This is the home thread for reading through the series
Discussion threads
🏰 第一期 ダーク・キングダム編
- Act.1 うさぎ—SAILORMOON
- Act.2 亜美—SAILORMERCURY
- Act.3 レイ—SAILORMARS
- Act.4 Masquerade—仮面舞踏会
- Act.5 まこと—SAILORJUPITER
- Act.6 タキシード仮面—TUXEDO MASK
- Act.7 地場衛—TUXEDO MASK
- Act.8 美奈子—SAILOR V
- Act.9 セレニテイ—PRINCESS
- Act.10 MOON—月
- Act.11 再会—ENDYMION
- Act.12 敵—QUEEN METARIA
- Act.13 決戦—REINCARNATION
- Act.14 終結 そして 始まり—PETIT ETRANGER
🌑 第二期 ブラック・ムーン編
👨🔬 第三期 デス・バスターズ編
🎪 第四期 デッド・ムーン編
第五期 セーラースターズ編
Volume information
I’ve put together a spreadsheet listing volume covers, chapters, and page numbers.
There are separate tabs for each release, showing volume covers/numbers alongside the chapters and currently-planned reading dates.
Why I’m reading this series
Expand for why I've chosen to read Sailormoon in 2020.
This series a holy grail both for me to read to completion, and for me to read in Japanese.
Alongside “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” and “My Neighbor Totoro”, “Sailormoon” was one of my first introductions to anime, and also my first to manga. However, I’ve only read about the first third of the series (English re-translation).
I’d like to finally read the whole series, and I’ve wanted to be able to read it in Japanese for a long time. I’ve previously owned most of the original manga volumes in Japanese, and currently own the updated reprints in both 単行本/tankoubon and 完全版/kanzenban sizes. I’ve failed at past attempts to read it in Japanese.
What is this series?
A group of middle school girls gain the power to transform into “pretty guardians” who fight against monsters threatening the Earth. It’s a shoujo manga with nice art style, and the story has magical girl and sentai elements to it. It’s had various adaptations, including two separate anime series and a live action series.
How difficult is this series?
Expand to see difficulty.
Browsing through the first chapter, I’d say having a solid grasp of N5 and N4 grammar, and knowledge of casual and colloquial speech, is a minimum for basic understanding with minimal trouble. If you’re not quite there yet, this is a good opportunity to learn!
Here are a few sample pages:
How do I join in?
Rather than a formal book club, this is more of a scheduled reading with discussion threads (to be added). Feel free to read along and ask any questions you may have, so long as they’re not from chapters ahead of schedule. (Questions on prior chapters are fine!)
Where can I buy it?
Expand for details on buying.
Search your manga retailer of choice for 「美少女戦士セーラームーン」. If it says 完全版, that’s the larger-size pages (more expensive). If not, then it’s the regular tankoubon size page (less expensive).
Below are the covers for the first volume, shown in relative size to one another. Subsequent volumes use a similar cover art style as the first volume for each release. Any one is fine to buy, as they contain the same 60 chapters[1]. Side-stories are mixed within the tankoubon and kanzenban releases, but the shinsouban release puts them into their own separate volumes.[2]
[1] The original release has 52 chapters, but longer chapters were broken up in later releases resulting in a renumber 60 chapters. The content is unchanged.
[2] There is one side-story missing from the tankoubon release.
Pricing
Expand for pricing information.
Kanzenban
The most recent (“kanzenban”) release packs 300 to 400 pages per volume, across 10 volumes, with larger-than-normal sized pages. This is the only release you’ll find digital.
It’s going to be much cheaper if you go digital. That’s ten volumes at ¥858 each, totaling ¥8,580. This is roughly:
- USD: $79
- GBP: £60
- EUR: €72
Physical, you may find some sellers with the whole bundle for as low as ¥6,000 plus shipping, but that may be for shipping within Japan only. Buying individually and not counting shipping, volumes go for ¥1,650 each, for a total of ¥16,500 (plus shipping and applicable taxes):
- USD: $152
- GBP: £116
- EUR: €138
If you’d like to try reading the series, but are unsure if you’ll like the manga, or want to read all the way to the end, you can buy just the first two volumes of the kanzenban release, and that covers the first self-contained story arc (the “Dark Kingdom arc”) of the story. Although its ending does point the series toward arc two, you can end reading here feeling satisfied at having read a whole and complete story.
Shinsouban
The other route to go is the shinsouban release. This release has normal-sized pages and a page count probably closer to 250 pages per volume. Each volume is listed at ¥539. The main story is fit into ten volumes for ¥5,390 (with two volumes of side stories, bringing the total to ¥6,468).
- USD: $50 ($60)
- GBP: £38 (£46)
- EUR: €45 (€54)
The first three volumes contain the first story arc, and begin the second arc.
(If there’s a currency you’d like to me add, just let me know.)
What’s the pace?
Expand for pacing information
You can read at whatever pace suits you best!
Discussion will be paced at one chapter per week, with the first week spanning January 1st through 10th, then a new chapter starting every Saturday. Chapters are typically 44 pages long, requiring a consistent reading of six to seven pages per day. You’re free to discuss prior chapters in the appropriate thread.
Coincidentally, all three releases end a volume with chapter 49. Thus, I will likely design the schedule to aim for 49 chapters in 2020, excluding side-stories. The first 49 chapters are spread across the following volumes:
- Tankoubon: Volumes 1–15 (except 11 which is only side-stories)
- Shinsouban: Volumes 1–10
- Kanzenban: Volumes 1–8
I plan to update the thread title to reflect the current week’s chapter.