I was browsing through the Sailor Moon tag on Tumblr and I just happened to come across this confession:
prettysenshiconfessions: I thought Kaitou Ace was awful and creepy, a borderline villain. Why do so many people want him together with Minako?! [Link]
Ace Kaitou was very sinister, creepy and disturbing... and that’s what makes him interesting. Unlike the Shitennou in Sailor Moon, who had their duty and memories warped and removed, Danburite was fully aware of his actions from beginning to end and seemed to genuinely relish in having the “last laugh” over Minako, and by extension Venus. That is what makes him such an fascinating character. I agree I don’t understand people who genuinely wish he and Minako were a couple, but I can understand why the relationship is interesting because the source of Danburite’s discontent towards Minako is the bitterness he feels about his previous life, Adonis’s unrequited love for his Princess Venus and that all his life she never looked at him twice. Or even once.
On the one hand you do feel sorry for Adonis because he always admired and dreamed about being noticed by Venus but she always put her duty as a senshi first. Perhaps he could have lived with that if that meant she would not give her love to someone else. He felt sad about it, sure, but at least no one else would have her.
All he wanted to do was be as close to her as possible.
Then, while serving in Endymion’s army, just to stay close to his princess, he happened to notice a telling exchange between Venus and his Terran commanding officer. That was when he made another bitter realization.
In a weird way, I think it a cruel irony that out of all the players in this story it was the lowly foot solider who was reborn with his memories in tact. Minako, whoever Kunzite was before Beryl got to him, the other Senshi and Shitennou, even Luna doesn’t remember everything - all of them are in the dark. In this life he is the one who is one step ahead, who holds all the secrets, and yet he uses it to commit crimes and stand against Venus.
Danburite puts a lot of emphasis on paths. He sees Adonis’s path as one of endless struggle, reaching out to Venus yet never reaching her. That he chose in this life to hurt her shows an underlining bitterness that appears to have two roots: the one he blatantly stated - that her duty to Serenity made her unattainable - and then we have the one only hinted at through the panels but its inclusion at all makes it an important factor in Danburite's choice to become a villain: Venus's heart belonged to another man.
It is the latter which was, in my opinion, the straw that broke the camel’s back for Danburite. Takeuchi depicts the “other man” twice within a few panels. First, with Adonis standing directly behind him (OT: Oh hai, Jadeite!) and second, of him and Venus together. This is presumably from Adonis’s POV as they are being viewed from behind, accompanied by a sorrowful expression from Adonis at what is clearly supposed to be a tender moment between Venus and Kunzite. The inclusion of the tiny circling stars between their eye lines with Adonis's own swirling off into nothing, indicating that he is not only watching them but that while their eyes are for each other, his have no inter-locker. Adonis is alone. This moment is so clearly burned into Danburite’s mind that he has to flippantly wave it away by accusing Minako of “always falling in love back then too”, showing that the pain (or resentment) Adonis felt in that second was still vividly felt by Danburite. Had this really been another one of Minako/Venus's one-minute crushes, it would not have been included in his memory. Recalling it proves that whatever passed between Venus and Kunzite was mutual.
There is no point in sugar coating it. It is blatantly implied in this moment that one of Danburite’s key motivations for growing to spite and work against Sailor Venus was this moment. It boiled down to one key emotion:
Jealousy.
The fact that he serves the Shitennou in this life too is another cruel irony. Aside from working for the force that will “rule the world” and is working against everything Sailor Venus stood against, it goes further than that. Presumably Danburite knows how the love story between his Princess and his Commander ended - in tragedy - and being in the know while reporting to the shadow-of-his-former-self Kunzite perhaps gave him some perverse satisfaction. For one thing he had the upper-hand over the man who the “hands of fate” had favoured, the man Venus had loved. Kunzite is still his commander, yes, but Danburite is more aware of the situation than he is. The former has the power but the latter is holding all the cards.
Another thing to remember is that Danburite is also holding the cards tightly to his chest. In doing that, he is denying Kunzite his freedom and Minako the full story. Just like he never could reach Venus, Minako will never again be able to reach out to her (presumed) soul mate. Danburite dies taking the knowledge of Venus and Kunzite’s love affair with him, leaving both of them forever in the dark.
Danburite is perhaps a better villain because he is so aware. Kunzite, the other shitennou and even Beryl are ultimately pawns in someone else’s game. Upon realising the truth of who he was, Kunzite was consumed with guilt and sorrow. Ultimately, he had to have all autonomy taken from him to keep him under Beryl’s thumb. Even transformed into a crystal, he rose up and told Mamoru what he needed to do to defeat Queen Metalia. Ultimately we are shown that Kunzite is a “true knight” - always looking for the light even when surrounded in darkness. Danburite knows what he is doing from beginning to end and even with the opportunity to finally get his Venus, the darkness consumes him.
