Character Profile #7 ~ Setsuna Meiō A.K.A. Sailor Pluto

Name: Setsuna Meiō

Birthday: October 29th

Sign: Scorpio

Bloodtype: A

Fave colour: Dark Red

Hobby: Shopping

Fave food: Green Tea

Least fave food: Eggplant

Fave subject: Biology

Least fave subject: Music

Weakness: Cockroaches

Special Talent: Sewing

Dream: To be a designer

Setsuna Meiō is the eldest of the senshi being in her 20's. This brings an adult element to the story which enables an older audience to feel included. She is the guardian of the gate of time, a vital job which gives her a very lonely existance. She is however extremely powerful, almost to the point where I as a viewer felt that she could take on Sailor Moon if she had the inclination, however, she is bound by certain rules that will take her life if broken. In both the anime and manga, she breaks the rule of not stopping time and sacrifices her life.

In the manga, the rule is broken to prevent the joining of the Silver Crystal from the past and the one from the future. Such an action would destroy the world, so Sailor Pluto stops time. It  is at the point of her death that  Chibiusa finally becomes Sailor Chibi Moon. In the anime, Setsuna stops time in order to save the lives of Sailors Neptune and Uranus who are (rather dramatically) caught up in an exploding helicopter. In each instance Setsuna makes the ultimate sacrifice with no hesitation.

This lack of regard for herself reinforces Setsuna as a surrogate mother figure. When Chibiusa travels to the past, it is Setsuna who guides and comforts her, it is also Setsuna who helps to raise the reincarnated Hotaru. Dispite her quiet and slightly aloof exterior, Setsuna is clearly capable of great love. Her ability for affection is almost overshadowed by her duties as guardian and senshi as reflected by her unrequited fondness for Mamoru.

Setsuna is also the guardian of the Garnet Orb, one of the three talismens said to awaken the messiah and bring forth the holy grail. This too is of vital importance and it is only she who knows where the other two talismens lie. In this capacity she behaves as the Minako Aino of the third series, the one who brings knowledge so that the story may continue.

Above all else, Setsuna is mysterious. We know nothing of her past, although as a guardian of time, what her past actually is may be difficult to define. She appears to come and go as she pleases and always seems to know far more than she reveals. It is my belief that this is the secret to her popularity as a character. Just as you think you know her, she slips between your fingers like the sands of time.

                               "Watching over someone from afar, is a kind of love too." - Setsuna Meiō

Character Profile # 6 ~Usagi "Chibiusa" Tsukino A.K.A Sailor Chibi Moon

Name: Usagi Tsukino

Birthday: June 30th

Sign: Cancer

Bloodtype: O

Fave colour: Red & Pink

Hobby: Collecting Usagi's goods

Fave food: Pudding

Least fave food: Carrots

Fave subject: Drawing

Least fave subject: Grammar

Weakness: Staying home alone

Special talent: Begging

Dream: To be a lady

Usagi Tsukino, also known as "Chibiusa" in the past and "Small Lady" in the future to avoid confusion with her mother, the original Usagi Tsukino, begins life as a possible enemy of Sailor Moon. Having travelled back in time from the future to steal the Silver Crystal, her first confrontation with Usagi and Mamoru involves a very realistic looking gun! However as the senshi learn about why this strange little pink-haired girl needs the crystal, they vow to help her and thus Chibiusa is cemented as a "good guy". However, like any small child, she is insecure without her mother and easily swayed using her own guilt against her. This leads to the creation of "Dark" or "Black" Lady, an evil character who is made when "Wise Man" manipulates Chibiusa's heart.

It is this ease of manipulation and constant need to be reassured that makes Chibiusa, at first, one of the more unpopular characters of the series. She continually looks down upon Usagi who has already become our friend long ago, she runs away meaning that the senshi have to spend whole episodes searching for her, she doesn't care that her behaviour around Mamoru hurts Usagi's feelings and she manipulates Usagi's own family. These points alone make her a fairly infuriating character! However, she is also a perfect representation of a small child. This is how many small children are, they are easily lied to, believe they already know everything, selfish and at times highly irritating. The fact that she starts out this way gives her character an extraordinary scope for growth and development which she embraces to become a Sailor Senshi in her own right and to find (literally!) the man of her dreams.

This development is a slow process and can even take the audience by surprise; but this may be a good thing. A story is boring if the characters never change. Chibiusa actually grows up before the viewers eyes, going from bratty princess to a genuinely contributing character. This process is perhaps a reminder to the audience that we were all young once. 

