SAILOR SENSHI

A is a type of heroine from the metaseries known as ''Sailor Moon''. The name comes from sailor fuku, a type of school uniform, and ''senshi'', which can mean soldier or warrior. A fusion of English and Japanese, this term was originally applied by series creator Naoko Takeuchi and is commonly used by fans of both languages. The translation "Sailor Soldier" is also common, used not only by English-speaking fans but also appearing in the stage musicals. The live action series translates the word as "Guardian". The DiC dub of the anime used "Sailor Scout" for the majority of its run; other common titles include "Sailor Warriors," "Sailors," or simply "Senshi." Like most Japanese loanwords, the word Senshi is both the singular and plural form.
Sailor Senshi are classic magical girl heroines, having both civilian and magical identities—that is, the same character may exist as both Sailor Mercury, the Senshi, and as Ami Mizuno, the school girl. Each Senshi has a transformation sequence which grants her elemental powers; these powers come from an object called a "Sailor Crystal" which is said to be within each of them. According to Naoko Takeuchi, only females can be Sailor Senshi,^[1] although there is at least one male with a Sailor Crystal. This is Mamoru Chiba, who is the guardian over the planet Earth and gives himself the pseudonym "Tuxedo Mask." In the manga only, he has subtle powers of psychometry.
The most iconic and well-known Senshi is Sailor Moon herself, who leads the primary group of Senshi in defending the earth (or the galaxy, if necessary) from otherworldly threats. Officially, there are ten people in this team: herself, Sailor Chibi Moon, and eight planetary Senshi named after the planets of the solar system, including Pluto but not Earth.
When referring to a group, the terms "Sailor Senshi" and "Sailor Team" are used with multiple meanings in the series itself. The former may be used to indicate the entire classification of heroines, but either may also mean the ten planetary Senshi, or the group of five comprising Sailor Moon and her four Guardian Senshi (see below) in particular. Usually the intended group may be discerned from context, but usage of this term can be confusing to those unfamiliar with the series.

Contents

Sailor Team

Guardian Senshi

Outer Senshi

Uniform and power-ups

Diagram

Variant Sailor Senshi

References

Sailor Team

The Sailor Team often divides itself into subsets, based both on civilian age and on Senshi-related duties. Within the story it is usually quite clear who belongs in which group, as they tend to work separately, so the differences are rarely referred to within the series. Official titles do exist to disambiguate between the groups, which are here shortened to "Guardian Senshi" and "Outer Senshi". English-speaking fans usually use the non-canonical term "Inner Senshi" for the first group.
In the stage musicals only, the terms ''naibu taiyōkei yon senshi'' ("inner solar system four warriors") and ''gaibu taiyōkei yon senshi'' ("outer solar system four warriors") are used. Because of this, the non-canonical terms ''gaibu senshi'' (外部戦士) and ''naibu senshi'' (内部戦士) are occasionally seen in use by Japanese fans. However, these titles never appear in the manga, anime, or live-action series. Specialized terms appearing in those sources are noted below.
Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon are both members of the Sailor Team, but are not included in either of these subgroups.

Guardian Senshi

The Guardian Senshi (often called Inner Senshi) consist of the four Senshi who serve as Sailor Moon's closest protectors, named for the four innermost planets of the solar system (''sans'' Earth). These are Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. With Sailor Moon at the head, they form a ''sentai'' (a group of five superheroes), and are the primary characters of the various series. In the manga, their full group name is ,^[2] although this is very rarely used.
The storyline holds that, in their past life, these four were the guardians of Princess Serenity and lived with her in the Moon Kingdom. When their utopic way of life was destroyed, the five were reborn on Earth in the 20th century as Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon) and her best friends, Ami Mizuno (Sailor Mercury), Rei Hino (Sailor Mars), Makoto Kino (Sailor Jupiter), and Minako Aino (Sailor Venus). They are all fourteen years old when the main story begins.^[3]
The Guardian Senshi are typically portrayed as more connected to their human lives, and to the world itself, than are the Outer Senshi. Although there are moments where this does not hold true, they tend to be warmer, sillier, and more open to outside help. If at all possible, they always try to save everyone they can in a fight rather than making sacrifices. They each eventually acquire accessory weapons, but these are not quite as critical or as tied to their powers as those of the Outer Senshi. The Guardian Senshi themselves are also rather less powerful as well as less mature; nevertheless, is often through their compassion and perseverance, rather than through force, that victories are achieved.
Modern astronomy divides the inner solar system from the outer by the location of the asteroid belt and the switch from terrestrial planets to gas giants. Both of these distinctions would place Jupiter in the outer system, whereas the series includes Sailor Jupiter among the "Inner" or Guardian Senshi.

