Shout Out / Sailor Moon

And the first English dub called her Lee-ta.

Here's a list of shout-outs found in the Sailor Moon franchise.

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Codename: Sailor V

• In Codename: Sailor V, two of Sailor V's post-henshin speeches are homages to the iconic speeches of Cutey Honey — "Sometimes I'm an X, other times I'm a Y, but my true form is Sailor V!"
• Her base of operations is underneath Game Center Crown, which would be later used in the proper Sailor Moon manga. It's also a shout-out to a real-life place.
  • Specifically, the Crown Pachinko Hall (クラウン パチンコ店 lit. Crown Pinball Hall) is the real-life equivalent of the Crown Game Center.
  • As of now, the building has been replaced with a McDonald's chain.
  • The voice actress for Usagi Tsukino, Kotono Mitsuishi, has been seen posing at the pachinko parlor on one occasion.
• Usagi makes cameo appearances in Codename: Sailor V Vol.5 and Vol.6. In the former, she was seen looking at a poster advertising the Sailor V game. In Volume 6, she and Naru Osaka were outside of Game Center Crown, with Usagi wanting to go inside and play the Sailor V game. She makes additional cameos as Princess Serenity.
• Like with Ami Mizuno later on, the visual model for Sailor V's Best Friend Hikaru Sorano is Japanese pop singer Noriko Sakai.
• Kaitou Ace serves as a shout-out to all the famous Phantom Thief anime and manga characters out there that preceded him but with a twist. He ends up being the Big Bad.

Sailor Moon (Manga)

Sailor Moon

• In college, Naoko Takeuchi wore her hair as the real-life "odango" hairstyle (a combination of bun and pigtail hairstyles) before facing difficult classes/examinations. She incorporated this hairstyle into her heroine Usagi Tsukino.
  • In a 1996 interview with Animerica magazine, Naoko Takeuchi notes Usagi's odango "is intended to be modeled after a rabbit's ears."
• The first English translation of the manga by Tokyopop often called Usagi as "Bunny" instead, which preserved the meaning of her name and the shout-out to the Moon Rabbit myth while translating it at the same time. Early localizations in other languages, such as German, followed suit and called her "Bunny" as well.
  • This "Bunny" name change also happened with the early 1990s Tagalog dub of the Sailor Moon anime in the Philippines. Later re-dubs stuck with "Usagi" instead, however.
• Sailor Moon's "Moon Tiara Action" or "Moon Tiara Boomerang" attack has her throwing her tiara at her enemy. This is a tribute to the superheroine Wonder Woman, who could also throw her tiara as a weapon.
• Since Sailor Venus or Sailor V is the prototype for Sailor Moon, then Sailor Moon can be considered a shout-out to the original Magical Girl Warrior with a Henshin Hero or Tokusatsu flourish to her style.
  • This is particularly true in the manga because when Sailor Moon transforms for the first time, she wears a visor mask like Sailor V does.
  • Her version of Venus' post-henshin speeches, however, has ended up becoming its own trope.

Sailor Mars

• Idol Singer Chisato Moritaka and her concert wardrobe partly served as inspirations for the appearances of the Sailor Senshi/Soldiers/Scouts/Guardians. The young Chisato looks a lot like Sailor Mars to boot, especially during this music video of hers where she got to wear a sailor uniform herself.^note The song is also the opening theme for Mischievous Twins: The Tales of St. Clare's.
• While in college, Naoko Takeuchi worked at the Shiba Daijingu Shrine as a Miko (temple maiden). She incorporated this trait into Rei Hino.
  • Rei works as a miko at her grandfather's shrine, and possesses abilities like fire reading (a divinity skill), prophetic dreams, and the use of ofuda (good luck talismans).
  • Her Sailor Senshi uniform is also colored like miko robes, and an attack of hers (Mars Flame Sniper) pays tribute to the archery skills miko are traditionally schooled in.
  • Sailor Mars' "Burning Mandala" attack features the appearance of eight Buddhist symbols. They stand for the eight corners of the world^note North, Northeast, East, Southeast, South, Southwest, West, and Northwest. The mandala is itself a Buddhist term, emphasizing the spiritual nature of Sailor Mars.

