#shitennou x senshi

[daeva-agas]

Speaking of the Senshi/Shitennou pairs. I was kind of curious why those stones in particular, right. Kunzite and zoisite are so unusual that I think only gemstone aficionados know them, and even though jadeite and nephrite are somewhat more commonly known names IIRC it still made people mess up the mineral names back in the day.

Well, uh, so, it was alleged that Takeuchi-sensei chose them to match the character and personalities of the senshi they're partnered with, so... Excuse me while I go overthink this and have a meltdown in suffering.

In the first place, supposedly the "inner senshi" are officially meant to be called "guardians"/"guardian deities" (守護 or 守護神). Haven't seen the raws, so I can't confirm, but that's what the JP media says. The term "Shitennou", as many are already aware of, are originally a term used to refer to a set of 4 Buddhist guardian deities.

If true then it just feels like they're all intended to be perfectly matching sets from the start, and it just never made it into the story.

I read that Sailor Moon was originally meant to just end with the Dark Kingdom plot, so maybe sensei intended to have a Romeo and Juliet sad ending where everyone just dies in the end?

These are all based on Japanese gemology guides (same as what I used to research for the Shitennou knight titles), since I imagine it's more likely to be the one Takeuchi-sensei had access to. These may differ from international ones.

(Warning: Long post)

In the manga sensei specified that the zoisite is the blue one, that's also known as "tanzanite". The blue variety of zoisite, among other things, means "calm and intelligence".

The connection to Ami/Mercury's character is very straightforward and obvious.

In terms of romance, a zoisite also means "subdued expressions of love". It really makes me think of how gentle this pair looks in the splash art sensei drew.

Kunzite means "premonition of a lover". It's specifically oh dang when I saw this because Minako was "special" among the senshi in the way that her character vibes are based on "love" (because Venus, goddess of love), rather than the original elemental name attached to the planet. It fits enough to make you pause and wonder if this it truly a coincidence.

The planet venus originally has the element of "gold/metal". The gold is reflected in her design somewhat, but her senshi identity is more related to "love". The other girls' names matches their planets' element names. E.g Jupiter = mokusei = wood, Ki(no) = wood/tree. Mercury = suisei = water, Mizu(no) = water.

Also Venus's relationship with Kunzite ended up being the one who got the most hints actually shown in the manga, so... I do wonder.

The two jades are less overly specific like this, especially Nephrite, but well.

Jadeite is the native jade from Japan, and has been long used to make magatama since ancient times. As such it's always seen as a deeply spiritual stone, that can protect against and/or ward off evil. A perfect match for Rei, who is a miko. One wonders if sensei chose the stone because of Rei being a miko, or if she made Rei a miko after choosing this name for the one matched with her.

Edit: Japanese Wiki claims Rei being a miko was based on Takeuchi-sensei's personal experience as a part time miko. So then Jadeite had to have been named/chosen to fit her, if this theory is true.

Not to mention that Akuryou Taisan, the evil-banishing spell, is something that she uses quite often.

Nephrite is the most confusing one here, because I'm not really able to find the connection. That's why I initially had strong doubts about the rumour/claim about the gemstone names' connection to the senshi.

In the gemology guide that I referenced, its meaning is "charm of maturity". I suppose Mako has always felt like she's older than the other girls, because her hobbies (cooking and home decor) feels really motherly.

Other than that and the stone being a deep green colour similar to Jupiter's senshi outfit I'm not entirely sure. (in the manga, sensei says nephrites are "always deep green" even though IRL that's not the case)

----

Just my additional comments after reading everything that I did:

In terms of colour, I like to think Jadeite is a red jade. Not just to match Rei, but in the manga Jadeite's stone is always coloured the darkest (it's almost all-black). Of all the various jades, red is one of the darker-toned ones.

The shading can be arbitrary, especially if sensei was just tracing from reference photos. Dark green jadeite also exist, so for all I know this is intended to be green too.

But if I use the logic that the stones are matched with the girls' character, I think red just fits the best. In gemstone language the red jade means "tenacity" and "willpower". Green jades tends to be associated with things like harmony, prosperity, luck, and so on. It doesn't feel very Rei-like.

Also, the nephrite jade being a "soft jade", it's associated with very cuddly meanings such as "warm" or "gentle", which makes me laugh even more than the "wisdom" one.

Unless, again, these words are more attached to the matching girls' character, rather than the guy in question, because yes I think Mako is definitely very warm and gentle and fluffy and very huggable.

Although other-coloured zoisite varieties were said to have different meaning, it looks like blue is the predominant zoisite colour in Japan. A lot of Japanese gem sites tend to automatically just say "it's blue" while describing zoisite, even though there's obviously other colours out there.

Sensei did specify it's "blue zoisite, a.k.a tanzanite" in the manga, so I think she's aware of the other colours having different meanings attached. Some articles also had mentioned Takeuchi-sensei's family runs a jewellery store?

I wonder if this is why Crystal went with the gemstone's healing properties for Zoi's title though, because the gemstone words overlaps too much with Mercury in a very in-the-face way. The other meanings are Hope, Mystery, Pride, and Noble, and maybe those don't make very good title names? Like, the only viable one is probably Hope, though I feel like it would be even more confusing if Crystal said Zoi is the "Knight of Hope" or whatever.

Another thing about Kunzite is that its meaning also include "pure and everlasting love", but the website caveated this that this is a saintly kind of love (for the gem's association with Holy Mother Mary). So it's not necessarily something to get overly excited about in terms of SenShi headcanoning, but, well, it's there.

