"Inside
Jokes": These are various little things hidden in the
background by the animators. For example, signs that say funny things,
characters from other shows, or even little things that refer to the Sailor Moon
show itself.
"Inside
Info": These "inside" tips highlight things that you might
not know unless you had seen the original Japanese show, as well as various
interesting things to watch for. Related information is available in
the Missing and Changed Episodes List.
Note: This list is for the American/Canadian TV version of Sailor Moon as originally broadcast in 1995.
In Multiple Episodes...
In the first 65 episodes of the English-language
TV version of Sailor Moon some scene changes are done with the image of Sailor Moon's
tiara appearing and zooming out at the viewer. The twinkle in the
tiara's jewel is actually composed of hazy white images. In
slow-motion playback you can see various figures including
Serena, Sailor Venus, and the Moon Princess battling Beryl. This graphic was not used
in the original Japanese series.
Notice that there are bunny rabbits everywhere: on Serena's
coat, her bedsheets, etc. This is because Serena's
Japanese name Tuskino Usagi is a Japanese pun which literally means "rabbit of the moon".
This refers to a Japanese custom which says that you can see the shape of a rabbit in the face of
the full moon.
Sailor Moon First Series...
The villains in this series are all named after
gemstones or minerals (mostly green or blue ones).
Episode 1 ("A Moon Star is Born"):
During the
introductory narration about the fate of the Moon Kingdom, look
at the "bubbles" the girls are floating in. In the top
left you can see Sailor Neptune (a girl with green hair). Other Sailors
from later in the series are there too, but they're harder to see.
Just after Sailor Moon realizes that she has to go help Molly,
a cityscape is shown and there is a red sign that says
"Moon".
The name of the jewelry store, OSA-P, is a
play on the name of the editor who worked with Ms. Takeuchi on the original Sailor Moon
manga
(his nickname was "Osapi").
Episode 4 ("So You Want to be a Superstar?"):
Near the beginning of the episode, when Molly hits Serena with
her bookbag, there is a moon shaped sign in the background.
"Sailor Moon Says" was made for the American version
using existing scenes. Since each American episode is edited to
be shorter than the original Japanese episode, "Sailor Moon
Says" sometimes contains scenes that were cut from their
original spot in the episode. Information about what was cut from
each episode can be found in the document Missing
and Changed Episodes. In this episode, Serena throws a roll
of decorative paper streamer at Melvin. You don't see it in the show,
but in the "Sailor Moon Says" you can see Melvin
getting clobbered by it.
Episode 6 ("Time Bomb"):
Watch the screen of
Amy's computer. In one scene the bottom-left of the screen says
(in English) "Prime Directives". In a later scene, Amy
presses some buttons and the screen of the computer reads:
"1 - Serve the public trust 2- Protect the innocent 3-
Uphold the law". These are the directives programmed into
Officer Murphy in the movie "ROBOCOP"! Other Robocop
messages which appear on the screen include "targeting
suspect" and "arrest mode".
Just after the car crash at the intersection, there is a sign
on one of the buildings that says "COSMIC".
In Japan,
they drive on the left side of the road. In the English version
of Sailor Moon, they flipped some of the bus scenes to make it
look like a North American bus, but not in all of the scenes! The
scene on the left was flipped (notice the backwards letters on the sign), but when the bus crashes and Serena gets off, the
scene isn't flipped and the driver is now on the other side of the
bus!
Episode 7 ("An Uncharmed Life"):
Have you
seen Ami's school bag? She put it down to pick up Luna and in the
next shot it's gone. Maybe one of those cops swiped it!
A girl waiting for the bus has a little pink goldfish figurine
tied to her schoolbag (see episode 16).
The ravens are named Phobos and Deimos, which just happen to
be the names of the two moons of the planet Mars. [Their names
aren't mentioned in the English version.] More bus scenes get flipped.
Did you notice that
Raye's grandfather looks up Serena's skirt when
Raye knocks her over?
Episode 9 ("Cruise Blues"):
In the crowd,
just before their energy is zapped, there is a girl that looks
almost exactly like Raye, wearing the same outfit. It isn't Raye
though, she comes into view after, as the camera pans across the
crowd.
