Fourteen-year-old junior high student Usagi Tsukino discovers that she is the reincarnation of Princess Serenity, the princess of a half-mystical, half-utopic Kingdom. She, along with several of her friends, (known as the Sailor Senshi/Scouts) is granted powers to defend the Solar System against an evil force. This evil force originally destroyed her kingdom, the Moon Kingdom. (Note: In the original Japanese versions the name of Serenity's kingdom is Silver Millennium. In the English dub, Silver Millennium refers to the time period, not the name of the place.) She fights using the identity of Sailormoon ("Sailor Moon" is used in the English dub, while both "Sailormoon" and "Sailor Moon" appear in the Japanese manga and anime-related sources). The use of the name Endymion suggests the Greek myth of Selene and Endymion.

With 200 episodes originally airing in Japan from March 1992 to February 1997, Sailor Moon was the longest magical girl anime series to date. Currently it has been surpassed only by the " Ojamajo Doremi " metaseries with 214 episodes. Although many other shows have followed the same formula as Sailor Moon, most are generally considered to be relatively uninspiring and none have ever been the marketing giant that this anime has become. As it has been adapted into versions for many countries, Sailor Moon is arguably one of the most famous anime properties in the world.

The anime's first two series contain stories that vaguely revolve around the backdrop of Silver Millennium (the ancient kingdom on the moon) and the superficially-related kingdom in the future, Crystal Tokyo. The third series is quite dark in comparison, while the fourth is sometimes considered overly light and silly. The metaseries enjoyed renewed interest in its final fifth series, although its reuse of many plot devices (Not to mention a refusal to adapt some of the darker points of the corresponding manga arc's story) bothered some fans.

The Japanese Bishojo Senshi Sera Mun ( Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon ) anime metaseries is composed of five separate series. A complete episode listing, translation, and edited English language name is given as an external link at the bottom of this article. The five Sailor Moon anime series are listed below with their English language names first:

1. Sailor Moon
• Bishojo Senshi Sera Mun ( Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon )
• Japanese version: 46 episodes, from #1-ja through #46-ja.
• English version: 40 episodes, from #1-en through #40-en.
• Usually referred to by fans as the "Classic" series, to avoid confusion with the entire metaseries . In this part, we are introduced to Usagi, her friends and family, and how she becomes Sailor Moon. We are also introduced to some of the other senshi, as well as Usagi's ally and future husband, Mamoru, a.k.a Tuxedo Kamen (Tuxedo Mask in the English dub).
2. Sailor Moon R
• Bishojo Senshi Sera Mun R ( Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon R )
• Japanese version: 43 episodes, from #47-ja through #89-ja.
• English version: 42 episodes, from #41-en through #82-en.
• Sailor Moon R is actually two story arcs. According to the Memorial Song Box booklet, "R" can stand for "Romance," "Return," etc.
• The first arc of R was developed by the shows animators as filler and was not part of the manga. This comprised episodes 47-59.
• The second arc of R constains episodes 60-89. It corresponds to the Black Moon arc of the manga.
• To avoid confusion, it should be reminded that the 1995 English-language adaptation only used the first 72 episodes (i.e. not all of SM: R) and shrunk them down into 65, while the remaining 17 episodes of SMR were only adapted into English in 1997. This 24-episode condensation/omission from the Japanese to English versions, as well as the editing, have created a strong fanbase among Americans that have little respect for the dub.
3. Sailor Moon S
• Bishojo Senshi Sera Mun S ( Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon S )
• Japanese version: 38 episodes, from #90-ja through #127-ja.
• English version: 38 episodes, from #90-en through #127-en.
• Episodes #83-en through #89-en do not exist. At the start of S, the English version's episode numbers were adjusted to match those of the original Japanese version.
• The "S" stands for "Super".
4. Sailor Moon SuperS
• Bishojo Senshi Sera Mun SuperS ( Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon SuperS )
• Japanese version: 39 episodes, from #128-ja through #166-ja.
• English version: 39 episodes, from #128-en through #166-en.
• The second "S" after the "Super", contrary to popular belief, does make it plural as you can tell in the way that it is pronounced ( [sú ?pazu ] , "Supah-sue").
5. Sailor Moon Sailor Stars
• Bishojo Senshi Sera Mun Sailor Stars ( Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Sailor Stars )
• Japanese version: 34 episodes, from #167-ja through #200-ja.
• This series was never shown in English. An English version of Sailor Stars is not going to be produced, so Anglophones who wish to view it must find it through other overseas sources.

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