Is the Sailor Starlights’ Kinmokusei a Planet or a Star?

Where are Kakyuu and the Starlights from??

Where are Kakyuu and the Starlights from??

As a translator, one of the most difficult issues to deal with is that of trying to figure out what an ambiguous word means when you don’t have enough context. This issue becomes infinitely harder when you’re working within a fantasy setting and there quite simply isn’t any further information for you to look up.

The debate surrounding Kinmokusei is one such problem. In Japanese, it could just as easily be either a planet or star (but thankfully not both).1 But depending on which one it is, that kind of changes our perception of where the Starlights come from.

Today, we’re going to see if we can try to unravel this mystery. Get suited up, it’s gonna be a rocky flight!

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