Tuxedo Mask

• Tuxedo Mask/Kamen is himself a send-up to the sauve Gentleman Thief or even Phantom Thief found in Japanese media and pop culture. Think a mix between Lupin III and James Bond. He drops the thief aspect of his character later on, becoming a full-on hero after he regains his memories.
  • Tuxedo Mask could even be a Mysterious Protector version of Sailor V's Kaitou Ace (who, in contrast, ends up being the Big Bad).
  • Naoko Takeuchi based Tuxedo Mask's personality on Leiji Matsumoto's space pirate Captain Harlock, who she felt represented her own ideal man: "Strong, silent, and unshakeable."
  • Tuxedo Mask's costume was inspired by the Gaston Leroux and Andrew Lloyd Webber work The Phantom of the Opera, which was about a mysterious man in a tuxedo and mask whose herald is a rose, and who watches over a certain girl he is in love with.
  • Tuxedo Mask's special attack, the "Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber", is a word away from sounding like "Tuxedo La Bamba" using Japanese pronunciation.

Mythology, Astrology, & Folklore

• The series itself is based on Taketori Monogatari or The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, a popular Japanese folktale about a princess from a kingdom in the moon who came down to live on earth.^note In particular, the series references Moon people, the existence of a Moon Kingdom, and immortality (through reincarnation in Sailor Moon's case).
• "Tsukino Usagi" sounds a lot like "Tsuki no Usagi", which in Japanese means, "Rabbit of the Moon".^note This is in reference to the Chinese myth about the rabbit-like shadow we see on the moon's surface that allegedly serves under the moon goddess and pounds the elixir of life for the immortals.
• Both the names of Queen and Princess Serenity reference the Moon Goddess Selene. In both the anime and manga, Queen Serenity is stated to actually be Selene herself.
• Prince Endymion's name and backstory is a reference to Endymion from Greek Mythology. He is primarily known as the lover of Selene or the Goddess of the Moon.^note There's confusion whether he was a shepherd or an astronomer, either profession providing justification for him to spend time beneath the moon.
• The "Shitennou" or "The Four Gods" of Queen Beryl (actually, Endymion's corrupted protectors) is a reference to the "Four Heavenly Kings", "Four Buddhist Gods", or "Four Chinese Gods" of mythology.
• The Elemental Powers associated with each Sailor Senshi somewhat matches them in light of the planet/heavenly body or Roman/Grecian mythological god they represent.
  • Water as Mist or Ice with Sailor Mercury.
  • Fire with Sailor Mars.
  • Thunder and Lightning with Sailor Jupiter.
  • "Love" Beams with Sailor Venus.
  • Sailor Moon is like Venus, but better and... lovelier. Also, quite potent.
• Sailor Senshi color themes are related to the Japanese names of their respective planets:
  • "Kasei" (Mars) means "Fire Star" and Sailor Mars has a red color theme.
  • "Suisei" (Mercury) means "Water Star" and Sailor Mercury has a blue color theme.
  • "Mokusei" (Jupiter) means "Tree Star" and Sailor Jupiter has a green color theme.
  • "Kinsei" (Venus) means "Gold Star" and Sailor Venus has a golden color theme.
• Some of the senshi's special attacks also reference back their designated planet or god.
  • Sailor Mercury's "Mercury Aqua Rhapsody" attack has her summon a watery lyre or harp and play it to fire blasts of water. The lyre is said to have been invented by Mercury/Hermes. Hermes created the instrument as an act of contrition to Apollo for robbing him of his holy herd of cows.
  • Sailor Jupiter's "Jupiter Oak Evolution" involves her firing leaf-shaped blasts of energy at her enemy. In Roman mythology, nature (particularly the oak tree) was sacred to Jupiter.
  • Sailor Pluto's "Dead Scream" is aptly titled, as Pluto was the god of the underworld, the resting place for the dead.
