Sailor Moon musicals

The Sailor Moon musicals (セーラームーン・ミュージカル, Sērāmūn Myūjikaru), commonly referred to as Sera Myu (セラミュー, Sērāmyū), are a series of live theatre productions based on the Sailor Moon manga by Naoko Takeuchi. The series consists of 40 musicals which have had more than 800 performances since the show opened in the summer of 1993. The first set of musicals, which ran from 1993 to 2005, were produced by Bandai with over 500 performances. The current musicals have been produced by Nelke Planning (a subsidiary of Dwango) since 2013.
Each musical typically runs for three engagements per year, timed to align with school holidays in the winter, spring, and summer. Musicals were historically staged at the Sunshine Theatre in Ikebukuro, Tokyo in the winter and spring, and tour Japan in the summer.
After The New Legend of Kaguya Island (Revised Edition) (新・かぐや島伝説 <改訂版>, Shin Kaguya Shima Densetsu (Kaiteiban)) was staged in January 2005, the actresses for Moon, Mercury, and Jupiter "graduated" (left the show), and the series went on hiatus.
In June 2013, Takeuchi's editor Fumio Osano announced that a new Sailor Moon musical, La Reconquista, would open in September 2013, with Takeuchi personally auditioning actresses for the cast. The cast featured Satomi Ōkubo as Sailor Moon, Miyabi Matsuura as Sailor Mercury, Kanon Nanaki as Sailor Mars, Yū Takahashi as Sailor Jupiter, Shiori Sakata as Sailor Venus, and Yūga Yamato as Tuxedo Mask, making La Reconquista the first Sailor Moon musical where all roles were played by women. The musical recounts the battles between the Sailor Soldiers and the Dark Kingdom over the search for the Silver Crystal. The musical was produced, directed and written by Takuya Hiramitsu, who directed SeraMyu from 1995 to 1998, with music by Toshihiko Sahashi. The musical ran from September 13 to 23 at the AiiA Theater Tokyo in Shibuya, Tokyo.
Petite Étrangère, a musical based on Sailor Moon R, ran at AiiA Theater Tokyo from August 21 to August 31, 2014, and at Osaka from September 5 to September 7. A version of Petite Étrangère was staged in Shanghai, China, in January 2015 at the Shanghai Theatre Academy Theatre for a run of five performances, making Petite Étrangère the first official Japanese production of a Sailor Moon musical to open outside Japan.
The series made its North America debut in 2019 with Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon - The Super Live, which was staged as a limited engagement on March 29 and 30 at the PlayStation Theater in New York City. The musical also played at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C., on March 24. The show debuted in London at Outernet London in February 2024.
The musicals typically feature a theme song, usually performed after the Sailor Soldiers defeat the antagonist; sight gags (such as cross-dressing and puns); and songs tailored for characters or groupings of characters, such as romantic songs between Usagi Tsukino and Mamoru Chiba, attack songs for the Sailor Soldiers, songs the Sailor Soldiers perform as civilians, and villain songs.
"Revised Versions" (known as Kaiteiban) are another major aspect of Sailor Moon musicals. Generally, new musicals are staged in the summer are revised for the winter. The overarching plot remains the same, but certain plot elements are rearranged: villains who were only partially defeated in the original version of the show are fully defeated or healed, and actresses who are "graduating" are given more solo parts or speaking lines.
Often, the musicals expand upon plot concepts presented in the anime and manga. Most notably, a romance between the four Sailor Soldiers and the Four Kings of Heaven in their former lives was adapted from a manga image picturing the two groups paired off as romantic couples. In addition to adapting material from anime and manga versions of Sailor Moon, the musical series also has two original plot lines: The Legend of Kaguya Island (かぐや島伝説) and the Last Dracul (series.
Most shows end with an extended curtain call and encore, during which a number of songs are performed. Popular songs from the anime series such as "Moonlight Densetsu" and "La Soldier", which would not make narrative sense in the plot of the musical, are frequently performed as fan service. Special fan appreciation shows referred to as FanKan (deriving from "fan thank you") are used as season finales, where multiple fan service numbers are performed and new actresses are introduced.
