Sailor Moon Similarities
(Spoilers for all books ahead)
Hey everyone,
I recently came across another thread discussing the overlap between Crescent City and Sailor Moon, and it sent me down a rabbit hole.
I’ve been rewatching the Sailor Moon anime lately, and once you see the similarities, you cannot unsee them. The parallels between the character arcs, the magic systems, and the overarching villains are too specific to be a coincidence. Whether these are intentional homages or just SJM drawing from the show she watched as a kid (as confirmed on Call Her Daddy), maybe this can give us a hint at where the Massverse is headed next? (I think sailor moon ending with a final battle in a Cauldron is too big of a coincidence to ignore)
I’ve put together an organized list of the similarities I’ve found so far:
1. The Male Leads: Dorian Havilliard and Darien (Mamoru Chiba)
- The Morally Grey Start: Both are introduced with a level of detachment or moral ambiguity before their true roles are revealed.
- The Power Gap: In the beginning, both struggle with feeling "useless" or lacking the flashy powers of the female lead.
- The Brainwashing: In a devastating turn for both characters, they are eventually brainwashed/possessed by the enemy to be used against the people they love (the Valg Prince for Dorian; Queen Beryl/Galaxia for Darien).
2. The Princesses: Aelin, Bryce, and Usagi (Serena)
- Aelin & Sailor Moon: Both are "Lost Princesses" (Aelin of Terrasen; Serenity of the Moon Kingdom) who initially resist their royal titles and the heavy burdens that come with them. Even the names feel like a nod: Celeana vs. Serena.
- Bryce & Sailor Moon: Both reside in modern, bustling cities (Lunathion vs. Tokyo) and carry a celestial object inside them that is the source of their power. Also, I feel like there is something going on with sailor moon being the moon princess, CC taking place in Lunathion (Luna means moon), and Deanna being the original moon goddess long before Mab.
- The Crystal: The Legendary Silver Crystal is often removed from Sailor Moon’s chest to be used, mirroring the Star-Born power and the Horn within Bryce.
- The Power-Up: When Sailor Moon is at her weakest, Tuxedo Mask provides the "Golden Crystal" energy to stabilize her. This is a direct parallel to Hunt acting as a "battery" or anchor for Bryce, allowing her to release massive energy without burning out (also very similar to Rowan’s role as Aelin’s carranam).
- The Theme: The "Power of Love" song and the central theme that love conquers all in Sailor Moon is perfectly encapsulated by Danika’s mantra: “Through Love, all is possible.”
3. The Harbinger of Destruction: Nesta as Sailor Saturn
- The Persona: Both are defined by a cold, quiet, and often isolated exterior.
- The Power of Death: Sailor Saturn’s power is the "ultimate reset button"—she is the scout of silence, destruction, and rebirth.
- The Unmaking: This mirrors the fear Rhysand expresses regarding Nesta’s volatile power. He fears she can "unmake" the fabric of life, essentially acting as a "Death Maiden" or a goddess of the void.
4. Artifacts and World-Building
- The Dread Trove = The Talismans: In Sailor Moon, three specific talismans are required to summon the Holy Grail; in the Maasverse, we have the three (or four) items of the Dread Trove. One of these items in Sailor Moon is the Sword of Sealing (which reminds me of the StarSword) that ends up being used to save the Cauldron (!!) rather than destroy it in the finale of Sailor Moon, but more on that later…
- Ley Lines = Crystal Points: The way gates and power lines function in Midgard mirrors the "Crystal Points" or energy hubs that the villains often target in Sailor Moon.
- The Cauldron: Both universes feature a primordial source of life. In Sailor Moon, "The Galaxy Cauldron is the most powerful star in the universe, responsible for the cycle of life and death of all things." Sailor Moon is also ”made” by the cauldron and queen serenity / she has no father.
5. The Supporting Cast & Villains
Elena Galathynius vs. Queen Serenity: They are visual look-alikes who both made the ultimate sacrifice: locking away an ancient enemy so that a future generation/bloodline could eventually finish the job.
Amarantha vs. Queen Beryl: I realized later that I pictured both to look the exact same & they both rule from dark, underground cavernous lairs.
The Asteri vs. The Sailor Animamates/Chaos/Galaxia: The final arc of Sailor Moon features Star Seed hunters who use others energy to feed on. Star seed = first light?
I don’t know exactly where all of this leaves us, but the "Galaxy Cauldron" connection makes me wonder if the ending of the Maasverse will involve a similar "cosmic reset" or a return to a singular source of magic. I haven’t gotten to the very end of Sailor Moon yet, but the ending description from online seems like something that could happen in the Maasverse: “
- Sailor Moon confronts Chaos inside the Galaxy Cauldron, the birthplace of all stars. In battle, Chaos destroys Sailor Moon‘a Star Seed AKA the Silver Crystal.
- Sailor Cosmos: ChibiChibi is revealed to be Sailor Cosmos, a future, evolved form of Sailor Moon who traveled back in time to escape a future where she failed to defeat Chaos, initially planning to destroy the Cauldron.
- Chibi Chibi restores Sailor Moon's Star Seed and transformes into the Sword of Sealing. She pleads with Sailor Moon to use the weapon to defeat Galaxia, but she is hesitant to kill the villain and instead chooses to heal her, purging Chaos from her body. This act of kindness revives all those who were lost in the battle, including Mamoru.
- The Choice: Instead of destroying the Cauldron, Sailor Moon uses the Lambda Power—combining all Sailor Crystals—to purify Chaos, vowing to accept everyone, even foes.”
What do you guys think? Are there other Sailor Moon parallels I missed? How do you think this impacts what’s going to happen in the next books?