Sailor Jupiter

Profile

Makoto's strong, independent personality is hinted at in her most striking physical feature—her unusual height (5'6" or 1.68 meters). She is stated at her first appearance in the series to be very tall, and considerable notice is taken in the original Japanese versions, although this trait is downplayed in English translations (as her relative height is not all that uncommon in most Europeans). She is physically very strong, and in fact was rumoured to have been kicked out of her previous school for fighting. She is introduced to the series after transferring to Azabu Jūban Junior High, where Usagi Tsukino and Ami Mizuno are students, and where she stands out all the more because her school uniform is different from everyone else's; unable to find anything in her size, her school's administration tells her to wear her old one. It has a long skirt, which when coupled with her curly hair, was a common visual cue for a tough or delinquent girl at the time the series was created. However, unlike these delinquent girls, her wavy hair is natural. Despite her tough appearance, she is very gentle. She always wears pink rose earrings and a green hair tie that decorates her ponytail.

One of the most consistent characters across the many versions of the series, Makoto is always depicted as simultaneously the most masculine and feminine of the four Guardian Soldiers. Her most closely held dream is to get married and own a cake and flower shop. After entering high school, she also joins the cooking and gardening clubs.

Her domestic talents are explained as a deliberate effort to overcome her tomboyishness. In the live-action series she enjoys shopping, but eschews "girly" things (she can be seen shopping for basketball shoes in one scene, for instance); she cooks, but also physically overpowers delinquents; she reorganizes her home, but does so with a sledgehammer. She also excels in dancing, especially ice-skating. She insists that she is not the least bit feminine, and seems surprised and touched when someone tells her she is.

This dual nature comes from a need to be self-sufficient: her parents died in an aviation accident as a child and she has since then looked after herself. She is self-sufficient almost to a fault, and gets shocked when an airplane passes overhead. In the anime adaptation, Makoto lives alone; in the DIC English adaptation, Makoto says that her mother is allergic to cats and is able to board a plane. In Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Makoto's parents' death is told in a flashback in Act 6, but how they died is not mentioned.

Makoto has at least one former boyfriend, which is the importance of this subplot. Her senpai is mentioned only once or twice. In the anime adaptation Makoto is extremely boy-crazy. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon is an integral part of why Makoto feels she needs to be alone. In each version, there are mentions of other men who were very briefly a part of her life. Makoto is generally attracted to Motoki Furuhata, especially in the anime, but only in the live-action show do they become close. By the end of the direct-to-DVD Special Act, they are engaged to be married.

One quirk of Makoto's was made famous among English-speaking fans due to the translation of a particular scene in the anime adaptation. The girls are arguing over which of them should play the part of Snow White in a play. In the Japanese version, Makoto says that she would be best for the role because she has the largest breasts. In the DIC English adaptation, she still points at her chest, but states instead that she has the most "talent."

Aspects and forms

As a character with different incarnations, special powers, transformations and extended longevity; a really long ageless lifetime virtually spanned between the Silver Millennium era and the 30th Century, Makoto gains multiple aspects and aliases as the series progresses.

Sailor Jupiter

Makoto's Soldier identity is Sailor Jupiter. She wears a sailor suit colored in green and pink, with rose-shaped earrings and green, laced-up boots with height just above the ankles. In the manga and live-action series she has a belt carrying a small ball of potpourri. She is given specific titles throughout the various series, including "Soldier of Protection", "Herculean Jupiter", "Soldier of Thunder and Courage", and "Soldier of Caring". Her personality is no different from when she is a civilian, although certain powers are unavailable to her in that form.

In Japanese, the name for the planet Jupiter is Mokusei (木星), the first kanji meaning 'tree' and the second indicating a celestial object. Although the Roman planet-name is used, Sailor Jupiter's dominant element is wood due to this aspect of Japanese mythology. Unusually, most of her attacks are based on her secondary power, lightning, which is in reference to the Roman god Jupiter. She is by far the physically strongest of the Sailor Soldiers, able to lift a full-grown man above her head, even while ice skating or to stop a stone pillar from falling. In the early manga, she always has a short antenna coming from her tiara, which serves as a lightning rod; eventually this takes on the same role as in the anime, and extends upward only when she summons lightning. It does not appear in the live-action series.

