If you know anything about the history of Sailor Moon in the United States, you’ll know that…well there was a lot of tampering with the show to make it “suitable for kids.” Sailor Uranus and Neptune were changed from lovers to cousins, several villains who were male we voiced by women because they had romantic interest in men, and some of the fight scenes were torn apart. But the biggest cut was of Sailor Moon Stars, the last season of the anime that never made it to the U.S. for a whole host of reason. All that is about to change, thanks to Viz Media.
At Anime NYC 2018, Viz Media announced that they would be releasing uncut season with a new dub on DVD and Blu-Ray, starting in Spring 2019. No announcements have been made regarding the actors who will play all the new characters as of yet.
The biggest reason why Sailor Moon Stars never made an American debut is because in the season, there are three new Sailor Scouts. How are there new scouts when all the planets are already accounted for? Well, turns out, every solar system has its own so we get a trio from a far away place in space. These are the Sailor Starlights, specifically Sailor Star Fighter, Sailor Star Maker, and Sailor Star Healer. Now in the manga, they are women who disguise themselves as men to be in a boy band. In the anime, however, they are biological male as civilians and they transform into women when they fight. Now you see what the issue was.
Viz, however, has been re-dubbing the uncut episodes as they were intended, so it looks like the gender-fluidity of these characters will not longer be an issue. And as someone who watched the season with bad subs and poor quality rips on YouTube, it’ll be nice to see the show in its full glory for once.
