These Underrated Sailor Moon Characters Deserved Way More Screen Time

In the classic magical girl anime series Sailor Moon, young Usagi Tsukino discovers a mysterious cat named Luna and soon discovers she is the reincarnation of an ancient princess. Over the course of the story, Usagi transforms into Sailor Moon and defends Earth against all kinds of evil with her fellow Sailor Guardians. The series explores themes of friendship and teamwork while also emphasizing the importance of love and sacrifice to save the day.

Usagi’s transformation into Sailor Moon is at the forefront of the anime’s episodes, but there are plenty of lovable supporting characters that have made Sailor Moon the iconic anime franchise that it is today. The Sailor Quartet were four characters who took a minor role in the series but quickly became fan favorites who deserved a much deeper look at their story. Despite arriving late in the series, their aesthetic appeal and important role in a major character’s journey set the series up to explore them in much more detail.

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Who are the Sailor Quartet?

The Sailor Guardians are Chibiusa’s Bodyguards

The Sailor Quartet is a group of four Sailor Guardians who were destined to awaken as Chibiusa’s bodyguards in the future. The Quartet appears in both the Sailor Moon manga and Sailor Moon Crystal. The group is led by Sailor Ceres, the oldest member who has long pink hair and wears a matching pink Sailor Guardian outfit.

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Sailor Pallas, Sailor Juno and Sailor Vesta join Ceres in the group, and each are named after the first four asteroids discovered in the solar system. As a bit of trivia, Sailor Moon author Naoko Takeuchi made their ages correspond to the same order as each asteroid’s discovery, with Ceres being the oldest and Vesta the youngest.

The Sailor Quartet were sent to earth to protect Sailor Chibi Moon, and they are essentially her version of Sailor Moon’s Inner Sailor Guardians. While the group isn’t shown in enough depth to get a full grasp of their powers, their attacks like Pink Ladies Freezing Kiss and the Amazoness Jungle Arrow were more than enough to show that the Quartet was a force to be reckoned with over the course of Sailor Moon‘s story.

The Quartet Debuted as Corrupted Villains

The Dream Circus Arc Had Chibiusa’s Protectors Take on a More Dastardly Role

Before Sailor Moon‘s story began, the Sailor Quartet rested peacefully in the Amazon Jungle awaiting the time when Sailor Chibi Moon would awaken her powers and need their protection. Unfortunately for the Sailor Guardians, one of Sailor Moon‘s most wicked villains, Queen Nehelenia of the Dead Moon Circus, found them and awakened them early, corrupting them to work for her. She turned the group into CereCere, PallaPalla, JunJun and VesVes, the members of the Amazoness Quartet who would plague Usagi and her friends during the Dream Arc.

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Sailor Saturn could tell that the Amazoness Quartet were actually corrupted Sailor Guardians, but before Usagi and her allies could free them from Nehellenia’s corruption, Zirconia arrived and sealed them back into the Amazon Stones, essentially cutting the Quartet’s time in the story short. The group would go on to play a somewhat larger role in the Sailor Moon manga and Crystal adaptation.

After Nehelenia was defeated, Sailor Saturn asked Usagi to heal the Amazon Stones, which freed the Quartet from their prison. It was then revealed that they were actually Sailor Guardians, and they shared the story of how they were sent to protect Sailor Chibi Moon before going back to sleep to wait for her to fully awaken her powers.

The Sailor Quartet Awakened in the Stars Arc

Sailor Moon’s Final Arc Saw the Quartet Return

The final act of Sailor Moon pushed Usagi and her Sailor Guardian allies to the limits of their power, with the future literally hanging in the balance. Sailor Chibi Moon returned to the future and saw things were incredibly unstable; she soon returned to the past to help Sailor Moon put things back on track. At this point in the story, Chibiusa transformed, awakening the Sailor Quartet and prompting them to come to her side.

