Series / Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon

aka: Sailor Moon

Beautiful guardian of love and justice, Sailor Moon!

Originally broadcast in Japan between October 2003 and October 2004, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon was a live-action Tokusatsu re-imagining of the original Sailor Moon manga, announced to coincide with the franchise's 10th anniversary. A Live-Action Adaptation of the series, it ran for 49 episodes, plus two direct-to-DVD bonus acts that formed a prequel and epilogue. Although it shares the same name as the original anime (Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon), it is commonly referred to as "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon" to distinguish it from other works. (The original translations of the original anime used "Senshi" as Soldier. The current translations of both the new and old anime and manga uses "Guardian".)

The first half is a retelling of the manga's Dark Kingdom arc, in which Ordinary High-School Student Usagi Tsukino (Miyuu Sawai) and four others (Chisaki Hama, Keiko Kitagawa, Mew Azama and Ayaka Komatsu) discover that they are reincarnations of ancient lunar warriors, reawakened in the modern day to fight the evil of the Dark Kingdom. The second half of the show spins off into its own original arc, as the team struggles to balance their friendship, personal lives and responsibilities as Sailor Soldiers, and more sinister details begin to emerge about the disaster that destroyed the Moon Kingdom. In addition, several characters (particularly Minako, Ami and Princess Serenity) got significant overhauls to their story arcs.

A widely-popularised nationwide search assembled a cast of unknowns for the main characters, for many of whom this was their first big acting gig. While the quality of the CG, a few rubber-suit monsters and many combat scenes that resembled dancing more than fighting (a style derogatorily referred to as "Ballet-Fu") expose its uncertain beginnings, all of the staff - from the actors to Toei Animation's CGI artists - gradually grow accustomed to their roles and produce a slow but smooth improvement in the show over time.

The overall direction of the plot diverged into a much darker direction of things only previously suggested, such as the home life and social troubles the girls faced. On the other hand, the show was also known for Mood Whiplash due to its cartoonish sense of humor, which tended to contrast wildly with the more somber scenes.

The ratings were lower than anticipated, and never reached the popularity of the phenomenon that was the anime. This led to the original 52-episode order getting cut down and the ending being rushed as a result. Toei explicitly produced the show with no intention of a release outside of Japan. In spite of that, fansubs abound online, allowing it to reach the rest of the international Sailor Moon fanbase even in the absence of official distribution.

Not to be confused with Toon Makers’ Sailor Moon, the proposed pitch to Toei Animation for an Americanised live-action/animation hybrid version of the franchise for western television before DiC's dub of the anime came out, which would have strayed even further from the source material. Also not to be confused with the new anime, which has the official English title Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: Crystal or the recent reprints of the manga which use the "Guardian" branding rather than "Soldier".

See also the entry for Sailor Moon; most of its tropes also apply to PGSM.

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This show provides examples of:

• Adaptational Alternate Ending: The original manga and Sailor Moon Crystal end with Usagi saving the Earth and reviving it as Crystal Tokyo under her rule, while the first anime features Usagi reviving everyone and continuing her adventures as a Senshi teenager. In the live-action, neither happens: the Senshi all lose their powers after Usagi revives them and the Earth, and their love for her bring her and Mamoru back to life. She gets married to Mamoru when she's eighteen, transforms one last time to defeat a revived Mio, and settles for a happy, normal life.
• Adaptation Distillation: More stuff from the manga makes it in here than in the anime. What's interesting about PGSM is how many plot elements from the whole series it manages to squeeze into the Dark Kingdom arc.
  • For those familiar with the anime, two characters are close role stand-ins for the Outer Senshi and Chibiusa: Minako and Luna's human form, respectively.
  • Elements of the Black Moon arc is adapted as this series' Darkury arc, with Kunzite and evil Ami taking over the roles of Wiseman and Black Lady/Chibiusa respectively).
• Adaptation Dye-Job:
  • With the exception of Jadeite (who looks largely the same as the original), the Shitennou have their hair colors switched around: while Nephrite's brown hair became red, the role of white-haired boy was passed from Kunzite (whose hair in this incarnation is black) to Zoisite (who originally had strawberry-blond/orange hair).
  • The Sailor Senshi play with this; they all have black or very dark brown hair in civilian form, but their hair changes to their hair colors from the original manga when transformed. The only exception is Sailor Mars, who has pitch black hair in Senshi form instead of the dark purple hair she has in the manga.
• Adaptation Personality Change: PGSM is recognized as the adaptation that holds the most character focus compared to other incarnations of the franchise because so many of the characters' original traits were exaggerated or outright changed completely.
  • Minako - far more serious and cynical than her anime or manga counterpart. Or maybe this adaptation of Minako doesn't bother hiding her cynical view of the world.
  • Ami - more shy and worries about fitting in.
  • Motoki - He was one of the nicest characters on the original, and the crush of many girls who visited the arcade. On this version, he gets the bumbling and quirky traits of Umino Gurio as opposed to his Pretty Boy self in the manga. And was reduced to a Cloudcuckoolander who spends the entire day staring at a turtle in early episodes.
  • Usagi - begins as all versions of Usagi do - upbeat and quirky, until getting hit hard in the last third of the series with a serious case of past life blues and needing to deal with the emotional damage that comes with it.
  • Ikuko (Usagi's mother) - The original was the stereoptical housewife you usually see on TV. This version downplays her Education Mama tendencies and makes her as clumsy as her daughter, or perhaps, clumsier.
  • With the exception of Jadeite, who remains steadfast in his loyalty to Queen Beryl through the entirety of the series (though his loyalty is Deconstructed into Love Martyr territory), all the Shitennou have very different personalities as well - Nephrite starts out similar to Jadeite in his allegiance to Beryl until the combination of Beryl's apathy towards his efforts as well as his interest in Ami and the human world leads to a change in heart; Zoisite is dedicated to protecting Mamoru alone and keeping history from repeating itself; Kunzite holds no allegiance to any character whatsoever and is determined not to let the past repeat itself as well - even if it means cutting down everyone in his path to keep it from happening.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Believe it or not, there's plenty of it going around between ALL the Senshi and even some of the villains throughout the last half of the show.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: This happens with Luna, surprisingly enough. While she's always been on the side of good and has legitimate reasons to be exasperated with Usagi most of the time, there were times in both the manga and the anime where she was very mean, insensitive, and even downright cruel in some cases. The live-action series gets rid of her meaner traits and makes her significantly nicer, giving Usagi genuine praise when she did something right instead of just putting her down or making jokes at her expense, offering emotional support, and making an effort to help out in battle once she gains the ability to turn into Sailor Luna.
• Adapted Out: Queen Serenity and much of the Moon Kingdom in general got cut or is entirely different on this version. For instance, there is not even a mention Queen Serenity until the Special Act, she's only briefly alluded to when Usagi begins wondering if Ikuko is really her mother. The reason why they have been reborn in the first place is also never revealed to the viewers, so they are left to assume they were really reborn to carry out their mission, rather than Queen Serenity's wish for them to live peaceful lives on the Earth. A new Sailor Moon fan can easily get lost while trying to piece together the backstory.
• Affably Evil: Though Mio starts off as a manipulative Bitch in Sheep's Clothing, she doesn't lose her affability once her villainy's revealed. By the Special Act, she's gushing about her evil plans with such cheerful friendliness that she seems to really expect the heroes to be happy for her.
• Alas, Poor Villain: All of them, save for Mio.
• Alpha Bitch: Mio.
