- Choso Jujutsu Kaisen Guide: The Death Paintings Member Explained - May 1, 2023
- Historia Reiss Guide: Attack on Titan’s Krista Lenz Explained - March 31, 2023
- Daki Demon Slayer Guide: The Upper Rank Six Demon Explained - March 31, 2023
Sailor Moon has a breadth of villains in its repertoire, ranging from the useless monsters of the week to the arc-spanning masterminds. In my time enjoying the series, notably the remake in Sailor Moon Crystal, Black Lady is one of the most fascinating and surprising enemies the Sailor Guardians face. That is why I am particularly excited about this Black Lady Sailor Moon guide.
However, before I go any further, there is something that I would like to address in this Black Lady Sailor Moon guide. I would like to say that this guide means no offense to anyone, and I want to briefly address the controversy surrounding this character.
Yes, she is not Black but Japanese and has the name Black Lady in both the English and Japanese versions of the series. There is some controversy regarding this fact, but I want to say that I mean no offense in presenting this guide. Also, there are going to be a ton of spoilers from here on out, so watch out for that, too.
Bottom Line Up Front
Black Lady is one of the main villains the Sailor Guardians face in the second major arc of the manga and anime series. While facing off against the Black Moon Clan, Black Lady appears as one of the most beautiful and alluring enemies that the heroes have to take on.
It turns out that she is also one of the most personal villains for Sailor Moon. Spoiler alert, but it turns out that Usagi knows this girl quite well as Black Lady is the evil, adult form of her daughter from the future, Chibiusa. She is featured in every series incarnation, from the original manga and anime to Sailor Moon Crystal.
Black Lady Overview
Black Lady is one of the major villains that the Sailor Guardians take on during the second arc of the Sailor Moon series. She is among my favorite villains in the series so far due to a couple of reasons. For one, there is the fact that she has a gorgeous outfit and character design.
Everything about her is so detailed and interesting, allowing her to have one of the best villain designs in the series. I find that most of the enemies the Sailor Guardians take on are pretty evil-looking, not buying into the seductive possibilities of the dark side.
But that is exactly what Black Lady does so well. In addition, she is a personal foe for the Sailor Guardians, unlike so many of the meh villains that show up just to do their evil deeds, and that is it. There is more to her than meets the eye, and the surprises that await in the pages and episodes of the series regarding her are pretty welcome, indeed.
Black Lady is one of the main villains in the Black Moon Clan arc, where the Sailor Guardians begin to learn more about the universe around them. With their knowledge of the past now known, they begin to learn more about the future, too. In the process, Black Lady is one of the most fearsome foes they must take on.
She is popular enough that she is featured in the main media adaptations of the Sailor Moon series. She was initially introduced in the manga in the 1990s. She was quickly adapted into the Sailor Moon R season of the first anime. In addition, she was in the current Sailor Moon Crystal remake anime series.
Appearance
If you couldn’t guess it already, Black Lady is my kind of villain. She is drop-dead gorgeous, with an emphasis on the dropping-dead part. Her appearance oddly reminds me of a much better-looking, gothic emo version of Rita from the Power Rangers, especially in her hairstyle.
Her general outfit consists of a glamorous Gothic Victorian dress that is unbelievably long. It covers her neck to toes and even further down to the ground below her feet. It has frills and thrills all around the black dress, too, featuring red parts that cover most of it.
Some of the adaptations differ at times with her dress, with some looking more red over the black dress or even more pink. Regardless, you cannot go wrong with the look of this beautiful femme fatale. Her face is similar to other series characters, like Sailor Moon.
She has large red eyes and some nice accessories like earrings and an upside crescent moon on her forehead. Her hairstyle is the same as Usagi’s, being double buns that go into long ponytails. The differences are that Black Lady’s ponytails go down to the ground and are a vibrant pink color.
Of course, her outfit is only complete with some hella tall red heels that match the dress that she wears. What I love about the appearance of Black Lady is first the mature beauty that she has going on. This is so unlike the moe and kawaii nature of many of the other girls in the cast.
Worse still, there are almost no other female villains that are attractive, which helps Black Lady to stand out quite well. Furthermore, she has an unbelievable sense of style that someone like Usagi Tsukino could learn from. This also makes Black Lady lend herself quite well to cosplays in the community. She is one of the most cosplayed characters in the cast of already massively popular Sailor Guardians.
