Sailor Moon Michiru Kaioh / Sandbox

Michiru Kaioh/Michelle — Sailor Neptune

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sailor_neptune_season_iii.png

^{Click to see Michiru Kaioh.}

^{Click to see her in the 90s anime.}

^{Click to see Super Sailor Neptune.}

Voiced by: Masako Katsuki (first anime), Sayaka Ohara (Crystal onwards) (Japanese); Barbara Radecki (Cloverway), Lauren Landa (Viz) (English); Chelo Vivares (European Spanish, original); Irma Carmona (Latin American Spanish, original/Crystal); Márcia Regina (Brazilian Portuguese); Olga Lima (European Portuguese), Alessandra Karpoff (Italian, S), Patrizia Scianca (Italian, Super S and Stars), Giulia Franceschetti (Crystal onwards)
Portrayed in the musicals by: Kaoru Ukawa, Chikage Tomita, Miyuki Sena (Miyuki Fuji), Yūko Harada (Yūko Tahara), Sara Shimada, Yūka Asami, Tomoko Inami, Takayo Ohyama, Sayaka Fujioka

"Likewise, Sailor Neptune acts with grace!"

Uranus' classically refined girlfriend, a talented violinist and swimmer. Her poise and elegance coupled with her surprisingly friendly demeanor make her an immediate inspiration to the Guardians. Despite her graceful manners, she's no less merciful than her girlfriend towards those who get in her way.

