Sailor Moon (character)

Sailor Moon (セーラームーン) is a fictional character in the Sailor Moon metaseries and the main protagonist of the franchise, as well as its title character. Her civilian name, Usagi Tsukino (月野 うさぎ), becomes Serena Tsukino in the English-language versions. A carefree schoolgirl, she can transform herself into the de facto leader of the series' primary heroines, the Sailor Senshi.

Due to the series' widespread popularity in many countries and to her distinctive and oft-copied odango hairstyle, she has become one of the most immediately recognizable and iconic anime characters worldwide. No other character appears in all 200 episodes of the anime, and Usagi is present in all 52 acts of the manga as well as all 51 acts of the live-action series.

Serena, Usagi's given name in the English-language versions of the series, derives from the name Serena which means moon (Helen is a related name), the name Usagi went by in her past life. In the English manga she is mostly called by the nickname Bunny, which is the literal meaning of usagi. Her boyfriend for most of the series, Mamoru Chiba, calls her by the affectionate nickname "Usako" (a diminutive, the suffix -ko meaning "child").

Profile
The meta-series introduces Usagi Tsukino as a schoolgirl living in 20th-century Tokyo. It initially depicts her as a well-intentioned but underachieving crybaby who prefers the life of a normal teenage Earth girl. Nevertheless, she continues to fight the evils of her past life and protects the Earth with the Silver Crystal, as the Champion of Justice, Sailor Moon, which provides for most of the conflict within both the manga and the anime.

Her journey begins when, while running to school, she sees some neighborhood kids abusing a cat and rescues it (in the manga she accidentally steps on the cat, and trips over it; in the live-action, the cat falls from the sky onto her head). Later, the cat comes into her room and reveals herself as a talking cat named Luna, who serves as the mentor archetype for Sailor Moon. Luna gives Usagi a magical brooch which helps her transform into Sailor Moon (the "Soldier of Love and Justice"), and tells her that she is a Soldier who must fight for peace. She also tells her that she must find the rest of the Soldiers, as well as their princess. Though at first Usagi is portrayed as a "reluctant heroine" (in the anime she often is rescued by Tuxedo Mask) as time goes on her character grows more confident and mature. However, she still has her crybaby moments late into the meta-series.



Usagi lives in Azabu Jūban (a real district of Tokyo) with her mother Ikuko Tsukino, her father Kenji Tsukino, and her brother Shingo Tsukino. Usagi's family take their names from the real family members of the metaseries' creator, Naoko Takeuchi. Out of all the Sailor Senshi, only Usagi and Minako Aino live in conventional nuclear families. Usagi is also the only one known to have a sibling.

Usagi does not perform well at school, and often seems unintelligent (especially in the anime), though the storyline generally attributes this to naïveté and laziness rather than to stupidity. She spends her time eating, playing video games and reading comics (including RunRun, which published the Sailor V manga in real life) rather than studying. She is often portrayed as a character that is better at art than science, as with her inability to answer that apples fall from trees because of gravity.

Usagi has a boyfriend named Mamoru Chiba. Mamoru and Usagi's relationship forms an important part of Usagi's life, as well as of the series. The love they share helps Usagi make it through many challenges. Mamoru becomes Usagi's boyfriend after many trials, and they date for a long time during the series. In Sailor Stars Mamoru gives Usagi a promise ring in a shape of a heart at the airport just before he leaves for America. The ring represents a promise to Usagi that they will eventually get married.

A number of connecting episodes at the end of the first series reveal one of the biggest secrets about Sailor Moon: she realizes that she is Princess Serenity (the "crown princess" of the Silver Millennium) reborn. In the second series, Usagi learns that she will give birth to a daughter (Chibiusa) by her boyfriend and future husband. Usagi will also become a "Sovereign of the Earth", known as Neo-Queen Serenity, by the 30th century.

