Michiru Kaioh
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| Sailor Neptune | |
|---|---|
 Michiru Kaioh as Super Sailor Neptune |
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| Profile | |
| Name: | Michiru Kaioh (海王みちる[1]) |
| English: | Michelle Kaioh |
| Birthday: | March 6 (Pisces)[1] |
| Age range: | 16-17 |
| Aliases: | Princess Neptune |
| Affiliations: | Sailor Team, Shadow Galactica |
| Powers: | Can control and manipulate the forces of the ocean; has some precognitive abilities. |
| Performers: | (See below) |
Michiru Kaioh (海王みちる Kaiō Michiru?, or Michelle in the English anime) is one of the central characters in the Sailor Moon metaseries. She is best known by the name Sailor Neptune, one of the series' primary heroines — the Sailor Senshi.
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[edit] Profile
Introduced in the show's third series along with her partner, Haruka Tenoh, Michiru is portrayed as a very polite, calm (sometimes coldly so) character in the series. She dislikes being patronized even if it would hurt her feelings, and subsequently will not indulge people. This is alluded to in her backstory, explaining that she was congenial but generally not social. Michiru attends Infinity Academy with Haruka (and the younger Hotaru Tomoe).
Her creator, Naoko Takeuchi, has admitted that Michiru is difficult to write for, due to the fact that she is so dissimilar to herself. Her known skills include the violin, swimming, and painting; she is the Senshi most associated with the arts. Michiru's primary relationship is with Haruka; Naoko has explicitly stated that the two are in a lesbian relationship in both the manga and the anime and that, at least in the manga, Michiru is strictly a lesbian. [1]
Her Senshi alter-ego is Sailor Neptune, one of the "four soldiers of the outer solar system" (known in fanon as the Outer Senshi). As Sailor Neptune, her element of influence is the sea; like many of the other Senshi this is closely associated with her planet, which is named for the Roman sea god, Neptune. She is one of the Senshi who has psychic powers naturally, telling her when danger is near. She seems to be a character with a very deep understanding of things, sometimes even surpassing the other Outer Senshi due to her unnaturally high psychic endowments.
Michiru's wavy aqua hair and sea-blue eyes are intended to evoke images of her element. Michiru is also graceful and delicate, with an aura of sophistication. She is clearly intelligent, and this usually manifests itself through art and music. Usagi (to whom this observation is especially relevant) once commented that Michiru was the ideal example of a princess.
Michiru is deeply artistic; of all her skills, her strongest is as a violinist, which is also her greatest dream.[1] She likes all her classes, especially music, and belongs to the Music club at school as well as the Swimming club.[2] In the manga, she collects cosmetics; in the anime, she loves to swim, often using the water as a way to relax.[3] Her favorite food is sashimi, while her least favorite is kikurage mushrooms. She also dislikes sea cucumbers for unclear reasons, and her favorite color is Marine blue.[1] Her blood type is O, and she stands 162 centimeters (5 ft 4 in) tall.[4][5]
The kanji of Michiru's surname translate as "sea" (海 kai?) and "king" (王 ō?). Together, they constitute most of the name of the planet Neptune in Japanese, Kaiōsei. Her given name is in hiragana (みちる michiru?) and so its meaning is not inherent, but the word itself means "to rise". The packaging of Irwin dolls released in Canada in 1998 called Michiru by the name Nerissa.
[edit] Aspects and forms
As a character with different incarnations, special powers, transformations and a long lifetime virtually spanned between the Silver Millennium era and the 30th century, Michiru gains multiple aspects and aliases as the series progresses.
[edit] Sailor Neptune
Michiru's Senshi identity. She wears a uniform colored in sea green and deep blue, and unlike most of the other Senshi, her gloves extend only to mid-forearm. She is given specific titles throughout the various series, including Soldier of the Deep Waters,[6] Soldier of Embrace,[7] and Soldier of Affinity. Her personality is no different from when she is a civilian, although certain powers are unavailable to her in that form.
