What is Sera Myu?
Sera Myu is short for 'Sailor Moon Musical'. These musicals are live action stage productions, created by Bandai, based on Naoko Takeuchi's famous (infamous?) Sailor Moon manga series. While many faces might look familiar, the stories differ from the manga and anime. The musicals began running in Japan in 1993, and have recently (early 2005) gone on an indefinite hiatus.
Officially, Sera Myu is broken down in to two stages, both of which end with the appearance of the Starlights and Galaxia - just like in the anime and manga. However, fans tend to break the shows down based on the actress who was playing Sailormoon at the time. Thus far, there have been four: Ooyama Anza, Hara Fumina, Kanbe Miyuki, and Kuroki Marina. (The official Sera Myu website can be found here.) The musicals are performed during two seasons of the year, allowing for two to three musicals per year to be released. Generally they are the musical and it's "kaiteiban" - or revision. There are 29 musicals in all.
Many people wonder about the elaborate (and often gaudy) costumes that characterizes the musicals. Remember, these are stage productions. The children sitting in the back have to be able to recognize their favorite characters. Hence, the sometimes insanely bright and shiney costumes.
All in all, this is an unusual, and lively, take on the well-known manga/anime series. It is much different from it's newer counterpart, Pretty Guardian Sailormoon. Hopefully it will be brought back to the stage with new life. Until then, please enjoy the images and music on this website.