• Alternate Continuity: It's confirmed that in this timeline, the Senshi all lose their powers permanently after Usagi's wedding. This means that Usagi will never become Neo-Queen Serenity, which in turn means the Black Moon and a future Chibi-Usa will never come back in time to create a new threat. What's more, the Outer Senshi aren't awakened if they exist, and Usagi purifies neither Galaxia nor the Star Cauldron.
• Always Save the Girl
  • This is discussed constantly, namely in how Mamoru and Usagi's relationship may lead to yet another Apocalypse How as it did with their past selves. Many of the Senshi are torn over what to do, and when Princess Sailor Moon prepares to destroy the Earth, the surviving Senshi reluctantly fight her.
  • At first Minako and Zoisite believe in the subversion of the trope; they want to protect their respective masters Princess Serenity and Endymion and know from the past that letting the two have a relationship will end in disaster. Zoisite even volunteers to kill Sailor Moon so that Endymion will live. Eventually both come to play it straight; Minako can't go with making Usagi forget about Mamoru through an enchanted music box that Zoisite gave her, and Zoisite takes a deadly blow meant for Sailor Moon, ironically while on said assignment to kill her.
  • After learning that her past self destroyed the planet after Endymion died, Usagi still believes that she can learn to control her powers and save Mamoru. Unfortunately, to save the planet she has to kill Endymion, and Princess Sailor Moon decides to destroy the Earth in revenge.
  • Mamoru surrenders to Beryl when she threatens to kill the Shittenou, despite the fact that he'd be a hostage and used against the Senshi. Not to mention that this triggers Sailor Moon's first episode as Princess Sailor Moon, and Mamoru is the only one who can calm her down.
• Amnesiac Dissonance: Shy, likable amnesiac Shin is befriended by Usagi and Mamoru, only to regain his memories and realize he's the fourth Shitennou, Kunzite. Mamoru later lies to Usagi about Shin's disappearance so she won't be hurt by the truth.
• Apocalypse How: Thousands of years ago Princess Serenity unleashed a Class 6 apocalypse on the Moon, while the Earth got hit with a Class 2 apocalypse by the shockwave. She eventually finishes the job.
• Apocalypse Maiden: Usagi...or rather, Princess Serenity.
• Ascended Extra: Compared to the anime, Motoki, Naru, Shingo and Ikuko are recurring characters with increased screentime, and are involved in significant subplots.
• Attractive Bent-Gender: The male actor of Jadeite plays a female police officer in Act Zero.
• Author Appeal: Close-ups of the actor's mouths.
• Babies Ever After: As with the manga's ending, the Special Act strongly hints that Usagi is pregnant.
• Bait-and-Switch Credits: The opening showed Minako in a school uniform hanging out with Usagi and friends, which never happens.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: The Senshi and Shitennou are blasted around, yet most of their injuries are in the form of blackened smudges on their faces.
• Became Their Own Antithesis:
  • Darkury/Akumi is the manifestation of Ami's suppressed negative emotions.
  • Unlike Usagi, who is compassionate and caring of others, Princess Sailor Moon only cares about her pain and Endymion.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: While everyone got distracted with personal troubles, Ami wishes for the team to assemble together. She had to be captured and brainwashed as Dark Mercury before all the senshi managed to fight as a team again.
• Beta Couple: As confirmed through the series and movie/special, Motoki and Makoto become this.
  • Late in the series, Ami and Nephrite/Human!Nephrite, though they don't have their own happy ending like the aforementioned couple.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • Almost too many to count. Most episode-climaxing fights will start with one senshi nearly being beaten, only for the rest to show up at the last minute to turn the battle around.
  • Minako performs a unique one where Mio lies that Usagi has organized a concert for the class - hoping to cause trouble. Just after everyone thinks it's a hoax, Minako arrives and starts performing.
• Big "WHAT?!": Usagi's reaction to learning Sailor Venus's secret identity.
• Bilingual Bonus: "C'est la vie!" means "that's life" in French and is a pun on the Japanese "Sera Vii" (Sailor V). The pun is even more amplified since the line says "This warm feeling is c'est la vie".
  • In fact, the name of Minako's CD in-world, on which that song is found, is "Venus".
  • One of Ami's image songs was called "Mi Amor" which means "my love" in Spanish.
• Bird Run: Sailor V combines this with Roofhopping.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Mio pretends to be Usagi's friend, only to hurt/humiliate her. In fact, it is because she pretends to be nice that allows her to create some of her schemes. Mio also plays innocent at times to give Minako bad publicity as well.
• Bittersweet Ending: More sweet than bitter. The senshi and Earth are revived, albeit without their powers and the Shittenou stay dead. All the girls' love for Usagi allows them to revive her in turn, as a normal girl. She marries Mamoru after transforming one last time to save the world from Mio and is fine with moving on from the trauma. Makoto, unlike every other adaptation, gets a boyfriend and fiance in Motoki, who loves her. Ami becomes a successful doctor, Rei finds friends, and Minako revives her singing career, fighting her terminal illness successfully. The only sour part is the Shittenou have to bid goodbye to Mamoru while promising they will always watch over him.
• Blessed with Suck: Later in the series, Sailor Moon's combined wrath and the Mystical Silver Crystal are actually giving more power to Queen Metallia.
• Brainwashed: The Shitennou were brainwashed into serving Queen Beryl. Though some were able to resist her thrall, they had their own reasons for fighting Sailor Moon.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Dark Sailor Mercury, although the "crazy" in this case is more "sadistic and manipulative" than "psycho."
• Breather Episode: Episodes 39 and 40 have more comedy and heartwarming moments.
• Broken Bird: Minako, although all the senshi show some signs of it now and then, especially in the last few episodes.
• Broken Masquerade: Usagi and Makoto reveal themselves as Sailor Senshi to both Naru and Motoki in order to protect them, something which only Motoki was aware of in the manga.
• Brought Down to Badass: In the Special Act, Minako is powerless, and a low-level youma jumps at her. She kicked it into a column hard enough to break concrete. After that, the rest of the youma slowly back away.
• Brought Down to Normal:
  • In the Special Act we find out that the Sailor Senshi lost their powers at the end of the series. They briefly power up again to defeat Mio, but this is explicitly the last time.
  • Nephrite turns human when Beryl forces him to stab himself.
• By the Power of Grayskull!: Just like the anime and manga before it: "Moon Prism Power! MAKE UP!"
• Cannot Spit It Out: One of the things that makes this show read more like a Soap Opera than the other versions ever did. In particular:
  Tuxedo Kamen: Hey, you're that girl I keep seeing in my dreams! The one who told me to find the Maboroshi no Ginzuisho, and the only reason I've been acting like a thief and causing your team to think I'm a bad guy!
  • Oh, and each of the girls has a "reason" (good or not) for concealing information on a daily basis:
    • Usagi hates to make waves, and will conceal her own feelings and even act strongly opposite to them in order to ensure that everyone's getting along and no one's mad at her.
    • Ami's shy (very introverted) and a bit clingy now that she's got a friend, but she hates to bring up the fact that she has needs.
    • Rei is used to working alone, and feels it's wrong to depend on other people. The times when it's absolutely necessary to work with others seem to be the times she's most likely to try to work alone.
    • Makoto doesn't want to bug people or put additional burdens on them — hence why she decided not to tell the team that Ami-chan was in the hospital, and why she held off on telling Usagi all she knew about Mamoru and his engagement. Her intentions seem to backfire a lot.
    • Minako seems to be operating on an entirely different wavelength from the rest of the team. Just as it starts to make sense (I was masquerading as the Princess to throw the enemy off the trail of the real Princess), she negates that motivation by saying she does things her own way since she's dying and doesn't want to get attached to anyone.
