Hopefully you like Sailor Moon because it's special; but have you ever stopped to consider that being special could also be a detriment? Look no further than the theatrical shorts and special episodes which are almost completely ignored when the anime is dubbed into other languages. But don't be quick to blame foreign companies as it often seems to be the Japanese (Toei, Bandai & Kodansha) who have failed to promote these orphan productions (let alone even list them)!

This short introduced each Sailor Senshi (a Sailor Scout/Soldier), how they transform and what their powers are. It was produced so that moviegoers, who might not have been familiar with the television show, could catch up on what the Sailormoon universe was all about. "Make Up" refers to what the characters yell in English so that they can transform into Sailor Soldiers.

As far as we know, this short has never been dubbed into any language other than the original Japanese version.

Besides the expected recycling of old animation from the television series, new scenes were produced.

Animated shorts are still produced in Japan as a way to cross promote properties and to be able to charge feature prices when an anime movie is only 60 minutes long. Shorts add precious minutes to the total running time of the program. The shorts are always advertised and are often a must-see for otaku. This is because shorts are usually an anime (or even a manga) which has never been produced for the screen before--adding to its must-see value. A short can become more important than the feature just like the premiere of a "Star Wars" trailer can be in the West.

We know of only one anime theatrical short recently having been dubbed and presented on a movie screen (as originally intended) in the West and that was, "Pikachu's Summer Vacation" released by Warner Bros. with one of the Pokemon movies.

We would never expect "Make Up! Sailor Senshi" to be dubbed into English on its own; however, if combined with the other Sailor Moon theatrical short produced (see the bottom of this page) the two of them could create a terrific, separate, Home Video release.

3 episodes were produced and aired during the SuperS season with stories which were independent of that season. These episodes are known as "Special Version" or "SuperS Specials" or just plain, "Specials." What's most unique about these special episodes is that Haruka/Sailor Uranus and Michiru/Sailor Neptune appear in them even though they are not in the SuperS season. And although Zirconia and the Amazon Trio make a brief appearance in the last Special, their contribution plays no part in the SuperS season story arc.

The Specials were released on their own VHS tape and, as of this writing, are scheduled to be re-released on DVD in Japanese by Toei.

The Specials were aired on a single night, starting in the show's usual timeslot and ending an hour later. They premiered inbetween Episodes 131 and 132 (the fourth and fifth episodes of SuperS). To not cause confusion with the SuperS season story, the Specials were never numbered and therefore were omitted from most of Toei's lists. (As we have worked on this story off & on over the years, none of the companies we contacted initially knew that these episodes existed. Some of them are finding out right now. To longtime fans this should come as no surprise.)

(And before we begin, it should be noted that commercials with the characters were also produced.)

The SuperS Specials are:

An Elegant Transformation? Crybaby Usagi's Growth Record
The first special was titled, "Karei ni henshin? Nakimushi Usagi no Seichou kiroku." This was very similar to the clips episode at the end of the R season, reviewing Usagi/Serena's progression from an absent-minded crybaby to a responsible (!?) fighter for love and justice. It was not based on the manga, and was intended as a cheap recap for fans who had started watching the series later in the run (since the series had been airing new episodes weekly for three years at this point).

Return of Haruka and Michiru! The Ghostly Puppet Show
The second special was titled, "Haruka Michiru Futabtabi! Bourei ningyou geki." Haruka and Michiru go to a fancy party where a puppeteer claims to have a bottle that contains the evils of the world--but Haruka comes down with a fever! Can Michiru handle it on her own, or will Haruka overcome her sickness with the power of love? This special was not based on the manga and provided an opportunity for Toei to produce an episode with Haruka and Michiru who would not appear again until the start of the next and final season, "Sailor Stars." The Inner Senshi don't even make an appearance in this episode.

Chibiusa's Adventure, The Dreaded Vampire Castle
The third special was titled, "Chibi Usa no Bouken! Kyoufu, Kyuuketsuki no Yakata." A new girl transfers to Chibiusa/Rini's school who turns out to be a vampire. This is mostly a comical story, featuring the Sailor team's new garlic-breath combo attack among other things. It is based on a chapter in the collectors' manga, volume 5 (in the middle of the Sailormoon R story arc). In the anime version, the attacks and transformations have been updated to coincide with the SuperS story line; originally in the manga, only the R series powers were used. Although members of the Dead Moon Circus appear in this episode they have little involvement.

Ami's First Love

Theatrical Short, 15 minutes
Released with the feature, "Sailormoon SuperS"

This short was titled, "Ami-chan no hatsukoi" and concerns Ami's daily life and how it gets interrupted when she receives a love letter in her school locker.

Toei was concerned of how the third feature would perform at the box office. Typically, sequels make less money than their predecessors. Further, it didn't help that the feature was straying so far away from the manga (which was still very popular) or series (which had declining ratings).

To help insure that fans would buy tickets, Toei produced a short starring the series' most popular character (Ami) with a new transformation sequence ("Mercury Crystal Power Make Up!"), a special power not seen before ("Mercury Aqua Mirage") and introduced a new song, "Rashiku ikimasho" ("Let's Go As We Are").

With feature-like quality and only 15 minutes in length, this production looks like the very best Sailor Moon episode ever produced. The "drawing director" was Miho Shimogasa.

Based on a chapter in the collectors' manga, volume 13 (in the middle of the SuperS story arc) the villain has nothing to do with the Dead Moon Circus. The original manga chapter and this anime are not part of the SuperS story.

This fun short is a real fan favorite, even among those who like the other senshi more than Ami. It's available on the laserdisc of the SuperS feature and can be downloaded via several sites on the Internet (which we dare not link--otherwise you could count the seconds until they were shut down). Type in either title (Japanese or English) in a good search engine to find these sites.

Okay, so from left to right is the program cover to the Sailormoon R Movie which was released with the 2 shorts: "Make Up! Sailor Senshi!" and "Tsuyoshi, shikkari nasai!" ("Hang in there Tsuyoshi!" and which has nothing to do with Sailormoon). Next is the program cover to the Sailormoon S Movie which was released with the 2 non-Sailormoon shorts: "Osawaga! Super Baby" and "Aoki Densetsu Shoot!" Then there is the program cover to the Sailormoon SuperS Movie: Black Hole no Kiseki which was released with the 2 shorts: "Ami-chan no hatsukoi" (as detailed above) as well as "Azuki-chan" (which has nothing to do with Sailormoon). And finally on the right is Toei's "DVD-Box The Movie" a boxed set with all 3 features, 2 shorts and lots of extras. These DVDs will only work on Region 2 players.