(I'm sorry. I'm not going to put the Sailor Stars villains here just because they have 'Sailor' in their name.)
Japanese Name NA Name Identity Birthday Planet (J) (NA) ------------- ------- -------- -------- ------ --- --- Tsukino Usagi Serena Sailor Moon June 30 Moon 1 1 Chiba Mamoru Darian*5 Tuxedo Mask August 3 Earth 1 1 Mizuno Ami Amy** Sailor Mercury September 10 Mercury 8 5 Hino Rei Raye*** Sailor Mars April 17 Mars 10 7 Kino Makoto Lita Sailor Jupiter December 5 Jupiter 25 21 Aino Minako Mina Sailor Venus October 22 Venus 33 29 Chibi-Usa* Rini S. Chibi-Moon June 30 Moon 60/103 54/-- Meiou Setsuna -- Sailor Pluto October 29 Pluto 64/75 58/68 Ten'ou Haruka -- Sailor Uranus January 27 Uranus 89/92 82/-- Kaiou Michiru -- Sailor Neptune March 6 Neptune 89/92 82/-- Tomoe Hotaru -- Sailor Saturn January 6 Saturn 110/125 --
[There are no US names for the last four, though there are rumors. The current fan favorite idea seems to be Alex for Haruka and Michelle for Michiru, with Setsuna being Sharon or Susan.]
[Asteroid senshi are senshi only in the manga.]
Cerecere N/A Sailor Ceres ? Ceres N/A N/A Pallapalla N/A Sailor Pallas ? Pallas N/A N/A JunJun N/A Sailor Juno ? Juno N/A N/A VesVes N/A Sailor Vesta ? Vesta N/A N/A[The Sailor Stars are guys in civilian ID and change into girls as Senshi. They've been shown topless, confirming this.]
Kou Seiya N/A S. Star Fighter July 30 N/A 173 N/A Kou Taiki N/A S. Star Maker May 30 N/A 173 N/A Kou Yaten N/A S. Star Healer February 8 N/A 173 N/A N/A N/A S. Chibi-Chibi ? N/A 182/187 N/A Princess Kakyuu N/A S. Kakyuu (meaning 'fireball')"Kinmoku" *4* This is a nickname; chibi is Japanese for "short". Her real name is also Usagi. (According to the manga it's "Usagi Small-Lady Serenity". Uh, right. The video game Another Story calls her "Lady Serenity".)
** Last name "Anderson" used in episode 37. She answers the phone with "Anderson Residence" when she said the equivalent of "Mizuno residence" in the original. (It has been said that she lives in a "mansion". Although the Japanese word "mansion" is a loanword, it's shifted meaning, and doesn't necessarily mean a house, let alone a big house.)
*** The dub keeps "Hino".
*4 Princess Fireball becomes a Senshi only in the manga. "Kinmokusei" is a Japanese pun on the word for "sweet olive", which explains her scent.
*5 Last name "Shields" in Mixxzine only.
The double entries are because Pluto, Uranus, and Neptune first appear shadowed, and Chibi-Moon, Saturn, and Chibi-Chibi appear in their normal identities first.
Note that the birthdays are appropriate, astrologically, for the planets.
The Japanese language uses kanji (written characters derived from Chinese)
for the Japanese equivalent of root words. The Japanese family names of
the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask all contain the same kanji as the corresponding
planet (not necessarily pronounced the same).
The kanji used in the Japanese names of the planets include the five Asian
elements (fire, water, wood, metal, earth). The days of the week also include
the kanji for the elements, so the days of the week, the planets, and the
elements are all somewhat related. (The day of week/planet relationship
is the same one that exists in the West.) The Sailor Scouts thus could
be considered an elemental-based team if you want to count Tuxedo Mask
as the element earth (though Saturn's is usually used for the element).
The Sailor Scouts' special attacks usually fit the kanji associated with the planet. (For instance, the name of the planet Mars uses the kanji for "fire", and Sailor Mars has fire attacks.) Sailor Venus is an exception; she was named early before Takeuchi started the naming pattern. The kanji in her name means "love", associated with the goddess Venus; her later attacks, however, involve gold and the Japanese name for Venus does use the kanji for "gold". Sailor Jupiter's early anime attacks are associated with the god Jupiter, but she does have some attacks associated with wood. (Actually, oak is also associated with the god Jupiter).
