is a fictional lead character in the ''

Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 52 individual chapters were published in 18 volumes. The se ...

media franchise A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program ...

. Sailor Uranus' alternate identity is , a teenage Japanese student. Haruka is a member of the Sailor Guardians, female supernatural fighters who protect the

Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...

from evil. Sailor Uranus fights alongside her partner and lover

Sailor Neptune is a fictional lead character in the ''Sailor Moon'' media franchise. Her alternate identity is , a teenage Japanese schoolgirl. Michiru is a member of the Sailor Soldiers, female supernatural fighters who protect the Solar System from evil. ...

. Sailor Uranus possesses powers associated with the wind and sky,

precognition Precognition (from the Latin 'before', and 'acquiring knowledge') is the purported psychic phenomenon of seeing, or otherwise becoming directly aware of, events in the future. There is no accepted scientific evidence that precognition is a ...

, as well as sword combat.

Profile

Haruka is a stubborn, protective individual, as well as strong-willed, capable, charming, and occasionally even daring. She is formally introduced in the third story arc, although she appears in silhouette alongside

in the final episode of ''Sailor Moon R''. She is the tallest of the Sailor Guardians at 5'11", followed by

Sailor Pluto is a fictional character in the ''Sailor Moon'' manga series written by Naoko Takeuchi. The alternate identity of , she is a member of the Sailor Guardians, female supernatural fighters who protect the Solar System from evil. She is unique amo ...

at 5'10". Haruka is a

racecar Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

driver, even though she is barely sixteen years old at her first appearance. However, the timing of her birthday to the Japanese school year means she is one grade ahead of the Sailor Guardians. Haruka loves to tease pretty girls. In the manga, she even kisses

Usagi Usagi may refer to: *Usagi, a Japanese term meaning rabbit *Typhoon Usagi (disambiguation), one of several named tropical storms *Usagi, a Japanese unisex name/unisex given name, used by **Usagi Tsukino or Sailor Moon, the main character in ''Sa ...

. Throughout the manga, she lightly flirts with Usagi, either out of habit in her first appearance or just for fun, and eventually Usagi flirts back. Their relationship in the anime is different, as Haruka also refers to Usagi as "Odango", or dumpling, in the same way

Tuxedo Mask Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element f ...

does—as a playful nickname. By the time she returns in ''Sailor Stars'', however, she begins to refer to Usagi as "Kitten". Although her relationship with Michiru Kaioh/Sailor Neptune is not implicitly sexual until later in the series, their romantic situation is referred to early on and generally understood by most of the metaseries' characters fairly quickly. It is sometimes a source of good-natured humor, particularly because few of the other Guardians have serious romantic prospects in comparison and because the otherwise bold Haruka finds it impolite to discuss romantic matters in public. In the anime, however, the physical aspects of their relationship are limited to handholding, flirting, and sometimes even humorous implications, but generally remains circumspect. She complicates the perception of her gender by appearing as a "Tuxedo Mask" instead of a Sailor Guardian in her first appearance. This form is never mentioned again. In her civilian form, she also wears the male Mugen Academy uniform. Besides her relationship with Michiru, Haruka is also close friends with Setsuna Meioh, because the three of them work closely together. Following the destruction of the

Death Busters The are a group of fictional characters in the ''Sailor Moon'' manga series written by Naoko Takeuchi. This group comprises the villains of the third major story arc, which is called the ''Infinity'' in the manga, ''Sailor Moon S'' in the first ...

and the rebirth of

Sailor Saturn is a fictional character in the ''Sailor Moon'' manga series created by Naoko Takeuchi. Her spirit resides deep within , a twelve-year-old Japanese schoolgirl who is her lookalike reincarnation, which makes Sailor Saturn her Alter ego, alter ego; ...

as an infant, they vow to be her family and care for her. Later story arcs show that the four live together happily for some time. Nothing about Haruka's family life is ever discussed, although she and Michiru appear noticeably wealthy by unknown means. In the manga, Haruka says that she and Michiru have "wealthy patrons". The anime and manga versions of the character are reasonably interchangeable, although her standoffishness is more pronounced in the anime. Like Michiru, Haruka is sometimes considered an

antihero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero) or antiheroine is a main character in a story who may lack conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism, courage, and morality. Although antiheroes may sometimes perform actions ...

