Sailor Moonis a one-of-a-kind magical girl anime that set new standards for this genre for the future. Many anime features magical girls potentially inspired by Sailor Moon. There are barely any anime that capture the same vibes, but there are many other anime with similar elements and themes.
Despite featuring pretty visuals, Sailor Moon gets darker at times, something you will find similar elements of in Madoka Magica, Princess Tutu, and Cardcaptor Sakura. On the other hand, Sailor Moon is an overpowered Shoujo anime protagonist, so you might enjoy seeing other strong characters displaying their magical capabilities.
8Princess Tutu
If you want to see a clumsy anime protagonist like Usagi, you will enjoy Princess Tutu, which focuses on Ahiru as the main character. She often runs late to her ballet classes and often messes up her moves.
She has a huge crush on Mytho, although she isn’t very direct about her love. There aren’t many magical girl transformations in the anime, unlike Sailor Moon, as Ahiru doesn’t really have companions alongside her. Her transformation into her swan-like outfit is gorgeous, nonetheless.
7Ojamajo Doremi
Ojamajo Doremi is a whimsical magical girl anime with a child protagonist and plenty of fun elements. It’s a light-hearted anime with a lot of humor that focuses on Doremi as a clumsy protagonist who often finds herself in trouble.
Doremi learns to be a witch along with her other friends, and their teamwork is highlighted throughout the anime, especially when they are trying to raise a witch baby. The anime is fairly long, with a total of four seasons to keep you occupied.
6Dragon Ball Z
Dragon Ball Z is far from a magical girl anime, but Sailor Moon is still an overpowered protagonistalmost on par with Goku. Using different attack moves, she defeats the strongest of enemies with a single blast of moon energy.
If you like your main characters to evolve progressively within the anime like Sailor Moon, you might enjoy Dragon Ball Z as well. Both main characters also share a super form, as Usagi becomes Super Sailor Moon while Goku becomes a Super Saiyan.
The original Dragon Ball anime has a cozy vibe and a simplistic story, with Goku trying to find all seven Dragon Balls. So, if you love the simple vibes of the classic Sailor Moon anime, you will definitely enjoy the former.
5Frieren
Frieren isn’t a magical girl anime, but the two leading female characters are strong mages. Fern going through her training arc and learning stronger spells is reminiscent of Sailor Moon’s growth across the series. The story of Frieren focuses on vanquishing the forces of the Demon King, which is a common theme among both anime.
On the other hand, there is Frieren, an overpowered spell-user like Usagi during the later episodes of Sailor Moon. Frieren’s favorite spell summons a field of flowers, which is as beautiful as the attack moves in Sailor Moon. More characters join up with their party as they continue their journey, and their bond is as strong as theSailor Scouts.
4Pretty Cure
Pretty Cure is a long-running franchise of magical girl anime that will keep you occupied for a while. The character design and transformations are almost on par with Sailor Moon, if not even cuter. The Precure also have animal-like companions called the fairies, similar to Usagi’s partner Luna.
It introduces a wide cast of characters with different abilities over several seasons. Pretty Cure also shares similar plot themes with Sailor Moon, such as saving the world from malicious forces. The anime came out almost a decade after Sailor Moon, but it still captured the hearts of the audience.
Toei Animation has worked on both Sailor Moon and Precure.
3Clannad
One of the things we love about Sailor Moon is how the girls bond with each other and grow out from their loneliness. Each of the Inner Solar System Sailors has a sad story to share from the past and often felt alienated from society. If you love the emotional progression across Sailor Moon, you will really enjoy Clannad.
While the main character of Clannad is a high school boy, he does eventually make a strong bond with the girls he meets that changes their lives for the better. The character writing is very strong in Clannad, and each girl gets her own spotlight, which is something we love about Sailor Moon as well.
The Visual Novel focuses on each character with even more depth.
2Madoka Magica
Madoka Magica takes a dark twist to themagical girl genreby mixing disturbing themes with adorable girls. You might really like this one, as Sailor Moon tends to get darker. Although the latter show is very light-hearted compared to Madoka Magica, where the characters are often on the brink of death.
The moves and outfits of the girls in Madoka Magic are cute, and you will also love the flashy transformations reminiscent of Sailor Moon. The character writing isn’t as great as Sailor Moon as most are left unexplored, but the two main characters, Madoka and Homura, take center stage with charisma.
1Cardcaptor Sakura
Cardcaptor Sakura has almost everything you love if you are a Sailor Moon fan. The protagonist is a young elementary school girl who goes through great character development as the story progresses. While she is the only magical girl in the anime, Sakura becomes friends with many interesting characters, including Lee Chaolan, who is also a magic user.
There are wholesome moments in the anime as Sakura loves to hang out with her friend Tomoyo in all sorts of places, including aquariums, parks, and festivals. Even though Sakura doesn’t have a magical girl transformation, you will be captivated by the pretty costumes she wears in different episodes.
