Sailor Saturn

Sailor Saturn`s awakening was feared by Sailor Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto due to her ability to wield destructive power, even though using these powers to their full extent would bring about her death. She played a pivotal role in the defeat of the Death Busters, and later became a regular associate of the other Solar System Senshi. Her weapon was called the Silence Glaive, and she referred to herself as the "Soldier of Ruin and Birth" (破滅と誕生の戦士) and the "Soldier of Silence" (沈黙の戦士).

Saturn was the only Senshi who went through an aging process. During her first appearances in Sailor Moon S season, she was only twelve years old. At the end of the season she reverted to infancy and rapidly grew up once again in Sailor Moon Sailor Stars. This aging process occurred when there was a need for Sailor Saturn's powers

Profile

Hotaru is a quiet and friendless girl who attends Mugen Gakuen (and is in the sixth grade when we are first introduced to her). She lives with her father Professor Souichi Tomoe. Her mother, Keiko Tomoe, is deceased. Hotaru is the victim of a strange illness; she hurts people and does not remember it, has seizures and is overcome by personality changes. Later on, the series explains that this is because Hotaru is a host for Mistress 9, who has resided inside her body since the age of 5. She is generally fragile and cannot participate in strenuous activities like sports because she easily becomes exhausted and fatigued. The series creator described Hotaru as delicate, quiet, precocious and expressionless.

Hotaru is introduced into the series in the episode "The Grail's Divine Power! Moon's Double Transformation" of the anime (episode # 111) and in "Act 24 Mugen 1 - Yokan" in the manga (Volume 10 Chapter 33). In the anime, she becomes fast friends with Chibiusa and Usagi, gaining her a regular role in the series before becoming Sailor Saturn. This contrasts with the fact that she was feared and disliked by her peers at school. This is also true of the Manga, where she was disliked due to people thinking her a cyborg.

Origins

Anime

As a child, Hotaru was involved in an accident in her father's genetic engineering laboratory. The massive explosion that left Hotaru dead and her father injured was caused by Germatoid; a Daimon from the Tae Nebula who used Professor Souichi Tomoe's laboratory to cross over to Earth. Germatoid promised to restore Hotaru under certain conditions to which her father ended up agreeing to. Germatoid took over the body of the Professor and Mistress 9 over the body of Hotaru. Souichi Tomoe was entirely overwhelmed by Germatoid (personality and all) while Mistress 9 remained largely dormant in the resurrected Hotaru and only surfaced occasionally.

Hotaru attempted to lead a normal life but had become very frail and prone to mysterious seizures. This was largely due to Mistress 9's presence. Hotaru also realized that she had a unique ability that allowed her to heal minor injuries in seconds. In the meantime, Germatoid, in the body of Souichi Tomoe established the Death Busters and began arranging Pharaoh 90's passage to Earth, unknown to Hotaru.

Hotaru was ostracised by her classmates and lived a solitary life due to her strange abilities and inexplicable mood swings. However, during a visit to Juuban Natural Park she met Chibiusa. When she discovered that Chibiusa was not afraid of her powers, the two became friends. This friendship was to be cut short when Kaolinite stole Chibiusa's Pure Heart Crystal and it was used to awaken Mistress 9 in "Shadows of Destruction! The Awakening of the Messiah of Silence" (episode #123). Mistress 9 pushed Hotaru's personality into the background and succeeded in stealing the Holy Grail from Sailor Moon and transferring its power to Pharaoh 90 (in episode's #124-125)

Hotaru attempted to regain control of her body. She succeed in this by awakening as Sailor Saturn in "A Bright Shooting Star! Saturn and the Messiah" (episode #125). The presence of Saturn overwhelmed that of Mistress 9 and destroyed her permanently. She then resolved to defeat Pharaoh 90 after having returned Chibiusa's Pure Heart Crystal and saving her friend. Sailor Moon objected to Sailor Saturn's plan, knowing that if she used the full extent of her powers, it would mean her death. Sailor Saturn did not relent and leapt into Pharaoh 90's core managing to annihilate Pharaoh 90 from within, and, as predicted, dying. However, Sailor Moon entered Pharaoh 90 body and retrieved a reincarnated baby Hotaru. The reborn baby Hotaru was eventually returned to her father, who was now amnesiac but free of Germatoid.

Baby Hotaru lived with her father until the Outer Senshi realized her powers would be required for the upcoming battle with Queen Nehellenia. Setsuna Meiou came to take her to live with the other Outer Senshi until that time. Hotaru's power exploded when she was threatened by a Mirror Paredri. This destroyed the creature, causing Hotaru to age by a few years in just a few seconds. She continued to age for several weeks (at an accelerated rate) until she reached early adolescence, reawakened as Super Sailor Saturn, and regained the memories of her previous life. Her power also allowed for Sailor Uranus,Sailor Neptune, and Sailor Pluto to achieve their Super forms, and advance Super Sailor Moon into her Eternal Sailor Moon form.

