According to the publisher's website the versions of the manga that are currently in print are available in Japanese, English, French, German, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Italian, Thai, and Portuguese.

Sailor Moon Volume 1: Naoko Takeuchi, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Volume 1, Kodansha Comics, 2014, 248 pp.

Sailor Moon Volume 2: Naoko Takeuchi, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Volume 2, Kodansha Comics, 2014, 244 pp. 

Sailor Moon Volume 3: Naoko Takeuchi, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Volume 3, Kodansha Comics, 2014, 240 pp.

Sailor Moon Volume 4: Naoko Takeuchi, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Volume 4, Kodansha Comics, 2014, 240 pp.

Sailor Moon Volume 5: Naoko Takeuchi, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Volume 5, Kodansha Comics, 2014, 256 pp.

Sailor Moon Volume 9: Naoko Takeuchi, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Volume 9, Kodansha Comics, 2014, 264 pp.

Sailor Moon Volume 10: Naoko Takeuchi, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Volume 10, Kodansha Comics, 2014, 248 pp.

Sailor Moon Volume 11: Naoko Takeuchi, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Volume 11, Kodansha Comics, 2014, 248 pp.

Sailor Moon Volume 12: Naoko Takeuchi, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Volume 12, Kodansha Comics, 2014, 280 pp. 

Sailor Moon Volume 13: Naoko Takeuchi, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Short Stories Volume 1, Kodansha Comics, 2014, 200 pp. 

Sailor Moon Volume 14: Naoko Takeuchi, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Short Stories Volume 2, Kodansha Comics, 2014, 208 pp. 

Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon follows 14-year-old Usagi Tsukino, a klutz and crybaby who receives the power to transform into a magical warrior named Sailor Moon, Soldier of Love and Justice. Transforming not only changes her clothes, but grants her access to supernatural powers to fight enemies. The story is set in Tokyo, Japan. There are five primary arcs to the series, plus several short stories that accompany the core narrative. The arcs reflect the primary antagonists and themes the protagonists face in those chapters. The five story arcs are: The Dark Kingdom Arc, The Black Moon Arc, The Infinity Arc, The Dream Arc, and The Stars Arc. This entry focuses on the Infinity Arc. The series draws extensively from Classical mythologies, as well as fairytales and other folktales.

Infinity Arc (Volume 6, Volume 7, Volume 8)

A strange phenomenon is turning ordinary citizens of Tokyo into animals, and all signs point to the trouble originating from the elite education institution, Infinity Academy. The enemies are a group of aliens called the Death Busters, whose frontline soldiers are magicians known as the Witches 5. Around the same time, Chibiusa befriends a sickly girl named Hotaru Tomoe who attends Infinity Academy, and whose body is secretly being turned into a cyborg to keep her alive by her father, Professor Tomoe. As the Sailor Soldiers investigate, they meet two older female students who attend Infinity Academy, and are a lesbian couple: the glamorous violinist Michiru Kaiō, and the famous race car driver Haruka Tenō. The girls are soon revealed to be Sailor Neptune (Soldier of the Deep Waters and Embrace) and Sailor Uranus (Soldier of The Sky and Flight), respectively. However, they are not interested in allying with Usagi and her friends. Sailor Pluto is revealed to be reborn, and is working as a scientist at Infinity Academy under the name Setsuna Meiō.

Together, Sailor Neptune, Sailor Uranus, and Sailor Pluto form the Outer Soldiers; soldiers whose existence was a secret, as they were charged with defending the Moon Princess from a distance. They meet with Usagi and her friends, and state their duty is to protect the galaxy from the Goddess of Destruction, whose awakening is nearing. The Death Busters brainwash the Sailor Soldiers to fight each other; however, Sailor Moon, Sailor Chibimoon, and Tuxedo Mask combine their powers and create the Holy Grail, which breaks the spell. The Sailor Soldiers channel their power into the Gail, which Sailor Moon drinks from, evolving her power to that of Super Sailor Moon. She vanquishes the last of their minor enemies, and the Outer Soldiers confess their final secret. The Goddess of Destruction is none other than Sailor Saturn — the soldier whose soul now resides in the body of Chibiusa’s friend, the sickly Hotaru. The only way to prevent Sailor Saturn from awakening is to kill Hotaru. As Chibiusa rushes to protect Hotaru, Hotaru’s body is possessed by an alien Death Buster known as Mistress 9. Mistress 9 steals Chibiusa’s soul and disappears.