Outer Senshi

The Outer Senshi are those who defend the solar system from external threats, named after the four planets furthest from the sun. These are Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. The series treats these characters very differently than do the fans—they are considered a group of three, with Saturn excluded due to her unique role in the story. In the manga, they are officially called the ,^[4] but the Guardian Senshi usually refer to them as "''Uranus-tachi''," meaning roughly "Uranus and the others." In the anime they refer to themselves as "Soldiers From the Outer Rim of the Solar System"
In the age of the Silver Millennium, Sailors Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto were the guardians of the solar system's edge and were instructed to fend off any alien attacks.^[5] Sailor Saturn was not among them, as she is the bringer of destruction and ruin. In the manga their backstory is more complicated: it had always been the other Outer Senshi's duty to prevent Sailor Saturn's birth, but when they gathered to witness the Moon Kingdom's destruction at the hands of the Dark Kingdom, the Outers inadvertantly allowed Saturn to be born so that she could destroy the remnants of the kingdoms of Earth and Moon.^[6] All four are then reborn as in the anime. In both storylines, Sailor Pluto plays a double role as the guardian of the Gates of Time (the manga extends her duties by hinting that she is also guardian of the underworld).
On Earth, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune become, respectively, Haruka Tenoh and Michiru Kaioh, partners and lovers a year older than the Guardian Senshi. They work together for some time before being joined by Setsuna Meioh (Sailor Pluto), who is a college student, and Hotaru Tomoe (Sailor Saturn), who is much younger (and whose age varies due to rebirth and accelerated growth).
The Outer Senshi are all depicted as charming, mature, and personable in their civilian forms, and the Guardian Senshi admire them enormously. However, they are also extremely dedicated to their role as soldiers, and, should they determine that sacrifices need to be made, can be entirely ruthless with allies as well as enemies. While in Senshi form,they are cold, aloof, and are not inclined to trust offers of help from other groups, preferring to work alone, even to the exclusion of the Guardian Senshi (although Pluto and Saturn are more open to working with the Guardian Senshi than Uranus and Neptune are). Each of the Outer Senshi fights with a special weapon; Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto bear the three Talismans, and Sailor Saturn carries the Silence Glaive, which is capable of destroying whole worlds. In general, the Outer Senshi are more powerful than the Guardians: Sailor Uranus is physically the strongest, Sailor Neptune is granted special visions by use of her mirror, Sailor Pluto can stop time itself, and Sailor Saturn is regarded as the most powerful of all, second only to Sailor Moon (she is even able to block attacks from Sailor Galaxia, one of the most powerful Senshi in the universe).^[7]
At the time the series was written, Pluto was fully considered a planet, although it has since been classified as a dwarf planet. On the other hand, modern astrology (both Western and Eastern) divides the planets between Saturn and Uranus: Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto were only recently discovered, and are not visible from Earth with the naked eye, while the other planets have been known since antiquity.

