Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: The Super Live
Bushnell Center for Performing Arts
Hartford
April 19, 2025
When I was in the third grade, after school I would run from the bus to my house, hoping that I hadn’t missed even a single moment of my favorite show, Sailor Moon.
Little did I know, but my excitement for this brand new cartoon was the beginning of my lifelong love of both animation in general, and anime specifically. Now, 30 years later, I had the opportunity to see my favorite cartoon brought to life on stage at the Bushnell.
The stage show Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon is based on the manga (as is the anime). It tells the story of Usagi Tsukino (played in the stage performance by Riko Tanaka), an immature but otherwise typical school girl who gets recruited to fight against evil as the titular hero, Sailor Moon. Along with her allies Sailor Mercury (Kanon Maekawa), Sailor Mars (Rei Kobayashi), Sailor Jupiter (Kisara Matsumura) Sailor Venus (Marin Makino), and her love interest Tuxedo Mask (Riona Tatemichi), she fights against the Dark Kingdom led by Queen Beryl (Sayaka Okamura), who seeks to conquer the world.
This was no ordinary play. When I arrived I saw dozens of people decked out in their Sailor Moon gear, from T‑shirts and magic wands to full blown cosplay of the various characters. A line for Sailor Moon merchandise snaked from the second floor, down the stairs and all the way back to the exit.
I was most surprised by the diversity of the crowd. I half-expected to be the only person over the age of 35 at the performance, but I saw middle-aged couples, parents and their children, teenagers, single men — everyone came out to celebrate their favorite super heroines.
And what a celebration it was. The show had the energy of a concert as opposed to a play. The electricity of the crowd was palpable as we waited for the curtain to rise. As soon as the Sailor Guardians hit the stage, the crowd burst into cheers and applause that never let up. I finally understood what the 2.5D extravaganza was all about. A giant screen at the back of the stage displayed colorful images, dazzling effects and subtitles while the performers sang in Japanese.
I would say that the performance was half play, half concert. The story followed the first arc of the Sailor Moon manga, where Usagi and the other guardians gain their powers and face Queen Beryl. The performance of the story was fun, if short; the production used a limited cast to make international travel easier. The play covered only the most important beats of the story, which may have left anyone new to the franchise confused. But for the faithful, the gaps were already filled in by decades of fandom.
Sailor Moon’s popularity stems from its mix of humor and comedy, but also its earnest take of the trials and tribulations of being a teenage girl trying to balance home, school and love. Naoko Takeuchi, the creator of Sailor Moon, was unabashed in her celebration of girlhood, exhorting her audience to be both pretty and powerful in the manga. The stage production retains these themes, especially in its music, with the Sailor Guardians singing as much about school tomorrow as about destroying Queen Beryl.
The main criticism I have of the performance is that the Sailor Guardians felt interchangeable. In the previous works, the Guardians all have different personalities and styles. Of course, those individual natures have dozens of manga chapters and episodes to develop. In the abbreviated story on stage, they all hit the same note.
However, that wasn’t true for Tuxedo Mask or the villain Queen Beryl. Tatemichi benefitted as Tuxedo Mask from being not only the only male on stage throughout the production, but also a gifted singer with a strong stage presence. The audience erupted every time he and Usagi came close to each other; there was a real feeling of chemistry between the two. Okamura is also a talented singer. She belted out a wonderful villain song while chewing the scenery as the ruthless Queen.
I had an absolute blast being transported back to my 8‑year-old self, eating cereal and wondering how Usagi and her friends would get out of their latest jam. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: The Super Live is not your traditional theater experience. It’s something both more bombastic and more personal. I’m glad I got to experience it before the production returns to Japan.