Episode 10 ("Fight to the Finish"):
The
Robocop jokes continue. The view through Amy's "VR
Visor" shows "Arrest Mode" in the lower corner.
Episode 13 ("Wedding Day Blues"):
At the
temple, Raye knocks Amy over and Grandpa's eyes bug out as Amy's
skirt flaps up.
Episode 14 ("Shutter Bugged"):
The magazine
that Serena is reading has a picture of Peter on one cover and a
picture of Sailor V on the other.
Raye says that Peter is a student at her school, but Raye goes
to an all-girls school. [The fact that Raye goes to
an all-girls school is never actually mentioned in the English
version, however it could be inferred from English episode 48.]
Episode 15 ("Dangerous Dollies"):
Sammy's hat
says "Singo", an English transliteration of his
Japanese name. Mika says "Sailor Venus is cool but I like
Sailor Moon" but, the background image shows Sailor V. Sailor V
doesn't become referred to as Sailor Venus until later!
Episode 16 ("Who is that
Masked Man?"):
At the arcade, Darien tries to win the
doll that looks like Tuxedo Mask from the "Crane Game". [In Japan these are called UFO Catcher Dolls, and Sailormoon UFO catcher dolls were actually available there.] Amongst the other dolls
in the game you can see a Sailor V doll, a Sailor Mars doll and a Queen Beryl
doll. The green frog-like doll in the bottom left corner
is a kappa which is a little water-goblin creature from
Japanese fairy tales. [These kappa dolls seem to be very popular in anime: Ai-chan wins one in Video
Girl Ai and Miki has one in Marmalade
Boy.]
![[the pink fish]](pinkfish.jpg)
The pink haired girl, the pink fish,
the cow next to the pink haired girl, the girl with yellow
hair behind them, and the chicken at the back are all characters from the children's
anime Goldfish Warning (Kingyo Chuihou a.k.a. "Gold Fish Alert") by
Neko Nekobe. Gyopi the pink goldfish appears in Sailor Moon a lot;
in this episode it's also on one of the clothes in Serena's dresser. The reason
for all these Kingyo Chuihou references in Sailor Moon is
that the same animation director, Junichi Sato, worked on both
shows. In the picture above-right, a Japanese advertisment for the Goldfish Warning comic books shows Wapiko
and Gyopi doing their trademark 'goldfish balancing on your hand' trick.
Epsisode 17 ("An Animated Mess"):
Raye
carries a bag that has a picture of Gyopi the pink goldfish on it (see
episode 16). There is a pink moon sketch on a window sill. When the girls run out of the animation studio there is a poster on
the wall of Sailor V, Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Mercury.
The animation
studio is called "Studio Dive". "Studio Live" was a
real animation studio in Japan.
Nephrite's licence plate has his youma (demon) symbol on it.
Director "Asatoh" (Mr. Masterson in English)
is almost certainly a caricature of real-life Sailor Moon animation director Junichi Satoh, who
also directed Kingyoichuchu and Mahou Tsukai Tai!

There are many
bunnies in this episode include bunny dolls on animator's desks and bunny ears on the
director's baby.
Episode 19 ("Molly's Folly"):
At the start of
the episode, when Molly is telling Serena that she is in love
with Maxfield Stanton, Serena says "This is like your crush
on [real life teen heartthrob] Joey Lawrence, Molly".
Molly refers to Maxfield as
Nephlyte, but it's not clear when she heard his real name since
she was unconcious during his fight with Sailor Moon.
Episode 20 ("A Friend In Wolf's Clothing"):
Zoisite is spying on Nephrite.
He boasts to himself that he is
going to find out who Sailor Moon is through Molly. Zoisite
says "So, Nephrite thinks he's close to finding the Imperium
Silver Crystal," but Nephrite never said anything about the
Silver Crystal.
Episode 21 ("Jupiter Comes Thundering In"):
The
first doll that Joe wins from the "Crane Game" at
the arcade is a Sailor V doll. Then, he picks up a Sailor Mercury
doll along with a sort of Godzilla-like one. Amongst the other
dolls in the background is a bunny rabbit doll
("usagi"). Joe drops a red-headed doll on the street
(this is almost certainly the character Wapiko from
Goldfish Warning). When Zoicite confronts Joe,
he drops two dolls- Wapiko and Sailor Moon
(you'll need to be quick with the pause button or use slow-motion
replay to catch this).
