Michiru Kaio (海王 みちる, Kaiō Michiru) is the civilian identity and present-day incarnation of Sailor Neptune (セーラーネプチューン, Sērā Nepuchūn). She is a famous violinist and one of the Outer Sailor Guardians in the in the manga.
Quick Answers
What is the civilian identity of Sailor Neptune in the manga?
What does Michiru Kaiou's surname translate to in English?
What is Sailor Neptune's role among the Outer Sailor Guardians?
What is Michiru Kaiou's profession when she is not Sailor Neptune?
What planet is Sailor Neptune associated with in the manga?
Nomenclature & Etymology[]
Etymology[]
Michiru's surname (海王, kaiou) translates to "Sea King", based on the Japanese name of the planet Neptune (海王星, Kaiousei "Sea King Star", the given title of Neptune, the Roman god of the sea).
Michiru's first name means "rising".
Her full name means "Rising Sea King".
Appearance[]
Civilian[]
Michiru is an extremely beautiful and delicate-looking girl of slim stature and average height, with deep blue eyes and wavy teal hair that falls just past her shoulders. The epitome of elegance and femininity, she has an excellent sense of fashion, is always dressed smartly, and applying makeup or perfectly made up already. Usagi and Minako were both utterly dazzled by her beauty when they first saw her, and Usagi has gone as far as saying that Michiru is exactly what a fairy tale princess would be like.
Sailor Neptune[]
Sailor Neptune' sailor uniform consists of a white, chest-armored leotard, a dark teal sailor collar, a dark teal choker with a dark green gem with golden accents attached to it. A dark teal skirt with a white puffy belt sat above it, and a dark blue bow at the chest and at the back. She wears lace-up loose dark teal high heels, as well as white wrist-length gloves with three dark teal arm bands at the ends, and a dark green circular gem at the center of her chest bow. Her leotard does not have any stripes on it, and her shoulder pads have three layers. A golden tiara with a dark green, oval-shaped gem is located on her forehead, and she wears gold studs and has a planetary object surrounded by a ring dangling from them made to look like her own guardian planet.
Super Sailor Neptune[]
As Super Sailor Neptune, she wears an upgraded version of the Sailor Neptune sailor uniform. The only things that change are the length of her back bow, a dark green heart on her front bow, the sailor collar now features one white stripe, the shoulder pads last pad is more wing-like and translucent and her dark green gem is embedded in a yellow star.
Eternal Sailor Neptune[]
As Eternal Sailor Neptune, her outfit is almost completely altered. Her leotard no longer has chest armor, and the gemstone in the middle of her tiara is star-shaped. Her earrings have a dark sea green star dangling from a single golf stud. Her choker is v-shaped with a yellow star in the center. Her sailor collar has a singular gold stripe on it. The gem at the center of her chest bow is also star-shaped. Replacing her shoulder pads are short solid light sea green bubble-like sleeves with dark sea green fittings at the end. Her gloves now have dark sea green, v-shaped wristbands and are extended to reach her upper arms. And her skirt is attached to her leotard by a dark sea green and light sea green belt. A yellow star is connecting both belts in the center. Her skirt now consists of two layers; dark sea green on the top and light sea green on the bottom. Her belt is now made up of two ribbons, the bottom one being light sea green and the top one being dark sea green, the top one being very lengthy and extending past her skirt. Her back bow is now back to its original size but this time it’s a light sea green with narrow, long, dark sea green ribbons extending from it down to her knees, and she now has white knee-length boots; they have larger heels and dark sea green v-shaped borders at the top that have yellow stars in the center.
Princess Neptune[]
As Princess Neptune, she wears a sea-green gown
Personality[]
Elegant, sophisticated, though sometimes cold and capable of sharp anger, she has been described by Sailor Moon as 'the ideal princess'.
She is patient and caring, almost always offering a smile or laughter to a situation. While polite and calm to a fault, she is not the most social person, but when she does become close with someone it is because she truly wants to. She dislikes being patronized and will not indulge others.
This can make her look like a snob, and her seeming perfection at everything does not help this perception of her. She is a genuinely intelligent young woman, a prodigal violinist, and an artist, already famous for her endeavors. Her intelligence is also apparent through her acceptance to Mugen Academy, a school with a very high acceptance threshold; only geniuses of some field are permitted enrolment.
