North American Manga
December 1st, 2000: On this humble day, the Sailor Starlights made their North American debut in the black and white artwork of Sailor Moon Stars #1, the English translation of Naoko Takeuchi's original Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon volume 16.
And there was much joy and happiness throughout the land.
Well, at least there was until readers started noticing the constant Mixxtakes throughout the entire manga translation...
Mixx Manga
Mixx, Inc, now known as Tokyopop, is the company that translated and published the Sailor Moon manga in English. Mixx has already published all eighteen volumes of the original Sailor Moon manga, but in an unusual way:
Sailor Moon volumes 1-11 began publishing in monthly installments in Mixx's magazine, called Mixxzine, in 1998. The manga was then moved to a seperate monthly comic, and the first collected volume ("Pocket Mixx") appeared in August 1998. Installments then continued on a monthly basis, with Pocket Mixx editions published every few months. The manga continued this way until volume 11 was published in October 2001.Sailor Moon volumes 12-15 were given the specific title of "Sailor Moon SuperS" and were published in monthly installments in Mixx's shoujo-oriented magazine, "Smile." The four collected volumes were published between March 1999 and September 2000.
Sailor Moon volumes 16-18 operated under the English title "Sailor Moon Stars". Monthly installments continued to appear in Smile magazine, and the first collected volume shipped on December 1st, 2000. The second collected volume shipped in June of 2001. The final volume shipped just before the end of October in 2001.
Why the odd publishing schedule? Well, this method of publication enabled Mixx to publish all eighteen volumes of the manga in nearly half the time. Plus, there were very few continuity problems between the Infinty (S) arc in the manga and the Dream (SuperS) arc, making it relatively easy for eager readers to jump right into SuperS. Plus, the publication of the SuperS manga began before the corresponding season in the anime was dubbed and aired on US television, making the new storyline and new characters far more enticing to North American readers. All in all, the decision to publish two versions of Sailor Moon simultaneously was a very intelligent move on the part of Mixx.
Buy Mixx Manga
As of June 2005, Tokyopop's rights to translate and publish the Sailor Moon manga in English have expired. The Mixx editions of Sailor Moon Stars are now officially "out of print," which means that no more new copies will ever be printed. What's available in stores right now is all that there is, period. So if you want a copy, grab yours now, because they won't be around for much longer!
 Sailor Moon Stars 1 $8.95 |
 Sailor Moon Stars 2 $8.95 |
 Sailor Moon Stars 3 $9.95 |
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