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Naoko Takeuchi’s epic shojo manga and anime franchise Sailor Moon focuses on Usagi Tsukino, and her destined love with Mamoru Chiba, who shows up to support her in battle as Tuxedo Mask.
Usagi and Mamoru have a heart-sweeping romance in both the manga and anime versions of Sailor Moon, but the anime adaptation takes some liberties with their journey, bordering on cringeworthy on more than one occasion. Some of these changes are humorous and lighthearted, while others don’t really make sense, and are even awkward. The anime plays up Usagi’s immaturity far more than the manga, which doesn’t help her relationship with Mamoru one bit.
10 Sailor Moon Meets Mamoru as Moonlight Knight for the First Time
Usagi Compares Moonlight Knight to Tuxedo Mask
Usagi meets Moonlight Knight in Sailor Moon R Episode 3. Since Mamoru still has his memories locked away, he cannot come to the Sailor Guardians’ aid as Tuxedo Mask, but a part of his spirit will always rise to help Sailor Moon. Moonlight Knight is a projection of Mamoru’s soul which will always come to find Usagi.
Much of the Sailor Moon fandom is ambivalent about Moonlight Knight, though. Not a small part of this has to do with his slap-dash character design, music, and lore, all of which feel jumbled and confusing. It also feels a bit cruel for Usagi to compare Moonlight Knight to Tuxedo Mask when she first meets him, and to say that he is sweeter than Tuxedo Mask after all they’d been through in the Dark Kingdom arc. They are the same person, of course, but Usagi didn’t know that at the time.
9 Usagi Doesn't Care About Danger When She's Stuck in an Elevator with Tuxedo Mask
Usagi Forgets About Danger When She Has the Chance to Over-Romanticize
One of the more hilarious episodes in Season 1 is also one of the cringier Usagi and Tuxedo Mask moments. Season 1, Episode 19, «Usagi’s Joy: A Love Letter from Tuxedo Mask» is meant to be a moment where Sailor Moon’s mask slips and her giddy Usagi-self rises to the fore. Her crush on Tuxedo Mask has built over 19 episodes, and the Dark Kingdom Shitennou, Nephrite, targets it directly with a scheme to pretend to be him.
Nephrite’s scheme lands Sailor Moon stuck in an elevator with Tuxedo Mask. Sailor Moon has no care for the danger she and Tuxedo Mask are in, and she’s practically tripping over herself with excitement about the romance of their situation. Meanwhile, Mamoru/Tuxedo Mask is the only person actually taking the situation seriously. As silly as the situation is, Usagi’s ridiculousness actually works for the episode. The episode serves the plot, as it mirrors a Dark Kingdom arc finale episode, when Usagi and Mamoru are once again trapped in an elevator, descending to D-Point.
8 Usagi Approaches Mamoru While He Still Has No Memories of Her
Usagi Realizes the Hard Way That He Was Left Out of Luna's Brain Wave
When the Usagi, Mamoru, and the rest of the Sailor Guardians are reborn at the end of the Dark Kingdom arc, they are reborn without their memories. Luna and Artemis watch over them, but try to let them enjoy their lives on Earth until the Makai Tree aliens land on Earth and start terrorizing humans with Cardians. Luna then reactivates Usagi and the rest of the Sailor Guardians’ memories.
In Season 2, Episode 2, «For Love and Justice: Sailor Guardians Once Again,» the newly awakened Usagi runs into Mamoru on the street and throws caution to the wind. She doesn’t wait to see if he has had the same memory restoration and dramatically throws herself into his arms. Mamoru balks at having who he perceives to be a stranger hug him, which is a bit embarrassing, but mostly heart-wrenching, as Usagi misses him.
7 Mamoru Makes It His Mission to Bully Usagi in Season 1 of the Anime
Mamoru Is More of a Tsundere in the Anime Dark Kingdom Arc
When Mamoru Chiba is first introduced in Season 1, Episode 1 of Sailor Moon, «The Crybaby: Usagi’s Beautiful Transformation,» he immediately disapproves of Usagi. All he can see is her clumsiness, flightiness, and lack of responsibility. As the audience gets to know Mamoru, it becomes apparent that his distaste for her flaws may come from his experience with losing his parents at a young age and having to be responsible and self-sufficient so early on.
Tsundere love interests have always been popular in anime, and though Mamoru isn’t really a tsundere in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, the anime chooses to turn Mamoru into one, at least in Season 1. Mamoru’s bickering dynamic and disapproval of Usagi can go a bit far, sometimes. Usagi certainly lands plenty of insults, but Mamoru can be relentless. One particularly brutal moment is when Mamoru insults Usagi and lectures her about how no one could ever love her until she bursts into tears, merely because she accidentally hit him with her shoe.
6 The Cringe Is the Point When Usagi Gets Jealous Over Mamoru Staying at Rei's House
Mamoru Needs a Place to Stay When His House Explodes in a Hilarious Filler Episode
In the anime, Usagi struggles with a rather extreme amount of jealousy. Her jealousy is often played off for laughs, and to be fair, it can be quite comedic and effective. Beyond a slapstick and comedy of errors level, though, Usagi’s territorial nature can get a little taxing and it doesn’t really make sense. Usagi is meant to be the heart of the Sailor Guardians. She leads with compassion and forgiveness. It’s hard to believe that after so many story arcs and years of dating Mamoru and the battles she’s fought alongside her best friends, that she would suspect the worst of her friends and boyfriend.
