Most underrated Sailor Moon characters

So this is really meant as a companion piece to my last blog about my least liked Sailor Moon characters, these are some characters from Sailor Moon that I really like but I don't think get all the love they deserve. 

Now this blog is about the gap in appreciation, and as such the first two of these five entries are characters that do get a bunch of love already I just wish they got even more. A character being higher on this list doesn't mean I like them more, it's that they get less appreciation than I think they really deserve.

This is a list that could be a lot longer and was a lot easier to make than the list because I really like a lot of the SM cast, and this shouldn't be taken as a definitive list, it's just some of the characters I think are really cool and should get more love.

5: Sailor Jupiter

So this is a weird one because I'm pretty sure Jupiter was one of the most popular senshi in the west, and even in Japan she has a fairly wide fanbase, but I feel like she doesn't get as much credit as she deserves, despite her being my favorite of the Guardian Senshi. Jupiter in like every version of Sailor Moon is just pure awesome. She's infected by a sickness that makes her almost collapse and a futuristic robot is sent to assassinate her, and she just throws it away with a punch. Nehelenia, the big bad of the fourth arc has Sailor Moon at her grip and so Jupiter just punches her from another dimension shattering her face and making her run away. In the anime in her initial debut before even transforming for the first time she beats up Zoisite one of the commanders of the Dark Kingdom then just picks up one of the seven great youma and just throws him away. All the other senshi have this really complex relationship with Usagi but Makoto's is as simple and heartwarming as the two sentences "She accepted me when no on else did. If you hurt her, I'll punch you." and it's just really sweet seeing the two together, with Usagi describing her as being like an older sister.

I get that she doesn't have really any "twist" to her like the other Senshi do. It's like the other Guardians are all foods that have spice or salt to them and Makoto's just pure sweet but I do love my pure sweet tastes. Speaking of Makoto's personality is just so wholesome; she's just this cute girly girl that happens to have super strength and can't stand to see innocents threatened. Whenever she's around she's both eminantly a wholesome romantic while also being fairly pragmatic about it and I just really like the dynamic she and Usagi have. Of the four guardian senshi, I think Jupiter's fanbase at least in Japan was the smallest and that's a shame to me because she's my favorite of them. Like I said I think she's already really popular in the west so I don't think many people would disagree with me here, but I just felt like I wanted to argue for her. 

4: Tuxedo Kamen

So like the Senshi, Mamoru has a lot of fans however Mamoru also has a signifigant amount of the fandom who dislike him, more than any of the Senshi outside maybe Chibi-Usa (and with both of them it seems to be from the non-canon anime adaptation.) So let me talk about Mamoru and why's so cool to the point that he's one of my top 10 favorite characters in fiction. Mamoru from the start of the manga has this sense of elegance and dignity to him. He's this phantom thief, you're not supposed to be really sure of at first who lurks around for the Silver Crystal. Despite initially not even having powers he's actually able to compete in the race for the Silver Crystal with the Senshi and the Dark Kingdom as a viable third party just off of clever thinking. Then you learn about his sad backstory and him and Usagi's ship starts, my favorite ship in fiction. Mamoru in the manga is like the absolutely perfect male love interest to me. He's constantly supportive of Usagi, believing in her but encouraging her to be better. He's protective of her but not arrogant and understands his own limitations compared to her. At most he's maybe a little perfect but he even shows some insecurities at time. He's an excellent father to Chibiusa and he's a fellow guardian of the Earth whose Golden Crystal equals Usagi's own. Whenever they're together, not only do they get stronger together from their love, not only is there an irresistable chemistry between them, but those two facts are connected. They draw out the best from each other as Usagi wants to be strong for Mamoru and Mamoru wants to be protective for Usagi. 

I hear complaints about Mamoru and all of them are either from the anime or simply don't make sense. I want people to understand this; Mamoru is not useless, if anything Mamoru is given way more to do in the manga than the Guardian Senshi. He does not throw roses in the canon manga, he uses a cane or sword as a melee weapon and then develops from the Golden Crystal energy manipulation. I know it's a controversial point but I really love Mamoru, he truly is Usagi's other half, the two completing each other. From here the character won't be quite as big name but they're still characters I wish got more love.