Chibiusa also, in a way, represents the audience itself. She worships the senshi, trusting them to protect her and save her mother. She loves Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen, having be told stories about them by her father, the future Prince Endymion. Could it be that this child is actually a reflection of the audience who, just like her, love and have faith in the actions of these warriors of legend? 

Upon meeting Chibiusa, I, as a viewer was tempted to say "Yeah, she'a cute, but i'd still throttle her." but my mind was changed as she grew into a character that is sweet, admirable and brave like her mother. In this way Chibiusa not only develops herself, but also her audience, opening their minds to the possibility of change through time.

"May i remind you that you're a superhero?" - Usagi "Chibiusa" Tsukino

Character Profile #5 ~ Minako Aino A.K.A Sailor Venus

Name: Minako Aino

Birthday: October 22nd

Sign: Libra

Blood type: B

Fave colour: Yellow & Red

Hobby: Chasing Idols

Fave food: Curry

Least fave food: Shiitake

Fave subject: Gym

Least fave subject: Maths & English

Weaknesses: Mama & Policemen

Special Talent: Playing

Dream: To be an Idol



Minako Aino is, on the outside, just like Usagi; a representation of an average teenage girl. However, this is only a front for her deeper self. It is all too easy to forget the sacrifices the Minako has already made before even meeting Usagi. She gave up a promising relationship, playing her favourite sport in which she may have had a career and many other things that normal teenage girls simply take for granted, like the time to hang out with friends. To look at the way in which her character behaves on a day to day basis (bubbly, excitable and an avid Idol hunter) is simply not enough as Naoko Takeuchi reminds us that it is not only silent waters which run deep.

Throughout the versions of Sailor Moon, Minako is permanently connected to fame and glitz, rather like the area in Tokyo from which she comes; Shiba Koen. In the manga, she is obsessed with Idols, being the Senshi’s link to popular culture which is not provided by any of the other girls. In the anime, her role is the same, only she is increasingly also interested in boys in general. In the live action, she  actually is a pop star, idolised by Usagi.

Minako was the original Sailor Warrior. Starting the Sailor Moon franchise off with “Codename: Sailor V”, the underrated manga prequel, it was not originally Takeuchi’s plan to have a team of Senshi at all. However, with the success of this manga she decided to write more, changing the main character from Sailor V to Sailor Moon. It is unclear as to why she did this, perhaps she felt the need to utilise a different character to build up the new story but Sailor V managed to transcend the gap between manga with her personality largely intact, showing that it was not through a dislike of the character that she was relegated from stardom.

Minako is also the owner of the second survivor of the Silver Millenium, Artemis. This is a vital story driver as Artemis has more of his memories than Luna and so Sailor Venus is able to instruct the other Senshi, meaning that the story moves forward instead of stagnating due to a lack of information.  I feel that the root of Minako’s popularity however is her hard working nature. She never gives up, even when perhaps she should have done long ago (for example, the anime episode where she insists upon nursing the other senshi back to health after a flu epidemic). This is an appealing trait and one to which most people can relate (who hasn’t sat for hours trying to get through a game level?). She is that rare thing, a character with the capacity for serious thought and action who at times is light, airy and fun as well, this makes her character rounded and interesting for the audience who are never quite sure what she’ll do next!

"You're thinking i'm just a pretty blonde. In my case, what you see is definitely not what you get" - Minako Aino

Character Profile #4 - Makoto Kino A.K.A Sailor Jupiter

Name: Makoto Kino

Birthday: December 5th

Sign: Sagittarius

Blood type: O

Fave colour: Pink

Hobby: Shopping

Fave food: Cherry Pie

Least fave food: None

Fave subject: Home economics

Least fave subject: Biology

Weakness: Airplanes

Special talent: Cooking

Dream: To be a Bride, confectioner & florist

Makoto Kino is the representation of a specific Japanese cultural idea, that the "Nail that sticks up, must be hammered down". Makoto, often referred to by her friends as "Mako" is tall, tomboyish but sweet and gentle, however she is often misjudged by her peers who believe she is agressive and the "Nail that sticks out". This leads to bullying and ostracism as shown by this conversation presented in the first sailor moon movie:

Girl 1: She injured someone again.

Girl 2: She'll be kicked out for sure this time.

