Sailor Moon Trivia: Manager Misconception

This is a common misconception regarding the characters in the Pretty Guardian live-action series. Minako’s manager is actually Matsuo (pictured bottom) not Sugao Saitou (pictured top) who is the company president. The error arises from the word “shachou” (company president) which can also in some cases be translated as “manager”. However, speculation on whether there was anything between Saitou and Matsuo remains unconfirmed.

seaofserenitysubs:

Sailor Moon Trivia: Act 17/18 Real Locations

“St Juban Church” (indoor and outdoor scenes) from Act 17 and 18 is really St. Lumiere Church in Takasaki, Gunma, a location for weddings from wedding planners Grande Patio Takasaki. Images taken from their website. If you’re planning on wedding in Japan, why not take a look (Youma not included):

http://grande-patio.jp/ceremony/st-lumiere/
https://goo.gl/maps/S1Zyp

“Canal Cafe” from Act 18 is a real cafe located in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Visit their website and if you’re in the area, why not have a meal?

http://www.canalcafe.jp/
https://goo.gl/maps/dmiIx

(Images taken from their respective websites)

Sailor Moon Trivia: Angel Park

“Angel Park” seen and visited in Act 8 by Usagi, Motoki, Rei, Makoto, Mamoru and Takai in the live-action series is actually Tokyo Dome City Attractions in Bunkyō, a few wards over from Minato where Usagi and her friends live. The free-fall ride seen in both images is the Tower Hacker (now closed) and the Ferris wheel is known as the Big-O. 

Why not visit when if you’re visiting Tokyo any time in the future [x]

Sailor Moon Trivia: Returning Staff

Yoshiko Iseki (also known as Keiko Iseki), who played Zirconia in the original SuperS Musicals in 1995 and 1996. She also later became the assistant director for the 1999 Spring Show “Kaguya Shima Densetsu”, and returned once again to be the assistant director for 2013’s “La Reconquista” and 2014's Petite Étrangère. She also helped write most of the songs for “La Reconquista”. 

MAKE UP! Why do they shout “Make Up!” when they transform anyway? (Below is the opinion of the writer; they are not necessarily reflective of Naoko Takeuchi or any officials related to Sailor Moon) The short answer, because it sounds cool. But...
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MAKE UP!

Why do they shout “Make Up!” when they transform anyway?

(Below is the opinion of the writer; they are not necessarily reflective of Naoko Takeuchi or any officials related to Sailor Moon)

The short answer, because it sounds cool.

But there’s probably a bit more to it than just that. There is an obvious connection to “cosmetics” from the term “Make Up” which is natural, the transformation into a Sailor Soldier does feature accessorising and make-up, particularly nail polish and lipstick.This adds to the femininity of the characters and series, cool transformation phrases have always been part of the superhero genre which Sailor Moon was breaking into, so some kind of unique cry was necessary.

The word アップ (appu - from the English “up”) in Japanese can be used in more situations than it can in English, when we use the term “appu” often we’re talking about some kind of improvement or enhancement to something.

In this sense the “make” of their characters is going through an “up-grade” in a sense. This also explains why “make-up” is dropped when they do not change states like in “Sailor Planet Power” or at the end of the first anime arc “Moon Prism Power”. There is no change in their “make”. 

Likely both the ideas of “make-up” as cosmetics and “make-up” in the sense of changing into something new and powered-up were both elements into the creation of this unique and memorable phrase. It fits pretty well.

Sailor Moon Trivia: Very Rare Baby Names Though not common by any stretch of the word, Usagi is already a very uncommon name to begin with, there are some parents in Japan who have named their child Usagi with the characters 月姫 (Literally, Moon...
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Sailor Moon Trivia: Very Rare Baby Names

Though not common by any stretch of the word, Usagi is already a very uncommon name to begin with, there are some parents in Japan who have named their child Usagi with the characters 月姫 (Literally, Moon Princess) almost certainly due to Sailor Moon. Though these characters would almost never be pronounced as “Usagi” which usually means “rabbit”. The thought process is almost certainly

Usagi —> Sailor Moon —> Princess Serenity —> Moon Princess

Though you could put in an excuse about the Moon and Rabbits connection, everyone’s going to think Sailor Moon.

On a side note, there was another name that I saw pronounced as Usagi that was almost also certainly due to Sailor Moon “月愛” (Literally, Moon Love“)

On another note, there’s also 月姫 (Moon Princess) written as "Runa” likely from the word "Luna" but this is probably unlikely to do with Sailor Moon and more to do with the Latin Goddess or the word.

Sailor Moon Trivia That’s Probably Going To Make Us Unpopular: 

One infamous scene among some Western Fans in the Sailor Moon anime comes from episode 181 in which Minako supposedly asks Taiki to see a pornographic movie with the title “Adults’ Love XX”

This is actually a misinterpretation due to a confusion of what “xx” implies in Japanese and what “xx” implies in English. Not so much a mistranslation but a translation that offers up another possibility which isn’t present in the original so things get a bit muddled.

In Japanese, Minako says the title of the movie is “Otona no Koi wa Chomechome” (大人の恋はｘｘ) which does translate to “Adults’ Love XX”, making it look like an X-rated movie in the English.