Planet, etc. Day of Week Kanji Used Character ------------ ----------- ---------- --------- Sun Sunday sun * Moon Monday moon Sailor Moon Mercury Wednesday water (element) Sailor Mercury Venus Friday gold (element) Sailor Venus Earth -- earth (not the element) Tuxedo Mask Mars Tuesday fire (element) Sailor Mars Jupiter Thursday wood (element) Sailor Jupiter Saturn Saturday earth (element) Sailor Saturn Uranus -- heaven king Sailor Uranus Neptune -- sea king Sailor Neptune Pluto -- dark king Sailor Pluto* It has been suggested to me that Tuxedo Mask is partly associated with the sun, which his birthdate supposedly fits with in astrology. Also, Helios (an obvious sun-based name) from Sailor Moon SS is his protector.
Ages and grades: Unfortunately, a bit complicated. (Note: I am using the notation 'age 14-15' to mean starting the school year at 14 and having their 15th birthday before the next school year).
In Japan, junior high goes up to grae 9, and high school is 10-12. In the US, junior high goes to either 8 or 9, depending on the local school system.
In the Japanese version, the main five characters start at age 14, in second year junior high (grade 8). (Actually, since their birthdays are scattered through the year, they would be 13-14 depending on exactly which Senshi and which episode.)
The first two years in the manga only occur during one story year. In the anime, there are hints that they lose a year after the Dark Kingdom battle. While Jupiter is in Serena's school even though she only transferred well past the start of the year, and Molly still likes Melvin, on the other hand the Japanese school year starts in April, and there is a cherry blossom episode, original #51, US #45 which must happen in April (originally aired in April). This implies that they lost a year after the battle with the Dark Kingdom and that the anime happens in real time up to the end of Sailor Moon S. Sailor Moon has her 15th birthday in Japanese episode 101 in Sailor Moon S, which was aired near her birthday in real time, so as of Sailor Moon S, they are 14-15 and in grade 9.
In the next season (SuperS), they enter high school--in the manga only. The scene of them entering high school does not appear in the anime until the start of Sailor Stars, but Naoko Takeuchi has stated (manga #12) that this was an error, and they are supposed to be in high school during SuperS. This makes them age 15-16 and grade 10 during SuperS.
Sailor Moon states she is 16 in the last episode. This means that Sailor Stars cannot possibly take place in real time, although they might be in grade 11 if only a few months of the school year have passed.
Sailor Uranus and Neptune were born in the same year as the main five, but before April, when the school year starts. So they're one school year ahead of the others (15-16/grade 10 in Sailor Moon S, etc.)
Tuxedo Mask's age is not simple. In manga #1, Luna guesses his age as 17 or 18. Actually, he starts in second year high school, where he would really be age 16-17, 3 years older than Usagi. (Alternatively, you can interpret "age 14" for everyone else as meaning age 14-15, in which case Tuxedo Mask is age 17-18, but this interpretation has three problems: first, it means college freshmen are 19-20; second, if it applies to the anime, episodes 51-101 would have to happen in under 3 months total; third, Usagi keeps saying she's 14 in the introduction even in the episodes past episode 16, which was aired near her birthday.)
In the anime, Tuxedo Mask starts in college. He also goes to America for college in Sailor Stars, which is a little inconsistent (though it could be explained away). He was six years old when he lost his parents in a car crash, and Usagi saw him in the hospital in flashback in the R movie at that time. Usagi had to be at least 2 at that point and he can't be older than 17-18, so he can't be in college at all unless he went to college earlier than normal. However, the R movie doesn't count as part of continuity anyway.
Sailor Pluto is in her first year in college in the manga corresponding to S. In the anime, she has not been reincarnated and is thousands of years old.
Rini (Chibi-Usa) is 902 in the manga. The "explanation" is that she is the first half-human, half-Silver-Millennium person so there are a lot of unknowns. (This implies that Usagi is not an Earth human even after being reincarnated. The closest the manga comes to saying that she is one is when Queen Serenity calls her a normal girl.) In the anime, the Senshi are referred to as being Earth humans, and Rini's age is not given, which means she's probably either really her apparent age, or her apparent age not counting years spent in suspended animation.
Sailor Saturn goes to the same school as Uranus and Neptune, but this doesn't mean she is as old as them, since sometimes schools combine many different grades. She is also supposed to be small and weak, which plays havoc with attempts to guess her age from her appearance. In the manga, she starts in 6th grade, so would be 11-12 as of S. (Note: she is deaged during SS.)