Sailor Neptune uses ocean-based attacks (not just water),[8] and carries the Deep Aqua Mirror, which is one of three Talismans carried by the Outer Senshi. She takes a black-and-white approach to her role as a soldier, one shared by Sailor Uranus, who is virtually always at her side.
As she grows stronger, Sailor Neptune gains additional powers, and at key points her uniform changes to reflect this. The first change takes place in Act 39 of the manga, when she obtains the Neptune Crystal and her outfit becomes similar to that of Super Sailor Moon. She is not given a new title. A similar event takes place in Episode 167 of the anime, and she is given the name Super Sailor Neptune. A third, manga-only form appears in Act 42, also unnamed but analogous to Eternal Sailor Moon (sans wings).[9]
[edit] Princess Neptune
During the Silver Millennium, Sailor Neptune was also the Princess of her home planet. She was among those given the duty of protecting the solar system from outside invasion. As Princess Neptune, she dwelt in Triton Castle and wore a sea-green gown. She appears in this form in the original manga Act 41, as well as in supplementary art. It is unknown whether she had a romantic relationship with Princess Uranus.
[edit] Senshi powers
Throughout the various series, Sailor Neptune displays a number of special attacks and other powers.[10]
[edit] Transformations
(Note: In the English dub, she transforms without saying "Make-up" at the end.)
- Neptune Planet Power, Make-Up! — Used to transform into Sailor Neptune and, in the anime, Super Sailor Neptune. In the English dub, Neptune Star Power is usually uttered instead.
- Neptune Crystal Power, Make-Up! - (Manga only) Used to transform into Sailor Neptune's two more powerful forms.
Neptune's transformation begins with her holding her transformation pen aloft and calling out her henshin phrase. The pen glows and she spins it around her, creating a bubbling ring of energy beneath her that rises up as a wall of water around her. Her silhouette can be seen behind the water before it rushes outward. Within the water, Neptune's suit flashes on her and after running her fingers through her hair, her jewelery flashes on as well. Her lips are then colored and she poses.
[edit] Attacks
- Deep Submerge — A wave of water washes over in the darkness and the camera pans out to show the wave crashing between Neptune's hands, above her head. She spins and the water in her hands becomes a sphere of green energy. She spins again in the opposite direction as a ring of energy gather around the orb. She chambers one fist at her waist and extenders her other palm sideways before her, directing the attack at her enemy. In the English anime, it is sometimes called Neptune Deep Submerge.
- Submarine Reflection — Sailor Neptune uses her talisman to reflect energy at the opponent and to disperse illusionary tactics.
- Submarine Violon Tide — Sailor Neptune uses a violin to summon water to attack the enemy. This attack is only used in the manga.
- Galactica Violon Tide — Sailor Neptune uses this attack when she is under the control of Sailor Galaxia in the manga.
[edit] Variations
Michiru's personality and role are basically the same in the anime and the manga. In each, she is elegant and sophisticated, but capable of sharp anger. She has fully accepted her double life, and is dedicated to her duties as a Senshi. While Takeuchi has said that Michiru is strictly a lesbian in the manga, in the anime, Michiru briefly flirted with Seiya Kou, at that time a man, asking Seiya to help her unzip her dress. However, it should be noted that she is clearly in a relationship with Haruka when this takes place and had earlier stated an intention to learn Seiya's motives, out of fear that he was a threat to the planet. This flirtation does not occur in the manga, where Seiya is always a female and plays a much more minor role, making Michiru's sexuality more clear-cut than in the anime.
In the dubbed anime, her relationship with Sailor Uranus was redefined. In Sailor Moon episode 95, Michelle (Michiru) and Amara (Haruka) are stated to be cousins by Amy (Ami), who barely knows them, and are referred to as such for the next few episodes. Thereafter, however, much of their flirting is inexplicably left intact.[11] In one episode, they claim to have known each other all their lives,[12] but a flashback to their first meeting (in the very recent past) is shown not much later. By the time the "S" series came out in English, many fans were already familiar with the characters and their relationship, so their treatment as family members is mostly ignored.