Episode 22 ("The Power of Friendship"):
The
tombstone that Tuxedo Mask stands on says "[Sound Theatre
Library] Produced By". The fact that the
minister turns into a monster resembling a boxer is a pun on the
Japanese word for priest, bokushi, hence Zoisite calls
the youma "Boxy" (in Japanese and in English). [This explanation comes
from Hitoshi Doi's Web Page]
Episode 23 ("Mercury's Mental Match"):
When the students are looking at the
marks that have been posted, a close-up is shown, but it's in
Japanese. It shows that Serena ranked 203rd on the exam. Lita was
201st.
Zoisite says to Bunbou (the Shadow Warrior that Greg turns
into) "Get the Black Crystal from her", but Sailor
Mercury has a yellow-coloured crystal. Zoisite has the Black
Crystal.
Episode 24 ("An Artful Attack"):
At the
beginning Molly, Melvin, and Serena are at the art gallery
looking at the painting they think looks like Serena. In the
background are two paintings from an older Naoko Takeuchi comic
called The Cherry Project. The guy holding the flowers is
Tsuzuki Masonori and the girl hugging a pair of skates is Asuka
Chieri (a.k.a. Cherry). [info and picture from Sarah Hauge]
 
When Peggy is talking
about her paintings, some are shown in the background. The first one clearly
looks a lot like Nephrite and Molly. The second one looks kind of like the woman
from "Last Resort", or could possibly be a reference to Princess Kaguya
(a Japanese legend about a princess from the moon).
Episode 25 ("Too Many Girlfriends"):
There
are a lot of hidden and semi-hidden frames in this episode. At
the start of the episode, Lita crashes into Andrew. Semi-hidden
in the ensuing "explosion" are "super-deformed" caricatures
of the first four Sailor Scouts. There
is also a frame with a frog holding an umbrella, and a frame with
the word "Shock" (in English).
Lita did her shopping at the local "7-12" (look at
the bag she's carrying). Yes, they do have 7-11 stores in Japan.
There are a lot of little gag shots
in this episode that flash by quickly. When Serena and Lita are cooking at Andrew's, Serena whines
that she doesn't want to peel potatoes or onions. When Lita snaps
at her, there is a quick shot that flashes up of Serena's face
being squashed. Also, you can see that Lita squeezes a carrot in
her hand until it disintegrates. Later, when Luna sees the Crescent Moon Wand reacting, she leaps
but hits a glass pane. A quick shot flashes up on the screen
showing a caricature Luna being squished into the glass.
Episode 26 ("Grandpa's Follies"):
Chad is
quite resilient; Raye says he's "out cold" but seconds
later he gets up and fights some more!
Grandpa looks up skirts again.
Episode 27 ("Kitty Chaos"):
At the beginning,
when the blue cat first appears, he is above what appears to be a
store sign. The sign actually says (in Japanese) "Tenchi
Muyo" which is the name of another popular (but rather
more adult) Japanese animated series.
Jupiter looking at Mercury's butt?
Sailors Moon, Mercury and
Jupiter all cram into an alleyway at the same time trying to
attack Zoisite. Sailor Mercury tries to go into her attack pose
but trips [very funny in slow-mo] and gets stuck upside down with
her behind sticking up at Sailor Jupiter. Sailor Jupiter gets the full
view and blushes with embarrassment.
When Chad tries asking Raye out on a date, there is a poster
of a man behind him and a poster of a woman behind Raye. The
expressions on the faces in the posters change during the
conversation as if they are reacting to what Chad and Raye say. The text
on the posters also changes. The Japanese text on
the blue poster behind Raye says "My perfume... I am beautiful".
The text on the red poster behind Chad says "Now is the chance. Go
for it you Japanese boy!" Then, after Chad says it's no big deal, the
red poster changes to say "Is it really all right?!".
When Raye is leaning on a concrete wall looking down into the
channel where Luna and Zoisite are, there is a sign on the
building behind her which says (in English) "Rei".
The Japanese
version is full of "Gone with the Wind" jokes. The cat's name is
"Red Battler" ("Rhett
Butler"). The little girl's family name is Ohara, and she has a Scarlett O'Hara hairstyle.
