What Inspired the Design and Name of the Legendary Silver Crystal?

The Legendary Silver Crystal

The Legendary Silver Crystal

Discussions about the Legendary Silver Crystal are always an interesting issue because there’s simply so much we don’t know about it, and even what we do know about it changes depending on which season you’re talking about or whether we’re discussing the anime or the manga.

But interestingly enough, there’s actually some more information to be had if we step outside the Sailor Moon universe and take a good hard look at the real world. Like, specifically, where the design for the powered-up flower form of the Legendary Silver Crystal comes from.

That’s right, my friends, today we’re talking about flower power! I hope you stick around.

Continue reading

What Do Youma, Droid, Daimon, Lemure, and Phage Refer To?

A battle awaits... just like yesterday. And the day before...

A battle awaits… just like yesterday. And the day before…

As a person who grew up with Power Rangers, I will unashamedly admit that I absolutely love the Monsters of the Day (MotD) that are so prevalent in the Super Sentai series – and thus, by extension, Sailor Moon as well.

So in honor of our favorite Moon Power fodder, we’re going to take a look at where the names for each of these groups came from. After all, just what the heck is a lemure anyway?

Stick around to find out!

Continue reading

Why Are There Numbers in Mistress 9 & Pharaoh 90’s Names?

U + Me = Mistress 9

U + Me = Mistress 9

Anyone who has been a fan of Sailor Moon for any significant amount of time – which, let’s face it, is probably most of you – has probably been more than a bit perplexed about what was going on with the naming of our two lead villains in the third story arc of the series.

While Queen Metalia was pretty easy to understand and Sailor Galaxia really didn’t leave anything to the imagination in the name department, the seemingly random numbers that came up in the Infinity arc always left me puzzled.

So today we’re going to take a look at one possible explanation for why Ms. Takeuchi chose those numbers, and what significance they may have on the story. I hope you join along!

Continue reading

How Are the Oppositio Senshi in Sailor Moon Another Story Connected?

The Oppositio Senshi (Sin, Nabu, Nergal, Marduk, Ishtar)

The Oppositio Senshi (Sin, Nabu, Nergal, Marduk, Ishtar)

Whether you’re a fan of video games or not, you have to admit that the Angel, the creators of Sailor Moon‘s one and only role-playing game for the Super Famicom, really knocked it out of the park both in terms of world-building and story-telling with their 1995 game, Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon: Another Story.

One of the things that I loved most about the story was the Oppositio Senshi – evil Sailor Soldiers that existed before Sailor Galaxia was ever even a thing. Well, okay, so they aren’t really Sailor Soldiers, but let’s not dwell too much on that.

Today, I’m going to introduce the historical connections that tie the Oppositio Senshi together with our favorite soldiers or love and justice. Hopefully you’ll stick around!

Continue reading

Where Did the Members of the Dead Moon Circus Get Their Names?

The Dead Moon Circus (now open!)

The Dead Moon Circus (now open!)

As I’m sure you’ve probably already noticed by now, names – and the inspirations behind them – are something of a big deal to me. Not only do they give you an idea of the thematic references that either Ms. Takeuchi or the anime staff were sticking to with their main villains and the various monsters of the day, but I think the names she gave even the normal characters can tell you a lot about how she intended for them to be viewed.

Today, we’ll be taking a deep dive into the inspirations behind the names for the… interesting cast of characters that belong to the Dead Moon Circus.

I hope you stick around! There are bound to be a few surprises along the way.

Continue reading

Why Are the Black Moon Clan’s Names Spelled Incorrectly?

Is a Demando forever?

Is a Demando forever?

It’s entirely that this may be one of those “… was it just me?” articles where the whole world picked up on these things and I didn’t, but if I wasn’t reasonably okay with putting my (hopefully?) occasional ignorance out there, then this blog wouldn’t really have a lot of things to talk about!

So today, we’re going to take a look at not only where the members of the Black Moon Clan get their names, but also discuss why some of their names deviate from Ms. Takeuchi’s naming pattern. I hope you stick around!

Continue reading

Where Did the Moon Stick Get its Name?

Original anime and Crystal Moon Sticks

Original anime and Crystal Moon Sticks

For those of us first exposed to Sailor Moon through the DiC dub and familiar with the terminology there, learning that our beloved Crescent Moon Wand was actually known in Japan as the Moon Stick was… well… something of a let down. While I – and I’m sure many others – was enthusiastic to learn everything I could about the “pure, original” form of my favorite anime, the Moon Stick always rubbed me the wrong way. Unlike everything else in the series, it lacked that pizzazz a lot of Sailor Moon was known for.

So what happened? How did the Moon Stick come to be known by such a simple name? Today, we’re going to take a look at just that.

Continue reading