United at last, the Sailor Soldiers arrive at Infinity Academy to confront their enemies but become trapped in, and must escape, a labyrinth filled with their dreams and nightmares. Mistress 9 uses Chibiusa’s soul to increase her powers, and unleashes her ruler, Master Pharaoh 90, to convert Earth into a new homeworld for their species. However, Hotaru’s soul is still alive in Mistress 9’s body, and she uses the last of her strength to return Chibiusa’s soul to her. As the Sailor Soldiers fight a losing battle, Sailor Moon hurls herself into the void created by Master Pharaoh 90 to release the Illusionary Silver Crystal. At that moment, the weapons of Sailor Neptune, Sailor Uranus, and Sailor Pluto activate and summon forth Sailor Saturn (Soldier of Silence, Destruction, and Rebirth). However, instead of destroying Earth as they feared, Sailor Saturn destroys Master Pharaoh 90, along with herself. Sailor Moon emerges from the void and restores Tokyo and the lives lost—including reincarnating Hotaru as an infant, her soul fused with that of Sailor Saturn. Michiru, Haruka, and Setsuna take baby Hotaru into their care, and claim raising her as their new mission.

Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon draws on Greek and Roman mythology, Japanese folklore and traditions, and fairytales to establish its worldbuilding. The series has a strong focus on the theme that peace and happiness are always worth fighting for, even though they can never be permanent, because hardship is part of human existence.

At one point, the Sailor Soldiers become trapped in a labyrinth filled with their individual dreams and nightmares. Reincarnated members of the Witches 5 aim to keep them trapped there, to prevent them from stopping the Death Busters’ plans. Labyrinths are also featured in Greek mythology, such as King Minos’ labyrinth to contain the famed Minotaur. However, instead of battling a singular monster, the labyrinth in Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon forces them to confront their deepest inner thoughts through the visions they experience.

There are also biblical references throughout the Infinity Arc, such as the repeated allusion to a “Messiah”. Several characters are both seeking and fearing a mysterious figure known as the Messiah, however it is ultimately revealed to be Usagi herself. Additionally, Chibiusa’s school project results in her creating a model of the Holy Grail, an object said to contain the blood of Jesus Christ in Christianity and also a motif from Arthurian literature. In Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon, Chibiusa modelled her project on the Holy Grail her mother used to increase her powers. When the sailor soldiers later combine their powers, Chibiusa’s art project transforms into a true magical artefact, and the magic her Holy Grail collects from the other soldiers for Sailor Moon to drink allows Sailor Moon to become Super Sailor Moon.

Fujimoto, Yukari, “Sailor Moon! The Treasure Box All Girls Want” in Masami Toku, ed., International Perspectives on Shojo Manga, New York, NY: Routledge, 2015, 32–39.

Nozomi, Masuda, “Shojo Manga and Its Acceptance: What is the Power of Shojo Manga?” in Masami Toku, ed., International Perspectives on Shojo Manga, Routledge, New York, NY: Routledge, 2015, 23–31.

Originally serialised in Nakayoshi Magazine: December 28, 1991 – February 3, 1997.

First Japanese compilation of 18 volumes: Naoko Takeuchi, Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon Volumes 1–18, Kodansha Comics, 1993–1997.

Second Japanese compilation of 12 volumes: Naoko Takeuchi, Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon Volumes 1–12, Kodansha Comics, 2003–2004.

Third Japanese compilation: Naoko Takeuchi, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Volumes 1–10, Kodansha Comics, 2013–2014.

Editions used for entry:

Sailor Moon Volume 6: Naoko Takeuchi, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Volume 6, Kodansha Comics, 2014, 240 pp.

Sailor Moon Volume 7: Naoko Takeuchi, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Volume 7, Kodansha Comics, 2014, 240 pp.

Sailor Moon Volume 8: Naoko Takeuchi, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Volume 8, Kodansha Comics, 2014, 232 pp.