Though I have seen a few cosplays that impress me (sorry, cosplayers), I can understand why she is so popular with cosplayers. There is a level of extravagance to Black Lady that is unlike anything else in the entire Sailor Moon series, which is the very best part of her character.
Key Moments in Sailor Moon
I should note before I go into this next section that I am going to heavily spoil the events that happen with Black Lady in Sailor Moon. I will even hint at her secret identity within the series, so please beware of that. If you have not watched the series up to the end of the first season of Sailor Moon Crystal or the second arc of the manga, turn away now.
Otherwise, let’s continue with the story of the Black Lady. In the far future, there is a young girl, Chibiusa, who is raised by her loving parents. Due to some circumstances that happen, a man named Wiseman (yes, that is his name) manipulates the young girl.
He can turn her into the Black Lady, a woman who is warped into following the lead of the Black Moon Clan. This corrupted woman is one of the main villains that take on the Sailor Guardians during the second major arc of the entire series.
During this time, she is a force that continues to annoy and torment the Sailor Guardians. She attacks and fights them multiple times over the course of the arc before Usagi eventually learns the truth of who the Black Lady is.
Once she finds out the true identity of the Black Lady, Usagi can reach out to the person within and turn her back into the person she once was. This is a crucial moment in the fight against the Black Moon Clan, who looks like they could win the battle.
The Black Lady’s return to her true self is a significant blow against the villains, ultimately resulting in their demise, including Wiseman, who manipulated the young girl in the first place. In my opinion, it is a beautiful and lovely story, one of the best subplots of the Sailor Moon series.
Special Abilities
There are a few different unique abilities that the Black Lady has access to, but she is most definitely not as strong as she could be. Her true self is hidden deep inside, so she does not have access to all of the powers that she potentially could use in battle.
One of the more intriguing parts of Black Lady is that she has the Silver Crystal inside of her. This magical MacGuffin item is one of the many crystals that exist in Sailor Moon. It is one of the most powerful ones from the future and, therefore, contains immense power.
However, Black Lady has access to none of that due to her corrupted self and state as a person. As such, she is only able to use a mere fraction of the power that she would be able to if she were her true self. In general, her power has to do with the dark energy that she commands.
She can emit dark energy rays that will decimate objects and foes alike that are unfortunate enough to stand in her way. The way that she can do this is through her trusty mirror weapon, which also enables her to command massive area-of-effect attacks using her evil power.
By far, the most interesting aspect of her powers is the fact that she can instantly teleport to any location on a whim. However, this is not unique to Black Lady alone, as almost everyone else in the Black Moon Clan is capable of doing this.
Overall, I would say that she is pretty disappointing in terms of overall strength. There are far more powerful foes out there, but certainly none so beautiful as her.
Black Lady vs Chibiusa: What’s the Difference?
This is where the spoilers dig in deep for this next section, so please be sure to walk away now if you do not want anything spoiled from Sailor Moon. If you have never watched the anime or read the manga, I recommend that you turn away now as Black Lady is one of the best villains in the series.
I like her so much because of her connection to the cast. This is where spoilers begin. I have skirted around this topic for as long as I possibly can in this guide, but Black Lady is effectively Chibiusa. Yes, the daughter of both Tuxedo Mask and Usagi is evil.
Or, well, understandably evil given her tragic circumstances. What may strike you as very odd is the fact that Black Lady is an adult woman. Sure, you can immediately see the resemblances between that of Chibiusa and her older self, but why is she more aged in the first place?
Well, it is all one confusing timeline mess, honestly. The general idea is that Chibiusa is indeed Sailor Chibi Moon. In Japanese, chibi means something small (usually implying that it is pretty cute, too). Chibiusa’s name derives from her being a chibi form of Usagi, her mother.
The same goes for the fact that she can become Sailor Chibi Moon, the successor to her mother’s legacy. The problem is that in the far future Chibiusa came from, she becomes corrupted and brainwashed by the Black Moon Clan.
They use the power of the Silver Crystal embedded in her to turn her into the evil Black Lady. In some anime, mumbo jumbo nonsense makes her into an adult version of herself that is both highly fashionable and evil. However, they are absolutely the same person, which is worth noting.