The series shows how Usagi loves sweet foods and how easily they distract her. She loves ice-cream so much that it appears listed as her hobby in the manga, and her favorite subject is listed as Home Economics. She is also said to dislike carrots (although she eats them in the anime), and is terrible at both English and mathematics. In addition to being a genuine friend, Usagi is extremely good at brown nosing when it's needed and, of course, crying to get what she wants. She is afraid of dentists, ghosts and lightning, and her greatest dream is to be a bride. Usagi loves rabbits as well as the colors white and pink, and is apparently a member of the Manga Drawing Club at school, though her skill level varies widely when shown in the anime. She stands 150 centimeters (4 ft 11 in) tall. She also often appears bad at writing using Kanji to the point that even as Neo-Queen Serenity she still has problems.

In the manga and anime, Mamoru gives Usagi the nickname "Odango" (a kind of rice dumpling), based on her distinctive hair-style. At first this is always accompanied with the suffix -atama, meaning "head", but as time goes on it is left off. Usagi hates the name at first, but as they become close it develops into a sign of affection. Later in the series, other important male (or androgynous) figures in her life, Haruka and Seiya, adopt the name as well. Because there is no North American equivalent to odango, the English dub almost always uses "Meatball Head," once "Donut Head," and, somewhat incongruously, "Moon Face." In the English manga, Mamoru calls Usagi "buns," which is both an approximation of odango and short for Bunny.

Variations
Usagi often seems inconsistent from version to version within the series. In the manga, while she starts out as a crybaby, she quickly matures and learns to make decisions for herself. The series often portrays Usagi as just lazy rather than lacking intelligence. This shows when she passes her high-school exams without trouble when threatened with separation from her friends.

The anime often portrays Usagi as relatively more flaky and child-like. She often bickers with her daughter Chibiusa but shows just as much caring as her manga counterpart. She does evolve during the course of the series, but generally lacks the maturity of her manga counterpart except in the last few episodes of each story arc.

The dubbed version made Serena more of a ditz than Usagi, featuring for example lines such as "Really, Luna, you're trippin' when it come to knowing what's on a girl's mind!" which emulates stereotypical valley-girl usage. By contrast, in the following episode, Princess Serenity talks without this pseudo-valley girl dialect, showing this was intentional and inherent to the voice actress.

Usagi in the live-action series differs slightly from her manga and anime counterparts. She appears much more outgoing and extroverted, and seems to make friends very easily, which immediately puts her personality in conflict with her fellow Senshi, all of whom were loners to varying degrees. She rarely uses formal grammar with those of her age (though she does with adults), and refers to everyone as "[given name]-chan," which is very informal and a way of expressing closeness. She even teases Ami when Ami continues calling her "Tsukino-san," a formal way of speaking to classmates, saying that it is as if they are not friends. Every time a new Senshi appears, Usagi immediately tries to make her a friend, even though almost all of them resist. However, through Usagi's influence, the other Senshi gradually begin to realize that they are stronger together than they are alone. Usagi also has a habit of forcing her interests on the people that she makes friends with. This is prominent in her relationship with Rei, when she tries time and time again to get her to sing.

Aspects and forms
As a character with different incarnations, special powers, transformations and a long lifetime which (virtually) spans the ancient Silver Millennium era and the 30th century, Usagi gains multiple aspects and aliases such as Princess Serenity, Sailor Moon, Princess Sailor Moon, Super Sailor Moon, Eternal Sailor Moon, and Neo-Queen Serenity.

Sailor Moon
The series frequently refers to Usagi's Senshi identity, "Sailor Moon", as the "Soldier of Love and Justice," and once as the "Soldier of Mystery". Her uniform, originally colored blue and red (or dark pink), with a crescent moon motif, gradually changes to incorporate more pink and yellow and adds a heart motif as well. She also wears red hairpieces and white barrettes resembling feathers, both of which can be used for minor attacks. Her personality is no different from when she is a civilian, although certain powers are unavailable to her in that form.



