Where Does Sailor Moon Eternal Fit Into The Timeline?

During the '90s, Naoko Takeuchi's "Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon" exploded into a hit manga in Japan. Naturally, an anime adaptation followed during the same decade, vastly increasing the popularity of Takeuchi's series and transforming it into a bona fide phenomenon. In 2014, a new generation enjoyed the story of "Sailor Moon" through an anime series called "Sailor Moon Crystal," which follows the original manga more closely than the first '90s anime series. Devoid of fillers, "Sailor Moon Crystal" pulled straight from the arcs of Takeuchi's initial manga. Still, the run of "Crystal" might have surprised some fans with its brevity compared to the first anime. Instead of the original's staggering 200 episodes across five seasons, "Crystal" delivered a total of 39 episodes in the span of three seasons.

In addition, when "Crystal" wrapped up its third season in 2016, there was still plenty of story from Takeuchi's manga left to cover. This is where "Sailor Moon Eternal" comes into the picture, as the 2021 two-part film follows "Crystal" as a sequel to the series. As far as the timeline, "Sailor Moon Eternal" is pretty much the fourth season of "Crystal" and covers the manga's "Dream" arc, where the Sailor Guardians deal with the circus-themed villains, the Dead Moon Circus. "Sailor Moon Eternal" can be seen as the beginning of the end, as the next series installment is slated to wrap everything up.

Just like with "Sailor Moon Eternal," the "Sailor Moon Crystal" era of the franchise chooses to go the movie route once again to continue the story. However, fans can expect the next adventure of Usagi and the Sailor Guardians to likely be the last, at least for the "Crystal" phase. The upcoming "Sailor Moon Cosmos" is another two-part film that is essentially Season 5 of "Crystal" and immediately follows the events of "Sailor Moon Eternal." But there's arguably much to look forward to as the film attempts to adapt the "Stars" arc, which is the last of Naoko Takeuchi's original manga.

Without giving too many spoilers, fans can expect the Sailor Guardians' biggest threat in the form of Sailor Galaxia, as well as a grand space adventure, dazzling transformations, and friends tragically becoming foes. The first "Sailor Moon Cosmos" film will premiere in Japanese theaters on June 9, 2023; the second will follow on June 30, 2023. A Western release date hasn't been revealed yet, but we imagine it can't be too far behind. That said, it still leaves plenty of time to catch up on "Crystal" and "Eternal," both of which can currently be viewed on Netflix.