Usagi Tsukino (月野 うさぎ, Tsukino Usagi) is the civilian identity of the Sailor Guardian of Love and Justice, Sailor Moon (セーラームーン, Seeraa Muun), who serves as the titular protagonist of the 90s anime. Originally from a prosperous civilization on the Moon known as the Moon Kingdom, she was reborn on Earth and re-awoke as the leader of the Sailor Senshi.
Nomenclature & Etymology[]
Etymology[]
Usagi is written in the hiragana spelling of the Japanese word for "rabbit" (うさぎ, Usagi).
Tsukino, The kanji of Tsuki (月) translates to "moon" while the kanji for no (野) translates to "field" or "civilian". The syllable no (の) also indicates possession, so while the literal translation of her family name could be "moon field" or "moon civilian", others may translate it as "of the moon."
Her full name, when said in the Japanese naming-order, Tsukino Usagi, gives two additional puns: No-Usagi (野うさぎ), meaning "wild rabbit"; and Tsuki no Usagi (月のうさぎ), meaning "Rabbit of the Moon". The latter derives from an Asian folktale about a rabbit that is said to reside on the Moon.
Nomenclature[]
Naoko Takeuchi provided many additional details on Usagi which include:
- Blood Type: 0[1][2]
- Zodiac Sign: Cancer[1][2] - Ruled by the Moon
- Birthstone: Pearl[2][3]
Appearance[]
Civilian[]
Usagi has blue eyes and long blonde hair that she wears in odango.
The outfit that Usagi usually wears is a light blue middle school uniform (which later became her iconic everyday outfit), which has a blue sailor collar with two white stripes. She has a dark pink ribbon on the front of her uniform, which she ties her magical locket to. She has a white school top with blue sleeves that have white stripes on, like the collar. In the summer, she wears a white top with short puffy sleeves. She has a blue pleated skirt with a blue ribbon on the back. She usually wears white socks and black cross-strap Mary Jane shoes.
Her primary casual outfit is usually seen until the end of the third season where she was seen wearing a light blue denim blazer with two chest pockets in each sides, a light green long sleeved button-up shirt, a pale pink long pleated skirt, light blue socks and white and brown dress shoes. Her odango hairstyle has a matching two pale pink bows in each sides. In the fourth season, her primary outfit has a minor color change; her denim blazer becomes blue, her button-up shirt and socks are green and both her two small bows and her long pleated skirt are off-white. For sleep wear she usually wears either a a full or half sleeves pink shirt with pink pajamas. In Sailor Stars they become green.
In Sailor Stars, she now wears a standard Azabu Juban senior high school uniform (due to her now being in high school) as her sailor collar, ribbon, pleated skirt and back ribbon are dark blue and the two stripes are red.
Sailor Moon[]
Sailor Moon’s original uniform consists of a white leotard with a blue-collar that has two stripes on it, white gloves with three red arm fittings that reach just below her elbows, shoulder pads, and a pleated blue skirt with a puffy white belt sat above it, along with chest armor with a dark pink bow on top and at the back of her belt. She also wore a pair of dark pink knee-high boots with a white border at the triangular top pointing upwards with crescent moons, pearl dangle earrings with a crescent moon beneath, white-bordered red circular hairpieces (one on each odango), a choker with a gold crescent moon on it and a tiara with a red gem in the center. Her brooch is worn in the middle of her chest bow. When she gains Moon Crystal Power Makeup, her brooch changes to the Crystal Star, while retaining all of the same features as her original outfit.
When she gains Moon Cosmic Power Makeup, the red gem on her tiara changes to a crescent moon, the crescent moon on her choker changes to a heart, and her brooch becomes the Cosmic Heart Compact.
Super Sailor Moon[]
As Super Sailor Moon, her uniform almost completely changed; she has two wing-like barrettes in her hair, her earrings are no longer dangling moons, but simply crescent moons affixed to her ears. Her choker is yellow with a red heart in the center. The stripes on her collar change from white to yellow and her shoulder pads are translucent and more wing-like in shape. Her brooch turns light pink, and her back waist bow becomes long, white and billowy with a golden belt that sits above her usual white belt, and a second Cosmic Heart Compact is attached to the center of her belt. However, the most obvious change is her skirt; it is now white with a yellow, green and blue gradient at the bottom.
In Super S, she retains this outfit, however the ribbons from her back waist bow has been shortened that reaches below the knee, her brooch becomes the Crisis Moon Compact, and her skirt has yellow and blue stripes instead of a gradient on the bottom.