That is what makes Danburite/Ace good villain. He is complex like Kunzite but is also bad for the sake of being bad, which I admit I like. In the second life he is give the chance to finally win the love of Venus, but he opts instead to use her nativity and habit of giving love out as a weapon to hurt her. It is an act of a man who wants nothing more than revenge. Idealistic Adonis died chasing an unobtainable woman. Danburite died spiting the unobtainable woman by breaking her heart and cursing her love life.
You are left wondering at the end - was it his obsession with Venus that drove him to his nefarious deeds or deep down was he always ultimately a creepy, nasty piece of work? I know what I think - but what about you, um?
So, I originally posted a lot of this on my Tumblr but as with everything else I wanted to shift it over to this place and actually make use of this silly little nook of the internet.
Anyway, the thing that sprouted off this long post I made was an Anonymous message in my inbox:
After I posted a vintage Hermione GIF using the cool new feature Tumblr has that allows you to summon any number of GIF to illustrate your response (Making the thing that Tumblr is best known for ten times easier), I actually put down my own thoughts.
The bottom line is this: anyone who has such an immature reaction to another person’s opinion should be ashamed of themselves. Very often these reactions are born of very small minded and closed off individuals who invest far too much on their feelings into fandom and this is especially potent when it comes to shipping.
I wouldn’t give such a pointless individual the time of day if they came a-knocking on my blog and would only ever post their message to the viewing public in order for my followers to laugh at how idiotic it is.
The rest of this point is an in-depth rant, so feel free to leave now.
(What lies below is basically my opinions on the comments made towards those who worked on SMC, the misunderstandings about what SMC supposedly did to warrant these comments and an in-depth look at Rei/Sailor Mars and the issues some people take with her relationship with Jadeite. If that interests you, feel free to read.)
What makes the whole “Senshi and Shitennou” bashing worse is that a lot of it is built on what appears to be a misunderstanding of the source material. I see the terms “queer erasure” and “hetronormancy” or whatever made-up word it is thrown in to make it sound intelligent. Not only are these words just buzz words to try and make like-minded people get all fired up over nothing but are to begin with. As Sailor Moon Crystal is based more closely on the manga, the writers chose to expand - ever so briefly - on the story thread that Naoko Takeuchi did slip into the manga for at least two of the pairings (Venus/Kunzite and Mars/Jadeite) and stated wanting to explore the relationships one day in her artbook.
The “anger” comes from these small number of people who seem to be under the misapprehension that Kunzite and Zoisite’s was conceived as a romantic one (when it has only ever really been portrayed as such in the 90′s anime), and that the Sailor Senshi are going against character by falling in love with men especially Rei. These two arguments have always boggled my mind because the the K/Z one is a non-issue (Zoisite is described as being “the baby of the family [of the Shitennou and] like a younger brother to Kunzite” in the Materials Collection, not a romantic relationship) and the Rei one is nonsensical. It has always irritated me when people claim that the Senshi being in love with the Shitennou weakens them as characters or is OC, as if women loving men is a flaw in their character. But here’s the thing guys: falling in love isn’t something you choose to do, it just happens.
I know a lot of people take issue with Rei falling in love with Jadeite as a break in character, as she voices several times that she distrusts men and has no desire for marriage. However these are characteristics of Rei not the Sailor Mars who loved Jadeite. Rei’s feelings are likely as a result of watching her parents’ marriage and her resentment towards her father for his treatment of her mother when she was dying. Her attitudes towards marriage can be likened in a sense to Elizabeth I. Elizabeth’s mother Anne Boleyn was executed on false charges of adultery when she was 2-years-old and bore witness to her father’s various troubled marriages thereafter. Elizabeth was lorded as the child “most like her father Henry VIII” and she lorded it proudly in public because it was necessary. In private, she never stop loving her mother nor likely forget what her father did to her: her devotion lives forever in a secret locket on her coronation ring, which contains a portrait of Anne. Elizabeth never seemed to be able to bring herself to marry - and who could blame her after witnesses nothing but disaster and pain come from marriage. Rei’s exposure to crappy relationships are minimal - just her father and his Jadeite-look-alike secretary who she appears to have had feelings for - but the point is that just like Elizabeth I, Rei likely has decided that marriage is not for her. Yet that still didn’t stop Elizabeth I from falling in love with Robert Dudley. There are many reasons why Elizabeth couldn’t marry Dudley (”I shall have one mistress here and no master! No man will rule over me!” being one, the necessity for foreign alliances another) but a lot of it likely stemmed from a genuine fear of marriage itself.