open/close all folders

A-E

The Ace: To perhaps a greater extent than Haruka, as she's considered to be the feminine ideal: sophisticated, cool, and artistically talented. She's wealthy enough to own a Stradivarius and attend an elite academy, has great artistic talent in many areas, athletic in civilian and guardian form, and is leagues more powerful than the inner soldiers. In the manga, Usagi, Ami, Rei, and Makoto frustrate Minako (the original ace) by gushing about how awesome Haruka and Michiru are. She's witty enough to fluster the normally suave Haruka, and intelligent enough to manipulate Seiya into letting his guard down by charming him.
Adaptational Badass: In the manga she, along with all the other Solar System Guardians, succumbs to Sailor Galaxia's mind control and relentlessly attacks Sailor Moon until she's disposed of. In the 90s anime, she and Sailor Uranus resist the mind control – in fact, they deliberately feign defecting in order to gain the Galactica bracelets only to wait for the first opening and try to kill Galaxia with her own weapons. It doesn't work, but even Galaxia herself is impressed by the strength of their willpower.
Adaptational Nice Guy: Sailors Uranus and Neptune in Sailor Moon Crystal are nowhere near as antagonistic towards in the Inner Guardians like they were in the original anime despite remaining prideful overall. In the end of the Death Busters story arc, they outright attempt to kill Sailor Moon because they couldn't stand her idealism, forcing Sailor Moon to outsmart them before they admitted defeat. In Crystal, no such thing happens, and they part ways from the Inners on peaceful terms.
Adoptive Peer Parent: Is "Michiru-Mama" to young Hotaru after she's been orphaned, co-parenting with Haruka and Setsuna.
Aloof Ally: With Uranus towards the inner soldiers in that they are too idealistic and refuse to use lethal force.
Alpha Bitch: She is introduced as one in the manga, but this is just a front. She's more of a normal Ojou with small shades of Lovable Alpha Bitch.
Always Save the Girl: In one of the ‘’SuperS'' specials, an enemy is stealing Haruka’s life energy and bluffs Michiru into choosing between saving Haruka and saving the world. Michiru calls his bluff and saves her, stating that to her, a world without Haruka isn't worth saving.
Amateur Sleuth: When not fighting, she and Haruka often investigate suspicious activity rather than getting caught up in it like so many other characters. For example, they enrolled in Mugen Academy to get to the bottom of the strange things happening there.
Ambiguously Absent Parent: Like Haruka's parents, hers are never even mentioned. Obviously, their parents must have existed at some point for them to be reborn, but that's all we know.
Ambiguously Bi: Michiru is openly gay and in a relationship with Haruka, but is known to flirt with men, particularly Mamoru.
Ambiguously Christian: She and Haruka both qualify. They're searching for the Messiah, and Uranus even sports a cross at times. There is certainly a lot of Catholic imagery in the S season. Michiru telling the story of Adam and Eve and referring to them as the first man and woman drives the point home.
Animal Motifs: The '90s anime gave her an affinity towards fish to further emphasize her connection to the ocean. She's grateful when Haruka wins her a goldfish at a festival, and she loves aquariums and spending her free time watching fish.
Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance. Sea green eyes, check. Sea green hair that has a slight wave to resemble ocean waves, check. If it wasn't obvious enough she's a water user.
Badass Bookworm: An established violinist, whose swimming ability is just as remarkable, and it becomes a surprise that Ami is able to keep up with her during a race. Also, during her fight with Sailor Moon, she easily restrains her, and the Sailor Stars opener shows that Michiru is quite capable of getting physical.
Badass Teacher: Besides being a powerful warrior, the first anime series shows her working as an art teacher. She also teaches cooking in Parallel Sailor Moon.
Ballet: Someone as wealthy and graceful as she is must've had a lot of training in her youth, and her footwear as Sailor Neptune bears a striking resemblance to pointe shoes.
Barely-Changed Dub Name: Goes from Michiru in the Japanese version to Michelle in the original English dub. It's even closer than it looks because the L sound becomes an R sound in Japanese.
Battle Couple: With Uranus. They usually arrive together and attack enemies in tandem.
The Beautiful Elite: She's fabulously rich, is very charming and sophisticated, and looks like a cross between a supermodel and a princess. Her house, her clothes, and pretty much all of her other possessions are luxurious and beautiful.
Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The beauty to Setsuna's brains and Haruka's brawn.
Berserk Button: In the manga: She's usually calm and levelheaded, but do not tell her that her shade of lipstick is trashy or she may try to kill you.
Beware the Quiet Ones: Michiru is usually one of the calmer and quieter Sailor Guardians. The few times she loses her cool, however, she becomes absolutely murderous, and on one occasion she had to be kept from killing Yaten for hitting a previously unknown Berserk Button of hers—namely criticizing her choice of lipstick and stealing her spot as the school's make-up expert. Fittingly, she's Hotaru's adopted mother.
Bloodless Carnage: In the episodes where the Talismans show up. Despite both Uranus and Neptune getting injured (the former shot by apparently invisible darts and the latter ripping herself free from some sort of thorny vines), neither bleeds.
Break the Badass: She and Haruka pretend to defect to Galaxia to gain her trust, but doing so they kill Pluto and Saturn by removing their Star Seeds. Then, when it turns out that Galaxia doesn't have one to remove, they break down and realize it was all for mothing.
But Not Too Gay: The anime is, even in the Japanese version, very coy about Haruka and Michiru. While the main, straight couple of the series still only kisses infrequently, Haruka and Michiru never kiss. The manga does not have this problem. Though Haruka and Michiru still never kiss, Haruka does kiss Usagi.
By the Power of Grayskull!: "Neptune Planet Power, Make up!", "Neptune Crystal Power, Make up!"
Car Fu: She and Haruka make their badassery known on a motorcycle in their debut episode (as themselves, at least).