The Sailor Stars are stated to be age 16, and are in the same class with the others.
To summarize: Under the assumption that the series ends at the end of 10th
grade for Usagi, everyone is the following ages:
Sailor Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter: 16
Tuxedo Mask: 19 (manga), 21+ (anime--20 if he went to college a year early)
Sailor Uranus, Neptune: 17
Sailor Pluto: 20 (manga), ancient (anime)
Sailor Saturn: 13 (chronologically, ignoring deaging/reaging)
Sailor Starlights: 16
Sailor Chibi-Moon: 903 (manga), unknown but young (anime),
Sailor Chibi-Chibi: N/A
If Usagi doesn't round birthdays up, she cannot say she is 16 in the last episode unless it happens before her 17th birthday. Then the latest the series This means that the latest the series can end is 11th grade, June 29 (when Mars and Star Maker are a year older than above). The early limit would be 10th grade, June 30, but episode 189 takes place on September 28, so the earliest would be right after that time, when everyone except Mars, Mercury, Star Fighter, Star Maker, Moon, and Chibi-Moon are a year younger than above.
If Usagi rounds birthdays up, then Sailor Stars is slower than realtime and the last episode must take place before she is 16 1/2 (10th grade, end of December). Then the latest the series can end is 10th grade, end of December (when Star Healer, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are a year younger than above), and the earliest is 10th grade, after September 28, when everyone except Mars, Mercury, Star Fighter, Star Maker, Moon, and Chibi-Moon are a year younger than above.
Note that if you believe the first episode is aired in real time, Usagi must be rounding birthdays up. Also, she says she'll write one letter a day to Mamoru and writes her 30th letter in #182, which pretty much shows the series is slower than realtime, and #189 takes place on September 28.
The dub contradicts itself in the first Alan/Ann episode. That episode places Alan (Earl) in grade 10 (instead of 9) and Ann and Serena in grade 9 (instead of 8), and calls it high school (instead of junior high). Fans have guessed that this is a pilot episode, and I wouldn't take it too seriously. The error is repeated later at least once.
The dubbed episode 15 has a mistake which put Serena's brother in Crossroads Junior High too, which is ridiculous.
Note: The main characters exist in the present because they are reincarnated (a word which the dub refuses to use). However, reincarnation is unrelated to why they are still alive 1000 years in the future. The anime explains (episode 83) that everyone on Earth fell into suspended animation because of some catastrophe and Neo-Queen Serenity restored them in the future. (It isn't stated whether Usagi or Chibi-Usa were in suspended animation too.) In the manga, V5 says they lived 1000 years because of the Silver Crystal, which gave "almost" everyone long life. (Queen Beryl also says in V3 that she can get immortality from the Silver Crystal.) Also, the Silver Millennium family's lifespan is 1000 years (which doesn't quite fit).
Supporting characters:
Luna: Sailor Moon's magical cat. In the manga (only) comes from
planet Mau.
Artemis: Sailor Venus's magical cat. In the manga (only) comes from
planet Mau.
Darien (Mamoru): Serena's boyfriend, and Tuxedo Mask. I listed him
above, but must point out another DIC screwup. His name as a prince is
originally Endymion; this is taken from mythology, where Selene loved Endymion.
It was different from his regular name, Mamoru. Changing both to Darien
not only removes the reference, but causes two problems: First, when he's
under the control of the Negaverse, Serena asks him to remember the name
Darien--but he's calling himself Prince Darien at the time! Second, Rini
knows that her parents are Serena and Darien and manages not to figure
out that the Serena and Darien of the 20th century are the same people
(because the names weren't really the same in the original).
Sam (Shingo): Serena's younger brother.
Molly Baker (Osaka Naru): Serena's best friend. She gets attacked by monsters
an awful lot. :-)
Andrew (Furuhata Motoki): Darien's friend; runs the video arcade where
everyone hangs out. Andrew's family owns the arcade (manga only).
Lizzie (Furuhata Unazuki): Andrew's sister.
Melvin (Gurio Umino): Classmate of Serena and Molly.
Ms. Patricia Haruna (Haruna Sakurada): Serena's teacher.. (Switched last
name for first name and mispronounced it.)
Sailor Moon's parents (Ikuko and Kenji).