• Call-Forward:
  • Mamoru's awareness of Sailor V's true identity as the pop star Minako Aino during the series is explained in the prequel Act Zero.
  • Officer Akai (played by Nephrite's actor) in Act Zero takes anti-depressants named Ami-tan (a pun on Ami-chan). He comments "disgusting" while ingesting the tablets, similar to how Nephrite eats Ami's burnt cookies and their mutual affection cooled his temperamental attitude.
• Camp: The fight scenes in the earlier episodes. It becomes more believably realistic and more into its tokusatsu roots as the show progresses.
• Camp Gay: Cutie Kenko, the leader of the jewel thieves in Act Zero.
  • Downplayed with Saito Sugao, Minako's flamboyant and effeminate manager.
• Cartesian Karma: Averted. Although Ami goes into Heroic BSoD on realizing that she nearly killed Usagi while brainwashed, Usagi goes into Easily Forgiven mode and tells her it wasn't her fault.
• Casting Gag:
  • Naru is played by Chieko Kawabe, an Ami Mizuno alumna in Sera Myu. It's Ami Mizuno vs Ami Mizuno, both vying as Usagi's BFF.
  • Artemis was voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi, whose most famous role was the ailurophobic Ranma Saotome in Ranma ½.
  • A Meta Casting after the series ended: Keiko Kitagawa appeared in The Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift as the character Reiko in 2006. Later that same year, Ayaka Komatsu starred in Japan-only movies Drift and Drift 2 with a character named Mina.
• Cat Girl: By the time of Act 26, the Silver Crystal allows Luna to permanently transform into a half-human form.
• Celebrity Lie:
  • Inverted in one episode where Idol Singer Minako claims that Rei, who is a shrine girl, is actually a celebrity named "Mars Reiko" and will sing at a hospital's pediatric ward. Rei reluctantly goes along with it since she doesn't have the heart to disappoint the kids.
  • Variant: Mio claims on Usagi's behalf that Usagi knows Idol Singer Minako as part of a plot to isolate and humiliate her. Ironically at this point Usagi does know Minako; just not in the way she expects (Minako is Sailor Venus). Also, Minako foils the humiliation attempt by showing up at the concert Mio promised on Usagi's behalf, while shooting a Death Glare at Mio.
• Chekhov's Skill: To defeat the youma, the senshi used the tricks they learned from the games during the Reiko-Minako competition.
• Chewing the Scenery: Ikuko is a definite scene-stealer, same with Beryl and the Shitennou. Rei/Sailor Mars' Oh, Crap! expressions are also scene-stealers on their own.
• Clark Kenting: Averted. The girls have noticeably different hairstyles and colors when they transform, making it feasible that they don't get recognized. Even so, Minako recognizes Rei as Sailor Mars instantly when they bump into each other at a church.
• Clothing Damage: Like in the anime, very very averted despite everyone taking a lot of punishment. A main form of injury involves a burnt hole on the glove.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander:
  • Motoki Furuhata is more concerned about the welfare of his pet turtle. Mamoru calls him out on this.
• Coincidental Broadcast: When Ami was doubting the authenticity of her friendship with Usagi, she walks past an electronics store with a TV showing a movie about a woman betraying her friend and killing her.
• Colorful Theme Naming: The security guards in Act Zero are named after the hair colors their actors had as the Shitennou. Shiroi (white) is Zoisite, Akai (red) is Nephrite, Kuroi (black) is Kunzite. For some reason, Jadeite's actor played a woman named Hanako (flower), which may be a reference to the fact that he was the most colorful out of the Shitennou.
• Combined Energy Attack: Moonlight Attractive Attack and Sailor Planet Attack.
• Composite Character:
  • Princess Sailor Moon/Serenity has the death and rebirth powers of Sailor Saturn.
  • Minako's behavior combines the Outer Senshi and elements of manga/anime Minako; Her famous celebrity persona is inspired from Minako's hobby and the Three Lights.
  • Ami's personal demons and brainwashing turned her into Darkury, this version's Black Lady.
  • Queen Metalia has properties of Chaos from the anime.
  • Mio and the new Dark Kingdom from the Special Act are more like the Dead Moon Circus.
• Contrived Coincidence: Act 5 puts this to the extreme, Ami feels really happy about having friends. But then, everything around her starts telling her that having friends is a lie, starting with a horoscope on a radio she listens to, then she stumbles upon two teens being interviewed about a girl who was being a shitty friend, then there's the aforementioned Coincidental Broadcast, and finally, she stumbles upon a store that was promoting a book called "The Guide to a True Friendship."
• Conservation of Ninjutsu: Accidentally averted. Due to the busy schedules of the actresses, it was common for the senshi in standard Monster of the Week episodes to show up in just pairs or three, while important episodes with strong enemies were more likely to feature all the girls. This created a fairly smooth power scale, where the senshi were never jobbed and generally only did badly in fights because they couldn't coordinate an assault with all five or a main character villain was simply that powerful.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: For following her to the hospital, Minako volunteers Rei to sing for the sick kids in the pediatric ward by calling her another idol, "Mars Reiko". This ends up leading to Rei's powers awakening since she finally asks Usagi for help.
• The Corrupter: Kunzite has this as an Establishing Character Moment. He corrupts one person to change into a youma, and then does the same to Sailor Moon since he anticipates she is the greatest threat to the Dark Kingdom. Then he manages to succeed with Sailor Mercury by waiting for her to be isolated before corrupting her, so that The Power of Friendship doesn't mess up his plans.
• Covert Pervert: Ami of all people. In one episode, they're going through the girl's phones to look at pictures they've taken (the phones in this continuity allow them to disguise themselves). The last outfit in Ami's phone is a dress that can fall apart. The other girls are visibly shocked. This trait might have been inherited from her anime counterpart, who is only slightly less shy yet is prone to make occasional "interesting" comments.
• Cringe Comedy: Okay, more like Cringe Drama, but still. These girls dress up in costumes to head into places they're not supposed to be. Episode 9 has them dressing up as a guard and a ("gardener" isn't the right word...) to spy on a place that's heavily guarded, where the owners are expecting a robbery... and they just slip past because they happen to be in uniform.
• Dance Battler: At the start of the show's run, the battles resembled choreographed ballet more than spontaneous fighting. The fans call it Ballet Fu.
• Dark Magical Girl:
  • Dark Sailor Mercury and Princess Serenity.
  • Mio, as well — especially in Special Act.
• Darker and Edgier: The live action adaptation of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon is much darker than the anime.
• Deadpan Snarker: Shingo Tsukino and Rei Hino. So very much.
• Deconstruction: Of the original source material, arguably.
  • The most telling moment was when Naru was almost killed because of Princess Serenity's rampage.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Save for Usagi, all four of the senshi are lone wolves and have their own reasons on isolating themselves (see Cannot Spit It Out above). It is due to fate and Usagi's The Heart tendencies that they all warmed up and grew closer to each other.
• Demonic Possession: The youma often start off by possessing human victims, and only manifest physically when they're discovered by the senshi. Interestingly, the youma are fairly verbose while speaking through a human, but they become The Speechless once they reveal their true forms. Later, in a change from other continuities, Mamoru becomes Queen Metallia's host after absorbing it within his body and becoming corrupted by it. He is a lot more powerful than the brainwashed Endymion from the anime and manga.
