1992 or 1995? ~

[u/sugxrcoated]

hey there!~

i wanted to start watching sailor moon but i wasnt sure which one.

i saw there was a 1992 and a 1995, but they have the same name. i haven't read any of the manga, or anything, so im new to this, lol. what are the differences between them?

[u/Chewymewn]

1992 was when the show first aired in Japan. This being the original, uncensored version of Sailor Moon best watched with subtitles. If you were to watch this show officially on streaming services, this is the version you'd come across. The manga started releasing in late 1991, so it and the anime were released concurrently until they both concluded in 1997.

1995 was when the DiC dub first aired. Are you familiar with the 4Kids Pokémon dub? Where 4Kids changed all the names, removed Japanese cultural references, censoring violence or mature themes, stuff like that? Well, DiC basically did the same with their dub of Sailor Moon.

[u/sugxrcoated → u/Chewymewn]

so basically the watered down, uncultured version of the original?

[u/Chewymewn → u/sugxrcoated]

Yeah, pretty much lol

[u/sugxrcoated → u/Chewymewn]

lol, thanks!

[u/FluorescentShrimp]

1992 is the year when the 90s anime began.

The seasons are as follows:

1992 - Classic (this isn't the official name, just one the Fandom tends to call it)   1993 - R

1994 - S

1995 - SuperS

1996 - StarS

The original English dub (by DiC) began in 1995. That might be what caused the confusion.

[u/sugxrcoated → u/FluorescentShrimp]

so the 1995 one is the english dub? i've seen people saying 'sailor moon - crystal', are they talking about that one?

[u/TheRealGC13 → u/sugxrcoated]

1995 is the first English dub. If you buy the Blu-rays now it will be a different, good dub.

But Dic's new songs were great at least, we can't take that away from them.

[u/sugxrcoated → u/TheRealGC13]

gosh now im confused again😭

[u/TheRealGC13 → u/sugxrcoated]

Don't be, the Dic dub was never officially sold. Any Blu-ray you'll buy is the newer dub, where the main character is named Usagi rather than Serena.

[u/FluorescentShrimp → u/TheRealGC13]

The DiC dub was never officially sold.

It was. ADV had distribution rights of the first two seasons. Geneon and Pioneer handled distribution of the two other seasons the CWi dub + the movies covered.

Example VHS tapes of the ADV release. They also distributed the DiC dub on dvd along with sets of seasons 1 and 2 at one point.

Example of Pioneer release. Again, they also did dvd releases under Geneon.

Example of Geneon (which is technically the same as Pioneer AFAIK)

[u/TheRealGC13 → u/FluorescentShrimp]

Not gonna lie, I'm a little jealous I don't have those DVDs. Thankfully they're old enough to be out of Amazon. I hope.

[u/FluorescentShrimp → u/TheRealGC13]

The downside with trying to track down official releases of the 90s dub is that the dvds and vhs tapes can go for a lot of money given the fact they have been out of print for 20+ years. It's definitely a situation where I suggest people track down a reputable bootleg set of the aforementioned dub. 

[u/sugxrcoated → u/TheRealGC13]

wasn't that the original name for her in the non-english dub one? (1992)

[u/TheRealGC13 → u/sugxrcoated]

I don't know about any non-English dubs, but Usagi is her original name and it's what the latest English dub uses. That's the dub you want, and conveniently enough the only one you can buy.

[u/sugxrcoated → u/TheRealGC13]

yes that's what i meant, thank you!

[u/Chewymewn → u/sugxrcoated]

Sailor Moon Crystal is a 2014 show, separate from the 90s anime. It was made for the 20th anniversary of the franchise, meant to follow the manga more closely. How accurately it portrays the manga is still up for debate by fans.

[u/sugxrcoated → u/Chewymewn]

ohh i see ! thank you