Glow sticks at the ready, a musical based on the hit Sailor Moon Japanese manga is finally coming to London.
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: The Super Live will play for a limited run from 4-26 February 2025 across two venues – Here at Outernet in the captial’s West End and at Koko in Camden.
The original manga created by Naoko Takeuchi debuted in 1991 and has since sold over 46 million copies worldwide and been translated into over 17 languages.
It follows the stories of Usagi Tsukino, a teenage girl who transforms into the heroic Sailor Moon. Together, with her fellow Sailor Guardians, she battles many dark forces to protect the Earth from evil.
Sailor Moon has also inspired an anime programme (Japanese animation), a live-action television programme and numerous stage shows.
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: The Super Live will play for a limited run from 4-26 February 2025 (©Naoko Takeuchi・PNP / “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon” The Super Live Production Committee)
The Super Live marks the 36th Sailor Moon musical and unlike its predecessors, it has been specially developed for an international audience with less emphasis on Japanese speech.
Loosely based on the Dark Kingdom arc of the manga, it has almost no dialogue and a minimum number of songs. The show mostly expresses itself through extensive dance choreography and acrobatics.
Originally debuting in 2018, it has so far been performed in Paris, Washington DC, New York, and Taipei.
Given Sailor Moon’s huge international appeal over three decades after she first began fighting evil by moonlight, her coming to London would seem a no-brainer.
Speaking about the challenges of bringing Sailor Moon to the stage and for an international audience, one of the creators and lead producers, Makoto Matsuda, told The Standard: “Above all, since this manga is beloved worldwide, it is crucial to ensure the stage production doesn’t disrupt the world and vision of the original work. However, because it is being performed on stage, we also focused on creating a thrill that could only be experienced in a live theatre.
“We embraced the challenge of recreating the excitement we felt when reading the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon manga for the first time. We are fortunate to be working with two brilliant venus in London, HERE at Outernet and KOKO, who have embraced the challenges involved with bringing to life the 2.5D production and working with us to create something very special for fans.”
Aside from having to wait for the world to reopen following the Covid pandemic, Matsuda admitted that there have been “many hurdles” that have prevented the production from being performed here until now.
He explained: “There are still relatively few examples of Japanese stage productions being performed overseas, and there are many hurdles to overcome. Given these challenges, we are truly honoured and proud to finally bring this production to London, a place we’ve always wanted to present.”
Drawn on whether the show could tour other cities in the UK and if further international productions could follow, Matsuda was optimistic.
Re-iterating Sailor Moon’s global appeal, he said: “We would be happy to be able to bring this one-of-a-kind work to various locations through the medium of theatre.”
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon The Super Live . Visit sailormoonsuperliveuk.com for more information and to buy tickets.