Category Archives: Supporting Cast

What Book Was Mamoru / Endo Reading When He Was Possessed?

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Endo's Book

Endo’s Book

I’ve mentioned it many times before, but it always amazes me just how detailed Ms. Takeuchi is in bringing to life the characters (and world) of Sailor Moon. You can really tell that she researches all the names, places, and characters and even puts in a lot of fun finishing touches here and there that leave a lot of fodder for me to answer questions like this! So, just what book did Mamoru – or, more accurately, Endo – forget and leave behind, only for Reika to come and bring back to him?1

Endo and his book (Vol 3, p 59)

Endo and his book (Vol 3, p 59)

At first glance, the title of the book just seemed pretty generic and like something you’d write as a one-off line, akin to the fake movie titles you hear spouted off in movies. The title translates to “Encyclopedia of Jewelry” (宝飾大全; houshoku taizen) and opens up to a page entitled “Collectors’ Stones,” and shows a variety of different stones on it. This seems a bit odd to those of us who are particularly pedantic because the title of the book is specifically about jewelry, while the book itself shows a page on rare (and not-so-rare) stones. So what gives?

Houseki Taizen

Houseki Taizen

Well, after doing a little bit of research, it turns out that there actually was a book by this exact same title, published by Yomiuri Color Mook in February 1991, over a year before this scene appeared in Nakayoshi. However, after taking a look through the index of the book,2 it seems that while Ms. Takeuchi may have used this book as a reference when looking up different stones and their meanings for the series, it probably isn’t the base for the one Mamoru is reading here. The cover, however, does seem similar! But not quite what we’re looking for on the inside.

Around here, I almost gave up and just figured that this was a simple coincidence that the names matched, and maybe Ms. Takeuchi just made the book up. Seems possible, and there might not really be anything deeper to this story. Going back through my notes again, I made one last check of the Sailor Moon Perfect Edition (完全版; kanzenban) to get some higher quality scans and to see if I could get any further details. Wouldn’t you know it, but it turns out this that is yet another one of the scenes where Ms. Takeuchi actually made changes between the original run of the manga and the newer updates!

Endo and his (second?) book (Vol 2, p 153)

Endo and his (second?) book (Vol 2, p 153)

This time around, the book’s been renamed “General Primer on Gems and Crystals” (総論宝石結晶; soron houseki kesshou) and the inside looks different. Doing a quick search for the title, and bingo! There was a book by a very similar name published back in March 1992 by Relief Systems titled “Crystals and Gems” (結晶と宝石;kesshou to houseki). Now wait a minute, I know I’ve seen this before… and any one who grew up in the early 90s and had to spend time in their school library definitely has too.

Kesshou to Houseki

Kesshou to Houseki

After researching this book more, I found out that this is actually a translation of the book titled “Crystal and Gem,” written by Robert F. Symes, and published by DK Children.3 The book has been around since the 1960s and I assume remains relatively unchanged, since a quick look at the index confirms that on pages 48 and 49 (of the English edition, at least) is a section titled “Collectors’ items.” Not much unlike the section found in the first edition of the manga. Even the art style/layout of the English and Japanese book is incredibly similar to the style which Ms. Takeuchi used in the original scene.

Crystal and Gem pp. 48-49

Crystal and Gem pp. 48-49

In fact, if you take a look at the page and compare it with the image from the manga above, you’ll actually notice that Ms. Takeuchi’s sketch is a near exact copy of these pages! Even more interesting is that page 49 (right page) contains an image in the lower-left corner of Mr. George Kunz, the source of the name for the stone Kunzite. Quite an inside reference!

It’s funny that Ms. Takeuchi actually changed the title of the book in the re-release to be closer to the inspiration, and yet changed the inside of the book to be further away from what the referenced material looks like. It’s not like I don’t understand, though. In the original manga, it was simply a sketch and impossible to get an idea of what the contents of the book were like, while this new version has clearly written text with “Jadeite” and “Beryl” written on it. But it feels a little less nuanced, and more like she’s throwing you a softball.

However, I’m honestly impressed that Ms. Takeuchi went this far to put a reference to Kunzite in here, in a small sketch of a book in one tiny panel. Great job!

Why Was Diana the Moon Fairy Cut From Sailor Moon?

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The Three Lunar Guardians – Luna, Diana, and Artemis

The Three Lunar Guardians – Luna, Diana, and Artemis

One of the great mysteries surrounding the early years of Sailor Moon (and the characters developed for it) is around the character of Diana, the Moon Fairy who was to accompany Luna in her task of awakening Sailor Moon and searching for the Moon Princess. The fact that the name, Diana, was later reused for the daughter born between Luna and Artemis, and ChibiUsa’s post Luna-P companion, certainly makes matters all the more confusing when you try to look up information about her. And believe me, I certainly tried! So, what kind of character was Moon Fairy Diana originally supposed to be like, and what were the reasons for cutting her? Well, let’s find out!