Celebrity Masquerade: An internationally acclaimed violinist. Having played in major venues around the globe, she is definitely a celebrity. She also is Sailor Neptune, the princess from planet Neptune and fights the evil Death Busters, protecting the Earth and her future Queen, Serenity.
Chastity Couple: Haruka and Michiru are girlfriends, but there's nothing too explicit about their relationship. In fact, the only onscreen kiss Haruka has is with Usagi, not Michiru.
Collector of the Strange: She collects cosmetics. Granted, someone like her would make good use of them, but it's odd that she's mainly interested in them as collectibles.
The Comically Serious: Sometimes.
Conflict Ball: Sailors Neptune and Uranus clutch it tightly more often than not, especially in their introductory arc.
- In the Infinity arc of the manga/Crystal they spend nearly half the arc stubbornly refusing to tell Sailor Moon and her team anything about who they are or what's going on. Their reasoning is eventually explained as "we feel that this is our responsibility to handle as Outer Guardians and we don't want to risk you being hurt by getting involved" - never mind that they had previously attacked Sailor Moon rather than explain this, and that the lack of communication placed her and her team in greater danger by inspiring them to investigate on their own without knowing what they're up against.
- The S arc of the '90s anime depicts them as actively antagonistic to Sailor Moon and the Inner Guardians, despite the fact that by this point Usagi and her team have saved the world no less than three times.
Control Freak: Whenever Haruka and Michiru enter the season's plot, they act as if they know better than the other Guardians (even if they don't know very much about the enemy), make decisions without considering anyone else's input, as well as undermine Usagi and take away her choice in the situation. This is best exemplified in the S season when Haruka steals Usagi's transformation brooch so she can't interfere when they confront Eudial and in the Stars season when they order the Sailor Starlights (mainly Seiya) to stay away from Usagi and when they tell Usagi to stay away from them in return. With the latter, Usagi calls them out on deciding the situation themselves and sticking their noses in their business like that.
Cool Big Sis: To the Inners. She is regarded as the feminine ideal.
Cool Teacher: Teaches art (in the anime) or cooking (in Parallel Sailor Moon). Having someone as rich, famous, and beautiful as her as a teacher would make any student wish they were in her class.
Cultured Badass: A fine classical violinist and painter who kicks plenty of evil ass.
Curtains Match the Window: Aqua eyes, aqua hair, even has an oceanic trend.
Custom Uniform: She and Haruka have short gloves instead of elbow-length ones.
Deadpan Snarker: She loves making sarcastic, thinly veiled comments behind a graceful smile about others all the time.
Depending on the Writer: Depending on the episode in the S season, she can be more contemplative or merciful than Sailor Uranus, or just as extremist and rude like her.
Did You Think I Can't Feel?: In the earlier days of their relationship before they became a couple, Michiru did not appreciate Haruka's patronizing attitude about what she's capable of. This was after Haruka saw a portrait Michiru created of the end of the world, with Haruka snarking she didn't think a privileged rich girl like her could possibly understand a concept as bleak as the apocalypse. Michiru makes it clear Haruka had no clue what she was talking about.
The Dividual: With Uranus; They were created as a pair, never get solos in the Sera Myu, instead getting duets, and the scenes they have solo can be counted on one hand. The 90's anime forcibly separates them for a single episode, instead pairing her with Mars.
Does Not Like Spam: Dislikes kikurage mushrooms.
Dramatically Missing the Point: When Haruka and Michiru's visions of the Silence come, you can't blame them for being terrified, but they believe that the Silence is something that must never be allowed to happen, ever, and that they have to kill Hotaru to stop it. They don't realize that Sailor Saturn and her powers exist for a reason: the old must be destroyed so that the new can be created, and when things go too far, sometimes it's better to just Restart the World.
Dreaming of Times Gone By: All we really know about her backstory is that she got the memory of her past life and awoke as Sailor Neptune from dreams she had. This makes her the only Sailor Guardian who awoke without someone else's help.
Dub Personality Change: Like several other characters, the original English dub flanderized her and Haruka, making them even meaner and harsher than the original anime.
Early-Bird Cameo: Possibly in episode 44 of the first season. When we see how Mamoru and the girls were reincarnated, several other people from the Silver Millennium (presumably other members of the princess' court) are shown to have come with them. The only one shown as more than a silhouette is an extra Sailor Guardian who looks a lot like Michiru. The episode's animation director Hisashi Kagawa eventually revealed on Twitter in 2019 that it was a coincidence, since he didn't know yet that Michiru would even exist in the series, and that he inserted the character just because he expected it more Sailor Guardians to show up later. Fans still accept that it's Michiru, though.
Elegant Classical Musician: A very elegant young lady, and a professional violinist who also plays the piano.
Elemental Hair Colors: Her blue-green hair indicates her power over the sea.
Even the Girls Want Her: While she doesn't have quite the universal lady-appeal of Haruka, both Ami and Rei (among others) think she's beautiful.
Everyone Has Standards: She's a gleefully unrepentant troll, albeit an elegant one, but there are some things Michiru won't joke about.
- When Usagi is upset because she thinks Mamoru forgot her birthday (he didn't, he just didn't know when it was because Usagi never told him), Michiru sounds truly disappointed in him, and is none too pleased when Haruka jokingly flirts with Usagi. Michiru might screw with Haruka sometimes by flirting with others, but she draws the line at teasing someone who's emotionally vulnerable at the moment.
- After the guardians become trapped in a dimensional warp created in the Tomoe household, Haruka says it would be better if they didn't come back. Michiru is seriously offended by such a notion.

