"Akuryo Taisan" is a purifying power Rei can use with her Ofuda as a priestess and Sailor Guardian. It is one of her first attacks as Sailor Mars in all versions of Sailor Moon including the manga, 90s anime, crystal, live-action, and Sera Myu.
Etymology[]
"Akuryo Taisan" is a Japanese phrase used to purify and exorcise demons or any evil. It has been localized into English as "Evil Spirit, Be Gone" and "Evil Spirit, Be Exorcised" and "Evil Spirits Disperse."
90s Anime[]
Rei learned the chant long before she became a Sailor Guardian and first uses it when she meets Usagi in episode 10 feeling an evil spirit. She first used it as Sailor Mars in the subsequent episode to dispel Murid's poison and keep her arm from turning to stone. Usually, it is used to immobilize an enemy, giving the Sailor Senshi time to attack, or to purify people of an evil influence.
The attack shows Sailor Mars chanting the kuji-in, interspersed with cuts showing a dark figure with a wrathful, fanged face amidst flames carrying a sword and a lariat. Unlike most attacks the Sailor Senshi learn which are not seen again once newer attacks are learned, Rei continues to use Akyryo Taisan against enemies including Daimons in Sailor Moon S.
The dark figure who flashes on the screen as Rei chants the kuji-in is likely Acala or "the immovable one." He is a figure in Buddhism who protects all living things by purifying all impediments and defilement with fire to allow one to reach enlightenment.
Manga[]
This attack appeared in many forms in the manga. When Rei first used it in Act 3, it looked similar to the anime in that she threw an ofuda at Usagi when she felt an evil presence. When she used the attack later after transforming into Sailor Mars, the attack did not seem to include the use of any ofuda but rather appeared as a ball of fiery energy, similar to Youma Taisan. At that point, she used the attack to surround Jadeite with flames which burned him to death. When she used against Nephrite's shadow in Act 4, it looked like a wall of flame. This was the only attack Rei ever used during the Dark Kingdom arc. After that arc she used it only one more time in the main manga storyline: during the Dream arc in Act 36, she used Akuryo Taisan with a single ofuda to repel Tiger's Eye. She also used it against Zoisite in the manga side story "Casablanca Memory," where Sailor Mars performed the attack by using numerous ofuda. In the third Exam Battle story, when Rei was possessed by Ghost Sistern, Sailor Venus had to use this attack to destroy the spirit, leading Rei to become very angry and annoyed at her later.
Live-Action[]
This attack first appeared in Act 3 of the live-action series, when Rei threw a single ofuda at floating leaves; this was the only time she used the attack as a civilian. She first used the attack as Sailor Mars against a Youma in Act 4. To perform this attack, she would first hold her hand to her chest, then circle her arms, brings them to her stomach, and finally extend her arms in front of her, releasing a stream of fire and ofuda from her hands. she also used a similar, but more powerful attack, Youma Taisan.
Musicals[]
The attack is used in the very first musical: Gaiden Dark Kingdom Fukkatsu Hen where Rei uses it against a fake Haruna Sakurada to force her to reveal her true identity as the Youma Manegin.
Video Games[]
This attack was used in two video games. In the game Sailor Moon for Super Fiacom, it was the second attack that the play could activate by simultaneously pressing the attack and jump buttons. When she performed the attack in this game, Sailor Mars raised her hand, making ofuda fly around her from bottom to top before they disappeared, hurting opponents on each side in the process. When the attack was successful in making contact with an enemy, however, some of Sailor Mars' life meter would be lost.
In the Sailor Moon arcade game, Sailor Mars required three crystals to perform this attack. During the attack's full-screen animation, she swirled around with two ofuda in her hands.
Crystal[]
After transforming into her standard Sailor form, as Sailor Mars, for the first time she had used her very first fire/flame-based powers in conjunction with her innate spiritual abilities and easily overpowered Jadeite's cryokinetic, frigiokinetic abilities with her combined flames and spiritual energies. It was so powerful that it almost killed the Shitennou. She similarly used this attack to Burning Mandala in Act 3, which unleashes steam of multiple fire rings and hoops at Jadeite. The pattern of the attack was done inconsistently throughout Sailor Moon Crystal.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This attack, Shabon Spray Freezing, Shabon Spray, and Moony Moony Love-Me Moon Chain are the only attacks in the Japanese dub not completely said in English.
- In the DiC English dub, she does not say the kuji-in like she did in Japanese and instead says, "I call upon the power of Mars! Fireballs Charge!"
- In that dub, Akuryo Taisan is known as "Fireballs Charge", "Evil Spirits Disperse", and "Evil Spirits Begone" and they bore no relation to her status as a shrine maiden giving no explanation why "Raye" could use it untransformed.
- The scenes of a figure surrounded by flames that appeared between each word of the chant were replaced by a fireball.
- Michie Tomizawa, the Japanese voice actress who played Rei Hino / Sailor Mars in 90s anime, confessed in an interview that she had mispronounced the character "Jin" (陣) as "Chin" (陳) in the first two episodes in which this spell was used until a member of the staff noticed the error and corrected her.
- In the French and Spanish manga, this was renamed "Vade retro, Satanas," which is a Latin exorcism usually translated as "Get thee behind me, Satan."
- In the Korean dub of the Sailor Moon anime, the kanji on the Ofuda were smudged.
- This is one of the only Sailor Senshi attacks that can be used de-transformed.