Seiya Sailor Moon Guide: Sailor Star Fighter Explained

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Cody is a writer who was shaped by manga and anime at a young age. From discovering series like Dragon Ball and Gundam, he fell in love with this medium. Though he walked away for a time in his teenage years, he came back in his adulthood to fall back in love with manga and anime. Nowadays, he can be found reading the latest manga series and catching up on all of the new seasonal anime. And, of course, writing about them at the same time.

Bottom Line Up Front

Kou Seiya is one of the three members of the Sailor Starlights in Sailor Moon. Seiya, along with the other two members of their fighting troupe and musical group, arrives on Earth and play a massive role during the final arc of the beloved manga and anime series.

During the Sailor Stars storyline, Seiya plays a significant role, falling for Usagi Tsukino and being one of the motivating factors for the plot. She also doubles as Sailor Star Fighter, one of the Sailor Guardians introduced in the final arc of the series.

Seiya Sailor Moon Overview

seiya

I’m finally catching up on the Sailor Moon Crystal anime series when writing this and experiencing some of the later arcs, like Dead Moon Circus, for the first time. As part of this, I am also experiencing the Sailor Stars arc, aka the final one in Sailor Moon, for the first time.

As part of this, I continue to be impressed by the fact that Sailor Moon always introduces new characters to its series. It doesn’t matter which season or arc of the show it is; you are guaranteed to see some new heroes and villains that appear in that specific storyline.

In the Sailor Stars arc, some of the final heroes that are revealed are the three Sailor Starlights. They are a group of Sailor Guardians that arrive from a faraway planet in outer space to find their princess who ran away from home.

Kou Seiya is one of the three Sailor Starlights who arrives on Earth during the Sailor Stars storyline. Together with her other two friends and combat partners, they make up a pop idol group that sings and dances their way across Japan and into our hearts. In addition, she has her persona as Sailor Star Fighter.

Appearance

When it comes to the appearance of Seiya in Sailor Moon, it comes down to two main areas. The first of these is her human form. When she’s a human, the manga creator goes for a clear genderless appearance where her identity is left a little bit up in the air.

Seiya usually wears a red suit that has a tie or an undershirt that gives off a business appearance but also this casual, rich boy style. This is matched nicely with the short haircut that she has, making her dark hair resemble that of Tuxedo Mask ever so slightly.

However, when Seiya transforms into her Sailor Star Fighter outfit, this is where her appearance changes considerably. She has a much more feminine figure here, with her features and curves on full display. In addition, she wears a skimpy outfit that leaves little to the imagination.

With insanely long high heels that go all the way to her thighs, she looks like the type of hero who you would gladly let step on you. The match short skirt, top that just barely covers her chest, and the little accents everywhere make for a unique appearance.

Seiya’s Gender Explained

The divide between the more masculine appearance in her human form and the staunch feminine look in the Sailor Guardian outfit is all intentional. The manga creator noted that she was going for a mix of looks for the characters, leaving their gender sort of up in the air.

This led to a lot of controversy and odd scenarios in the past, like some dubbings of the anime version having different genders for the Sailor Starlights, including Seiya. Perhaps the weirdest is in one country where the human form of Seiya and her Sailor Star Fighter version were considered two different characters.

However, I am here to let you know that the intention always was for the characters to be females. They just have a more masculine side to them that they have no problem showing off, as seen in the teen pop idol human form of the three Sailor Starlights.

To be clear, at the time of writing this post, the Sailor Moon Crystal remake adaptation of the Sailor Stars hasn’t happened yet. Given how the anime has been so far, it should be a modern retelling of the story that will provide the most accurate depiction of Seiya and the other Starlights.

Key Moments in Sailor Moon

For the next section, I’d like to dive deeper into the story of Seiya and the rest of the Starlights and what happens with them in Sailor Moon. However, this means that there are plenty of spoilers ahead for the following few sections, so please keep that in mind.

This is worsened by the fact that the Sailor Starlights, including Seiya, only show up in the Sailor Stars arc of the manga and anime series. Since this is the final arc of the entire series, you are liable for some of the worst spoilers below.