. In the ''Sailor Moon'' musicals (Seramyu), Haruka and Michiru's relationship remains largely unchanged; they are always shown together, which is consistent with both manga and anime, and while their romance in the musicals is usually kept low-key, the actresses for the two do kiss on stage in the

omake ''Omake'' (, usually written ) means ''extra'' in Japanese. Its primary meaning is general and widespread. It is used as an anime and manga term to mean "extra or bonus." In the United States, the term is most often used in a narrow sense by a ...

of ''Kaguya Shima Densetsu Kaiteiban''. They are also the only two Guardians to engage in physical combat with

Sailor Galaxia are a group of fictional characters in the ''Sailor Moon'' manga series created by Naoko Takeuchi. They are the villains of the series' fifth and final story arc, called ''Stars'' in the manga, '' Sailor Moon Sailor Stars'' in the first anime ad ...

. The other Guardians only use their powers to combat her. As in the anime, however, neither Uranus or Neptune are capable of harming Galaxia in combat. It is seen that Uranus has the ability to sense Neptune's death when Galaxia gravely injures Neptune, who had been weakened while protecting Sailor Mars. Otherwise, the two are shown to be more willing to work as a team with the other Sailor Guardians in the musicals than in the anime, except where plot-lines are directly drawn from the anime, such as their pretended betrayal of the other Soldiers in ''Sailor Stars''. Haruka's ambition prior to becoming a Sailor Guardian was to be a professional racer. Thereafter, driving is still a well-loved hobby and is listed in the manga as her best skill. She is also an accomplished runner, belonging to the

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

club at school. On occasion, Haruka can be seen playing piano in accompaniment during Michiru's violin performances. While

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

is her best class, modern Japanese language is her worst. Haruka is highly private, able to tease others while becoming flustered if teased herself, and has difficulty with confessions. Her favorite food is

salad A salad is a dish consisting of mixed, mostly natural ingredients with at least one raw ingredient. They are typically served at room temperature or chilled, though some can be served warm. Condiments and salad dressings, which exist in a va ...

and her least favorite is

nattō , spelled as natto in standard English language use, is a traditional Japanese food made from whole soybeans that have been fermented with ''Bacillus subtilis'' var. ''natto''. It is often served as a breakfast food with rice. It is served wi ...

(fermented soybeans); she also likes the color

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

. According to Michiru, Haruka has had trouble with popular men on more than one occasion. Haruka denies this, but it clearly annoys her. Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna appear in '' Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie'', although this conflicts with the general timeline of the series in several ways. Notably, they are more overtly friendly and helpful than they had been when they last met, and Sailor Pluto is present (which conflicts with certain events in the third series).

Aspects and forms

As a character with different incarnations, special powers, transformations, and a long lifetime that spans the Silver Millennium era to the 30th century, Haruka gains multiple aspects and aliases as the series progresses.

Sailor Uranus

Haruka's Guardian identity. She wears a

uniform A uniform is a variety of clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, ...

colored in

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

and

Yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In th ...

. Unlike most of the other Guardians, her gloves extend only to mid-forearm. In transformed state, she wears two golden hoop earrings. She is given specific titles throughout the various series, including Guardian of Sky (or "the Skies" in the English manga) and Guardian of Flight. She is known to run as fast as the wind, and can forecast bad things from the sky. Perhaps her titles regarding the sky is in reference to the

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were di ...

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus ( Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars), grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter) and father of ...

, who was the embodiment of the sky. Sailor Uranus is one of the more aggressive, and yet also intelligent, Sailor Guardians, and carries the Space Sword, which is one of three Talisman carried by herself, Sailor Neptune, and Sailor Pluto. Her personality is no different from when she is a civilian, although certain powers are unavailable to her in that form. Sailor Neptune is her constant companion, and they are rarely separated. As she grows stronger, Sailor Uranus gains additional powers, and at key points her uniform changes to reflect this. The first change takes place in Act 39 of the manga, when she obtains the Uranus Crystal and her outfit becomes similar to that of Super Sailor Moon. She is not given a new title. A similar event takes place in Episode 167 of the anime, and she is given the name Super Sailor Uranus. A third form appears in Act 42 of the manga, unnamed but analogous to

Eternal Sailor Moon , better known as , is a Japanese superheroine and the main protagonist and title character of the ''Sailor Moon'' manga series written by Naoko Takeuchi. She is introduced in chapter #1, "Usagi – Sailor Moon" (originally published in Japan' ...

