I’m not the biggest anime fan in the world (That would be my brother), but I sure have watched a lot of it.
From anime in the ‘80s and ‘90s to now, it has been a huge part of my life, and I love to recommend shows like Ranking of Kings to people who are already in the know.
But, what about the people who have never watched an anime in their entire lives? What would I recommend to them? Well, I’d recommend Sailor Moon, of course, and I have five reasons why!
It Never Takes Itself Too Seriously, So It's An Easy Entry Point
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve seen a lot of anime, and I’d recommend different shows to different people. For example, if you used to watch Bleach or Rurouni Kenshin (Which actually have some pretty good live-action movies anime adaptations), then I might recommend something like Demon Slayer as a great modern anime. If they enjoyed Dragon Ball Z (because you know I love my Z Boyz), then I might suggest shows like One Punch Man, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, or Seven Deadly Sins.
What about the people who have never watched anime? Believe it or not, I’ve actually encountered people like this. Instead of suggesting that they subscribe to Crunchyroll so they can watch anime like Attack on Titan, ODDTAXI, or To Your Eternity, I’d instead suggest Sailor Moon. Do you want to know why? Because it never takes itself too seriously. At least, not in the beginning, anyway.
Sailor Moon is about a teenager named Serena (or Usagi if you prefer sub over dub like I do) who meets a magical cat that gives her the power to turn into Sailor Moon. She’s going to need this ability to face off against the dastardly Dark Kingdom. Luckily, she has her friends, the Sailor Guardians, to help her out along the way. And…that’s about it.
The action can get intense at times (especially in Season 5, Sailor Stars), but overall, it’s pretty silly and always fun in the earlier seasons, which is why I would always suggest it over anime that takes itself too seriously. Because look, people have enough going on in their lives. They don’t need anything else that might stress them out.
It's A Positive Message For Both Women And Men About Feminism, And It’s Super Progressive
Now, here’s what’s interesting. Sailor Moon was my very first anime (which is why I may prefer it to Dragon Ball Z), but the version I got as a kid was WAY edited. Yes, we still got stories of female friendship and women antagonists, which ultimately led to stories of female empowerment, but my version really only covered the earlier seasons with the five primary Sailor Guardians: Moon, Mars, Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter.
Once you get deeper into the series, however, you start finding that a considerable amount of the cast is gay, bi, and nonbinary. There are Lesbian characters, gay male characters, intersex characters, you name it. One of the best pairings in the series is between Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. Plus, it’s all shown as perfectly natural and by choice, which I think is a great message and something that I feel is both modern and wonderful at the same time.
The Series Is Currently Finished, So You Don't Have To Wait For New Seasons Like Modern Anime
Debuting back in 1992, Sailor Moon has a huge catalog to get through, but it’s currently finished…for the most part. You have the original arc, called Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon (this was all I saw back as a youngin'). Then you have the second season, Sailor Moon R, which introduced fan-favorite character, Rini (Chibiusa, again for the sub crowd).
You then have the Sailor Moon R movie, Promise of the Rose (it’s okay), followed by the third season, Sailor Moon S, which gave us the Death Busters. We then got a Sailor Moon S movie, which I like better than Promise of the Rose. It gets a little darker with the fourth season, Sailor Moon Super S, which has a lot more of Rini, and then possibly the best season, Sailor Moon Sailor Stars, which is now on Hulu after being stuck on Blu-ray for a while.
Then, we got Sailor Moon Crystal back in 2014, which was a tad closer to the original manga than the earlier stuff. Honestly, true fans will tell you that you need to watch EVERYTHING, but if you just skip the earlier stuff and jump right to Sailor Moon Crystal, I think you’ll be fine.
Finally, we got the two-part movie, Sailor Moon Eternal, back in 2021. So, that’s it…well, almost. There’s supposed to be another movie, called Sailor Moon Cosmos, coming out this summer in Japan, but it’s just a movie, and not a new show! You don’t have to wait for a Part 3 to a “final season” like some other anime series that will remain nameless.
Sailor Moon Has So Much History And Influence That You'll Definitely Find Other Fans Your Age To Talk To About It
With hundreds of episodes and a few movies sprinkled in, this property has a massive legacy. I just bring this up since you won't be alone if you decide to get into Sailor Moon, since there are millions of fans out there.
Not only that, but they'll likely be older fans. This is important when I recommend an anime to somebody; I wouldn't necessarily recommend a show like My Hero Academia, or Hunter x Hunter to an adult, because those shows skew younger, so they typically have a younger fanbase.
No, no. While Sailor Moon isn't one of the OG anime like Speed Racer or Mobile Suit Gundam, it definitely has an older demographic of fans, which is perfect if you're not a 12-year-old who somehow found this article.
It's On Many Different Streaming Platforms, So You Can Easily Access It
Lastly, this is a great anime to start with since it’s on SO many streaming services. Netflix has all three seasons of Sailor Moon Crystal, as well as the movie, Sailor Moon Eternal. Amazon Prime has pretty much everything you could want, including the movies, but you have to pay for them individually. Hulu has a similar selection, with all five of the original seasons, and all three seasons of Crystal. And then you have Crunchyroll, which has Crystal as well.
The best bang for your buck (since it won’t cost you any bucks) is Pluto TV, as it has all 200 episodes of The Pretty Guardians Sailor Moon series (which is the original), all of the episodes for The Pretty Guardians Sailor Moon Crystal, and even the movies Sailor Moon R, Sailor Moon S, and Sailor Moon Super S! So, if you want to start your journey anywhere, it might as well be with Sailor Pluto, er, I mean, Pluto TV.
So, yeah. This franchise is pretty great. But, what anime would you suggest to start somebody off with? For more news on other anime shows, make sure to swing by here often.