F-M

Fake Defector: In the final episodes.
The Fashionista: The classiest and prettiest dresser of the Sailor Guardians. Her sense of fashion and skills at applying makeup are commented on by the others more than once, and Usagi sees her as what a fairy tale princess would be like.
Finger-Suck Healing: Done when Haruka gets her hand injured with a glass shard from Nehellenia's Magic Mirror. Michiru then sucks on her injury to try getting the shard out and succeeds, then spits it out on her handkerchief. Then Haruka notices dark energy coming from the shard and knocks it away from Michiru; it transforms into a glass monster, and they have to fight it alongside others.
Friendly Rivalry: With Ami. They get along well for two girls who are also rivals in swimming races. In fact, the only time a swimming match gets between them is when Michiru calls Ami out over letting her win.
The Gadfly: Michiru just loves to innocently screw with people by making veiled comments hiding behind an innocent smile. She goes around making comments for the sake of screwing with people and watching their reactions when they finally get what she's really saying. For example, when she's paired up with Rei in the first Stars arc of the anime, she nonchalantly comments about her relationship with Usagi:
Michiru: You two are close, huh? Quite similar to Uranus and me.
- An earlier moment comes in S when Makoto asks about Haruka being able to drive. Haruka stammers that she got a license overseas, and Michiru just mentions "So she says."
- Throughout Stars she loves to tease Haruka about her rivalry with Seiya, even telling the girls that Haruka doesn't hate men, she just hates popular men (implying she hates Seiya because he's more successful with girls).
Girly Bruiser: Michiru is very feminine, collected, cultured, and soft-spoken. She likes to wear long, flowing dresses and is interested in classical music, painting, and reading. She's also a balance of Lady of Black Magic and Lady of War with her water-based attacks and Stradivarius, and the 90s anime show her inflicting a brutal beating on Germatoid clones with her bare hands.
Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: Yes, even Michiru, the most feminine of the Sailor Guardians, qualifies as this. An elegant and sophisticated lady, she takes pride in her beauty, her interests include painting and playing the violin, Usagi compares her to a fairy tale princess, and she eventually assumes the role of mother to Hotaru. However, she's also a great swimmer, and at one point, she beats a group of Germatoid clones with her bare hands.
Girly Run: Clearly seen when running from Usagi in Season 3, Episode 6 of Crystal.
Go-Getter Girl: She seems to have a need excel at everything she does, from her artistic endeavors to her refined demeanor, from her swimming matches to all of her classes at school.
Good Counterpart: The notes in Naoko's materials collection describe her as being "like Esmeraude became calm."
Good Is Not Nice: In the 90s anime, Haruka and Michiru are very cynical, trying to kill Hotaru in an attempt to stop Saturn from ending the world. Even after Usagi manages to both save Hotaru and the universe, they still are aloof. In the Stars arc, both act as Double Reverse Quadruple Agents for Galaxia, even killing Saturn and Pluto to prove their loyalty. However, they are also Wrong Genre Savvy and end up dying themselves. They have good intentions, but also believe that the ends justify the means and thus do not hesitate to resort to violence or trickery. They are are much nicer in the manga.
Good Is Not Soft: Though Neptune is undoubtedly on the side of good, she is the most ruthless of the Sailor Guardians, and the most willing to Shoot the Dog if she feels that there is no alternative. She was at her most brutal when she was working solo; Uranus is the one holding back the worst of Neptune's impulses.
Guile Hero: She'll sometimes use her wits and charms to manipulate others to get what she wants. One time, she used this technique on Seiya when she and Haruka still thought the Starlights couldn't be trusted.
Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: Same deal with Sailor Uranus. In one scene in the old English dub when the girls are talking about first kisses, Michelle reminisces about having her first kiss with "Brad, the cutest boy at school." Then she and Amara exchange meaningful looks and hastily exit the scene.
Hero of Another Story: She and Haruka are usually living their own adventure while the protagonists are in Tokyo. In the anime they even leave after the third season specifically to do this.
High-School Sweethearts: With Haruka.
Honey Trap: This is one of her tricks when she's not as Sailor Neptune. In one episode, she briefly flirts with Seiya to investigate the Starlights.
I Did What I Had to Do: She and Haruka consistently fail to learn from their mistakes and are willing to sacrifice lives—both innocent civilians and their own fellow soldiers—on the basis that the end (destroying the enemy) automatically justifies the means. But their Control Freak tendencies and habit of acting as if their decisions are superior to the others' marks them out for the Stupid Sacrifice category. Also, see the end of Sailor Stars for a classic example of this trope dovetailing with Nice Job Breaking It, Hero.
Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance: Uranus and Neptune in the 90s anime refused to work with Sailor Moon and the Inner Guardians because they believed they were too idealistic for their own good and couldn't make pragmatic decisions. After the battle with Pharaoh 90, they lecture Usagi for protecting Hotaru which almost led to the planet's destruction and say she's unfit to be queen. However, Uranus and Neptune were rookie soldiers without the experience of fighting various enemies Sailor Moon and her guardians had (judging by the information and flashbacks from the anime, they were active for roughly a year, with the Death Busters as their only threat to investigate). Examples of their behavior include:
- If Uranus and Neptune were as pragmatic as they believed they were, they would've teamed up with the more seasoned girls who had among them a national genius girl with a handheld supercomputer that's suggested to be more advanced than modern day appliances (Ami), a psychic girl who could've figured out who held the Talismans by divining through the Sacred Fire (Rei), and a girl with a legendary crystal that has the capacity to heal/destroy an entire planet, purge evil from a person or place, and bring the dead back to life (Usagi). Granted, Uranus and Neptune might not have known about their previous missions to know they're capable, but since Sailor Moon and the Inners started picking up notoriety after they awakened (to the point of having little dolls made in their image and kindergarteners knowing about them in R) and Pluto let them know that Chibi-Usa was the Princess of the Future Silver Millennium, it's hard to believe that they wouldn't have heard of their exploits through the news or word of mouth, or that Pluto wouldn't have told Uranus and Neptune about them herself.
