Sailor Pluto and the Time
I translated this from an italian article, which you can read by yourself here → https://www.animeclick.it/news/209-Sailor+Moon+Kotaro.
Setsuna Meiou (冥王 せ つ な Meiou Setsuna), aka Sailor Pluto, from the last planet of the solar system (since 2006 downgraded to dwarf planet, but in the 90s, when Sailor Moon was created, it was considered a planet).
冥王星 Meiousei (“star / planet of the king of darkness”) is the Japanese name of the planet Pluto, and 冥王 Meiou (“king of darkness”), Setsuna’s surname, is also the Japanese name associated with the god of the underworld in Greek mythology, Ade (Ἅδης Ades, also known by the epithet of Πλούτων Pluton, “the rich”) and of the Roman one, Pluto.
Una つ な Setsuna, the proper name of the character, does not have a clear meaning, being written in hiragana, but we can pronounce “setsuna” an ideogram that means “moment, second”, another that means “sadness”, and even 刹那, an ideogram which indicates the Buddhist concept of “split second”.
Sailor Pluto, apparently, is perhaps one of the few missteps made by the author: she’s the guardian of space and time, but as we know well this role in Greek-Roman mythology is played by Cronus / Saturn (you can read by yourself here → https://polly-chan.tumblr.com/post/173427331036/sailor-saturn-and-the-death-i-translated-this-from).
The girl’s surname, 冥王 Meiou, is, as a matter of fact, the Japanese name of the god Hades, and moreover her main attack, the “Dead Scream” (written in the manga with the kanji 破滅 喘 鳴, “gasp of ruin”), is linked to the death, which is Hades’ prerogative. She is also apostrophized as “Guardian of time” and “Guardian of the underworld”, and her predominant black color reminds to darkness and death.
However, Sailor Pluto characterization is not casual.
According to the Homeric Hymns, attributes of Hades are particular keys and scepters for time’s protection and the journey into the underworld, as part of life, is connected to time (travel in Hades as alive, as many heroes of mythology, it was equivalent to “speeding up the times”). That’s why Sailor Pluto always carries with her the Garnet Rod: a key-shaped scepter which allows her to control time.
Pluto planet, being the last of the solar system, the furthest from the sun, is uninhabitable for men and because of that it had been linked to the god of death and the underworld. Just as Pluto is the last planet in the solar system, even Sailor Pluto is the last of the sailors: condemned to live alone for eternity, guarding the door of time and able to fight with her companions only on particularly serious occasions.
In the manga, Sailor Pluto draws strength from “Charon Castle” to turn into Eternal Sailor Pluto. The name of the castle derives from Charon, Pluto’s satellite and ferryman of souls in the underworld.
Set up on October 28, Setsuna is a Scorpio, ruled by Mars and Pluto.
Those born under the sign of Scorpio are people with a mysterious charm, like the enigmatic Sailor Pluto.
- Sailor Saturn → https://polly-chan.tumblr.com/post/173427331036/sailor-saturn-and-the-death-i-translated-this-from;
- Sailor Uranus → https://polly-chan.tumblr.com/post/173478330031/sailor-uranus-the-queen-of-skies-i-translated;
- Sailor Neptune → https://polly-chan.tumblr.com/post/173511176471/sailor-neptune-the-queen-of-the-seas-i-translated.
Thanks for reading! I’m working on a special meta about the Outers, before starting the analysis about Sailor moon and the other Sailors! Stay tuned! ^^
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