What’s the point of all this?
Well, who’s to say that Sailor Mars did anything other than fall in love with Jadeite? After all, he appears to have been bound by the same vows she was - to put his Master above all else - and likely would not have had marriage on the plate either. But they still could have fallen in love. You can’t help who you fall in love with. You can choose to kiss them, sleep with them, marry them – but you can choose whether or not you love them. That just happens as a result of getting to know someone. Mars could have done just that: she got to know Jadeite and fell in love with him. She needn’t have done anything else; she just loved him.
I admit I do take issue with people who claim that that character like Rei who is supposedly “empowered by not needing a man” falling in love somehow weakens her. Rei is not “empowered” by the fact that she does not need a man - that is just a choice she has made and has nothing to do with empowerment. If we followed the logic that Rei is strong because she doesn’t need a man, then surely we must conclude that Makoto is weaker because she does want to find a man and get married. But they are both equality complex characters who are stronger from their life experiences. That is what makes them worth while characters.
Anyone who takes issue with Rei being in a relationship with anyone including Jadeite, that’s fine, but to call it “hetro-normacy” or whatever the buzz word of the hour is, is a bit of a stretch especially since canonically all Jadeite did was express an attraction for Rei that he didn’t understand. As for Rei did was regain her memories and remember her feelings for Jadeite, which are implied to have been love.
To dislike a ship is perfectly fine but to then be needlessly bigoted or even threaten people who like it is completely reprehensible. Let’s not kid ourselves, we are all here in fandom because we take this stuff way too seriously, but I will afford no time or respect to single person who goes that far with their behaviour. People like that in all walks of life need to be condemned for their poor behaviour.
That goes for all fans who can’t be decent human beings regards of which characters you like or who you ship.
Inherently, this whole incident shows how people on the internet do seem to take the relationships of fictional characters serious, perhaps more so than the relationships they have in real life. I used to put a lot of value into them myself but I have since grown up and got older. While it is debatable whether I got any wiser from my experiences as a "shipper" of the die hard variety but I know for certain it is a world I do not want to return to.
I have been doing a lot of personal research into gemstones, crystals and their differing types. It was a hobby of my mother’s when she was alive and I also wanted to research different stones and minerals anyway for a project completely unrelated to Sailor Moon. However I also have been looking into my own fanwork for the fandom, and in doing so it required me to look into the different gemstones that villains in the manga are named after. The most significant that will come to mind of any of them though are the Shitennou (and Beryl).
Below I have made a list of interesting findings about each of the meanings behind the stones. This information comes from several books and sources and put into exclusively my own words/interpretation, so if you wish to verify any of the information it is easily found through getting some Gemstone based books (both scientific and spiritual) as well as cruising the internet.
KUNZITE
Let’s start out with the Leader of the Pack and the one a lot of people like to gush over the most when it comes to analyzing his crystal. His name sake, Kunzite, is the gemstone that comes from a mineral known as spodumene. While the name “kunzite” can be (incorrectly) used to refer to any colour of spodumene it actually refers to the pink spodumene, which is the most common colour of the gemstone varying from deep vibrant pink to almost clear pale.
Other colours spodumene can come in are purple (lilac kunzite) or yellow/green, the latter of which having its own common name, “hiddenite”.
The real-world name “kunzite” was coined in the early 20th century by George Frederick Kunz, for whom the common pink spodumene i.e. true kunzite gem was named after. Kunz himself was a famous mineralogist and mineral collector. His book, The Curious Lore of Precious Stones, is one of the go-to books for gemology even today. Of course, in the SM-universe it is implied that *possibly* the gems were named after the Shitennou, in this case Kunzite’s.
The first thing worth noting is that all forms of spodemene are delicate, rating 6-7 on the hardness scale and being prone to losing colour and lustre in natural daylight. When reflecting on Kunzite’s comment in the manga about Tokyo’s over use of electricity and light pollution he states:
“What offensive, futile light. The true beauty is within the shining darkness.”
The tone is taken to be that of wickedness and evil, as he wishes to “drag” the senshi out to “grovel” before the darkness. However, there can be deeper meaning attached to Kunzite’s words. Considering that the Dark Kingdom Kunzite is a warped reflection of his true self, this line can be taken to reflect his inner philosophy. After all, kunzite are also exceptionally beautiful; vitreous gems, meaning that light passes through them and reflects off them in a similar manner to glass. Yet, as earlier stated, wearing kunzite jewellery means you must be weary of exposing it to light else the stone will go dull. People who own kunzite jewellery consider it as “evening wear”.
