Sailor Pluto

Lore & Background

Sailor Pluto is the Guardian who guards the Gates of Time. She is first seen contacting Chibiusa through Luna-P in the anime; this does not happen in the manga or Crystal. In fact, this ability of Luna-P's is anime-only. Sailor Pluto refers to Chibiusa as "Small Lady." Chibiusa usually calls Sailor Pluto by the nickname "Puu." She acts as Chibiusa's guardian in the anime, but is more of a friend in the manga and Crystal and her deference to the future queen is apparent. She is also very good friends with Diana. Overall, Pluto in the manga seems to be good with children, which is probably why she ends up working as a nurse at Chibiusa's school in the fifth arc. She also mentors Ami/Sailor Mercury in the fourth arc, allowing her to power up to her Super form. After the events of the second story arc, she leaves the gates of time to temporarily live as a normal human, joins Sailors Uranus and Neptune, and becomes a university student studying physics. At this point, she gains the civilian identity "Setsuna Meioh" where previously it seems Pluto had none, unique among the ten main Solar System Guardians. The exact nature of how she leaves her post differs between versions: in the manga and Crystal, she is reincarnated in the present-day by Neo-Queen Serenity after sacrificing herself during the second arc while for unknown reasons she still appears in the future in the fifth arc; and the anime gives no explicit reason for her appearing in the third season, she just shows up with a previously unmentioned civilian form with no apparent consequences. The identity of who set Pluto at the time door and gave her the taboos and when this might have happened are also never stated in the anime.

In Their Own Story

Even in her civilian form, Setsuna is the oldest of the girls, 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, although there are moments in the manga where she expresses much more emotion than the anime (she loosens up enough that she brings alcohol to a minor's birthday party). She later cares for Hotaru along with Michiru and Haruka; this happens at the end of the Infinity arc in the manga, but not until the fifth and final arc in the anime. She does not seem to have any non-Guardian contacts in the anime, which is in sharp contrast both to the other Guardians in that continuity and the manga and Crystal. In the latter, she befriends Reika Nishimura as they attend the same college and are around the same age. In fact, as soon as Uranus and Neptune show up in the anime, Pluto loses her independence and does whatever they do, despite not being as harsh towards the Inners for their idealism. Contrariwise in the manga and Crystal, Setsuna is Haruka and Michiru's equal and she even attempts to investigate the strange going-ons at Infinity Academy by herself before she reawakens as Sailor Pluto, for instance, by buying one of Tellu's Tellun plants (who she later kills). Unlike the other Guardians (excluding Sailor Venus, who has been described as a goddess before), it is questioned whether she is fully human; she has been described as "a goddess, eternally guarding the Portal of Space and Time." She was born under the sun sign Scorpio, whose modern ruling planet is Pluto, though sometimes Pluto is said to co-rule with Mars, Scorpio's traditional ruling planet.

Reader's Guide

In the anime, Sailor Pluto appears in relatively few episodes (despite being the sixth Sailor Guardian introduced) and does not really do anything of consequence, even her sacrifice comes off as existing simply because it was in the manga and the writers felt the need to include it, despite the circumstances not being as dire and heart-wrenching. Unlike Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus, she is sympathetic toward the Inners 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 Sailor Guardians in investigating the true identity of ChibiChibi. Sailor Pluto has additional, less cited spheres of dominion in her manga and Crystal incarnation, influences that are vaguely suggested in the anime, but never made explicit. Sailor Pluto is much darker in the black-and-white manga than in color illustrations and both anime series (something which has not gone unnoticed by the Western fandom; her skin color also is not consistent among seasons with her appearance in R as being extremely pale, as a bit darker in S, and lastly flat-out orange in Stars. In Crystal, she is dark enough to tell she is not the same shade as everyone else which is fairly consistent with how Takeuchi draws her in her color pictures). She is identified as the "Guardian of the Underworld" wearing a black-themed sailor suit. She is also stated to be the daughter of Chronos, the god of time. She is ruthless and 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 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 and Crystal, not even the cats know she exists at first. In the manga and Crystal, 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 and Crystal, it can only be inferred from depictions of Pluto blushing while around King Endymion and her reaction when he runs to comfort her during her death. Various situations in the musicals have shown Pluto's unrequited love; for example, Tuxedo Mask's actor, Yūta 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. It is entirely possible she only has a crush on King Endymion and not on any of the other forms of Mamoru Chiba. Since King Endymion only appears in person in the Black Moon arc, it makes sense why it never appears outside of that story line. 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 and Crystal occurs much earlier and reawakens the good side of Black Lady, a corrupted Chibiusa, due to remembering her friendship with Pluto as she watches her die. This is also the point where Sailor Chibimoon appears, again much earlier than in the anime. However, for all intents and purposes, in the manga and Crystal 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 (though this does not cause problems in the manga and Crystal continuity to begin with). Alternately, she reincarnates backwards, so the Setsuna known in seasons 3-5 will become the Sailor Pluto seen in season 2.

Did You Know?

• Sailor Pluto is the only main Solar System Guardian who initially had no civilian identity; she gained the name 'Setsuna Meioh' only after leaving the Gates of Time.
• In the manga and Crystal, Sailor Pluto is stated to be the daughter of Chronos, the god of time.
• Sailor Pluto's skin color varies between anime seasons: extremely pale in R, darker in S, and flat-out orange in Stars.
• In the manga and Crystal, Sailor Pluto's death reawakens the good side of Black Lady (a corrupted Chibiusa) and triggers the first appearance of Sailor Chibimoon.
• Sailor Pluto is identified as the 'Guardian of the Underworld' and wears a black-themed sailor suit.