Uniform and power-ups

The uniform worn by the Sailor Senshi is modelled after a popular style of Japanese school uniform, the ''sērā fuku'' or "sailor suit". Creator Naoko Takeuchi attributes the idea for this motif to her editor, Fumio Osano. Sailor Moon Shinzoubon Volume 2, , Naoko, Takeuchi, Kodansha, 2003, ISBN 4-06-334777-X Originally, each of the Senshi had her own fairly unique outfit, related to the others only in its basic form, but in later stages of character design Takeuchi settled on a more unified appearance.^[8] Within the Sailor Team, the only outfit with significant variance from the others is that worn by Sailor Venus during her time as Sailor V, most notably in the , which was created before the ''Sailor Moon'' series.
As the Senshi gain additional powers and insights, the features of their uniforms change to reflect these advancements. Most of them have unique traits to begin with (such as Sailor Mercury's and Sailor Pluto's lack of sleeves, Sailor Neptune's neck-pendant, or Sailor Saturn's spiked gloves and other unique features), but as the group becomes more powerful, their indivual uniforms become more similar, until finally the only differences are in color scheme. The "Moon" Senshi are frequently exceptions, but over the course of the series, the other characters pass through three basic phases:
# Their original forms are basically the same, but have some individual variety. They are also slightly themed according to sub-group; for instance, the Outer Senshi do not have stripes on their collars, while the Inner Senshi each have two.^[9] In the manga, the Inner Senshi gain a few upgrades before fully changing to their second forms, as with the alteration of their brooches from circles to hearts.
# Their second forms become a little more similar, but allow for some distinctions to remain, such as earrings and shoe-style. When Sailor Moon takes on this form, she is called "Super Sailor Moon". In the manga the others do not change their names accordingly, but in the anime they do.^[10]
# Their third forms are entirely identical in form to one another, and are generally the most ornate. When Sailor Moon takes on this form, she becomes "Eternal Sailor Moon," gains wings and loses her tiara; the others do not reflect any of these three changes.^[11] This form never appears in the anime for anyone but Sailor Moon.
When the Sailor Senshi of the 30th century are shown during the second story arc, they are depicted in their original uniforms, without any enhancement.^[12] Chronologically, this was prior to the introduction of costume changes for most of the characters, so it may be a plot hole; whether or not Takeuchi has developed an explanation for the "revert" is unknown.
Sailor Moon, whatever form she takes, always has a more elaborate costume than any of the others. Among other things, in her first form she has hair ornaments, in her second she adds a multi-colored skirt, and in her third she gains wings and a three-layered skirt. She also gains minor, individual power-ups more frequently than any other character. Sailor Chibi Moon's progression is extremely similar, down to the hair-ornaments, and her uniform as Super Sailor Chibi Moon is almost identical to her predecessor's. Her third form, on the other hand, is more similar to that of the rest of the Sailor Team than to that of Eternal Sailor Moon.
Senshi originating from outside the Solar System generally have very different and widely varying outfits.

Diagram

This diagram shows the component parts of the uniform worn by the Sailor Team, and lists the changes made to them with each power-up.

Variant Sailor Senshi

As the story progresses, it is eventually discovered that there are other Senshi throughout the galaxy. In the manga, the first of these to appear are the Sailor Quartet, often referred to in English fandom as the "Asteroid Senshi." These are the future protectors and companions of Sailor Chibi Moon, just as the Guardian Senshi are to Sailor Moon. Until the 30th century they are supposed to be in a deep sleep, waiting for Sailor Chibi Moon to be ready, though they are briefly forced into the services of the Dead Moon Circus.

The Sailor Starlights —note the differences in uniform: hot pants instead of a skirt, and little use of individual signature colors.

