In a nutshell, "Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon" ("Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon") is a manga/anime, created by Takeuchi Naoko, about sailor-suited soldiers that fight evil and save the world. It's more complicated and interesting than it sounds, and is worth watching, especially (IMO) the third season, called SMS (Sailor Moon Super).
Haruka is Sailor Uranus, the senshi (soldier) of the planet Uranus, and Michiru is Sailor Neptune, the senshi of the planet Neptune. For more basic info about them, see their stats.
How did Haruka and Michiru meet?
Their meeting is shown in an early episode of SMS (I don't believe there is any place in the manga that shows their meeting): Haruka is in a race with Elza Gray, who happens to be a friend of Michiru's. After the race, Elza introduces Michiru to Haruka, and Michiru asks Haruka to be a model for a painting; Haruka refuses. After that, their next meeting is aboard a ship (?) where Michiru is giving a concert. They have an argument about destiny and following one's dreams (you can find the text on the quotes page). Later, Haruka sees a person change into a monster and Michiru/Neptune appears and fights the monster despite Haruka's protests (Haruka knows that the monster is still a human inside and doesn't want him to get hurt). Neptune is injured protecting Haruka but changes the monster back into a human; Haruka asks Neptune why she protected her and Neptune confesses that she had been watching Haruka for awhile and wanted to go for a drive with her along the seaside (again, you can find the text on the quotes page). This ends the flashback, so it can be inferred that Haruka decides to follow her destiny and become Sailor Uranus.
Are they really lovers?
It's not stated, but from the evidence presented (you can find tons of it on this site) it seems very likely. Also, Takeuchi Naoko said herself that they were lovers, at a recent anime con.
When do Haruka and Michiru first appear?
In the anime, Haruka and Michiru first appear as Uranus and Neptune at the beginning of SMS but aren't shown in detail for a few episodes (they are shown as shadows in a tree). They appear as Haruka and Michiru in an early episode of SMS--Haruka plays a racing game with Minako in the arcade and leaves with Michiru; Minako and Usagi follow them, not knowing that Haruka is a girl until the end of the episode. In the manga, they first appear in tankubon (volume) 7, Act 24. Michiru is shown swimming, then gets out of the water and talks to someone on the phone (her helicopter, maybe?); Haruka is then shown at the racetrack. A picture of both of their helicopters is shown, and Haruka tells Michiru that she (Michiru) is late. Then, Haruka and Michiru are shown together, in their Mugen Gakuen school uniforms. The first time that other main characters see them, however, takes place a few pages later; Haruka plays a racing game at the arcade; Usagi, Naru, Motoki, Minako, and Makoto are at the arcade and see her there. Michiru and Mamoru run into each other outside the arcade, and Michiru suggests that Mamoru was a prince in a previous life. Haruka exits the arcade, and she and Michiru leave together. When they are first shown in senshi forms, Michiru is wearing a sailor suit and Haruka is wearing a tuxedo; they later appear as Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus, both wearing sailor suits.
What is a heart crystal/pure heart?
Heart crystals/pure hearts are crystals that are found in people that have "pure hearts." In the anime, the Death Busters use daimon eggs and other means (Eudial uses a gun, Mimete uses daimons, Tellu uses plants, Viluy uses computers) to take them from people because they, like Haruka and Michiru, are searching for the talismans.
What are the talismans and why do Haruka and Michiru and the Death Busters want to find them?
The talismans (the Aqua Mirror, Space Sword, and Garnet Orb) are three objects that combine to form the Holy Grail(/Sacred Cup/etc.), a very powerful object. The Aqua Mirror belongs to Neptune, the Space Sword belongs to Uranus, and the Garnet Orb belongs to Pluto. In the anime, Haruka and Michiru are searching for it because they know that the Silence will destroy the world if they can't get the talismans and have the Messiah use them to save the world. The Death Busters want the talismans for their power to form the Holy Grail. In the manga, Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna already have the talismans.
What happens in the Marine Cathedral?
