Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: The Musicals
Between the years of 1993 and 2005, stage musical adaptations of the Sailor Moon saga were performed in Japan. While many of these productions were based on plotlines taken from the anime and manga, several original stories and scenarios were created specially for the stage. There were 29 separate productions with over 800 total performances.
One of the most notable things about the myu is its elusiveness; despite being the longest-running version of Sailor Moon, it is inarguably the least well-known. Many fans are not even aware of its existence, due to the fact that no performances were released outside Japan and are not often talked about. Even the most well-known and highly
regarded Sailor Moon fansites fail to discuss the musicals in depth or at all. Furthermore, some fans that are aware of the musicals are not interested in them. This probably boils down to the fact that they are, afterall, musicals and are consequently labeled as niche. In fact, even by Sailor Moon fans, they are seen as being ridiculous and are rarely taken seriously; they are flashy to a gaudy point and are essentially very exaggerated live-action versions of a children's show. Despite these issues, Sera Myu has much to offer Sailor Moon fans from its expression of character and relationship subtleties, the re-telling of
well-known stories and the implementation of new ones, to its extravagant yet simple production value.
The Sailor Moon musicals' stories were based upon the original anime and manga version, but sometimes drew upon totally original ideas, such as the Kaguya Shima Densetsu (Legend of Kaguya Island) musicals, and the Dracul series. Frequently the producers fleshed out concepts from the anime or manga that were never fully explained, such as the unrequited love between Sailor Pluto and King Endymion.
Over 200 songs were written exclusively for the musicals. It was common for many of these songs to be reused in several productions, especially characters', couples' and battle themes. Frequently a song would be performed later, but with new lyrics. Several composers and lyricists who worked on the Sailor Moon anime also wrote songs for the musicals.
The Kaiteiban (Revisions) represent another major aspect of the musicals. Generally, new musicals ran in the summer, and then a Revision was performed the following winter. The basic plot commonly stayed the same, but Revisions often had rearranged scenes or songs, small plot elements were expanded upon, and actresses who were "graduating" (a term used when a cast member left) often had more solo parts and/or speaking lines.
The musicals can be divided up into separate stages, which are usually determined by actresses who "graduate." Western fans usually divide up the musicals into four separate stages, coinciding with the actress who played Sailor Moon. Anza Ooyama was the original actress for Sailor Moon, and is also the longest running (1993 Summer to 1998 Winter). The next stage was Fumina Hara, the shortest running Moon, who appeared from the Summer of 1998 until the Summer of 1999. The following stage was Miyuki Kanbe's stage, from Winter 2000 to Spring 2001. And the fourth, and possibly final stage, was Marina Kuroki, the second longest running Moon, from Summer 2001 until Winter of 2005.
The official stages, as broken down by the producers of the musicals, are quite different, and there are only three stages. The first is the same as Western fans' interpretation, with the First Stage ending when Anza Ooyama graduated. The second stage began in Summer 1998 and ended in Winter 2004, with a revision of the Final First Stage musical, Eien Densetsu. Yuuko Hosaka, the longest running Sailor Pluto, also graduated at the end of this stage. The third stage is the current stage.
The most recent production, Shin Kaguya Shima Densetsu (Kaiteiban), concluded in January of 2005. According to BMO, the official fan club, the musicals are currently on a "short hiatus," but as of yet there have been no signs that any new musicals will be made.