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Japanese cartoons, known in many circles as anime, are a far cry from their American counterparts. Most anime tells a story, using all the tricks and techniques found in novels and other literature. Symbolism is especially prevalent, although often a person must understand both Japanese and Western symbol systems to fully interpret the work. One such anime is a series known as Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon has, to some extent, been dubbed into English by a commercial sponsor, but a great deal of the symbolism there has been lost, so my essay will simply concentrate on the original Japanese version.
Sailor Moon is the story of Usagi Tsukino, a fourteen year-old crybaby who is destined to transform into Sailor Moon and defend the world from evil. (All names are rendered Western style for ease in reference.) She is joined in her quest by the rest of the Sailor Senshi. The Inner Senshi, the only ones discussed in this essay, are as follows: Sailor Mercury, Ami Mizuno, Sailor Mars, Rei Hino, Sailor Jupiter, Makoto Kino, and Sailor Venus, Minako Aino. These five names are symbolic in and of themselves, because there is an anime convention of naming characters to correspond with their upcoming roles in the story. Usagi means "rabbit," while "Tsukino" translates to "of the Moon." This is important because Usagi is Sailor Moon, and also there is an ancient Japanese legend about a Rabbit in the Moon, creating an elixir of immortality. In a way, this rabbit represents Sailor Moon, because not only is she immortal, having died and been reborn a number of times, she brings a similar immortality to her friends. As a joke, Usagi has rabbits and crescent moons on most of her belongings, and her hair is in a style which looks remarkably like rabbit ears.
In Japanese magic and philosophy, there are five elements, rather than the Western four. These elements are fire, water, earth, wood, and metal. The other four Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen, Sailor Moon's defender, have personalities and powers based on these five elements. These elements also symbolize the virtue each Senshi represents.
Sailor Mercury is the Senshi ("soldier") of water, and her family name reflects that. "Mizuno" translates to "of water." Ami is represented by water and Mercury because they symbolize intelligence. Ami is a genius, and what's more, she is intelligence. With her endless studying and expertise, she is the personification of the mind. Like intelligence, Ami is the physically weakest of the Senshi, especially in offense. She can't tackle a problem alone, just as intelligence alone may not always hold the answers to a problem.
Sailor Mars is Rei Hino, Senshi of fire. Her name translates to "Spirit of Fire," which is a pretty good description of her courage. In fact, her earliest attack is the "Fire Soul." Rei symbolizes the virtue of courage. Her planet, Mars, is the planet of war and fighting, and Rei is always the most argumentative of the Senshi and the best to have at your side in a fight.
Sailor Jupiter, Makoto Kino, is the Senshi of lightning and wood. Jupiter's early attacks are based on lightning, like her Roman namesake, but her later attacks and her attacks in the comic book are based on wood. Jupiter is linked with wood because Thursday in the Japanese calendar is named for wood, but "Thursday" is derived from "Thor," Jupiter's Norse counterpart. "Makoto" means "great strength," which is certainly true. Jupiter is the Senshi of strength, durability under adversity. "Ki" can mean either "energy" (like lighting) or "truth." Jupiter symbolizes the strength which comes from the truth.
The last of the five Senshi is Minako Aino, Sailor Venus. Her family name means "of Love," and certainly fits. After all, Venus is the planet of love. In Japanese astrology, though, it is also the planet of gold. Most of Venus' attacks are golden, making her the Senshi of metal. She represents the virtue of love.
Sailor Moon also has a defender, Tuxedo Kamen. ("Kamen" translates as "mask," so he is henceforth known as "Tuxedo Mask," as most people refer to him as such.) Tuxedo Kamen is Mamoru Chiba, "Earth Protector." He represents the planet Earth and the element of earth. He is strong and quiet, providing stability and protection for all the Senshi.
Sailor Moon is the sixth element, air, which is the mixture of all the
others. She symbolizes the union of the virtues, as is seen when she steps
outside of her crybaby shell. She is strong , more intelligent than she
appears, a protector of her friends, able to love with all her heart, and
as courageous as any person. She simply needs to be reminded of it. In
the final battle with Queen Beryl, queen of the Dark Kingdom, Sailor Moon
stands strong and courageous, although all her friends have died in battle.
Her love for them allows her to reach out and receive help from their spirits.
Her strength is shown when she repeatedly bears up under the weight of
losing and regaining Tuxedo Mask, who is constantly captured by the Dark
Kingdom and other villains. Usagi's brains are rarely evident, but she
does manage to figure out what the villains are up to, and did manage to
pass the high school entrance exams with the rest of her friends. Her protective
spirit is best shown in the Sailor Moon R movie. The villain Fiore has
captured the other Senshi, and threatens them with death if Sailor Moon
does not surrender to him. She does as he asks, even though she knows that
he will kill her.
