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Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Characters

Contents

Introduction
Notes
Starlights
Characters
Sources Cited

Introduction

This section of the site is meant to serve as a general introduction to the characters of Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon. Being so, this page only covers the Senshi and Mamoru. For more information regarding Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon characters (namely the minor characters and villains of the series), you are advised to consult one of the pages listed under Sources Cited. As well, for information on the appearance of attacks, please consult the "Ultimate SM Attack Guide".

For those who are unfamiliar with the Japanese names, a Name Conversion Table has been prepared by M. Vallen for your convenience.

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Notes

Each character summary is broken up into several sections. These are "General Overview", "Interpretation of Kanji", "Information", "Powers" and "Items".

All names listed are in traditional Japanese form (although the last names are not capitalised). For those unaquainted with the traditional Japanese/Asian naming system, surnames are written first (Usagi is Sailor Moon's first name). However, for design reasons, the surname is not all in capital letters.

Sailor Senshi names, for sake of convention and familiarity, have been written as two separate words; for example, Sailor Moon would be written rather than the alternative Sailormoon. The names of the senshi in Japanese are in kana so either romanisation is possible (no spaces between kana).

"The Interpretation of Kanji" section may not be 100% perfect due to the many different ways of reading Kanji. The interpretations are based on two sources: J. Jimenez and V. Yoza.

Starlights

There is often a lot of confusion over the actual first names (in non-transformed form) of the Starlights. Generally, it has been accepted as fact that their first names were all "Kou". This is because normally, the "Kou" is the last word (example: Seiya Kou) and in traditional Japanese form, this would make it the first name. K. Arromdee argues strongly for this concept stating that it is impossible for the Starlights to be related, due to birthdates, and thus have the same last name.

Recently, this concept has come into some question due to Takeuchi Naoko's interview at ComicCon 1998. Based on secondary accounts, Naoko said that it was common for individuals in Japan to share the same last name. This implies that the Starlights share the same last name.

K. Arromdee accurately points out that this statement does not seem to make sense considering all of the documentation already in existance. On the other hand, it does not seem to make much sense for Usagi to be calling "Seiya Kou" by his last name of Seiya; more often than not, Usagi calls everyone close to her, in her age group, by their first name through the entire series. Possibly, Usagi and Co. all refer to the members of the "Three Lights" by last name due to their immense respect for them; the evidence is as strong on either side. However, judging from real life idolisation of 'idols', calling the members of the "Three Lights" by their first name is very possible.

Thus, it seems necessary to put forward a proposal that possibly unifies Naoko's statement and the form of writing. The Starlights, in the series, are big stars in Japan. Being big stars, it could be reasonably assumed that they have international fame thus it possibly could make sense that the Starlights 'Westernise' their names thus making "Seiya" the first name. Or else, barring international fame, 'Westernising' their name is the more modern thing to do which may possibly contribute to their popularity, as shown throughout "Sailor Moon Sailor Stars". This interpretation would resolve the documentation difficulty.

To further confuse matters, H. Doi has added that the names, as found on CD covers are typically in "Western" order when written in romanised text but are in "Asian" order when in kana/kanji. Since the Starlights' name in kana/kanji is xxxx Kou, it would appear that the first name is in fact Kou. However, exceptions have been found.

Nonetheless, this site will not make a final decision over the interpretations. However, for the sake of clarity, the names of "Seiya", "Taiki" and "Yaten" will be used when referring to the various Starlights. The above is only an possible interpretation with some assumptions made and should not be accepted as fact.

Characters

Tsukino Usagi
Mizuno Ami
Hino Rei
Kino Makoto
Aino Minako
Chibi Usa
Meiou Setsuna
Kaiou Michiru
Ten'ou Haruka
Tomoe Hotaru
Chibi Chibi
Chiba Mamoru
Seiya Kou
Taiki Kou
Yaten Kou

Sources Cited

Chiang, Jackie. The Characters. <http://sailorsoldier.cjb.net/sailormoon/characters/index.html>
Doi, Hitoshi. "Re: [sailor-moon] A question of Kou was What to do about clueless SM fans." E-mail to sailor-moon@indiana.edu. 27 November 1999.
Doi, Hitoshi. Sailor Moon Character Guide. <http://www.win.ne.jp/~doi/smoon/char/>
Jimenez, Janelle. Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon (Pretty Soldier Sailormoon). <Page no longer in existance.>