After Yuuichirou (Chad) says that a wonderful girl like Rei (Raye) probably has
better things to do, and rushes off, Rei says "Uh... you left so quickly...
'Gone with the Wind' I guess".
Episode 28 ("Tuxedo Melvin"):
When Melvin is
at the arcade, you can see the english word "Fighter"
of the distinctive "Street Fighter" logo at the top of
the machine he is playing with.
Episode 29 ("Sailor Venus Makes The Scene"):
While Serena is pigging out on crepes she walks by a sign that
says "AMI".
They covered up something important with one of those flying
tiara scene transitions. When Serena is wailing that being Sailor
Moon is her job (Zoicite is impersonating her), Mina and Artemis
are watching Serena from the crowd. You can just see them before
the tiara graphic hides them. I guess this
explains why Mina is not fooled by Malachite's trap later. The
original Japanese show does not use any special graphics for
scene transitions.
When the girls are walking by the stacks of pipes, there is a
scene where Lita's arm seems to be missing but it's arguable depending on how you think she is
standing.
Episode 30 ("A Crystal Clear Destiny"):
When
the girls approach the Starlight Tower, Amy uses her VR Visor to
try to locate Sailor Moon. On the readout you can see the words
"Usagi" and "Chiba", the original Japanese
names of Serena (Tuskino Usagi) and Darien (Chiba Mamoru).
Episode 31 ("A Reluctant Princess"):
Although
the English editors cut the scene of Raye slapping Serena from
this episode, it still appears in the pre-show episode preview.
Episode 34 ("Ski Bunny Blues"):
When Serena
and Raye are trapped, Raye tries to climb out of the crevice but
tumbles down as a big snowball. This is quite funny to watch in
slow motion. Surprised, angry eyes show through the snowball!
Episode 35 ("Ice Princess"):
One of the women
at the ice rink looks a lot like Mihoshi from the Tenchi Muyo.
Reportedly, the male figure skater looks like Sage from "Ronin Warriors" (Yoroiden:
Samurai Troopers) and there may be other Ronin Warrior
characters in the background in this episode. (unconfirmed)
Episode 36 ("Last Resort"):
The car scenes are
actually not flipped in this episode. The steering wheel is on the
left in the Japanese episode too.
The family car appears to be a Volkswagen Rabbit.
This episode contains at least one of the animation frames
that are usually dropped from Raye's anti-evil talisman ritual. The image
is of a dark armoured figure surrounded by flames. [See episode 42.]
Episode 37 ("Tuxedo Unmasked"):
There is an
obvious billboard that says "Sailor Moon" in English.
When Darien confronts Greg, you can see part of a
"Sony" sign in the background.
In this episode there
are many background references to the missing "crystal carriers", e.g.
the news report about the missing painter, a woman carrying a
"lost" sign with a picture of the cat, etc.
Episode 39 ("The Past Returns"):
Sailor
Neptune's bubble is visible in this episode too.
Episode 40 ("Day of Destiny"):
To make this
episode less violent, they cut out the scene of Darien actually
getting hit by Beryl's crystal spear, but they didn't cut it off
early enough; if you play back a tape in slow-motion you can see
it hit him. You can also see part of the spear
protruding from his chest later.
In the "Sailor Says" for episode 40 they show the
Sailor Scouts' spirits cheering up sailor moon (a scene cut from the
English show). It shows Sailor Mercury talking, but it's Sailor
Venus' voice, then it shows Sailor Venus talking and Sailor
Mercury's voice is heard. Then it shows Sailor Jupiter talking,
but you hear Mars' voice, and finally when Mars talks it's
Jupiters voice that is heard.
Sailor Moon R Series Part 1. (Alan and Anne Episodes)...
The names Alan and Ann (or Ail and Ann in Japanese) put
together are supposed to sound like the English word
"Alien".
Episode 41 ("The Return of Sailor
Moon"):
Near the start of
this episode, when everyone is standing around the crater, it seems as if Darien
recognizes Serena but doesn't know her name but in the next episode he doesn't seem to know her at all.
This mix-up also conflicts with the scene of Serena and Darien
meeting at the end of the first series [English episode 40].