In Sailor Moon episode 092, where the two flirt gently in the original, the dub changes their dialogue to a banter about love at first sight, and inserts the statement that Michelle does not believe in romantic love. In Sailor Moon episode 94, Michelle talks about her first kiss with Brad, "the cutest guy in the school," where the original text was about the first kiss ever, between Adam and Eve.[13] She later says, "My sweet Brad...I wonder where he is today," which defines her as heterosexual, as well as changing the impression of the character from graceful to that of a boy-chasing girl.[14]
[edit] Music
A number of songs featuring Michiru's character have been released.[15]
From the original anime, sung by Masako Katsuki:
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- "Unmei wa Utsukushiku" (Fate is So Beautiful) - From Sailor Moon SuperS
- "Senshi no Omoi" (Feelings of a Soldier) - From Sailor Stars
From the musicals, sung by various actresses:
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- "Making for the Right"
- "Chou bi! Uranus and Neptune."
- "Orleans no Sei Senshi - Uranus - Neptune no Uragiri" (Soldiers of Orleans - Uranus and Neptune's Betrayal)
- "Sailor War!"
- "Broken Mobius"
- "Hash! Saint Cry!!"
[edit] Actresses
In the Japanese anime series and movies, Michiru Kaioh is voiced by veteran voice actress Masako Katsuki.[16] In the English-language dub, the voice of "Michelle Kaioh" is provided by Barbara Radecki, who had previously played Usagi's mother.
In the stage musicals, Michiru has been played by 8 actresses: Kaoru Sakamoto, Chikage Tomita, Miyuki Fuji, Hiroko Tahara, Sara Shimada, Yuhka Asami, Tomoko Inami, and Takayo Oyama.
Michiru does not appear in the live-action series.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Takeuchi, Naoko (June 6, 1995). "Back of volume", Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Volume 10. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-178806-X.
- ^ Takeuchi, Naoko (September 6, 1996). "Act 43", Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Volume 16. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-178841-8.
- ^ This hobby can be seen in Sailor Moon episode 097 Sailor Moon episode 110.
- ^ (April 1993) "Chapter 1: Stage", Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon album I. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-177734-3. , The height is guessed at from page 103, and V2, page 94 and 111 since Usagi's height is given
- ^ Aromdee, Ken. Sailor Moon FAQ. Retrieved on October 17, 2006., estimates of heights from here.
- ^ Takeuchi, Naoko (November 2, 1994). "Act 26", Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Volume 8. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-178790-X.
- ^ Takeuchi, Naoko (March 6, 1996). "Act 39", Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Volume 14. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-178826-4.
- ^ Takeuchi, Naoko (February 6, 1995). "Act 29", Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Volume 9. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-178797-7.
- ^ Takeuchi, Naoko (July 5, 1996). "Act 42", Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Volume 15. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-178835-3.
- ^ Carroll, Elizabeth (September 9, 2006). The Oracle. Retrieved on 2006-10-01.
- ^ Sebert, Paul. "Kissing cousins may bring controversy Cartoon Network juggles controversial topics contained in the “Sailor Moon S” series", The Daily Athenaeum Interactive, 2000-06-28. Retrieved on 2007-02-21. “Although the L-word has yet to be uttered by a single character, the gay subtext still exists. ... the two girls referred to each other as "cousins".”
- ^ Wheeler, Robert; Bednarski, Dan; Wood, Tiffany. Sailor Moon Uncensored. Retrieved on 2007-03-11. Full list of changes made for English dub
- ^ Wheeler, Robert; Bednarski, Dan; Wood, Tiffany. Sailor Moon Uncensored. Retrieved on 2007-03-11. Full list of changes made for English dub
- ^ Wheeler, Robert; Bednarski, Dan; Wood, Tiffany. Sailor Moon Uncensored. Retrieved on 2007-03-11. Full list of changes made for English dub
- ^ Bacon, Michelle (September 9, 2006). SAILORMUSIC.NET. Retrieved on 2006-10-01.
- ^ Doi, Hitoshi. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon. Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
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