Thank you for looking up my guide to the Sailormoon manga editions, sponsored by Japanimation Haven! I wrote this guide so the Sailormoon fan would have a quick rundown of what they were looking for when shopping for manga. It's not too complicated, but it helps to know what you're dealing with so you're bidding on what you really want. So here we go:

Brief Manga Introduction, Japanese-style

Manga in Japan is not like comic books here. Here comics, like cartoons, are seen as the purview of kids and collectors. In Japan, manga (there is no "s" on the end for this word) are written for all types of people of all types of ages, from very small children just learning to read to housewives and businessmen. Many manga are released each year, and they generally come in two formats; large, phone-book-sized magazines made with newsprint that encompass many manga stories, (much like how Shonen Jump and Shoujo Beat,) and small, pocket-book-sized digests of multiple chapters of one manga storyline called digests.

"Phone-book" sized manga magazine, Ribon  

When a manga author (mangaka in Japanese) puts out a new manga, it's generally run in a collection like the one pictured above, which is Ribon, a very popular girls magazine for new shoujo (pronounced SHOW-joe) manga coming out. Sailor Moon is called "Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon", or, "Pretty Soldier Sailormoon" in Japan. ("Bishoujo" means "pretty girl", like "bishounen" means "pretty boy".) Sailormoon was first released in 1991, in a Kodansha magazine similar to the one pictured above. (Kodansha is a publisher.) These magazines features one chapter each of around six or more different manga by different authors. This way, readers can see new stories and the series can catch on. If it does, it will often be published in a smaller digest of several chapters together, so instead of getting one chapter a month in a magazine, the reader can buy a digest of a bunch of chapters together of one story they like. Not all manga are published in multi-story magazines, but many are.

Sailormoon's Incarnations

Japanese Manga - From 1991 to 1995, Sailormoon was put out on a monthly basis in Nakayoshi, a magazine run by the publisher Kodansha. This was a magazine of different manga that included Sailormoon. It should be noted for collectors' purposes that these are very rare and hard to find, and are around standard computer page size (approximately 10" by 7"). It makes the pictures larger and easier to see, and its originality is high. They often also feature full-page glossy cover art in colour. These will not sell for as much as an art book or an English-version manga, but if you're a hardcore collector, these may be worth looking into.

Digests - There are 18 volumes of the original release digests of Sailormoon. There was a re-release issued several years ago with different cover art, "retouched" art and different colour pictures and more pages, which condensed the book count down to 12. So, there is the original printing, which is 18 volumes (and tends to be sold as a set on eBay), and the newer release, which is 12 volumes. The release's translated title is "Pretty Guardian Sailormoon". Anyone who is a fan of the manga can tell the difference in the art styles, so it's up to personal choice about which one you prefer.

Original cover             Re-Release cover  

Side Stories - Japanese - There were 10 side stories for Sailormoon, which were published in another Kodansha magazine, RunRun. I have never seen a copy of this, so it's unlikely you will, either.

Animation Walkthroughs - There is no other term for these types of books as far as I know, and they technically aren't manga, since they feature shots from the anime. But it's still a print version of the story, which is why it's included here, and I would hate for someone to buy something they weren't sure of. These very small, thin books are rare, published in colour and set up just like a manga but use shots from the anime with word balloons drawn in to feature speech. It's basically a manga version of the anime. For Sailormoon, they were only published in Japanese, though I have seen some made in English for very popular anime like InuYasha.

Side Note: Codename: Sailor V - There are also 3 digests of manga for the short storyline of Sailor Venus' life in England as the solo hero, Sailor V. This is called Codename: Sailor V (Codename wa: Sailor V). It was not released in English, though you can find it in French and Spanish. In Japan, it was released in RunRun between 1993 and 1995, with the final part of it released in 1997. There are translations of it available online, so if you're interested in the storyline, it may be worth collecting. It should be noted that Sailor V was the author Naoko Takeuchi's original idea for the manga, and that Sailormoon was a sequel that was written while involving Sailor V.

Japnese cover               French cover   

English Incarnations

First Release - This was done in a similar format to Japanese magazine releases. In 1997, MIXXZine (now Tokyopop) first released a four-manga magazine series which included two shoujo (girl) and two seinen (older male) style manga. The two shoujo manga were Magic Knights Rayearth and Sailor Moon. The two seinen manga were Parasyte and Ice Blade. There are seven editions of this magazine. They pop up frequently on eBay.