Sailor Moon's attack names center around the moon, love, mystery and light. She starts out as a frightened, reluctant girl, and others often have to bail her out, but she gradually comes to accept her full identity. She eventually becomes the most powerful Senshi in the galaxy, but her capacity for caring about other people is frequently shown to be more powerful still.

As she grows stronger, Sailor Moon gains additional powers, and at key points her appearance and title change to reflect this. The first change takes place during the third major story arc — Act 30 of the manga and Episode 111 of the anime — when she obtains the Holy Grail and becomes Super Sailor Moon. Her uniform becomes more ornate (see top of page), and her powers are increased; at first she is unable to take this form without the Grail, and is weakened when its effects fade. Near the end of the S series, she takes this form using pure desperation and the powers of the other Senshi after the Grail has been destroyed. Some time later, Pegasus' power enables her to transform without the Grail.

Sailor Moon receives her third and final form at the end of the fourth major story arc; the combined power of the other Sailor Senshi transforms her into Eternal Sailor Moon, whom Diana says is the closest in power to Neo-Queen Serenity. Her uniform is even more radically altered — most significantly, two pairs of angelic wings adorn her back. They replace her standard back bow as they are attached only at the waist and are in the shape of a large bow.

In the manga, Eternal Sailor Moon uses the Silver Moon Crystal (an evolved form of the Silver Crystal) to carry out her attacks. In the Sailor Stars anime it is less clear whether the crystal she is using is still called the Silver Crystal. The names of the attacks are congruent with the manga, which uses the name of the new crystal, but the crystal is not clearly given a new name.

Princess Serenity


Princess Serenity (プリンセス・セレニティ) lived in the Moon Kingdom during the age of the Silver Millennium as the daughter of Queen Serenity, who ruled the Silver Millennium and watched over the Earth. Princess Serenity's guardians and closest friends were Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Venus, who were princesses of their own respective planets, but lived on the moon with her at times.

Princess Serenity often explored Earth to see real greenery, even though forbidden to do so. On one of her visits, she met the crown prince of the Earth, Endymion, and they fell in love.

During the attack which caused the Moon Kingdom's downfall, Prince Endymion died protecting Serenity. In the manga, she committed suicide out of grief, while in the anime Queen Metalia killed both of them. Serenity's mother, the Queen, was able to seal away the evil which had inspired the attack, but everyone involved was killed. Before her own death, the Queen used the Silver Crystal to give her daughter and others another chance at life, hoping in particular that, this time, Serenity and Endymion could find happiness together. In the live-action series, it was Princess Serenity herself who destroyed the Moon Kingdom, after Endymion was killed during the war to keep the two apart.

Eventually, Serenity reincarnates as Usagi Tsukino in the 20th century. Usagi occasionally takes the form of Princess Serenity during the meta-series, often at climactic moments when more strength is needed than Sailor Moon can access. Usagi discovers her identity as a princess in Act 9 of the manga, Episode 34 of the anime, and Act 25 of the live-action series.

Whereas Takeuchi draws Usagi with white, yellow, and even pink hair and blue eyes, in the manga Serenity almost always has white hair and blue eyes. In the anime, both characters are always blond. In the live-action series, Serenity has black hair and brown eyes, just like Usagi, and she wears her hair straight down rather than in pigtails. This emphasizes the ambiguity of her identity before the storyline reveals her as Usagi.

At climactic moments, Usagi as Serenity sometimes gains a pair of functioning angelic wings. She does this during the final battles of SuperS, after she jumps off a tower to save Chibiusa and the two of them collide with Pegasus while falling. It also happens in Sailor Stars during the fight with the fully possessed Galaxia when she grabs the Sword of Sealing. It remains unclear if this power comes from her past life, if it belongs to Usagi herself, or if it came from Pegasus and the Sword of Sealing.

The first two series dubbed by DiC refer to Princess Serenity as Princess Serena (although the original name is used at least once, to emphasize the similarity between Princess and Neo-Queen Serenity). In the last two series, dubbed by Cloverway, the name Serenity is used.

