Sailor Pluto

Sailor Pluto (セーラープルート) is one of the central fictional characters in the Sailor Moon metaseries. Her human name is Setsuna Meioh (冥王 せつな), a college student who can transform into one of the series' specialized heroines, the Sailor Senshi.

Sailor Pluto first appears as a Senshi in the second major story arc, and her civilian form is not shown until the third. She is unique among all the characters in that she is stationed at the Door of Space-Time, with the specific duty of forbidding anyone to pass through it without permission. She has powers that relate to both time and the underworld.

Profile
Sailor Pluto is not introduced until late in the Sailor Moon R series. She is the soldier who guards the gates of time. She is first seen contacting Chibiusa through Luna-P. Sailor Pluto refers to Chibiusa as "Small Lady." Chibiusa usually calls Sailor Pluto by the nickname "Puu" (subtitled as "Plu" in the S season subs). She acts as Chibiusa's guardian.

After the events of the second story arc, she leaves the gates of time to temporarily live as a human being, joins the rest of the Outer Senshi, and becomes a university student studying physics. The exact nature of how she leaves her post differs between versions; in the manga, she is reincarnated in present day by Neo-Queen Serenity after sacrificing herself during the second arc, while in the anime Neo-Queen Serenity allows her to leave. Even in her civilian form, Setsuna is the oldest of the Sailor Team, around her late teens or older. Her personality has been described as distant and somewhat lonely, however she does consistently display warmth and affection for Chibiusa. When she reincarnates, she becomes more friendly, but is still not very emotional. She later cares for Hotaru along with Michiru and Haruka.

Unlike the other Senshi, it is questioned whether she is fully human - she has been described as "a goddess, eternally guarding the Portal of Space and Time".

Sailor Pluto's precise abilities and knowledge of the past and present are only vaguely defined, although a common theory is a form of omniscience, possibly due to her portrayal in the anime. For example, she was presumably aware of the two sailor soldiers carrying the mystical objects they were hunting for, but did not inform them and allowed various people to be attacked. (This differs greatly from the manga, and may be a simple continuity error.) This omniscience is represented as being able to watch through the gates of time, and such.

Sailor Pluto appears in just a few TV episodes. Unlike Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus, she is sympathetic toward the Guardian Senshi, and assists them on several occasions. During the second story arc, she allows them to travel through time even though this is not ordinarily allowed. In the third story arc, she often extends help or advice to Sailor Moon and her companions even when Sailors Uranus and Neptune want the two groups separate. Later, Setsuna joins the Guardian Senshi in investigating the true identity of ChibiChibi.

Sailor Pluto has additional, less cited influences and spheres of dominion in her manga incarnation, influences that are vaguely suggested in the anime, but never made explicit. Sailor Pluto is much darker in her initial form in the manga, identified as the "Guardian of the Underworld" with very dark skin and a black sailor uniform. She is also stated to be the daughter of Chronos, god of time. She is a ruthless soldier who follows rather exacting laws, executing any intruders who dare violate the underworld in search for the Gates of Time. She nearly kills Sailor Moon before realizing who she is, stating that "all who break the taboo must be eliminated". Luna also states to the others that no one is to even know that she (Sailor Pluto) exists, due to her dominion and nature, and that to her knowledge no one has ever seen her. Luna calls her a "lone warrior," noting the sadness in her eyes.

In the manga, Pluto's death scene vaguely implies a romantic interest in Endymion, though this is never explored again. In the Sailor Moon musicals, Sailor Pluto has an unrequited love for King Endymion. It is explicitly mentioned in Eien Denetsu and Shin - Densetsu Kourin, in the song Onna no Ronsou ("Woman's Conflicts"). In the manga, it can only be inferred from depictions of Pluto blushing while around King Endymion, her reaction when he runs to comfort her during her death and in artwork depicting Neo-Queen Serenity, Pluto, and King Endymion. Various situations in the musicals have shown Pluto's unrequited love; for example, Tuxedo Mask's actor, Yuuta Mochizuki being leaned on by the actress of Sailor Pluto, Rei Saitou, and commenting on his new year's resolution: to be by Pluto's side.

A small quirk occurs in continuity between the manga and anime. Sailor Pluto (temporarily) expires in both, but at different times; her death in the manga occurs much earlier and reawakens the good side of the possessed Chibiusa. However, for all intents and purposes, in the manga the technicality of Sailor Pluto existing outside of time means she is able to be reincarnated as a normal woman while still existing back at her post at the Time Gate.

