Colouring Page Manga Info Album Shopping Guide Vote Art How To Greetings Links Link Me FAQ The word 'manga' was coined by woodblock print artsist Hokusai in 1814. Translated literally, 'manga' means 'irresponsible pictures'. The first manga done in the form we recognise today was New Treasure Island penned in 1947 by Osamu Tezuka. Sailor Moon is © Naoko Takeuchi et al, 1992.

In August of 1991, award winning manga creator Naoko Takeuchi debuted a new story called Code Name wa Sailor V (Code Name is Sailor V). Sailor V was a 'shojo manga' or girl's comic that featured a teenaged super heroine. As it grew in popularity, Miss Takeuchi decided to expand on the Sailor V story and created a new manga that featured a team of teenaged girl fighters, including Sailor V. The new story was called Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon (Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon) and it first appeared in the February issue of Nakayoshi in 1992. Miss Takeuchi won the 17th Kodansha Manga Award for Sailor Moon the following year. T.V. Asahi soon purchased the rights to turn Sailor Moon into a T.V. show, and that is how the animated version of Sailor Moon began. Sailor V continued to run alongside Sailor Moon until three volumes were completed and compiled. Sailor Moon continued it's successful run for several more years, finally completed when it reached the eighteenth volume. For information on purchasing the collected volumes of Sailor Moon, see the Shopping Guide. Miss Takeuchi details her life at the time she was working on Sailor Moon in the story Princess Takeuchi's Return to Society Punch, (which would, perhaps, be better titled "How Sailor Moon Ate My Life", in this author's opinion.) A translation of this story can be found at Sailor Moon Manga Translated, (see links page). Naoko Takeuchi followed Sailor Moon with the story PQ Angels, an action comedy that featured two alien teenaged girls with super powers. For a more indepth look at that story, as well as previous works by Naoko Takeuchi - including The Cherry Hill Project - check out PQ Angels.com, (see links page). If you would like more detailed information about the history of manga in gerneral, I recommend reading the book Manga Manga: the World of Japanese Comics by Frederik L. Schodt (New York: Harper and Row Publishers Inc., 1984). Some of the information is a little outdated, but it provides an excellent overview of the manga medium and industry.