The Psychgeist of Pop Culture: Sailor Moon, edited by Celeste Sangiorgio and Elizabeth Favorito.
Have you ever felt like you needed a Moon Healing Escalation?
Have you been healed by the Power of Tears?
Did you refuse to play as anyone besides your favorite Sailor Scout as a kid (or maybe more recently)?
If you answered yes to at least one of these, you may have thought deeply about the Sailor Moon series. You may have thoughts you want to share.
Sailor Moon is a cultural waypoint at the center of multiple pieces of media and people’s lives. Its ripple effects can be seen across all pieces of magical media, from Madoka Magicka to Steven Universe, and in diverse areas of media like couture and fast fashion and k-pop media (see You & Me by Blackpink’s Jennie!). The narratives and morals from Sailor Moon are aligned with messages across contemporary Japanese media, including refusal to sacrifice kindness for justice, friendship, and community, as seen in Dragon Ball. But they were also global, aligning with ideas in American media, including other ‘pretty warriors’ whose grit didn’t compromise their lives and idealism, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In addition to its ability to tap in to modern ideas, Sailor Moon has also had a timeless quality that is ironically quite similar to its content: in the same way that Sailor Moon spans the past lives, present lives, and future states of Usagi and her friends, decades of people have watched and rewatched Sailor Moon. In this way, Sailor Moon has impacted multiple generations of people and has resonated with people across their lives and different versions of themselves.
This is a call for discussion of these core components that have led Sailor Moon to hold its place in media history and people’s lives. We are looking for ideas that tie together themes and models of understanding the world to the specific events, ideas, and actions that make up the story. A good fit for this proposal is someone who has a specific idea about Sailor Moon, a deep understanding of the story and its implications, and a connection to a body of work or experience that they can connect to these ideas through a 5,000-word chapter.
This book is part of the collection The Psychgeist of Pop Culture series edited by Dr Rachel Kowert and published by Play Story Press. This book series highlights iconic pop culture content from television, film, literature and video games through an examination of the psychological mechanisms that endear us to these stories for a lifetime.
If you have never written anything like this or are unsure where to start – there are options on the form to indicate whether you would like additional support for this project or to be matched with a co-author.
We welcome submissions from all academic disciplines, areas of practice, and expertise, including but not limited to psychology, gender and identity studies, animation, music, sound design, folklore and symbolism,, and all other industries. We encourage submissions from marginalized voices and communities, typically underrepresented in game studies and academic publishing. The following is a list of examples of titles that could potentially fit with this project (feel free to submit ideas that are similar to or different from these ideas!):
Character Journeys
- Identify a specific character – what about their journey makes them a favorite and important? (think: Mamoru, Chibiusa, Ail and An, Fiore, Dark Mercury )
- The culture of Sailor Moon – what is different, similar, or unique to others’ experiences? (think: gender, religion and folklore, sexuality)
- Themes across character journeys – what unites or separates characters’ experiences throughout the story? (think: sacrifice, emotions, body image)
The Lore
- Identify a topic or a theme established through world building and share what it means for the audience and/or readers. (think: stewardship, legacy, redemption, apocalypse, the role of emotion, justice)
- Or the meaning and impact – why is the lore important? (think: philosophy, self-worth, relationships, identity over lifetimes (eternal recurrence))
Design and Media
- How is illustration used to express internal states, thoughts, and character journeys (think: color, animation, visual motifs)
- Communicating lore and building narrative complexity (think: “filler” episodes, extra content)
- Use of recurring sounds and musical themes (think: Sailor Wars, character themes)
The story, the community, and other media
- The original anime and Crystal
- The musicals and live action show
- Fanmade media (fandubs, fan versions of the video games)
- Springboard for personal meaning (think: cosplay, community, music, events)
We are excited to be in a position to speak about Sailor Moon and that others may choose to share their ideas with us. It is an honor to be able to create this space, develop a platform to share ideas about Sailor Moon and be a smaller part of the larger, global Sailor Moon community. Thank you for considering submitting to our call for proposals for the Psychgeist of Sailor Moon!
“I don’t need love right now. I have friends with the same purpose as me. I have all of you!” – Sailor Mars
If you are interested in submitting to the Psychgeist of Sailor Moon, please complete this Google form by May 31, 2026, where you will be guided in completing a 400-word abstract and short questionnaire.
