Joss Whedon Loves Sailor Moon

... That, or he saw it once and it was locked away into his psyche. I'm convinced, watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, that Joss Whedon had to have been at least influenced by Sailor Moon. And if not, we have one kooky coincidence on our hands here kids. Allow me to break this down for you, nice and clean starting with the name similarity:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

• Buffy
• Blonde, popular, pretty
• Cheerleader
• Raised by her mother
• "Chosen"/ "The One"
• Starts out spoiled and bratty, eventually growing into a strong, mature leader
• Battles demons/monsters
• Elder English mentor- Giles
• Awkward nerdy friend- Xander
• Lesbian couple friends- Willow & Tara
• Handsome, dark-haired love interest who fights for good- Angel
• Family member (younger female) from an alternate reality/future- Dawn (sister)
• Rival turned ally- Faith

• Large ensemble cast

Sailor Moon:

• Bunny
• Blonde, popular*, pretty
• Tried out for cheerleading squad
• Raised by her mother
• "Chosen"/ "The One"
• Starts out spoiled and bratty, eventually growing into a strong, mature leader
• Battles demons/monsters
• Elder English* mentor- Luna
• Awkward nerd friend- Ami/Mercury
• Lesbian couple friends-  Haruka/Uranus & Michiru/Neptune
• Handsome, dark-haired love interest who fights for good- Darien/Tuxedo Mask
• Family member (younger female) from an alternate reality/future- Rini/Mini Moon (daughter)
• Rival turned ally- Minako/Sailor Venus
• Large ensemble cast

        And here's even one more little bonus for you... The ship in Firefly, as you likely know is called the Serenity, the same name as Sailor Moon takes on when she takes on her alter-ego the Moon Princess, Princess Serenity.

Bunny as Princess Serenity

Bam.

Thoughts?

       Note, Serena/Bunny/Usagi: In the original Japanese, Sailor Moon's name is Usagi, which is Japanese for "rabbit". This is a play on an old Japanese myth that a rabbit lives on/in the moon and in the US Manga, she is called "Bunny" to try and maintain that reference. Why her name was changed to Serena for the US dub of the anime I have no idea but "Bunny" is the most common name used by English-speaking fandom.

*in some versions she's more spazzy but overall she was the preppy/popular sort.

*in US dub