I will try to keep it related to just Seiya and the gang, but just keep that in mind if you didn’t watch the original anime or finish the manga. For those of you who are waiting for the Sailor Moon Crystal remake of their storyline, these are all spoilers for you since it isn’t done yet.

Heading to Earth

At the start of the Sailor Stars storyline, Seiya and her two fellow Sailor Starlights head to Earth in search of their missing princess, Princess Kakyuu. The problem is that she left their home world after the attack from the main villain of this arc, Sailor Galaxia, and traveled through space, apparently landing on Earth in the end.

In the process of landing on Earth, Sailor Star Fighter and her pals decided to go undercover. Their idea for keeping low and out of detection from Sailor Galaxia is to pose as teen pop idols for whatever reason. In the case of Seiya, she is seen as the lead singer for the group, who is the star among the stars.

This ruse was chosen since it allowed them to secretly send messages in their songs to the princess and let her know what they are doing. In addition to their pop idol work, they are still considered high school students, so Seiya and the girls head to the same school as Usagi.

Seiya tries out for the American football team (not soccer/football) and quickly becomes the best player in the entire school. This creates a rivalry between her and some of the Sailor Guardians that is only intensified when she meets Usagi.

Falling for Usagi

Kou Seiya quickly develops feelings for Usagi and becomes one of the possible love interests of the protagonist in the final arc of the series. However, Usagi doesn’t reciprocate those feelings in the end. Any of the ideas of possible romance came from the fact Usagi thought of Mamoru Chiba, her one true love, when seeing Seiya due to their similarities.

This rejection doesn’t stop Seiya in the end from helping out the Sailor Guardians, and they work together in their goal of trying to stop Sailor Galaxia. Significant spoilers follow in this next part, so beware. This is where the manga and original anime differ quite a bit.

In the original anime, Seiya and the other Starlights end up helping out the leading Sailor Guardians to take down Sailor Galaxia and Chaos once and for all. They had a much more impactful role that saw them become part of the prominent gang in the end.

However, that was not at all the case in the original manga, which is considered the canonical storyline.

During the fight with Sailor Galaxia, the evil Sailor Chi & Phi take down all three of the Sailor Starlights roughly at the same time. This is a crazy moment in which we see some of the Sailor Guardians die with no hope of coming back.

It is uncertain for now, but it is presumed that the Sailor Moon Crystal movies that will adapt the Sailor Stars arc will likely feature this tragic ending for the characters. However, we will have to wait and see for now.

Special Abilities Explained

The powers that Seiya has come down to whether or not she is in her human form or transformed into Sailor Star Fighter.

An argument can be made that her powers aren’t just limited to when she transforms like many of the other Sailor Guardians. She has immense talent when it comes to all aspects of life and culture.

Musical Talent

Even when she is a human, Seiya dominates with talent and abilities far above everyone else. This could be due to the fact that she is an alien from another planet or just the fact that she is a genius, but she pretty much excels at every single activity that she does.

It starts with school and sports. She is highly intelligent, looking like one of the brightest students around at school. This helps with the arrogant attribute and narcissistic personality that Seiya has. After all, she can pretty much excel at anything and everything, as seen in football at school.

But it doesn’t end there because she is also one of the hottest pop idols on the planet. It isn’t long before the Sailor Starlights dominate the music scene, showing just how immensely talented she is when it comes to music as well.

She can do it all, too, playing instruments like the guitar and even drums, but her expertise comes in the form of singing. Seiya is the lead vocalist for the group, and her voice puts anyone who listens to her into her fandom with ease.

Sailor Star Fighter Powers

Then there is the whole Sailor Star Fighter side of Seiya. When she transforms, her outfit isn’t just for looks. She is pretty powerful, with abilities that are a little bit different from that of the leading Sailor Guardians. There aren’t too many fights that involve Seiya in the series, but we get to see her signature laser powers.