By taking these physical properties of the gemstone, the earlier quote from Kunzite takes on additional meaning. The lights of Tokyo are offensive to him because it negates the beauty of darkness. This can be taken to mean both the glory of the Dark Kingdom he serves but also the most basic observation - that Tokyo is polluting the night sky and drowning out the stars. Any keen star watcher will tell you that getting a good look at the night sky in major cities is near impossible due to the orange hue let off by city lights. Even stars as beautiful and large as, say, the Evening and Morning Star.
To the Dark Kingdom Kunzite, he likely sees the unwelcome infiltration of light into a period of time where the world is naturally supposed to be dark and it becomes an attack on him in kind. He is the “Evening Stone” who thrives best as a shining glimmer in the dark. In many ways he and his gemstone are very much the Yin on the Tao symbol: light in the darkness. Going on from this we can add extra meaning to the spiritual properties often associated with kunzite.
In crystal healing, kunzite is considered not only to be the “Evening Stone” but also the “Stone of Balance” due to its properties associated with both the mind and heart: the former is a quirk of spodumene (mind chakra) while the latter is predominant in kunzite, it being considered by all to be a “love stone”. Moreover the presence of kunzite in crystal spells often lends way to balance overall due to think connection of linking the heart with the head. This need not be explained in references to SM’s Kunzite, who as leader would likely be expected to represent a good balance within his group. Nonetheless the strong affinity between the head and heart leave interesting things to interpret about his SilMil personality. Kunzite is so often viewed as a stoic character who lives only in his head yet the gem kunzite alone is predominantly a heart/love gem. From this we could perhaps infer that while Kunzite will often look first to the logical, clearest root to success, he will always seek to choose the moral path and the one most beneficial to those he loves - his men, his Prince and presumably even his assumed lover/mistress, Venus.
The gem kunzite is, unsurprisingly, ruled by the Goddess Venus and associated with the namesake planet. In antiquity people believed that the cosmos was reflected in gemstones and those of pink colour were thought to invoke Love Goddesses. Among the many things kunzite is associated with, it is particularly symbolic of purity, conception/new life, children and, of course, love. While all Venus-ruled gemstones stand for success in romance, kunzite in particular is considered a symbol of “Unconditional Love”. For this reason, kunzite evokes all types of love: romantic, parents/children and personally feeling love. This focus on the emotional soothing power of love makes it a nice little contrast to Venus as well as an object ruled by her. In terms of the Senshi and Shitennou parallels, Kunzite represents “Emotion” while Venus represents “Attraction”.
This likely made for an interesting dynamic between the two back in the SilMil. If we take these aspects of Kunzite’s gemstone to heart, we could perhaps guess that his true self as indeed the Guardian of Purity and Affection as SMC put it. We can imagine that Kunzite was reserved towards Venus’s advances. If Venus truly was like Minako then we can presume she still enjoyed being the one doing all the chasing, which Kunzite would let her do with a small smile and chuckle. His focus would likely have been to keep control of his own feelings but ultimately would give into what the Heart wanted.
JADEITE & NEPHRITE
No matter how you see the relationship between these two brothers in arms in SM, the two minerals Jadeite and Nephrite are twinned souls in the gemology world. You can’t really talk about one without the other so I will consolidate them into one header and hopefully explain why this might be significant.
Jadeite and Nephrite are both forms of Jade. For centuries they were thought to be exactly the same but 1963 the discovery was finally made that there were in fact two types of jade despite the differences being relatively minor. To quote the Phillip’s Guide to Gems, “both are aluminium silicates; both are made out of intertwined crystals that were compressed under high pressure; and they are often found side by side.” (p. 142) The difference between the two really only comes down to what they are made out of and how it affects their textures and lustre.
In the case of jadeite - the more popular of the two - it comes in a wider variety of colours (almost all the colours, in fact) and has more vibrant colour overall in jade. It is heavily linked to realising skills and goals. As a result the stone is often credited with stimulating self-reliance and confidence. However this is not a cocky emotion - in fact jadeite is associated tranquility and calmness.
If we link that to Jadeite himself we can get some vital details about his true personality. He generally works alone, is respectfully confident (right up until his death) and actually does remain remarkably calm in difficult situations. We know all this from what little we see of him in the manga.
However a interesting comparison between jadeite and nephrite is that the latter is a stronger material. It is more popular for detailed cravings (such as miniatures) due to it not chipping easily - something Jadeite can do when not smoothed down. For this reason nephrite has also been used more commonly for weaponry. This sort of plays into Nephrite being the reckless warrior type while Jadeite is the calm and laid back brother.
