Chibiusa

is one of the main characters from the ''Sailor Moon'' manga series created by Naoko Takeuchi. She is introduced in Chapter 14, "Conclusion and Commencement, Petite Étrangere", first published in ''Nakayoshi'' on July 6, 1993. She is a small child from the 30th century who time travels to the past to seek help from the Sailor Guardians. She later returns, a few years older, in order to train as a Sailor Guardian herself—, translated as "Sailor Mini Moon" in the DIC and Cloverway English adaptations.

Chibiusa's birth name and official title is . She is adopted as a member of her mother's family, using the alias Usagi Tsukino, in the 20th century. She is given her nickname to differentiate from the older Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon). The nickname is a portmanteau of '' chibi'' (meaning 'small person' or 'small child') and her given name, Usagi.

Development

Adding in Usagi's child to the Sailor Moon storyline, as well as her name, Chibiusa for a '' chibi'' (little) Usagi, was the idea of Naoko Takeuchi's editor, Fumio Osano. Takeuchi has stated that she did not think much about how Chibiusa's hair would look, besides it having odango like Usagi's hair and being pink; and that she used a Chibiusa doll for reference on the hair.

The first appearance of Chibiusa as a Sailor Guardian is in a side story, a year and a half before Sailor Chibi Moon made her debut in the manga. In the first Picture Diary, Chibiusa is rescued by Sailor Moon and Venus and dreams that night about becoming a "soldier of love and justice" herself. She calls herself "Sailor Chibiusa Moon" and appears in a uniform slightly different from the one she wears later, most notably including a cape.

Takeuchi struggled with a name for Black Lady, initially calling her "the Black Queen" and retaining her childlike appearance. Takeuchi also noted that the leg-slit on Black Lady's dress was even more revealing in the anime than in the manga, something which shocked her as she had wondered if the slit was going too far in her drawings of Black Lady.

Profile

Author Naoko Takeuchi describes Chibiusa as a precocious person who likes pulling pranks. She is the daughter of Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion. Her real name is the same as her mother's, but is called ''Chibiusa'' in Japanese to avoid confusion between the two. Silver Millennium was a matriarchy, which is why Chibiusa has Tsukino as her surname rather than Chiba. Besides that Mamoru wanted her to take Usagi’s name rather than his own, as he had absolutely no attachment to his surname.

Her name in several English-language versions of Sailor Moon, ''Rini'', is a diminutive of "Serena", the name of her mother. She is known for having pink hair put into a unique style that resembles rabbit ears on top of her head. Chibiusa's hair is apparently truly pink, and not just colored that way for stylistic purposes; its color is stated in the manga's first Picture Diary and in the poem about her in the ''Sailor Stars'' CD single.

Age

Exposure to the Silver Crystal renders all of Crystal Tokyo's inhabitants functionally immortal, and her frequent time traveling further complicates approximation of her age.

Chibiusa is five years old approximate in both civil registration and physical appearance; however, she possesses a degree of intellectual maturity that is normally non-existent in a five-year-old girl. In act 20 of the manga, it is stated that she is chronologically 900 years old, which lends credibility to her apparent wisdom, maturity, and rather serious personality over her teenage biological mother Usagi (in the 20th century). Her youthful appearance attributed to the fact that her physical body inexplicably halted its natural aging process when she was five. The reason for this is assumed to be caused by having not "awakened" as a Sailor Guardian, which eventually occurred when she first became Sailor Chibi Moon.

The candles on a birthday cake in one memory indicate that she is about five years old when first introduced. By the time of the ''Dream'' story arc, she claims to be 902. In '' Sailor Moon Crystal'', it is stated clearly that she is 900 years old. She seems to be the equivalent of a 7 or 8 year old when she returns later. In the manga, after the ''Infinity'' story arc, it's mentioned she is in second grade; in the ''Stars'' story arc, she is in sixth grade; in the ''Parallel Sailor Moon'' story arc, she is in the ninth grade. The 1990s anime does not address Chibiusa's age, making her chronological age ambiguous in that adaptation.

