* Haruka fought daimons in Season S, not youmas, but they actually mean the same thing.

Based on the old article titled The Lady in Haruka, with a few added information and commentaries.


Woman of Royal Grace
Being an Outer Senshi, Tenou Haruka remains to be a mystery. She appears more often than Meiou Setsuna and Tomoe Hotaru, but like all Outer Senshi, there seems to be a kind of enigmatic aura about her.

In the anime, it is so rare that one sees Haruka wearing clothes that would enhance her femininity. Let us forget about the card artists for a while and focus on the anime itself for a moment. The only clues for non-Japanese speaking people who are watching the original version to realize that Haruka is female is when she's in her SailorUranus form, wearing her navy blue and gold sailor fuku. Even then, people who do not understand Japanese and who are new to the series would be confused as to whether Haruka is really female or perhaps a boy who turns into a woman after touching her transformation pen (henshin stick) and shouting "Uranus planet power, make up!" However, to answer so many questions pertaining to Haruka's gender, there is only one answer: Haruka is a young woman. That much is evident in the way she waves her henshin stick while turning around to let its power engulf her during her transformation sequence. The gracefulness and fluidity in her movements, even when she's being a little more masculine than your average Sailor Senshi, is clearly seen.

In the manga, we see more of Haruka's charm and gracefulness and a lot more of her personality that have never been captured in the anime. The graceful and light strokes of Takeuchi-sensei's pencil makes her more alive and vibrant without losing anything of her enigmatic charm. Her beauty lies in the curve of her neck, the length of her fingers, the soft color of her lips, the strength of her legs...She has the bearing of a seasoned soldier yet carrying with her the elusive quality of an untamed princess swan.

Senshi of Both Genders
In the manga, Haruka seems to have the reputation of being the Senshi of Both Genders. It's one of the things that Michiru clarified for the Inner Senshi. Again, this reputation can be attributed to the fact that she is female, yet able to do the things men can do. Well, actually, she can do better than men, but we'll not be delving into that lest we offend the male readers.

Also in the manga, we see her in clothes that no one in the anime would dare wear. She sometimes even outdoes Michiru in the kind of wardrobe she has. But she does wear extremely masculine clothes one moment and extremely feminine clothes the next--looking good in both modes of dressing. Perhaps this brazen way of dressing reflects more of her daring attitude than what she's letting on. This seems to be another manifestation of her courage and strength.

Haruka is a true soldier of royal descent not only when she wears her sailor fuku, and not only when she's battling demons,* but also in her moves and in her manner of behaving...which say a lot more than the things that people usually notice.


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