(''sans'' wings). In the official visual book for Sailor Moon Eternal, this form was named "Eternal Sailor Uranus".

Princess Uranus

On Silver Millennium, Sailor Uranus was also the princess of her home planet. She was among those given the duty of protecting the Solar System from outside invasion. As Princess Uranus, she dwelt in Miranda Castle and wore a deep blue gown—she appears in this form in the original manga Act 41, as well as in supplementary art.

Special powers and items

Although Haruka is extremely strong and has some psychic sensitivity (mostly in the form of dreams, shared by Michiru and Setsuna, or by "hearing" ill omens in the wind), she is not shown using any special powers in her civilian form. She must first transform into a Sailor Guardian by raising her hand or a special device into the air and shouting a special phrase, originally "Uranus Planet Power, Make-up!" In the manga she eventually gains her Uranus Crystal and this phrase changes to evoke ''Uranus Crystal Power''. In the anime, although she does upgrade to Super Sailor Uranus, the Crystal is never mentioned and her transformation is not shown on screen. Sailor Uranus' powers are inspired by

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...

, where

is the god of the sky. They are also inspired by Western astrology, where the planet Uranus is associated with natural disasters, such as "earthquakes, tornadoes, typhoons and hurricanes." Her first attack is ''World Shaking''; she gathers energy from the sky and sends it toward to her foes by smashing the energy against the ground. She is given three major attacks in the series, and although they all have English names (like those of the other Sailor Soldiers), each is also given

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...

in the manga to denote the meaning to Japanese readers. For example, ''World Shaking'' is given kanji which translate to , , and . The intended English pronunciation is given in

furigana is a Japanese reading aid consisting of smaller kana or syllabic characters printed either above or next to kanji (logographic characters) or other characters to indicate their pronunciation. It is one type of ruby text. Furigana is also kn ...

. This is Sailor Uranus's primary attack for most of the anime series. Haruka carries a special blade, the Space Sword, which is one of three powerful Talismans, the other two of which are carried by

and

. In the manga, she seems to already know it is a Talisman; in the anime, she does not gain the sword until it is revealed as such. In either case, it is used in her second attack, ''Space Sword Blaster'' , which fires damaging energy, as well as in physical strikes. Her third and final attack, appearing only in the manga, is called , which uses no item at all. The Uranus Crystal is perhaps her most important possession, as it is her Sailor Crystal and the source of all her power, which becomes especially important in the fifth story arc. It is given to her by

Development

The character of Sailor Uranus was not developed until partway through the ''Sailor Moon'' series, after the Sailor Guardians were well-established. She was created in tandem with Sailor Neptune, as "complementary but opposite characters," and meant from the beginning to work alongside Sailor Pluto. Creator

Naoko Takeuchi is a Japanese manga artist. She is best known as the author of ''Sailor Moon'', one of the most popular manga series of all time. She has won several awards, including the 1993 Kodansha Manga Award for ''Sailor Moon''. Takeuchi is married to ...

has said that she was shocked by the changes made to Haruka's personality in the anime series, but that she was glad fans still liked the character. Initial drawings of Haruka are softer and more feminine than they would later become; she was originally intended to be involved in the all-female

Takarazuka Revue The is a Japanese all-female musical theatre troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals and stories adapted from films, novels, manga, and Jap ...

