Although the manga and anime feature different storylines for the most part throughout the "Sailor Moon" run, Naoko Takeuchi worked closely with the anime producers. The Sailor Starlights appeared in both the anime and the manga in 1996. The Sailor Starlights consist of three female "Sailor Senshi" ("Sailor Soldiers") who wear revealing black bikini tops and shorts.
The leader of the Sailor Starlights, Sailor Starfighter is confident and outspoken. Her special attack is "Star Serious Laser." Her secret identity among normal Earthlings is Seiya Kou, the lead vocalist in the all-male singing group "The Three Lights." In both the anime and the manga, Seiya romantically pursues Usagi, the titular character of "Sailor Moon."
The tall Sailor Starmaker is the most masculine-looking of the Starlights. She's somewhat shy and reticent to speak. Her special attack is "Star Gentle Uterus." Among Earthlings, she's disguised as Taiki Kou, another male singer in the group "The Three Lights."
Sailor Starhealer is the shortest and most feminine-looking of the Starlights, even in her Earth disguise as Yaten Kou, the last of the male singers in "The Three Lights." Brash and sometimes even rude, Starhealer's special attack is "Star Sensitive Inferno."
The Sailor Starlights first appear as new Sailor Senshi from a different galaxy who come to Earth and mysteriously begin fighting alongside the rest of the Sailor Senshi. At the same time, a popular male singing group called "The Three Lights" appears and its members eventually transfer to the high school that most of the other "Sailor Moon" characters attend.
As soldiers, the Starlights guard Princess Kaguya of the planet Kinmoku. Before the Starlights came to Earth, Kinmoku was obliterated by Sailor Galaxia, an evil Sailor Senshi who intends to destroy the whole galaxy to collect "Star Seeds," vessels of energy from Sailor Senshi. Princess Kaguya disappeared during the battle and the Starlights believe that their princess is in hiding on Earth, sleeping and conserving her power. They fight alongside the rest of the Sailor Senshi against Sailor Galaxia's minions, who are now attacking the Earth, but their primary goal is to gather enough energy with which to wake their princess.
All Sailor Senshi are female and the Sailor Starlights are no exception. However, the anime and the manga differ greatly on the gender of the Starlights in their "depowered" form among the Earthlings. In both the anime and the manga, Seiya, Taiki and Yaten appear to be young men when not fighting as the Starlights. They sing in an all-male vocal group whose fanbase primarily consists of love-struck girls and women.
However, in the manga, Seiya, Taiki and Yaten are female at all times and only disguise themselves as men when on Earth. In the anime, Seiya, Taiki and Yaten are actually men when in civilian disguise. They transform into women when they power up into the Sailor Starlights.
Although most of the "Sailor Moon" anime appeared on American TV dubbed into English, the final season of the anime never aired. The other four seasons of the anime were also available for limited periods on VHS and DVD, sometimes with Japanese language tracks and English subtitles. Still, no company released "Sailor Moon Sailor Stars," the final season of the series and the only season in which the Sailor Starlights appear. The reason may have to do with the gender-bending nature of the Sailor Starlights, as previous homosexual relationships in the anime were changed in the American release into heterosexual or platonic relationships.
The Sailor Starlights did appear in TokyoPop's 2000-2001 English translation of the manga with minor editing. In 2011, Kodansha Comics began re-releasing the manga in English without edits.