Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie is right around the corner. The two-part film will continue the saga that began with Sailor Moon Crystal -- a reboot anime series that more faithfully adapts the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon manga by Naoko Takeuchi.
Ahead of the two films' release on Netflix this week, here is everything you need to know about Sailor Moon and friends, from the moment they wake up as Sailor Guardians to the moment they avert a catastrophic alien invasion thanks to the arrival of new allies.
Sailor Moon Crystal Season 1 Reintroduces the Guardians
Sailor Moon Crystal Season 1 sets up the main cast of characters and their origin stories. We are introduced to the franchise's main protagonist, Usagi Tsukino, a 14-year-old junior high school student who stumbles upon a cat named Luna one day, awakening her as the Sailor Guardian known as Sailor Moon. The first half of Season 1 focuses on Luna training Usagi as a Sailor Guardian, as well as finding and recruiting three more Sailor Guardians to complete the four needed to protect Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom. Luna successfully finds Ami Mizuno (Sailor Mercury), Rei Hino (Sailor Mars), and Makoto Kino (Sailor Jupiter).
The four Sailor Guardians are tasked with finding the Legendary Silver Crystal before Queen Beryl of the Dark Kingdom does. The latter wants to exploit the crystal's immense power to free Queen Metalia from her prison and plunge the world into darkness. But they're not the only ones looking for the powerful Crystal.
An amnesiac high school student named Mamoru Chiba is also looking for the crystal, thinking it will restore his memories. He frequently assists the Sailor Guardians in their missions as Tuxedo Mask and gains Usagi's love.
At some point, the Sailor Guardians become aware of a fifth Sailor Guardian known only as Sailor V and her cat Artemis. She was the first Sailor Guardian to awaken and had been solving crimes around Tokyo for a considerable amount of time. She'd also become a national sensation, even having video games made about her, and is naturally assumed to be the princess Sailor Moon and Guardians are meant to protect.
As the threat of the Dark Kingdom increases, the Sailor Guardians learn more about their past lives. They originally existed on the Moon Kingdom during the Silver Millennium as the original protectors of Princess Serenity, who fell in love with Prince Endymion on Earth. Usagi is revealed to be the real Princess Serenity; Sailor V only posed as her for protection. Sailor V is also revealed to be Minako Aino, the real leader of the Sailor Guardians known as Sailor Venus. Mamoru is similarly revealed to be Prince Endymion, whom Queen Beryl was also in love with in her previous life.
It was Beryl who sold her soul to Queen Metalia during the Silver Millennium, which ended in a war between the Moon and Earth kingdoms. This resulted in the deaths and reincarnations of everyone involved. Determined not to let history repeat itself, the Sailor Guardians discover that the Legendary Silver Crystal was within Usagi the whole time and she -- with Mamoru's help -- used the power's crystal to defeat Queen Metalia. Just when Usagi and friends think their troubles are over, they meet a pink-haired little girl.
Sailor Moon Crystal Season 2: Chibi Moon Awakens
Season 2 of Sailor Moon Crytal introduced the mysterious Chibi Usa who looks a lot like a 'little Usagi' with pink hair. She is searching for the Legendary Silver Crystal but won't say for what purpose. Mamoru senses she is actually terrified of something and wants their help.
Around the time Chibi Usa appears, so does a new threat called the Black Moon Clan. They are from the 30th century and know about Sailor Moon and her Sailor Guardians. Their first order of business is to lure Sailor Moon to their domain -- a dark malevolent planet called Nemesis -- by abducting each of her Sailor Guardians. Sailors Mars, Mercury and Jupiter are successfully captured, but they fail to capture Venus.
Realizing they're dealing with a more dangerous threat than anticipated, Usagi, Mamoru, Minako, Luna and Artemis ask Chibi Usa for answers. She reveals she's also from the 30th century and came to the past seeking their help against the Black Moon Clan. They agree to help and Chibi Usa further reveals she has a time key that allows her to travel time. While traveling to the future they encounter another Sailor Guardian -- Sailor Pluto -- who safeguards the time-space continuum.
In the 30th century, the group learns the dark truth of this future. Mamoru and Usagi are the future rulers of Earth as King Endymion and Neo Queen Serenity with Crystal Tokyo as their home base. They also learn Chibi Usa is actually their daughter. At some point, the Black Moon Clan attacked the Earth, resulting in the death of the entire planet. This put Endymion, Serenity and future Sailor Guardians in eternal sleep.