The relationships among the Senshi are symbolic as well. The four girls
and Mamoru were once Usagi's court, her protectors, back when they were
all royalty on the Moon. This symbolizes how these five virtues protect
the realized potential of humankind, which Usagi symbolizes. When she is
working at top form, she is unstoppable, smart, courageous, strong, loving,
and a protector. Her only problem is, she's lazy. If she doesn't have a
crisis to contend with, she falls back into her crybaby, underachiever
ways. This is true of people as a whole, as well. We respond best to a
crisis, and tend to fall back into slothful habits when it is over.
Usagi and Ami are close, perhaps because they were the first two Senshi to be discovered. Ami is sweet and gentle, and sometimes too intellectual for her own good. Usagi brings her out of her shell, defending her, and reminding us that intelligence has to be balanced with other things.
Usagi and Rei fight all the time. We see, though, that this is because Rei cares about Usagi and sees the potential within her. Rei is determined to bring Usagi to her full potential no matter what. Rei is courage, and courage is what we often need to pull ourselves to a higher level. Rei and Usagi are perhaps the closest of the Senshi, just as courage is the virtue most necessary to reaching our higher selves.
Minako, Sailor Venus, is also very close to Usagi, not so much because of any personality elements, but because they are simply so similar. They are physically quite close, being blue-eyed blondes, and of a similar height. Minako and Rei are the two Senshi who best understand Usagi, and in this way, Usagi represents the union of opposites. Minako is love and Rei is war. In Usagi, these two virtues come together to make her very strong.
Minako's similarity to Usagi is more than skin-deep, and also very symbolic. First of all, their physical likeness is most likely more than a coincidence. In anime, hair and eye color are used to identify characters, since their faces all look the same. Rei's hair is black, Makoto's hair is brown, and Ami's hair is blue! In anime, unusual hair colors are quite common. There were all sorts of choices that could have been made for Usagi's hair and eyes, (Minako was developed first, and was indeed the prototype for Sailor Moon,) but the choice was made to make her much like Minako. Also, both live with two parents and a younger brother, and both have guardian cats, sent from the Moon Kingdom to watch over the Senshi. Minako was at first Sailor V, a sailor-suited heroine quite similar to Sailor Moon, and was also thought at one point to be the missing Moon Princess the Senshi had been searching for. Instead, Usagi was revealed to be the one.
The reason for all this similarity is that Minako is something for Usagi to shoot for. She is a pretty fighter for love and justice, capable of taking care of herself and her friends, and overcoming her ditziness to do what is needed. At first, Usagi can do none of these things. As time passes, though, she grows, and soon overshoots Minako. In the final battle of the final series, Usagi against Sailor Galaxia, Usagi triumphs where the rest of the Senshi have failed and lost their lives.
Makoto is strength, and sometimes is isolated because of it. She has endured great hardships in her life, from losing her parents early on to being expelled from a number of schools for fighting. She is a very feminine person, and her tall size makes life tough for her. She also never backs down from a fight or an injustice, and so is usually in the middle of a brawl. Usagi reaches her when Makoto is sunk in a depression by being nice and caring. Their relationship symbolizes the need to temper strength with sweetness, because Makoto is always at her best with Usagi by her side.
"Mamoru" means "protector" in Japanese, and that is Mamoru's function. He is the defender of Sailor Moon, the Moon Princess, even when she drives him up the wall. Unfortunately, he is usually the one who needs defending and rescuing. Queen Beryl of the Dark Kingdom kidnaps and brainwashes him, his future self keeps sending him nightmares to test his devotion to Usagi, Fiore, the villain from the R movie, accidentally stabs him while attacking Sailor Moon, and he is the first to die at the hands of Galaxia. Although Sailor Moon needs his stability and protectiveness, he is less able than she to defend, since he lacks the balance she has. His main function is really to bring out the best in her.
Sailor Moon uses a great deal of symbolism in its characters, their
powers and relationships. There are many more Senshi in the five Sailor
Moon series. The Outer Senshi, Sailors Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto,
are very different from their Inner counterparts. Then there are the Sailor
Starlights, and even evil Senshi known as the Sailor Anima-mates. However,
an analysis of these is beyond the scope of this essay. The five Inner
Senshi and Tuxedo Mask provide a sufficient overview of the rich symbols
used in this anime. So who says cartoons are just for kids?