Princess Sailor Moon
Unique to the live-action series, Princess Sailor Moon is a powerful combination of Sailor Moon and Princess Serenity, introduced when Usagi is "possessed" by the spirit of her former self. She originally appears after Queen Beryl takes the Shitennou hostage in exchange for Mamoru. Silently furious, Sailor Moon transforms into Princess Sailor Moon and halts Queen Beryl using her sword.

It is obvious that Princess Sailor Moon is not the same as Usagi when she shows no remorse for the fate of the Shitennou (at least Nephrite's fate), and when she refers to Mamoru as "Endymion" rather than using his civilian name. She is also constantly angry, and tends to leave flaming carnage in her wake. In one Act, Usagi's friend Naru accidentally gets too close and winds up in the hospital for a while. Though smiling in most promotional material for the series, Princess Sailor Moon does not smile in the series itself until the very end.

Princess Sailor Moon states to Usagi during inner dialogue that she has no qualms about destroying the Earth if Endymion is ever taken from her, and later on even summons her own special minions to fight her friends, all bearing moon-shaped signs similar to hers. Usagi struggles to suppress her power in fear that she would eventually destroy the world, something that comes to light in an Space Runaway Ideon-like fashion for the series finale. Her internal conflict is the major conflict for the rest of the series.

Princess Sailor Moon has a sword, which also doubles as a harp with invisible strings. She plays this in sorrow while thinking of her lost prince, and is capable of using it to heal people and the land. Other than this, the exact effect of playing the harp is unclear, but much of the time it causes the power of her Silver Crystal to feed the power of Queen Metaria, accelerating the devastation of the planet. Using the sword in its capacity as a weapon, Princess Sailor Moon can deflect enemy attacks and can unleash devastating projectile attacks. She also has the ability to levitate and to teleport.

Like other characters unique to the live-action series, Princess Sailor Moon's outfit was designed by Naoko Takeuchi herself. Her sailor outfit was considerably more elaborate than Sailor Moon's, and included pearls on her gloves and lace on her skirt.

Neo-Queen Serenity
During the second major story arc, it is revealed that Usagi, as Serenity, will eventually become the queen regnant of a new Silver Millennium called Crystal Tokyo, which will already exist in the 30th century. She is first seen in this future form in Act 16 of the manga and Episode 68 of the anime. Usagi learns that she will be given the title "Sovereign of Earth," and Mamoru will become King Endymion alongside her. It is stated in the anime that she becomes Neo-Queen Serenity after warding off a second Ice Age, though the specifics of this are never discussed. This incarnation is shown to be more mature than the present day Usagi, though she still has her moments — in Episode 104, Chibiusa gives the Senshi a letter from the future, in which the Queen asks them to train her — the letter is simplistic and contains almost no kanji. Also, in Episode 146, Diana says that the King and Queen sometimes play sick to get out of things. Letters she sends though the Door of Space-Time to Chibiusa are sometimes signed with a drawing of herself (and sometimes King Endymion) instead of a name.

According to Diana, Neo-Queen Serenity is Usagi's most powerful form; Eternal Sailor Moon is second in power only to the Queen. However, in the manga, Neo-Queen Serenity addresses the present-day Guardian Senshi, stating that after she became queen, she lost her power as a Senshi. However, this could simply mean that she is no longer able to transform into Sailor Moon, for she does still demonstrate a considerable amount of power (e.g.: reviving the citizens of 30th Century Tokyo with the Spiral Heart Moon Rod and bestowing the Senshi with "Planet Powers" and her own past self with new "Cosmic Powers"). Furthermore, in the second arc of the anime she does not transform into Sailor Moon despite the fact that the other Senshi have already transformed, and that her kingdom was under attack. However, she is still seen showing great powers in a flashback where King Endymion of the future describes to the present day Senshi and Tuxedo Mask the great feats of Neo-Queen Serenity during the time she brought about peace. Sailors Uranus and Neptune refer to her as the "Messiah of Peace" or the "True Messiah" standing opposite the Messiah of Silence, Mistress 9.

