[Lunar Logs] Kotono, Aya, and Michie Discuss Their Roles as Usagi, Ami, and Rei

October 1992 Animage Interview

October 1992 Animage Interview

Lunar Logs is a weekly series featuring full translations of interviews with Ms. Takeuchi and others — such as the directors, writers, voice cast, and more — responsible for making Sailor Moon into the massively popular franchise we know it as today. Though not every interview will directly address or even mention Sailor Moon, I find it an interesting look into the minds of these influential figures.

Today’s interview was conducted in Fall 1992 with Kotono Mitsuishi (Usagi), Aya Hisakawa (Ami), and Michie Tomizawa (Rei) on their thoughts regarding how they portray their characters, their thoughts on prospective love interests, and even Umino (??)!1

Read on for the interesting behind-the-scenes character development and an inside look at the respective soldiers’ views of romance and their possible love interests!

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What Do the Sailor Moon Transformations Look Like to Other People?

Do they really henshin in front of people?

Do they really henshin in front of people?

Though I’m not a betting man, I’d feel relatively comfortable saying that nearly every Sailor Moon fan out there that has watched the anime with a friend or family member who isn’t a fan of the genre has had to deal with the question: “why doesn’t the bad guy just attack her when she’s transforming?”

And can you blame them? It’s a really good question.

Though fans have come up with a multitude of reasons to explain this away over the years — with answers ranging from the Youma wanting a fair fight to the Sailor Soldiers teleporting away during the henshin sequence — we’re actually here to address a much more fundamental question today.

Do these transformations actually take place, or are they like the eye catches between commercial breaks, and only for the viewer’s benefit?

Stick around, it’s about to get interesting!

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How Rich is Ami Mizuno?

"But can we really afford to buy another jet, mommy?"

“But can we really afford to buy another jet, mommy?”

I totally understand that talking about salaries, people’s standards or living, and how much money someone throws around isn’t something we typically do in polite conversation. But when Sailor Moon depicts so many characters living the high life – all the while claiming to be totally normal – it’s hard to not address the topic.

Today I’d like to take a closer look at our favorite underage genius and doctor to be, Ami Mizuno. I hope you stick around for this look into her ritzy, if lonely, home life!

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Why Does Ami Think Vampires Like to Eat Flowers?

Lilica Hubert (spoiler: she's a vampire)

Lilica Hubert (spoiler: she’s a vampire)

In the spirit of the season – and for all of you reading this in the future, that means Halloween – I desperately wanted to find some sort of story or mystery relating to Sailor Moon that I could talk about, but unfortunately I didn’t have much luck. There just isn’t a lot of scary things that happen in the show, unless you’re talking about Mamoru’s fashion sense or Taiki’s obnoxiously large forehead.

So I took to social media for suggestions and, as expected, I got a lot of great suggestions that never even crossed my mind. You people rock.

Today, we’ll be talking about about the story of the vampire who once graced the pages of Sailor Moon, and Ami’s seemingly bizarre leap in logic in how she determined this young girl was a blood-sucking demon of the night.

Stick around!

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Happy Birthday Ami Mizuno!

Happy Birthday Ami!

Happy Birthday Ami!

Ami Mizuno – is there nothing this girl can’t do? The second – or third, depending on if you count Sailor V – Sailor Soldier to appear in the series takes on a variety of important roles for the team, both in and out of costume. Not only is she an absolute genius, but she also shows that she really understands her friends by serving as Usagi’s confidant in early episodes and as the voice of reason when Rei and Usagi start bickering.

She also likes cats, and anyone who likes cats is awesome in my book.

In honor of Ami’s birthday, I decided to compile five of my favorite articles about her and share them with you, together with a few comments on the article.

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What Are the Sailor Soldiers’ Favorite Ways of Fortune Telling?

Usagi getting her fortune told (ep. 2; using yarrow stalks)

Usagi getting her fortune told (ep. 2; using yarrow stalks)

Once again, we’re going to be talking about something that you never knew you wanted to know: the way that each of the Sailor Soldiers prefers likes to throw their fate to the wind and find out what their fortunes may be.

That’s right, we’re talking about fortune telling! Join along for another trip into exploring the profiles of our favorite Sailor Soldiers!

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How Did the Sailor Soldiers’ Views of Love and Life Differ?

All you need is love! ♪

All you need is love! ♪

With all of the exciting adventures the Sailor Soldiers embark on and the resulting epic battles against the forces of evil, it’s often easy to forget that, at its core, Sailor Moon is a story of teenage romance.

Today, I’d like to take a closer look at the softer side of our sailor-suited heroines and see how their approaches to love and life differed.

So without further ado, let’s get this started!

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