• The orb, sword, and mirror weapons of the Outer Senshi are shout-outs to the Three Sacred Treasures of Japan linked to Orochi folklore—the Kusanagi sword, the Forlorn Hope or Mirror of Yata, and the Magatama of Yasakani. These treasures have been referenced before and after Sailor Moon in other anime like YuYu Hakusho and videogames like The King of Fighters.
• The Holy Grail is also referenced in the manga and both anime series.
  • Ditto with talismans and the existence of a Messiah.
• In the Sailor Moon universe, a prince goes by the name Helios, which is the Greek word for the sun. Helios is the sun itself, not to be confused with Apollo, the Sun God.
• The members of the Amazoness Quartet are named after the goddesses of Roman mythology.
  • "CereCere", whose powers are plant-based, was named after the goddess of nature Ceres.^note Ceres is the counterpart of Sailor Venus. Like Sailor Venus and Sailor Moon looking alike to almost be like sisters, twins, or princess and body double, Ceres mirrors Sailor Chibi-Moon's pink hairstyle, looks, and disposition. Although CereCere's primary theme color is pink, her Amazon Stone is yellow.
  • "PallaPalla" was named after the goddess of wisdom Pallas Athena. However, in Italian, "Palla" means "ball", and her powers involve bouncing balls.^note Pallas is the counterpart of Sailor Mercury. The Greek word "pallo," which means "to wield a spear," is the source of the term "Pallas," which is one of the Greek goddess Athena's titles. It makes sense that the intelligent Sailor Mercury has her Amazoness counterpart named after the Greek goddess of strategy and wisdom.
  • "JunJun", who acts in a motherly way towards her victims, was named after the goddess of motherhood Juno.^note Juno is the counterpart of Sailor Jupiter. They share nature and vegetation motifs. Juno's name and her Sailor Guardian name is derived from one of the four major asteroids in the Asteroid Belt, keeping to the theme of the Guardians being named after the Solar System's heavenly bodies.
  • "VesVes", who has an independent feminist nature, was named after the goddess of femininity Vesta.^note Vesta is the counterpart of Sailor Mars. They both feature independent feminist natures and fiery personalities, with Mars representing the Gof of War and Vesta representing Vesta or Hestia, the virgin goddess of the hearth. The Olympia Hestia elected to never marry and remain an eternal virgin goddess instead, forever tending to the hearth of Olympus.
• The Sailor Starlights bear distinct parallels to Hindu mythology, particularly the Trimurti: The Creator, the Preserver, and the Destroyer. To be more specific, they refer to the following:
  • Brahma the Creator (Sailor Star Maker)
  • Vishnu the Preserver (Sailor Star Healer)
  • Shiva the Destroyer (Sailor Star Fighter)
• Queen Nehellenia of the Dead Moon Circus was named after an ancient deity called Nehalannia.
• As for Sailor Lethe and Sailor Mnemosyne, one of Hades' five rivers is called Lethe, and drinking from it causes one to lose all memory of their previous existence. The concept of memory is ruled by the titan Mnemosyne in Greek Mythology.
• In the lore of Sailor Moon, Elysion serves as the capital of the Golden Kingdom of Earth, which is headed by Prince Endymion/Tuxedo Mask. Similar to how Elysium symbolizes a celestial realm, Elysion represents the pinnacle of a utopian future for Earth.
• Galaxia is Chaos's less-than-loyal minion rather than puppet in the manga, while Chaos is the primary antagonist in the last story arc.
  • Greek mythology portrays Chaos as likewise evil, frequently causing tragic or destructive events to occur. For instance, Chaos' "gift" of a golden apple served as the impetus for the Trojan War.
• Sailor Cosmos is also a representation of the Greek deity Cosmos, who stands for order as opposed to chaos and mayhem.
  • Given that she was named after an entity central to the Greek creation myth, it's only fitting that the enigmatic Sailor Guardian lives in the Galaxy Cauldron, the crucible of the Sailor Moon universe's creation.