She wears an altered version of the dress she wore as a princess, with the shoulder pieces omitted and a large, wing-shaped bow replacing the smaller one of the princess outfit. In the manga, Neo-Queen Serenity's dress is similar to her past form's outfit. She also wears a crown and new earrings. The crescent moon is always visible on her forehead, just as it was with her princess form. Her face and facial expressions are drawn to look more mature than the 20th century Usagi, but her iconic hairstyle is retained.

In the original anime and manga series, this form is the one that Chibiusa considers as truly being her mother, while Usagi of the past is regarded as more of a big-sister figure, and many characters often mistake them for sisters. In the English-dubbed anime, however, "Rini" frequently refers to her as "Mama" in her civilian or Senshi forms. Although aware of the situation, Chibiusa rarely does this (except in such situations as in episode 172, and in the R finale. In the English dub version of Sailor Moon R: The Movie and Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie, Chibiusa also refers to her as her mother. ) and calls her by name instead.

Special powers and items


Usagi is not shown using any special powers in her civilian form. She must first transform into a Sailor Senshi by wearing a special device (usually a brooch) and shouting a special command, which activates the device. Her original transformation command is "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!" (when dubbed the "Make Up!" part was dropped.) She gains a new basic transformation sequence for each of the five major story arcs. In her basic form, the command changes as she becomes more powerful and obtains new transformation devices, evoking "Moon Crystal Power" and later "Moon Cosmic Power." A transformation into Super Sailor Moon initially requires her to already be in Senshi form and to use an additional item (called the Holy Chalice/Rainbow Moon Cálice/Purity Chalice (English dub name) ) as well as the command "Crisis, Make Up!" (known as "Moon Crisis Power!" in the English dub) but in the anime this saps her strength. For the fourth story arc she gains the ability to transform directly into Super Sailor Moon via Moon Crisis (known as Moon Cosmic Dream Action in the English dub), and in the fifth arc becomes Eternal Sailor Moon with Silver Moon Crystal Power in the manga, or Moon Eternal Power in the anime (and once in the manga). At first, she is required to be in her Super Sailor Moon form, in the anime, to become Eternal Sailor Moon, as the upgrade to her Brooch is temporary. When facing off with Nehelleina for the final time, the Brooch is permanently upgraded allowing her to become Eternal Sailor Moon directly.

Most of Sailor Moon's anime transformation sequences involve the use of shiny red or pink ribbons which fly out of her brooch and form her uniform. Feathers and wings also figure prominently in some sequences, particularly the transformation into Eternal Sailor Moon. When she de-transforms, the ribbons reappear and unravel from around her body and go back into the brooch. Usually the clothes she was wearing before she transformed reappear, but if her de-transformation is forced, she may be left naked with the ribbons hanging loose around her body. She also has the Disguise Pen, which allows her to take on a human disguise by saying "Moon Power!" (known as "Disguise Power!" in the English dub.) This is used very frequently in the first story arc, but is only mentioned once during the third arc.

As the protagonist and leader, Sailor Moon has the most special powers of any character in the series. Her physical attacks, usually one-offs and not always successful, include Sailor Moon Kick and Sailor Body Attack, as well as the occasional use of her hair pins as projectile weapons. In her very first battle, she cries in terror and the red hair pieces on her odango amplify the sound waves, doing damage to the enemy. Her odango ornaments can also be used to hear faraway sounds, although this is rarely ever used.