Sailor Mars' grandfather.
Diana: cat whose parents are Luna and Artemis.
Doesn't show up until Sailor Moon SS.
Chibi-Chibi: girl apparently younger than
Chibi-Usa, with unknown background.
Some of these supporting characters fade into the background after a while.
Villains: Many villains are named after various gems and minerals. The dub has an odd mixture of recognizing that they are mineral names (renaming Kunzite to Malachite had to be done by someone who knows) and total cluelessness as to the source of the names (Nephrite is called "Neflyte" in the dub, for instance).
Here's as many names as I know. The ones marked with * have exact spellings, of the appropriate English mineral. The ones marked with ** are not exact, with the likely mineral in parentheses. Others aren't minerals. Spelling, where there isn't an exact mineral name, is mostly just a guess (though NA spelling is from the Cardzillion cards.)
Sailor Moon: Queen Beryl*, Jadeite*, Nephrite*, Zoisite*, Kunzite*
(Malachite* in the dub), Queen Metallia (Negaforce in the dub). Kunzite's
name was apparently changed for legal reasons (the mineral was named after
a person). The other three generals, in the dub merchandise, are spelled
"Jedite", "Neflyte", and "Zoycite" (which
makes no sense).
Sailor Moon R, part 1: Earl (Alan in the dub) and Ann(e). Their
names seem to be a pun on "alien" (Earl would be pronounced "ail"
in Japanese). In the original, Earl and Ann use different names
(Ginga Seijuurou and Ginga Natsumi; ginga means "galaxy" or "Milky
Way" and was [mis]translated in the dub as "Granger") in
school, while keeping the names Earl and Ann as villains.
Sailor Moon R, part 2: Cooan** (kermesite; the name of this mineral
in Japanese would be cooan) (Catzy in the dub), Beruche** (berthierite)
(Bertie in the dub, though it's obviously really meant as Birdy), Calaveras**
(calaverite) (Avery in the dub), Petz** (petzite) (Prizma in the dub) (these
four aren't guesses, but are from the Japanese merchandise.), Rubeus**
(ruby?) (Rubbeus in the dub), Esmeraude** (emerald?), Sapphir** (sapphire?)
Demand** (diamond?) (some of these apparently derived from non-English
names for the minerals), Black Lady, Wiseman.
Sailor Moon S: Professor Tomoe, Kaolinite*, Eudial** (eudialyte),
Mimete** (mimetite), Tellu** (tellurite), Viluy** (villiaumite), Cyprine*
(Sapphirine also fits somewhat), Puchirol** (Puchirite?), Mistress 9,
Pharoah 90. Note: these minerals are mostly guesses.
Sailor Moon SS: Zirconia*, Hawk's Eye** (Hawk Eye), Fish Eye*, Tiger's
Eye** (Tiger Eye), CereCere, PallaPalla, JunJun, VesVes (named after the first
four asteroids, Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta), Nephrenia** (apparently
nephrite again, if it is a mineral; I have been told that Nehellenia is a real
goddess, but have no reference for that).
Sailor Moon Sailor Stars: Galaxia, Iron Mouse, Aluminum Siren, Lead
Crow, Tin Nyanko.
The following lists some early, unused, Sailor Moon US names. The first version was announced soon after Sailor Moon's US release was announced. The second version appears on the English Kodansha WWW site (Kodansha published the Japanese comic) and the third is the DIC dub version.
Identity Japanese Name First Kodansha Current -------- ------------- ----- -------- --------- Sailor Moon Tsukino Usagi Victoria Celeste Serena Tuxedo Mask Chiba Mamoru ? Mark Darien Sailor Mars Hino Rei Dana Rae Raye Sailor Mercury Mizuno Ami Blue Amy Amy Sailor Jupiter Kino Makoto Sara Maggie Lita Sailor Venus Aino Minako Kari Monica MinaNote
Other original names and versions:
Sailor Scouts: The Japanese term is Sailor Senshi (meaning Sailor
Soldiers or Fighters)
Negaverse: originally "Dark Kingdom" (in English.) The
later villains were not from there; tying them all together was a dub invention.
"Meatball Head": originally "odango atama"
(roughly "dumpling head", but odango really don't exist in America).
For some inexplicable reason the English manga translation in Mixx changed this.