[See the Missing and Changed Episodes List for full details].
Episode 42 ("So You Want To Be In
Pictures"):
The girl that Anne gets energy from appears
to be Saffron, the child movie-star from Episode 4.
When Raye uses her ofuda (the anti-evil seal), the picture
flashes between scenes of Raye, flames, and a very brief shot of
a menacing armoured figure standing amidst flames. This is how Rei's ofuda attack always
appears in the Japanese version. Usually, the menacing figure is
removed from the English version (I guess people might think it
was a satanic subliminal message). In Japanese Rei calls upon the spirits of ancient warriors to help her
vanquish evil and the armored figure apparently represents one of these
ancient warriors. [See Common Questions about the Show to read more about the anti-evil seals.]
Episode 43 ("A Knight to Remember"):
This episode title is a play on the title of
a famous book (and the movie based upon it) called "A Night to Remember" by Walter
Lord about the sinking of the Titanic.
Episode 44 ("VR Madness"):
When the
girls are waiting in line outside the Virtual Reality Game
complex, there is a person in the line-up who has a Sailor-V
badge on their jacket. In the VR game, one of the monsters is the
boxer youma from episode 22.
Listen to the crowd noise
in the scene just after Serena gets thrown out of the game car
and lands in Alan's arms. You can hear Melvin complaining.
Episode 45 ("Cherry Blossom Time"):
A couple with a child, seen in the foreground when the girls
first walk into the park, look quite a lot like older versions of
Raye and Chad.
Episode 47 ("Much Ado About
Babysitting"):
When Ann sees Serena and Darien shopping,
she hides by a store corner. The store display has a familiar red
and white pop can labelled "Toke".
Jordan's stroller
says "Manami", which is his name in Japanese.
Serena and Amy are wearing casual clothes when they leave
Darien's apartment but are wearing school uniforms when they
reach the nursery school.
In the original show, Ann storms out of Darien's apartment
after the baby urinates on her. Although this scene is cut from
the English show, it does appear in the "Sailor Moon
Says". [See Missing and Changed
Episodes List for more about this episode!]
Episode 49 ("Food Fetish"):
At the
start, Lita and Amy are talking about the Moonlight Knight. Two
kids run across in front of them. The girl has a little Sailor
Moon doll tied to her backpack. [You'll probably need slow-motion
replay to see this.] At the end of the episode on the platter
Alan offers to Anne there is a package that appears to say
"SOAP" although the 4th letter is not clear.
Episode 50 ("Mirror, Mirror on the Wall"):
In the original episode, when the girls
are arguing about who should play snow white, Makoto (Lita) says
she should play the part since she has the uh... fullest
figure. Although the English version changes the dialogue, when
Lita bounces her chest at Raye, there is a "boing"
sound effect!
When Sailor Mercury introduces herself, the
backdrop is an adaptation of a famous painting by the Japanese
artist Katsushika Hokusai. The background for Sailor Venus is a stylized
version of Sandro Botticelli's "Birth of Venus".
Episode 52 ("Secret Garden"):
In
the bookstore, the article Darien is looking at has the headline
"Luna" (The title "Earth" also appears in the
book). When he puts the book down, "Luna" is also
printed on the cover. Several people have remarked that Alan
makes cocoa using a coffee maker.
Notice all the characters in the stage show: Luna, Sailor
Moon, Tuxedo Mask, Jadeite and one of his yoma (seems to be the
one from the very first episode).
Sailor Moon R Series Part 2. (Dark Moon Family Episodes)...
In a number of episodes, the number of flashing points in the
map of Crystal Tokyo don't match up with what Rubeus says.
Episode 55 ("The Cosmetic Caper"):
When Birdie (the light-blue-haired sister), is standing on top of
the building, a gust of wind blows away the flyers for the cosmetic
store and also blows her skirt upwards. If you watch in
slow-motion playback you can see completely up her skirt as it
gets caught by the wind (she's wearing lacy blue underwear).
Episode 57 ("Gramps in a Pickle"):
The picture in the magazine ad for Gramp's martial arts classes
shows Grandpa chasing some schoolgirls. In fact, in the original
Japanese, it is not an ad. Rei is yelling at her grandfather
because she found this article in her girl's magazine warning
women that there is a perverted old man at the shrine [see Missing and Changed Episodes].
