Fighting evil by moonlight. Winning love by daylight. Never running from a real fight. It’s a tough life for Sailor Moon and her team of celestial teenage superheroes, the Sailor Scouts. Based on the Japanese manga, Sailor Moon arrived on US screens in 1995 and captured hearts all over the world. Whether she was running late for school, getting called ‘Meatball Head’ by the dashing Darien, or battling villains to save the Moon Princess, Serena very quickly found an adoring audience. She’s quirky and clumsy and often jealous of her more graceful counterparts, she’s instantly relatable. This relatable quality along with her ability to transform, in some awe-inspiring animated sequences, into the hero and warrior known as Sailor Moon, are the main reasons she remains immensely popular to this day.
She’s not alone, however. Along with her talking cat Luna, Serena is surrounded by the Sailor Scouts, her friends in the daylight and comrades in battle, each is the princess of their own planet, with a particular skill set and spunky personality. These characters are so engrossing and so beloved it’s no wonder that they’ve become favorites of the Cosplaying crowd. From Tokyo to San Diego, the Sailor Moon and her Sailor Scouts have been popping up at Comic-cons and on Instagram for years. Below are some of the best examples of Sailor Moon Cosplay out there ranging from the anime accurate to the somewhat absurd.
10. SAILOR MOON
By day she’s an awkward high schooler and by night she’s an ethereal superhero, powered by the moon and ready to take on the dark forces lurking in the cosmos. Cosplayer Anastasia Komori is loyal to Sailor Moon’s original look in the cartoon and captures the iconic costume in amazing detail.
The boots are iconic as well as the meatballs of hair, without which no Sailor Moon look would be complete. While variations on this outfit have popped up over the years, this is the enduring classic and through this cosplayer it’s been brought to life.
9. SAILOR MERCURY
The first of the Scouts to be discovered by Serena, Mercury becomes her best friend and the brains of the group. She’s super smart and amazing with computers, added to that are her powers which harness water and ice to defeat their enemies.
This example, created by Philippino cosplayer Meuwn captures not only her iconic blue outfit but also her gentle demeanor.
8. SAILOR MARS
It’s perhaps no surprise that Sailor Mars is hot-headed considering her powers are mostly fire related. Not only is she particularly fiery, she’s short tempered, competitive and very proud.
This combination often means she’s butting heads with Sailor Moon. She’s the second Scout discovered and portrayed here by Twitter user Lucia (@rlafncu0162) in almost scarily accurate detail.
7. SAILOR JUPITER
Sailor Jupiter is the third Scout to be discovered by Serena and is for all intents and purposes the ‘muscle’ of the group. Along with her ability to control and manipulate both electricity and pant life she is also super strong.
Often described as ’tomboyish,’ Jupiter is never the less boy crazy and definitely the most romantic of the Scouts. Cosplayer, Li Kovacs has got the look down, from the killer boots (one of the more recognizable features of Jupiter’s ensemble) to the hair styling. Everything is en pointe about this look.
6. SAILOR VENUS
Already a star when we meet her, Sailor Venus is a teen idol and someone even Serena looks up to. She has grace and style and even her own talking cat in the form of Artemis. She’s so good at what she does that the other Sailor Scouts are sure that she is the missing Moon Princess. Little do they know it’ll turn out to be someone a little more surprising.
This costume by Turkish cosplayer, Yushi, is complete with its very own kitty companion and the details and characterization are right on. The hair looks amazing, the colors are so vivid and those eyes could be straight out of an anime.
5. THE SAILOR SCOUTS
It takes a while for the full group to come together in the show and this is of course before even more scouts are introduced later on. But once they come together they become practically unstoppable. The evil Queen Beryl barely stood a chance.
There are so many amazing group Cosplays of this team out there but in this one, each team member from the Cosplay Chronicles is really embodying their character and that skyline is dynamic and exciting.
4. SAILOR MOON AND RINI
Nobody was quite prepared for the trouble when Rini dropped out of the sky from the future. As time went on and Rini’s true identity emerged, the Scouts became fiercely protective of her. In this Cosplay by Rina, Sailor Moon and Rini, who have an important familial connection are captured perfectly.
3. OLIVIA MUNN AS SAILOR MOON
Even celebrities are getting in on the Cosplay now. Here is Olvia Munn, star of The Predator, X-Men Apocalypse and The Newsroom doing her best Sailor Moon impression.
This photo is taken from Comi-Con 2011 where she was featured in Vanity Fair in this amazing costume. The fact that Sailor Moon is even recognizable by readers of Vanity Fair speaks to how much a part of pop culture and fandom she has become.
2. MANGA SAILOR MOON
This look is taken straight from the pages of the original Manga which inspired the beloved anime. One of the most striking elements of this outfit is of course, the wings. Seen during Sailor Moon’s transformation sequences in the cartoon the wings were otherwise absent from the cartoon.
Other differences include the multi-colored skirt and puffy sleeves. This iteration knows as Eternal Sailor Moon is created by Russian Cosplayer Usagi-Tsukino-krv.
1. SAILOR…NIGEL?
This one is just creepy. If you took Sailor Moon Cosplay and crossed it with an ultra-realistic Nigel Thornberry, from The Wild Thornberrys, this is what you get. That’s what cosplayer Mazmade has done.
It gets points for ingenuity and creativity, hence why it’s appearing on this list, but it sure is haunting. Hopefully, there’s an anime accurate Sailor Scout around here somewhere to protect us all.