Chibi Usa incorrectly assumes her actions were the reason the planet died and these feelings of guilt are exploited by a malevolent entity known as Wiseman, who is actually Death Phantom. He artificially ages Chibi Usa and gives her the power of the Malefic Black Crystal to serve him as Black Lady. As Black Lady, Chibi Usa's feelings of resentment towards her parents come to the surface, which Wiseman weaponizes to attack her parents.
The Black Moon Clan is led by Prince Demande who lusts over Neo Queen Serenity. His true objective is to have both the Queen and her Silver Crystal to himself but is also being manipulated by Death Phantom. The latter's true objective is to destroy the Silver Crystal by creating a time paradox that will also achieve his goal of total annihilation. The paradox is averted by Sailor Pluto who freezes time resulting in her death. This breaks Death Phantom's spell over Chibi Usa and triggers her awakening as Sailor Chibi Moon.
Chibi Usa's body returns to normal and both mother and daughter combine their powers to destroy Death Phantom and Nemesis, which also awakens Neo Queen Serenity from her sleep. The Queen then uses the power of the future Silver Crystal to restore life on Earth. She then sends the past versions of herself and friends back to their time, along with her daughter, so that she can train to be a Sailor Guardian.
Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3: Sailors Uranus, Neptune & Saturn Return
Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 brings a new threat to Tokyo in the form of the Death Busters, who are laying a path for the arrival of Master Pharaoh 90, an alien entity from another galaxy known as the Tau Star System. To enable his arrival, Master Pharaoh 90 needs human hosts, which a magus named Kaolinite supplies by exploiting the students of Mugen Academy. This threat awakens two new Sailor Guardians -- Sailor Uranus and Neptune -- who are aware that their talismans, along with a mysterious third talisman, will awaken Sailor Saturn, the soldier of destruction.
The threat of Master Pharaoh 90 also gives the Sailor Guardians premonitions of an upcoming apocalypse, and are warned against the three talismans awakening Sailor Saturn. They decide to investigate these premonitions, which are coinciding with the strange attacks happening near the Mugen Academy. Without explanation, Mugen Academy students are being turned into monsters known as Daimons. The Sailor Guardians respond to each of these attacks, eventually meeting a sickly girl named Hotaru Tomoe, who is a student at the academy. She is also befriended by Chibi Usa.
Along the way, the Sailor Guardians meet two other Mugen students -- Haruka Tenoh and Michiru Kaioh -- who appear in their lives around the time that Sailors Uranus and Neptune do. They are revealed to be one and the same, and despite being Sailor Guardians, Uranus and Neptune have no desire to join the group. Since their role is to protect the solar system from alien threats, they feel the other Sailor Guardians would only get in their way. Kaolinite orders the Witches 5 to eliminate the Sailor Guardians and during an attack, Sailor Pluto is revealed to be alive and well. She is also revealed to be the holder of the third talisman needed to awaken Sailor Saturn.
With the three Outer Guardians united, they inform the Sailor Guardians they were last summoned during Queen Metalia's attack in the Silver Millennium. At the time, their three talismans awoke Sailor Saturn, who ended the conflict by destroying both the Moon and Earth kingdoms, killing everyone involved. Not wanting to repeat history, the Outer Guardians task themselves with preventing Saturn's awakening by killing her reincarnation -- Hotaru Tomoe. The Sailor Guardians do not accept this plan.
Hotaru is herself revealed to be the host of Mistress 9, who was strengthened by Chibi Usa's Silver Crystal. After taking over Hotaru's body, Mistress 9 steals Chibi Usa's Silver Crystal and soul. She then opens a portal to bring Master Pharaoh 90 to Earth, though the Outer Guardians manage to contain him within a barrier. Mistress 9 then takes the souls of the other Sailor Guardians, only to be defeated by Sailors Moon and Chibi Moon with the former sacrificing herself in the process. Sailor Moon's sacrifice activates the talismans, finally awakening Sailor Saturn.
Saturn returns the souls of the Sailor Guardians and gives Chibi Usa her Silver Crystal back. She then proceeds to destroy both Master Pharoah 90 and the world before Sailor Moon reveals herself to still be alive. Saturn then requests Pluto to seal both herself and Master Pharoah 90 in the other dimension while Sailor Moon restores the Earth. Saturn is soon after reborn as an infant and is taken in by the Outer Guardians to care for.
Having completed her Sailor Guardian training, Chibi Usa prepares to return to the 30th century when a new threat arrives, setting the stage for Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie. Both parts of the film will be available to stream on Netflix, June 3.