Eternal Sailor Moon[]
In this form, her uniform underwent the most radical changes; she no longer wears a tiara and instead has a gold crescent moon on her forehead, her earrings have a star at the bottom of each crescent moon. Her leotard no longer has chest armor, her choker is red with a gold heart and a crescent moon under it while wearing the same white wing barrettes in her hair. The collar itself is like her old one but is dark blue with three gold stripes and in place of her shoulder pads are short solid pink bubble-like sleeves with a red band at the end. Her bow is now a pair of white angel wings with the Eternal Moon Article in the front. Her gloves are now up to her upper arm and have wings on the sides of the red bands on the end, and have a red v-shape border on her wrists with crescent moons on the tip. Her skirt is attached to her top in a red v-shape with a crescent in the center of the v along with three layers on it; the top layer is yellow, the middle layer is red and the bottom layer is blue. Her back bow is replaced with a huge set of angel wings and two very long, thin red ribbons trailing down from them. Her boots are now white with red v-shape borders going downwards with a crescent moon on them.
Princess Serenity[]
Usagi occasionally takes the form of her previous life: Princess Serenity. As Princess Serenity, her tiara is replaced by a golden crescent moon and she wears a long flowing white dress.
Personality[]
Usagi is a kind and cheery person. She loves eating food like candy, her friends and she will do anything to avoid anyone getting hurt. This includes sacrificing herself or something she has in order to help a single person, even if it's a bad idea or people advise her against it.
However, it was shown that she cares very deeply for her friends and family. She is very trusting and believes that everyone has a better nature. This could be seen as both a character strength and a character flaw at times. She did not believe in killing innocent humans, even when they had been transformed into vicious monsters, and always sought ways to heal them instead.
Usagi has also shown a great belief in true love and always helping others, no matter what they may have done to her or others. Several episodes show that she has no problem helping people to the best of her abilities, even people she just met shortly. Additionally, Usagi has shown great interest in crushes and marriages; she frequently crushes on people she considers attractive (even moreso early in the series) and fantasizes about various scenarios; some of these involve her getting married or being in romantic situations, while others show what she envisions would be an ideal life. However, she eventually realizes her true love is Mamoru and her fantasies are (mostly) relegated to him from that point onward.
Usagi is known to be bad at studying, usually always getting scores lower than 30 on her tests. She has shown a tendency to dislike delicate work; this has ranged from cooking, sewing, and others. In episode 4, Naru noted that she wasn't very good at swimming. However, she enjoys activities which enhance her physical beauty; this ranges at times, such as to dieting and photography.
Over the course of the series, Usagi matured a great deal although she was still prone to some childish behavior and bouts of silliness; she became a capable young woman.
Information[]
Background[]
Usagi was the oldest of two siblings and lived with her parents, Kenji and Ikuko Tsukino, and her younger brother, Shingo Tsukino. She lived an average life prior to the series with her friends: Naru, Umino, Yumiko, and Kuri, among others. Her homeroom teacher is Miss Haruna.
Sailor Moon (Season 1)[]
After rushing to school because she overslept, she spots some kids tormenting a black cat; putting band-aids on the cat's forehead. After Usagi chases the boys away, she removes the band-aids to reveal a crescent moon on the cat's forehead.
Later, Usagi received a poor grade on her exam and tries to toss it away. The crumpled up paper hit a man on the head, named Mamoru Chiba, who then began taunting her throughout the first half of the season.
It was later that night that the cat, named Luna, spoke to Usagi about the new enemy attacking Earth; the Dark Kingdom. To prove that it was not a dream, Luna gave her a magic brooch that allowed Usagi to become Sailor Moon. It was on her first mission where she met the mysterious Tuxedo Mask and had crushes on him from then on.
For a while, Usagi struggled on with school, as well as the fight against the Dark Kingdom on her own -with the help of Tuxedo Mask. Eventually, she was joined by school genius Ami Mizuno; a classmate of Usagi's who Luna suspected might be a youma. Ami was later revealed to be Sailor Mercury.
Usagi and Ami then continue to fight the Dark Kingdom's minions. Then, Usagi meets Rei Hino, a teenage shrine priestess who went to a private school. Like Ami, she was a Sailor Senshi. The Guardian of Fire and Passion, Sailor Mars. They began hanging out together and Rei joins Ami and Usagi as they continued to fight against the Dark Kingdom.
Sometimes, Usagi would argue with Rei. The arguments would center around Usagi's laid-back attitude towards responsibilities or the rivalry of Tuxedo Mask's affection.