In the fifth major story arc, especially that of the manga, it is revealed that Sailor Senshi number possibly in the thousands across the galaxy, protecting many of the stars, planets, and celestial bodies. This story arc is largely concerned with the 'Sailor Wars', an ancient, epic struggle between all Sailor Senshi and the forces of darkness. In the manga, all of Sailor Moon's previous enemies are portrayed as small parts of this galactic war, each of them having been connected with the ultimate evil being known as Chaos.
The primary servant of Chaos is Sailor Galaxia, who was once the most powerful Sailor Senshi in existence and the great hope of the galaxy. In her effort to subdue Chaos, she was possessed by him, and went on a galactic rampage under his will. By the time she reaches Earth, she has seized starseeds from countless Senshi that she either killed or forced into service. Under her command are numerous warriors who are former Sailor Senshi that have turned to evil. In the manga, the Sailor Animamates are ordinary fighters who betrayed and killed the true Senshi of their planets in hopes of being rewarded by Galaxia.^[13]
Of all the planets Galaxia attacked prior to Earth, only one produced survivors who continued to oppose her. This was a fictional world called Kinmoku, the home of the most prominent of these "alien" Senshi, the Sailor Starlights. The Starlights are a trio of Senshi who arrive on Earth in search of their Princess Kakyuu, who they believe also survived. While on Earth, they disguise themselves as men--in the manga by crossdressing, and in the anime by physically transforming into male bodies. This plays with the notion of all Senshi being female, without technically breaking the rules. The gender-shifting idea was not approved by Naoko Takeuchi, who has often expressed shock at the change to the anime.^[14]1 In the manga, Princess Kakyuu, like Princess Serenity, is a Sailor Senshi herself (Sailor Kakyuu).
In both the anime and manga, a small girl named ChibiChibi appears during this arc. She has the ability to transform into Sailor ChibiChibi (Called Sailor ChibiChibi Moon on a sticker included in the manga's second run), and helps the Senshi in various ways. ChibiChibi is unusual in that she is only an alter-ego; in the anime, she is the pure star seed of Sailor Galaxia, sent away to keep it from being corrupted. In the manga, she is actually Sailor Cosmos, the ultimate form of the future Sailor Moon. Whether this makes her the Usagi of the future is never stated. In the manga, the evil and powerful Sailor Chaos also exists in the future inhabited by Sailor Cosmos.
Other Senshi appear in the manga, such as Usagi's non-canonical second daughter, Kousagi, who appears as "Parallel Sailor Moon" in a humorous short story of the same name. Another short story, ''The Story of the Hammer Price Shrine'', centers around two girls named Naruru and Ruruna who imitate Senshi, along with a man who calls himself Tubby Mask. The Sailor Moon musicals also introduce new Senshi, including Sailor Astarte, Sailor Buttress and others.
The concept behind Sailor Senshi holds so much potential for variation that it has become an extremely common source of inspiration for fanfiction. The idea has expanded into a meme in which fans of the series create their own original Sailor Senshi, sometimes called "Otaku Senshi", with their own unique designs and often in-depth character profiles. The characters range widely in their appearance and relevance to the original story.^[15]

References

1. Public Interview with Takeuchi Naoko
2. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Shinzoubon Volume 2, , Naoko, Takeuchi, Kodansha, , ISBN 4-06-334777-X
3. Manga Act 4 and others. Minako had been awakened by Artemis a year before the others (at age 13) and fought under the name Sailor V during that time.
4. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Volume 14, , Naoko, Takeuchi, Kodansha, , ISBN 4-06-178826-4
5. Manga Act 29. Anime episode 113.
6. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Volume 9, , Naoko, Takeuchi, Kodansha, , ISBN 4-06-178797-7
7. Episode 197
8. Materials Collection, , Naoko, Takeuchi, Kodansha, , ISBN 4-06-324521-7
9. Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon Volume III Original Picture Collection, , Naoko, Takeuchi, Kodansha, , ISBN 4-06-324518-7
10. Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon Volume IV Original Picture Collection, , Naoko, Takeuchi, Kodansha, , ISBN ISBN 4-06-324519-5
11. Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon Volume V Original Picture Collection, , Naoko, Takeuchi, Kodansha, , ISBN 4-06-324522-5
12. Manga Act 23, anime Episode 88.
13. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Volume 12, , Naoko, Takeuchi, Kodansha, , ISBN 4-06-178814-0
14. Naoko Takeuchi, ''BSSM Original Picture Collection Vol. V'' Manga Style!
15. Create Your Own Otaku Senshi - A Sailor Moon Fan-Character Help Site