Girl 1: Who cares? She's so violent.

Viewers who know Mako's character will know that this is an unfair conversation. She is not violent although she does know martial arts and will use them in the defense of others. This is a fantastic story device for viewers who immediately feel that they are part of a good minority, who believe the best about this character. Makoto's ostracism will also make her accessable in that everyone has been an outcast at some point in their lives. However, the fact that she is ostracised due to a question of body image (her height is 5 foot 6 inches, a full 2 inches taller than the average height of Japanese women and an inch taller than the average Japanese man) will resonate with many people who have issues with the way in which they look. Mako can not even fit into the usual school uniform immediately setting her apart from any potential school friends.

Mako is a very lonely character. She is an orphan (her parents were killed in an aircraft crash, hence Naoko Takeuchi listing her weakness as planes) and lives alone in what (for Tokyo) is a fairly spacious flat. Teenage girls living alone in Tokyo is not uncommon as rent in Tokyo is very expensive and it makes more economic sense to move in the one child rather than an entire family when a single child wishes to go to school or work in Tokyo. However Makoto does not have any friends until she meets Usagi who immediately (in true Usagi style) accepts her for what she is.

Differing from public perception of herself, Mako is infact an ultra-feminine personality. She is an excellent cook, enjoys cleaning and tidying, loves flowers and is of a romantic disposition which makes her character sadder as many Japanese men will reject a taller woman off hand. In a way, she represents the broken ideals of many women for whom reality does not match up to the ideals delivered in books and films.

Makoto Kino is a lesson which we all need to learn; not to judge others by what we see or hear of them before actually meeting them. She is a loving, kind young woman who is constantly misinterpreted in each version of Sailor Moon. It is little wonder that when Mako becomes a senshi she fights so agressively to defend those who accept her for who she is rather than judging her by what she is not.

"A life is a life. They are the same." -Makoto Kino

Character Profile #3 ~ Rei Hino A.K.A Sailor Mars

Name: Rei Hino

Birthday: April 17th

Sign: Aries

Bloodtype: AB

Fave colour: Red & Black

Hobby: Divination

Fave food: Fugu

Least fave food: Canned Asparagus

Fave subject: Literature

Least fave subject: Social studies

Weakness: Television

Special talent: Meditation

Dream: Be a chief priestess



Rei Hino is the embodiment of ancient Japanese tradition. She is a Shrine maiden (Miko) at one of the local Hikawa shrines, is elegant and graceful and slightly aloof from the other girls. This attitude has turned her into something of an idol in her high school. Character wise, Rei is the absolute opposite of Usagi whose bouncy and carefree attitude often annoys Rei, who is not subtle in expressing her irritation. In fact, Rei’s serene and confident exterior only serves to mask the raging fire within which is exposed upon meeting Usagi and the other senshi. Behind closed doors Rei is actually fiercely loyal, hard working and tempestuous but outside she hides this so that her peers believe otherwise. For example, during the 1^st season of the anime, Rei sings in a concert of her own creation at her school’s festival. She has taken a long time to write and carefully craft the music for this concert, suffering the usual failures of most artists, however when asked about the difficulty of the task she dismisses it as having been easy and states that the music simply came to her. The viewer knows that this is a lie however and this exposes the frailty in her character. Her insatiable wish to be thought well of by her peers.

Everyone wants to be respected and liked by those in their social group and this delicacy of spirit makes her more accessable, likeable, understandable and interesting to the audience. We also join Rei on a journey upon which she challenges her own prejudices about others. In the manga she gains a very strong friendship with Minako Aino and in the live action version, she forms a robust bond with Makoto Kino and Minako Aino. These deep relationships are unusual for Rei who is originally reticent about joining the senshi and her reluctance to make friends perhaps harkens back to her feelings of abandonment concerning her father.  This exposes another humanising frailty in her character.

Rei lives with her Grandfather following the death of her mother from an illness which is never discussed in any great detail. She was a small child at the time and has since been enraged with her father who left her to deal with the death of her mother alone. Her father is a politician and her poor relationship with him has been the subject of discussion within the anime and an entire episode in the live action.

Rei’s firey attitude and complex home life make her a fascinating character to observe. She provides a window into Japanese spirituality which is unmatched by any other character in the series.

