A live-action television series which began airing on October 5th 2003 on Tokyo Broadcasting and was produced by Toei. This TV series became known widely as 'Pretty Guardian Sailormoon' So, far only one series of PGSM has aired, running equivalent to the first series of the anime and manga, involving fights with the Dark Kingdom headed by Queen Beryl in the name of Metallia, and involving only the inner senshi and Chiba Mamoru/Prince Endymion.
PGSM had 49 episdoes each about 23 minutes long, and many favorite characters from the anime and manga, including Ikuko-mama and Osaka Naru, as well as the somewhat controversial addition of Sailor Luna.
PGSM has also spawned a live-action musical called "Kirari! Live", a Special Act released straight to DVD set four year after the 'final battle' and an Episode Zero which shows the back story of Aino Minako/Codename wa Sailor V.
Most of the senshi's actresses in PGSM are young teen models and in some cases singing idols in Japan.
BSSM vs. PGSM
There are quite a few differences between the anime/manga and the live-action versions of Sailormoon, and I'm sure I don't have all of them even now.
When in civilian identity the senshi are shown looking like ordinary Japanese girls. Their hair is only unusual color when they have transformed into the senshi. When Usagi discovers her identity as Princess Serenity she also looks like an ordinary Japanese person. This development didn't go over very well with many of the fans.
In the anime and manga Minako's goal is to become an idol singer, and throughout the course of the series she actually goes on auditions and tries to become the manager of the Three Lights as a way to achieve these goals. In Pretty Guardian she starts out already an idol, one of her songs is playing on Usagi's alarm in the first episode. She gives two concerts during the course of the series.
I wonder if they just couldn't find an actor they liked to play Kenji-poppa, at first, because he never appeared in the series at all, except for 'by phone'. He did show up in the Special Act at the very end when Usagi's wedding was being shown.
Artemis and Luna are played by plushies and occasionally are CGI, something which looks better for Luna than Artemis. At first I thought (hoped, if I'm being honest) that perhaps this was just for budget reasons and the cats were supposed to look like real cats to the people in the world of the show, but events in show world proved that was not the case.
There are only vague hints at Minako being a fun-loving hyper girl, most of the time she is very melancholy, part of the reason for this is probably the fact that in this arc of the show she is dying. She is shown having splitting headaches and often at the hospital, and at one point even collapses on stage. Later on she undergoes very risky surgery to try and save her life.
Only Jaedite bears any passing resemblance to his anime/manga self, with blonde hair and a black uniform. Nephrite while a red-head has short spikey hair, and a red uniform. Zoicite's hair is long but it is white, and he wears white, and Kunzite is black, red and gold with long black hair looks very little like his anime/manga counterpart.
While in the anime Mamoru is captured and possessed by the 'Dark Side' in PGSM Ami becomes Dark Mercury.
Nephrite does get killed in this version as well, but under different circumstances and with a much different outcome. In the anime his death is protecting Naru from Zoisite's youma. In this version he is forced by Beryl to stab himself, but rather than dying as it at first appeared, he wakes up human-ish (looking like a normal everyday Japanese person) and inadvertantly winds up working at CROWN with Motoki.
Someone other than Usagi gets a romantic interest in the show. Motoki and Makoto have a faltering relationship jeopardized by Makoto's belief that she should be alone and that's the only way she'll get to her greatest power as a senshi, and there are some hints that after she's restored to the good side Ami and Nephrite have crushes on each other, given she helps him out at CROWN sometimes, bakes him cookies and he buys her a very strange tusky object.
After Usagi is awakened as the Moon Princess, and still as yet unable to save Ami from the Dark Kingdom, apparently the light and power of the Silver Crystal gives Luna the ability to turn into a human and also a senshi. She uses candy attacks.
Not Beryl. She and Jaedite apparently get killed in a rock fall. During the final, perhaps penultimate battle Mamoru gets possessed by Metallia and fights Sailormoon.
Know of another difference? Let me know and I'll add it to the list.
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