Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon received the 1993 Kodansha Manga Award in the shoujo manga category. It has received wide critical acclaim, being credited with redefining the magical girl genre.

It was adapted to multiple anime series, two series of stage musicals, as well as a 49-episode live-action series from October 4, 2003 to September 25, 2004. A twelve-volume shinsouban (renewal edition) was published in Japan from September 22, 2003 to September 22, 2004, including two volumes containing short stories. This new edition had new cover art and title logo, as well as corrections in some panels.

The series was published in English by Mixx (later Tokyopop) as a serial in two magazines, MixxZine and Smile, beginning in 1997. The series was later published in eighteen volumes, from December 1, 1998 to September 18, 2001. Tokyopop's license expired in May 2005 and this edition went out of print. It was later republished by Kodansha Comics USA from September 13, 2011 to November 26, 2013, based on Japanese shinsouban reprint. The series was also published in Polish by Japonica Polonica Fantastica and in Russian by XL Media.