Luna (Sailor Moon)
is Sailor Moon's guide
cat and embodied
conscience. She is there to train
Sailor Moon and the other
Sailor Senshi. At the beginning of the series, she gives the Senshi their transformation devices and other items. She becomes less prominent as the series progresses, but was the subject of the second film based on a
manga story about her.
While the Kingdom on the Moon still existed, Luna was, along with
Artemis, a guardian and probably servant of the first Moon Queen
Queen Serenity, mother of Sailor Moon. She was sent to
Earth in order to look after the
reincarnation of Princess Serenity. As the series progresses, Luna's and Artemis' daughter
Diana comes from the future.
Luna and Artemis are natives of the planet Mau, which is in another solar system and is also the homeworld of
Sailor Tin Nyanko. They can sometimes assume human form, which is believed to be their true form.
Luna's
English dub voice has a very noticeable
British accent, and is heavily commented on having a well-rehearsed 'English nanny' sort of tone, but is considered inappropriate given her more youthful Japanese voice and her momentary appearance as a beautiful young human woman named Princess Kaguya.
Luna also appeared in the first
Seramyu along with Artemis. It should be noted that they are not played as stuffed animals like the Live action TV series but are played by proper actors dressed up in cat costumes.
Luna is also a
Latin word meaning "
moon." Luna also appears in
Roman mythology as the equivalent to the Greek moon goddess
Selene.
In the
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon series, Luna is portrayed as a stuffed toy, but is also occasionally rendered using
CGI effects. The same voice that performed Luna in the original Japanese anime,
Keiko Han, also does Luna's voice as a cat in PGSM. Later on in the series, Luna gains the ability to turn into a young human girl, played by
Rina Koike, who turns out to also be able to become a
Sailor Senshi, pushing 6-7-2 into her cell-phone-like transformation device. As such, she is the Sailor Senshi of Small Things. In her Senshi form she can move at heightened speeds, has heightened hearing and uses an attack called "Luna Sucre Candy" which bombards an enemy in exploding sweets.
Luna's personality as a human girl is essentially identical to her canon-established personality, except that she gives voice to her mild obsession with sweet foods more often. Luna's main weapon is a "candy" wand (which looks similar to
Sailor Moon's Moon Stick) which she can use to transform into various other objects (such as a paper fan or a butterfly net.)
Luna's role as a Sailor Senshi has been debated in the fan community. There are many who don't believe she is a true Sailor Senshi, but merely that she uses a disguise to distract the enemy. The
fanon explanation is that this is because she is not shown having a
Sailor Crystal. However, there is no evidence in the show or any accompanying materials that states she is not in fact a Sailor Senshi. Sailor Luna's differences from the other Senshi are due to the show's connection to
sentai. In Sentai, a sixth team member often shows up in the middle of the season, who has different powers and
henshin device. In the end, since there is no factual evidence stating that she is not a true Senshi, she should be reguarded as one, albeit one who is special to the live-action series.
* In the original anime, Luna is portrayed by
Keiko Han (who also voiced
Queen Beryl).
* In the English dub, Luna is voiced by
Jill Frappier, who portrayed the character as much older than in any other version.
* Keiko Han reprises her voice role of Luna for the
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon live-action series.
* In the
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, hen Luna transforms into a young human girl she is played by
Rina Koike.
* In the musical version, Luna has been played by one actress:
Tomoko Ishimura.
*
Greek Mythology — Selene / Luna