Black Lady is just the corrupted version of Chibiusa that should have never existed. The differences between age, height, and even some looks are all possibly just due to the dark energy that the Black Moon Clan uses. I would not look too much into that issue.
At the end of the day, though, it seems that the personality of Black Lady is relatively immature, all things considered. Perhaps this is a result of the fact that she was a child previously, but there are mannerisms in the villain’s character that make it clear that she is not as mature as she would probably want to be. She is, after all, a child at heart in the end.
Voice Actor
The entire confusing scenario of Chibiusa versus Black Lady may have some fans wondering how this plays into their acting. After all, Black Lady does sound noticeably older and more mature (at least in her voice) compared to that the young Chibiusa.
However, what I find to be so impressive with all of the dubs for Sailor Moon’s anime adaptation is that it is the same voice actors across both Chibiusa and Black Lady. It is the same woman in the Japanese and English versions who voices both of the popular characters, that being Kae Araki in the original anime.
Araki has some other notable roles outside of Sailor Moon, including Akane in Cardcaptor Sakura and Hikari, the younger sister of the main character Tai, in the Digimon anime. These days, though, the Japanese voice of both characters is Misato Fukien in Sailor Moon Crystal.
What I love about Fukuen are some of the fantastic roles that she has that I have noted on our site in the past, such as the underrated Yin in the underrated Darker than Black anime and most recently as Himiko Toga in My Hero Academia.
Key Relationships
Black Lady herself is a villain, so she has few relationships in this current form. Her only real relationship, if you can even call it that, is with Wiseman and the rest of the Black Moon Clan. However, they are using her for their own gains and taking advantage of her, so can you call that a friendship?
The Black Moon Clan are not the companions that she thinks they are, but Black Lady is not completely alone in the world. As her normal self, Chibiusa, she at least has some connections. Her true self is close with many different people within the main cast of the Sailor Guardians.
For starters, there are her (spoilers ahead!), future parents, in the form of Tuxedo Mask and Usagi. To an extent, they treat Black Lady’s true self as their child, messing with her and trying to navigate raising her in a way. There is also her deep friendship and bond with Diana, her partner cat.
Diana is her best friend from the future and the only person who stays by her side even when she is Black Lady. Their bond is unbreakable and one of the few redeeming qualities of the villain. In turn, she is also quite close with the parents of her kitty companion, Luna, and Artemis.
As Chibiusa, Black Lady also connects some with the other members of the Sailor Guardians, but only on a surface level. A continuing issue of the series is that the characters rarely have much to do with one another, so Chibiusa only occasionally interacts and builds a relationship with the many other Guardians on the team.
FAQs
Question: Are Chibiusa and Black Lady the same person?
Answer: Yes, Chibiusa and Black Lady are essentially the same people. It is quite a confusing scenario, as you can see in the guide above. Still, the general idea is that Black Lady is the evil, mind-controlled version of Chibiusa as an adult.
Question: Why does Chibiusa turn into Black Lady?
Answer: Chibiusa became the Black Lady due to the influence of Wiseman and the Black Moon Clan. Through a series of circumstances that happened in the future, the adult Chibiusa was converted to the dark side and became Black Lady. Ultimately, though, it is mainly due to the mind control from the Black Moon Clan.
Question: Who is the Wicked Lady Sailor Moon?
Answer: The Wicked Lady is another name for the Black Lady in Sailor Moon. The original English dub for the series in the 1990s likely saw the possible controversy surrounding her name and chose the Wicked Lady instead. The Crystal remake opted to use the original Black Lady name, though. But they are the same villain.
Black Lady Sailor Moon Guide: Conclusion
Black Lady is one of the hottest (like literally) villains in the entire Sailor Moon series. I appreciate how personal her storyline is and the deeper connection she has with Usagi and the rest of the Sailor Guardians. Though there is controversy surrounding her name and her disturbing relationship with Tuxedo Mask, there is a lot to love about this unique enemy.
She remains one of the most memorable villains in the entire series, and there is a reason that so many people cosplay as her even to this day many years later. If you want to find out more about Black Lady or, well, her alter ego, you should check out our guide about Helios from Sailor Moon. Her potential love interest will shed even more light on the wicked lady.