If you have questions, please reach out to Elizabeth Favorito at elizabeth.favorito@gmail.com.
You will hear about the status of your submission approximately 2-3 weeks after the submission deadline. Accepted submissions will be supported in transforming the initial 400-word abstract into a 5,000-word chapter. Accepted authors typically have approximately one month to submit a detailed outline and then two months to complete a full first draft. There will be support and feedback at each step of the submission and writing process!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Do I need a PhD to submit to this collection? No! Everyone is welcome to submit—the most important thing is that you have an idea and can discuss how it’s connected to Sailor Moon. As editors, we can help shape your submission to fit within the scope if you are concerned about finding the right theoretical frame.
Do I need to be a published author already to submit? Absolutely not! This series prides itself on providing a platform for first-time authors to submit something. Students are particularly encouraged to submit!
Do I need to submit a topic that I see here? Also no! The articles and topics you see above are broad ideas – please connect them with your experiences, area of work, or anything else! The most important part is that you’re connecting an idea to the story.
I have a lot of ideas – what if I have more than one chapter idea? We totally get that! We have a lot of ideas, too! In the case that you have a few different chapter ideas, please submit an individual proposal form for each idea. So, say you want to write a chapter on Endymion and a chapter on the Dark Moon Circus – you would submit a form for each chapter.
Any pointers?? I really want to write something about Sailor Moon! The Google submission form should help organize your thoughts on your submission. Beyond that, it is helpful to include links or references to the specific ideas you are connecting to the show/manga and specific references to events in the story. It is also important to be succinct. We are looking for proposals that are brief, specific summaries that connect a theory to Sailor Moon. You may find it helpful to write any abstracts in a Word document and then paste them into the form. This helps with submitting multiple entries as well.
I want to submit, but I am not sure what the timeframe is. Very understandable! Here is the timeframe: 1) respond to a submission, 2-3 weeks post-deadline; 2) detailed abstract, one month after acceptance notice; 3) first full draft, two months after outline feedback.
I want to submit, but I am already submitting something to another Psychgeist call. That’s alright. The Google form has a field for you to list the Psychgeist title you are associated with. You can submit and contribute to multiple books, but there is a cap. We can cross that bridge when we get to it on a case-by-case basis.
ABOUT THE EDITORS
Dr. Celeste Sangiorgio is a licensed clinical psychologist with over ten years of practice and research experience. Her research area focuses on how digital media (particularly games) can be used to impact individuals’ skills and beliefs about the world around them. Celeste has designed multiple games and other digital media designed to target and build healthy behaviors and also has provided in-game voice recording for therapist characters in games (e.g., psychoeducation, coping skills, narrative). Some of Celeste’s games include an avatar-assisted platform designed to treat co-occurring substance use and violent behavior (RITchCBT, in clinical trials), a platformer to teach processing of emotions, thoughts, and coping skills,, and a dating sim designed to teach individuals skills about healthy and unhealthy dating behaviors. Celeste’s older sister used to record episodes of Sailor Moon for her in the morning, before she headed to high school and Celeste headed to elementary school (a Usagi and Chibiusa situation). Through these episodes, Celeste developed a lifelong love of anime, emotions, and the power of friendship that led her to become the national north american champion in jiu jitsu in her weight division (NAGC, 2002, age 12) and a clinical psychologist. Celeste always chose Sailor Moon as the character to play as on the playground.
Elizabeth Favorito graduated with a major in French and minor in East Asian Studies, and went on to get a Masters in the Art of Teaching. An educator in public schools for over 15 years, Liz has focused her continuing education on two topics: linguistics and social emotional learning. Her passion for mental health brought her to first volunteering for, and now working for, the mental health non-profit Take This. Liz is the Events and Community Outreach Manager, and runs the AFK Quiet Room program. Some of her earliest school memories involve watching Sailor Moon as she ate breakfast, getting ready for school, and insisting on always playing as Sailor Mercury on the playground. That love of Sailor Moon took her to her first convention at the age of 16, introduced her to the world of dubs and subs, and continues to be a featured part of her magical girl bookshelf. Liz is ready to argue that the live action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon is the best version of Sailor Moon.