Both stones are known as “dream stones” and both represent the following: love, courage, justice, wisdom. In Sailor Moon Crystal, the writers decided to give the boys “Elements of Harmony” style titles not unlike the girls’ intros as “Guardian of —” titles. Jadeite’s was the Knight of Endurance and Harmony while Nephrite was Knowledge and Understanding. All of these are qualities associated with jade.
I can’t figure out if there was a specific reason why Naoko Takeuchi chose two forms of jade for two of the Shitennou but I genuinely do think that the fact she did means we can perhaps infer a connection between the boys. Perhaps a “two sides of the same coin” aspect? Well, they are close in age (18 and 19) and while Jadeite dies Nephrite is genuinely upset about it despite him picking on him earlier, making fun of his inability to deal with the Sailor Senshi. This is another aspect I have to admit I like about SMC - it showed the boys subtly coming in to help each other when confronting Beryl and so on.
Jadeite and Nephrite were likely very, very similiar and that is why they were best friends and rivals. They took shots at each other but in the end they would both go down fighting together or for each other because they were brothers in arms. Jadeite was calmer, cheerful and more laid back while Nephrite was serious, confident and perceptive. They complimented each other perfectly.
ZOISITE
The youngest, daintiest and arguably most creative of the Shitennou, Zoisite is named after a mineral in its own right. It has several subcategories aside from: there is basic tumbled Zoisite; Thulite, Ruby Zoisite (Anyolite) and Tanzinite. It is the latter variety that is the most celebrated due to its gorgeous violet-blue colour.
On its own, zoisite is a crystal that best described as a “booster”, “upper” or “stimulant”. It is a stone that supposedly celebrates uniqueness, encouraging the bearer to break the mold and be themselves. Reading all of this, it is hard not to think of the 90′s anime Zoisite who very much did march to the beat of his own drum and relished in his own individualism. He, of course, in virtually a different person compared to the manga, not least in the somewhat admirable genuineness that surrounds Manga!Zoi. Naoko’s Zoisite loves Jadeite and Nephrite, reflecting a sense of brotherhood. Likewise, while he is clearly a little terrified of Kunzite, Zoisite follows his orders without question. The gemstone zoisite is most famous among crystal enthusiasts for invoking “trust in the universe” and “trust in ultimate goodness” in life. It is a stone that brings happiness and quells fears.
Dark Kingdom Zoisite is a trickster who plays dirty, is a cheat and is prone to petulant outbursts of anger - the exact opposite of a Zoisite stone, a stone of ultimate trust. In the 90′s anime it is linked to his vanity. In the manga, it is linked to his pride. For Zoisite to have all of these negative aspects to his personality yet have such an underlying affection for his brothers makes for a interesting mixture as it implies that while Beryl could twist his “true self” into a nasty little brat yet retain his sense of loyalty to the others.
From the properties of zoisite stones, we can perhaps infer what the true Zoisite was like. Dark Kingdom version is a cheat and a manipulator, Elysion Zoisite was then probably honest to a fault, in keeping with his stone. He was likely still proud, very sneaky and trickery - but he would likely play fairer and not resort to dirty tactics. His loyalty to his brothers would be just as fierce and would be the one to always find the bright side.
These are the aspects of the basic zoisite, but what about the other forms? What could they tell us about Zoisite’s character?
Let’s start at the top and look at Thulite. It is named after the mythological region known as Thule, thought to be a region in Scandinavia. Immediately the “European Commander” bells are going off inside your heads, right? I personally think it would be nice is Thule was indeed Zoisite’s Kingdom back in the Silver Millennium.
Thulite is the “nurturing” gem, one that comforts shy, withdrawn and emotionally damaged people, especially survivors of severe abuse. In other words, it is the stone that defends the meek. This makes sense as Zoisite himself is often portrayed as well physically smaller than the other Shitennou and plays in again to the stone being a “booster” of self-worth. Ruby in Zoisite once again enhances creativity but has the added bonus of having an underlying focus, again lending weight to the fan theory that Zoisite is by far the most intelligent Shitennou because he is both creative and goal focused. It negates laziness. Finally, there is the beautiful Tanzinite, a stone that smooths an overactive mind. It slows down a creative mind that has gone into overdrive and helps the bearer calm down.
These three stones really add to the spectrum of what the SilMil Zoisite could have been like: a gentle and nurturing young man with a brilliant, active and creative mind. There was no locked room he couldn’t think his way out of. He believed in being true to himself and encouraged others to be the same - but always tried to do too much. He often forgot that he was only human and had to be reminded to calm down. But his mind was always ticking over. Always.
