Sailor Moon in France
Sailor Moon in France refers to Sailor Moon translations and merchandise released in France.
| Character names in France (anime) | |
| Japanese | French |
|---|---|
| Usagi Tsukino | Bunny Rivière |
| Mamoru Chiba | Bourdu |
| Ami Mizuno | Molly |
| Rei Hino | Raya |
| Makoto Kino | Marcy Maurane |
| Minako Aino | Mathilda (Amélie) |
| Haruka Tenou | Frédérique |
| Michiru Kaiou | Mylène |
| Setsuna Meiou | Sylviana |
| Hotaru Tomoe | Olivia |
| Chibi Usa | Camille |
| Tuxedo Kamen | L'homme masqué |
Anime
France was one of the first foreign countries to screen the Sailor Moon anime, which premiered in the country in December 1993. Like the Americans, the French did not get the rights to Sailor Stars and ended the series at SuperS. Only the SuperS series was ever released on DVD. However, it was incomplete due to the license expiring. The release was also quite strange as they started the series at episode 149 (about halfway through) and used images of Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune and the Moonlight Knight.
Manga
| Character names in France (manga) | |
| Japanese | French |
|---|---|
| Usagi Tsukino | Bunny Tsukino |
| Mamoru Chiba | Manoru Chiba |
| Ami Mizuno | Amy Mizuno |
| Rei Hino | Raya Hino |
| Makoto Kino | Mako Kino |
| Minako Aino | Minako Aïno |
| Haruka Tenou | Frédéric Tenno |
| Michiru Kaiou | Mylène Kaio |
| Setsuna Meiou | Séverine Meio |
| Hotaru Tomoe | Olivia Tomoe |
| Chibi Usa | Mini-Bunny |
| Sailor Chibi Moon | Sailor Mini Moon |
| Tuxedo Kamen | Tuxedo Masqué |
The manga was published in France by a company called Glénat. It was released from 1995 - 1999 in paperback book editions. These books had (mostly) the same covers as the Japanese editions. The back of each book had no summary and simply featured art from one of the artbooks. Each of the covers was extra-long and folded over, to create cover flaps which also had art from the artbooks. The front cover flap gave a summary of the volume, and the back listed books previous to that one in the series. The logo used was the one from the artbooks, minus "pretty soldier" in Japanese, and each volume was given its own title. Three of the French manga covers were reversed in error: Volume one gained the cover of volume two, volume two had the cover of volume six, and volume six had the cover of volume one.
Most of the dialogue in the French editions was accurate, and there were very few alterations of Japanese elements. The only major change in this regard was that Rei Hino became Catholic and her chant was changed to "Vade retro, satanas!" ("Go back, demon," a Latin exorcism.) Her school's name was also changed to the Saint Anne Academy for Girls.
The bulk of the main characters had the same or similar names as the Japanese version. However, the attacks and transformations were translated very poorly, and some were never called the same thing twice. The translation of the vllains' names was also notably poor and many had their genders changed: Kaolinite became Elvira, Zirconia became a man, the Amazon Trio was all-female, and the Amazoness Quartet never got given names.
In addition, there were some mistakes such as referring to the previously named "Rubis" as "Zoisite" in the short story Casablanca Memory. A few other characters were spontaneously given different names: Sailor Mercury became Sailor Mercure by the third book and Séverine was once called "Setusna".
It is commonly thought that Haruka Tenou became a man for the French manga. This was not the case. She was referred to as "he" at first, before anyone knew she was female. After her identity was discovered, she was always referred to as "she," and her feminine figure was undeniable even outside of sailor uniform. The relationship between Haruka and Michiru remained vague; when they first appeared and Haruka was thought to be male, they were referred to as boyfriend and girlfriend, but later they were called "best friends."
The first artbook was also licensed by Glénat and was released in a hardcover format with the liner notes translated.
