The elements of fantasy in the series are heavily symbolic and often based on mythology.īefore the Sailor Moon manga appeared, Takeuchi had written Codename: Sailor V, which centered around just one Sailor Senshi. The use of 'Sailor' comes from a style of girls' school uniform popular in Japan, the sērā fuku ('sailor outfit'), on which Takeuchi modeled the Sailor Senshi's uniforms. The major characters-the Sailor Senshi (literally 'Sailor Soldiers' frequently called 'Sailor Scouts' in many Western versions), teenage girls-can transform into heroines named for the moon and planets (Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, etc.).

The story of the various metaseries revolves around the reborn defenders of a kingdom that once spanned the solar system, and around the evil forces that they battle. Sailor Moon redefined the magical-girl genre, as previous magical girls did not use their powers to fight evil, but this has become one of the standard archetypes of the genre. Fred Patten credits Takeuchi with popularizing the concept of a sentai ('team') of magical girls, and Paul Gravett, author of Manga: 60 Years of Japanese Comics, credits the series with 'revitalizing' the magical-girl genre itself.

Sailor Moon, known as Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon ( 美少女戦士セーラームーン Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn ?, officially translated Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon) in Japan, is a media franchise created by mangaka Naoko Takeuchi.

Sailor moon volume 11