In Honor of International Sailor Moon Day
While I am not a big manga and anime fan, I do have a personal affinity for Sailor Moon and the ’90s TV series I watched as a kid. I loved the series when I was younger and would be so excited to watch when I came home from school. Recently I discovered the reboot series called Sailor Moon Crystal after seeing a promo on Netflix for the newly released films Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie (2021). Naturally, I went down a rabbit hole and watched the entire Sailor Moon Crystal series before watching the Netflix films. While I absolutely loved the ’90s series, I quite enjoyed the reboot series particularly because the updated animation and a bigger emphasis on the love story between Usagi and Mamoru. Don’t get me wrong, the compressed Sailor Moon Crystal series definitely felt rushed but it did follow the manga series more closely which is always a plus.
I definitely plan on rewatching the ’90s series sometime in the future especially now that they’ve been re-released and dubbed accordingly. It will be a large undertaking since there are 5 seasons with ~35 episodes or so each season plus it’s only available on Hulu right now and I can’t stand the amount of commercials/ads I get while watching on that streaming service. In the future I will likely do a full main character ranking and potential compare the ’90s series with Sailor Moon Crystal (clearly my passion for Sailor Moon has been reignited).
Sailor Guardians Ranked
In honor of International Sailor Moon Day (aka Usagi’s birthday) I thought I’d rank all the Sailor Guardians since I have just finished the Sailor Moon Crystal series and the Eternal films. The ranking is solely based on their likeability, powers, personalities, character development and just my personal opinion. Let’s be real – we all have our favorite and own opinions about who is the best, who is the most powerful and so further but this is just one woman’s perspective. Also, I didn’t include the Sailor Quartet or the Sailor Starlights as I wanted to focus solely on the Inner and Outer Milky Way Solar System Guardians but both those groups are pretty cool too.
10. Sailor Chibi Moon (Chibiusa)
We all know Chibiusa can be extremely annoying and sometimes just outright disrespectful even to Sailor Moon but I wouldn’t say I dislike Chibiusa. She’s definitely not my favorite guardian but I did enjoy watching her mature as the series progressed plus as she gets older you see she can be very powerful at times. I would love to see her story progress into another manga / series in the future especially with the Sailor Quartet being her future guardians.
9. Sailor Neptune (Michiru Kaioh)
Personally, I loved her style and her powers which are pretty powerful but I couldn’t relate to her ‘perfect’ persona that much so that’s why she is #9 on the list. At times she also seems a bit cold and distant (thinking about it….people say that about me sometimes….) and we don’t have much background on her story which adds a little bit of mystery to her character putting her before Sailor Chibi Moon.
8. Sailor Venus (Minako Aino)
So I didn’t read the manga series Codename: Sailor V like some of the other fans of Sailor Moon so maybe if I do her placement will change. Like I said before there isn’t a Sailor Guardian that I don’t like but Sailor Venus at times was just so boy-crazy I couldn’t really relate to her character at all. As the leader of the Inner Solar System Sailor Guardians I think Sailor Venus is extremely dedicated to protecting Sailor Moon and truly values her friendship. Plus she was the first of the Sailor Guardians to awake with the help of her guardian cat Artemis, which I personally love their dynamic.
7. Sailor Uranus (Haruka Tenoh)
One of the best qualities of Sailor Uranus is their personality that seems so guarded at times is actually really caring. Their dedication to protecting Sailor Moon is extremely important similar to the other Outer Sailor Guardians, Sailor Uranus is very dedicated to their duty of protecting the outer planets.
6. Sailor Mercury (Ami Mizuno)
Upon her introduction into the series – I loved Ami and her shy demeanor. I feel she is definitely one of the more under appreciated senshi but I think a lot of it has to do with her not being super powerful and her storyline not being as relatable (at least in Western cultures) as some of the other senshi. Sailor Mercury serves as the brains and strategist of the Inner Solar System Sailor Guardians.
5. Sailor Jupiter (Makoto Kino)
In my opinion of the Inner Solar System Sailor Guardians, Sailor Jupiter is the most powerful which in part might be due to the fact she is trained in marital arts unlike the other senshi. Sailor Jupiter is overall a pretty well developed and relatable character which puts her at #5 on my list. She was bullied in school for her looks (tall, curly hair) and her ‘rough around the edges’ attitude. However, she is actually really kind and gentle with one day hoping to have a family.
4. Sailor Mars (Rei Hino)
Sailor Mars is not only a Sailor Guardian but she is also a Shinto shrine maiden which just adds to her story. Unlike the other guardians she has the ability to foresee evil spirits which means she is the only guardian with powers in her civilian form. Similar to Sailor Pluto (see below) she is extremely dedicated to her duties in life as well as very dedicated to her friendship with Usagi & the rest of the Sailor Guardians.
3. Sailor Pluto (Setsuna Meioh)
Okay, I know a lot of people are ‘whatever’ about Sailor Pluto but she is very high on my list because she is so incredibly dedicated to her duty. Sailor Pluto serves as the Guardian of the Space-Time Door and with that comes a great (and lonely) responsibility. Her loneliness and dedication are some of her strongest qualities putting her at the top of my list. Not only that but she has the ability to stop time and while it is forbidden to use this power, she ends up using it to save Sailor Moon and the others – which costs her, her life.
2. Sailor Saturn (Hotaru Tomoe)
Sailor Saturn is a fan favorite, for sure. She is one of the strongest beings in the universe….she can use her weapon (the Silence Glaive) to turn an entire planet to dust and reset the evolution of its civilization to zero without saying a word. Her power alone is one of the reasons she is so high on the list but also just her character Hotaru has a darkness around her that has always been mysterious, which is an aspect of characters I tend to really like.
1. Sailor Moon (Usagi Tsukino)
Maybe it is a cliché by having the title character as my number 1 but honestly, she is the series. From start to finish it has been about her and her journey with her friends joining in along the way. Yes, Sailor Moon can be a lazy crybaby at times but she destined to be the elegant and very powerful Neo Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom and I can’t but enjoy her progression as a character. I think the fact of knowing her future makes the dramatic moments she has worth it but all-in-all she is the series.
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