This episode was based on Act 1 of the manga. Episode 1 of the anime was based quite closely on this manga chapter. The general plot points of this episode were the same as in both the manga and the anime. The same characters were introduced (with the exception of Umino, the stereotypical nerd, who is completely absent in PGSM), and for the most part the same basic facts were established about the premise of the series. Most of this episode should be pretty recognisable to Sailor Moon fans.

There were, however, some key differences, most of which link together quite cleverly. A subplot of this story in the manga and anime was Usagi getting back a really bad test result. Originally she met Mamoru when she screwed up the test paper and threw it away, and accidentally hit him on the head with it. Also, whereas Naru's mother originally just owned a jewellery shop, in PGSM she is a jewellery designer (and apparently quite a famous one at that). In PGSM, Usagi meets Mamoru backstage at Naru's mother's jewellery show. And why is Mamoru backstage at a jewellery show? Because he is looking for the Silver Crystal, and the way he has decided to go about this is by becoming a jewellery thief - his alter ego, Tuxedo Mask.

In the manga and anime, Sailor V was reported to have stopped jewellery thieves, right? Well, the first episode of PGSM opens with a scene of Sailor V battling Tuxedo Mask after he has robbed a jewellery store! This all seems to have been very well thought out.

As a side note to all of this, Mamoru's famous nickname for Usagi, "odango atama" (dumpling head), has been completely removed.

Other than this, there were some changes for the purpose of modernisation. In PGSM, the cellphone item replaces the transformation pen from the manga and anime. (Also, the transformation pen was originally introduced in Act 2 of the manga and episode 2 of the anime.) More significantly, Game Center Crown, the arcade where Motoki works, has been changed to Karaoke Crown, a karaoke bar that Usagi and Naru like to go to. Instead of playing the Sailor V game, Usagi is shown singing along to Minako Aino's current single. That's right - Minako, who is Sailor V and later Sailor Venus, is no longer just dreaming of being a pop star. In PGSM, she's famous already.

Sailor Moon gets the Moonlight Stick straight away in the live action series (and hence uses "Moon Healing Escalation" as her first attack), but in the manga and anime she doesn't get it until much later on. Her first attack was originally "Moon Frisbee" (renamed to "Moon Tiara Boomerang" in the current version of the manga), or in the anime, "Moon Tiara Action".

Possibly the most famous change of all is that Luna is now a plush toy instead of a real cat. It's also worth mentioning that the Sailor Guardians now have ordinary black or brown hair when they are not transformed, which changes into their familiar hairstyle and colour from the manga/anime when they transform. Usagi's regular hairstyle is actually quite similar to the familiar odango atama style she has when transformed, which I was quite glad about.

Finally, since some minor details of the above might be confusing if you've only seen the anime version of the episode, here are some quick notes about the main differences between the anime and manga versions of this story: In the anime, the scene where Usagi goes to Game Center Crown (and Motoki is introduced) was moved to episode 2. Also, in the anime Mamoru doesn't know that he is also Tuxedo Mask, and he doesn't find out until much later on, whereas in the manga he knows all along. Finally, in the anime Tuxedo Mask is famous for throwing roses, but in the manga, as in the live action series, there are no roses in sight.