Aspects and forms
First appearance

As a character with different incarnations, special powers, transformations and a long lifetime virtually spanned between the Silver Millennium era and the 30th century, Setsuna gains multiple aspects and aliases as the series progresses.

Sailor Pluto
Setsuna's primary identity is that of a Senshi. Her uniform is colored in black and garnet, and in its first iteration has no sleeves and a jewel hanging from the choker; her appearance (including height and exact hairstyle) changes somewhat throughout the series because, due to time travel, different "versions" of her are present at different times. She is given specific titles throughout the various series, including Soldier of Change, Soldier of Revolution and, most commonly, Guardian of Time. Her personality is not noticeably different when she is a civilian, although certain powers seem to be unavailable to her in that form.

Sailor Pluto has power over both time and space, and is ordinarily stationed at the Space-Time Door (a time-travelling gate) to prevent its use. When charged with this duty by Queen Serenity, she was given three "taboos", rules which she was forbidden to disobey: she must not travel through time, she must not abandon her post at the Door, and she must never cause time to stop. If she does stop time, her life is forfeit. Throughout the course of the series, Sailor Pluto breaks all three of these rules. She wields the Garnet Rod, a key-shaped staff which is topped by the Garnet Orb, one of three talismans carried by the Outer Senshi. In the manga, she sometimes wears a chain of keys around her waist.

As she grows stronger, Sailor Pluto gains additional powers, and at key points her uniform changes to reflect this. The first change takes place in Act 39 of the manga, when she obtains the Pluto 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 167 of the anime, and she is given the name Super Sailor Pluto. A third, manga-only form appears in Act 42, unnamed but analogous to Eternal Sailor Moon (sans wings).

Princess Pluto
During the Silver Millennium, Sailor Pluto was also the Princess of her home world. She was among those given the duty of protecting the solar system from outside invasion. As Princess Pluto, she dwelt in Charon Castle and wore a black gown--she appears in this form in the original manga Act 41, as well as in supplementary art.

Special powers and items
Setsuna is not shown using any special powers while in civilian form. She must first transform into a Sailor Senshi by raising her hand or a special device into the air and shouting a special phrase, originally "Pluto Planet Power, Make-up!" In the manga she eventually gains her Pluto Crystal and this phrase changes to evoke Pluto Crystal Power. In the anime, although she does upgrade to Super Sailor Pluto, the Crystal is never mentioned and her transformation is not shown on screen. When it is used, her transformation sequence involves a sand-like circle that rises up and washes over her, leaving her in her uniform.

Sailor Pluto's powers over time and space are somewhat tied with the destructive power of Sailor Saturn for astrological and mythological reasons. The names of Sailor Pluto's attacks include frequent reference to the Underworld, which was the province of Pluto in Roman myth; this is evident in her first named power, Dead Scream, which is her primary attack throughout the anime series. Unlike any other attack in the series, its name is whispered rather than shouted when she uses it.

Although her attacks all have English names (like those of the other Sailor Senshi), each is also given kanji in the manga to denote the meaning to Japanese readers. For example, Dead Scream is given kanji which translate to "ruin" (破滅) and "wheezing" (喘鳴), with the intended English pronunciation given in furigana. In the manga, Sailor Pluto demonstrates a few other named powers, including Chronos Typhoon (時空嵐撃) and the defensive forcefield Garnet Ball.

Sailor Pluto has enough power over time to stop it entirely, and although she is forbidden to do so, she uses this power one time each in the anime and manga. In the manga and musicals ''Tanjou! Ankoku no Princess Black Lady and it's revision Tanjou! Ankoku no Princess Black Lady [Kaiteiban] -Wakusei Nemesis no Naz''o, she uses it to stop Prince Diamond from touching the Silver Crystals of the past and future together, which would destroy the universe in a time paradox. In the anime, she uses this power to allow Sailors Uranus and Neptune to escape from a helicopter explosion. In each case, she sacrifices her own life as a result, but is reincarnated later in the series. Time Stop also appears as an offensive move in various of the Sailor Moon video games, seemingly without any penalty.