Relationships

Chibiusa's affections come into conflict. Despite being self-aware of the fact that Usagi Tsukino and Mamoru Chiba are her biological parents, she does not immediately identify them as such, instead suspiciously viewing them as strangers who look like them. There is evidence that Chibiusa has a hard time identifying Usagi and Mamoru as being her parents due to observing a sharp contrast in personality between their "immature" present selves and their "wise" future selves. However, it is worth mentioning their forms Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion are centuries into the future, leaving enough time for the couples' personalities to mature. She also reacts differently toward Usagi and Mamoru than she does towards King Endymion and Neo Queen Serenity, being more respectful to the latter but more spontaneous to the former; it is not clear if she prefers one set over the other. Chibiusa develops an electra complex towards her teenage father Mamoru (in the 20th century) and always refers to him as Mamo-chan—an affectionate nickname by Usagi—much to Usagi's fury and expense. This attraction does not transfer towards their future selves.

In the anime, she often berates Usagi for being clumsy and irresponsible. In '' Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie'', she describes Usagi as " a klutz, a ditz, and a crybaby;" however, there are many instances where Usagi and Chibiusa show their love and concern for one another, such as when Sailor Moon breaks down crying after Mistress 9 takes Chibiusa's pure heart crystal, or when she dives off a balcony to save her. Nevertheless, the two often bicker, often behaving more like sisters than mother and daughter; however, in the manga, although both bicker towards one another, Chibiusa is shown to have an admiration for Usagi. At times, a mother and daughter relationship is established between the two, shown in various everyday actions such as Usagi holding Chibiusa's hand to cross the street, etc. In ''Sailor Moon Crystal'', Usagi talks to Chibiusa as in a mix of motherly and sister fashion; the two eventually regards each other as best friends.

Before Usagi's discovery of Chibiusa's real identity, Chibiusa was kept under surveillance by Usagi—believing that Chibiusa may possibly be an enemy agent. Throughout the progression of the ''Black Moon'' Arc, Usagi slowly reaches an understanding of Chibiusa's motives and reasons for her actions—until her feelings towards Chibiusa is replaced from anguish and jealousy, to love and sympathy. A contrast in the beginning and end of ''Sailor Moon Crystal''s ''Black Moon'' Arc is shown, in which Usagi expresses her rage upon Chibiusa's arrival, whilst in the latter as the season ends, Usagi is shown to be tearfully enjoying Chibiusa's return.

Personality

Chibiusa started out socially awkward; she quickly became popular with her classmates. In the manga, she once became president of her class. Her initial shyness could be attributed to the fact that she was teased in the 30th century for not having any Sailor Guardian powers. As the manga progresses, she gradually matures, becoming more comfortable with herself and more confident with her Sailor Guardian abilities. Because her dream in the manga is to become a beautiful lady, her actions and ideals are often are based around this goal. She tries to be a perfectionist and starts off trying to do everything alone and for herself. This view evolves as she realizes what maturity really is and what it really means to be an adult. In the original anime, she is more judgmental and does not mature as much as her manga counterpart. But she does in Sailor Moon Crystal and gets along better with Usagi.

Chibiusa's dream is to one day become a real lady, to have her own prince, and to be friends with everyone she knows. Meanwhile, she is a fairly ordinary little girl; she likes the colors pink and red, pudding, pancakes, and rabbits. Her favorite school subject is drawing, while her least favorites are language classes. Her least favorite food is listed in the manga as carrots, just like Usagi, but they both eat them in the anime. Chibiusa hates homemaking and "taking care of the house" and is afraid of such things as thunder and lightning, ghosts, vampires, dentists, and needles. She also likes to collect things with rabbits on them, and belongs to the Gardening Committee at school. She is very short when she first appears, but grows slightly taller as she gets older.