, playing male roles on stage. Although this was not included in the series itself, Takeuchi stated in an interview that she feels Takarazuka is "the maximum level of feminine emancipation. These actress cover all roles of the plays, even the male ones. I was inspired by them to create Haruka." She also described such a figure as "the female best friend and the fairy tale prince in one," stating that she had wanted for a long time to include a character like this in one of her works. Haruka is intended as an older sister figure for the younger girls populating the series, and as a counterpoint to Mamoru, Takeuchi's ideal man. Haruka is relatively

androgynous Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex, gender identity, or gender expression. When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics in ...

in the manga, wearing both feminine and masculine outfits, in tune with the traditional depiction of a beautiful androgynous woman in shōjo comics. Takeuchi drew Haruka as physically different when she dresses in male clothes, with a more masculine figure than otherwise. She even refers to Haruka as being "in male form" at these times, and stated that she wanted this to continue in the anime—which it did. In the anime, Haruka's sometimes-feminine appearance is downplayed, and she almost always appears masculine. Haruka's fascination with racing draws at least some of its details from Takeuchi herself; in the manga, they even share a favorite car, the Ferrari 512M. In the anime, she is seen driving either a yellow or white 1968 Toyota 2000GT open-top (resembling the custom "Bond Model"), or, once, a 1990 montego blue

Mazda Mx-5 Miata The Mazda MX-5 is a lightweight two-passenger roadster sports car manufactured and marketed by Mazda with a front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout. The convertible is marketed as the or in Japan, and as the Mazda Miata () in the United S ...

. The

of Haruka's surname translate as and . Together, they constitute most of the name of the planet Uranus in Japanese, . Her given name is in

hiragana is a Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''. It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' literally means "flowing" or "simple" kana ("simple" originally as contras ...

and so its meaning is not inherent, but the word itself means "distant" . Her family name is sometimes incorrectly romanized as ''Tennō'', which is in fact a more common writing of the planet's name, but the manga invariably glosses Haruka's surname as ''Ten'ō'' where

are used, and it is

pronounced Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or language in a specific dialect ("correct pronunciation") or simply the way a particul ...

this way in the anime.

Actresses

In the Japanese anime and movies, Haruka Tenoh is voiced by veteran voice actress

Megumi Ogata is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer from the Greater Tokyo Area. As a singer, she goes by the name em:óu. She attended Tokai University, but left due to lack of interest. She is best known for voicing Shinji Ikari in '' Neon Genes ...

, who had previously portrayed a monster-of-the-day,

Petz ''Petz'' (''Dogz'' and ''Catz'') is a series of single-player video games dating back to 1995, in which the player can adopt, raise, care for and breed their own virtual pets. The original ''Petz'' has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide and ...

, and a young Mamoru in the series. Available at Ogata was instructed by the director to portray Haruka as if she and Michiru were a married couple. In 1995, Ogata won the 16th

Animage is a Japanese anime and entertainment magazine which Tokuma Shoten began publishing in July 1978. Hayao Miyazaki's internationally renowned manga, '' Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'', was serialized in ''Animage'' from 1982 through 1994. ...

Anime Grand Prix award for best voice actress, largely because of her work as Sailor Uranus, breaking up a 12-win streak by

Megumi Hayashibara is a Japanese voice actress, singer, lyricist and radio personality from Kita ward in Tokyo and is affiliated with self-founded Woodpark Office. One of the most prominent Japanese voice actresses since the 1990s, Hayashibara is best known for ...

. The previous year she had ranked third, and she ranked second for the next three years before dropping to ninth place in 1999. In the third season of '' Sailor Moon Crystal'', she is voiced by

Junko Minagawa is a Japanese voice actress affiliated with Haikyo. Her best-known role is Ryoma Echizen, the title character in ''The Prince of Tennis'' anime series. She sang some of the show's theme songs, insert songs, and character singles, some of which ...

. In the original English dub, her name is changed to "Amara" and she is voiced by

Sarah Lafleur Sarah Lafleur is a Canadian actress, most recognizable for her roles in '' Ugly Betty'' (ABC), ''The Mentalist'' (CBS), '' Grey's Anatomy'' (ABC), ''CSI: NY'' (CBS), ''Crossing Jordan'' (NBC), ''Without a Trace'' (CBS), ''Playmakers'' (ESPN); and ...

. Haruka is voiced by

Erica Mendez Erica Mendez is an American voice actress who has voiced in English dubs for Funimation, Bang Zoom! and Studiopolis. She studied graphic design in college for three years prior to becoming a voice actress. Career Mendez's first major voice r ...

in the

Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...