"I WASN'T YELLING!!!" - Rei Hino

Character profile #2 ~ Ami Mizuno A.K.A Sailor Mercury

Name: Ami Mizuno

Birthday: September 10th

Sign: Virgo

Bloodtype: A

Fave Colour: Aqua

Hobby: Reading & Chess

Fave food: Sandwiches

Least fave food: Hamachi

Fave subject: Maths

Least fave subject: None

Weakness: Love letters

Special Talent: Calculations

Dream: To be a Doctor

Ami Mizuno is the embodiment of the Japanese dream child, she aces school, oozes studious responsibility and aims to become a doctor just like her mother. However, behind this is a juxtaposition which renders her character almost schizophrenic. From the Japanese fantasy to the hidden world of a broken family, Ami is lonely, friendless, has no confidence and never sees her own father who occasionally sends her a sketch or painting.

Ami's meeting with Usagi is something of an epiphany for her character as Usagi is Ami's first friend who is in the same age group as her. Everyone has felt alone or abandoned in their life, so we genuinely feel Ami's trepidation and eventual joy at finding a group of friends who value her for who she really is. With her IQ of 300 (which is impossible by the way!) Ami serves as the voice of reason from within the Senshi group. She is therefore a necessary character device - the one who knows what's going on!

As a westerner i find Ami's attitude to schooling difficult to relate to, however Japanese children will recognise her as her reflecting their education system and even perhaps offering a critique of it. Ami is forever having a crisis of confidence, feeling forced to choose between her academic dream of being a doctor and remaining a senshi with her beloved friends; a choice echoed by those feeling that they need to choose between school work and a social life.

Ami may be the soldier of wisdom but she still has alot to learn with regards to friendships and other relationships outside the home. This makes her accessable to the viewer rather than aloof or seemingly arrogant. It also makes her more fun as she muddles through life's awkward situations such as her first love letter, first crush and learning that with friendship comes a certain amount of sacrifice.

"Stop Rei, don't mention exams! I'm so far behind i'm probably going to get an A minus!" - Ami Mizuno

Character Profile #1 ~ Usagi Tsukino A.K.A Sailor Moon

As i'm only just starting this blog, i figured that it was probably a good idea to do an analytical run down of the 10 major Sailor Senshi characters. There wil be one profile for each post, so keep checking back to see your favourite senshi!

Name: Usagi Tsukino

Birthday: 30th June

Sign: Cancer

Bloodtype: O

Fave Colour: White 

Hobby: Eating Cake

Fave food: Ice Cream

Least fave food: Carrots

Fave subject: Home Economics

Least face subject: Maths

Weakness: Dentists & Ghosts

Special Talent: Brown nosing & Whining

Dream: To be a bride

Usagi Tsukino is the school girl heroine of the Sailor  Moon series. She begins life as a sleepy and pretty average teenager, she falls over alot, doesn't do fantastically at school, cries, can't stop eating sweets and loves to shop. If you take a detailed look at her character, even in the start, she has a rather broad  personality which makes her accessable to a wide range of viewers. Upon meeting Luna however, Usagi's character is set on a path of development which not only exposes new traits but also highlights and builds upon what was already there. For example, From the word go, Usagi has always rushed to the aid of her friends. In Volume 1 of the manga and Episode 1 of both the anime and live action versions, she rescues her best friend from school Naru Osaka dispite not understanding what was going on, and being very afraid. This part of her personality is only brought even further forward as the series continues. Many of us wish that we were more selfless or that our friends would always be there  for us. Naoko Takeuchi has picked up on this desire and provided a character which we may view both as a friend and as a more perfect alteration of ourselves.

Usagi's immaturity is infact an excellent device for making the audience feel more included in the story as other characters have to explain things to Usagi and thus to the viewer. However, as Usagi's character expands into a more adult psyche, she does not leave the reader out in the cold, still getting hett up about Chibiusa's attentions to Mamoru or her school work. These are the agonies of a normal young woman, not a superhero and this grounds her in reality making her yet more believable and befriendable.

Usagi Tsukino is one of the most popular manga and anime characters of all time and i feel that this is a function of her "real girl in a fantasy world" state of being. She gives the audience so much to associate with and then transports them into new situations which are out of this world. She is also kind and loving which encourages  the audience to empathise with her leading to a more complete emersal in the Sailor Moon Universe.

Tsukino is an absolute must when it comes to a fantasy story such as Sailor Moon. She is the anchor around which the rest of the characters float.

"If a soldiers pride means hurting somebody; then i don't want it..." - Usagi Tsukino