As she grows much stronger and more powerful, Sailor Jupiter gains additional special abilities and powers, and at key points her Sailor Soldier uniform changes to reflect this. The first change takes place in Act 37 of the manga, when she obtains the Jupiter Crystal and her outfit becomes similar to that of Super Sailor Moon. She is not given a new title. A similar event is divided between Episodes 143 and 154 of the anime, and she is given the name Super Sailor Jupiter. A third, manga-only form appears in Act 42, unnamed but analogous to Eternal Sailor Moon (sans wings).

Princess Jupiter

In Silver Millennium, Sailor Jupiter was also the Princess of her home planet. She was among those given the duty of protecting Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom. As Princess Jupiter, she dwelt in Io Castle and wore a green gown—she appears in this form in the original manga, as well as in supplementary art. Naoko Takeuchi once drew her in the arms of Nephrite, but no further romantic link between them was established in the manga or the first anime adaptation. However, in Sailor Moon Crystal it is clearly stated that Sailor Jupiter and Nephrite were in love at the time of the Moon Kingdom. This is also established in the stage musicals, and it is implied in the Another Story video game.

Special powers and items

Makoto is portrayed as unusually strong for a teenage girl, but like the other Sailor Soldiers, she must transform in order to gain access to her celestial powers. She transforms into a Sailor Soldier by raising a special device (pen, bracelet, wand, or crystal) into the air and shouting a special phrase, originally "Jupiter Power, Make-up!" As she becomes more powerful and obtains new transformation devices, this phrase changes to evoke Jupiter Star, Planet, or Crystal Power.

In the manga, Sailor Jupiter's first named attack is Flower Hurricane, which is immediately followed by calling down lightning. Emphasis is quickly placed upon her electric-based powers, and these are the norm in all versions of the series. Her primary attack for the first story arc and most of the second is Supreme Thunder, for which she calls down lightning from the sky with a tiny lightning rod that extends from the stone on her tiara (or, in the live-action series, with her leg). Sometimes, before performing the attack she would call out "Waga shugo Mokusei yo! Arashi wo okose! Kumo wo yobe! Ikazuchi wo furaseyo!" (我が守護木星よ！嵐を起こせ！雲を呼べ！雷を降らせよ！; My guardian Jupiter! Brew a storm! Call the clouds! Bring down the lightning!). Although she channels this power, she is not immune to its effects, and can use her body to focus the electricity in a suicide move. It is upgraded twice for one-off attacks in the anime series: once to Supreme Thunder Dragon, and much later to Super Supreme Thunder.

In the second story arc Sailor Jupiter gains Sparkling Wide Pressure, an attack consisting of a lightning ball which, aside from a manga-only power called Jupiter Coconut Cyclone, remains her primary attack for the rest of the second story arc, all of the third, and much of the fourth. When she takes on her second Soldier form (Super Sailor Jupiter in the anime), she acquires a special item, a wreath of oak leaves, which is described in the manga as "the emblem of thunder and lightning." It appears in her hair and enables her to use Jupiter Oak Evolution.

Sailor Jupiter's earrings, large pink roses, are occasionally significant. She wears them in both her Soldier and civilian forms, and can use them as a projectile weapon if she needs to. When they first meet in the manga, Usagi thinks the roses have a nice fragrance, and late in the anime the sight of them brings her back from temporary memory loss because it reminds her of Tuxedo Mask. Much more important, in the manga, are the Jupiter Crystal and Leaves of Oak. The former is Makoto's Sailor Crystal and the source of all of her power, which becomes especially important in the fifth story arc. In the live-action series, she frequently uses unnamed electric attacks, and is given a tambourine-like weapon (the Sailor Star Tambo) by Artemis. In the final episode, the Tambo transforms into a lance.