- After Eudial calls them to let them know she has found a Talisman, Haruka and Michiru call Usagi to meet them, tell her they won't let her slow them down with her "half-baked play war" and steal her brooch... with the Silver Crystal inside. However, Haruka and Michiru don't realize their plan for finding the Talismans had been rather half-baked. In spite of the time they spent investigating them, they were just piggybacking off the enemy's efforts: they just sat around and waited for the Death Busters to strike, remove a victim's Pure Heart, then check to see if it was a Talisman. At no point did they try to find them themselves. Eudial had to call and tell them that she found a Talisman. And at no point did they think she could have been leading them into a trap. They just rushed to meet Eudial without coming up with a plan other than collecting a Talisman for their mission.
- Regarding Hotaru, they were hell-bent on killing her because she was the reincarnation of Sailor Saturn and they believed she would destroy the world when she awakened, yet they were unaware of her true purpose (to destroy the world only when things were at their lowest point so everything could be reborn anew) and would've killed an innocent girl and valuable comrade had they succeeded.
- Finally, if Uranus and Neptune had teamed up with the girls and shared what they knew about the Death Busters (admittedly, something Neptune had suggested to Uranus who refused her), the issue would've been resolved quicker with far less conflict, but instead they were aloof and condescending towards them and even hindered them on several occasions. Even Tuxedo Mask said that while the Outer Guardians are strong, Sailor Moon is stronger because she has teammates.
- In short, while Uranus and Neptune were smug and condescending towards Sailor Moon and the Inners for their beliefs, it was their aloof behavior, hasty decision making, and inability to cooperate and share meaningful communication that often led them to make things worse and cause unnecessary conflict.
Immune to Bullets: Eudial's death trap triggers bullets that fly from every direction. Neptune gets hit with every single one, until the guns are out of ammo. She survives, if only for a few moments, and it takes a blast from Eudial herself to finish her off and rip out her Pure Heart Crystal.
Improbable Weapon User: Some of her attacks use a mirror or a violin.
Incest Subtext: The Cloverway dub creates an interesting Inversion with Haruka and Michiru. The romantic subtext is meant to be there... but they're not supposed to be cousins in the original. The company that decided to make them cousins did so for the exact reason of preventing there being any openly gay people in the show, without actually changing enough other stuff to even try and hide how they feel for each other, just hoping no one would think it's odd for two cousins to be THAT devoted to each other.
Ineffectual Loner: She and Haruka have a consistently condescending view of many of the other characters, despite being surprisingly useless when combating actual Dragons or Big Bads.
Informed Attribute:
- Is thought to be more pragmatic than the Inner Soldiers, yet her decisions say otherwise. See Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance above for more details.
- Uranus and Neptune are stated to dread the idea of sacrificing innocents for the sake of their mission, but this doubted due to the fact that they never bother to search for other options, acting as if killing is the only thing they can do about the situation that they don't know very much about, and react angrily to the suggestion that they look for another way, even though they should be jumping at any opportunity to learn alternative methods if they really wanted to avoid sacrificing innocents.
Intertwined Fingers: Haruka and Michiru do this quite a few times throughout the series. Most notably during the "I like your hands" scene, on the morning that they go to the Marine Cathedral expecting to have to kill an innocent person and again while they're dying/fading out of existence at the end of Stars.
Irony: At the conclusion of the battle against Pharaoh 90, Haruka and Michiru state that Usagi's way of handling it makes her unfit to be the Queen of the Future Silver Millennium, and yet it is heavily implied that Neo-Queen Serenity herself was the one to set things in motion when she told Chibi-Usa to train in the past and befriend an "important person" who would later turn out to be Hotaru, thereby leading to the events of the season to play out the way they did with no one being sacrificed as Hotaru's bond with Chibi-Usa was an important factor in her overpowering Mistress 9, awakening as Sailor Saturn, and destroying Pharaoh 90 with Super Sailor Moon once and for all.
I Surrender, Suckers: In the fifth Season, Sailors Uranus and Neptune pretended to do a Face–Heel Turn, submitting to Galaxia's will and even killing Saturn and Pluto, and then, when the going got good and they did enough damage, made an attempt on her life. Subverted in that Galaxia is seemingly immortal, and both Uranus and Neptune are instantly destroyed upon the revelation of her immortality.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Her aloofness and sharp tongue make Michiru come off as an uncaring jerk. However, like Haruka, she does care deeply for all life.
Lady And A Scholar: She's clearly intelligent, studies art and music extensively but enjoys all of her classes at school, gets into a prestigious school easily, and is widely regarded by her peers as the classic ideal feminine woman.
Lady of Black Magic: Refined and classy, she uses water-based attacks and a Magic Mirror that can dispel illusions and teleport people.
Lady of War: She's an elegant, refined young lady who will defeat enemies by whatever means possible. She even uses a violin to blast enemies to oblivion. The femme counterpart to Uranus' butch.
Lap Pillow: Haruka rests her head in Michiru's lap in this◊ manga spread.
Lightning Bruiser: Not to the extent of Uranus but in the Nehelenia arc, the team of 10 is split up into abnormal groupings by the villain, splitting up Uranus and Neptune. The former, paired up with Mercury, notes she never noticed how well Neptune had managed to keep pace with her high running speed until now, having been paired with someone who can't.
Lipstick Lesbian: The elegant, lady-like girlfriend of the more masculine Uranus.
Lonely Rich Kid: She was rich and privileged before meeting Haruka (as indicated by the fact that she owns a Stradivarius, a private helicopter, and a posh-looking condo) but is implied to have mostly kept to herself before they met.
Love Makes You Evil: Subverted. She and Haruka make Galaxia think they'll defect to her as long as they can be together, but it's part of a plan to overthrow her. It doesn't work.
Magic Mirror: The Deep Aqua Mirror. It acts as a weapon, can dispel illusions, allows communication over great distances, and can even teleport people.
Making a Splash: A powerful user of water. Her powers are stated to be from the sea rather than just regular water.
Martyr Without a Cause: Like Uranus, Neptune strongly believes that victory is impossible without some horrible angsty sacrifice that only they have the moral strength to make.
Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: Michiru is a refined, violin-playing Lipstick Lesbian while her girlfriend Haruka is a short-haired, athletic, sword-wielding Butch Lesbian.
Meaningful Name:
- Kaioh as in Kaiōsei, the Japanese name for Neptune meaning "sea king star".
- Her given name means "rising".
Mermaid Arc Emergence: The first time we see Michiru she is swimming in her apartment and climbs out of the pool while throwing her head back in this fashion.
Mirror Character: To Yaten. Both are artistic and fashionable girly girls, are vain, snarky, and try to keep their tomboyish leaders in check. Michiru sees Yaten as a rival when she dethrones her as the school's fashion queen.