One day, Usagi was running late for school when she accidentally ran into a group of guys who began to pick on her. She was rescued by a new transfer student, Makoto Kino. While other students avoided Makoto, due to her history of violence in her previous school, Usagi kindly introduced herself, and Makoto shared her food with her. Makoto was revealed to be the Sailor Senshi of Lightning and Courage: Sailor Jupiter; and joined the three of the other Sailor Senshi.
Shortly after being introduced to Sailor Venus, Usagi is once again confronted by Mamoru. He apologizes to her for all the times he made fun of her. Seeing that he was injured, Usagi becomes concerned and follows him into a Dark Kingdom trap. Usagi was forced to transform into Sailor Moon to save her and Mamoru's life; who then revealed himself to be Tuxedo Mask. After he was seriously injured in a sneak-attack by Zoisite, Sailor Moon gained the Legendary Silver Crystal and was revealed to be Princess Serenity.
Tuxedo Mask was then kidnapped by the Dark Kingdom and Usagi fell into a depressed state; worrying about him. Once he was revealed to be alive but under the control of the Dark Kingdom, Usagi gained back her determination to save him. After thwarting many of the Dark Kingdom's attempts to capture the Silver Crystal, Usagi and the Sailor Senshi traveled to the North Pole. They aimed for a place known as D-Point, to defeat Queen Beryl and save Tuxedo Mask.
On their way across the tundra, one by one Usagi's friends were forced to sacrifice themselves to help her reach the base. After finally arriving at the Dark Kingdom headquarters, she had to fight against Mamoru, who was still under the enemy's control. Eventually, Usagi was able to break the hold over him, only to have him die in her arms when he was protecting her.
In the final battle, she faced off against the leader of the Dark Kingdom; using up all her strength and destroying it. She collapsed and the blast spread throughout the entire area, consuming everyone.
The next morning, Usagi woke up in bed, rushing to school with no memory of her time as Sailor Moon. The other Sailor Senshi and Mamoru are alive as well and also have lost their memories about their powers.
Sailor Moon R (Makai Tree arc)[]
During this story arc, two aliens arrive on Earth from a mysterious tree, which provides them with sap they need to stay alive. However, it must be fed energy, and the two eventually decide to steal energy from humans. Luna is forced to reawaken Usagi as Sailor Moon to stop an attacking Cardian. Sailor Moon eventually loses the ability to use Moon Tiara Action, as her tiara stops spinning mid-attack. During the story arc, Usagi's brooch is destroyed by a Cardian, and she de-transforms; eventually she realizes this is because her resolve to fight was weakened by her desire to be normal (which also caused her tiara to no longer function). She encounters Queen Serenity, who repairs her brooch, transforming it into a new one. She also acquires a new transformation phrase, and gains a new attack, which she uses for the rest of R to defeat enemies.
Usagi is also frequently saved by a mysterious hero resembling Tuxedo Mask, known as the Moonlight Knight.
Throughout the series, Ail develops a crush on Usagi, although his feelings are unreciprocated. Usagi continues trying to become closer to Mamoru through the arc and help his memories return. At the end of the arc, Usagi and the other Inner Senshi are led into Ail and An's apartment, where they encounter the Makai Tree. Usagi is eventually able to teach Ail and An the value of true love after showing her devotion to protect Mamoru multiple times from the Makai Tree's vicious assaults, and his reciprocal efforts to protect her in turn. Mamoru realizes he loves Usagi, and it's revealed that the Moonlight Knight was a psychic projection of Mamoru born out of a desire to protect Sailor Moon. As he has now rediscovered his feelings for her, the Moonlight Knight rejoins his body, causing him to once again consciously fall in love with Usagi. Upon Ail and An's request, Sailor Moon uses Moon Princess Halation to cleanse the Makai Tree, causing it to be reborn into a seedling. Ail and An leave Earth to start anew with the sapling Makai Tree on a peaceful planet, ending the story arc.