Miscellaneous

• The whole manga is a send-up to the Tokusatsu genre and the Super Sentai franchise. It brought the premise of "What if a squad of color-coded Magical Girls used their powers to fight evil monsters like they did with Goranger instead of just having Slice of Life, Fish out of Water adventures?" to its logical conclusion.
• The Sailor Guardians of Sailor Moon representing individual planets and their counterpart mythological gods with elemental powers can be considered a Gender Flip shout-out to the Zodiac Knights of its "predecessor" manga, Saint Seiya.
  • Sailor Moon, like Pegasus Seiya, use powers based on light and energy. And, wouldn't you know it, Seiya is also voiced by Sailor Moon's lover, Tuxedo Mask.
  • Both also involve transforming into their battle uniforms and having character-specific special attacks.
  • Sailor Galaxia in particular has a sailor uniform that's more reminiscent of the armor of the knights of Saint Seiya than the Sailor Soldiers.
• Ami Mizuno's appearance was based on J-Pop Idol Noriko Sakai◊ and Minako's best friend in Codename: Sailor V, Hikaru Sorano^note who looks like a Palette Swap of Ami with her green eyes and black hair. In fact, Hikaru was supposed to be Ami until plans changed and editors had Takeuchi make Ami into a different character altogether.
• The Chibi-Usa character arc^note where a child from the future goes back in time to fix what happened in the past is reminiscent of the plot of Back to the Future and a variation of the plot of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Also mirrors Trunks' character arc in Dragon Ball Z, but it's merely because both took inspiration from BTTF and T2.
• Naoko Takeuchi was inspired to create Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus along with the androgynous Sailor Starlights by the Takarazuka Revue, an all-female troupe of stage actors.^note Takeuchi believes the troupe represents the maximum level of feminine emancipation: "These actresses cover all roles of the plays, even the male ones." She had also originally intended Haruka and Michiru to be members of the Takarazuka Revue as well.
• The Japanese-only pun from Sailor Saturn's scout name partially explains why she's portrayed as such a Dark Magical Girl. In Japanese, the word "Saturn" has the same pronunciation as "Satan".
  • It's also for this reason^note (a pun that only works with the Japanese pronunciation of non-Japanese words) that Sailor Saturn's "Death Reborn Revolution" features ribbons when she summons the attack.
• The Sailor Starlight Kou Seiya was based on androgynous model Jenny Shimizu, and was meant to be a fusion of the masculine personalities of Haruka Tenoh and Mamoru Chiba.
• Sailor Galaxia's head dress is similar to a Russian kokoshnik.

Sailor Moon (Anime)

English Dub

• The DIC/DiC Entertainment English dub was made in the late 1990s and it shows with its Saban-style name changes, soundtrack replacement, censorship, and references.
  • Because the original anime partly references space and celestial bodies, the DiC dub of Sailor Moon also features its version of the iconic Star Wars Opening Scroll, which is unique to this version of the show.^note It specifically said, "From a far away place and time, Earth's greatest adventure is about to begin."
  • As brought up by the Nostalgia Critic, some of the visual flourishes found in DIC Sailor Moon's unique intro were taken straight out of Saved by the Bell, particularly the video clip parts that look like they're from a 90's trapper keeper binder collage.
  • The "Sailor Says" segments of this iteration of the anime, meanwhile, is a shout-out to the "And Knowing Is Half the Battle" special messages and PSAs infamously found in cartoons of The '80s^note like G.I. Joe, He-Man, and Filmation's Ghostbusters.
  • Amy's first dub actress (Karen Bernstein) sounds almost exactly like how Patty Duke played Cathy Lane on The Patty Duke Show. The character also has a very similar personality.
  • Not to mention Luna (Jill Frappier) sounds like Angela Lansbury, specifically when she (Angela) voiced Mrs. Potts.
  • The DIC dub version of the Dark Kingdom, "Negaverse", is also the name given to the Mirror Universe in Darkwing Duck.
  • The DiC dub throws in a shout-out to '90s teen heartthrob Joey Lawrence in the episode "Molly's Folly," in which Serena (Usagi) brings up Molly's (Naru) crush on Lawrence after Molly mentions she's in love.
• The Viz English dub is a more recent dub but recent as in "2014" recent. They thusly made references pertinent to early to late 2010s pop culture.
  • Ami's Improbably High I.Q. got a huge boost in the Viz dub when Umino states a rumor that it was "OVER NINE THOUSAND". This doubled as a Throw It In! that his actor was not expecting to be kept.
  • The Viz dub also contains line references to Mortal Kombat ("Finish her!"), The Lord of the Rings ("You shall not pass!"), Ghostbusters ("Prehistoric witch"), and Aliens ("Get away from her, you monster!"), as well as Ted Stevens' "A series of tubes," explanation of what the Internet is.^note Yes, Viz did censor some of those references down to keep the language a bit light.
  • Episode 123 has Professor Tomoe reference David Bowie's song "Starman" in the Viz dub.
  • In the Viz dub of episode 158, Mamoru asks "Am I being Punk'd?" when he sees that Usagi and Chibi-Usa have swapped ages.
  • In the Viz dub of 186, after Usagi tries to chase after Chibi-Chibi through heavy traffic, she moans, "I don't know how that frog does it."