However, “chomechome” does not actually denote something that is x-rated and is actually a phrase which holds place for another word, usually one that is sensitive or somewhat sexual but not always.

The particle “wa” also shows that the “chomechome” is directly attached to the phrase “Otona no Koi” so perhaps a translation that is easier to understand from an English point of view would be something like “Adults’ Love is *BLEEP*”. The confusion arises because “chomechome” is usually written with two English x’s. That is not to say Adults’ Love XX is incorrect in any sense, it just can muddle the meaning due to multiple ways of reading it in English.

Considering the title of the film itself actually contains what is effectively a censor, the movie is unlikely to actually be pornographic but more likely to be some sort of (most likely a bad) romantic comedy or romantic drama with possibly mildly sexual themes, Minako seems to be using this to create a mood for her and whatever member of the Three Lights she could grab. Hence why Makoto is still willing to see it after hearing the title.

Usagi and Makoto’s reactions to the movie title is more to do with Minako’s inappropriateness with being so straightforward and trying to on-sell movie tickets rather than about Minako sneaking into R-rated movies.

Take a look at the full scene and you’ll probably see that this interpretation fits the context somewhat more accurately.

As a hint hint to what musical is going to be released next, I’m reposting our article on the song “Private Mystery Circle”.  The version in the video is from Black Lady Revised Edition. Enjoy!

Private Mystery Circle is one of the more confusing songs in SeraMyu. If you’ve ever wondered “Wait. What. What was that?” hopefully this will explain it!

We’ll do this verse by verse.

This song MUST be seen in context of ufology and the events of the Black Lady musicals. Throughout this song, it seems more and more people are being replaced with droids. Think back to some scenes in the Black Moon arc of the manga and it makes more sense. Basically this is a song that seems cute and sounds innocent but the lyrics have increasingly creepier hidden meanings.

The matter is that I peeked into your eyes…
I found stars, something I’d never seen
I met your gaze and knew with full knowledge…
Those eyes should be… What is this?

Pretty much everything in this song is to do with paranormal phenomena, especially ufology. This song is mainly about droids replacing humans… just without saying droids or humans, think of it like the body snatchers. The first verse is about noticing someone you love is not as they should be, in this case something wrong with their eyes.

Maybe, by some chance… (Maybe, by some chance…)
You have multiple personalities
No way! UFO? What are you talking about?
That’s just not, not, not how they should be…
My beloved one… Woo!
Private Mystery Circle!

They now try to find a “reasonable” explanation for what’s going on, suggesting that they have a multiple personality disorder but stating that they love them and that can’t be right. A pun appears here too, with one saying “No way!” (uso) and another confusing it for “ufo”. It should be pointed out here that Private Mystery Circle is not a case of “engrish”, Mystery Circle is a wasei term, Japanese terms made from English. In this case it refers to what we usually call “crop circles”

UFO! UMA!
From the beginning!
Love & Peace
You better take another look at them
UFO! UMA!
Once again…
Dry & Moist, make sure of that!
Return it to zero!
Ding-dong! Ding-dong!
Starting over!

The song takes a creepier turn here on. UFO stands for “Unidentifed Flying Object” UMA for “Unidentified Mysterious Animal”. We do not really use the latter term in English but the Japanese do use it. In this verse, Love & Peace, what humans usually believe in are told to be looked at again and revise these principles. People’s values of Love & Peace are being reconsidered as people are being replaced with droids. Dry & Moist however is less clear, it may refer to the soil of Crop Circles but personally I think this might be a reference to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which this song seems to be a cuter version of, in that the body snatchers come from pods, perhaps dry and moist refers to conditions for plants. Return it to zero refers to the human population, the Black Moon Clan literally intends to replace human beings with droids. That is “starting over”. Listen carefully at the album version and you can hear two kinds of singing. When they say “Love & Peace” it is in a cheerful happy tone but when they say “minaoshite” (take another look) for example, the tone changes into a sort of mocking tone.

Yesterday, perhaps I had thought…
Love was best, for better or for worse…
But some time ago… Within my heart…
Stars were bursting open, making a sound
The Moonlight’s… (The Moonlight’s…) deed, could it be?
Contactee?
Myself and my spirit… (Heart!)
I want to peek into them!
Woo!
Private Mystery Circle

Now the singers take a term for the worst, they know feel different. Yesterday that had believed in love and now they are being replaced themselves. They are wondering if this is the work of Space. Mamoru says “Contacty” in the lyrics, this is probably a misspellign of “Contactee” someone who aliens have made contact with. Additionally the word spirit (kokoro) and (Heart) are usually equivalent. However, kokoro has unusually been written in the katakana writing system, often used for loanwords, however in other cases such as this it gives a touch of artificial-ness to the line, writing “kokoro” in katakana gives the idea of the person saying it is not truly alive.

UFO! UMA!
From the beginning!
Love & Peace
You better take another look at them
UFO! UMA!
Once again…
Dry & Moist, make sure of that!
Return it to zero!
Ding-dong! Ding-dong!
Starting over!

Back to the chorus. I hope I’ve helped explain another song that people often have had trouble with!