General magic attacks are her most common type of power. In each adaptation of the series she can remove her tiara and turn it into a throwing weapon, which is her first major attack and which she continues to use on occasion far into the anime series. In the anime she demonstrates the ability to control the path of her Tiara, and once, to enlarge it and then shrink it around the enemy, ensnaring them. In the manga, a powered-up tiara enables her to attack with Moon Twilight Flash while in the live-action series this move requires an item called the Moon Stick and is her primary attack, though she also sometimes uses unnamed beam attacks. In the manga and anime she only uses the Moon Stick to perform Moon Healing Escalation (known as Moon Healing Activation in the English dub) and return possessed humans to their normal selves; Luna says in the anime that this item belongs to the leader of the Sailor Senshi. In the anime, she once uses her tiara to purify a group of possessed people, and in the live-action series she can heal others without any incantation.

One cannot always distinguish between healing or purifying powers and attacks, as the monsters of the day in the series are usually created by corruption of an object or person. Sailor Moon has one or two primary attacks per story arc, most of which require a unique rod or wand, and in the original anime, each of them causes the target monster to shout a phrase and revert back to what it was made from (or to dust). These primary attacks are: the first series' Moon Healing Escalation, the second series' Moon Princess Halation (known as Moon Scepter Elimination in the English dub), the third series' Moon Spiral Heart Attack and Rainbow Moon Heart Ache, the fourth series' Moon Gorgeous Meditation, and the fifth series' Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss and Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss.

A handful of powers come up only once and in critical situations; often the common repeating powers in the anime are only one-offs in the manga. In the anime, Sailor Moon uses her transformation command when battling Queen Metaria and when turning the Ayakashi Sisters into normal women. She says Moon Cosmic Power when struggling to destroy Pharaoh 90, and at the end of the series uses Silver Moon Crystal Eternal Power to fight Chaos.

Sailor Moon can be temporarily powered-up by the other Sailor Senshi lending her their powers, as shown in the climax of the Sailor Moon R movie and multiple times throughout the series. She also often attacks in tandem with her daughter, Sailor Chibi Moon, and, at critical moments, receives power from individuals such as Luna, Queen Serenity, her future self, Mamoru, ChibiChibi, and others.

By far, Sailor Moon's most important item is the Silver Crystal, which is the "holy stone" of the Silver Millennium. It figures significantly in the first, second, and fifth story arcs, as it is the proof of her identity as the Princess and the source of her power. It eventually evolves into the Silver Moon Crystal.

In terms of personal items, Sailor Moon attaches particular importance and sentimental value to her gold locket, known as an orgel. In the anime it plays a version of "Moonlight Densetsu," the opening theme for the series. Sailor Moon finds it after it is dropped by Tuxedo Mask. It is a relic of their past lives which she had given to him as a gift. Sailor Moon uses this locket in moments of sadness caused by her separation from Mamoru.

Development
In the initial proposal for the Sailor Moon series, each of the five heroines had a completely unique outfit. Eventually it was determined that they would wear uniforms based on a single theme, and Sailor Moon's costume concept was the closest to that which would eventually be used for all the girls. The original did have some small differences, including color changes, an exposed midriff, and ribbons around the gloves and boots. She also had a mask, which would appear in a few chapters of the manga itself before being discarded. These aspects of Sailor Moon's costume are shown in multiple pieces of early artwork, along with a gun and cloak, which were also parts of the original concept.

Usagi's signature hairstyle derives from a "good luck charm" of the artist's; in college, Takeuchi would put her own hair up in odango before difficult classes or exams. In the initial sketches, Sailor Moon had pink hair. By the intermediate stages of development, Takeuchi planned to have the character's hair be blond in civilian form and change to silver when she transformed, but she was told by her editor that silver hair would be too plain for cover art. Nevertheless, stylistic use of differently colored hair does sometimes appear in later artwork, and the concept of the heroines' hair changing color when transformed is used in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon.

Of all the Sailor Senshi, Usagi's personality is closest to Takeuchi's own personality at the time Sailor Moon was created.

