Most (if not all) of us already know that the Sailor Moon manga began in the February 1992 issue of Nakayoshi, which went on sale around December 28, 1991. We also already know that Naoko and her editorial staff went through a bit of a process developing the Codename: Sailor V one-shot into an anime-ready ongoing series, as evidenced by the handful of prototype designs that have been released. Most of us have also probably already seen the original series proposal page that Naoko included in the Infinity art book.
Now, I had always assumed that all the kinks had been ironed out, the final story settled on quite some time before the manga's debut. But it turns out that I was very much mistaken. The January 1992 issue of Nakayoshi features a number of ads for Pretty Soldier Sailor V.
Link || Link
The speech bubble says:
which translates to something like, "After receiving an overwhelming endorsement in the Nakayoshi supplement RUNRUN, Codename: Sailor V is finally powering up to start its magazine serialization. Please support me."
Link
The top section is an interview with Naoko. (I've translated as best I can with Google, etc.)
From this we can see that for Pretty Soldier Sailor V, Naoko has already renamed Minako "Usagi," and she seems also to have decided on the Shitennou as the antagonists. (With Queen Beryl and other female foes perhaps?) At the bottom of the page, you can see a picture of the principal characters with some notes scribbled over them. (The text box on the left says that one lucky person will win a copy of the illustration via lottery drawing.)
The text above Usagi says: A champion of justice, the main character, Usagi.
The text above Artemis(?) and Amano/Umino(?) says: An otaku boy and a mysterious cat.
The text above the black-haired woman, who is Takeuchi herself, says something like: Recently got a straight perm and am turning into a bigger and bigger nerd.
The text above the Tuxedo Mask-like character says: A good-looking guy who's my type, could he be Usagi's sworn enemy?!
Link
What I find so interesting about this is the date on it: November 5, 1991. As of that day, Naoko's plans were for Usagi, Amano/Umino(?), Artemis(?), herself(?), and a Tuxedo Mask like figure to be the main characters. By the time this issue went to print, the plans were still for the series to be called Pretty Soldier Sailor V.
So my questions are: At what point between November 5 and December 28 did all that change? When did Naoko completely change Usagi's uniform(s)? (Since apparently she was going to have two separate transformation looks.) When did Naoko decide to rename the series? When did she decide to replace Artemis with Luna? Amano with Umino? Drop(?) the black-haired girl character? Furthermore, why did she make those changes? (Or did she? Maybe the rest of her team decided on the changes and talked her into them?) It just seems like it all must have happened very suddenly, which makes me wonder if there are pages of an earlier, very different draft of Act 1 floating around somewhere?
Now, I had always assumed that all the kinks had been ironed out, the final story settled on quite some time before the manga's debut. But it turns out that I was very much mistaken. The January 1992 issue of Nakayoshi features a number of ads for Pretty Soldier Sailor V.
Link || Link
The speech bubble says:
なかよし増刊「るんるん」でみんなの圧倒的支持をうけた「コードネームはセーラーV」カパワーアップして、ついに本誌で連載開始!!
応援よろしくネ
which translates to something like, "After receiving an overwhelming endorsement in the Nakayoshi supplement RUNRUN, Codename: Sailor V is finally powering up to start its magazine serialization. Please support me."
Link
The top section is an interview with Naoko. (I've translated as best I can with Google, etc.)
なかよし増刊「るんるん」で大人気だった、「コードネームはセーラーV」が、いよいよパワーアップして、本誌に登場します。
今回は、新連載に大ハリキリの、武内直子先生にインタピュー二
"Codename: Sailor V," which was popular in the Nakayoshi supplement "RUNRUN," will finally power up and appear in this magazine. This time, we'll be interviewing Miss Naoko Takeuchi on her new series.
どんなお話になりそうですか?
Interviewer: What kind of story is it going to be?
めちゃくちゃとんでもなくつめちゃくちゃとんでもなくつて、ちょっとロマンチックで、かっこいいハナシよ
Naoko Takeuchi: An insanely outrageous one, but a bit romantic and cool, too.
主人公は、どんな女のコですか？
Interviewer: What kind of girl is the hero?
名まえは、うさぎちゃんっていうの。
泣きムシで、甘ったるい単純な性格です。
NT: Her name is Usagi. She's a crybaby, and her personality is simple and sweet.
「変身」が出てきそうですが、それはどんなトキ？
Interviewer: It sounds like "transformations" will be involved. When will she transform? (Thanks TuxedoUnmasked!)
「地球のキキ」のトキです.
NT: When "the Earth is in peril." (Thanks TuxedoUnmasked!)
これから、どんな敵が出てきそうですか?
Interviewer: Starting with this, what kind of enemies are likely to appear?
超美少女に超美少年を出したいなあ…って思ってるの.
NT: I want to put in super beautiful girls some super handsome boys...I think.
どうもありがとうございました。
Interviewer: Thank you very much.
みなさん、ゼッタイ応援してね.
NT: Everyone, please cheer me on.
ファンレターのあて先はテ12 東京都文京区音羽講談社なかよし
「美少女戦士セーラーV」係
Please adress fan mail to [address] in care of "Pretty Soldier Sailor V" staff.
From this we can see that for Pretty Soldier Sailor V, Naoko has already renamed Minako "Usagi," and she seems also to have decided on the Shitennou as the antagonists. (With Queen Beryl and other female foes perhaps?) At the bottom of the page, you can see a picture of the principal characters with some notes scribbled over them. (The text box on the left says that one lucky person will win a copy of the illustration via lottery drawing.)
The text above Usagi says: A champion of justice, the main character, Usagi.
The text above Artemis(?) and Amano/Umino(?) says: An otaku boy and a mysterious cat.
The text above the black-haired woman, who is Takeuchi herself, says something like: Recently got a straight perm and am turning into a bigger and bigger nerd.
The text above the Tuxedo Mask-like character says: A good-looking guy who's my type, could he be Usagi's sworn enemy?!
Link
What I find so interesting about this is the date on it: November 5, 1991. As of that day, Naoko's plans were for Usagi, Amano/Umino(?), Artemis(?), herself(?), and a Tuxedo Mask like figure to be the main characters. By the time this issue went to print, the plans were still for the series to be called Pretty Soldier Sailor V.
So my questions are: At what point between November 5 and December 28 did all that change? When did Naoko completely change Usagi's uniform(s)? (Since apparently she was going to have two separate transformation looks.) When did Naoko decide to rename the series? When did she decide to replace Artemis with Luna? Amano with Umino? Drop(?) the black-haired girl character? Furthermore, why did she make those changes? (Or did she? Maybe the rest of her team decided on the changes and talked her into them?) It just seems like it all must have happened very suddenly, which makes me wonder if there are pages of an earlier, very different draft of Act 1 floating around somewhere?
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