Anime & Manga

• The Usagi and Mamoru dynamic in the anime is highly reminiscent of the Candy White and Terry Grandchester dynamic from 16 years prior. Usagi even shares the same hair color and personality as Candy. Meanwhile, Motoki serves as Usagi's Anthony Brown.
  • As a side note, a Candy Candy movie^note (starring Rukawa and Vegeta as the replacement voice actors for Archie and Anthony respectively) was released about a month after the original Sailor Moon anime debuted.
• The elaborate henshin or transformation sequences of the 1990s Sailor Moon anime are also reminiscent of 1970s Super Robot transformation and/or combination sequences^note from series like Combattler V, Voltes V, Daimos, and GoLion. In both cases, they're used (and reused) as time-saving methods and Stock Footage to lengthen every episode at no extra cost. Ditto with all of their special attacks.
• The first series of the show features numerous cameos of characters from Goldfish Warning! (Kingyo Chuihou), which was worked on by the same staff the year before they worked on Sailor Moon — and, for bonus coincidence points, also had the original manga serialized in Nakayoshi. Listing them all would be overly lengthy for this space, but common examples include Usagi's alarm clock, Kingyo key chains and prints, and Wapiko herself showing up as an extra in many episodes. These cameos tapered off after the first series.
• Six years earlier, some of the same staff - including Sato and Ikuhara - had also made Mapletown. In episode 16 (DiC dub episode 13), Usagi holds a stuffed rabbit which bears a resemblance to Mapletown protagonist Patty Rabbit. Masahiro Ando, the animation director on this episode, was one of the chief animators on Mapletown as well.
• Sailor Moon character designer Kazuko Tadano and animator Hiromi Matsushita were spoofed as Sailor V animators "Hiromi Matsuno" and "Kazuko Tadashita" in episode 21. Both Tadano and Matsushita worked for Studio Live, one of Toei's subcontractor studios for this series. (The original English dub removed the reference by renaming them Laurie and Cassie.)
• Makoto Kino bears something of a resemblance to the heroine of an early Toei magical girl anime, Mahou no Mako-chan (aired on TV Asahi's predecessor, NET), as both she and the earlier series' Mako Urashima are brunettes who wear their hair in ponytails. In some episodes, Makoto even wears an outfit similar to that of the earlier Mako.
• In episode 104, a handsome kid dances like Shin-chan from Crayon Shin-chan in front of Chibi-Usa, Mr. Elephant included. He even shares the same voice actor as Shin-chan. Not surprisingly, the elephant joke got cut from most international dubs.

Movie & Television

• Mercury's visor contains jokes about RoboCop in episodes 9 and 13. Someone working on the original English dub apparently noticed them and even corrected the Engrish in the readouts without removing the references.
• Episode 31 features references to Gone with the Wind: The giant cat and his owner are named Rhett Butler and An Ohara, respectively. Also, Rei comments that Yuichiro was "gone with the wind" after he ran away quickly (the DiC dub did away with all of this by renaming the cat Hercules).
• The animators also had Sailor Jupiter take up martial arts stances straight out of a Bruce Lee movie.
• The show's Super Sentai and Kamen Rider roots got a call out in an episode where an obvious Sentai/Henshin parody◊, called "Redman" in the Japanese version, was putting on a show at a park and was accidentally turned into the monster of the day by Zoisite. The original English dub was well aware of this, and while he was not given a name, the dubbing for the character was clearly intended to match the style of acting used by the American Power Rangers franchise.
• The appearance of Moonlight Knight has long baffled international viewers who wondered why Mamoru was dressing up like an Arabian knight for the Makaiju story arc. The character is actually a reference to the oldest tokusatsu hero in Japanese television, Moonlight Mask, who similarly dressed in a white costume with a turban, face covering, and adorned with a crescent moon brooch. It's also Toei doing a bit of a shout-out to its roots, as they created the original Moonlight Mask theatrical films.
• In episode 174 Ami prints off what she says is Aeronautics data from the Columbia University Library website and offers to translate it from English to Japanese. What it actually is is the lyrics to "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins - a.k.a. the Top Gun theme.