In the filler episode, Season 4, Episode 9, «Protect Mamoru: Ninja Usagi’s Jealousy,» Usagi’s crawling out of her skin with worry that Mamoru will cheat on her because he has to spend the night at Rei’s house because his apartment needs repairs. The hilarious part of the episode is Rei Hino, as she panics over one embarrassing mishap after another. Usagi’s behavior is bombastic, but ultimately, a bit disappointing.
5 The Sailor Guardians Breathe Down Mamoru's Neck as He Tries to Kiss Usagi
Usagi & Mamoru Have an Odd Attempted Kiss Scene in the First Sailor Moon Movie
The first Sailor Moon movie, Sailor Moon R: The Movie, The Promise of the Rose, begins with an amusing but dissonant attempt at a kiss. It opens with Usagi and Mamoru a scene heavy with foreshadowing, as Usagi and Mamoru stroll through a garden, and Usagi daintily waits for Mamoru to kiss her. Mamoru then looks incredibly stressed, and makes a great show of looking up and down the aisle to make sure that they’re quite alone. Once he gets a hint that they may not be alone, Mamoru doesn’t just refrain from kissing Usagi, he sneaks away, unbenownst to her, which is less than gentlemanly. The scene is, of course, meant to be funny. The manga added goofiness in different ways.
The scene hints at both the film’s central antagonist’s floral powers and his promise of a rose for Mamoru, and the kiss at the end of the film. Though the beginning scene makes sense in that context, after so many heartfelt moments in the Dark Kingdom arc between Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask, it seems surprising that Mamoru would be so clumsy. Of course, it doesn’t help that the Inner Sailor Guardians insist on acting like a Greek chorus, spying on Usagi and Mamoru as Usagi asks for a kiss from Mamoru.
4 Usagi & Mamoru's Breakup Plot Doesn't Make Sense
King Endymion Sends Visions to Mamoru in Season 2 of the '90s Anime
The early seasons of the ’90s Sailor Moon anime have many filler arcs which don’t occur in the original manga. Just because a filler arc doesn’t occur in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon doesn’t mean the arc isn’t good, of course, but some of them truly are unnecessary and don’t add much to the viewing experience. Mamoru and Usagi’s temporary breakup arc is one of those examples.
In the latter half of Season 2, Mamoru has strange dreams which lead him to believe that he must break up with Usagi for her own safety. Rather than telling her the truth, he breaks up with her, in a gut-wrenching display. Many fans think that the explanation of Mamoru’s false visions is half-baked, and the behavior is totally outside of Mamoru’s character.
3 Usagi Spies on Mamoru as He Goes on an Awkward Date with Rei Hino
Rei's Oddly Competitive Over Boys in the '90s Anine
Like Usagi in the ’90s Sailor Moon anime, Rei is characterized more immature than she is in the manga. In Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Rei Hino is elegant, composed, and devoted to her studies and maintaining her friendships. She wouldn’t be the type to jockey for a boy’s attention or embarrass herself like she does over Mamoru.
In Season 1, Episode 15, «Usagi’s Panic: Rei’s First Date,» Rei strong-arms Mamoru into going on a date with her. Though Usagi professes to despise Mamoru, she can’t stand the idea of him going on a date with Rei, either. Not only does the audience know that a relationship between Rei and Mamoru would be doomed and awkward, Rei’s competition with Usagi over a boy feels forced, especially in a shojo anime about friendship.
2 Mamoru Forgets Usagi's Birthday, & She Slaps Him
Usagi Has Poor Communication Skills, & Mixed-Up Priorities
It’s understandable that Usagi would be incredibly upset that Mamoru would forget her birthday after years of dating, but violence is never acceptable. In Season 3, Episode 12, «Usagi in Tears: A Glass Slipper for My Birthday,» Mamoru doesn’t wish Usagi a happy birthday (because she never told him the date in the first place), and she slaps him. Usagi regrets slapping him, and Mamoru buys Usagi a pair of glass slippers she wishes for because they remind her of the fairy tale, «Cinderella.»
Fairy tales are a common reference in Sailor Moon. They’re a particularly recurring theme in the central romance arc, especially since Usagi and Mamoru are destined lovers who are destined to find each other in every lifetime. The fairy tale themes in this episode are just meant to be goofy, and Usagi is at her most immature, despite being halfway through the series.
1 Usagi Treats Her Own Daughter Like a Rival for Mamoru's Attention
Usagi's Cruel to the Young Sailor Guardian
Usagi and Mamoru’s worst dynamic is a series of moments threaded throughout the anime, and it has to do with the youngest Sailor Guardian, Sailor Chibi Moon, or Chibiusa. When Usagi and Mamoru’s daughter from the future comes into their timeline, they don’t quite know what to do with her. Chibiusa stays with the Tsukino family, but Mamoru is the one who is the most emotionally ready to take on a parental role, and Chibiusa bonds with Mamoru, as she is young and still needs to feel like she has a parent nearby.
Chibiusa’s emotional needs are very understandable, and it’s even understandable that Usagi might treat Chibiusa a bit more like a little sister, perhaps. What isn’t understandable is how Usagi resents how Chibiusa is so close to Mamoru. Usagi even goes as far as to treat Chibiusa as a rival for Mamoru’s attention, which is strange and petty. While it’s not necessary for Usagi to be a mother as a teenager, she doesn’t have to resent a small child for wanting to feel close to someone who is technically her parent. This is an instance where the anime plays up a nuanced relationship in the manga for comedic effect, which then changes the tone of the relationship a bit.