Sailor Moon R (Black Moon arc)[]
After Mamoru regained his memories, he and Usagi began dating. One of their dates was interrupted by a little girl, Chibiusa, who was searching for the Silver Crystal. Along with her, a new enemy appeared, the Black Moon Clan, who were searching for Chibiusa. Usagi made a vow to protect Chibiusa following their attempts to track her down. Shortly after their arrival, Mamoru began having visions of Usagi in danger in the future, and broke up with her to avoid causing her pain or death, but left Usagi heartbroken. While fighting the Black Moon Clan, Usagi and the Inner Senshi learned Chibiusa was from the future and needed help to awaken her mother from a deep slumber. Eventually, the Ayakashi Sisters began to regret working for Rubeus, and Sailor Moon used Moon Crystal Power to reform them, allowing them to settle into present day Tokyo as normal humans. Shortly afterwards, Chibiusa stole the Silver Crystal from Usagi and, while searching for her, the other Sailor Senshi were abducted by Rubeus, who held them as leverage against Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon arrived, followed by Chibiusa, and the two were taken aboard Rubeus's ship. Sailor Moon fought Rubeus, struggling against the environment that the ship's crystal created and manipulated, until Chibiusa destroyed the ship's crystal, freeing the other Senshi and causing the ship to become unstable. The Senshi and Chibiusa teleported off of the ship shortly before it exploded, killing Rubeus who was still aboard it.
After Chibiusa ended up trapped in a nightmare, Usagi met Sailor Pluto through Luna-P, who assisted in helping allow the Senshi to enter Chibiusa's dream and wake her. As they continued to fight the Black Moon Clan, Usagi discovered that Mamoru was having nightmares of her dying. Usagi confronted him on this and they made a pact to get back together and face the future together. She and the others ended up going to Crystal Tokyo, where they met King Endymion. He told them about the Black Moon Clan, and that Chibiusa is Usagi and Mamoru's future daughter whom King Endymion calls her as Small Lady. Usagi is abducted by Prince Demande, the leader of the Black Moon Clan, but is rescued later by Mamoru. She and the others later found Chibiusa had been taken by the Black Moon Clan and been brainwashed to be their new commander, Black Lady. Sailor Moon tried to restore her memories a few times, but her efforts were thwarted by Wiseman. Saphir tells the Sailor Senshi and Demande about the plot Wiseman had to have the Dark Gate opened. Unfortunately, he is killed by Wiseman before he can fully explain his plan to his brother. When exploring the Dark Crystal structure, Sailor Moon is again taken by Demande, who tried to brainwash her, but she resisted his efforts and she tried to explain the love that humans feel. Demande eventually began to realize the error of his ways, but they were interrupted by Wiseman attacking Demande. Prince Demande died protecting Sailor Moon after realizing his ways were wrong, and Usagi was reunited with her friends. Usagi tries to revert Chibiusa back to her normal self, but she is unsuccessful, as Wiseman has imbued her memories with feelings of resent and animosity towards Usagi. Sailor Moon eventually faces off against Black Lady as the Dark Gate begins to open, and Usagi transforms into Neo-Queen Serenity using her Silver Crystal to repel Black Lady's powers from the dark crystal. Neo-Queen Serenity did her best to put her daughter back to her normal state and also tells her that everyone is always getting steamed by their parents and it was their job to set limits, not to make their children to become rude and selfish. She uses her Silver Crystal to make Black Lady remember the good times with the Inner Sensei including herself. Realizing she was truly loved by them, she hugged her mother before reverting back into Chibiusa and she reverted back into Sailor Moon in her weakened state. Chibiusa decided to help her fight off Wiseman when Sailor Moon decided to vaporize him using the Silver Crystal while transforming to her mother, Neo-Queen Serenity. The Silver Crystal of the future emerges from Chibiusa's body and later transforms into Small Lady Princess Serenity to help her mother, and combined together with the power of the present Silver Crystal, Tuxedo Mask, and the Inner Senshi, Wiseman is overwhelmed and killed and the Dark Gate is destroyed, along with the Evil Black Crystal. Neo-Queen Serenity informs both Usagi and Chibiusa that both were survived from the collision and telling her daughter that she is waiting. In the aftermath, Usagi and Chibiusa have a heartfelt goodbye as Chibiusa returns home to the future, and Mamoru comforts Usagi. At the end of the season, Chibiusa reunites with her parents and the Inner Senshi from Crystal Tokyo and Neo-Queen Serenity welcomes her daughter back home.
Sailor Moon S[]
When Rei was first victimized by a Daimon sent by both Professor Souichi Tomoe and was assisted by Kaolinite, Usagi transforms into Sailor Moon to rescue her but her attack, Moon Princess Halation didn't work on the Daimon and it manages to destroy her brooch, causing her to detransformed back into Usagi and was helplessly to watch Rei getting extracted her heart crystal from a Daimon. The Daimon was eventually destroyed by two Outer Senshi in sillouette using both World Shaking and Deep Submerge respectively and they inspect Rei's heart crystal was not pure and they returned the heart back to Rei before leaving. Usagi is later rescued by Mamoru as Tuxedo Mask from a Daimon's attack which led themselves to form a new heart brooch and a new rod, leading Usagi to transform into Sailor Moon and destroys the Daimon with a new move, Moon Spiral Heart Attack. This move is used against both Kaolinite and Eudial's Daimons.