Miscellaneous

• Watch closely in the first Japanese OP sequence and you'll see "10ch" in the background. This doubles as an Easter Egg for viewers who saw the anime on TV Asahi, which at that time broadcast on analog channel 10 in Tokyo (as a digital station, it now airs on channel 5). The identification as "10 channel" (ju chan'neru) rather than "channel 10" is customary in Japanese television.
• Oniwabandana, the ninja-themed youma from Season 1, Episode 43, is a huge shout-out to the real-life Oniwaban secret agents during the Edo Period or the Tokugawa Era. Other famous anime that would eventually reference them include Rurouni Kenshin and Gintama.
• In an early episode, you can see a shop that says Valentino Rossi, which is the name of a famous Italian motorcycle racer. You'll then learn much later that Haruka is a motocross racer herself, just like Valentino Rossi.
• The daimon in episodes 101-102 (94-95 in the original dub) is named Cenicienta - "Cinderella" in Spanish - and was fittingly created from a glass slipper.
• Episode 191 has a cosplayer dressed as Chun-Li at the video game tournament.
• The theme songs to Queen Nehelenia heard in Super S and Sailor Stars are recycled directly from Princess Snow Kaguya's ominous theme songs in the Super movie.

Sailor Moon S: The Movie

• This movie was specifically based on The Lover of Princess Kaguya, a Sailor Moon side story written by Naoko Takeuchi, and was the only 1990s Sailor Moon movie to be based on the manga (i.e., prior to the Crystal reboot).
• The film naturally has several outright references to the classic Japanese folktale The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, particularly with the antagonist naming herself Kaguya (or "Princess Snow Kaguya") after the main character.
  • The "Take" ("Bamboo") and "Hime" ("Princess") parts of Himeko Nayotake's name are also references to The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.
  • The film's plot is loosely based on, you guessed it, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter mixed with Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen.
• Tuxedo Mask is disguised as Santa during the battle with the Snow Dancers.

Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie

• Kid!Minako acts out a scene from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
• The first half of the movie with whimsical boys manipulating children into leaving their homes to live in a dreamy paradise is a combination of The Pied Piper of Hamelin and Peter Pan
• The Sailor Guardians also visit a gingerbread house when they're turned into children.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon

• Sailor Jupiter's attempted Heroic Sacrifice by fully powering up to destroy a Metalia-infused youma and herself is similar to how she blew herself up with two of the DD girls at D Point in the anime. Fortunately, Makoto recovers.
• In the Kirari live concert, Sailor Mercury's wig is stylized to be similar to Marilyn Monroe's. Backstage, Ayaka (Minako) recognizes the similarity and teases Chisaki (Ami), who responds with a Marilyn Maneuver.
• Usagi (wearing a bear costume) hugs Tuxedo Mask with her leg popped up.
• While Rei and Minako are play-fighting with foam swords, lightsaber sounds can be heard.
• In Act 4, Usagi and Ami had to work in tandem with a newly recruited aloof companion to defeat a Puzzle Boss. They defeat this youma via a synchronized tandem attack using Minako's song, similar to Shinji & Asuka's music-coordinated battle against Israfel.
• Beryl's final appearances in both the anime and live action involve her fusing into a monstrous flower creature of similar design.
• Queen's rendition of "I Was Born to Love You" plays during a volleyball match between Usagi and Mio.

Sailor Moon Crystal

Voice Actor Allusions

Because only Kotono Mitsuishi ended up reprising her role as Sailor Moon in the show, multiple new voice actors were hired based on their previous track record (most are Pretty Cure alumni).

