Viral Sailor Moon Video Reminds Just How Great the English Opening is

Anime fans are still debating whether or not they should watch English subtitled or dubbed releases to this day, and much of this stems from how anime used to be licensed and released in the United States. For better or worse, many series were essentially English adaptations of the original Japanese works with some changes made to content. Some of this ranged from smaller things such as name or dialogue changes, but many series had entirely original productions. One of the most famous is Sailor Moon’s original English dub produced by DiC Entertainment.

It still remains so famous to fans in the United States thanks to the series’ original English opening theme. Covering many of the elements from the original “Moonlight Legend,” theme but inserting new lyrics and instrumentals, one viral video has been a stark reminder of why this theme is still such a banger.

As shared by @CorzaMoon, who re-mastered the original DiC Entertainment opening with HD footage, this opening will surely be nostalgic to many. Sailor Moon was one of the first English anime dubs to really take off in the United States, and although anime has some breakout hits beforehand, this was when anime really got a starting foothold in the United States.

English dubs have gotten a lot more respectful in recent years, and there’s a lot more communication between the original studios and those producing dubs. Which means there’s not a lot of room to completely change the opening themes such as this. So while dubs have gotten faster and more accurate, there’s a certain nostalgic luster lost as there aren’t many full English covers for the opening themes like this one.

Sailor Moon was originally created by Naoko Takeuchi for Nakayoshi magazine in 1991. More than 28 years later, Sailor Moon stands as one of the most influential shojo series ever created; popularizing the magical girl sub-genre with fans all over the world. The series can currently be found streaming on Hulu, and they describe Sailor Moon as such, “Usagi Tsukino is a clumsy but kindhearted teenage girl who transforms into the powerful guardian of love and justice, Sailor Moon. Meeting allies along the way who share similar fates, Usagi and her team of planetary Sailor Guardians fight to protect the universe from forces of evil and total annihilation.”