The kanji of Usagi's surname translate as "moon" (月) and "field" (野). Her given name is in hiragana usagi (うさぎ) and so its meaning is not inherent, but the word itself (兎) means "rabbit" and this is used as a pun frequently throughout the series, even in her hairstyle and possessions. Her entire name is structured as a pun, as the syllable "no" indicates a possessive, so that her name can also be understood as "Rabbit of the Moon." This derives from a Japanese folktale about the rabbit that is said to be visible in the Moon's face, much like the Western Man in the Moon. The English-language manga gives her the nickname Bunny to partially preserve this pun; many other localizations use the name Bunny as well. "Usagi" is not a common given name in Japan.

Similarly for the dubbed anime, "Serena" is probably at least in part a play on the word Selene, a moon goddess in Greek mythology who fell in love with a shepherd named Endymion. It also derives from the name of the series' moon princess, which is alternately either "Selenity" (from Selene) or "Serenity" (from the Sea of Serenity on the moon), both of which would be rendered in Japanese as. In an early DiC promotional tape that advertised Sailor Moon to television stations, Usagi was called Victoria. Another preliminary name that appeared on Kodansha's English website in an advertisement for the series was Celeste.

Reception and Legacy
Sheila Rose Browning describes Sailor Moon as "one of the most popular and well-known manga characters in Japan." Sailor Moon's character has been singled out as less-than-feminist because her favorite class is home economics and her least favorite is math. Usagi influenced the hairstyle and personality of Misato Katsuragi from Neon Genesis Evangelion. IGN listed Sailor Moon as the 9th top anime character. Rebecca Silverman, writing about the 2011 re-release of the Sailor Moon manga, felt that Usagi's initial hesitancy about whether she is good enough to be Sailor Moon added authenticity to her claim to be an "ordinary girl". Silverman states that along with Itazura na Kiss and Marmalade Boy, Usagi gave rise to an "unintelligent heroine" character type, but feels that even in the first volume, Usagi's determination sets her apart.

Actresses
In the Japanese animated version, Kotono Mitsuishi voices Usagi, using a higher voice than Mitsuishi's natural voice. During the recording of the early episodes, Mitsuishi had to mentally prepare herself to play Usagi. While Mitsuishi had her appendix removed (episodes 44–50), Kae Araki, who would later play Chibiusa, played Usagi.

In the English dubbed version, three different voice actresses take the role of Serena: Tracey Moore (episodes 1–11, 15 and 21), Terri Hawkes (episodes 12-14, 16–20, 22–82, and movies) and Linda Ballantyne (episodes 90–166). Jennifer Cihi provides the English vocals for Serena's songs in the series. Terri Hawkes had said that Serena is "a girl as well as an emerging young woman." Hawkes appeared at a few conventions in the 1990s to promote the series, and has expressed interest in reprising the role in a newer dub of the series, and/or a Sailor Stars dub. She left the role after completing the movies for maternity reasons. Linda Ballantyne has also expressed joy in the role and has often said that she felt pressure at first to sound like Hawkes, but later eased into her own. She describes Serena as "a girl who loved being a goofy teenager but deep down inside was so much more than that." Ballantyne has also expressed interest in reprising the role for any future media.

In the stage musicals four actresses have played Usagi: Anza Ohyama, Fumina Hara, Miyuki Kanbe (who played the character with a "cute and high voice"), and Marina Kuroki. The numerous musicals are frequently grouped into "stages" by fans according to which of these actresses was currently playing Sailor Moon.

In the SuperS Musicals, Sanae Kimura, who played Sailor Uranus, provided the voice of Neo-Queen Serenity during Over the Moon, A duet between Sailor Moon and Neo-Queen Serenity, though a third, unknown person, was on stage in Serenity's Costume as both Sailor Moon and Uranus were onstage. Uncredited body doubles are common in the musicals to allow the character to appear to transform instantly.

In Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Miyū Sawai plays Usagi; she also plays Queen Serenity in the Special Act though she did not provide her voice which was instead provided by Youko Soumi who previously narrated a book in Act 9.

Parodies
Comedian Samantha Bee played Sailor Moon in a live-action production at the Canadian National Exhibition.