Is Rei Hino / Sailor Mars Part Demon?

This can't be normal

This can’t be normal

While most of the Sailor Soldiers don’t seem to show any sort of magical aptitude outside of their post-henshin’d form, Rei (and, okay, Hotaru) is unique in that she has supernatural abilities even in her “normal” form. After all, shortly after Rei’s first appearance in the manga we’re already given accounts of her having mysterious powers.1

And that’s saying nothing of her fire reading abilities or stunning people with ofuda in both the anime and manga.

So we’re gonna take a look at the interesting possibility that this may be at least somewhat attributable to Rei being part demon. How, you ask? Read on and find out!

Continue reading

Who Was Responsible for Rei’s Change in the Anime?

Okay, whose fault is it??

Okay, whose fault is it??

I know that I’ve talked at length about how Rei was portrayed quite differently in the anime and manga, and I’m sure at some point you might be wondering when the commentary on this issue will end.

Well, depending on your opinion of the issue, I have some good or bad news for you — today is not that day.

That’s right! We’ll be looking at an exclusive interview done in the November 1992 issue of Animage1 between the magazine’s editorial staff, Rei’s voice actress, and the top production crew for the Sailor Moon anime.

Come for the trivia, stay for the drama!

Continue reading

Who Came Up With Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars’s Catchphrases?

Sailor-suited soldiers of _____ and justice!

Sailor-suited soldiers of [noun] and justice!

“In the name of the Moon…!”

Admit it, with just these six words, you probably finished the rest of the sentence in your head. Sailor Moon’s self-referential catchphrase is so famous that even the casual fan of the series would probably be able to finish it.

While the catchphrases of the other Sailor Soldiers may be less well known — though I’m sure their fans would be willing to disagree! — the stories behind them are no less interesting.

Today we’re going to talk about who came up with Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars’s catchphrases and what they almost were instead!

Continue reading

Which Real Life Singer Was the Basis for Rei Hino’s Design?

Singer AND songwriter?? Not easy!

Singer AND songwriter?? Not easy!

When you spend as much of your time researching into and writing about the minutia of a 25 year old anime/manga series as I have, there’s always a bit of excitement that runs through you when you hear about a little tidbit for the very first time. As you and I both know, though, the internet is rife with baseless rumors, so proving it is another problem entirely.

Which is why I’m happy to say that it looks like it’s confirmed: Rei’s design is based off of a real world actress, singer, and model.

Continue reading