akko-chan's Secret [Himitsu no Akko-chan,
『ひみつのアッコちゃん』], and _[Legendary Idol
Eriko](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idol_Densetsu_Eriko)_ [ _Idol Densetsu
Eriko_ , 『アイドル伝説えり子』). Even the outlier [non-
_shoujo_](http://shoujo.tripod.com/intro.html) _mahou shoujo_ series that were
targeted at Japanese male viewers rather than at Japanese girls, such as
_[ESPer Mami](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mami_the_Psychic)_ (『エスパー魔美』) and
_[Cutie Honey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutie_Honey)_ (『キューティーハニー』
[though its post- _Sailor Moon_ version, _[Cutie Honey
Flash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutie_Honey_Flash)_ [『キューティーハニー フラッシュ』],
was an actual _shoujo_ series with a target demographic of young girls]), did
not have teams of girls or super-powered villains. At that time, American
animated TV series for girls were usually about a single girl or animal in
slice-of-life settings, or, even if she had an ensemble cast like [_Rainbow
Brite_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Brite) or _[My Little Pony
Tales](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Little_Pony_Tales)_ , they did not
usually fight battles as a team (though not superhero/ _sentai_ in style,
notable exception to this are the female groups in
_[Jem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jem_\(TV_series\))_ and _[Lady Lovely
Locks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Lovely_Locks)_ ). **3)** As a third
risk, the personality of Usagi (in the North American dub, Serena) was also
rather different from audience expectations: while Americans had seen
cluelessness/laziness/gluttony and perhaps even incompetence in male
protagonists, such as in [Inspector
Gadget](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inspector_Gadget) or [Scooby
Doo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Scooby-Doo_characters), this sort
of female lead character was not at all common.

> Why did they so heavily change the already perfect intro sequence and
> opening theme like that?
>
> the entire re-cut American/English one, which also has changed the theme
> song entirely.

First, the opening theme song with its selected corresponding animation uses
the same basic music as the original Japanese theme song, a rather unusual
move for English dubs in that period. While the English _[Dragon
Ball](https://youtu.be/IrnIGAXxNLY)_ had done so from the Japanese
[_Dragonball_](https://youtu.be/FJqGirLjQn4), these were not the majority of
cases. For contrast, see the openings of English
_[Noozles](https://youtu.be/EqKJ9yFHDc0)_ vs. Japanese _[Fushigi na Koala
Blinky](https://youtu.be/W-UEMF9Nt2M)_ , English
_[Escaflowne](https://youtu.be/d5ZXbrqPjKM)_ vs Japanese _[Escaflowne of the
Heavens](https://youtu.be/TJZATeQvwpo)_ (Tenkuu no Escaflowne, 『天空のエスカフローネ』),
and English _[Cardcaptors](https://youtu.be/ERpK-7K70ws)_ vs. Japanese
_[Cardcaptor Sakura](https://youtu.be/QDezQD57h-g)_.

Second, to call the first Japanese opening "already perfect" is inaccurate...
The [first Japanese opening animation](https://youtu.be/9WdSzmL80eE) only
includes Sailor Moon/Usagi, Luna, Sailor Mercury/Ami, Sailor Mars/Rei, Tuxedo
Kamen (civilian Mamoru is excluded), Beryl, and generic youma standing behind
Beryl (who do not match any of the distinctive youma designs we see in the
actual series). This first opening was clearly intended to be the opening
animation **only until the point in between when Mercury debuted (episode 8)
and when Mars appeared (episode 10)**. The fabric covering both the
silhouettes of Mercury and Mars in one shot provide an intentional teaser...
but, interestingly, they are also shown walking in full-color within the same
opening, and then the series switched to the second opening **before** the
episode in which Mars/Rei first appears.

That first opening animation, which was only used for 20% of the length of the
first season, was replaced early on by a minor change version in which the
fabric covering Mercury and Mars was lifted: [the second
opening](https://youtu.be/wK3P1aUTR5o) (another useful example of this
intentional replacement of opening animation to the same song was used in
Season 5 to create a teaser for the Sailor Starlights; you can see [both
versions side-by-side here](https://youtu.be/lucqXBZY7AU)). By excluding
Sailor Jupiter/Makoto, Sailor Venus/Minako, and Artemis, this second opening
of Season 1 was also clearly designed to be replaced at a later point rather
than viewed by the animators as the standard for the season. Also, against the
idea of this opening being "already perfect," it utilizes many still pans
rather than moving animation, and uses up (arguably, wastes) a lot of its
screen time on off-topic content that is not part of the story in any way:
either a cartoonish cityscape or amusement park, roses unfurling one after
another in 8 different colors, shots of masks unlike the one Tuxedo Kamen
actually wears, and a silhouette of Usagi standing next to a fountain under a
dirigible airship facing the silhouette of what appears to be a man with hair
longer than Mamoru's but shorter than Nephrite's (clearly, whoever he is, he
isn't Mamoru/Tuxedo Kamen/Endymion). This second opening animation was used
until after Jupiter/Makoto appeared (episode 24 - about halfway through the
series).