English dub. In the stage musicals, Haruka has been played by 5 actresses: Sanae Kimura, Nao Takagi, Asako Uchida, Akiko Nakayama, and Shu Shiotsuki. Sanae Kimura regarded the betrayal of Uranus and Neptune in her last musical, ''Eien Densetsu kaiteiban'', to be a very difficult scene for her and cried during it. Nao Takagi, the longest-running of the musical actresses, decided that she wanted to play the role of the "Sailor Soldier with the blonde hair" when she saw one of the earlier musicals, despite having never performed before. Takagi said she was "really happy to be able to play Uranus" and regarded Uranus as "a completely cool, handsome Soldier". She has stated that certain scenes involving herself and Yuhka Asami (as Sailor Neptune) were specially created just for the two of them, the song "Destined Couple" in particular.

Reception and influence

The official ''Sailor Moon'' popularity polls listed Haruka Tenoh and Sailor Uranus as separate characters. In 1994, with fifty one choices, Sailor Uranus was the sixth most popular character, receiving over nine thousand votes more than Haruka, who was the tenth. In early 1996, with fifty one choices, Uranus was the tenth most popular character, and Haruka was the twelfth. Haruka Tenoh came first in the favorite female character poll in

1995. The following year she came seventh. Mari Nishimura found that Haruka became "very popular" with female fans due to her "clear male attributes". Sailor Uranus has been described as having "clearly masculine traits", and that she protects Usagi "as a man would a woman." She is presented as more willing to resort to whatever means is necessary, and as physically stronger. In her response to an academic essay on ''Sailor Moon'' by Mary Grigsby, author Emily Ravenwood compared Haruka and Michiru's relationship with Zoisite and Kunzite's relationship explaining that "in both cases, the feminine and masculine attributes are highlighted with a heavy hand (deliberate display of stereotypes)." According to her, Kunzite and Haruka are stoic and show no emotions, and in the relationship with Michiru, "Haruka is the fighter, the physically directed one, the one who restrains her emotional involvement, the protective one, in short the perfect butch."

Censorship

In an effort to avoid the controversy that a lesbian character in a cartoon aimed towards a younger audience would cause, given the social

mores Mores (, sometimes ; , plural form of singular , meaning "manner, custom, usage, or habit") are social norms that are widely observed within a particular society or culture. Mores determine what is considered morally acceptable or unacceptable ...

, Haruka and Michiru's relationship has been censored in certain countries. In North America, the former English dub stated that Haruka and Michiru are cousins, even going so far as to occasionally state this through characters who should not know such information. However, whether in an attempt to be more faithful to the original Japanese or through failure to edit consistently, several episodes of the former English dub retained a noticeable amount of their casual flirting. Due to the censorship and problematic dubbing, some viewers inferred not only a homosexual relationship between the two girls, but also an incestuous one. It has even been implied that the difficulties in dubbing Haruka and Michiru's relationship are part of the reason why there was a gap of several years between the dubbing of the earlier series and the dubbing of ''Sailor Moon S''. However, in Japan, there were also some controversies around the character. Viz Media and Studiopolis' English-language redub of the series in 2016 would address the censorship issue by restoring any deleted scenes and preserving the integrity of the original Japanese scripts. In 2020, Viz Media released a new dub of ''

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars The fifth and final season of the ''Sailor Moon'' anime series, ''Sailor Moon Sailor Stars'' or simply ''Sailor Stars'' (originally released in Japan as , and later as ''Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: Sailor Stars'') was directed by Takuya Igarashi ...

'', but in what they call a "translation error", they refer to Haruka and Michiru in a booklet as "friends" rather than a lesbian couple. The company later issued an apology on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, in which they acknowledge that the two characters "are not friends, but in fact, partners."

References

{{Portal bar, Anime and manga, LGBT, 1990s Anime and manga controversies Comics characters introduced in 1994 Fiction set on Uranus Fictional androgynes Fictional characters with air or wind abilities Fictional characters with precognition Fictional cross-dressers Fictional high school students Fictional lesbians Fictional racing drivers Fictional swordfighters in anime and manga Fictional track and field athletes LGBT characters in anime and manga LGBT superheroes LGBT-related controversies in animation

Teenage characters in anime and manga Television censorship