We don’t have a firm release date yet, but it’s abundantly clear from the Pegasus tease at the end of the Season 3 finale: Sailor Moon Crystal Season 4 is coming.
Sailor Moon SuperS is the most divisive of the five seasons of the original 1990s Sailor Moon anime. Thankfully, Crystal Season 4 will be based on the vastly different manga version of the ‘Dream’ storyline. Here’s a rundown of some of the distinctions between the anime and the manga.
WARNING: If you haven’t already seen Sailor Moon SuperS (or you have, but haven’t read the manga and want Crystal to be a surprise), there’s about to be some major spoilers heading your way.
Still here? Let’s break it down:
Major Difference #1: All the Outer Senshi will likely appear in Crystal
None of these (rightfully) beloved characters appear in Sailor Moon SuperS, though they do return in the final season of the 90s anime, Sailor Moon Sailor Stars.
However, the Outers do have roles in the fourth storyline of the manga, so it’s highly likely we’ll see them in Sailor Moon Crystal Season 4. In the manga, the young (and recently reincarnated) Hotaru lives with Haruka, Setsuna and Michiru. It’s worth noting Hotaru’s age advances quickly, like that creepy baby from Twilight (but with fewer uncanny valley issues).
Major Difference #2: The manga introduces four new Sailor Senshi, led by Chibiusa
The villainous Amazoness Quartet (VesVes, CereCere, JunJun and PallaPalla) survive and become normal girls after the events of Sailor Moon SuperS; however, In Naoko Takeuchi’s original story, the Amazoness Quartet become Sailor Senshi. After the quartet is defeated by Sailor Moon, Sailor Saturn brings them to Neo Queen Serenity, who revives them and reveals their identity as the Sailor Quartet, Chibiusa’s guardians.
The Sailor Quartet also returns in the fifth manga storyline, so it’s definitely possible they could appear in both Crystal Season 4 and Season 5.
Major Difference #3 Luna, Artemis and Diana Have Human Forms
That’s right, our talking kitties just might make the leap to full-on humanity, if the manga is anything to go by. If Sailor Moon Crystal’s fourth season hews closely to the manga, as it has in seasons past, it’s very likely we’ll see the kitties in human form.
Luna attains human form in a special volume of the manga that was adapted into the 1990s anime film Sailor Moon S (subtitled Hearts In Ice for English-speaking audiences), but the three Sailor Moon movies aren’t widely available dubbed or subbed in English.
In the manga, we learn Artemis and Luna hail from the Planet Mau, and possess the ability to briefly take on human form in times of crisis. Artemis becomes human during the ‘Dream’ arc to help Minako / Sailor Venus while she battles the Amazoness Quartet. Unlike Luna and Artemis, Diana retains her tail when human, and has hair in round buns like Usagi and Chibiusa.
Why is the original anime so different from the manga, anyway?
At the time, Toei saw Sailor Moon SuperS as a way to reinvigorate and revamp a series whose ratings had begun to wane. They targeted a younger crowd, making Chibiusa the main character (she was, and still is, enormously popular in Japan). As a result, the fourth season has more of a kid-friendly feel, focusing pretty much entirely on Small Lady / Chibiusa and her friends, school antics and life lessons about bullying and going to the dentist. Don’t you miss the gender non-conformity, lesbian romance, robot limbs and apocalypse threats from Sailor Moon S / Crystal Season 3 already? Don’t worry: sticking closer to the source material of Naoko Takeuchi’s original manga can only strengthen Season 4 of Crystal.
In the meantime, you can catch up on all three seasons of Sailor Moon Crystal and all five seasons of the original anime on Hulu, Crunchyroll and Viz.com.
There are loads of differences between the Sailor Moon SuperS anime and the manga that could place Crystal Season 4 among the reboot’s most memorable. What are you most looking forward to in the upcoming season? Let us know in the comments!