"Shitennou" in Japanese pop culture is generally used to just mean "4 very important people", so it didn't have to actually mean anything. Like, a few samurai in history had their "shitennou", who are just the best 4 generals serving under them. Most famous being the Tokugawa shitennou, but other samurai lords actually have their own so-called shitennou. It's just that if the senshi are officially named "Guardians", then this changes the context.

[belfastdocks]

Sketchy sort of day, this was one of the few that turned out somewhat decent.

[daeliariddle]

It really bothers me how there's no mention of the Shitennou here: Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoiste and their leader Kunzite FOR THE THIRD TIME, they're supposed to be the Knights of Endymion, surely they would have given some info/help.

They're still turned into stones, and nothing. Add to that the fact that they tell us about Mars' vow of chastity but… she was supposed to be in love with Jadeite. Venus has that curse but had a "romance" with Kunzite (being even the most "developed" of all). It's quite annoying.

I understand that SM is about Usagi/Mamoru, their fight to stay together protecting the Earth, but it's a bit sad for the fate of the other sailors and, especially, the Shitennou, being completely manipulated and then discarded.

[jupitersguardian]

Thinking of how the Shitennou could have been incorporated into Sailor Moon S Crystal had they been allowed to live.

Rei and Jadeite both go to the mountains for that training. The other Guardians think they are totally just going on a romantic getaway. But turns out they were doing spy work on Mugen High.

Kunzite follows Minako when she ditches Michiru's concert for Mimette. He knew exactly where she was going.

Nephrite walks in on Makoto (and was it Minako?) passed out from the plant and he wakes them up.

Zoisite goes with Ami to the school but they don't allow him to enter. So he disguises himself as a Mugen high school student to get inside and manages to find her when things are going south.

[jane-imes]

Two down, three more to go =3=

[serpentinred]

Here's my submission to the 2022 Senshi & Shitennou Reverse Mini Bang. Huge thanks to the mods @ssminibang who set this up. You guys are awesome! Huge thanks to @nerysdax for beta-ing the fic. Huge, huge thanks to @iiyasbssmdoodles for her amazing artworks!

The fic can also be found on FFnet, if that your preferred website for fanfics.

Also, check out hte awesome fanfics and fanwork that are and will be added to the 2022 Senshi & Shitennou Reverse Mini Bang!

[senshixshitennoulove]

by art_k_ark

[redfirerose-blog]

Masquerade ✨

[daeva-agas]

I want to holler about how much it makes me go absolutely bonkers that the Senshi-Shitennou pairs don't perfectly line up no matter which mythology/symbolism guide you try to map the Shitennou uniform colours with.

I guess I could just ignore the uniform colours and just go with whatever makes most sense, since the mythology didn't seem to particularly matter in regards to the Shitennou... My brain hurts.

[belfastdocks]

Makoto/Sailor Jupiter X Nephrite Sketch

[daeliariddle]

I understand SM's message, that they don't need a "man" to be happy, that Usagi is the protagonist and the Princess/Neo Queen, but I find it boring that every time a new enemy/ally appeared they would notice her… it's like… what about the other sailor senshi? Ami with her intelligence and kindness? Rei with her elegance worthy of a yamato nadeshiko? Makoto with her healthy femininity and physical strength? Minako as Sailor V and her sparkling character and her singing skills? They would be so popular.

That's why I don't care about the canon, for me they have their Shitennou with them, not only Haruka and Michiru must be happy, and something for Setsuna too, who made Pluto have an unrequited love for King Endymion. On top of that, Chibiusa, being a GIRL, was given romantic scenes with Helios, and let's not even talk about the awkward ones of her being Black Lady with Mamoru…

[jupitersguardian]

Some Mercury/Zoisite headcanons for an AU that I may one day write. This will be a mix of the mange and 90s anime.

In their past lives, their relationship started when Zoisite saw Mercury standing alone during a ball. He asked her to dance.

Zoisite is pansexual. He had a crush on Kunzite but Kunzite was already in a relationship with Sailor Venus. Kunzite has confirmed that if he wasn't already in love with Venus, he'd go for Zoisite.

At first, the others weren't sure about him and Ami because they seemed so different. Ami was shy and quiet and Zoisite liked to be loud and had a much bigger personality. But that's exactly why they worked. They enjoy the other's opposite personality. Zoisite can take attention off of Ami and Ami can be in indicator if he has to dial it back some.

Ami was also confused when she remembered that he was her lover in a past life. She always saw herself with a quiet man who would also become a doctor. Zoisite was the exact opposite of who she thought she'd end up with. And then he beat her at a game of chess and then she got it. He is also surprisingly very intelligent and very good at coming up with plans.

Zoisite has a bit of a rivalry with Minako but not over Kunzite. Minako was quite jealous when Zoisite did a much better job at acting as a decoy Sailor Moon than Minako! Zoisite also playfully tells her that he is the real Soldier of love and beauty. He also gets along very well with Sailor Ceres (who is Venus and Kunzite's adopted daughter).

Besides Mercury, the guardian he gets along best with is Jupiter. He and Makoto share a love of flowers and he will work at her flower shop.

He also gets along very well with Haruka and Michiru.

Besides Zoisite, the Shitennou Mercury gets along best with is Kunzite. Kunzite goes to her for a lot of advice.

Zoisite gets along with all the Ayakashi sisters. He helped Koan start up her make up business, will play chess with Berthier, saved Saphir after knowing Petz was worried about him (he lives in my AU because that episode broke my heart years ago when I first saw it in the DiC dub), and he'll listen to Calveras when she has to rant about her sisters because she feels like she isn't living up to their expectations as their older sister.

They have one child together and will adopt Sailor Pallas.

[venusxaino]

subtitles by seaofserenity

[jane-imes]

[red-roses-and-tea]

Finally finished!