Moonlight Densetsu (Moonlight Legend) is the original opening theme of the Sailor Moon 90s anime series. It was used in the first four seasons of the anime, before being replaced by the “Sailor Star Song” for Sailor Stars. Upon its release, it was one of the series’ most popular songs and is about Usagi and Mamoru’s love for each other. The lyrics were written by Kanake Oda and the music composed by Tetsuya Komoro.
Moonlight Legend” was first performed by DALI as the opening theme for the first two series in the anime, and then by Moon Lips for the third and fourth. The song was then replaced by “Sailor Star Song” for the fifth season’s opening, but “Moonlight Legend” returned as the ending for the 200th episode. The Moon Lips version is a little different than the Dali version. The Moon Lips version uses a different instrumental and the singing is less pessimistic.
“Moonlight Legend” has been covered and remixed many times by artists such as the punk supergroup Osaka Popstar, and other Japanese singers like Kitade Nana and Tsuji Nozomi, along with popular voice actors like Megumi Ogata, the voice actress of Haruka Teno / Sailor Uranus. It is believed that the song’s melody was inspired by “さよならはダンスの後に” (Sayonara wa Dance no Ato ni), a cha-cha ballad sung by Chieko Baisho in 1965. It has also been noted that the song’s melody sounds similar to “想い出の九十九里浜” (Omoide-no Kujuukuri-hama), the first single from J-Pop group Mi-Ke. The single was released in 1991, one year before “Moonlight Legend” was released.
The song has been translated or has been matched with the theme and sung into many other languages, with several of them being used for other language dubs of the anime, such as the theme song of the Filipino dub where it was sung by veteran singer and actress, Angelika Dela Cruz. The 90’s English dub’s intro, however, uses the same melody with different lyrics.
The Sailor Moon Theme Song was the theme song for the original English dub of the anime. It used the same melody as the song Moonlight Densetsu, but had very different lyrics (said to be written by Andy Heyward) and an altered instrumental. It should also be noted the song somewhat resembles a superheroine anthem, rather than being about love like Moonlight Legend was. At the time the English dub was released, it was unusual for anime theme songs to be translated, and this was one of the first attempts to do so in English since the anime Star Blazers in 1979 (26 years before the anime’s dub introduction). The English theme has been described as “inane but catchy” by several people.