In addition to these powers, when the Space-Time Door has been misused, Sailor Pluto is able to close off passage to other worlds. At the end of the manga's third story arc, Sailor Saturn asks her to seal off forever the gateway to the world Pharaoh 90 had come from. This is done with Dark Dome Close (冥空封印).

All of Sailor Pluto's attacks require the use of the Garnet Orb, which is one of the three Talismans carried by the Outer Senshi. The orb rests at the top of her staff, the Garnet Rod, which is shaped like a giant key as a symbol of her stewardship over the Door of Space-Time. In the manga, she also wears a chain of keys around her waist, one of which is stolen by Chibiusa in order to travel back in time at the beginning of the second story arc. The Pluto Crystal is perhaps her most important possession, as it is her Sailor Crystal and the source of all her power, which becomes especially important in the fifth story arc. It is given to her by Sailor Saturn.

Development
The statistics listed for Setsuna in the back of manga volume 10 are unusual in that most of them never come up in the series body itself. Her favorite school subject is given as physics, which tracks with her stated college major in theoretical physics; and the love of green tea attributed to her is common among Japanese people. More incongruously, however, she is listed as skilled in sewing, with a dream of becoming a fashion designer. These interests are never spoken of in the actual story, although creator Naoko Takeuchi drew concept art of Setsuna in outfits worn by real-life supermodels. Likewise, Setsuna is never actually shown to enjoy shopping, nor to dislike cockroaches, eggplant, or the study of music, yet all of these things are delineated by Takeuchi well after the character's introduction. In fact, almost nothing about her personal life or interests is ever revealed. It is not even clear whether she has a civilian history at all, as time travel and multiple deaths and reincarnations complicate any backstory. Her devotion to the life of a Senshi, too, may have cut her off from worldly dreams, as it did with Sailors Uranus and Neptune. Also, according to Naoko Takeuchi's notes in the various artbooks, she mentions that "Setsuna-sama wears hotpants as well at home, but basically she also likes long skirts" and that she believes "Setsuna-sama should forever wear white clothes"

Certain other background details of Setsuna's character were chosen symbolically&mdash;for instance, her Western astrological sign is given as Scorpio, which in astrology corresponds to the former planet Pluto. In reference to a popular Japanese belief, her blood type is given as A, supposedly indicating sensibility and overearnestness.

The kanji of Setsuna's surname translate as "dark" (冥) and "king" (王). Together, they constitute most of the name of the planet Pluto in Japanese: Meiōsei (冥王星). Her given name is in hiragana setsuna (せつな) and so its meaning is not inherent, but the word itself means "moment". The name Setsuna has the same pronunciation of a Japanese Buddhist term セツナ meaning "split second" which was imported from China (in Chinese character format: 刹那 chànà) and originated in India (in Sanskrit: क्षण ksana). It can also be taken as a derivative of setsunai (切ない), meaning "painful."

According to the English-dubbed anime's executive producer, Janice Sonski, the choice of her English name, "Trista," was based on the latter interpretation. Trista derives from the Latin triste, meaning sadness. The packaging of Irwin dolls released in Canada in 1998 called Setsuna by the name Celia.

Reception and influence
The official Sailor Moon character popularity polls listed Setsuna Meioh and Sailor Pluto as separate entities. In 1994, with fifty one choices, Setsuna was the thirteenth most popular character, and Pluto was fifth. In early 1996, with fifty one choices, Setsuna was the twenty-ninth most popular character, and Pluto was the twenty-first.

Amongst English-speaking fans, her existence was discussed as one of the mysteries of Sailor Moon after the English dub stopped airing before she had been properly introduced to the audience. A doll bearing her likeness was sold in Canada prior to her official introduction to the audience.

Actresses
In the Japanese anime series and movies, Setsuna Meioh is voiced by Chiyoko Kawashima. In the English-language dub, her voice is provided first by Sabrina Grdevich (in the R series and movies), and in the S series (as "Trista Meioh") by Susan Aceron.

In the stage musicals, Setsuna has been played by eight actresses: Miwa Hosoki, Rei Saitou, Yuki Kamiya, Seiko Nakazawa, Teruyo Watanabe, Yuko Hosaka, Yukiko Nakae, and Miho Yokoi. In one show, Usagi * Ai no Senshi e no Michi, she appeared only as a silhouette and was portrayed by Noriko Kamiyama, the Sailor Jupiter for that musical.

Setsuna does not appear in the live-action series.