In the anime, Eudial tells Haruka and Michiru to meet her at the Marine Cathedral to find out who has the talismans. When they get there, they are attacked by a bunch of red blocks. They dodge the blocks and fight back. However, a block suddenly comes flying at Uranus and Neptune pushes her out of the way and is hit by the block and transported to another room. Uranus hears organ music and finds Eudial, who is pretending to play the organ. ^^; Neptune is also in the (_very_ large) room, attached to the block with vines. Eudial tells Uranus that Neptune has one of the talismans and that she (Uranus) has the other and prepares to take Uranus's heart crystal (you can find the text of this scene on the quotes page). Neptune breaks free from the block and, despite being attacked, crosses the room and ends up being shot by Eudial's gun. Her heart crystal appears and changes into the Aqua Mirror. Usagi appears at the entrance (she can't transform because Haruka took her transformation brooch before going to the Marine Cathedral). Eudial accidently jumps onto a pulley-thingy and goes down. ^^; Uranus gives Usagi back her broach, and tells her to find the last talisman. She then shoots herself with Eudial's gun and her heart crystal appears and changes into the Space Sword. Sailor Moon and the other senshi pursue and fight Eudial. Setsuna appears and transforms into Sailor Pluto, and brings Uranus and Neptune back to life (she separates their talismans from their heart crystals) and the talismans combine to form the Holy Grail. Eudial and Sailor Moon both try to get the Grail and Sailor Moon gets it, and uses it to transform into Super Sailor Moon.
Why are Haruka and Michiru looking for the Messiah?
They (along with Rei) have had dreams/visions of what will happen in the future: the Silence will come and destroy the world, unless the Messiah uses the Holy Grail to defeat it, so they are searching for the Messiah with Sailor Pluto. They don't believe that Sailor Moon is the Messiah until the end of the series.
How and when do Haruka and Michiru get the power to become super senshi?
It is given to them by (baby) Hotaru in the beginning of the Stars season.
Why do Uranus and Neptune agree to work for Galaxia? And what's with those bracelets that they and the Animamates wear?
Uranus and Neptune agree to work for Galaxia because they hope to use the bracelets to attack her; if they can defeat her, it is worth having to pretend to betray the other senshi. The bracelets are used to keep people alive when their starseeds have been taken (this only works for people that have real starseeds--people that don't become farces when their starseeds are taken).
Where can I get tapes of the SMS season, the Stars season, and the movies? Will they ever be dubbed and put on American TV?
You can probably get official Japanese tapes or LDs from Japanese companies that sell anime, or from Japanese bookstores (such as Sasuga Bookstore). There are also official English versions of the first four seasons and three movies out on VHS and DVD, both dubbed and subtitled. Neither the SuperS specials (there are 2; one of them focuses on Ami (Amichan no hatsukoi), while the other has a retelling of what has passed before and two new stories, one of which is about Haruka and Michiru) nor the Stars season have been commercially released yet, but have been fansubbed by VKLL, and there are many people willing to make copies of tapes listed here and here. Episodes of Stars are also available for download through file-sharing programs such as BitTorrent and IRC.
Where can I get the Sailor Moon manga? Is it better to get the original version or the Tokyo Pop version?
You can find the original manga at Japanese bookstores (such as Sasuga or Kinokuniya) or at online stores, such as The Place, www.otaku.com, Sasuga, or Book-Mart; shipping can be expensive if it's from Japan so you might want to keep that in mind when ordering from stores based in Japan. The Tokyo Pop version can be found in many major bookstores.
What are Haruka and Michiru's names in the (American) dub? Is their relationship still the same or are they sisters?
Their names appear to be Amara Tenoh (spelling uncertain) and Michelle Kaioh (spelling uncertain). They are cousins, however, there are several scenes that suggest VERY strongly that they are lovers as well.
Do Haruka and Michiru ever kiss in the anime or manga?
No. They appear to come close in a few scenes, but never kiss onscreen. However, they do kiss in many doujinshi (fancomics) and fanfics, and fanart/compart has been done of them kissing.
Was the story about Haruka, Michiru, and a black Pegasus a real plot idea or a rumor?
Quoted from a chat with Kunihiko Ikuhara: "That was a real plot I had thought up. I was once up to directing the Sailor Moon Super S Movie. It was going to be a story in which Uranus and Neptune were the main characters. It was going to be a story independant to the TV series and this was going to be the first appearance of Uranus and Neptune. And Sailor Neptune was going to be in a 1000-year sleep at a place called 'The End of the World.' And Sailor Uranus was needed to steal the talisman from the Sailor Scouts and use that to awaken Sailor Neptune. And Uranus was going to be riding the black pegasus. And the story was going to be that Sailor Moon would ride Pegasus to chase Sailor Uranus riding the Black Pegasus to the 'End of the World' And the climax of the story would've been the rodeo scene between Sailor Moon on white Pegasus and Sailor Uranus on Black Pegasus. And so this was kind of story I had in mind. But before production began, the producer walked off Sailor Moon. It would've been possible for me to make the story still, but since I came up with the story with the producer, I also walked off. But I had an attraction to the idea of "The End of the World" which I thought up for this plot. So the same thing in Utena comes from the Sailor Moon plot." (sekai no hate, or The End of the World, plays an important role in Shoujo Kakumei Utena, another anime)
Please let me know if you come up with any other questions that should be here, or if you find any grammar or spelling errors in this document.