Sailor Mars' anti-spirit attack (when she chants and tosses a magic
paper) is done with the words (in the original) "Rin, pyou, tou, sha,
kai, jin, retsu, sai, zen. Akuryou taisan!". The characters on the
paper (which is called an ofuda) are also "akuryou taisan"; they
mean "evil spirit, begone". She gets this "attack",
which shows up in other anime unrelated to Sailor Moon, from being a priestess,
not from being Sailor Mars, and she used it before becoming Sailor Mars
and when she had amnesia in episode 42. The dub tries to explain it
as "I call upon the power of Mars fireballs charge", although not
only does it have nothing to do with being Sailor Mars, there are no
fireballs in it! The dub attack has also been visually edited to remove a
silhouette. (It is excruciatingly obvious that the dubbers were afraid
Americans would see it as Satan. A reader has suggested to me that this
figure is actually Fudo Myo-o, a god of fire.) In episode 42 (where it
obviously couldn't be changed to Mars fireballs) the attack was dubbed
differently and keeps the silhouette.
Star Crystal: Originally the Black Crystal (kurozuishou). The second
one that Zoisite has is called the Black Crystal in both the dub and the
original.
Silver Crystal: Called "maboroshi no ginzuishou" in the
original (meaning something like "illusion silver crystal").
The dub can't seem to decide what to call it, so it becomes the Silver
Empyrean Crystal one episode, the Silver Moon Crystal another, and eventually
the Empyrean Silver Moon Crystal.
Doom Tree: originally the "Makaiju". (Ma=evil/magic, kai=world/land,
ju=tree).
Schools:
Crossroads Junior High (Juuban in the original): Sailor Moon, Mercury,
and Jupiter go here.
Brookdale Private School (T*A Private Girls' School): Sailor Mars
goes here. It is a Catholic school; we see it in a later Sailor Stars
episode. Apparently, her father wants to go there even though she's a
Shinto shrine maiden.
Grass Valley Junior High (Shibakouen): Sailor Venus goes here.
Mugen Gakuen: Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are in school here up until
the end of S, where it's destroyed.
Juuban High School: Everyone high school-aged except for Mars goes
here after the end of S. (Having them enter high school at the start of
Sailor Stars was a mistake--they should be in high school during SS and were
in the manga. Uranus and Neptune also go here [shown only in the manga]
because Mugen Gakuen was destroyed.)
Original and dub attack, etc. names: (most of these are in English; only rarely does an attack include a Japanese word)
ep. ep.
Sailor North American attack Japanese attack dub Japan
------ --------------------- --------------- --- ---
Moon Moon Tiara Magic Moon Tiara Action 1 1
Moon Tiara Vaporize? (4)
(not used--episode cut) Moon Tiara Stardust -- 5
Moon Healing Activation Moon Healing Escalation*4 21 25
Moon Crystal Healing Activation
Moon Sceptre Elimination Moon Princess Halation 45/54*** 51
Moon Sceptre Activation (67)
-- Moon Spiral Heart Attack -- 91
-- Rainbow Moon Heart Ache -- 112
-- Moon Gorgeous Meditation -- 128*6
-- Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss- 168*7
-- Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss -- 187
[I am not making these up.]
Mercury Mercury Bubble Blast Shabon Spray* 5 8
Mercury Ice Storm Splash (66)
Mercury Ice Bubbles FreezeShabon Spray Freezing* 47 53
Mercury Ice Storm Splash Shine Aqua Illusion 56 62
Shine Aqua Illusion (69)
-- Double Shabon Spray Freezing* -- 80
-- Mercury Aqua Rhapsody -- 151
-- Mercury Aqua Mirage --Special
Mars Mars Fire Ignite Fire Soul 7 10
Mars Firestorm Flash (57)
Mars Firebird Strike Fire Soul Bird 48 54
Mars Celestial Fire Surround Burning Mandala 57 63
-- Mars Flame Sniper -- 152
Jupiter Supreme Thunder Crash (21)Supreme Thunder 21 25
Jupiter Thunder Crash (22, 24+)
Jupiter Thunderbolt Crash (23)
Jupiter Thunder Dragon Supreme Thunder Dragon 49 55
Jupiter Thundercrash Zap Sparkling Wide Pressure 59 65
-- Jupiter Oak Evolution -- 154
Venus Venus Crescent Beam Smash Crescent Beam 29 33
Venus Venus Shower (46)(?)Crescent Beam Shower 46 52
(I know I and a lot of other people have heard it as 'Venus Venus'. We'll
probably never know for sure.)