This is enough to show that there is immense strength in the character, but, unfortunately, there just aren’t enough fights to let fans see the full strength of the character. Overall, I would say that the original Sailor Guardians are more robust in the end than Seiya and the Starlights.

Anime Voice Actor

There are two leading voices for Seiya so far in the anime department of Sailor Moon. What’s interesting about this is that the Sailor Stars arc hasn’t been covered in the Crystal remake of the anime, so we only have the original voice actors from the 1990s.

On the English dub side, it was Melissa Hutchison who did the voice for Seiya way back in the day.

What may be a little bit surprising about this situation is that Hutchison is still around these days, making fans smile with some fun roles that she does. In fact, it is believed that she will be the voice of Seiya again in the Crystal movies, but it is uncertain.

Some of the roles that Melissa Hutchison did in the past include the fantastic Clementine in the Telltale Walking Dead games. If you haven’t played these yet, you are doing yourself a disservice. She also played Katie Forester and several other voices in the Yokai Watch series.

On the Japanese dub side of the situation, this is a very tragic scenario. The original voice for Seiya in the 1990s was the immensely talented Shiho Niiyama. Tragically, she was diagnosed with leukemia in 1998 and would pass away from complications regarding it in early 2000 at the far too young age of 29.

Sadly, Seiya in Sailor Moon was one of her final roles.

But she had some significant roles outside of that, including her iconic final part as the voice of Deedlit in the classic anime series Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight. It’s uncertain who will replace her for the Sailor Moon Crystal adaptation of the arc at this time.

Key Relationships

The key relationships that Seiya has come down to a few members of the main cast. She is involved with everyone in the Sailor Guardians, but there are only a few that make an impact on her character. First off, there is Haruka.

Her fellow Sailor Guardian, Sailor Neptune, has an intense rivalry with Seiya. They compete with one another when it comes to just about everything from sports to school and even being that pioneer of being a masculine but attractive woman.

Then there is Usagi. The titular Sailor Moon is the protagonist of the series, and she often catches the eye of potential love interests, despite her affection for Mamoru Chiba or Tuxedo Mask. One of those possible love interests is Seiya, who chases down Usagi throughout the entire arc. Their relationship goes nowhere fast, though, as Usagi barely gives her the time of day since she is head over heels for Mamoru.

Then there is her princess, Princess Kakyuu, who she follows literally to the end of space itself. She will do anything to protect and find her princess, no matter the cost. Lastly, there are her fellow Sailor Starlights. She cares about both of her companions, who are her family (though not honestly her blood family) and best friends.

FAQs

Question: Is Seiya from Sailor Moon a guy or a girl?

Answer: Seiya from Sailor Moon is 100% a girl. This has been confirmed by the manga creator herself. The confusion comes from dubs around the world that depicted her as a man sometimes or even two people carrying the same identity as both Seiya and Sailor Star Fighter.

Question: Who is Seiya in love with in Sailor Moon?

Answer: Seiya is in love with Sailor Moon herself. She repeatedly tries to pursue Usagi Tsukino throughout the entire Sailor Stars arc of the manga and anime series. Unfortunately for Seiya, though, this is a primarily one-sided romance, as Usagi doesn’t seem to have romantic feelings for her.

Question: Does Sailor Moon date Seiya?

Answer: No, Sailor Moon doesn’t date Seiya in the Sailor Stars arc. They hang out a lot, but Usagi doesn’t seem to have feelings for Sailor Star Fighter.

Who to Check Out Next in Sailor Moon

Seiya is one of the most intriguing Sailor Moon characters since she isn’t exactly one that many fans might be familiar with. Since she and the other Sailor Starlights arrive so late into the story of Sailor Moon, it is possible that many fans don’t know about her. But she is well worth checking out once the upcoming Crystal movies come out.

In the meantime, there are plenty of Sailor Guardians characters who you can get to know well. This includes the titular star of the entire series, Sailor Moon herself. She is present throughout the entire story, and she has a massive history of lore about her character. Still, we’ve already broken down everything you need to know about Usagi Tsukino.