• Deus ex Machina: On the Special Act, Luna and Makoto try to take the Legendary Moon Sword off the stone, but they can't. Makoto remembers that Queen Serenity had told them they need to be united in order to do so. Later on, when they try to take it off along with Ami and Minako, but without Usagi and Rei, they manage to do so because, apparently, "Usagi and Rei's hearts are aligned with [theirs]." This is a Deus ex Machina for two reasons:
  • 1) If their hearts were already aligned to begin with, why did Makoto and Luna need Ami and Minako's help?
  • 2) On top of that, it's clear Ami and Minako were worrying about the other senshi the whole time, whereas Usagi was only worrying about Mamoru and had no remote idea of what was going on with the other senshi, and Rei was uncounscious. It makes more sense that Ami and Minako's hearts were aligned with Makoto and Luna's rather than Usagi and Rei's with the other senshi's.
• Do Not Adjust Your Set: How Mio announces her plans to take over the world in the special act.
• The Dragon: Although all the Shitennou technically serve and protect Beryl, Jadeite's the only one who does so without any hesitation or conflicted loyalty; anyone who wants to get to her has to go through him.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Both Kunzite and Zoisite, who are not as concerned with following Queen Beryl's orders. Zoisite in particular is mostly concerned with keeping his former master Endymion safe from Beryl's machinations.
• Dual Wielding: The Mars and Venus Daggers. Mars uses both daggers in the penultimate episode after Minako's death, while Venus takes her turn in the Special Act after Rei is incapacitated.
• Earth-Shattering Kaboom: Caused by Usagi's grief.
• Easily Forgiven: Played for Laughs when Usagi is a bit irritated when her friends knew Sailor Venus's identity and didn't tell her, but she shakes it off quickly.
• Eldritch Abomination: Queen Metallia.
• 11th-Hour Superpower: Ami, Rei, and Makoto's Sailor Star Tambourines transform into their Infinity Plus One Swords in the second to last episode of the series, too bad it was too little, too late. Mercury gets a sword, Jupiter gets a spear, and Mars, as mentioned in the Dual Wielding entry, gets a pair of daggers using both her and Venus' tambourine. The weapons return in the Special Act where they're put to better use (and with Venus wielding the daggers instead).
• The End of the World as We Know It: And you'd be surprised who's responsible for it. It's Princess Serenity.
• Enemy Mine: Sailor Venus and Zoisite in one episode where they realize they have a common goal in not wanting Usagi and Mamoru to get together. It doesn't last because Minako can't go through the scheme.
• Enemy Within: Princess Serenity, Sailor Moon's Superpowered Love Makes You Evil Side.
• Energy Absorption: The Dark Kingdom's modus operandi is collecting humans' energy to empower Queen Metallia. It doesn't end well.
• Enigmatic Minion: Zoisite; Kunzite to a lesser extent.
• Enlightenment Superpowers: The Senshi awaken their full powers thanks to this.
• Episode Zero: The Beginning: Act Zero
• Even Evil Has Standards: While Beryl wants Prince Endymion and the power of the silver crystal, she certainly doesn't want the world destroyed again.
• Evil Costume Switch: Sailor Mercury gets one of these upon being brainwashed.
  • When Mamoru is possessed by Metallia's energy, his outfit as Prince Endymion becomes mostly black.
• Evil Counterpart: The Shitennou, particularly in PGSM, are portrayed as the senshi's equals and opposites (they'd normally serve the same role for Endymion as the senshi do for Serenity, while the evil part comes from Beryl's influence). Their individual characterizations take things further:
  • Jadeite->Makoto = Both staunch in their duties as warriors. Jadeite because he loves Beryl and Makoto because she believes she has nothing to look forward to.
  • Nephrite->Ami = Both devoted to the point of fanaticism.
  • Zoisite->Minako = Both rely on questionable methods to make sure history doesn't repeat itself.
  • Kunzite->Rei = Both Screw Destiny believers.
• Evolving Credits: Act 48 showed Minako is quite dead and Luna replaces her.
• Evil Is Hammy: Queen Beryl and Kunzite. Nephrite and Dark Mercury had their moments.
  • The Shitennou in general, most especially in the Kirari Super Live special, where the actors of Kunzite and Nephrite can't stop themselves from laughing while they are threatening the "impudent" human audience, who are filled with raucous giggling.
• Expy: Luna's human form has a functional role noticeably similar to ChibiUsa's character, even though Luna in her plush form still has her original anime voice and personality, which has always traditionally been depicted as an adult.
• Face Death with Dignity:
  • Minako about her terminal illness. She changes her mind after Sailor Jupiter tries to sacrifice herself, and opts to take an operation that might save her.
  • Beryl accepts her loss and remains in the fading ruins of the Dark Kingdom. Jadeite decides to remain with her even after she releases her power over him, letting them be Together in Death.
• Fangirl: Usagi, Naru and her friends are diehard fans of Minako Aino, along with Makoto and Ami.
• Faux Paw: Luna does this when she's in human form.
• Female Gaze: Mamoru's Tuxedo Mask transformation.
• First-Name Basis: In the fifth episode, Ami tries to change herself to be more extroverted, thinking it'll make Usagi like her more; she even eats with Usagi's friends and attends Usagi's pajama party with Naru. By the end, she's come to her senses and it looks like everything's back to normal: even Usagi's friends are talking about her like she's gone for good. But then Usagi suddenly realizes that her friends have started to think differently about Ami, as evidenced by this:
  Usagi (thinking): Naru-chan and the others, they're saying Ami-chan.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Rei and Minako. Bonus points that their elements are fire and metal, respectively. Even invoked that they used each other's weapons in the absence of the other.
• Flung Clothing: Parodied. Rei rips off her business suit with a knee-high skirt to reveal a full, bulky miko garb beneath.
• Foil:
  • Minako and Rei serve as this to one another: a major source of conflict between them being Minako is so absorbed for her past life's mission, while Rei wants nothing to do with her past.
  • Zoisite and Kunzite parallels Minako and Rei: Zoisite does everything he can to protect Mamoru/Endymion, while Kunzite is moving with his own agenda, even injuring Tuxedo Mask whom he should be protecting.
• Foreign Queasine: The Dark Kingdom's food is shown in Chapter 37 and seems to involve odd blue fruits, lots of bird's feet, and red bananas.
• Foreshadowing
  Rei: We all have our dark sides, Ami.
  • The track listing for Minako's CD which heavily foreshadows her roles in the series. Also much of the prequel, Act Zero.
  • Sailor Mars is shown singing in the show's opening sequence. Perhaps a subtle hint that she will eventually abandon her hatred of karaoke.
  • Rei fearing the loss of her friends is one of her reasons of self-isolation. Minako is the one she became closest with.
  • Usagi's flux under Kunzite's youma curse parallels Sailor Moon's internal struggle against Princess Serenity.
  • Related to the above, Kunzite uses Ami's isolation and loneliness to turn her against her comrades as Dark Sailor Mercury, herself a parallel of Serenity's dark psyche.
  • Minako was diagnosed to only have six months to live. She dies exactly twenty-four episodes afterwards.
  • Sailor Moon impales a Youma using Endymion's sword. This is how she also finishes Metalia!Endymion.
• Gaussian Girl: Transformation sequences, special moves, stunning revelations... it's all done by upping the bloom, sometimes until you can't even see the character within the corona of the sun that's formed around her.
• Girliness Upgrade: Ami in the anime and manga has Boyish Short Hair. In this her civilian form has long hair and her Sailor costume's short hair is in a much more feminine style. Ami also becomes more of a Shrinking Violet and Woobie in this adaptation.
• Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Luna and Artemis are stuffed cat toys for this series.
  • Additionally, during the early "Makoto and Rei have a fight then make up" episode, this is used as evidence that Makoto is a pretty normal girl after all (since she has cute stuffed animals in her purse). And Usagi enters a contest of "dress like this cute mascot" but, when she's unable to attend, both Makoto and Rei show up in her place to try to get her the prize... so we get to see them both dressed up like a cute stuffed animal.
    • Queen Mio's puppy doll, Chappi.
• The Glasses Gotta Go: Ami stops wearing her glasses, which are mainly for aesthetic purposes, as she starts to open up with Usagi.
• Good is Not Nice: Minako, being the only Sailor Senshi with memories of the fall of the Moon Kingdom, takes the burden of leading the Inner Senshi into the fight against the Dark Kingdom and preventing the past from repeating itself onto her own shoulders, and sees her life as completely unimportant with regards to her mission. She is dismissive of the other Senshi, and frequently berates them both for their (relatively) idealistic outlook on life, and because she doesn't want them to mourn her inevitable death due to her illness.
• Heel–Face Turn: Strangely enough, it's Queen Beryl who does this when she attempts to kill Metaria following learning of the bigger villains true plans. Not the first time they played with this trope with the character, either.^note See Sailor Moon: Another Story.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • Usagi crashes into a catatonic stupor after she has to fight and kill Mamoru in order to save the world. Unfortunately, this means that Princess Serenity is free to take control and carry out her own apocalyptic plans.
  • Ami experiences one earlier in the series, after snapping out of her Dark Mercury persona and finding that she nearly killed Usagi. It takes her most of the following episode to recover.
  • Rei literally breaks down after Artemis delivers devastating news: Minako is dead, the operation that had a small chance to save her life killed her. The same one Rei pushed her to undergo instead of waiting for the end to come
• Hidden Purpose Test: How "awakening" works in this series. A senshi only fully realizes her power by overcoming a certain personal struggle... the puzzle is finding *which* trait they need to conquer: Rei refusing to ask for help; Ami's lack of self-esteem; Makoto's feeling of aloneness; and Minako's resignation from hope.
• History Repeats: Usagi/Serenity and Mamoru/Endymion's doomed romance. See Self-Fulfilling Prophecy below.
• Homage: To Super Sentai.
  • A number of references from Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger: aside from the reused Golem Hei/Putty Patrol costumes, there's also a brainwashed character who fights with a "Dark Sword", and an ailing character whose days are numbered.
• Hope Spot:
  • Kunzite attempts to corrupt Usagi to change her into a youma. Ami watches over her fretfully, but sees that Usagi's body temperature is returning to normal, meaning she's fighting it and will soon wake. Not wanting his project to go to waste, Kunzite decides to steal away Usagi and keep her away from her friends.
  • Minako decides to undergo surgery on Act 46 after refusing to do it the entire season. The preview for Act 47 shows Minako alive and well, singing at the Karaoke. Turns out that was only an Imagine Spot and Minako really is dead.
• Hot-Blooded: Nephrite. Parodied by Officer Akai played by Nephrite in the "The Birth of Sailor V" special.
• Hypocritical Heartwarming:
  • In one episode Rei and Makoto get into a fight over whether or not to help Usagi with English homework. Makoto rescues Rei, however, from what she believes is a kidnapping. Rei is touched since Makoto was technically right; she was being forced to see her father, and they bond over the experience as well as then helping Usagi with a costume contest.
  • Minako is cold and aloof towards Usagi in civilian guise, since she thinks Usagi is a "baka" and not fit to be a Senshi. When Mio tries to humiliate Usagi by claiming the latter has gotten Minako to perform an impromptu concert for her classmates? Minako shows up, sings a showstopper, sends a Death Glare at Mio, and spares Usagi the humiliation. Not to mention protecting the Princess from the Dark Kingdom.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight:
  • The team against Dark Mercury. Usagi even drops her costume rather than fight back, and starts with her speech (she is, after all, a Messianic Archetype), to the point of bringing out an object the one had given the other as a gift. Subverted when Dark Mercury cleaves the mittens in half.
  • The team also tries this against Princess Sailor Moon. Mamoru is the only one who manages to get through to her and make Usagi revert back to normal. When Mamoru dies with Metaria inside him, the Senshi are forced to fight Princess Sailor Moon and lose.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: When Usagi discovers that Mamoru is engaged to Hina. After saving them from a youma attack, she sees them holding hands and finds it sweet - resolving to let the couple be. The trope is eventually subverted across the series, as Usagi struggles with the pain of seeing Mamoru with someone else.
• Impossibly Cool Clothes: Subverted by reality; while the girls look okay, Tuxedo Kamen looks incredibly dorky.
• Incredibly Obvious Bug: It's bigger than a quarter, has blinking green lights for eyes, and apparently also makes a bleeping noise. The villains only notice it's on the case once it's pointed out to them.
  Enemy: It's so completely obvious!
• Infinity +1 Sword: The Star Tambourines can transform into the Mercury Sword, Jupiter Spear, Mars Dagger and Venus Dagger. The Special Act introduces Serenity's Legendary Blade for the depowered girls to transform one last time. Said sword is physically identical to a similar sword wielded by Sailor Venus in the manga.
• In the Name of the Moon: Considering it's a spin off the Trope Namer...
• Intermission: Kirari Super Live is intended as an out-of-canon intermission to signify the end of the Dark Mercury arc. The concert was held a day after the start of the Mio arc, and Kunzite even lampshades the script to Tuxedo Mask that Mamoru should be in London.
• Irony: This version of Minako is both ironic and tragic. Her terminal illness robbed her of an overtly cheerful persona in favor of a Child Soldier mentality. She wants to distance herself from the senshi but is always drawn to them for the sake of the mission. Despite being a Senshi of Love, she had to conspire with Zoisite to quell Usagi and Mamoru's forbidden love.
  • In one episode Usagi disguises herself as Minako to allow the latter to escape a crowd of fans. At this point Minako is pretending to be the princess who is really Usagi.
  • Minako forces Rei to take up an Idol Singer persona as Reiko Mars. Later, when Minako loses her interest in singing in favor of being a full-time senshi, Artemis and Rei devise a Batman Gambit by using her Reiko Mars alias to monopolize Minako's projects. This ignited Minako's competitiveness and they duke it out in a team game show. Minako lost, but the plan worked. The senshi are even psyched that it is their first time to bond all together as friends, and it is implied that Rei conspired with Minako's manager all along.
  • Minako makes it a point to chide Rei for not awakening her powers and gives her a Cool and Unusual Punishment to help, especially since according to her Rei is the Senshi leader. Minako later reveals she's the real leader, much to Rei's chagrin. Later on, Minako accidentally reveals that her powers haven't awakened, and Rei has to rescue her from a youma.
• Jail Bait Wait: Despite the legal age of consent being thirteen in Japan, Mamoru waits several years before he and Usagi get married. Motoki does the same.
• Jerkass: Minako, whenever she's around the senshi as Sailor Venus. Her general meanness to them is her way of isolating herself from the team due to her terminal illness.
• The Knights Who Say "Squee!": All of the Senshi around idol Minako Aino, except for Sailor Venus. Usagi and Makoto are the most excited.
• Large Ham: Ikuko Tsukino and Saito Sugao.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Minako attempts to do this to Usagi with a music box Zoisite gives her to make the latter forget about Mamoru. It stops working when Usagi starts singing Minako's songs to drown out the hypnotizing melody, and Minako can't go through with it.