Venus Meteor Shower (47+)
Venus Love Chain Encircle Venus Love Me Chain *9 59 65
-- Venus Love and Beauty Shock -- 154
Chibi-Moon -- Pink Sugar Heart Attack -- 103
-- Twinkle Yell -- 131
Uranus -- World Shaking -- 92
-- Space Sword Blaster *8 -- SS Mv.
Neptune -- Deep Submerge -- 92
-- Submarine Reflection -- SS Mv.
Pluto -- Dead Scream -- 112
Saturn -- (not shown) *5 -- 125
-- Silence Glaive Surprise -- 172
-- Silence Wall -- 172
S. Star Fighter Star Serious Laser -- 173
S. Star Maker Star Gentle Uterus -- 174
[I am not making this up. No, the attack doesn't actually use a uterus.]
S. Star Healer Star Sensitive Inferno -- 175
Miscellaneous: Lead Crow got her powers by stealing the "Sailor
Crystal" of a Sailor Senshi named Sailor Coronis. Note: In mythology,
Coronis was Artemis's brother's lover (Artemis's brother was Apollo), who
Artemis killed for infidelity.
Transformations:
Moon Moon Prism Power Moon Prism Power, Make Up 1 1
Moon Star Power (54-57) Moon Crystal Power, Make Up 45/54*** 51
Moon Crystal Power (45-53,58+)
-- Moon Cosmic Power, Make Up -- 91
-- Crisis Make Up -- 112
-- Moon Crisis Make Up (w/Chibi-M)-- 131
-- Moon Eternal Make Up -- 168
Mercury Mercury Power Mercury Power, Make Up 5 8
Mercury Star Power Mercury Star Power, Make Up 56 62
-- Mercury Crystal Power, Make Up -- 151
Mars Mars Power Mars Power, Make Up 7 10
Mars Star Power Mars Star Power, Make Up 57 63
-- Mars Crystal Power, Make Up -- 152
Jupiter Jupiter Power Jupiter Power, Make Up 21 25
Jupiter Star Power Jupiter Star Power, Make Up 59 65
-- Jupiter Crystal Power, Make Up -- 154
Venus Venus Power Venus Power, Make Up 32 36
Venus Star Power Venus Star Power, Make Up 59 65
-- Venus Crystal Power, Make Up -- 154
Chibi-Moon -- Moon Prism Power, Make Up -- 103
-- Moon Crisis Make Up (w/S.Moon) -- 131
Uranus -- Uranus Planet Power, Make Up -- 109
Neptune -- Neptune Planet Power, Make Up -- 109
Pluto -- Pluto Planet Power, Make Up -- 111
Saturn (Saturn does not transform on camera)
S. Star Fighter Fighter Star Power, Make Up -- 176
S. Star Healer Maker Star Power, Make Up -- 177
S. Star Maker Healer Star Power, Make Up -- 178
S. Chibi-Chibi -- -- ?
Miscellaneous:
Moon Disguise Power Moon Power 2 3
Moon (no words used) Sailor Moon Kick 14 17
Moon (no words used) Sailor Body Attack 54 60
Chibi-Moon Kitty Magic Luna-P Henge** 54 60
Luna Ball Kitty Magic (55)
Luna Sphere Kitty Magic (66)
Kitty Power (56)
Chibi-Moon Kitty Power Luna-P Magic 56 62
Moon+Chibi-Moon -- Double Sailor Moon Kick -- 107
(combined) Scout Power Sailor Teleport 40 45
(combined) Sailor Planet Power Sailor Planet Power 65 72
(combined) -- Sailor Planet Attack -- 82
(combined) -- Silver Crystal Power --S Movie
* Shabon translates to "soap" or "soap
bubbles". The Japanese word apparently comes from Portuguese.
Serena's original speech was "For love and justice, I am the pretty
sailor-suited soldier Sailor Moon! In the name of the moon, I will punish
you!" It often follows a more episode-specific speech, and is sometimes
parodied (for instance, the teaser for the episode with the priest had
"in the name of God, I will punish you!")
The dub, obviously, can't use it all because "Pretty Soldier"
isn't in the English show name. The dub speech started as "I am Sailor
Moon, champion of justice! On behalf of the moon, I will right wrongs and
triumph over evil, and that means you!" "In the name of the moon,
I will punish you!" generally shows up when scripts are otherwise
unchanged, but this isn't reliable.