Development

Makoto is present in the original proposal for a hypothetical Codename: Sailor V anime, but her name is given as Mamoru Chino. Creator Naoko Takeuchi confirms that this character eventually became Makoto, and writes that the original concept was quite different—Makoto was not only tough, but in fact was meant to be the leader of a female gang as well as a smoker. A very similar name was later given to the series' male protagonist, Mamoru Chiba.

Sailor Jupiter's original costume design, like the others', was fully unique. It featured buckles, very long gloves, blue and yellow highlights, a bare lower torso, and a profusion of thin, dark pink ribbons—along with a face-plate and communicator. Later, Takeuchi was surprised by these sketches and stated that she did not remember drawing them. Her instructions to the animators included a note that Makoto should appear muscular, "a little meatier than normal."

The kanji of Makoto's surname translate as "tree" or "wood" or "spirit" (木, ki) and "field" or "civilian" (野, no). Her given name is in hiragana makoto (まこと) and therefore difficult to translate. Possible meanings include "truth", "fidelity", and "sincerity". The given name "Makoto" is a unisex name although it is usually given to boys, but is sometimes given to girls; its use here highlights Makoto's tomboyishness.

Actresses

In the original Japanese series, Makoto is voiced by Emi Shinohara in the original series, and by Ami Koshimizu in Sailor Moon Crystal and all media since.

In the DIC/Cloverway English adaptation, her name was changed to "Lita" and was voiced by Susan Roman, who has said of her character, "[She] has so many different sides to her personality, the way we all do. She isn’t a one-dimensional cardboard character, she isn’t a stereotype, and she certainly isn’t predictable. I just loved being able to go to so many different places with her." Lita is the only significant human character in the English adaptation to be played by the same voice actress through the entire series run. Patricia Tollett also provided English vocals for songs sung by the character in the original English adaptation. In the Viz Media English adaptation, her voice is supplied by Amanda Miller. A longtime Sailor Moon fan, Miller auditioned for every female part in the series, but became ecstatic when she discovered that she was cast as Sailor Jupiter. Miller cites Sailor Jupiter as her favorite character. On describing the similarities between her and Sailor Jupiter, Miller said, "I’m a lot like Makoto, because we were both the tallest kid in our class. I was, like, 5’7” when I was in fifth grade … I did play hockey on a boys’ team. I played goalie. So, I think that I have the tomboy aspect—and I love green—but also what I love about the character is that she was very tough but she was also equally as feminine. She was just so ‘I like to ice skate, I like to nerd out over cute boys,’ and I just love that about her. I think we both share that. Like we’re both feminine, but we’ll also kick your butt." Miller cited actor Harvey Fierstein as an influence to voicing Makoto.

In the stage musicals, Makoto has been portrayed by 13 actresses: Noriko Kamiyama, Marie Sada, Takako Inayoshi, Emika Satoh, Akari Tonegawa, Chiho Oyama (whose older sister Anza was the first to play Sailor Moon), Emi Kuriyama, Yuriko Hayashi, Ayano Sugimoto, Kaori Sakata, Karina Okada, Mai Watanabe, Yu Takahashi and Kaede.

In Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Makoto is played by Mew Azama. Also, child actress Misho Narumi portrays Makoto in flashbacks, dream sequences, and childhood photos.

Reception and influence

The official Sailor Moon character popularity polls listed Makoto Kino and Sailor Jupiter as separate entities. In 1992, readers ranked them at eleventh and fifth respectively, out of thirty eight choices. One year later, now with fifty choices, Jupiter dropped to the eleventh most popular while Makoto was twelfth most popular. In 1994, with fifty one choices, Sailor Jupiter was the seventeenth most popular character and Makoto was eighteenth. In early 1996, with fifty one choices, Makoto was the twenty third most popular character and Jupiter was the twenty seventh.

A five-book series was published, one book on each of the Sailor Soldiers and Sailor Moon. Makoto's was released in 1996. This book was later translated into English by Mixx.