Intro to Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon
NOTE: All names will be presented in traditional Japanese style; surname (family) name first, given (first) name last.

..Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon) is a story about a clutzy cry-baby named Tsukino Usagi. One day while going to school, she helps a cat with a strange creasent moon on it's forehead. But, she is late for school and rushes off. Later the cat enters Usagi's room while she is sleeping and wakes her up by telling Usagi she's accually a fighter for love and justice! Thinking it's some sort of dream, Usagi just acts like it is just from studying too hard. Luna, the cat, produces a magical transformation brouche and tells Usagi to put it on and say the phrase " Moon Prism Power, Make Up!" Still thinking it is just a dream, Usagi complies with Luna and upon uttering her magical phrase, undergoes a magnificent transformation and begins an epic journey...

..BSSM is an anime (Japanese animation) based on a manga (Japanese comics), created and written/drawn by Takeuchi Naoko. It was originally aimed a young girls ages 4 to 12, but (for various reasons >:P) found fans in all age groups and walks of life. Also, Mrs. Takeuchi only intended for it to last one series, but Sailor Moon turned out to be immensely popular, lasting five years, three movies, five+ specials, 200 T.V. episodes, several video games, and TONS of mechandise.

..There are also some VERY popular musicals in production called the Sera-Myu (Sailor Musical). Just hown popular are the musicals? The 500th performance was performed on January 15, 2000. The musicals started in 1992 and have enjoyed a fair ammount of success. The stories usually followed the plots of the current TV season, but when the show ended, new stories were created. Mrs. Takeuchi has worked on several of the productions.

..The last Japanese episode aired on 2-8-97, but still enjoys viewership in all corners of the planet. Sailor Moon has been translated to most major languages and is aired on all of the continents. Typing in "Sailor Moon" on a internet search engine will give you a list of 25,000+ sites. It is estimated that Sailor Moon merchandise still generates millions of dollars in international sales every year. Ms. Takeuchi has commented several times about how popular the show has become. Even though some people complain about what's been done to the show in the various dubbings, Sailor Moon is still loved by many people.

Anime terms Glossary

Since this guide might be a little confusing for people new to anime, here is a glossary of comonly used anime terms. Please note that the following terms are defined by how they relate to anime; they might have other meanings somewhere else.

Anime:

Japanese animation, it is NOT JapAnime or Japanimation! JapAnime is considered racist by some and Japanimation is a really bad pun. Using these terms could get you into trouble, so don't use them.

BGM:

Back Ground Music, music played in the background. Usually quieter then the dialogue

Blur:

censoring technique, the color is distorted to hide something

CG:

Computer Generated, art done on the computer

DI:

Dub Invention, something created specifically for the dub version

Dojinshi:

self-published, done by both fans and manga artists

Dub:

when the accual dialogue is changed to another language

ED:

ending

Fandub:

a dub produced by fans, technically illegal

Fanfic:

a fictional story done by a fan about a series they like, has nothing to do with the official plot

Fansub:

a sub produced by fans, technically illegal but as long as a big commercial company isn't producing a sub and the fansubbers don't advertise, no one cares

Flip:

turning an animation cel backwards so that everything appears on the opposite side, used commonly with rehashing

Gorilla Purists/Anit-Dubbies/Anime Nazis:

if you like any dubbed anime, stay away from these people, they tend to get violent!

Henti/Ecchi/Etchi:

a.k.a. Pornime, it's porn, which means naked people!

Jpn:

Official abbreaviation for Japan. It's NOT Jp or Jap!!!

Manga:

Japanese comics, usually in black and white, on newsprint

Mecha:

Abbreviation for the Japanese word for mechanical or mechanized, in anime refers to robotics, robots and other mechanical things

NA:

North American, English language anime released in North America is the NA version

OP:

opening

Otaku:

an anime fan, mostly used by non-Japanese, somewhat of an insult in Japan

OVA:

Original Video Animation, original animation on video, aka OAV: Original Animation Video

Paint Over:

censorship technique, an object has is drawn over to conseal something

Rehash:

playing a scene over again, used alot with flipping

Sub:

subtitled, in original Japanese dialogue with the speach translated at the bottom, looks like closed captioning

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