First edition of MixxZine 

Inside detail     

Shortly thereafter they started releasing Sailormoon on its own chapter by chapter in a comic-book-style format. The Sailor Moon comic books were the same size as standard comic books and the MIXXZine, meaning the art was bigger. Many connoisseurs prefer owning these, as the larger art allows for greater appreciation. The more popular format, however, was the English release digests, which started coming out around 1999. MIXXZine was re-named Tokyopop (which was discontinued in 2000). It should also be noted that some of the last story arc, the Sailorstars storyline, was released in SMILE magazine, owned by Tokyopop (which was discontinued in 2002).

Sailor Moon comic book vol. 1  

This first volume starts at the discovery of Sailor Venus. This continues on into the Sailormoon S storyline until volume 32. The last 3 volumes (# 33-35 ) are the storyline from the Sailormoon S movie.

Names - The original 5 girls have their English anime names in this release, with the exception of Usagi, who is called "Bunny", though named "Serena". (Ami = Amy, Rei = Raye, Makoto=Lita, Minako=Mina). Mamoru is also called Darien and Chibiusa is Rini, as they are in the English anime release. All other secondary characters that appeared in the first story arc were given their English anime names, including Serena's friends and little brother. (The foes generally retained their Japanese names in the manga, including Kunzite, who was named "Malachite" in the english release of the anime. The exception are the Black Moon Family from the Sailormoon R story arc, who have their English anime names.) Characters appearing after the original story arc retained their Japanese names (including the Outer Senshi).

Digests - The first digest version of Sailor Moon came out in 1999. This was the same size as a standard Japanese manga digest. Colletcors should note, though, that while digests in Japan are printed on newsprint with flexible covers, the MIXX printings in English are printed on thick paper with rigid spines. I only mention this because sometimes the spines crack and the pages can come out. Most of the time, though, this isn't a problem if you treat your manga with care.

First digest volume 

The English edition is also 18 volumes, just like the Japanese edition digest. There are 11 digest volumes from the beginning of the story, encompassing the Sailormoon, Sailormoon R and Sailormoon S Story arcs. The last volume of the digest encompasses the S movie. The R movie is not present. The next 4 volumes are the SuperS storyline, the SuperS movie is not present. The last 3 are the Sailorstars storylines, and are the rarest, most expensive volumes to get (but the most worth it!) Since Tokyopop allowed their rights to Sailor Moon to lapse a few years ago, this manga has been out of print, meaning it's been a lesser commodity for about half a decade. Though if you love Sailormoon, the manga storyline is much more mature, beautiful and interesting than the anime storyline, so it's worth investing in.

Storylines

Here's a short list of the storylines and the major characters for the different arcs and volumes. The first three story arcs are included in the first 11 volumes of the digests.

Sailormoon - (Introduction, backstory, Silver Millennium, Moon Princess/Prince Endymion storyline) Sailor Scouts and their identities introduced, Princess Serenity, cats (Luna, Artemis), Queen Serenity, Darien/Tuxedo Mask/Prince Endymion, Queen Beryl and the Four Generals (Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoicite, Kunzite,) Queen Metallia.

Sailormoon R - (Black Moon/Nemesis/Death Phantom storyline) Rini (Chibiusa) introduced, Black Moon Family (English names are used; Rubeus, Emerald, Sapphire Diamond,) Four Sisters of Deception (English names are used; Katzi, Bertie, Avery and Prisma,) Wiseman/Death Phantom, Wicked (Black) Lady, Sailor Pluto. (It should be noted that the "Ann/Alan" (Ail/An) storyline does not appear in the manga and was made exclusively for the anime.)

Sailormoon S - (Death Busters/Pharoah 90 Storyline) Hotaru/Sailor Saturn introduced, Haruka/Sailor Uranus and Michiru/Sailor Neptune introduced, Setsuna (Sailor Pluto), Death Busters, Eudial and the Witches 5 (Mimete, Viluy, Tellu (Tellulu), Cyprine and PetiteRoll), Professor Tomoe and Kaorinite, Master Pharaoh 90, Mistress Nine.

Sailormoon SuperS - (4 volumes - Dream Mirror Storyline) The Dead Moon Circus, Amazon Trio (Tiger's Eye, Fish Eye, Hawk's Eye,) Amazoness Quartet (PallaPalla, VesVes, JunJun CereCere,) Master Zirconia, Queen Nehelenia (Nephrenia), Pegasus/Helios, Asteroid Senshi, kitten (Diana).

Sailormoon Sailorstars - (3 volumes - Star Seed Storyline) Starlights introduction (Sailor StarFighter/Seiya, Sailor StarMaker/Taiki, Sailor StarHealer/Yaten,) Sailor Galaxia, Sailor Animamates (Sailor Iron Mouse, Sailor Lead (Red) Crow, Sailor Aluminum Siren, Sailor Tin Nyanko, etc,) ChibiChibi/Sailor ChibiChibi, Princess Fireball (Kakyu), Sailor Cosmos.