<P> The anime series was sold as 20 volumes in Japan . By the end of 1995, each volume had sold approximately 300,000 copies . </P> <P> In 1995, after a bidding war with Toon Makers, who wanted to produce an American live - action / animated hybrid adaptation, DIC Entertainment (now DHX Media) licensed the first two seasons of Sailor Moon for an English - language release in North America . The Mississauga - based Optimum Productions was hired to dub the anime . Bob Summers wrote a new background score . DIC had mandated cuts to content and length, which reduced the first 89 episodes into 82 . Their adaptation was created to capitalize on the success of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers . </P> <P> The series premiered in Canada on August 28, 1995 on YTV and in first - run syndication in the U.S. on September 11, but halted production in November 1995 after two seasons due to low ratings . Despite moderate success in Canada, the U.S. airing struggled in early morning "dead" timeslots; the series originally aired in the U.S. in morning and afternoon timeslots which Anne Allison describes as unsuitable for the target audience . In contrast, due to the dubbing process being done in Canada, the series was considered Canadian enough to be screened in primetime as local content . After the series was cancelled, a fan petition that garnered over 12,500 signatures was created . This was later considered an early example of successful fan activism . In 1997, re-runs of this cancelled dub began airing on USA Network . That same year, production on the series' English dub was resumed with the last 17 episodes of the second season, Sailor Moon R, and was broadcast in Canada from September 20 to November 21, 1997 to wrap up lingering plot lines . The series finished airing on YTV in January 2004 . </P> <P> On June 1, 1998, reruns of the series began airing on Cartoon Network's weekday afternoon programming block, Toonami . Due to the success of these reruns, the remaining seventeen episodes also aired on the block . In 1999, Cloverway Inc. once again contracted Optimum Productions to produce English - language adaptations of Sailor Moon S and Sailor Moon SuperS, with Pioneer Entertainment handling home video distribution . This dub featured less censorship and was first broadcast on YTV in Canada, and later on Toonami in the United States . The dub finished airing on Toonami on September 13, 2002; in 2003, ADV and Pioneer lost the distribution rights to the first 159 / 166 episodes, as well as the three films . </P>

When did sailor moon first air in america