There’s never a bad time to rewatch all 200 episodes of the classic anime Sailor Moon — nor is it ever a bad time to see Sailor Moon for the very first time. All the better if you don’t have to pay a dime to do it! Pluto TV has got you covered, now offering a free channel broadcasting every episode of the magical girl TV show from the early 2000s, as well as the 2014 animated reboot Sailor Moon Crystal.
The channel is probably better as a rewatch than a first-time viewing, since it’s airing the episodes in order, and the series is already well underway. (At the time of writing, it’s airing episode 11 from season 2 of the original anime, titled “After-School Trouble: Usagi is a Target.”) If you’ve never seen the show before, you can jump in here and still understand (more or less) what’s going on, because it’s not that complicated — but if you want to watch the entire original anime from episode 1, it’s available on demand via Pluto TV, as well as on Hulu via subscription. (Sailor Moon Crystal is available on both platforms as well, although this author much prefers the original series to the reboot.)
Pluto TV’s version has the original Japanese audio with English subtitles. Fun fact: The original English dub of the first Sailor Moon anime is a total re-translation that makes significant changes to several plot arcs, for the worse in several cases. If that’s the version of the show that you saw as a kid, you should definitely check out the versions on Pluto TV and Hulu right now. If you prefer to watch dubs over subs, you’ll be glad to hear that Viz Media redid the entire English dub in 2014 as a much purer translation. That updated English dub is available on Hulu, although on Pluto TV, only the Japanese audio appears to be available.
Pluto TV’s broadcast of Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon Crystal is available for free because there are frequent ad breaks, but honestly, it’s not too bad to watch the show this way, especially as a rewatch on a second monitor or peripheral screen. It feels like the ’90s again, having the TV on in the background. And if you didn’t grow up in the ’90s, Pluto TV will let you pretend. The ads are nostalgic, okay? Go with it.