I always thought the original Sailor Moon anime was a huge hit from day one.

I was reading an old interview with the director from a 1995 magazine scan online. He said the ratings for the first few episodes were actually pretty low, around 4% in Tokyo. The network almost canceled it. What saved it was a sudden surge in toy sales from young girls after about a month, which convinced them to keep it going. I had no idea the show's survival was that shaky at the start. Has anyone else come across surprising production stories like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

ivanl762mo agoMost Upvoted

That's a wild piece of trivia. It's crazy how often a show's success comes down to merch. I remember reading about the original Power Rangers. The pilot was made on a shoestring budget with terrible props, and the network hated it. They only greenlit it because the toy company, Bandai, saw the potential for action figures and pushed hard for it. The show was basically a toy ad that accidentally became a global hit. Makes you wonder how many other classics almost didn't make it.

julia922mo agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, that Power Rangers story is nuts. It's honestly kind of comforting in a weird way, knowing so much of pop culture is just a happy accident. I bet the original Star Wars toys saved that whole franchise too. Makes you look at every cheesy kids show differently, like some toy exec somewhere was betting the farm on it.

susan_ward2mo ago

My buddy's dad almost lost his job betting on a cartoon about talking cars.