The [third opening](https://youtu.be/ce0ZzDDk3dY) (note that the linked
YouTube video title mistakenly labels this as the second opening, though it is
actually the third) of Season 1 was comprised of completely different
animation; included Serenity, Endymion, Jupiter/Makoto, and Venus/Minako; and
devoted almost all of its screen time to on-topic content (the off-topic being
Tuxedo Kamen riding a flying horse). However, it deleted any inclusion of Luna
and Beryl (despite Luna being a major character with more Season 1 appearances
than any other character except for Usagi herself!) and still lacked a good
number of characters who would have contributed to a more representative
opening if they had been included even for half a second: Mamoru, Motoki,
Naru, Umino, Haruna-sensei, Artemis, the Shitennou ([Four Heavenly Kings,
四天王]: Jedite, Nephrite, Zoicite, Kunzite), the _Saikyou Youma Nananinshu_
(Seven Strongest Youma, [最強妖魔七人衆]), "dark" Endymion, and Queen Metalia
(contrast this with the contemporaneous [_Magic Knight Rayearth_ opening
sequence](https://youtu.be/SD4314ZrwsY), which capably included all main
villains and allies). This third opening animation was used until the end of
the first season.

> Not only does it contain a weird intro part not even seen elsewhere, but it
> announces main characters which only join very late in the series, right
> away in the intro for the first episode. Wasn't the point of importing this
> very Japanese show to the West to keep the look, sound and atmosphere,
> rather than changing it all around? I mean, wasn't there already a wealth of
> American-origin animated shows? Why did they have to change around Sailor
> Moon like this?
>
> Even if the answer is that it had to attract a very different audience who
> expects things to be a certain way, it still doesn't explain why they would
> introduce characters from far into the series right away.

As explained above, the purpose of the Canadian dub aligned with the purposes
of other anime dubs up until and past that time, but because the show aimed to
pick up female viewers familiar with _Mighty Morphin Power Rangers_ , using
the Japanese opening animation that had been only used in the Japanese series'
first 9 episodes would have failed to **convey that this is a _sentai_ -style
team fighting story**. It would have been possible for the dub to use the
Season 1 third opening toward this end, but the first and second Japanese
opening would have obfuscated this point. Unlike the Japanese broadcast, **the
English dub could not wait until 70% of the way through the season to switch
over to an opening sequence that showed all five sailor soldiers** , because
it had no guarantee of the show not getting cancelled well before then ([in
the United States, it was not aired in a prime time slot or even at a time of
day that most children were available to watch it even if they wanted
to](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailor_Moon_\(TV_series\)#English_dub_production_and_broadcast)).
Likely, making three consecutive opening animation sequences to align with the
one English song would have cost additional time/money to no clear benefit.

In addition, all-American Boy Scouting and Girl Scouting had a clean and
positive image, so the dub changed "sailor soldiers" to "sailor scouts," and
the selection of scenes used for the dub's opening sequence included a shot of
Naru during the lyrics, "She will never turn her back on a friend," a value
that aligns with scouting (which is adventurous but much more about
functioning well in daily-life than fighting enemies). If any of the Japanese
opening sequences had included Naru, the dub might have utilized those
animation cels of Naru, but they did not exist.

> I'm not sure, but I believe that they didn't touch the show itself. (Perhaps
> they did, though. I can imagine that certain shots where you see the
> underpants of the girls when they jump around might have been cut away.)

While nowhere near the level of cut-and-paste as _Robotech_ 's, the Canadian
dub did make a good number of edits, which you can read more about on Anime &
Manga StackExchange here:

  * [How does the English version of Sailor Moon differ from the original?](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/2687/how-does-the-english-version-of-sailor-moon-differ-from-the-original?rq=1)
  * [Was Sailor Moon edited in the English version?](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/28297/was-sailor-moon-edited-in-the-english-version?rq=1)
  * [How much of the original Sailor Moon anime isn't from the manga?](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/13487/how-much-of-the-original-sailor-moon-anime-isnt-from-the-manga/13822#13822)
  * answer to [How can I identify child-appropriate manga?](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/21936/how-can-i-identify-child-appropriate-manga/21940#21940)


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Considering the
[stance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubbing_\(filmmaking\)#Global_use) they
have on dubbing, Nordic countries are
[probably](http://wikimoon.org/index.php/Category:Sailor_Moon_around_the_world)
the outliers here.

This is the Italian intro for comparison, which is pretty similar in
techniques (though I always found it rather tasteful tbh):
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZTlN3YkCuc>

People 20-30 years ago were far _way_ less used to "diversity" (I can think to
how difficult was to understand Dragonball's hell and paradise for me back in
the days), and I can see why you'd go at length to try to ameliorate that. And
same for censoring.

Sure, kids aren't _that_ stupid not to notice "weird cousins" or even wholly
missing episodes.. but what are they gonna do aside of some slight
bewilderment? On the other hand, if you can avoid any kind of negative
publicity from the various "think to the children" parents associations it's
all profit for you.

> Wasn't the point of importing this very Japanese show to the West to keep
> the look, sound and atmosphere, rather than changing it all around?

Mhh absolutely not. Maybe in the modern overcroweded market, when you see
anime, it's because of "artistic value" and all. But back then it was just
about cheap entertainment.

In fact, most of times localizations weren't even based off the original
version, but other translations in turn (I would guess whoever first brought
it to the West, or whoever had the most congenial idiom to the publisher).

> I mean, wasn't there already a wealth of American-origin animated shows?

[Perhaps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_programs_broadcast_by_Cartoon_Network#Former_programming),
at least for boys (most of them were
[animated](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rough_Draft_Studios) in Korea though,
funnily enough). But I can't really think to anything else comparable to a
shojo, at least until Winx Club.


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