• Leotard of Power: The main part of the senshi's sailor fuku is a white leotard, followed by chest padding and short skirt to provide the gymnastic mobility.
• Letting Her Hair Down: Done with Ami's mother. When she hears about Ami missing school and considers sending her away to a new one, her hair is up in a bun. At the end of the episode when the two have come to an understanding, her hair is down.
• Light Is Not Good: Princess Serenity.
• Lighter and Softer: Act Zero: The Birth of Sailor V is more campy and comedic compared to Codename: Sailor V. Instead of monsters, Minako starts off her Sailor V stint as a crimefighter.
• Living a Double Life: The major plot point among the Senshi. Minako balances being an Idol Singer and The Leader of the senshi very well, but at the cost of her own health.
• Local Hangout: Karaoke Crown; a replacement for the Anime/Manga's Crown Game Center, as arcades had fallen in popularity in Japan by the time the show was made and teenagers now tend to hang around karaoke parlors instead.
• Lured into a Trap: Happens every now and then, but one episode had Ami and Rei discover a website beckoning the senshi. Luna encourages them to investigate thinking it was about Sailor V, only to find out it's a trap by Zoisite, resulting both girls temporarily brainwashed and Luna incapacitated. When Usagi and Makoto arrive at the scene, the latter ends up mind-controlled as well. The girls were only saved when Tuxedo Mask's intervention breaks Zoisite's spell.
• Magical Camera: The magical pens that the heroines used in the original are updated to magic cellphones. One function is the ability to create a disguise based on photos taken with them.
• Male Gaze: Just as much as the anime, of course, but with this being live-action, it's a whole different story.
  • The Rei as a pop star◊ walking to her dressing room◊ scene probably takes the cake, though.
• Master of Disguise: The Soldiers' cellphones, which replace the Transformation Pen from the manga/anime, again due to being updated for current times.
• Maybe Ever After: Ami and Human!Nephrite. Though judging by the Special Act They don't.
• Merchandise-Driven: Naturally, being a Sailor Moon show, there were plenty of toys based around their various Transformation Trinkets and other items, such as the Moon Stick and their bracelets. Also, see Off-the-Shelf FX below.
• Mid-Season Twist: Mamoru knows Sailor Moon and Venus' identities but keeps it a secret.
• Minion with an F in Evil: The Four Generals in the live concert. The other three are almost breaking character and Kunzite is having a comical temper tantrum with the "useless imbeciles". Kunzite isn't doing well, either.
  Jadeite: Would you like to be a hostage? Not yet?
• Monster Clown: Appears occasionally as a Monster of the Week. The Pierrots in the Special Act is a whole army of them.
• Mood Whiplash: Be prepared for lots of these.
• Morality Pet: Prince Endymion for Zoisite.
• More than Mind Control: Although the senshi first assume that Kunzite's simply controlling Ami, they gradually realize that Dark Sailor Mercury is partly a result of Ami's own feelings of loneliness and inadequecy roaring to the surface (particularly when she uses her powers to make herself the most popular girl in school, and to turn her former friends into the same sort of outcasts that she used to be).
• Morton's Fork: Once Mamoru absorbs Metaria and loses control, he'll go on to destroy the world, unless Usagi kills him - except that in doing so, she'll lose herself to Serenity, which will also destroy the world.
• Mundane Made Awesome: Mamoru's Tuxedo Mask transforming sequence is just him wearing a tuxedo with dramatic flair.
• The Musical: Yep, got its own musical stage show with the same cast, Kirari Super Live!
• Mutual Pining: The series emphasizes this part of Usagi and Mamoru's relationship particualrly strongly, even adding in Disposable Fiancé Hina to convince Usagi that she has no chance with Mamoru, all while Mamoru fails to realize that the beloved person Sailor Moon keeps referring to is actually him.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • All of the Senshi after Kunzite corrupts Ami. Each of them flashback to a time when they ignored Ami while she was trying to be nice.
  • Ami after hurting Usagi, the cause of her Heroic BSoD.
  • Sailor Moon after she has to kill Mamoru.
• My Significance Sense Is Tingling: Both the senshi and the Shitennou can sense if something important's happened to one of their own, and Luna and Rei often sense the arrival of a new enemy before it makes its first appearance.
• Mythology Gag: While PGSM is mainly adapted from the manga, various references from the anime, musicals and side-stories are sprinkled all around.
  • Whole-Plot Reference: Act 8 is almost a direct adaptation of the short story Casablanca Memories involving Rei and Makoto.
• Named by the Adaptation: Rei's father is given the name "Takashi" in this adaptation.
• No Flow in CGI: In Rei's transformation sequence, her hair is completely stiff while she spins around.
• Non-Human Sidekick: Luna and Artemis.
• No Social Skills: Ami, Rei, and Makoto, until Usagi came into their lives.
• Not as You Know Them: Minako, but she gets better midway through before she dies.
• Not Quite Dead: Nephrite and later on in the series Minako.
  • More glaring with Mio, as she was seen being destroyed by the possessed Endymion near the end of the series. Justified with Minako since Usagi resurrects everyone on Earth after its destruction.
• Oblivious Guilt Slinging: Usagi to Minako when the latter takes her out to lunch to perform Laser-Guided Amnesia on her so as to forget Mamoru. Usagi gushes about how Minako's songs inspire her, and that Minako inspires her as well.
• Offscreen Teleportation: The Senshi - when they're fighting, more often than not - tend to change settings very quickly, most noticeably from an urban setting to a natural one or vice-versa. For instance, in Act 44, Zoisite is severely wounded while protecting Usagi in a dense urban area, but somehow seconds later they are in a park, Zoisite sitting against a tree where he dies
  • In Act 4, Ami and the youma she's fighting are teleported from a Cultural Center in a busy Tokyo street to a wooden, secluded place.
• Off-the-Shelf FX: It's very noticeable that the Transformation Trinkets and various items (such as the iconic Moon Stick) the girls use are the show's own merch, straight out of the box. Well, at least you know exactly what you're buying.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Everyone, every time Princess Serenity takes over Usagi.
  • Done by Mio in the Special Act when the Sailor Senshi recover their powers for one last time.
• One-Book Author: Zoisite was Yoshito Endō's only major role outside of a few guest appearances. He retired from acting shortly after the series aired and now works as a singer and web designer.
• One-Winged Angel: Mio in the special act turned into a plant monster.
  • Kirari Super Live! deliberately avoids the trope by modifying the senshis' skirts with petticoats.
• Paper Fan of Doom: Used by Sailor Luna. She also produces one that is apparently made of gold, or is at least gold plated in a later episode.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Along with some Clark Kenting. Tuxedo Kamen is a young man who dresses up in a tuxedo, top hat, cape, and small mask that only covers his eyes. Yet the scene where Sailor Moon finally removes his mask is played up for all the drama they can get.
  Sailor Moon: [thinking] Why didn't I notice it before?
  • It's also funny when an early episode has dozens of thieves running around dressed up as Tuxedo Kamen, since... um... maybe they think it'll make it easier to steal a valuable jewel? Yeah.... Anyway, it does manage to fool Sailor Moon, who goes out of her way to keep "Tux" from getting caught... by transforming into another Tuxedo Mask and luring off the guards.
  • It's better for the girls, who now sport drastic hairstyle changes — in contrast to the anime, where they looked exactly the same in their civilian identities. Luna as a human, however, plays it straight by having the same navy blue hair she has as Sailor Luna.
  • Subverted by Nephrite in Act 4, as Rei senses his aura as he walks by.
