The real-world setting of Sailor Moon is embracing the popular manga and anime’s cultural impact with the installation of manhole covers themed after the series.
The Minato Ward, a district of Tokyo, Japan, has recently revealed plans to install manhole covers over the area’s sewer entrances that are adorned with official art from Sailor Moon. Each cover features a different piece of art depicting various characters and scenes from the show and will be placed in areas of the city that are relevant to the story in the classic ’90s anime series.
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Currently, there are plans for five covers to be installed throughout the region in various locations featured in the show, such as the Azabu Juban Shopping Street, the Minato Library, the academic Toyo Eiwa Togakuin, Tokyo Tower and the Keio-nakadori Shopping Street. Each cover will feature a distinct piece of art featuring Sailor Moon and her magical friends, though there is no more specific information about the actual spots in which the covers will appear.
Each location holds some kind of significance to the story and characters in Sailor Moon, such as the Toyo Eiwa Togakuin, which was the main inspiration for the all-girls school that Sailor Mars attends in the original series. The Minato Library is similarly near the Shibakoen Middle School that Sailor Venus attends in-universe, and the manhole cover art is intended to reflect this with its blue background.
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Japan Has Many Manhole Covers With Anime, Manga and Video Game Characters
Japan is no stranger to public property installations featuring popular fictional characters, and this isn’t even the first time the country has installed manhole covers themed after anime, manga or video games specifically. Covers featuring art from the Pokémon franchise previously appeared in Yokohama in a similar promotion that saw characters from the franchise take over the city’s various sewer entrances.
Sailor Moon is a classic anime and manga series from the 1990s about a young girl and her group of friends who gain magical powers that allow them to transform into mystical heroines and protect Japan and the world from celestial and spiritual threats. The first anime adaptation ran for five years in its initial airing, from 1992 to 1997, though it also received myriad spinoffs and animated films, with some of the characters and elements from it making their way into outside media like video games.
The first Sailor Moon anime is available to stream on Hulu and Prime Video. The more modern remake, Sailor Moon Crystal, can be watched on Netflix, Hulu and Crunchyroll.
Source: Minato City official website
