Sailor Moon (Usagi Tsukino)
Icon
A very recognisable icon of Sailor Moon is when she transforms into a ‘Magical Girl’ with powers (Fig 1.1). Her pose after her transformation is iconic as well (Fig 1.2). This is because her hair is very distinguishable even in her silhouette.
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Fig 1.1, Transformation
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Fig 1.2, Pose |
Sailor Moon also has a punchline when she transforms.
(Punchline: "I am the Pretty Guardian who Fights for Love and for Justice. I am Sailor Moon! And now in the name of the moon, I will punish you!")
Simplicity
Her hair is simple and easy to recognise, with her 'Odango' hairstyle.
Her name is Usagi Tsukino, ‘Usagi’ meaning ‘rabbit’ and ‘Tsuki’ meaning ‘moon’ in Japanese. Her pigtails are like long bunny ears while the 2 buns in the root of the pigtails remind people of 'dangos' (Japanese dumplings made from rice flour). This makes reference to an Asian folklore about a rabbit living on a moon pounding rice cakes.
Furthermore, the accessories on her head gives her a ‘Guardian’ feeling, which gives her purpose to what she is (Guardian of the Moon).
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Fig 2, Up-close look of Sailor Moon |
Uniqueness
Sailor school uniforms are common in anime. When Usagi transforms into Sailor Moon, a Guardian of Love and Justice, she still remains in her sailor uniform (but customised to give it the magical girl feel), which shows her youth.
Being common in anime and Japanese culture, the familiar sailor outfit makes it easy to remember for the viewers.
PRINCIPLES
Shape
The shape of her hairstyle is a bigger emphasis on her character than the rest of her body (which is a typical anime style body ratio).
Her 'Odango' hairstyle (Fig 2) gives her more of an innocent and child-like look. It also makes it seem like she doesn’t pose much of a threat. Instead, she looks like she is incapable of harming anyone, which shows that she is a heroine.
Colour, Emphasis, Contrast
Her colour palette has bright pink, white, yellow and blue, which gives a positive and vibrant feeling all together.
Compared to other characters, she has a wider, and brighter, range of colour combinations which emphasises her as the main character. Her bright pink accents demanding attention on her contributes as well.
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Fig 3, Sailor Guardians |
Compared to the villains, Sailor Moon and the rest of the guardians (Fig 3) has a brighter and more colourful colour palette. The villain (Fig 4.1) has a much duller and monotonous colour palette consisting of purple, dark green, dark blues and pale whites to give off an intimidating feeling.
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| Fig 4.1, Queen Nehelenia |
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Fig 4.2, Sailor Moon (to compare with Fig 4.1) |
Harmony
The sailors (Fig 3) are all of very young age (teenage years, <20 y/o) which shows ambition, innocence and stubbornness. The colours they wear are also playful, highlighting their age and emanating positive energy. This allows them to fight for what is true to themselves.
The villains are youthful as well but unlike the sailors, they often seem to be young adults. Dark aura is evidently emanating from them (Fig 5) which ties to negativity. This may reflect on how young adults grow more aware of situations as they mature, which makes them more likely to gain negative emotions.
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Fig 5, Villains of the Dark Kingdom |
Expression, Poses
The heroines (Fig 3) have more dynamic poses as compared to the villains (Fig 5 & Fig 6.1). The expressions of the villains usually look smug and more often than not, they are smirking. Their eyebrows are slanted inwards to show malicious intent.
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Fig 6.1, Witches 5 |
On the other hand, the heroines’ (Fig 6.2) smiles are more rounded and kind. They have round and innocent eye shapes and have eyebrows slanted outwards to show that they have no malice.
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| Fig 6.2, Sailor Guardians |
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