After finishing another rewatch of the epic 1990s anime with James, here is my definitive ranking of the seasons using a very scientific pro/con list system. Starting from the worst:
#5 Sailor Moon SuperS (Season 4)
This season of Sailor Moon is the worst, despite having some of my favorite villain henchmen (The Amazon Trio) and a generally fun evil circus vibe. The plot is convoluted, we concentrate a lot on Chibiusa, a character I hate, and Pegasus could have solved literally everything if he had just told us the deal at the beginning instead of perving on a child for 39 episodes.
Pros
- Evil Circus Aesthetic
- The Amazon Trio villain henchmen hanging out at a bar in between missions
- Madame Zirconia trying to get her circus folk to do, like, any work
- Villain Henchmen getting redeemed (Amazon Trio AND Amazoness Quartet)
- Had 3 separate monsters that were just spheres lol
- That time Minako tried to go on 2 dates at once, Mrs. Doubtfire-style, and they both ended up being with Dead Moon Circus henchmen
Cons
- PEGASUS AND EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM
- Chibiusa still being here
- How yikes the animation is when the villains “check a dream mirror”
- The Amazoness Quartet’s hair and how no one in the real world comments on it
- The episode where Chibiusa and Usagi switch ages
#4 Sailor Moon Sailor Stars (Season 5)
The season of Sailor Moon that was never aired in the US in the 90s because of its supposedly scandalous nature! It has some good points (see below) but is ultimately kind of forgettable.
Pros
- No Chibiusa!!!!
- No Mamoru!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Seiya/Usagi–unpopular opinion, but this age-appropriate romance is great
- More Sailor lore! About Sailors outside the solar system!
- Galaxia’s villain design
- That time they had to battle the bad guys inside Usagi’s house and she Moon Tiara Action’d a pizza
Cons
- Sailor Moon’s new outfit
- Chibi Chibi
- The Sailor Starlights’ designs (both in Sailor and human form) are lazy and weird
- Star Gentle Uterus, the worst Sailor Moon Attack
- The Outer Senshi being hostile for no reason yet again
- Hotaru being suddenly aged up just after being reborn feels like a cop out
- Actually, the whole beginning few episodes where the season had to quickly correct the ending of the last season
#3 Sailor Moon R (Season 2)
When I’m trying to remember the seasons of Sailor Moon or the famous bad guys, this is the one I always forget, so it’s fitting that it goes here in the middle of the ranking.
Pros
- Time travel
- Sailor Pluto
- Sailor Planet Attack (wish it had been used more after this season!)
- The concept of a political rebellion against Usagi’s future reign of tyranny
- The Spectre Sisters getting redeemed
- That time Sailor Moon stood up in twice Earth’s gravity just when you thought she was a lightweight
Cons
- Ail and An, the biggest filler arc that ever existed
- Chibiusa
- Moonlight Knight
- Mamoru breaking up with Usagi for no reason just to cause drama
- Black Lady
- Wiseman after a while when his deal remains largely unexplained
- That time a hospital gave Mamoru and Usagi a random baby???
#2 Sailor Moon S (Season 3)
The first time I saw the show, this season was #1. It has some of the funniest running gags, a great mad science aesthetic, and intriguing new Sailor characters.
Pros
- Sailor Saturn and her design
- Lesbians/”cousins”/Usagi’s bi panic–the horrible English dub added a whole other hilarious layer to Haruka and Michiru’s relationship, where they aren’t just two women in love but two COUSINS in love. That’s what happens when you change the dialogue but none of the animation
- Mad science!
- The in-fighting of the Witches 5 henchwomen
- Chibiusa/Hotaru–I may hate Chibiusa, but I liked her friendship with Hotaru
- Eudial driving her car out of and into any random place and then shooting people with a literal gun. Other Sailor Moon henchpeople could learn a thing or two from her.
Cons
- Sailor Uranus and Neptune being hostile for no reason
- Chibiusa is back
- Eudial dying because of snails (no way for a queen to go down)
- The whole plot with the interdimensional being Pharaoh 90 trying to invade Earth is confusing
- That time Usagi slapped Mamoru for forgetting her birthday
- Mamoru never asking Usagi when her birthday is after 3 years of dating???
#1 Sailor Moon (Season 1)
Partly nostalgia driven, sure, but the first season of Sailor Moon has some epic set pieces, great music, and a lot of my favorite themes that continue in future seasons: redeeming villains, whenever henchmen fight amongst themselves, and Mamoru being totally useless.
Pros
- Queen Beryl and her shoulder horns is really the best villain, honestly
- More normal human characters (Usagi’s friends Umino and Naru, her teacher, Usagi’s family)
- Nostalgia for the OG
- In-fighting amongst the Kings of Heaven
- Badass final battle scene, my favorite of all the final battle scenes
- DJ Dite
- Has one of my favorite Sailor Moon monster designs of all time, Blizzar
- That time Jadeite got hit by a plane
- That time Nephrite dressed up as Tuxedo Mask and Naru proved she’s the only character who isn’t face blind by not being fooled
- RHETT BUTLER (cat)
Cons
- Naru/Nephrite love story
- Usagi is perhaps her most annoying
- A lot of things introduced that are only used one or two times here and then never seen again (hair ball danger alarm, Transformation pen, Moon Tiara Stardust)
- I would say Mamoru dating TWO middle school girls, but that is a constant throughout this series because the anime inexplicably aged him up
- Introducing my prince, Rhett Butler, and then never showing him again
Be glad this whole post wasn’t just an ode to Rhett Butler, because that episode is CINEMA.