That said, shall I begin?
We all know that Sailor Moon is not an American based cartoon (yes, I will stop stating the obvious in a moment); it is actually anime, or Japanese cartooning. This, in turn, is based on Naoko Takeuchi's manga of the same name. Thus said, we all can pretty much deduce that the original was in Japanese.
Finally, to the point. Ever since my sis first picked up a Japanese dictionary, I've been looking up the names of my Sailor Moon Characters. Couldn't find some of them; now, though, thanks to the absolutely KICK! resource above, I have.
Just a note: Due the fact that often a word can be the same in romanji (quick def: english version of their words), but with different kanji (their character writing style), I am not sure which definition is the ABSOLUTE right one. Especially since I haven't seen the character's names in kanji (HELP!). So I'm fitting them to the character. Also, this may be different from some other defs given; I am going as exact as possible based on my resources. Thus said...shall we?
Character Names
Inners Outers
The word "Mizuno" is actually two parts (and this is common in the inners): "Mizu" meaning "water," and "no" meaning "of". "Ami" actually has a couple of meanings, but I chose either "net" or "friend." So, altogether:Mizuno Ami="Friend of Water" or "Net of Water"
Hino Rei="Soul of Fire"
Besides being a somewhat revered word, "Ki" has two meanings, along with some conotations. Both straight meanings fit: "tree" and "spirit", the first due to the affliations with Jupiter and Raiden she picks up in the last two seasons. "Makoto" means "truth or sincerity," which fits pretty darn nicely.
Ergo, quite poetically, we get:Kino Makoto="Tree of Truth" or "Spirit of Sincerity"
It's in Mina's name that we run into some nifty stuff. "Ai," for those who never quite knew, means "love." Her first name has to be split as well, since the ending is the suffix -ko, which finds it's way to many a girl's name, and is a sort of diminutive. "Mina" actually means "all,everyone,everything," and is usually spelled this way: MINNA. (caps included for readers benefit ^_^) Altogether now, we get:
Aino Minako="Love of Everyone"
If you're a really in-depth SM fan (as I seem to be, no?), you probably already know this one. But, just in case...her last name must be subdivided, and so we get "tsuki," which means "moon." "Usagi" means rabbit. So..:Tsukino Usagi="Rabbit of (the) Moon"
Kawaii, yes. Dreamy, yes. Interesting name...well, partially. "Chiba" is just listed as a family name, a last name. "Mamoru" (which, according to my nifty name page, IS a guy's name)(just in case you ever doubted) means "to protect; to guard." In this case, there's really no put together-the-two-together meaning, just one that makes a LOT of sense.
Outers
The Outers, as usual, have a hidden catch to their names, but I'll get into that later. It is also a little difficult to get an EXACT trans of their names. The Inners are fairly self explanatory once you see the translations; the Outers are not. But you'll see.
Tennou Haruka ="Remote Uranus" or "Distant Emperor"
Kaiou Michiru="Full of Neptune" or "Rising Tide of Neptune"
Meiou Setsuna="Pluto's Moment" or "Juncture of Pluto".
Kou Seiya="Starlit Night Entertainment"
Kou Taiki: "Atmosphere (of) Entertainment"
The word "haruka" isn't really a problem; it has one relatively simple meaning: "far away, distant, remote" (etc. etc.). It's the "tenoh" or "tennou" or "ten'ou" that gets you in trouble. (Yes, there can be three different ways to spell the name.) For you fans of "tenoh," I regretfully say that I cannot find the word singularly (for there are times when it shows up in the middle of a word). For "ten'ou" there is no DIRECT spelling, but there is "ten'on," which means "blessings of heaven and such." It's in "tennou" that there may be a meaning. You see, attached to the ending -sei, it means "uranus." Straight trans. Without that, it means emperor. So, (finally), we get:
Wa-hoo, a name that isn't TOO difficult. With "kaiou", you run into the same sort of thing as with "tennou," and I don't mean numerous spellings. With a -sei attached to it, it means "Neptune." (Just a side note: "nisankaiou" means "sulfer dioxide".) It is also a given name, a person's name, and a place name. "Michiru" means "to be full, to rise (tide)"; it is also a female first name, and a given name. So, taking meanings, we get:
"Tomoe," her last name, appears to be just that: a name. Though it can mean "big comma design," I just don't think that works. "Hotaru," though, means "butterfly," and in light of all the butterfly imagery in the S series, I think that's darn fitting.
Check this out: if you add a -sei to "meiou," know what you get? Yep, it means "Pluto." Told you there was a catch. "Setsuna" I find almost painfully ironic, considering her station in life. It means, "moment, instant, or juncture." Now, we have:
Starlights
I have had the worst trouble with the Starlights, as will be seen shortly. When I first looked up "kou," I found the server giving me twenty-six meanings, plus telling me it could be both a first name and a last name. And I'm not a huge fan of the Starlights, so between that and not knowing the actual kanji...eh. (That pic is so ironic, NO?)(By the one, none of the meanings is "light".) I finally settled on "entertainment" for "kou," and Seiya (another true name, by the way) means "starlit night", so we get:
Having made it through Seiya, I was hoping not to run into any more trouble. I got lucky with Taiki (no, Ami-chan, do NOT rush me with the bat! His name, his name!) though, because once I had decided on what meaning of "kou" to take, I was set. "taiki" itself can also be a first or last name, by the way; it can mean either "vigilant" or "atmosphere." Being that they're starlights, I chose the later. Now we have:
When I went to check on the spelling of this name, I read the character description, and found out this man is RUDE. Like the PMS-crossed-over-the-disguise rude. Well, he's more than that. His name doesn't seem to exist! I tried splitting it up, but all I get is "Sky Arrow" or "Heaven Arrow", and neither seem right. If you can help me in anyway with this obstinante name, I'd be more than grateful! Domo arigato!
Thanks for struggling through this page with me. May I remind you that I don't own Sailor Moon, and as I've not checked the kanji, I'm not sure if these are COMPLETELY right? I hope you've enjoyed this, nontheless. It's just the first part of my "Sailor Moon Education Series" *g*; the next two pieces will be the planets and a little on them, and then the Roman mythology, since the planets have the Roman names and not the Greek ones. Which is probably good, because the Greek versions of these gods were just a LITTLE messed up. Ja ne!
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