Episode 58 ("Trouble Comes Thundering
Down"):
The magazine Serena is carrying is Nakayoshi,
a real magazine in Japan that published Sailor Moon stories.
The
video game that Sammy is playing has Mount Rushmore in the
background.
When Rini first activates the Time Key, she is in a
clothing shop, but after she activates it, she is in a grocery
store. Normally, when Serena transforms into Sailor Moon, a moon
crescent appears on her forehead, and then her tiara appears over
top and covers it. When Sailor Moon first enters the room in this
episode, the moon crescent is drawn overtop of her tiara.
Near the end of the
episode there is a sign in the background which
reads "SMR".
Episode 59 ("A Charmed Life"):
Rubeus says "back to the future".
In this episode Jupiter's transformation music has additional sound
effects (the "thunder-crash" keyboard runs), just like
her original Japanese transformation music.
Episode 60 ("A Curried Favour"):
At
the start of the episode, Avery is wearing three lemon slices on
her face as a beauty mask. When Rubeus appears, the two sisters
snap to attention. Avery hides the lemon slices by eating them.
The expression on her face is quite funny.
When the people in the supermarket recover, one of them (in
the bottom-left corner) looks exactly like Raye.
[Several people have written to say that Rini asks Raye if she can
make chicken curry and Raye says yes, although her thought
bubble shows beef curry. However,
Raye actually says "sure, I can make ALL KINDS of
curry..."]
Episode 61 ("Naughty 'n' Nice"):
No
wonder Serena is mad; Rini isn't just in her bed, Rini wet the
bed. That's why Serena is airing out her bedsheets later and why Sammy is teasing her
(he says that Serena wet her
own bed).
Episode 62 ("Prediction of Doom"):
Near the end of the episode, Darien is standing on a pier
overlooking the harbour. There is a building on the city skyline with a sign saying "SR-MOON".
As in episode 31,
there's a slap that gets cut from the episode but not from the preview.
Episode 63 ("Enemies no more"):
When Chad is carrying Raye's shopping, a Ferarri TR512 Testarossa
drives by. This is the same model that Nephlyte (Nephrite) drove
in the first series.
When Catsy slaps Chad, (after he tries to apologize for
bumping into her), there are two pictures hidden in the "slap explosion".
The first is a caricature of Zoisite winking
at the audience, and the second is a drawing of a strange little
guy (also Zoisite?) who has "Zoisite" written in Japanese
on his shirt [thanks Chad Kunsman for translation].
Notice that Artemis is holding his nose after laughing at Mina
and Lita? That's because Mina hit him (but they edited it out). In slo-mo you can just see the tip of Mina's
hand coming in for the kill.
Right after the scene of Artemis laughing at Mina and Lita,
the comic book that Serena is reading is "Run-Run" (sometimes written in English as "Lun-Lun"),
which is a real magazine in Japan that published Sailor Moon comics (note the picture of Sailor Venus on the front cover).
Serena is reading or carrying this magazine in other episodes too.
There is also a pile of books next to Serena and the top book has a picture of her on the cover.
When Catsy blasts Raye and Chad, there are several blue-shaded
scenes of them getting thrown around by the blast. In one quick
scene, Chad is blushing as he finds himself staring right at
Raye's backside.
Episode 71 ("No Thanks Nurse
Venus"):
Mina's Japanese name Minako, is written on
her apron.
Sailor Moon S Series...
Episode 83 ("Star Struck, Bad Luck"):
Look at Serena's test.
One of the questions says (in English) "One
day Mr. Ikuhara went to Roppongi to do nanpa. He was very tired after a
big work. So he applied for comfort to any tender girl." Kuniko
Ikuhara was an animation director for Sailor Moon (and Revolutionary
Girl Utena). Roppongi is a district of Tokyo with many bars and
clubs. nanpa means to flirt or pick up girls. The "big work"
is of course, the previous 89 episodes of Sailor Moon! (This episode was Episode 90 in Japanese).
Episode 84 ("Crystal Clear Again"):
Darien's shirt says
"Earth" (in English) on it. Tuxedo Mask is the hero that
represents planet Earth. Darien's Japanese name, Chiba Mamoru, also refers
to the Earth.
