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Makoto's thought bubble refers to Reika as a "Versace" chick.
Makoto's thought bubble refers to Reika as a "Versace" chick.
I'm not sure if this is 100% on topic strictly speaking, but I didn't want to put this in the References/Cameos thread, so I'm putting it here instead.
So... I know that Wonder Woman is sometimes discussed as a possible inspiration for Sailor Moon, but there was a Wonder Woman knock-off (so to speak) from 1947 who I think has a lot more in common with Sailor Moon: Moon-Girl.
- Moon-Girl is the Princess of the Moon (though she lives on Earth; specifically, she's from Uzbekistan, though she moves to America and appears to pass as white?)
- She falls in love with an Earth prince (Mengu) who's descended from Hercules (so the series draws on Greco-Roman mythology)
- They don't share a past life together, but their romance does echo the romance between one of her ancestors and another Earth prince, so there's that theme of history repeating
- She inherits a magical moonstone from her mother that she uses to transform and that gives her virtually limitless power
- With the moonstone she can call upon not only the powers of the moon, but the powers of the other planets as well
- She's from a matriarchal society
- She assumes a civilian identity/alter ego using a name that's a pun (Clare Lune)
- She later meets her long-lost younger cousin, Selena, who uses a magical moon jewel necklace to fight crime alongside her as Starlet, and whom she basically adopts to raise as her own daughter
Given the obscurity of the comic (it only lasted about 8 issues, undergoing a number of title changes, before being discontinued and ultimately lapsing into the public domain) it's unlikely Naoko ever actually came across it (though stranger things have happened), but the similarities are very interesting.
So... I know that Wonder Woman is sometimes discussed as a possible inspiration for Sailor Moon, but there was a Wonder Woman knock-off (so to speak) from 1947 who I think has a lot more in common with Sailor Moon: Moon-Girl.
- Moon-Girl is the Princess of the Moon (though she lives on Earth; specifically, she's from Uzbekistan, though she moves to America and appears to pass as white?)
- She falls in love with an Earth prince (Mengu) who's descended from Hercules (so the series draws on Greco-Roman mythology)
- They don't share a past life together, but their romance does echo the romance between one of her ancestors and another Earth prince, so there's that theme of history repeating
- She inherits a magical moonstone from her mother that she uses to transform and that gives her virtually limitless power
- With the moonstone she can call upon not only the powers of the moon, but the powers of the other planets as well
- She's from a matriarchal society
- She assumes a civilian identity/alter ego using a name that's a pun (Clare Lune)
- She later meets her long-lost younger cousin, Selena, who uses a magical moon jewel necklace to fight crime alongside her as Starlet, and whom she basically adopts to raise as her own daughter
Given the obscurity of the comic (it only lasted about 8 issues, undergoing a number of title changes, before being discontinued and ultimately lapsing into the public domain) it's unlikely Naoko ever actually came across it (though stranger things have happened), but the similarities are very interesting.
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Having that many similarities also makes it unlikely to be a coincidence - so we've got two opposing unlikelies, & it's possible (& very strange) either way. 
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Stari Guestie 39 and Memento
It seems kind of a shame Toon Makers was probably unaware of the series. They evidently wanted to hop on that Sailor Moon / superheroine train, so when they didn't get the rights to Sailor Moon, they could have tried a Moon Girl series instead.
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Rika-Chicchi
, just like that Watchmen movie a decade ago, which's also a superhero movie based on an obscure comic. 
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SILVER
I might've used an inaccurate word to describe it, but what I meant is that Watchmen is relatively non-mainstream as compared w/ superhero comics like Superman, Batman, etc., hence relatively being "obscure" - I do agree that it's not obscure at all when compared w/ Moon Girl, of course. 
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ChampionOfNuggets
I might've used an inaccurate word to describe it, but what I meant is that Watchmen is relatively non-mainstream as compared w/ superhero comics like Superman, Batman, etc., hence relatively being "obscure" - I do agree that it's not obscure at all when compared w/ Moon Girl, of course.
As opposed to say Moon Girl where I bet if it went to the average Joe Schmoe or even reasonably knowledgable comic book fan they would probably think I mean Sailor Moon.
Heck I bet if a Moon Girl movie was made plenty of people would just assume its a Sailor Moon movie and/or ripoff
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Rika-Chicchi
Heck I bet if a Moon Girl movie was made plenty of people would just assume its a Sailor Moon movie and/or ripoff
Likes:
ChampionOfNuggets
I came across these manga from the '90s that may have inspired Sailor V/Sailor Moon. Code Name wa Charmer and Moon Princess both by Narumi Kakinouchi. There's very little information about them online but it seems they were first published into volumes in November 1990 and December 1991 respectively. I couldn't find when (or if) they were serialized though.
Likes:
Stari Guestie 39 and Memento
Kakinouchi was quite a famous manga writer at the time, tho, especially for her vampire-princess series.
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FloraKiraraHime
I've been thinking about this lately, and I suspect that Naoko drew some inspiration (whether consciously or unconsciously) from the Oz books. After all, Sailor Moon and Oz have a lot in common:
They both star a female protagonist who sports iconic pigtails (Dorothy is even often depicted as blonde) and assembles a squad of lonely misfits who all eventually become or are revealed to be royalty with their own castles.
They both feature the standard talking animal sidekicks. (Dorothy has a pink cat named Eureka; there's the unnamed pink cat in Parallel Sailor Moon.)
They both feature predominately strong female casts, making them both rather groundbreaking and popular with feminists.
They both heavily reference gemstones/metals/minerals.
Both frequently recycle storylines and are abundant with plot holes.
The Emerald City and Crystal Tokyo are basically the same.
Queen Serenity/Neo Queen Serenity could easily have been inspired in part by Glinda, and Princess Serenity and Chibiusa on Ozma.
Galaxia shares some similarities with General Jinjur and Queen Ann Soforth.
And, incidentally, both have devoted LGBTQIA fanbases, they were/are both merchandising juggernauts, they both spawned a series of wildly successful contemporary musicals.
From what I can tell, The (Wonderful) Wizard of Oz is quite popular in Japan, so Naoko is undoubtedly familiar with it (and honestly, who isn't?). Being a big Oz fan myself, I'd love a more overtly Oz-inspired musical or side story one day.
They both star a female protagonist who sports iconic pigtails (Dorothy is even often depicted as blonde) and assembles a squad of lonely misfits who all eventually become or are revealed to be royalty with their own castles.
They both feature the standard talking animal sidekicks. (Dorothy has a pink cat named Eureka; there's the unnamed pink cat in Parallel Sailor Moon.)
They both feature predominately strong female casts, making them both rather groundbreaking and popular with feminists.
They both heavily reference gemstones/metals/minerals.
Both frequently recycle storylines and are abundant with plot holes.
The Emerald City and Crystal Tokyo are basically the same.
Queen Serenity/Neo Queen Serenity could easily have been inspired in part by Glinda, and Princess Serenity and Chibiusa on Ozma.
Galaxia shares some similarities with General Jinjur and Queen Ann Soforth.
And, incidentally, both have devoted LGBTQIA fanbases, they were/are both merchandising juggernauts, they both spawned a series of wildly successful contemporary musicals.
From what I can tell, The (Wonderful) Wizard of Oz is quite popular in Japan, so Naoko is undoubtedly familiar with it (and honestly, who isn't?). Being a big Oz fan myself, I'd love a more overtly Oz-inspired musical or side story one day.
Likes:
saintfighteraqua and SILVER