The Sailor Quartet joined Sailor Chibi Moon on the Saggitarius Zero Star where they found Sailor Moon, Princess Kakyuu and Sailor Chibi Chibi caught up in Sailor Heavy Metal Papillion’s vines. Using their Pink Ladies Freezing Kiss attack, the group was able to free the Sailor Guardians and save the day.

As the story continued to reach its climax, the Sailor Quartet would once again show their loyalty to Chibiusa and Usagi. When Usagi’s Sailor Guardians started attacking her while under the influence of the Galactica Bracelets, the Quartet did not hesitate to shield Usagi from the attacks, saving her from her own allies’ powerful abilities. They went on to grant Usagi their power as she went into the Galaxy Cauldron in order to save the world from total destruction at the hands of Chaos.

The Quartet Became Fan Favorite Characters

Their Brief Appearance in the Story Made Its Mark

Despite only appearing as antagonists in the Dream arc and briefly coming to the Sailor Guardians’ defenses at the very climax of the story, the Sailor Quartet were able to leave a lasting impression on fans of Sailor Moon‘s manga and Crystal. This is likely for many reasons, including their fun character designs which offer a vibrant and unique take on the traditional Sailor Guardian aesthetics.

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The group also served to give more development to Sailor Chibi Moon’s character. With their addition to the story, they further mirrored her role in her mother’s legacy. The fact that their appearance in the story required Chibi Moon to awaken her powers also made their arrival an incredibly satisfying moment for fans of Chibi Moon. As her protectors, the Sailor Quartet had a very important job — and they proved themselves worthy of the task during the Stars arc.

Similar to Sailor Moon and her own Inner Sailor Guardians, the relationship between Chibiusa and the Sailor Quartet emphasized the importance of friendship and sisterhood in the series. Chibiusa and the Sailor Quartet offered a younger, fresh perspective on these themes, and the series easily could have further explored these bonds, giving the Quartet more screen time in the process.

The Series Could Have Explored the Quartet Further

Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta Had Plenty of Potential

It’s understandable that the Sailor Quartet took a backseat role in Sailor Moon, because the story focuses primarily on Usagi’s journey. Nonetheless, the franchise still could have expanded the Quartet’s role and further fleshed out these fan favorite characters. This is especially true for the classic 90s anime adaptation of Sailor Moon, where the Quartet doesn’t really appear past their time as villains in the Dream arc.

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The 90s Sailor Moon anime also was not afraid to add filler episodes and side stories, making it even more of a missed opportunity that the Sailor Quartet’s roles were not used to further develop Chibiusa’s journey. The anime could have easily given fans a deeper look at how the Quartet boosted Chibi Moon’s strength, further helping her down the path to becoming the future queen. Each member of the Quartet could have had a side story working with Chibi Moon that showed off their personalities and abilities in much more detail.

Despite their limited screen time, the presence of the Sailor Quartet greatly deepened Sailor Moon‘s lore and enriched the show’s legacy. For now, these four stellar characters are able to shine in even the most limited of roles, but one day in the future the franchise could easily flesh out their lives and give them more meaning. A reboot of Sailor Moon or a spin-off focusing on Chibi Moon would have ample opportunity to more prominently feature these amazing and underrated Sailor Guardians and give them the backstory they deserve.

Sailor Moon

A group of schoolgirls discover they are incarnations of super-powered alien princesses, and use their abilities to defend the earth.

Release Date

March 7, 1992

Creator(s)

Naoko Takeuchi

Cast

Kotono Mitsuishi , Aya Hisakawa , Michie Tomizawa , Emi Shinohara , Rica Fukami , Tôru Furuya , Keiko Han , Kae Araki , Yasuhiro Takato

Seasons

5

Creator

Main Characters

Production Company

Writers

Sukehiro Tomita

Number of Episodes

Streaming Service(s)

Hulu

Directors

Junichi Sato , Kunihiko Ikuhara

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