Aspects and forms

As a character with different incarnations, special powers, transformations and a long lifetime virtually spanned between the 20th and the 30th centuries, Chibiusa gains multiple aspects and aliases as the series progresses.

Sailor Chibi Moon

Sailor Chibi Moon is Chibiusa's identity as a Sailor Guardian. Her uniforms resemble Sailor Moon's, colored primarily in cherry blossom pink and red, with a prominent motif of small hearts, joined later by crescent moons and stars. Due to her small stature, certain details of her uniforms are slightly abbreviated and her body becomes a bit older, and taller. She is given various titles throughout the series, including Princess Guardian, Apprentice Guardian, and Guardian in Training. As the daughter of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask, she exhibits traits of both parents in battle. Her personality is no different from when she is a civilian, although certain powers are unavailable to her in that form.

In the manga Sailor Chibi Moon's powers are significant, able to destroy and kill enemies. She attacks in tandem with Sailor Moon, often combining attacks with her, and combining one with Tuxedo Mask. Late in the series, it is heavily implied that she will marry her own prince in the future, Helios. She also develops and matures as a Sailor Guardian throughout the manga, assisted by her own guardians, the Sailor Quartet, and eventually saving Sailor Moon's life.

In the anime she is made into more of a comic character that has little to no effect on her enemies. She uses mainly distraction techniques and plays a side role, instead of a role that is directly useful to the Sailor Guardians. While her powers are specifically based on Sailor Moon's in words, they are more like that of her father's — distractions rather than effective attacks. She links her powers with her parents' in the movies, but not in the TV series. It is clear, though, that she does have some true raw power, as seen in Episode 81, and in the final battle sequences where she uses the Silver Crystal. However, when she uses her powers as a regular character this rarely comes into play.

Her powers in the musicals are based on both her anime and manga incarnations. In ''Last Dracul'' she heads to the enemy hideout alone only to have her attacks fail; In the revised version of ''Transylvania no Mori'' she laments that a phrase from a game similar to Red light Green light is more useful than her most powerful attack when dealing with the Sammael Quartet. Conversely, in the same musicals she is able to combine her powers with Sailor Moon for multiple powerful attacks that damage/heal enemies. It is only in the fourth season of the anime that she gains a more relevant role as Pegasus gives her a new compact to become Super Sailor Chibi Moon for the first time, and she becomes the only one able to summon him to give assistance to Sailor Moon in performing the attacks that defeat the enemies' minions.

As she grows stronger, Sailor Chibi Moon gains additional power, and at key points her uniform changes to reflect this. The first change is first seen in act 33 of the manga, when the Holy Chalice of the future allows her to turn into Super Sailor Chibi Moon (or Super Sailor Mini Moon in the English anime). Later, Pegasus gives her a compact which lets her transform without the Grail. In episode 128 of the anime, this gift is what causes her to become Super Sailor Chibi Moon for the first time. A third form appears in Act 42 of the manga, unnamed but similar to Eternal Sailor Moon (without wings). In the official visual book for '' Sailor Moon Eternal'', this form was named "Eternal Sailor Chibi Moon".

Princess Usagi Small Lady Serenity

, is the official name and title that is often shortened by her parents and family friends to to better differentiate her from her mother; this is the name that Chibiusa is known by in her 30th century timeline.

In the manga, this form appears more frequently and receives more explanation. It is the name given to her by her parents so she often uses this to identify herself in the future. The only other character to use it, besides the royal family and its friends and allies, is Diana, who periodically calls her by Small Lady and uses honorific endings "-denka" to indicate that Chibiusa is a non-sovereign crown princess. Her princess form also appears in ''Artbooks IV'' and the ''Materials Collection'', in which she is drawn among the other Sailor Soldiers in their specific gowns. She wears a light pink gown unique from all the others.

In the anime, Chibiusa changes into her princess form when she needs more power than her Guardian or civilian forms allow, similar to how her parents can become Prince Endymion and Princess Serenity when they need more power. In this form, she wears a dress and jewelry identical to that of Princess Serenity, albeit

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