Sailor Lead Crow (manga)

Sailor Lead Crow was the third of the Sailor Animamates to be introduced in the manga. This is original depiction of the character created by Naoko Takeuchi.

Nomenclature & Etymology

Etymology

In the anime, Sailor Lead Crow used the pseudonym "Akane Karasuma". "Akane" (茜) means "madder," a shade of red, and "karasu" (鴉) means "crow," making her name mean "red crow," a pun on "Lead Crow."

Lead is element number 82 on the periodic table. The words "lead" and "red" are written the same way in katakana, which is why Lead Crow's outfit and hair have a reddish hue and why TokyoPop mistranslated her name as "Sailor Red Crow" in their manga.

Appearance

Sailor Lead Crow has long red hair going down to her hips, dark brown eyes and tanned skin. On her forehead she has a golden star with a black feather through it and her earrings are red triangles. She wears a brown one piece bikini with a black corseted front, her sailor collar and boots share the same brown colour. Her knickers are red and match the colour of her choker, she has two black side panels that look like feathers attached to her bikini. She has black feathery crow wings and similar feathers on her shoulders. Like the other Animamates, she wears the Galactica bracelets.

Background

Manga

Sailor Lead Crow first appeared in the manga, in which she attacked and severely injuring Rei's grandfather. She then called out to Phobos and Deimos, who, it turned out, had trained alongside her on the planet Coronis when they were younger. The people of Coronis could turn from crow to human form and back with relative ease; however, Phobos, Deimos, and Lead Crow were the only three left from that planet, as Lead Crow had helped Sailor Galaxia to murder Sailor Coronis and destroy the planet.

Phobos and Deimos are shocked at her revelation and her newfound power, and try to evade her attacks, but are killed. After quickly dispatching her former allies and taking their star seeds, she then turned her attention to Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus and attacked them, grabbing Sailor Mars and threatening Sailor Venus. Before she could properly dispose of them, Eternal Sailor Moon appeared, and killed Sailor Lead Crow with Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss.

It was later revealed that Lead Crow and the other Sailor Animamates were not real Sailor Senshi, but were only granted their powers by Galaxia in exchange for killing their home world's true protectors. Lead Crow assumed the powers of Sailor Coronis.

Anime

Sailor Lead Crow appeared along side Sailor Aluminum Siren as Sailor Galaxia was warning Sailor Iron Mouse that if she didn't find a true star seed soon, she would be disposed of. After Iron Mouse was killed by Galaxia for her constant failures, Lead Crow and Aluminum Siren took on Iron Mouse's responsibilities. Working under the pretense of being a talent agent for the Ginga TV station named Akane Karasuma, Lead Crow's job was to scout for potential Star Seeds and extract them with her partner, Sailor Aluminum Siren.

After Aluminum Siren was killed by Galaxia for failing to find the true star seed she had guaranteed. Sailor Tin Nyanko supported Galaxia's decision, claiming Aluminum Siren was lying about finding a true star seed. Lead Crow was forced to work with Tin Nyanko afterwards. Unlike the partnership with Aluminum Siren, Lead Crow's partnership with Tin Nyanko was tense and sometimes hostile. Lead Crow was upstaged and humiliated at every turn by the new, overly ambitious partner. Tin Nyanko also had no hesitation in insulting Aluminum Seiren's memory. The two Animamates constantly argued with one another even in front of the bewildered Sailor Senshi. At one point, Tin Nyanko tied up Lead Crow so she could obtain a true star seed on her own.

Finally, Lead Crow found the solution to her problems: Aluminum Siren had written Sailor Moon's true identity in her diary. This led her to Juuban Municipal High School, where she easily subdued the Senshi, confronted Sailor Moon and managed to extract her Star Seed after threatening to use a miniature black hole to devour the school. However, Tin Nyanko betrayed her, striking Lead Crow, causing her to drop the container holding the black hole, and it was unleashed in front of the Sailor Animamate. She, Usagi, and Chibi Chibi were sucked in. As she died, Tin Nyanko appeared to taunt her one last time, and Lead Crow died, apologizing to Aluminum Siren.

Sera Myu

For her background in the musicals, click here.

Powers

Galactica Tornado- This was Sailor Lead Crow's primary attack. It was a blast of energy and high-speed wind, which was directed towards her enemies.