• Hisako Kanemoto getting cast as Sailor Mercury might be a shout-out to her previous work as the adorable Ika Musume from Squid Girl and Cure Peace from Pretty Cure All Stars.
• Rina Sato getting cast as Sailor Mars might be a shout-out to her previous work as tomboy Mikoto Misaka from A Certain Magical Index and A Certain Scientific Railgun.
• Ami Koshimizu getting cast as Sailor Jupiter might be a shout-out to her previous work as tough Action Girl Ryuko Matoi from Kill la Kill and the unpretentious Cure Melody in Suite Pretty Cure ♪.
• Shizuka Itō getting cast as Sailor Venus might be a shout-out to her previous work as the lovely Hinagiku Katsura from Hayate the Combat Butler and the charismatic Momoka Kurumi (Erika's older sister) from Heart Catch Pretty Cure.
• Kenji Nojima getting cast as Tuxedo Mask might be a shout-out to his previous work as protagonist Shō Fukamachi from Bio-Booster Armor GUYVER and Nobuchika Ginoza from Psycho-Pass.
• Misato Fukuen getting cast as Chibi-Usa might be a shout-out to her previous work as the Creepy Child Eve from Black Cat and the pink-haired Cure Happy from Smile Pre Cure.
• Junko Minagawa getting cast as Sailor Uranus might be a shout-out to her previous work as the Aloof Ally Ryoma Echizen from The Prince of Tennis. After Crystal, she also ended up with the role of Julio/Pikario in KiraKira★Pretty Cure à la Mode.
• Sayaka Ohara getting cast as Sailor Neptune might be a shout-out to her previous work as Stella Amanogawa (Kirara's mother) from Go! Princess Pretty Cure and the upper-class lady Irisviel von Einzbern from Fate/Zero, Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA, and Fate/Grand Order.
• Yukiyo Fujii getting cast as Sailor Saturn might be a shout-out to her previous work as the innocent Hina Midorikawa and the bookworm Mayuka Kashiwamoto from Smile PreCure.
• Ai Maeda getting cast as Sailor Pluto might be a shout-out to her previous work as the girly cowgirl Mimi Tachikawa from the Digimon franchise and the intelligent Cure Aqua from Yes! Pretty Cure 5

• Many of Crystal's decisions on voice casting and direction were influenced by how the original anime portrayed the manga, so all the new voices serve as partial or outright shout-outs to the 1990s anime as well.
• The Crystal transformation sequences are indeed all based on the 1990s anime ones instead of the manga^note (specifically the use of ribbons and sparkles, the colorful backgrounds, the angles and rotations, and the striking poses amidst their heavenly body's symbol or iconography) because the director and animators had to design those specific scenes from scratch while the manga transformations are merely hinted at in a couple of panels at most.
  • Here's further proof that the transformation sequences in Crystal essentially serve as shout-outs to the stock footage ones done in the 1990s anime.
  • Ditto with their special attacks, although they're named different to better match with the manga.
  • Crystal also uses the same sound effects for the symbols and attacks of the Sailor Guardians from the Nineties anime.
• The Crystal version of Usagi fumbling with a laptop, saying she doesn't know how to use it is definitely a reference to when her 1990s counterpart also fumbled with a diskette, warning that she doesn't know how to use computers as well.
• Mitsuko Horie singing the second version of the third season Crystal opening, "In Love with the New Moon", is a shout-out to her previously singing the Sailor Stars opening and being the previous voice actress for Sailor Galaxia.
• Haruka reveals herself/himself/themself to be both a man and a woman, which could be construed as a reference to the anime-only change of the Sailor Starlights being men that could transform into women warriors.

Sailor Moon Eternal

• In Fish Eye's fish store, two fish who bear a striking resemblance to Dory and Marlin swim by Ami.
• The movie actually retains many of the visual flourishes of the 1990s anime despite following the plot of the manga more closely. Like the best of both worlds. It borders on being a Mythology Gag, even.
  • Eternal has its versions of the 1990s transformations and attacks as well.
  • Eternal also recycles the 1990s sound effects for the Sailor Guardian symbols and attacks like with Crystal.
• Even Netflix is calling Sailor Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, and Pluto collectively as the "Four Guardians of the Outer Planets", which is a reference to their fandom group name of Outer Senshi.