Episode 87 ("Swept Off Her Feet"):
At the start, Elizabeth (who is named Unazuki in Japanese), says that Darien
is giving her a lift because her brother "Paul" forgot
something. Guess they forgot that Elizabeth's brother is Andrew!
(Maybe she has another brother...?)
Episode 90 ("Damp Spirits"):
When the girls are
asking Amy all their study questions, Lita's pencil has a Luna P decoration on
the end.
The statue that
Amy and Darien sit in front of is a real statue (Kimi-chan) in the
real Azabu Jûban district in Japan. The story of Kimi-chan is that her mother
gave her up for adoption to a missionary couple so that she would go to America
for a better life. Perhaps there is some similarity to Amy's situation where her
mother wants the best for Amy even though this involves sacrifices to their family life.
Sadly, it was later discovered that the real-life Kimi-chan became ill before sailing to America
and had to go to an orphanage in Azabu Juban where she died. Recently it has become
popular to drop coins at the foot of the statue and this money is donated to children's charities.
Episode 95 ("Birthday Blues Part 2"):
There is a lot of
Japanese writing in this episode. The Japanese
signs that pop up around the fake Sailor Moon (Venus in disguise) say "the
original sailor soldier". The sign that Luna and Artemis hold up says
"real one". The piece of paper that the daimon pulls out says
that there is a one year warranty against breakage, and the Japanese words that
pop up behind Sailor Moon after she transforms say "the original".
At the end of the
episode, Sailor Uranus says that she must have been affected by what Sailor Moon
said in the car, but it was Serena who talked to her in the car and at this
point in the story, she doesn't believe that Serena is Sailor Moon.
Episode 96 ("Hello, Sailor Mini Moon"):
The sign that Raye
crashes into says (in Japanese) "Slow Down"!
Episode 97 ("Tainted Tea Party"):
The keychain doll
that the boy drops is a Crayon
Shin-chan doll. Crayon Shin-chan is a Japanese comic and cartoon
series about a mischievous boy who performs various obscene pranks.
The Japanese
text that pops up when Rini spots Tamasaburo says kawaii
("cute"). The Japanese signs that pop up pointing at Serena,
Rini and Darien's feet indicate that Serena and Rini's feet have gone numb from
kneeling but Darien's are totally fine.
Episode 100 ("Art Appreciation"):
The boy in Rini's
art class is named Masanori Tsuzuki. Tsuzuki Masanori (family name goes
first in Japanese) was a character in The Cherry Project (see episode
24).
Episode 109 ("Thorny Weather"):
Playing
"leapfrog", Rini jumps on Serena. The resulting cartoon
explosion contains this hidden frame...
Sailor Moon SuperS...
Episode 121 ("Dreams Take Flight"):
Tiger's Eye uses
his whip to trap Tuxedo Mask. He then walks away with no whip in his
hand. However, the whip later reappears in his hand before Tuxedo
Mask is released.
Episode 124 ("Baiting the Trap"):
When Melvin first
appears, a person beside him is carrying a satchel with a little Melvin face on
it.
When Molly is
talking to Melvin on the pedestrian bridge there is an ad for the Sailor Moon
TV show on the billboard behind her. It says "SMSS Saturdays 7:00
PM" ("Saturday" is written in Japanese).
In the bookstore,
there is a poster with a crescent moon on it. The book that Tiger's Eye is
reading is entitled "Cherry Boys" by S. Hasegawa, which might be a
reference to real-life anime character designer Shinya Hasegawa..
The Japanese sign
that appears for a few seconds near the end of the episode says "Umino"
(Melvin's family name in Japanese) and is meant to indicate that the location of
the scene is Melvin's house.
Episode 125 ("The Perfect Couple"):
In the toy store
at the beginning, there is a crescent moon ornament on the wall and a doll with
a blonde meatball hairstyle on a shelf.
Episode 126 ("Much Ado About Kitten"):
In Rini's mental
image of herself as an old maid, she is sitting alone watching TV. What's
on TV? Sailor Moon, of course!
Sometimes the
character's Japanese names are written in non-obvious places (see episode 15),
but others are obvious, like the "Minako" sign on Mina's bedroom door.