Unfortunately, there’s really not much known about Diana outside of what’s written in the Materials Collection Artbook,1 so it’s hard to really go into much detail here. According to Ms. Takeuchi’s notes, she’s:

  • A cute fairy who’s mischievous, talkative, and sassy. Also a crybaby.
  • Found by the Sailor Team among the ruins of the Moon Palace, she sticks around with Luna and Usagi. She and Luna don’t get along.
  • She has pale blue wings with a light, lemon-yellow lace skirt.

What we do know is that she and Luna would have had a bit of an antagonistic relationship with each other, probably akin to the manzai comedy acts2 which are so popular in Japan. More specifically, most acts are made up of a pair of comedians playing very specific roles: the boke – who’s portrayed as light-headed, stupid, and innocent – and the tsukkomi – who’s serious, easily angered, and doesn’t put up with the nonsense from the boke.3 Here, it’d likely be Diana and Luna playing those roles, respectively.

Luna and Diana – Amateur Comedy Hour

Luna and Diana – Amateur Comedy Hour

So, why was it that Diana was cut from the story? While we’ll never really know for sure (at least without getting official word from Ms. Takeuchi, which seems unlikely this many years later), it’s most likely that she simply was too similar to Usagi. Just by reading the blurb about what her personality was meant to be like – mischievous, talkative, sassy, and a crybaby – there isn’t that too much that differs with Usagi. Also, while Ms. Takeuchi didn’t exactly steer clear from comedic moments (especially in the Codename: Sailor V manga), it seems that as the series progressed the characters had come more into their own and the idea of making Luna into a comedy-relief duo became less and less appealing.

While it’s a shame that we’ll probably never really know what kind of character the Moon Fairy Diana was meant to evolve into, ultimately I think I like her successor – ChibiUsa’s feline guardian – better than what this character would have been. Still, though, I’d love to see more material that ultimately got cut!

Why Was Mamoru Changed to a University Student in the Anime?

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The Epitome of Maturity

The Epitome of Maturity

The question of why Mamoru was made older in the anime has been one of those questions that has really bothered me ever since I first learned that there were — sometimes significant — differences between the two mediums. First off, it doesn’t seem to really have much of an impact on the story itself since his parents are dead in both and him living alone doesn’t need to be explained and, if anything, it’s actually detrimental. As we discussed previously, Mamoru being a university student adds certain legal questions regarding Usagi and Mamoru dating. And this didn’t just stand out to western audiences, either. A Google search for タキシード仮面　ロリコン (takishiido kamen rorikon; Tuxedo Kamen lolita complex)1 yields over 30,000 hits of various blogs, polls, and sites with Japanese fans asking (or joking) about the same thing. Even fan books and magazines dating back to 1993 were asking the same questions.

So what did the anime producers gain by changing Mamoru from a second-year high school student to a (most probably) first year university student? Unfortunately, I’m unable to find any concrete answers to these questions and these are just personal musings, but taken together with the facts, these may have played a part in the decision to raise Mamoru’s age. So, let’s take a look!

Masked Rider

Masked Rider

Tuxedo Mask Needs a Ride

This is a pretty minor point, but when you consider that despite there really being no strong plot connection or reason for Mamoru to be driving, he appears quite often in either his car or on his motorcycle (an Alfa Romeo SZ and Bimota Tesi 1D, respectively)2 throughout the series. It also seems that someone on the Sailor Moon anime staff was a fan of automobiles, since not only were Mamoru’s based on real-life vehicles, but Usagi’s family car and Nephrite’s car are also based on real models.

Mamoru Doesn’t Have Any Friends

Okay, so it may be a bit harsh to say that he doesn’t have any friends, but… let’s face it — according to the manga, Mamoru really has no social life, friends, or even acquaintances. The only possible exception would be his underclassman, Ittou Asanuma,3 though they don’t really interact.

Motoki, being a character dating back to Code Name: Sailor V, was stuck being a university student (due to Sailor Moon necessarily taking place a year later) and couldn’t be aged down, so moving Mamoru up allowed them to be classmates and to imply something of a social life for Mamoru.

Family Time with the Sailor Team

Family Time with the Sailor Team

The Audience was Older

The most significant reason for making Mamoru older may have very well been the simplest: the show, unlike the manga, was typically watched together as a family, and with older audiences. I discussed before that the manga skewed to a younger audience, but didn’t mention the details on the anime. Throughout its run, Sailor Moon aired on TV Asahi from 7:00 to 7:30pm on Saturdays4 in what is known as the “golden time” (or primetime in the West)5, capturing on average 11.6% of viewers (and 16.3% at its peak) for the time block, which was comparable with its strongest competitors.

It may seem superficial, but from the point of view of older viewers (upper junior high school, high school, and even older), a high school boy doesn’t have the same mystery to him nor the dependability of an older (university) man who’s working various jobs and has money to spare. Mamoru may live in a fancy, upscale apartment in both versions, but he seems to spend that money much more freely in the anime, which may be part of his charm.