3: Kaorinite

Everyone loves the mad Professor Tomoe and Mistress 9 and while I do too, I also wish people loved Kaorinite of the Mugen arc enemies as well, probably the most attractive adaptation of Igor ever made. Hotaru's mother died and her father is a mad scientist trying to keep his daughter alive and make both of them immortal. Kaorinite is first introduced as this assistant of his who is attracted to the mad doctor. You'd think she'd be all mean to Hotaru, the classic evil stepmother trope, but no she's actually pretty nice and forgiving to Hotaru, to the point that Tomoe has to chastise Hotaru for being mean to Kaorinite. And she's got this sad backstory how Pharoah 90 infected her with her Daimon as a demonstration for Germatoid, and despite being turned into a monster for him, Kaorinite still loves him and is trying to achieve Tomoe's dream of becoming immortal. Despite being this really more sexual character that you'd think would just be this stereotype of the evil stepmother to be seducing Hotaru's papa, she just seems to be this fairly honest woman doing bad things for her love. Her daimon also seems to be attracted to Pharoah 90, the same way as Mistress 9 is, which creates not just a parallel between the human and the daimon but makes you wonder if the Daimon truly are that evil just trying to get love and union with their master. It feels really compelling compared to the usual of this trope. 

I don't know if people agree, but I think her powers are also really cool. Most of the Sailor Moon characters use magic but usually it's sentai style energy/elemental blasts. Kaorinite is the Grand Magus witch and has powers that actually feel like magic with these rituals and melting wax candle figurines of the Senshi leading them to their doom or using a pentragram and necromancy to bring back the Witches V from the dead. Her powers actually feel like a witch's and all occult. 

2: Kunzite

So when people talk about their favorite of the Heavenly Kings, the common answers are either Nephrite for his personality and his arc in the anime or Zoisite for his cunning and tricksyness. However my favorite in both the manga and the anime was Kunzite. Talking strictly about the manga, Kunzite I think really distinguishes himself most from the other Heavenly Kings. All the other Heavenly Kings are enacting these sneaky schemes and talk to each other like "I'll lure the Sailor Senshi into this dimension where I'll ambush them and drain their energy for our leader Metaria." Meanwhile Kunzite just shows up hovering over the city, drains the entire city and is like "Sailor Senshi, get the hell out here or I blow up your city!" The prior Heavenly Kings feel like something out of an Urban Fantasy series like Harry Potter with dark magical schemes in the background and meanwhile Kunzite is just like this Dragon Ball villain just placed in the series out of nowhere which these sudden large scale feats and the way he fights just being this arrogant brawly style. "Ah yeah Sailor Senshi throw your strongest attacks at me, they'll do NOTHING I'm too strong!" His plans are a lot less clever than the other Heavenly Kings but just has this immense presence manga-wise (in the anime his schemes are so dumb they're hilarious because it just seems like he somehow knows he's a fictional villain and somehow the Senshi will end up there anyway. He's also got a pretty respectable presence in the anime.)

He's also protective of Zoisite which is pretty sweet to see and when he starts getting his memories back, his defiance of Beryl, brief as it is, in a bid to protect his prince is honestly really cool to see. Kunzite is just this really theatrical character that despite being essentially a monster of the week in the manga, had a lot of presence despite it.

1: Saphir 

I know Saphir does get appreciation but whenever I read Saphir appreciation it's about specifically his anime counterpart so this is going to be appreciation for his manga counterpart, who I like even more than his anime counterpart. So Demande we see as this tyrant prince of the terrorist organization the Black Moon Clan. We learn that all their science comes from his abused little brother Saphir who Demande shows praise one moment then threatens the moment after. Saphir has a confusing amount of spite and love for his brother that just feels really genuine for someone of his position. Saphir blaming Usagi for Demande's fall to insanity is a moment that is so complex in emotions because you know Saphir is projecting and you want to spite him for blaming this innocent girl Demande has sexually harrassed for his brother's genocidal actions but you also feel sorry for his broken heart. I think of all the Sailor Moon villains Saphir has some of the most complex writing and I don't see it acknowledged. 

Saphir is also just this really smart person who always suspected Wiseman and his plans and usually has this really calm tactical air around him. Despite his lack of raw power, he comes off to me as more of a threat than even most of the Black Moon Clan due to his purposeful all his actions are, and how clearly focused and rationally he pursues his goals. Saphir just seems like a really cool character to me. 

I'm considering doing one more of these SM Top 5s, about a topic I've never actually talked about on this blog so feel free to tell me eitherway.