| Pretty Guardians: Sailor Zodiacs (Anime) 美少女戦士セーラーゾディアック | |
|---|---|
| Romaji | Bishōjo senshi sērāzodiakku |
| Information | |
| Creator | Crunchy-P |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Opening | Midnight Dreamer (Seasons 1-4) Eternal Prism Melody (Season 5) |
| Ending | Starlight Romance (Season 1 episodes 1-26) The Virgo Princess (Season 1 episodes 27-46) Maiden's Life (Season 2) Twilight Miracle (Season 3) The Me I Long to Be (Season 4 episodes 128-140) Our Friendship. Together. (Season 4 episodes 141-166) The Moon, The Stars, and Us (Season 5) Midnight Dreamer (Last Episode) |
| Release | |
| Network | TV Asahi (Japan) Seven Network, Network Ten and Fox Kids (Australia) YTV (Canada) Fox Kids (Ireland) TV2 (New Zealand) Fox Kids and GMTV (United Kingdom) Cartoon Network, Syndication, Neon Alley and Hulu (United States) |
| Original run | 1992-1997 |
| No. of Episodes | 200 |
| No. of Seasons | 5 |
Pretty Guardians: Sailor Zodiacs is an anime series that ran on Japanese television from March 7, 1992, to February 8, 1997, on Asahi Television. The series spanned 200 episodes, three feature films, five specials, and five memorials. Following this series were two reboots: one live-action tv show and later Sailor Zodiacs Pearl.
General Format of each episode[]
Every episode from all five seasons of the anime follow pretty much the same formula.
- In every episode, the main villain try to steal something from ordinary humans (ie human energy in season one, Love Stones in Sailor Zodiacs AO, Wing Crystals in Sailor Zodiacs Super W, Star Seeds in Eternal Prism).
- Some ordinary human would be targeted by the main villains (ie to be turned into the monster of the day or to steal something from said person).
- Each episode has a monster-of-the-day which the Sailor Senshi must fight. Such monster can normally disguise itself among humans or is a human turned into a monster or a object turned into a monster.
- Twilight Ninja shows up to aid the senshi in battle, usually against the monster of the day, throwing his signature shuriken at the villains. He usually shows up mid-battle.
- Sailor Virgo would finish off the monster of the day with her special attack (ie Virgo Tiara Attack and Virgo Healing Orchestra in season one, Virgo Maiden Vanquish in R, Virgo Wavy Star Shooter in AO).
- Most episodes tend to be filler episodes, episodes that have little to no impact on the season's overall plot.
Seasons[]
Pretty Guardians: Sailor Zodiacs[]
The 1st season of the Sailor Zodiacs anime aired on Asahi Television at 7:00 pm on Saturdays from 1992, to 1993. It consisted of episodes 1-46. This season was dubbed into English by DiC in 1995 and by Viz Media in 2014 and 2015. A second dubbed version by Viz Media was released on home video in two installments, with Part 1 released on November 11, 2014, and Part 2 released on February 10, 2015.
Pretty Guardians: Sailor Zodiacs R[]
The 2nd season of the Sailor Zodiacs anime aired from 1993, to 1994. It consisted of episodes 47-89. Because the series was not developed with the second season in mind, the first 13 episodes (quarter season) of the series were an original story produced by Toei rather than based on the manga by Crunchy-P to allow Crunchy time to develop her storyline further. This season was the last to air in the UK on Fox Kids (now known as Disney XD). This season was dubbed into English by DiC and eventually released on DVD by ADV, though episode 67 was not dubbed nor released on DVD in the U.S. and Canada. A subbed version is currently available on Hulu and Viz Media's Neon Alley service. A second dubbed version was released on home video in two installments, with Part 1 released on July 14, 2015, and Part 2 released on October 27, 2015.
Pretty Guardians: Sailor Zodiacs AO[]
The 3rd season of the Sailor Zodiacs anime aired from 1994, to 1995. It consisted of episodes 90-127. This season was dubbed into English by Cloverway Inc., and released on DVD by Pioneer.
A subbed version is currently available on Hulu and Viz Media's Neon Alley service. A second dubbed version was released on home video in two installments, with Part 1 was released on November 15, 2016, and Part 2 was released on June 20, 2017.
Pretty Guardians: Sailor Zodiacs SuperW[]
The 4th season of the Sailor Zodiacs anime aired from 1995, to 1996. It consisted of episodes 128-166. This season was dubbed into English by Cloverway and released on DVD by Pioneer and was the last season of the series to air in the U.S. and Canada. The first part of the new dub was released on April 24, 2018, while the release of the second part was released on November 13, 2018.
Pretty Guardians: Sailor Zodiacs Eternal Prism[]
The 5th season aired from 1996, to 1997. The series concluded with this season. It consisted of episodes 167-200. On the anime timeline at the Toei Animation Gallery, "Eternal Prism" is listed separately from "Sailor Zodiacs," which on their timeline concludes with the fourth season. Also, the opening song changed from "Midnight Dreamer," which it had been for the first four seasons, to "Eternal Prism Melody." Due to an unknown reasons, none of the episodes in this season have aired in English-speaking countries, and many rumors persist as to why Toei Animation has not allowed any company to license the last series for distribution in English. The most persistent rumors are that Toei wanted more money for licensing than anyone was willing to pay and that Toei was afraid of hurting the show's "family-friendly" image due to some content in Eternal Prism. Despite this, however, this season aired in other foreign countries, some with little or no controversy, but others, like Brazil, the last episode caused controversy and became the trigger for Cartoon Network to ban or move some anime to late night.
As of May 16, 2014, Viz Media has obtained the rights to subtitle and dub Eternal Prism in English in North America. It's unknown why Toei Animation has suddenly changed its stance of not allowing Eternal Prism to be licensed for English-language distribution. The first episode of Eternal Prism was uploaded to Hulu on December 14, 2015, marking the official premiere of the series in America. The first part of the dub was released on June 18, 2019, on DVD, while the second part was released on November 12th, 2019.
Films[]
Pretty Guardians: Sailor Zodiacs R: The Movie
Pretty Guardians: Sailor Zodiacs AO: The Movie
Pretty Guardians: Sailor Zodiacs SuperW: The Movie
Trivia[]
TBA