The musicals have introduced new characters to the series, often as new members of existing groups of villains, such as Spotted Tilmun, Aaron and Manna from the Black Moon Clan, the Death Mannetjes and the Death Nightmares from the Death Busters, and Sailors Pewter Fox, Titanium Kerokko, Theta, and Buttress from Shadow Galactica. The musicals have also created original characters that have never appeared in any other version of the series, such as Sailor Astarte, Vulcan, Count Dracul, Bloody Dracul Vampir, Undead Berserk, and Death Lamia, among others.
The sets and backdrops range from simple (only some set pieces, no backdrop or backdrop with uncomplicated paintings) to mid elaborate (a greater number of small set pieces, and some bigger ones, for example, a painted wall over the whole width of the stage with a few attached stairs and a big door), more detailed set pieces, with heavy use of different stage levels, trapdoors and hidden doors. The Sailor Soldiers' attacks are represented by colored lights hitting their targets, and sometimes minor explosions and other small pyrotechnics (for example "flame paper", special paper stripes which the actors ignite in their hands and then throw to create the illusion of a "fireball") are used. The Sailor Soldiers mostly transform off-stage (or just appear already transformed), while their transformation phrases can be heard. Only Usagi transforms on stage. This is done with the help of a body double and the "black out" of part of the stage or set pieces moving in front of her while the actors switch places. The only real "transformation sequence" that ever occurs is a pre-filmed video sequence projected onto a scrim showing the actors "morph" (with some pink ribbons) into their transformed versions.
"Stage" is a term used widely to refer to groupings of the musicals.
Bandai, the producers of the first 12 years of Sailor Moon musical productions, divided their musical productions into three stages. The first stage consisted of those in which Sailor Moon was portrayed by Anza Ohyama, the first and longest running Sailor Moon actress. This stage ran parallel to the manga and anime, as reflected by the plot, and had a nearly full graduation with all of the main actresses being replaced. The second stage included three different Sailor Moon actresses, the only fully original musical (The Legend of Kaguya Island) and the semi-original Last Dracul series, ending with a remake of the original "Final First Stage" musical, Eien Densetsu (titled Kakyuu Ouhi Kourin.) The third stage retained Marina Kuroki as lead actress, but ran for only two musicals (both remakes of The Legend of Kaguya Island), and ended in January 2005.
The series resumed after a hiatus with the 20th Anniversary Stage in 2013, featuring Satomi Ōkubo as the new Sailor Moon. Unlike previous productions, these musicals, now overseen by Nelke Planning, were not categorized into distinct official stages..
Conversely, most Western fans break the stages down by the actresses who played Sailor Moon: Anza Ohyama, Fumina Hara, Miyuki Kanbe, and Marina Kuroki. The list below is divided up according to the official stages used by Sera Myu producers.
Featuring Anza Ohyama as Sailor Moon:
Featuring Fumina Hara as Sailor Moon:
Featuring Miyuki Kanbe as Sailor Moon:
Featuring Marina Kuroki as Sailor Moon:
Featuring Marina Kuroki as Sailor Moon:
'Note: From this point onwards, the musicals, now produced by Nelke Planning, do not have numbered "stages".'
Featuring Satomi Okubo as Sailor Moon:
Featuring Hotaru Nomoto as Sailor Moon:
Featuring Mizuki Yamashita and Sayuri Inoue as Sailor Moon:
Featuring Shiori Kubo as Sailor Moon:
Featuring Nagi Inoue and Sugawara Satsuki as Sailor Moon:
Featuring Kanae Yumemiya, Natsuki Koga and Tomomi Kasai as Sailor Moon
Featuring Kanae Yumemiya as Sailor Moon
Featuring Tomomi Kasai as Sailor Moon
Featuring Natsuki Koga as Sailor Moon
Featuring Riko Tanaka as Sailor Moon:
Songs from the series have been compiled in some 20 music albums, and many of the musicals have been released on DVD.
In total, 32,055 people attended Gaiden Dark Kingdom Fukkatsu Hen (外伝 ダーク・キングダム復活篇), which had 29 separate performances. 25,208 people attended its revised edition, which had 35 separate performances.