Category Archives: Articles

Long-form articles exploring an issue in-depth.

What Are 5 of My Favorite Bits of Sailor Moon Trivia?

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Filed under Articles, Making Of
ChibiUsa wants to know more!

ChibiUsa wants to know more!

It should probably come as no surprise that, in the course of researching the 270+ articles posted on Tuxedo Unmasked, I happen to run across a lot of small bits of trivia. While some of what I find is interesting (and detailed) enough to turn into a full-blown article, more often than not it’s just something I note down for future reference and go on with my life.

Today we’re going to do a bit of a “spring cleaning” of sorts and share five of my favorite bits of Sailor Moon-related trivia that I’ve run across over my nearly 3 years of researching the series. Though I’m sure most of you reading this are already pros when it comes to everything about the series, hopefully you’ll find at least one gem in this list that you’ve never heard before!

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Who Do the Genius Loci Villains in Sailor Moon Work For?

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Filed under Articles, In-Universe Lore, Language, Villains
Genius Loci Bonnoun

Genius Loci Bonnoun

“Genius what?! Thor’s brother wasn’t in Sailor Moon!”

If this was your first response upon reading the title, I really don’t blame you. The Genius Loci — not Loki, the aforementioned brother of Marvel‘s Thor — are a small subset of villains in the Sailor Moon universe that frequently end up end up getting overlooked.

Though often clumped together with the Lemures and the Dead Moon for reasons I’ll discuss below, it turns out that we actually know very little about these (mostly…) manga-only enemies, where they come from, and — possibly most importantly — who they work for.

Today we’ll be talking about the peculiar state in which the Genius Loci live, work, and perform evil deeds, and see if maybe we can learn a little more about their role in the Sailor Moon universe while we’re at it. Stick around!

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Why Is There No Sailor Sun in the Sailor Moon Universe?

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Filed under Articles, In-Universe Lore, Mamoru Chiba, Manga
Shush, Endymion, and let me tell you about my OC, Sailor Sun...

Shush, Endymion, and let me tell you about my OC, Sailor Sun…

The longer the Sailor Moon series went on, the more Sailor Soldiers we were introduced to, with Sailor Soldiers practically crawling out of the woodwork to join the cast in the fifth and final season, Sailor Stars.

And yet, despite the fact that we had countless Sailor Soldiers of planets, asteroids, dwarf planets, and even stars, there’s someone suspiciously absent from our solar system lineup: a Sailor Sun.

Today we’re going to talk about Sailor Sun’s absence in the Sailor Moon roster, and how this possibly relates all the way back to the Moon Kingdom and the Silver Crystal. I hope you left some room for breakfast, because this article is most definitely going to be sunny side up!1

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What is Kazuko Tadano’s Secret to Drawing Sailor Moon?

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Filed under Anime, Articles, Characters, Interview, Making Of
The Sailor Team

The Sailor Team

One question I often (not unreasonably) get asked is: why do I so rarely talk about Sailor Moon Crystal on this blog?

Truth be told, it’s not that I don’t want to talk about it. It’s rather that bringing the Sailor Moon Crystal series into the equation introduces several key issues into what we discuss here, including:

  1. the series takes place decades after the original manga/anime ran, and the world has since changed;
  2. the story tracks closely with the manga and doesn’t add too much new information; and
  3. Sailor Moon Crystal is still a work in progress, so any theories unique to the series could still change.

Fortunately for us, with the recent announcement1 that Kazuko Tadano — character designer for the first two seasons of the 1990s Sailor Moon anime — will be reprising her role as character designer for the upcoming Sailor Moon Crystal movie, this gives us a chance to take a look back into the past to hopefully answer some questions about the series’ future.

Today, we’ll be taking a deeper look into what Ms. Tadano thought of the characters in Sailor Moon, and her philosophy in how she draws women. Stick around, because things are about to get interesting!

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Does Every Object in Space Have a Sailor Senshi?

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Filed under Articles, In-Universe Lore, Inner Senshi, Outer Senshi, Starlights
Just how many Sailor Soldiers ARE there in the Solar System?

Just how many Sailor Soldiers ARE there in the Solar System?

If you’ve been involved with the Sailor Moon fandom as long as I have, I’m sure you’re quite familiar with all the absurd rumors that were running around in the early days, rampantly mixing original characters with the actual story, making it nearly impossible to tell what was real and what was fake.

Though Ms. Takeuchi never actually directly touches on the hows, whats, or whys involved in the connection between a human, their Sailor Crystal, and their respective celestial body, I think the information we can glean from the story tells us quite a bit.

Today we’ll be looking at just where that line in the sand is between what makes a Sailor Star Maker versus a Sailor Star Faker. For all you passionate Sailor Moon fans out there making your own custom characters, this one is going to be required reading!

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Why Does Hotaru Wear a Different Mugen Gakuen School Uniform?

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Filed under Articles, Death Busters, Hotaru Tomoe, In-Universe Lore
Don't be sad, Hotaru! You can wear whatever uniform you want!

Don’t be sad, Hotaru! You can wear whatever uniform you want!

It should probably come as no surprise that we often wind up discussing school uniforms in a blog devoted to uncovering the mysteries of Sailor Moon. The title itself, in fact, is even a direct reference to the naval-inspired “sailor fuku” uniforms worn to school by young women across Japan. If that’s not a tip off to the fact that these things are important, I don’t know what is.

But today we’re going to talk about something a little bit different, about one of those details that could easily get overlooked by the untrained eye. Which, of course, doesn’t apply to any of you, my incredibly observant readers!

We’ll be taking a look today at why Hotaru’s uniform, subtle though the difference may be, doesn’t match up with the ones worn by Haruka and Michiru. As an extra bonus, this also gives us an opportunity to take a deeper look into the mysterious school that is Mugen Gakuen. Grab a lunch box, because things are about to get educational!

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What Was the Inspiration For the Three Lights’ Names?

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Filed under Articles, Language, Starlights
The Threeeeeee Lights

The Threeeeeee Lights

I’m sure you must have figured this out by now, but I absolutely love trivia — the tinier the detail, the better. Anything I can learn to extract just a little more detail about the world of Sailor Moon is awesome to me, because it helps make the story all the more “real.”

Even more so than that, learning these tiny little details helps keep this series fresh. Despite having watched and read through the various misadventures of the Sailor Soldiers countless times already, every time I learn some new little bit of information, I want to go back through the story and see if it changes how I view the characters.

In the interest of shedding a little light1 on Sailor Moon‘s fifth and final season, today we’re going to talk about the Three Lights — Seiya, Yaten, and Taiki — and the inspirations behind their names. If you’re also a huge fan of boy bands that are actually girls bands in disguise, then you’re going to want to stick around for this one!

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