Sailor Moon Cosmos

• Keiko Kitagawa, who voices Sailor Cosmos, had previously played Rei Hino/Sailor Mars in the live-action series Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon.
• The transformation sequence of the Sailor Starlights in Sailor Moon Cosmos incorporates tap dancing prior to the Bifauxnen gender reveals, which again harkens back to the Takarazuka Revue roots of the Starlights.
• Aside from voicing Sailor Moon, Kotono Mitsuishi also reprises her role as Chibi Chibi/Chibi Chibi Moon that she also did back in Sailor Stars as well.
• Megumi Hayashibara is now the current voice of Sailor Galaxia^note (inheriting the role from famed singer Mitsuko Horie). She previously voiced Himeko Nayotake in Sailor Moon S: The Movie.
  • Megumi Hayashibara shares a Neon Genesis Evangelion connection with Kotono Mitsuishi^note (they played the roles of Rei Ayanami and Misato Katsuragi respectively). The first trailer for Sailor Moon Cosmos even includes a strangling scene between Galaxia and Moon that's reminiscent of The End of Evangelion.

Sera Myu (Musicals)

Eien Densetsu (Eternal Legend)

• In the Kaiteiban, Ami tries to have a conversation in English with Tony Chiba (a Brainwashed and Crazy Endymion in disguise), who claims to have studied at Harvard.
• In the Senshuuraku performance, Taiki and Yaten ad-lib a song during the investigation in "Kick Out a Bloody Mystery". It's a spoof of "Yume no Naka e", the first ending theme song to His and Her Circumstances, which was on the air at the time.

Kaguya Shima Densetsu (Legend of Kaguya Island)

• At the end of "Welcome Hare Hare Hire Hare", the jewels sing "Bali Ha'i".
  • The first line of "Chibi-Usa no Hanran (Chibi-Usa's Rebellion)" is "またまた突然のちびうさよ (Suddenly, once again, it's Chibi-Usa)", which is a Call-Back to the first line of "Matamata Chibi-Usa Desu", Chibi-Usa's song from the Sailor Moon S musicals.
  • The kimono that Eternal Sailor Moon wears at the beginning of "LINK" makes her appearance one to the Princess Kaguya folk tale.

Amour Eternal (Eternal Love)

• Helios' costume design and choreography appear to be one to Swan Lake.
  • Helios says the phrase "tsuki no hikari ni mamorareta princess ni shite senshi" ("a princess who is also a soldier, guarded by moonlight"), which is word-for-word what Helios sings in "Double Moonlight Romance", the opening number from Yume Senshi. This is unlikely to be a coincidence since Yume Senshi and Amour Eternal share a scriptwriter/director.
  • Usagi is one song about mopping away from repeating her role in Yume Senshi.

Single-Entry Shout-Outs

• Kessen - Transylvania no Mori - Shin Toujou! Chibi-Usa wo Mamoru Senshi-Tachi (Decisive Battle - Transylvania Forest - New Appearance! The Soldiers Who Protect Chibi-Usa): "Here Comes the Tuxedo Mask" uses the first two lines of "Miracle Twister", the song it was based on.
• Mugen Gakuen - Mistress Labyrinth (Infinity Academy - Mistress Labyrinth): The fight with the daimon uses the music cue "Gondola no Shuugeki (Attack on the Gondola)" from the First Stage S musicals.
• Starlights - Ryuusei Densetsu (Legend of the Shooting Stars): This show directly references The Phantom of the Opera. Saitou Izou even gives a first edition copy of the novel to Ami.
• Shin Kaguya Shima Densetsu (New Legend of Kaguya Island): In the Kaiteiban, the original plan for the training camp is to go to the North Pole. Usagi sings some of "Yami no Hitsugi", Queen Beryl's song from Eien Densetsu.
• La Reconquista (The Reconquest): Lemures Baba mocks Beryl's red hair and remarks that "she could've played Annie as a child".
• Petite Etrangere (Little Stranger): The title, which is French for "little stranger" (which is what Chibi-Usa is), is also the title of the first chapter of the Black Moon arc.
• Un Nouveau Voyage (A New Journey): There's a visual shout-out during "Music of the Spheres". The Senshi strike their attack poses from the original anime.

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