My Adventures With Superman Is Inspired By An Anime - But It Is NOT Sailor Moon

Superman fans have been eating well as of late. "Superman & Lois" will return for a fourth season, and James Gunn will direct a new big-screen adaptation of the superhero with "Superman: Legacy." And if that wasn't enough, there's a new animated series — "My Adventures With Superman" — airing new episodes on Adult Swim and coming to Max the next day. 

It's a slightly different take on the Man of Steel. For starters, it's more influenced by anime, having come from Studio Mir, the South Korean animation studio behind "The Legend of Korra" and "Voltron: Legendary Defender." As such, it makes sense the new show would draw influences from other anime projects, with many fans pointing out that Superman's (Jack Quaid) transformation process resembles the one from "Sailor Moon."

Diana Huh, who directed Episode 2, took to Twitter to show off some storyboards and mention how another anime influenced that particular sequence, writing, "While yes this sequence is obviously inspired by Sailor Moon it's also inspired by Pretty Cure (specifically Cure Mermaid's transformation for supes' cape)." It's another great anime that even holds a Guinness record for the most magical anime girls in a single film, and it's worth your attention if you want to learn more about its influence.

"Pretty Cure" has gone through numerous iterations, but at its core, it follows a group of teenage girls given magical items that allow them to transform into powerful warriors. They work alongside fairies to defend against evil monsters attempting to make Earth miserable. Similar to other anime of its ilk, it features extensive transformation sequences, as evidenced by the one for Cure Mermaid, as referenced by Diana Huh in the original tweet. As further evidence, YouTuber BrinaFlautist made a video of the "My Adventures with Superman" transformation featuring the music from "Pretty Cure."

While "Pretty Cure" was a direct influence, that scene draws heavily from magical girl anime as a whole. And that's not the only thing "My Adventures with Superman" has taken from this particular genre. In the first two episodes alone, there are parallels between Clark Kent and Usagi Tsukino from "Sailor Moon." For starters, they both accept that they have powers initially somewhat reluctantly. They just want to be normal and hang out with their friends, but threats from nefarious individuals force them into fighting. Clark Kent goes to great lengths to protect Lois (Alice Lee) and Jimmy (Ishmel Sahid) in the same way Usagi had to fight a monster who targeted her friend, Naru, in the first episode of "Sailor Moon."

These storylines and art style make for a unique Superman adaptation that hopefully flies high for a long time to come.