Ms. Fanservice: Swims a lot. Which means we get to see her in swimsuits a lot.
Musical Assassin: With a Stradivarius!
Mysterious Past: The only thing we know of her past is that she's the only Sailor Guardian who got her powers and Awoke without external help (she simply dreamed of her past life), and even that comes from Word of God. Everything else, is completely unknown.
My Way or the Highway: Also crosses with Control Freak. She and Uranus believe that their methods are better and disregard those who don't think the same way as them.

N-Y

Necessarily Evil: Haruka and Michiru only act hard and ruthless because they think it's necessary to save the world. They get better in the manga though. Not so much in the 90s anime though, as seen toward the end of Stars where they kill Saturn and Pluto out of necessity.
The Needs of the Many: She and Haruka were frustrated with Sailor Moon not seeing that saving the Earth is more important than the life of one person, although Usagi did manage to find a way without sacrificing Hotaru.
Never My Fault: At the conclusion of S, Michiru and Haruka never acknowledge that it's their aloof behavior, hasty decision-making, refusal to think of another plan, and communication problems that contributed to the outcome of the battle with Pharaoh 90 just as much as Usagi's actions did, if not more so.
Nice Girl: In the manga, she becomes this by the final arc. She no longer looks down on her fellow Sailor Guardians, though she still struggles opening up to and trusting people, and is genuinely a kind, genial woman who even takes Hotaru in as her daughter. Just don't insult her choice of makeup. While she and Haruka lighten up in all versions, they still tend act more like jerks late in the '90s anime.
Non-Idle Rich: She is, quite possibly, the richest character in the series. She plays a Stradivarius, flies her own helicopter, and lives in a luxurious flat. Though nothing is revealed about her family, she's implied to be an heiress to a massive fortune. Still, she's not above doing humble jobs like teaching grade school, and she likes earning her own money with her art and music. And that's not when she's fighting evil superbeings.
No One Could Survive That!: Neptune gets hit with every single bullet from Eudial's death trap and somehow survives.
Not Your Problem: Haruka and Michiru constantly tell the Inners to back off and leave everything to them. The Inners, being who they are, never listen.
Ojou: It's never stated who her parents are but she's clearly wealthy, as she owns a Stradivarius violin and a gigantic condo with its own aquarium and is a world-famous violinist and painter.
One True Love: She and Haruka are in a long-lasting relationship and are rarely seen apart from each other.
Opposites Attract: With Haruka. She is a cultured and elegant lady, Haruka is a sporty tomboy.
Out of Focus: In SuperS, hers and Haruka's only appearance is in one of the specials, although they return to full-time characters in Stars.
Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Basically every single thing that has come out of Michiru Kaioh's mouth is this. If Usagi is going to be the queen of the moon, Michiru is definitely queen of the trolls.
Pastel-Chalked Freeze Frame: Haruka and Michiru's scenes are done this way more often than not, when not in any form of battle, in order to emphasize how elegant they are.
Poor Communication Kills: Neptune and Uranus' stubborn refusal to open any kind of discussion with the other Guardians about what's going on during the Infinity arc approaches the absurd. Even after it becomes clear that Moon and her team are not going to stay out of it no matter what Neptune and Uranus say, the pair keep everything they know entirely to themselves, forcing the Inners to fumble around blindly in their own investigation covering ground that Neptune and Uranus have already covered and repeatedly coming into danger as their efforts draw the attention of the Death Busters.
Pragmatic Hero: How she and Haruka see themselves. They really aren't. Sure, they're willing to make hard decisions and sacrifices that the Inners are against, but that's far as they go. If they were as pragmatic as they thought, they'd try to get more help, especially from the more experienced and successful Inners, or at least try something else to complete their mission when Plan A fails.
Princess Classic: Subverted. She lacks the innocence of a typical Princess Classic, but she's probably the closest thing to one on the Sailor Team in present day.
Proper Lady: A mature, high-born, sophisticated, refined, elegant woman who plays the violin.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Haruka's Red. While both had the same intentions in season 3, Michiru's demeanor was calm and introverted in comparison to Haruka's more outgoing and harsh attitude.
Related in the Adaptation: In the Cloverway dub, she and Haruka were infamously stated to be cousins to Hide Your Lesbians. But the dub didn't edit out their flirting scenes, so not only did they look like lesbians, but also incestuous ones. The dubbers apparently thought they could make their affection look familial instead of romantic.
