Written by Misty of Myu Corner

The following are errors that I found in the first printing of Volume 5 of Kodansha USA’s English release of the Sailor Moon manga. They are divided into sections for writing errors (presented in a table), possible issues on multiple pages, honorific issues, inconsistencies/continuity errors, and miscellaneous errors (presented as bulleted lists).

I am not in any way affiliated with Kodansha USA, Del Rey, William Flanagan, or any other person or entity involved in the translation, production, or publication of the volume critiqued here. I also do not mean these critiques as libel in any way, shape, or form, and hope that the persons and entities involved in the translation, production, or publication of the volume critiqued here will not take it as such.

*Due to the ongoing investigation of Megaupload by the FBI, I was unable to download the file of the Mixx version I usually use from Neo Nobility. So, for this and possibly several future reports, I will be using the raw scans of the Tokyopop version from Miss Dream rather than Neo Nobility’s Mixx scans.

Possible Issues on Several Pages

• “Chibiusa” is still unnecessarily hyphenated (i.e., written as “Chibi-usa”) throughout the volume.
• The Black Crystal is still called the “Malefic Black Crystal” throughout the volume.
• Multiple pages have Pluto referring to the area beyond the Space-Time Door as “the area between space-time.” Now, to use the conjunction “between” you have to have two things to compare, as in the phrase “between you and me.” There doesn’t seem to be a comparison here. And besides, I think it’s established elsewhere in canon that the area beyond the Space-Time Door is called the “Space-Time Corridor.” Mr. Flanagan may not have done his homework on this one.

Honorific Issues (Oddly Used, Not Needed)

No issues! But then honorifics aren’t used much in this volume anyway.

Inconsistencies/Continuity Errors

• Usagi’s brooch: Usagi’s brooch suddenly reappears on her bow in the bottom panel of page 157. But it shouldn’t be there, because the possessed Endymion ripped it off her chest on page 133 when Usagi told Black Lady she could have the Silver Crystal if she wanted to. Strangely, it disappears again after that panel, not reappearing until Usagi re-transforms on page 175 (using the Silver Crystal that was inside the brooch, which proves that – in the manga at least – it’s the Silver Crystal that gives Usagi the power to transform, not the brooches she wears. [The brooches seem to be mere protective containers for the Crystal in the manga; this is supported by Luna’s statement when Usagi gets the Crystal Star brooch and Neo-Queen Serenity’s words when she gives Usagi the Cosmic Heart Compact]. And yes, you can argue this even for the Dark Kingdom arc before she was revealed to be the Moon Princess; the Crystal came out of her body when she was revealed as Serenity, thus it was likely lying dormant inside her body the whole time. This is similar to the idea stated in the Special Act of PGSM, that without the Silver Crystal none of the girls can transform, not just Usagi [which reminds me of the W.I.T.C.H. comics, where the power for all the girls to transform came from leader Will’s Heart of Kandrakar]).
• The King’s cape: On page 160, Pluto says King Endymion’s cape is “the color of a sunrise.” However, on page 145 of volume 4, it was stated to be “the color of a sunset.” King Endymion’s cape is lavender. Not sure which is right, “sunrise” or “sunset,” since one could see purple in either instance. The original Japanese version of page 160 does not seem to have the kana for yoake (dawn/daybreak), hinode (sunrise), or yūyake (sunset), as far as I can tell.

Miscellaneous

• We Have the Princess: On page 13, Saphir tells Rubeus that “now that we have the princess” (meaning Usagi) there is no need to keep Sailors Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter alive. But as far as I know, there is no way Saphir could know Usagi was a princess. As far as I know, only Dimande out of all the Black Moon Clan knew Usagi was even the past form of Neo-Queen Serenity, and he only deduced that based on facial resemblance.
• Saphir’s “Ambiguous Loyalty” Moment: When talking with Usagi at the Black Moon Crystal (oh, excuse me, according to Kodansha it’s “Malefic Black Crystal”) reactor on page 25, Saphir almost seems to have a change of heart and side with Usagi, telling her she needs to warn others (supposedly about Nemesis, given the surrounding context). But then immediately after Saphir sends his “perfect Droids” to attack Usagi. A Second Chance for the Sailor Moon Manga noted this too, but blames it on TokyoPop’s translation and notes that Saphir thinks Usagi’s death will “serve a greater purpose.”
• Need a Dialogue Switch: On page 193, the line “Where’s Sailor Moon?! Where?!” is backwards in the dialogue bubble. For logical flow when reading this volume the way it is intended to be read (Japanese order, back to front, right to left), the two phrases should be most likely switched. Or, since the previous sentence is “Sailor Moon?!”, you could just have “Sailor Moon?! Where’s Sailor Moon?!” and eliminate the extra “Where?!” entirely. In the Japanese original, Chibimoon says “Sēra Mūn?! Sēra Mūn wa?! Doko!?” (“Sailor Moon?! Sailor Moon is?! Where!?”), so it appears Mr. Flanagan translated too literally. A better choice of words might’ve been “Sailor Moon?! Sailor Moon, where are you?” or something like that.

Credits: The lines from the Tokyopop English translation come from scans I obtained at Miss Dream. The examples given from Miss Dream’s translation belong, naturally, to Miss Dream. Tokyopop English manga (Sailor Moon) © 1996-1998 TokyoPop. Kodansha English manga (Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon) © 2011-2012 Kodansha USA, Kodansha Comics and William Flanagan. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (Japanese) © 1992-1997, 2003-2004 Naoko Takeuchi.