Sailor Senshi
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A Sailor Senshi (セーラー戦士 Sērā Senshi?) 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 ten planetary Senshi or the five "Inner 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.
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[edit] 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. English-speaking fans widely use the terms "Inner Senshi" and "Outer Senshi" to disambiguate between the groups.
Similar titles are use in the stage musicals only, where the groups are referred to as naibu taiyōkei yon senshi ("inner solar system four warriors") and gaibu taiyōkei yon senshi ("outer solar system four warriors")—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.
[edit] Inner Senshi
The "Inner" Senshi consist of the four Senshi named after 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, they are occasionally called the "four warriors of the guardian gods" (四守護神の戦士 yon shūgoshin no senshi?).[citation needed]
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 is destroyed, the five are 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 story begins.
The Inner 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 Inner 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 Senshi.
Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon are infrequently included in this group.
[edit] Outer Senshi
The "Outer" Senshi are those named after the four planets of the solar system 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 "outer solar system warriors" (外部太陽系戦士 gaibu taiyōkei senshi?), but the Inner Senshi usually refer to them as "Uranus-tachi," meaning roughly "Uranus and the others."
In the anime, the backstory of these characters is very simple: like the Inner Senshi, they once lived in the Moon Kingdom, and after its destruction were reincarnated on the future Earth. In the manga it is more complicated: Sailors Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto were the guardians of the solar system's edge and were to fend off any alien attacks. Sailor Saturn was not among them, as she is the bringer of destruction and ruin. It had always been the Outer Senshi's duty to prevent Sailor Saturn's birth, but once hearing news of the Silver Millennium's destruction at the hands of the Dark Kingdom, the Outers allowed Saturn to be born so that she could destroy the remnants of the kingdoms of Earth and Moon. 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 Inner Senshi. They work alone 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 in both directions).
The Outer Senshi are all charming, mature, and personable as humans, and the Inner 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 attire, 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 Inner Senshi. Each of them 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 inner: 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 withstand attacks from Galaxia herself, the most powerful Senshi in the universe).
At the time the series was written, Pluto was fully considered a planet, although it is 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.
[edit] 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 guardians of Sailor Chibi Moon, just as the Inner Senshi are Sailor Moon's guardians. 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.
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: there are innumerable Senshi 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.
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.[2][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 Moon (Called Sailor ChibiChibi in the manga's first 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 a form of Sailor Cosmos, the ultimate good Senshi of the distant future (who bears a strong resemblance to Usagi, but whose exact identity is unclear).
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 one of the most common sources of inspiration for fanfiction. The idea has expanded into a meme in which fans of the series create their own original Sailor 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.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b McCarter, Charles. Public Interview with Takeuchi Naoko (Q & A Interview). EX:CLUSIVE. www.ex.org. Retrieved on November 30, 2006.
- ^ Naoko Takeuchi, BSSM Original Picture Collection Vol. V Manga Style!. Retrieved on September 6, 2006.
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| Codename: Sailor V | Manga | Anime | Episode list | Stage musicals | Video games | Live-action | English adaptations | Actors | Story locations | Parallel | |||||||
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