  • It's also an inversion to the old anime for the girls. Although they're better in this version, everyone (sans Tuxedo Mask) were able to figure each other's real identity. Whereas in the old anime, they were really Paper-Thin Disguise warriors, but the villains still spent the whole season trying to figure them out.
• People in Rubber Suits: Each Monster of the Week is frequently portrayed by a suit actor. Only the youma of Act 1 and Mio's true form in the Special Act are CGI.
• Pet the Dog: Beryl starts getting a few such moments near the end of the series, culminating in her releasing Jadeite from her mind control spell so he can escape the Dark Kingdom's destruction, leaving her to die alone. He instead chooses, with his own will, to stay with her until the end. Awwwww....
• Plot Parallel: The reveal of Dark Mercury's personality as Ami's own inner demons is a big set-up of Princess Serenity's own dark side.
  • Zoisite and Minako are this series' counterparts (being devoted to protect Mamoru and Usagi respectively) who die before they complete their mission. A mortally wounded Zoisite plays a requiem before passing away, while Minako releases an album with her own self-epitaph before her doomed surgery.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Queen Beryl doesn't kill off her servants when they fail her. Oh, there's punishment, but why get rid of a loyal servant? The one time she does seem to ruthlessly kill off one of the Shitennou, it turns out to have been a bluff - she actually banished him to Earth as a depowered human.
• Precision F-Strike: Makoto Kino says "fuck you" to a youma in the most widely known fansub. The Japanese language has no true curse words, though the phrase she used, "zakkenayo"^note A highly contracted form of "fuzakeru na yo"; see Japanese Stock Phrases for its meaning, and the context may convey a similar meaning.
  • In the same fansub, she tells Kunzite "don't fuck with me!" when trying to protect a brainwashed Ami from him.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Mio in the special act treats her plan for world conquest like it's a game. And she talks to a doll.
• Put Them All Out of My Misery: Princess Serenity.
• Real Time: Not in individual episodes per se, but the series' internal calendar corresponded to the broadcast calendar, in that the action all occurs between October 2003 and October 2004, and any calendar dates seen corresponded to the day or week that particular episode was broadcast, most notably the New Year's episode.
• Recap Episode: Act 38.
• Remote Body: Mio, described as Queen Beryl's shadow, has shades of this, mirroring Beryl's moods and sometimes acting as her projected avatar. She does seem to have her own personality, though, and later returns to life as a separate villain.
• Retcon: Artemis and Minako's first meeting. Midway through the series, Minako's backstory is an implied Driven to Suicide when she learned of her illness, only for Artemis to fall from the sky and give her the mission she seeks in her life. In Act Zero, Artemis and Minako meet in a comedic manner on Christmas Eve without any mention of her sickness.
• Retool: Big and small changes from the anime and manga all across the board, including being updated to fit in with current tech and fads, rather than those of the early 90s. Some of the elements from the manga that didn't appear in the anime are kept, although the series in general is a re-imagining of both the original story and its characters.
• Right Behind Me: Happens often with Mamoru and Motoki's conversations. The latter's Oh, Crap! face follows suit when their subject arrives.
• Roofhopping: Several instances, including Sailor V combining it with the Bird Run.
• Rule of Symbolism: Minako leaving out of doors. One of them is her stepping out of a door into a bright light, foreshadowing her doomed surgery. She later appears in a white outfit and disapppears into white light.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: On Act 6, all the girls drop their "only for defense" rule and use their powers to get revenge on a gang of basketball players for deceiving Makoto.
• Secret-Keeper:
  • Mamoru learns of Sailor V and Sailor Moon's true identities early on in the series.
  • For a time, Rei is the only one who knew that Sailor Venus is the pop idol Minako Aino.
  • Eventually, Naru and Motoki learn of Usagi and Makoto's senshi status respectively.
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Usagi/Serenity and Mamoru/Endymion are forbidden from falling in love with each other. It is said that once they do, Earth would be destroyed. Except, absolutely nothing harmful seems to come out of their relationship both in their past and present lives. It is everyone else's attempts at separating both that would end up causing Earth's destruction, TWICE.
• Self-Parody: "The Birth of Sailor V" pretty much covers the camp factor of the series as a whole, to the point that the actors of the Shitennou are playing as kind but inept police officers with their Shitennou traits intact.
  • The Kirari Live concert as well, with Zoisite playing a handheld toy piano.
• She-Fu: The infamous fight sequences are acknowledged as a complication of being a To Ku series where no one really wears a face obscuring mask, making traditional stunt doubles less viable and requiring the actress themselves to do most of them.
• Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: Minako's cynical attitude is what brings her at odds with the team, especially Rei. The trope even works as a pun on itself since "Baka Usagi" is a common line early in the series.
• Slasher Smile: Mio; Ami replaces her shy, dorky smile with a sinister grimace as Dark Mercury.
• Smug Snake: Kunzite, Mio, and evil Ami.
• Snark-to-Snark Combat: Minako and Rei's bickering involves loads of snark.
  • The Shitennou even fighting amongst themselves at how ineffective the other is. They lampshade this in the live concert and Special Act, where they hammed it up to ridiculous levels.
• Spared By Adaptation: Nephrite. That is, until Princess Sailor Moon destroys the world... And then, every Shitennou gets reborn by the Special Act.
• Spectacular Spinning: The Senshi transformations (except Minako).
• Spot the Imposter: Mamoru knew that the Shitennou working for Mio were fake when they were easily ensnared by the blanket trap in Mio's lair. The real Shitennou were impressed at him.
• Squeaky Eyes: Very disconcerting in a live show...
• The Starscream: Kunzite, who's extremely powerful, but also very arrogant and has almost no loyalty to Beryl whatsoever. She'd exiled him (and caused his Amnesiac Dissonance) for his Starscream tendencies before, and almost immediately begins to regret bringing him back.
• Stealth Mentor:
  • Minako towards Rei when they first encounter each other, with Minako pretending to be a Jerkass about Rei supposedly being the leader of the Senshi and "punishing" her by making her sing for sick kids at a hospital, which forces Rei to get out of her comfort zone and ask Usagi for help. Eventually, after Minako faints on stage, she reveals this is because she doesn't have long to live and wants Rei to Take Up My Sword.
  • Mamoru under the pretense of fighting Sailor Moon tells her that she needs to learn how to control her powers so that Princess Sailor Moon doesn't destroy the Earth in her rage.
• Stepford Smiler: Usagi has hints of this when she is told her being upset is activating the powers of the Ginzuishou.
• Superpowered Evil Side: Mamoru after sealing Queen Metallia's power within his body. Also, Sailor Moon's Princess Serenity persona.
• Take Up My Sword: After Minako dies, Rei uses the latter's tambourine in the fight against Princess Sailor Moon. Minako had revealed earlier that she was preparing the Senshi for this moment.
• Taking You with Me: Makoto tries this against Metallia's youma by using herself as a lightning rod. It doesn't work, but she survives. Mamoru later tries this by committing suicide before Metallia can finish taking over his body. It doesn't work, but he survives... in a manner of speaking.
• Talking Is a Free Action: Ami invokes her first transformation into Sailor Mercury during a 20-foot-fall — and she does it by reciting a trigger phrase that takes about three or four times longer to say than she should have taken to reach the ground.
  • Averted later when, for example, Rei isn't able to get her transformation phrase out before a youma-possessed boy runs up some stairs to sucker punch her and steal her life force. Another time, Usagi has enough time to transform, but her transformation also gives the enemy enough time to pop up behind her, so that the second she's in costume he's got his hands around her throat.
