Ahoy sailors! Both parts of Sailor Moon: Cosmos are coming to Netflix this summer. The duology will be released on the streaming service on the 22nd of August this year. The films will act as the fifth and last season of the reboot anime and bring the story to its grand finale.
To many anime fans worldwide, Sailor Moon is one of the most revolutionary and universally beloved series ever released. As such, many are eager to know more about the finale and its place in the Sailor Moon pantheon. Here is a rundown of everything there is to know about this grand release.
Sailor Moon Cosmos: The Final Movie
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According to Netflix’s X page, Sailor Moon: Cosmos, the film adaptation of the final arc of Sailor Moon, will finally reach the streaming service on August 22. The two films were initially released last year in Japanese theaters on June 9 and 30. The film was directed by Tomoya Takahashi and written by Kazuyuki Fudeyasu, the latter of whom worked on its predecessor, Eternal. The film will be animated by both Toei Animation and Studio Deen. Additionally, the release date for the English dub has not been announced yet.
The film will adapt the “Shadow Galactica” arc, the series’ final storyline from the manga. It follows Usagi/Sailor Moon and the other scouts as they face their greatest foe, the intergalactic empire “Shadow Galactica” and its leader, Sailor Galaxia. In the original 90s anime, the season was titled “Sailor Moon Sailor Stars” and lasted for 34 episodes.
The Current Incarnation
Sailor Moon: Cosmos is part two of a duo of films adapting the arc released by Netflix. Alongside the Eternal duo released prior, these films are part of the larger Sailor Moon: Crystal reboot anime. The series was a much closer adaptation of the original manga that ran for three acclaimed seasons. The series aired in 2014, and the Eternal films were released in 2021. Both of them are available on Netflix as well.
While the original 1990s anime is heralded as a classic by many, it is a product of its time in terms of its budget and animation while being heavily mired in filler episodes. As for its original English dub, it became infamous for how much it Westernized the original series by changing names and mixing up cultural norms. Twenty years later, anime dubbing company Viz would dub both the original and the Crystal reboot.
The Influence of the Franchise
Alongside Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon is and remains among the most ubiquitously popular and influential anime series of all time. First released by Mangaka Naoko Takeuchi in 1991, the series ran for 18 volumes. Afterward, Takeuchi continued to oversee the series, even working on the aforementioned Cosmos films. Additionally, she is married to Yoshihiro Togashi, the creator of Hunter x Hunter.
Since then, the billion-dollar franchise has expanded into video games, stage productions, merchandise, and many other venues for fans. To this day, Sailor Moon is seen as one of the greatest female heroes and icons in fiction.
Sailor Moon revolutionized the “magical girl” anime genre in many ways. While there were a handful of predecessors, such as legendary Go Nagai’s Cutie Honey, many of the genre’s tropes were set by Takeuchi’s work. The series would inspire others, such as the genre deconstruction Madoka Magica and its subsequent reconstruction with Kill la Kill. Fittingly, the English dub casts of all three heavily overlap. With the end of Sailor Moon Crystal, this will hopefully be far from the last we hear from the thriving franchise.
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