As mentioned at the top, everything written here is just personal observations and theories, but it’s an interesting step toward getting clearer understanding of how Mamoru differs in his various incarnations. One day, I really hope this question is posed to Ms. Takeuchi, but unfortunately with the onset of the new Sailor Moon Crystal, I don’t see this happening anytime soon.

What Do We Know About Miss Haruna’s Family?

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The Four Sakurada Girls

The Four Sakurada Girls

[Haruna (upper left, Sailor Moon), Akina (upper left, to the right of Haruna, PQ Angels), Natsuna (bottom left, Sailor V), Fuyuna (far right, Cherry Project), Haruna (left of Fuyuna, Cherry Project)]

Haruna – Sailor Moon

Haruna – Sailor Moon

Well, we certainly do end up talking a lot about families, don’t we? The story of the rarely-discussed yet just-as-essential English teacher at Juban Junior High School is actually pretty interesting, when you realize all the thought that Ms. Takeuchi put into her. Though we don’t really know a lot about her life in general, we do know that in addition to being one of the few recurring non-main-cast characters which has been consistent across all of the various iterations of Sailor Moon,1 we also know that she and her sisters all seem to be pulled into all sorts of super natural drama.

Before we go any further, though, we should touch on her name briefly. Her last name, Sakurada (桜田), essentially means field (田) of cherry blossoms (桜) and her first name, Haruna (春菜), means spring (春) greenery/vegetables (菜).

Natsuna – Sailor V

Natsuna – Sailor V

The Police Chief – Natsuna

It’s not incredibly uncommon knowledge that there is a character in the Sailor V manga which bears a striking similarity to Haruna—the go-get-’em Superintendent-General of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, Natsuna (夏菜) Sakurada (桜田). The kanji for Natsuna means summer (夏) greenery/vegetables (菜). It’s been theorized by fans for a long time that there’s quite possibly a familial relationship between Haruna and Natsuna since they not only share the same last name, but live in the same part of Tokyo. Many have claimed that it’s been officially stated by Ms. Takeuchi2 that Natsuna is Haruna’s younger sister. It’s a bit hard to believe that the (young-looking) Haruna’s younger sister is in fact that Superintendent General of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, but all the stories seem to be consistent in this regard (and there’s a further reason for believing this, which we’ll touch on a bit later).

Fuyuna – Cherry Project, vol. 3, p. 176

Fuyuna – Cherry Project, vol. 3, p. 176

The Ballerina – Fuyuna

What is slightly less well known is that Sailor Moon is not the first time Ms. Takeuchi had used the character of Haruna. Her first appearance was in the manga Cherry Project, which was serialized in Nakayoshi magazine from October 1990 through December 1991. Much like with Sailor Moon, Haruna serves as the Chieri’s (the protagonist) homeroom teacher. Wanting to help teach the young and upcoming ice skater a sense of peace, balance, and simplicity in movement, Haruna gives Chieri a ticket to a live performance of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. It is later revealed that the star of the ballet is her younger sister, Fuyuna (冬菜) Sakurada (桜田). As with the other two, her name means winter (冬) greenery/vegetables (菜).

The Classic Literature Teacher – Akina

Last but not least, we get the fourth in the line of the Sakurada girls, Akina (秋菜) and, as with the rest, her name means autumn (秋) greenery/vegetables (菜). She exists in the PQ Angels universe, which was carried in Nakayoshi in 1997, and plays the role of their homeroom teacher and also teaches classical literature at Koganemushi Academy. Though it’s never stated that she’s related to Haruna (in fact, unlike in the rest of the universes created by Ms. Takeuchi, it seems pretty unlikely that this series exists within the same timeline as the shared universe of Sailor V, Sailor Moon, and Cherry Project), they do share the same last name and also the occupation as a junior high school teacher.

Akina – PQ Angel

Akina – PQ Angel

Though we can’t say with 100% certainty that they’re all related, we do know that Haruna and Fuyuna are at least sisters, and that Natsuna is also likely Haruna’s younger sister. Between a police chief, professional ballet dancer, and two public school teachers, the Sakurada’s are a pretty ambitious family, it seems! As for why it may be possible that Natsuna actually is Haruna’s younger sister, I would say the best assumption is found in their names—all four girls are named after the four seasons. Though it’s nothing more than a theory, it’s possible that the girls were named in the order that they were born: Spring (Haruna), Summer (Natsuna), Autumn (Akina), and Winter (Fuyuna). Not absolute proof, of course, but in a series where Ms. Takeuchi has thought so much about names and birthdates, it is definitely possible!

What Does the P in Luna-P Mean?

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Luna-P Attack!

Luna-P Attack!

I’d hate to make you read through all of this and keep your hopes up for a definitive answer the whole time, so I’m just going to spoil it all now and say that there actually is no meaning behind the “-P” in “Luna-P.” But wait! Before you move on, you should at least stay for the back story behind this mysterious appended letter, because there’s actually a rather interesting story behind it!

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