Sailor Moon SuperS[]
Sailor Moon Sailor Stars (Nehellenia arc)[]
Sailor Moon Sailor Stars (Stars arc)[]
Sailor Guardian Info[]
Usagi can transform into a "Sailor Soldier" by wearing a special device (usually a brooch) and shouting a special command that activates the device. Her original transformation command is "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!" (ムーンプリズムパワー、メイクアップ, Muun Purizumu Pawaa, Meiku Appu). She gains a new basic transformation sequence for each of the five major story arcs.
As the protagonist and leader, Usagi has special and stronger powers than any of the other characters in the series. Her physical attacks, usually one-offs and not always successful, include Sailor Moon Kick.
One of her techniques is the "Supersonic Wave" (超音波, Chouonpa), which involves her red hairpieces acting as an amplifier for her wailing.
Phrases[]
- Moon Prism Power, Make Up
- Moon Power, change me into a...
- Moon Crystal Power, Make Up
- Moon Cosmic Power, Make Up
- Crisis, Make Up
- Moon Crisis, Make Up
- Moon Eternal, Make Up
Attacks[]
- Supersonic Waves
- Sailor Moon Kick
- Double Sailor Moon Kick
- Sailor Body Attack
- Moon Tiara Action
- Moon Tiara Stardust
- Moon Prism Power
- Moon Healing Escalation
- Moon Crystal Power
- Moon Princess Halation
- Moon Spiral Heart Attack
- Rainbow Moon Heartache
- Moon Cosmic Power
- Moon Crisis Power
- Moon Gorgeous Meditation
- Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss
- Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss
Items[]
- Transformation Brooch
- Disguise Pen
- Crystal Star
- Cosmic Heart Compact
- Silver Crystal
- Holy Grail
- Crisis Moon Compact
- Eternal Moon Article
Weapons[]
- Red Hair Pieces
- Tiara
- Moon Stick
- Cutie Moon Rod
- Spiral Heart Moon Rod
- Moon Kaleido Scope
- Eternal Tiare
- Holy Moon Chalice
- Moon Power Tiare
- Sword of Sealing
Development[]
Usagi's signature hairstyle derives from a "good luck charm" of the artist's. In college, Naoko Takeuchi would put her own hair up in odango before difficult class exams.[4] By the intermediate stages of development, Takeuchi planned to have the character's hair be blonde in civilian form and change to silver when she transformed, but she was told by her editor that silver hair would be too plain for cover art. Stylistic use of differently-colored hair does sometimes appear in later artwork. Out of all the Sailor Senshi, Usagi's personality is closest to Takeuchi's own personality at the time that the series was created.[5]
Certain background details of Usagi's character were chosen symbolically. For instance, her Western astrological sign is given as Cancer, which in astrology corresponds to the moon. In reference to a popular Japanese belief. Usagi's blood type, O, supposedly indicates friendliness, optimism, and carelessness.
Gallery[]
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Trivia[]
- In the original DiC English dub, Usagi is named "Serena" because the name is very close in spelling and pronunciation to "Serenity".
- In early promotional videos by DiC and the unsuccessful live action pilot she was called "Victoria"; on Kodansha's English website, she was initially referred to as "Celeste".
- Usagi was the only one of the Inner Senshi who was not part of the Three Lights fan club in the anime.
- Kotono Mitsuishi, the actress who played Usagi in the anime, was sick during the production of episodes 44 through 50; during that time the character was instead voiced by Kae Araki who later voiced Chibiusa. Later, Kotono Mitsuishi re-recorded Usagi's monologue from episode 46, which was uploaded on Youtube.
- Usagi has mistaken alcohol for punch and gotten accidentally drunk on two occasions: the first was in Episode 22 and the second in Episode 108.
- Usagi is the only character to appear in all 200 episodes and in all 3 movies.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Official Sailor Moon website; Sailor Moon's Profile
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 90's anime: Usagi's introduction in Episodes 2, 3, 4, and 5.
- ↑ Materials Collection - Pages on Usagi
- ↑ From Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Shinsouban Volume 3.
- ↑ Sailor Games - Interview of Naoko Takeuchi at the San Diego Comic-con