Renaissance Man: Aside from being one of the better fighters on the team, she aces all her classes in school, is an accomplished concert violinist and gifted painter, a decent amateur sleuth, a master manipulator, up on high fashion, can fly a helicopter, has the certification to work as a teacher, cooks for her household, seems to know a bit about child healthcare and marine life, and is a champion-level competitive swimmer.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: She was right that Hotaru was a threat to Earth, but it wasn't for the fact she was Sailor Saturn rather because she was the vessel for Mistress 9.
Satellite Character:
- Especially in the manga. Most of her characterization is based around her relationship with Haruka. Even though the two are rarely separated, Haruka gets much more focus and character development. Naoko Takeuchi wrote Michiru this way on purpose because Michiru is the Sailor Guardian the least like her and the hardest for her to relate to. She wanted Haruka to have a complimentary but opposite partner, and Michiru was what came of that.
- This is carried over into both anime adaptations; while she's definitely a little more fleshed out, the writers don't develop her much beyond being Haruka's girlfriend who is a famous artist and musician. Even the episode that shows how they met is told entirely from Haruka's perspective.
Second Place Is for Winners: In Episode 97 of the first anime she's offended when Ami intentionally throws a swimming race as she wouldn't have minded losing against someone who was giving it her all vs. a win being handed to her.
Sexy Surfacing Shot: The first time we see Michiru she is swimming in her apartment and climbs out of the pool in a swimsuit while throwing her head back.
Shipper on Deck: In the '90s anime, it's implied that she ships Usagi/Rei. After seeing their arguments, she comments that their relationship is just like her and Haruka. Rei is not amused.
Ship Tease: Michiru may be half of an official couple with Haruka, but she is also a real flirt with both men and women. At one point, she flirts with Mamoru (the same episode ship-teases their girlfriends together), and in a later episode, with Seiya (though that was mainly because she wanted to see if the Starlights could be trusted), as well as a few one-shot characters. Of course, knowing how much she loves to screw with people, it's hard to tell when she's seriously flirting or not.
Shoot Your Mate: During their deception of Sailor Galaxia, she and Haruka are forced to remove Pluto and Saturn's Star Seeds to keep up the charade.
Silk Hiding Steel: While considerably more feminine and graceful than Haruka, it's obvious that Michiru has a will of pure steel. It's strongly hinted that she's the one with the reins in their relationship, and she could have Haruka wrapped around her finger if she wanted to.
Smug Smiler: She and Haruka do this from time to time.
Smug Super: Along with Haruka. In their civilian guises, they seem friendly enough but their arrogance comes out when they transform.
Sour Supporter: In the anime, like Haruka, she's somehow offended by the idea that love and friendship and justice can bring you a victory without a serious sacrifice. She's a milder version than Haruka due to her calm and refined demeanor, but she still counts.
Spotlight-Stealing Squad: After Haruka and Michiru are introduced, they take the focus away from Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako, who are little more than Usagi's support during the Infinity arc, although the four get back in the spotlight during the Dream arc.
Stalker with a Crush: It is heavily implied in episode 106 that Michiru was one of these to Haruka going way back before she even knew that Haruka was destined to become Sailor Uranus.
Stock Superhero Day Jobs: Schoolteacher. Despite being only sixteen, she is shown working as an art teacher in the anime or a cooking teacher in Parallel Sailor Moon. She and Haruka are also independently wealthy celebrities, so they also fit the rich socialite category.
Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She is very calm, cool and collected, as well as extremely dedicated to her mission...but she can also be very gentle to those she loves (if in a very princess-like way, befitting an Ojou like her), particularly her girlfriend, Haruka.
Surrounded by Idiots: How she feels during the Infinity Arc. She thinks that the younger Guardians are too naïve and idealistic to see what's really at stake or take the right action, and the only one who agrees with her is a partner whom she worries about going out of control.
Taking the Bullet: In the backstory episode of Uranus and Neptune in the 90's anime, she leaps in front of a monster about to attack Haruka, causing herself to be heavily injured.
Team Chef: When the Outers adopt Hotaru, Michiru does all the cooking for their household. In Parallel Sailor Moon, she actually gave up her chance at fame to become a cooking teacher, suggesting that she's very good at it.
The Tease: Michiru likes getting a rise out of people and flirting. She's also been shown to intentionally get her girlfriend Haruka jealous.
Took a Level in Kindness: Downplayed. At the start, Haruka and Michiru both refuse to work with the other Sailor Guardians, look down on them like fools, and refuse to trust anyone but each other. They also thought that Usagi is unqualified to be the queen and that sparing Hotaru was foolish and idealistic. Once they accept the truth and see things beyond their old views, they become more open and caring and are just as loyal to Usagi as the Inners. However, once they return in the Stars season, they remain somewhat harsh, critical, and arrogant, but they're still clearly on Usagi's side.