The dub sometimes rewrites the speech such that it looks like Serena is
introducing herself several times in a row. If you were puzzled by this,
well, now you know who to blame.
The North American version (from the CD lyrics):
Fighting evil by moonlight
Winning love by daylight
Never running from a real fight
[ed: did whoever write that line watch the show?]
She is the one named Sailor Moon!
She will never turn her back on a friend,
She is always there to defend,
She is the one on whom we can depend,
She is the one named Sailor...
Sailor Venus!
Sailor Mercury!
Sailor Mars!
Sailor Jupiter!
With secret powers
All so new to her
She is the one named Sailor Moon!
Fighting evil by moonlight,
Winning love by daylight,
With her Sailor Scouts to help fight
She is the one named Sailor Moon!
She is the one named Sailor Moon!
She is the one ... Sailor Moon!
The original version (translated by Theresa Martin), "Moonlight
Legend": (Lyrics in parentheses aren't used in the opening, but are
part of the song and appear when it's on CDs and such):
"I'm sorry, I'm not gentle.",
I can say if it's in my dreams.
My thoughts are about to short circuit.
Right now, I want to meet!
Making me want to cry, moonlight.
I can't telephone either, midnight.
Because of my naivete, what will i do?
My heart is a kaleidoscope.
Led by the moonlight,
we meet by chance many times over.
The number of twinklings of the constellations
foretell love's whereabouts.
Born on the same earth, a miracle romance.
(Once more, a weekend with you.
God, grant me a happy end.
In the present, past, and future
I'll be completely devoted to you.)
(I won't forget your dear look when we met.
Out of [tens of] millions of stars, I can find you.
Changing even serendipity to opportunity,
I love this way of life!)
(A wondrous miracle growing close,
we meet by chance many times over.
The number of twinklings of the constellations
foretell love's whereabouts.
Born on the same earth, a miracle romance
that I believe in, a miracle romance.)
"Moonlight Legend" (and the US song) are sung to a melody
swiped from "Sayonara at the End of the Dance", by Chieko Baishou,
in the 1960's.
There is a new theme song for Sailor Stars, written by Takeuchi Naoko.
Sailor Moon's Japanese name (Tsukino Usagi) means "rabbit on the
moon", specifically referring to an Asian legend of a rabbit on the
moon pounding the mochi (a rice cake). There are several jokes based on
this name: she wears and uses rabbit designs all the time; her hair visually
suggests rabbit ears; Luna's computer password is "the rabbit on the
moon pounds the mochi"; Chibi-Usa is referred to as "the rabbit"
by villains (DIC even kept this a few times); Usagi's least favorite
food is carrots, etc. The jokes mostly go over the head of audiences who
don't know about the original, though the North American version does claim
(on the doll boxes) that her favorite animal is the bunny rabbit.
Some dubs in other languages translate her name to keep the jokes; for
instance, in the French, German, and Italian versions she's named "Bunny".
The Mixx comic book version also uses "Bunny".
Japanese schools: The Japanese school system is uniformly 3 grades of
middle school and 3 of high school, so Serena is in the equivalent of 8th
grade when in second year middle school.
Uniforms are standard for Japanese public schools, including sailor suits
for girls in many places. Both boys' and girls' uniforms were derived from
the uniforms worn by the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Meiji era (1868-1912).
There is a fierce high school and college entrance exam competition in
Japan, and what college you go to ultimately determines a great deal of
your standing in your whole life. The exams are nothing like entrance exams
in America; they are long and involve a lot of regurgitation. Many students
go to special cram schools (juku) for years solely to study for these exams;
Amy goes to one (explained as "computer class" in the dub). School
is very difficult, and students get hours of homework a day (having much
less time for socializing than usually shown in Japanese animation), up
to college; college itself is often easier than in America.
All Japanese students study English for years, but the English teaching
system is one of the worst foreign language teaching systems in the world,
and most Japanese can speak little English.
Sword, mirror, and jewel (not in dub): These items are based on the myth of the legendary three treasures which the sun goddess Amaterasu brought to Japan. They appear a lot in anime, showing up at least in Yuu Yuu Hakusho, GS Mikami, and Samurai Troopers (Ronin Warriors).