Get to Know the Sailor Scouts Part 2: The Outer Planets

Didn’t read part one? That’s ok, you can still check out our guide for getting to know the Sailor Scouts, the inner planets. Now we will move on to the next part of the Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon series where we meet the rest of the Sailor Soldiers, the outer planets, and a very special small lady, Sailor Chibi Moon.

Why are they Separated?

One question many have is, “Why is there a separation between the Inner and Outer Soldiers in the Sailor Moon series?” When we look at the origin of the story we find that it doesn’t start with the moon, instead it starts with Venus in a series called, Codename: Sailor V.

When Toei Animation wanted to make an anime series based on this work they asked for more content. Author and illustrator Naoko Takeuchi set out to make her Sailor Soldier more well rounded and to give her a team.

This is how Sailor Moon and the rest of the Inner Sailor Soldiers were created. However, when reading Act 13, The Final Battle – Reincarnation, the manga reads more like a series ending than just an arc ending in the middle of a series. That is because Mrs. Takeuchi intended it to be the original ending of the series. Due to the popularity of the series however, mainly the anime, Toei asked for more.

With the time and space to continue the story of our heroes she was able to expand to the rest of our solar system and include guardians that would represent the rest of the planets. This also meant expanding the lore of the series and deepening the characterisation of our heroes.

Here is our guide to the rest of the Sailor Senshi or Sailor Soldiers that appeared after the Dark Kingdom Arc. 

Sailor Chibi Moon – Usagi (Chibi Usa) Tsukino

The next part of the series kicks off with a visit from a very small and very pink haired little girl. Sailor Chibi Moon or Chibiusa, localized to Rini in North America, we very quickly learn is the daughter of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. Her real name is Usagi just like her mother, but we give her the name Chibiusa to differentiate her from the teenage Usagi Tsukino in the story. 

Chibiusa comes to the present day from the future to get Sailor Moon’s help after her future world on the moon is in danger. She is small and starts off quite bratty by pulling a gun, albeit a fake one, on Usagi while demanding that she giver her the Silver Crystal we spent the whole first part of the series trying to obtain.

She can transform into Sailor Chibi Moon but she does not have a lot of power, strength, or training. She is quite disappointed in teenage Usagi since she thinks Usagi is a lot less mature than her mother who she loves. This causes her to often fight and disrespect Usagi while in our present day.

This is contrasted however with how close she is to Mamoru, localized as Darien, or Tuxedo Mask, who she recognizes as her father. This of course only angers Usagi more seeing her boyfriend give more attention to Chibiusa.

There is a lot more to the characterisation of Chibiusa and her alter ego Dark Lady, but that is a whole blog by itself, so we will save our take on that for another day. 

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Sailor Pluto – Setsuna Meio

When we are introduced to Sailor Chibi Moon we are also introduced to Sailor Pluto, since it is through Sailor Pluto that Chibiusa is able to travel back in time. Sailor Pluto guards the Space – Time Door and thus the flow of time itself.

In this role she was instructed to never leave her spot at the Space – Time Door, never let anyone travel through time, and to never use her powers to disrupt time; for which the consequence of breaking the last rule is death. Want to guess how many of those rules we end up breaking?

Sailor Pluto is the closest with Chibiusa and often calls her Small Lady. She also appears as a 3rd parental figure and close friend. When we first meet Sailor Pluto, she is lonely due to her solitary position but also caring towards Chibiusa and allows her to come visit her.

As for characterization, Sailor Pluto is stern but caring. She also stands out as the tallest Sailor Guardian, the one with the darkest skin complexion, and the oldest when they are in their human forms on Earth. With time related powers, she is also extremely powerful. She carries the Garnet Rod which is in the shape of a large key and holds one of the three Talismans, the Garnet Orb.

Sailor Uranus – Haruka Tenou

The next Sailor Scout that we meet is another unique scout or pair of scouts. Sailor Uranus or Haruka Tenou, localized as Amara Tenoh, appears both as masculine and femine. As a Sailor Soldier she dresses and appears feminine like the rest of the Sailor Soldiers. However in her human form her masculine features are often exaggerated. Her shoulders are widened and she wears predominantly male style clothes and often a boy’s school uniform.

At first, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune appear cold and in opposition to the rest of the Inner Planets, as they don’t want to work together and even attack Usagi and her team. However, that does not stop her from very frequently flirting and kissing Sailor Moon. The more we get to know Haruka and her and Sailor Neptune’s mission the more her guarded personality softens. Haruka also possesses another one of the three Talismans, the Space Sword. 

The characterization of Sailor Uranus is one met with a lot of speculation from fans and critics. Due to her masculine appearance and an often quoted line of, “[am I a] boy or a girl, why is that so important,” when Usagi asks her about her gender, many fans see her as nonbinary or gender fluid. The only canon information we have is when she is described as having the strength and mind of “both” genders.

Sailor Neptune – Michiru Kaioh

Another Sailor Scout that we meet around the same time as Sailor Uranus is her partner Sailor Neptune. Michiru Kaioh, localized to Michelle, is the opposite of her partner Haruka. Where Haruka is masculine and rough, Michiru is very femine and elegant. Though she does appear a bit cold to the others at times.

Depending on how you came in contact with Sailor Moon, you might know Sailor Neptune and Uranus as cousins. When this part of the series was localized in North America and the English dub was created, the romantic relationship between these two scouts was changed to be familial.

Along with Sailor Pluto, due to their roles as Sailor Soldiers of the Outer Planets, Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus remain mysterious for a large part of the series and keep mainly to themselves. As well as the others Sailor Neptune possesses one of the three Talismans, the Deep Aqua Mirror.

Sailor Saturn – Hotaru Tomoe

Sailor Saturn is also a unique Sailor Scout in her role and characterization. We first meet her in her very sick human form, Hotaru Tomoe. She is the daughter of a scientist who accidentally seriously injured her as a young child and to save her replaced many of her body parts with machinery and invited a dark energy to inhabit her body. This causes her to become chronically “ill”.

Due to her “illness” she is bullied at school and becomes isolated and without friends, leading her to be very shy and lonely. That is until she meets and slowly befriends Chibiusa.

Sailor Saturn is different from the other Sailor Scouts because the power of Sailor Saturn is awakened, much to the dismay of the rest of the Outer Guardians, in Hotaru in response to other evils they are fighting. The power of Sailor Saturn is one of the most dangerous as she is the Guardian of Silence and her attacks are associated with death and destruction.

Don’t like a lot of the changes that were made between the manga and the original 90s anime adaptation? Make sure you check out Sailor Moon Crystal, the newer anime series which more closely follows the story lines of the manga. The English dubbing of Sailor Moon Crystal also has much fewer localizations and changes as well.