Town Girls: The Femme to Setsuna's Neither and Haruka's Butch.
Trademark Favorite Food: Sashimi.
Troll: In contrast to her elegant demeanor she's a huge one. She's not malicious or evil, but the moment she says "Ara" expect the conversation to be full of innuendo and oh-so-innocent snarking.
True Blue Femininity: She's color-coded with turquoise and blue, and the Lipstick Lesbian to contrast with Sailor Uranus' butch. Not to mention that her hair is blue too. (Well, more of a sea green, but close enough)
Underestimating Badassery: Haruka and Michiru are set on the idea that the younger (younger by only one year) Sailor Guardians are just too idealistic to deal with threats as well as they do, despite the fact that it's common knowledge that Sailor Moon's team have been fighting and defeating all kinds of evil threats long before Uranus and Neptune appeared. Either Uranus and Neptune paid no attention to what's been going on or they think the Inners just got lucky too often.
Undying Loyalty: Obviously to Usagi/Princess Serenity, as is the case with all other Sailor Guardians, but more notably, to Haruka. She survived a barrage of bullets to reach Sailor Uranus and protect her from Eudial. She'll even casually risk the world being destroyed so long as Haruka is safe with her, which even surprises the villain attacking Haruka.
Sailor Neptune: There seems to be a misunderstanding... The world is only worth protecting if Haruka is living in it.
Unskilled, but Strong: While Uranus and Neptune have some skill, they don't have the experience Sailor Moon and the Inner Guardians have (and are implied to have awoken as Soldiers a few months after the Black Moon Clan's final attack/before the Death Busters struck when they received visions of the world being destroyed by The Silence), yet their magical attacks are stronger than the Inners to better suit their responsibilities of keeping outside threats from attacking Earth.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: With their refusal to cooperate with the other guardians (who have more experience than them) and their belief that only they have the moral strength to make hard choices, she and Michiru tend to try and take control of the situation as if they know better which often makes things worse, like their Fake Defector scheme in the Grand Finale where they end up sacrificing Setsuna and Hotaru for nothing.
Vanity Is Feminine: She's the most feminine of the group and takes pride in her appearance. It's appropriate that she gets a mirror as a weapon.
Verbal Tic: "Ara" in the 90s anime.
Violently Protective Girlfriend: The whole deal with Eudial was triggered when she first took a hit for Haruka and got captured... and upon seeing Haruka coming to rescue her and fight Eudial, releasing herself and trying to stop her.
Waif-Fu: In the anime. While as tall as Makoto and only a few months older, she's much slimmer... And then, when confronted by a horde of Germatoid clones, she proceeded to maul them with her bare hands before being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. The only foreshadowing we had were the many times she has been swimming (thus developing muscles) and her instinctively assuming a Pankration stance when she sees their numbers.
Walking Swimsuit Scene: Swims so much it kind of comes with the territory.
Water Is Blue: Sailor Neptune's uniform is bluish-green with a navy-blue bow, fitting her powers of the sea.
Water Is Womanly: A very sophisticated young lady, conducting herself gracefully and being a classical violinist and painter. She has wavy sea green hair resembling waves. And as Sailor Neptune, she has powers over water that come from the sea.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: This is mellowed a bit by working with the inner soldiers, but Uranus and Neptune still occasionally resort to more extreme tactics. Of course, they are usually proven wrong about said tactics being necessary.
Wise Beyond Her Years: Despite being only 16 when first introduced, Michiru is easily the most mature and refined of the guardians.
Would Hurt a Child: Uranus and Neptune try to kill 12-year-old Hotaru while her body is inhabited by Mistress 9, though Usagi defends her. Near the end of the series, they steal her Star Seed to keep up their deception against Galaxia.
Wrong Genre Savvy: Haruka and Michiru are convinced that they're the Pragmatic Heroes of a dark urban fantasy where victory without sacrifice is impossible. They're really living in a Magical Girl series that runs on The Power of Friendship, Usagi is the protagonist, and since they won't consider other options or accept help from anyone else, they're not nearly as pragmatic as they think they are.
Yamato Nadeshiko: Although mainly an Ojou, but she also shows strong vibes of this in her devotion to her girlfriend Haruka and their Outer Guardians' mission.
You Are Worth Hell: Sailors Neptune and Uranus risk damnation in the last season, as long as they're together. Then there's Neptune's line about the world not being worth saving if Uranus isn't in it...

Sandbox / Sailor Moon Michiru Kaioh

Michiru Kaioh/Michelle — Sailor Neptune

Previous

Index

Next

Sandbox / Sailor Moon Michiru Kaioh

Edit Locked

Michiru Kaioh/Michelle — Sailor Neptune

Previous

Index

Next