Sailor Moon S

Aired: 1994 - 1995

The third installment of the Sailor Moon anime series, produced by Toei Animation for TV Asahi, adapting the Death Busters arc of Naoko Takeuchi's original manga. The Sailor Senshi enter their third year of middle school and meet Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, the first of the outer Solar System warriors, as the battle intensifies over the Holy Grail, the three Talismans, and the messiah Sailor Saturn whose power could destroy the world. Built around the philosophical conflict between Usagi's wish to protect every pure heart and Haruka and Michiru's willingness to accept sacrifice for the greater good, this chapter is considered one of the series' most tense dramatic arcs, also marking a major turning point with Ikuko Ito taking over as character designer.