Sailor Moon is the ancestor of magical female superheroes. I still remember being enchanted by their super power and eye-catching costumes. Moreover, if you have read Percy Jackson when you were a kid, you probably associate your Greek mythology knowledge with some of the characters seen in the animate.
Sailor Moon is a Japanese shojo manga series, which means the series aimed at a teenage female target-demographic readership. The series was illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi and it was first released in 1991. The series is about the adventures of a school girl named Usagi Tsukino as she transformed into Sailor Moon. She was destined to save the world from the evil and search for a magical artifact, the “Legendary Silver Crystal”. Sailor Moon led a whole group of Guardians to prevent the destruction of the Solar System.
In the 2000s Sailor Moon was aired in North America, Australia and New Zealand. It goes without saying that the Sailor Moon series is closely related to astronomy. Hence, their English translated names are inspired by Greek and Roman mythologies.
Princess Serenity
Princess Serenity is the pre-incarnation of Sailor Moon. She lived in the Moon Kingdom during the Silver Millennium and watched over Earth.
According to Princess Serenity’s biography, Serenity was fascinated by the Earth. She disregarded all the warnings to not go there and met Prince Endymion. The two quickly fell in love.
During the Dark Kingdom’s attack, which caused the downfall of the Moon Kingdom. Edymion died protecting Serenity. Much like Romeo and Juliet, the lovers were not able to be happily ever after, so Serenity committed suicide.
The mother of Serenity used the Silver Crystal to give her daughter another chance to live, wishing that at another time and place Serenity and Endymion could have eternal happiness.
The story of Princess Serenity and Prince Edymion are remarkably similar to the Greek mythology of Selene and mortal Endymion.
In Greek myth, Selene is the goddess of the moon. She is the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. She drives her moon chariot with two white horses across the heavens. Selene is best known for her relationship with the beautiful mortal Endymion.
As mentioned earlier, Serenity is the Sailor Moon’s pre-incarnation; similarly, Tuxedo Mask is the equivalence of Endymion.
Sailor Uranus
Uranus was the primal Greek god of sky. In Greek mythology, Uranus was the son and husband of Gaia. He is later the father of the first-generation Titans, and ancestors of most of the 12 Olympian goddesses.
Sailor Uranus takes inspiration from the Greek character of the sky. Her attacks based around the wind and the sky which alludes to the Greek literature version of Uranus. However, the shocking reference does not stop here. In the series, Sailor Uranus is afraid of the awakening of Sailor Saturn. This is referencing that in Greek myth, Uranus was afraid of his children rising against him and one of his descendants was Saturn.
Sailor Jupiter
Jupiter from Roman mythology, he was the god of the sky and thunder. After overthrowing his father Saturn, Jupiter and his brother divided the universe into three parts: heaven ruled by Jupitar, the sea ruled by Neptune and the underworld ruled by Pluto. In the process of overthrowing Saturn rule, the Cyclopes gave him thunder and the lightning bolt, which became Jupiter’s symbol.
Sailor Jupiter has powers based around thunder and lightning which resembles the roman god Jupiter.
Moreover, in the series that there is a running gag that every guy Makoto (Jupiter as a student) likes reminds her of her senpai. Some argues that this is referring to many love affairs that the Greek god Jupitar has with other women.
Now I wonder if Naoko Takeuchi is also a Roman or Greek mythology fan? Or else how did she illustrate all those secret details that refers to the mythologies?
