The manga's Sailor Stars arc ran from March 1996 until February 1997 in Nakayoshi. The anime adaptation aired concurrently (March 9, 1996 - February 8, 1997).
The first musical based on the Sailor Stars arc was the imaginatively entitled Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon Sailor Stars, which ran from August 5 to August 30, 1996. Given that the manga and anime arcs were only halfway through, this musical naturally took quite a few liberties.
The second musical based on Stars was the obligatory revision of the first musical, which ran from December 28, 1996 to January 12, 1997. So far so good.
But then the next musical they did was also based on Stars: Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ The Eternal Legend ran from July 25 to August 18, 1997. This musical seemed to take inspiration from the anime's Nehellenia arc, only swapping Nehellenia out for Beryl.
This feels like an odd move to me: Why not start over and do another Dark Kingdom musical? (Perhaps the use of Beryl and two of the Four Generals was meant to be a compromise?) Why not do a Black Moon musical since they'd skipped over that arc before? Why not do an original story? A musical based on one of the movies, the Doom Tree arc, Sailor V, the side stories - anything? Why not end the musicals altogether? Why do another Stars musical?
Okay, maybe it was because the first (two) had come out before the manga and anime versions had ended. With the story complete, they could do a more informed adaptation. Fine.
Then, in February 1998, this version of the story got its own obligatory revision. Fine.
But then, once again, the very next musical they did was Stars: Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ Beginning of the New Legend, which ran from July 10 to August 31, 1998. This musical is essentially a second revision of The Eternal Legend.
This musical was - finally! - followed by some original stories and adaptations of the Black Moon and Infinity arcs. And then, in July 2003, another Stars musical, another glorified revision of TEL, premiered (Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ Starlights ★ Legend of the Falling Stars), followed by its glorified revision, Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ The Advent of Princess Kakyuu, in January 2004.
That's a total of SEVEN musicals based on Stars during the Bandai Myu era. SEVEN. And I find that so puzzling??? Stars was the lowest rated season of the anime. I don't think the manga version was particularly popular either. So why did they keep doing musicals based on it? And why, despite doing, once again, SEVEN of them, and having the space to invent the characters of Sailor Pewter Fox, Sailor Titanium Kerokko, MC Fly, Sailor Theta, and Sailor Buttress, did they never find the time/space to include Sailor Mnemosyne, Sailor Lethe, Sailor Kakyuu, or Sailor Cosmos? (At least Cosmos finally got to appear in Le Mouvement Final, but that musical skipped Heavy Metal Papillon, Phi, and Chi, along with the Sailor Quartet, who only appeared in one of the Bandai run's Dracul arc musicals.)
In other words: what made Stars a success on the stage when it was a flop on TV and in print?
The first musical based on the Sailor Stars arc was the imaginatively entitled Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon Sailor Stars, which ran from August 5 to August 30, 1996. Given that the manga and anime arcs were only halfway through, this musical naturally took quite a few liberties.
The second musical based on Stars was the obligatory revision of the first musical, which ran from December 28, 1996 to January 12, 1997. So far so good.
But then the next musical they did was also based on Stars: Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ The Eternal Legend ran from July 25 to August 18, 1997. This musical seemed to take inspiration from the anime's Nehellenia arc, only swapping Nehellenia out for Beryl.
This feels like an odd move to me: Why not start over and do another Dark Kingdom musical? (Perhaps the use of Beryl and two of the Four Generals was meant to be a compromise?) Why not do a Black Moon musical since they'd skipped over that arc before? Why not do an original story? A musical based on one of the movies, the Doom Tree arc, Sailor V, the side stories - anything? Why not end the musicals altogether? Why do another Stars musical?
Okay, maybe it was because the first (two) had come out before the manga and anime versions had ended. With the story complete, they could do a more informed adaptation. Fine.
Then, in February 1998, this version of the story got its own obligatory revision. Fine.
But then, once again, the very next musical they did was Stars: Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ Beginning of the New Legend, which ran from July 10 to August 31, 1998. This musical is essentially a second revision of The Eternal Legend.
This musical was - finally! - followed by some original stories and adaptations of the Black Moon and Infinity arcs. And then, in July 2003, another Stars musical, another glorified revision of TEL, premiered (Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ Starlights ★ Legend of the Falling Stars), followed by its glorified revision, Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon ~ The Advent of Princess Kakyuu, in January 2004.
That's a total of SEVEN musicals based on Stars during the Bandai Myu era. SEVEN. And I find that so puzzling??? Stars was the lowest rated season of the anime. I don't think the manga version was particularly popular either. So why did they keep doing musicals based on it? And why, despite doing, once again, SEVEN of them, and having the space to invent the characters of Sailor Pewter Fox, Sailor Titanium Kerokko, MC Fly, Sailor Theta, and Sailor Buttress, did they never find the time/space to include Sailor Mnemosyne, Sailor Lethe, Sailor Kakyuu, or Sailor Cosmos? (At least Cosmos finally got to appear in Le Mouvement Final, but that musical skipped Heavy Metal Papillon, Phi, and Chi, along with the Sailor Quartet, who only appeared in one of the Bandai run's Dracul arc musicals.)
In other words: what made Stars a success on the stage when it was a flop on TV and in print?
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