Episode 145 ("Dreams of Her Own"):
The first magazine
that Serena picks up is called Ran-Ran. Run-Run is a real magazine
in Japan that publishes comics for girls.
Episode 139 ("Duchess's Day Off"):

The pictures beside the cotton candy vendor's stall include (L-to-R) Doremon, Crayon
Shin-Chan, Sailor V, a Power Ranger, and Anpan Man.
Sailor Moon Jokes in Other Shows...
There are many jokes about, or references to, Sailor Moon in
other cartoons and comics. Here are some examples (this is not meant to be an exhaustive list):
James in Pokemon
(a.k.a. Kojiro in Pocket Monsters) brandishes a rose in many scenes
(including the opening credits) and even throws a rose Tuxedo Mask style in one episode.
In chapter 44 of Yu Yu Hakusho,
Kurama interupts a fight by throwing a rose and jokes about being Tuxedo Mask.
In Reboot
(which has a bazillion inside-jokes in every episode), Sailor
Scout binomes appear in episode 38 "System
Crash". Five binomes in Sailor Scout
costumes are huddled together as the city crumbles around them.
The Sailor Moon binome lights up her wand and raises it
hopefully, but then a huge boulder falls on her.
The Barenaked Ladies song "One
Week" contains the line, "Gotta get in tune with Sailor
Moon 'cause that cartoon has got the boom, anime babes that make
me think the wrong thing."
In the anime Fushigi Yuugi,
there's a scene in which Miaka skips around in excitement at
the sight of a delicious feast. As she jumps around yelling out
the names of her favourite foods, she goes through Sailor Moon's
"In the name of the Moon, I'll punish you" poses. Miaka
also does a Sailor Moon parody in episode 1, when she says
"In the name of heaven I will punish you!" to the
gang of kidnappers.
In one of the video extras for the anime
Blueseed
Momiji is shown dressed up as Sailor Moon. In volume 6 of Slayers,
Lina and Amelia disguise Gourry as a girl with a blonde Sailor
Moon "odango" hairstyle. Amelia herself is somewhat a
parody of Sailor Moon. Magical Girl Sasami
(Tenchi
Muyo) is obviously a parody of Sailor Moon.
In an episode of the Canadian sketch comedy show Air
Farce, there is a skit where two sailors are working on
a boat. When the sailors bend over to do their work their pants
slip down a bit and some of their buttocks show.
Then the "Sailor Moon" jingle and logo appear.
In the movie "Ransom" starring Mel Gibson, there is a scene where
one of the kidnappers is picking up some videos, one of which is
clearly labeled "Sailor Moon".
Inside Joke List Contributors...
Jason Huhn, Nina Matsumoto, Bobby Tribble,
D. Ricci, Taylor, Danielle Turmel, Michal Bobran, Alexis Green, Scott Smith,
Jean-Michel Brunet, Valerie Yoza, Robert Uebele, Gerard Deveaux,
James Brian Hunt, Joseph Chan, Cera Crowley, Jordan Bouray, Liz Mayer, Marie Speten,
Esther Edell, Gina Maglio, Cindy Wong, John Wilkinson, Irina Svidovsky, Gabriel Jeun,
Valerie Yoza, Gordon Yee-Toi, Sara Frese, Kathleen Geraghty, Cristian Alvernaz,
Robert Walton, Kia Purity, John Wilkinson, Melissa, Janet Arndt, Hannah,
Elysia Schwartz, Helen Chipman, B.A. Tilgner, Katie Lumsden, Trunks, Amy Franz, Liz
Shaiken, Catherine Weber, Lynsey, Robert Vinson, Ashley Gismondi, Lanny, Susan Tanabe,
Taylor, Kam Fu Yee, Samantha Warriner, Karen Lee, Lael Latta, Amanda, K.C. Fahel,
Glen Pearce, Michelle Gazer, RPGShorty900, Miki Liu, Gabriel Pinzón, Salvatore,
Jocelyn Bordador, Evan, Adam Goode, Angela.
Related Pages...
This list was compiled by Lawrence
Puente of Castle
in the Sky Web Page.
questions, comments, suggestions
This list is for general information only.
Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko
Takeuchi/Kodansha/Toei Animation/DIC.
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