  • Also, apparently ballet moves are a free action, given the number of times enemies just stand there staring while the Senshi twirl, pirouette, and cartwheel their way across the room. Maybe it's a form of Mook Chivalry? Or maybe they're just stunned by all the panty shots.
• Taught by Experience:
  • Kunzite. His first attack on the Senshi involved attempting to corrupt Usagi, by transforming her into a youma. Thing is he didn't anticipate that Usagi would fight the corruption from the inside or that The Power of Friendship would bring her back to normal. When he tries the same trick on Ami, he waits until she is isolated from the other Senshi, lets her waste multiple attacks on him, and then corrupts her immediately. The Senshi take a long time to realize that something happened to Ami, and by the time they do they're too late.
  • Again, this happens between Kunzite and Sailor Luna. After she used Teleportation Spam to fight him while Sailor Moon fought with Dark Mercury, Kunzite managed to use a powerful attack that led to a Curb-Stomp Battle. They both lampshade on encountering each other for a second time that they have new tricks up their sleeves.
• Teleportation Spam: Sailor Luna uses this as part of her first barrage of attacks.
• Time Skip: The Special Act takes place 4 years after the final battle.
• Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe: To the point that everything happens within a single neighborhood (Azabu-Juuban) but the effects are global. A lot of the venues in the fight scenes were reused throughout the series.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Rei with Minako; Makoto with Usagi and Ami.
• Too Dumb to Live: Usagi and her friends on Act 0 think it's a good idea to dress like Sailor V and fight the criminals by themselves. Needless to say, they almost got themselves killed.
• Trailers Always Spoil: More often than not, the teasers show a lot of the next episode's twists or reveals.
• Transformation Sequence: Both straight and subverted; the latter done with a tongue-in-cheek "dressing" sequence for Tuxedo Kamen in one of the supplemental shorts.
• Tranquil Fury: Serenity approaches and attacks her opponent with serene rage whenever Mamoru is threatened.
• True Companions: The five senshi all have different personalities, but fate and friendship bonded them together.
• Uncanny Valley Girl: Kuroki Mio.
• Underestimated Badassery: Zigzagged. When Sailor Luna challenges Kunzite so Sailor Moon can focus on restoring Ami from Dark Mercury, Kunzite rolls his eyes and smirks. Then he finds out she can weaponize Teleportation Spam so he can't get a clear shot, and she bops him on the nose with her fan. Kunzite, more shocked than hurt, gives a very uncharacteristic WTF look before one-shotting her.
• Unexplained Recovery: While most of the resurrections are justified, Mio makes her villainous return in the special act with a gleeful lack of explanation, apart from vague hints that she's spent the past four years gathering her strength.
• Unstoppable Rage: Makoto will pound anyone who dares to threaten the other senshi, most especially Usagi or Ami.
  • Being the soldier of fire and passion helps, because grief-stricken Rei becomes "unstoppable Rei" when she immolates the youma single-handedly upon learning of Minako's death.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Does nobody see Usagi magically changing dresses in the middle of the sidewalk with all these cars going by behind her??
• Viewers Are Goldfish: Wait, Ami and Naru are on edge around each other? The same way they've been on edge around each other for like two episodes? Who can remember back that far? Better just replay the reason for it all, using the same flashback scene as the last couple of times, eh?
• Villain Has a Point:
  • The reason why Kunzite and Zoicite are angry with their prince for having a forbidden love is that the last time it happened, his lover destroyed the planet. For Zoicite it was losing Endymion, and for Kunzite, it was losing everything.
  • Beryl points out quite astutely that Sailor Moon is the one who killed Endymion.
• Voice of the Legion: Mamoru gains one after being taken over by Queen Metallia.
• Walk on Water: Being a water elemental, Ami nonchalantly does this a few times.
• Wanting Is Better Than Having: Ami again, for several episodes trying to kill off the other senshi (even taunts them in civilian form), granted she is under partial control, but actually DOING so finally snaps her out of it; cue Heroic BSoD.
• Watching the Reflection Undress: Mamoru Chiba sees Usagi transform into Sailor Moon while watching her reflection in an amusement park mirror maze.
• Wham Episode: Act 20. Minako is dying, Makoto confronts Tuxedo Mask, and Kunzite abducts Ami.
• Wham Line: With four simple words, Princess Serenity flips the whole story upside-down...
  Serenity: I... destroyed... the planet.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Played With in one instance. Usagi calls a meeting to ask the Senshi for help with her English homework. While Mako is willing to help, Rei bluntly tells Usagi that she ought to do her homework herself since Senshi meetings are for fighting youma. When Mako and Rei start to bicker, Usagi quickly backtracks and says she'll do her homework and her contest costume alone.
  • Rei calls out Minako for her I Work Alone attitude, especially when Minako tells her that she is the leader of the Senshi, when it turns out that Minako is the real leader and was leading on Rei.
  • Sailor Luna chides Mako for not going on a "proper date" with Motoki, since Mako believes that it's better to be alone and though she likes Motoki she doesn't want to pursue a relationship with him. This normally wouldn't be a problem, except Mako's Senshi powers only awaken when she's not alone.
• When She Smiles: Done with all the girls. Ami as a Shrinking Violet mostly keeps her head down and so only really smiles when she is with Usagi. Seeing her smile more often highlights her Character Development. Makoto is likewise always very solemn so when she does her little smile at Motoki's flirting, it's adorable, as it is when she smiles with the other girls. Minako smiles to her fans but - knowing what we know - it's likely not genuine. So when she has a fun day with Usagi, we see her smile differently for the first time. As for Rei...well the girl never smiles at first. We slowly see her smile more often as she undergoes Character Development and it's lovely whenever she does. Seeing Rei smile is a Heartwarming Moment in and of itself.
• Wicked Cultured: Zoisite is a talented pianist.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: The show pretty much runs on this, from the characters naively assuming they know what they're doing, to the audience making the same assumption. From Act 12:
  Minako: Didn't you sense a strange presence from the manager?
  Usagi: No presence, but this is in manga all the time, right? An idol wants free time, so she does stuff like this, right?
• Yandere: Princess Serenity is the emotionless variety.
• Yank the Dog's Chain
  • Just as when Usagi and Mamoru mellow out to each other, Usagi learns of Mamoru's engagement to Hina, which spirals her into depression. At the same time, Rei becomes distracted with searching for Minako after learning of her identity as Venus; while Makoto is focused on watching over Usagi. The scattered team is instrumental for Ami's eventual capture and fall.
  • Minako while posing as the Princess starts instructing Rei on how to act as the leader of the Senshi. She starts by mentioning that Rei's powers should have awakened before Sailor Moon's, and challenges Rei to get out of her comfort zone by singing karaoke for a pediatrics ward. Just as Rei gets comfortable in her role, it's revealed Sailor Moon is actually Princess Serenity, and that Sailor Venus is the real leader of the Senshi. Rei calls out Minako for lying to her.
  • Nephrite is turned into a normal human after his death. At first he struggles with his depowering, with bouts of rage and depression. However, after a while of being shown kindness by Motoki and Ami, he is finally getting used to his new life and adjusting to society when Princess Sailor Moon destroys the world.
  • All hopes are renewed when Mamoru had absorbed Metallia with no apparent ill effect; Usagi managed to suppress Serenity's Silver Crystal; Minako has fully awakened as Venus and decided to take on the surgery. Fate left everyone in emotional shambles afterwards.
• You Are Not Alone: Mako eventually realizes that knowing this allows her powers to awaken.
• Your Days Are Numbered: Poor Minako. This is why she pushes people away.

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