Manga

Her background was similar in the manga. However, the lab accident only left Hotaru severely injured. Using his banned research, her father transformed Hotaru until a cyborg in order to keep her alive. This was when he also implanted her with one of the eggs that he was given by the Death Busters.

Hotaru attended Mugen Gakuen where she was shown to be sick, an outcast, and have strange mood swings. Hotaru met Chibiusa when the girl snuck onto the school grounds to find the hat that had blown away in the wind. A Daimon possessing a cat attacked both girls, forcing Usagi and Chibiusa to use their powers in front of Hotaru. Hotaru agreed to keep their identities a secret and used a strange power to heal a cut on Chibiusa.

Eventually, the Outer Senshi disclosed to the others that Hotaru was Sailor Saturn, a bringer of death and destroyer of worlds. They feared her power and planned to kill Hotaru in order to prevent her from awakening and destroying the world. They reasoned that she would die soon regardless due to her poor health. When Chibiusa went to warn Hotaru Mistress 9 awakened and stole the girl's Silver Crystal.

Although Mistress 9 was controlling Hotaru's body, Hotaru's spirit had survived and watched the events that unfolded. She said goodbye to her father, who she realized was long dead, when Sailor Moon killed him. Hotaru protected, from the power of Mistress 9, Chibiusa's spirit and the power of the Silver Crystal. This kept Mistress 9 from leaving Hotaru's physical body. She also rescued and returned the Inner Senshi to their bodies when Mistress 9 tried to devour their spirits for more power. After returning the Silver Crystal to Chibiusa, Hotaru faded away when Mistress 9 escaped from her body.

This apparent death locked away the Death Buster's home world. It was later discovered by the Outer Senshi that Hotaru had come back to life as a healthy infant. Hotaru was adopted by them and the "Dream" arc of the manga showed the four living together. Hotaru remembered nothing of her past life or powers, she grew from infancy to childhood quickly, displayed intelligence far beyond her years, and occasionally manifested strange abilities (e.g., when she had a vision of Chibiusa chasing Pegasus). However, with the threat of Queen Nehellenia, she was forced to reawaken as Sailor Saturn.

When the Dead Moon where defeated, Hotaru returned to her life with the Outer Senshi. This time, she remembered her past life, had ties to the other Senshi, and was good friends with Chibiusa. In the "Stars" arc, Chibiusa decided to visit her own time, which upset Hotaru. She was left in the care of Luna and Artemis when the Outer Senshi left to visit their home castles to protect the solar system from a mysterious invader. However, she sensed danger to the Outer Senshi and vanished from Earth to protect them. Sailor Moon later discovered that Sailor Saturn and Sailor Pluto where both killed by Sailor Galaxia via a holographic recording she found in Charon Castle; which showed her how Hotaru attempted to protect Sailor Pluto from Sailor Galaxia. In the Galaxy Cauldron, Hotaru appears once again with the other Senshi, having been rescued from Sailor Galaxia by Sailor Moon.

Sailor Saturn

Sailor Saturn's uniform is purple and dark red. In the initial design of her uniform was unlike any of the others, with petal-shaped sleeves, a star brooch and a choker jewel and more elaborate gloves and knee-high, laced-up boots. She is given many different titles including Soldier of Silence, Soldier of Destruction and Soldier of Ruin and Birth.

Sailor Saturn is also known for her weapon, the Silence Galive, which can be used to bring the cataclysmic destruction of many worlds. It is once referred to once as the "scythe of the Goddess of Death," and the act of lowering its point to the ground is all that is required for her to "bring ruin to the world." No incantation is spoken, and this action is separated from "Death Reborn Revolution" by the dialogue given in between the two maneuvers

As Sailor Saturn gains additional powers throughout the series, key points of her uniform change to reflect this. The first change takes place in Act 39 of the manga, when she obtains the Saturn Crystal and her outfit becomes similar to that of Super Sailor Moon. She is not given a new title. A similar event takes place in Episode 168 of the anime, and she is given the name Super Sailor Saturn. A third, manga-only form appears in Act 42, also unnamed, but analogous to Eternal Sailor Moon (sans wings).

Anime

Manga

Princess Saturn

According to the manga, during the Silver Millennium, Sailor Saturn was also the Princess of her home planet. She was among those given the duty of protecting the galaxy's Outer Rim. As Princess Saturn, she dwelt in Titan Castle and wore a purple gown—she appears in this form in the original manga and in supplementary art. Unlike the other Senshi, it is stated that Saturn did not awaken in the Silver Millennium until after it was destroyed so Princess Saturn's exact status during that time is unclear.