Information[]
Background[]
Michiru is a violinist of renown in the world of Sailor Moon. She is a first year high school student attending Mugen Academy alongside Haruka Tenou, whom she is dating. She is incredibly wealthy and owns a helicopter she calls the Kaio Maru. Like Haruka, it is unclear when she awoke as a Sailor Guardian but the two of them are already monitoring the Death Busters and Hotaru Tomoe acting undercover as students before the start of the Infinity arc. Haruka only transferred to the school recently but Michiru was already attending.
Infinity arc[]
Sailor Guardian Info[]
Sailor Neptune's abilities have ocean attributes owing to her planet being named after the Roman God of the Sea in English. This differentiates her from Sailor Mercury whose powers are based on fresh water and ice whose powers are derived from her planet's Japanese name. She wields her Talisman the Deep Aqua Mirror and her Marine Cathédrale to channel most of her abilities and, unlike the other Sailor Guardians, regularly uses and flaunts these items in her civilian life.
Phrases[]
Attacks[]
- Deep Submerge
- Submarine Reflection
- Submarine Violon Tide
- Galactica Violon Tide
- Sailor Planet Power Meditation
- Galactica Planet Attack
Items[]
Development[]
Michiru Kaiou[]
In concept art, Naoko Takeuchi had planned for Michiru and Haruka to be affiliated with the Takarazuka Revue. Also, she was originally intended to wear a bow in her hair when at school. Neither characteristic was carried over to the final version of her development.
According to the Materials Collection, she had kindness "as great as the sea".
Sailor Neptune[]
Sailor Neptune's character was not developed until partway through the Sailor Moon series after the other Sailor Guardians had already been established. When she was created she was made along with Sailor Uranus, the pair was meant to be "complementary but opposite characters", and were meant to work along with Sailor Pluto from the beginning. Sailor Neptune's visual design is made to evoke images of her element, the ocean. The choice of her colors along with the wavy quality of her hair, which Takeuchi even joked, might be thought of as seaweed hair.
Gallery[]
Infinity[]
Dream[]
Stars[]
Manga covers[]
Misc. art[]
Trivia[]
- Michiru's apartment number in the Infinity arc is "1306". If one removes the "1", they will get "306", the numbers of her birthday.
- Despite her apparent maturity, she is only a month older than Rei. She is in a higher school year because the Japanese School year starts in April.
- As with the other members of the Outer Senshi, her surname is also the name of a rail line in Tokyo.
- At the 1998 San Diego International Comics Convention, Naoko Takeuchi confirmed that Uranus and Neptune were indeed intended to be seen as lovers. "Uranus has the heart of a man, while Neptune is more girlish," she said.[4][5]
- The question "Are Uranus and Neptune lovers, and if so why did you make them gay?" came from a young female fan who wanted a clear answer. Naoko-san answered that "YES, they were a couple!"
- Naoko further commented that Neptune was "feminine" and Uranus "masculine" and joked they had a relationship because "they had lots of time on their hands."
- This relationship was changed in the 1st U.S. dub due to censorship.
- In a 1996 interview with Animerica magazine, Naoko Takeuchi stated that while "Sailor Moon is closest to me in terms of personality; Sailor Neptune is the opposite."
- Sailor Neptune's planetary symbol (♆) stands for the trident of the Greek and Roman god.
- Sailor Neptune is one of the only Senshi (besides Sailor Mars) who possesses exceptionally strong psychic abilities and the only Outer Senshi who has such powers.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Official Sailor Moon website; Sailor Neptune's Profile
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon (Volume 10)/Tankoubon - Michiru's Profile
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Materials Collection states Michiru is 16, born March 6th, and in her first year of high school. In Japan first year high school students are 15 turning 16. As the manga and Materials Collection consistently state the larger age for students regardless of time of year, these line up. The Infinity arc covers that whole school year. The Dream arc begins the following year on April 1st and the Stars arc finishes a few months after that so it is unlikely she has another birthday before the completion of the story.
- ↑ https://www.tuxedounmasked.com/what-information-did-naoko-share-with-american-sailor-moon-fans/
- ↑ http://www.theblackmoon.com/Naoko/take.html