Musicals

In the musicals, Sailor Saturn was played by Keiko Takeda, Chihiro Imai, Asami Sanpei, Mao Mita, Mario Tomioka, Ayami Kakiuchi, Ruria Nakamura, Yui Iizuka, and Eriko Funakoshi. She had two image songs, "To a Brand-New World" and "The World Died Out."

In the song "To a Brand-New World" she claims to be "Saturn of destruction, Saturn of life".

In the musical Sailor Moon SuperS - (Kaiteiban) Yume Senshi - Ai - Eien ni... Saturn Fukkatsu Hen!, she used her powers to resurrect Tuxedo Mask and the Sailor Senshi after they were killed, which was never a power shown in other versions of the series. In this musical, Hotaru takes the alias of "Miss Dream" while under the control of the Dead Moon Circus, who bear and ridicule her. Her memories are seemingly erased and she is given the powers to enter and alter people's dreams. Only the other Outer Senshi realize who she really is. In the original musical, it is only implied that she is Hotaru (she is listed as "Mysterious Girl"), and it is stated but not shown that she is Sailor Saturn. Her actual awakening as Saturn is also ambiguous, while implied, it's not shown and she is simply shown as a normal girl at the end of the musical. In the revision, her identity as Hotaru is stated plainly, and she awakens on-stage as Saturn, after being saved by the other Senshi and appears transformed moments later. The name Miss Dream comes from the song she sings of the same name. Soon after her alias appearance, Hotaru develops a very playful personality, very different from the other incarnations of her. This was similar to the treatment of Setsuna Meiou. She was nonetheless dedicated to her task as a Senshi.

In all four of the Kaguya Island musicals, Hotaru is possessed by a spirit named Kon, who speaks through Hotaru to the other Senshi. When Hotaru awakens she has no memory of what happened while Kon possessed her body. Kon is the remnant of stars destroyed by Dark Plasman and the comet Coatl. In the first two of these musicals, she gives her power to Sailor Moon in the final battle to allow her to transform into Eternal Sailor Moon. Kon was given the song "Hitosuji no Hikari no Kokoro" in her appearances.

During Last Dracul Jokyoku, Hotaru is presented in the care of Professor Tomoe, knowing of the existence of the Senshi, yet not awakening as Sailor Saturn until halfway through the musical.

Sailor Saturn's sailor fuku in the musicals was essentially faithful to her original appearance in the manga and anime. Her front and back bows were black, as were the tops of her gloves. Her skirt had two layers, with the top being purple and the lower grey. The brooch in the center of her front bow was silver and crystalline in shape, but with a green gem in the center and four gold "compass" points. The trim on her sleeves and skirts was silver, while the trim and stripe on her collar, bows, gloves, choker, and torso were gold.

Video Games

In the video games in which she appeared, Sailor Saturn used the abilities standard to her appearances in other versions of canon, but the following are powers unique only to the video games.

Her Transformation was "Saturn Planet Power, Make Up" and was used in some of the video games. This was her only official animated transformation sequence.

Development

Takeuchi originally drew Sailor Saturn with a brown staff rather than her Silence Glaive. Her Sailor Uniform also had different sleeves (which where purple rather than white), there was no star on her chest, and the third band on her gloves was sheer with a point. Her choker also differed from the final version having a gold 6-pointed star rather than the present choker.

The kanji of Hotaru's surname translate as "earth" (土 to) and "sprouting" (萠 moe). The former comes from the name of her planet in Japanese, Dosei (土星 Star of Earth). Her given name is inhiragana hotaru (ほたる) and so its meaning is not inherent, but the word itself means "firefly" (蛍), and this meaning is used at least once as a pun. Fireflies are associated with spirits of the dead in Japanese mythology, referring to her status as the Senshi of death and rebirth. In the Mixx (now Tokyopop) manga, Hotaru was once named Jenny; Mixx later admitted this was a mistake and changed her name back.

Trivia

She was the only one with no transformation sequence shown in the anime, the only one who did not appear in any of the Sailor Moon movies, specials, or opening sequences, and the only one who was never shown fighting a monster-of-the-day.

She displayed powers before awakening as Sailor Saturn

In the Polish translation of the manga, her Senshi identity was mistakenly translated as "Sailor Satan" in two volumes, but was changed back to "Sailor Saturn" in the later volumes. In the Spanish translation of the manga, her civilian name was at first kept as "Hotaru," then translated as "Olivia," the same as in the French version, even though in the Spanish dub of the anime her name was "Andrea." In later volumes, her name was changed to match the anime

Hotaru's name was unchanged in the English dub; however, the pronunciation was "toe-moe" instead of "toe-moe-eh."

Sailor Saturn's powers are mostly based on Roman mythology, in which Saturn is the god of the harvest.

In the manga series, the Death Busters use a power source called the Tioron Crystal, which was once worn by Hotaru's mother, Keiko Tomoe. After her death, Professor Tomoe gives it to Hotaru in order to ease the pain she must frequently endure.