There is no hiding that I was a major Sailor Moon fan from the original anime and it was probably my history with Sailor Moon that made me the anime fan I am today even if there was quite a gap between Sailor Moon and my venturing further into the anime world. What is probably slightly less known is that Sailor Moon (Serena) wasn’t really the appeal of the show for me only coming it at number 5 when I looked at my top 5 scouts (Tuesday’s Top 5: Sailor Scouts). Certainly the bumbling twin-tailed heroine has her moments and some of those are great (particularly in the later seasons) but season 1 sees her falling and crying and complaining far more than I really like in my main character.
No, my obsession with the show, other than the sparkly girl power and moon dust, came largely after the midway point where Jupiter literally came thundering into the show. Prior to her arrival, I’d enjoyed Ami to a degree but been disappointed with her submission to Rei but I found Rei and Serena’s bickering tolerable at best and if it wasn’t for the massive pre-teen crush I had on Tuxedo Mask I may have ceased to watch the show and then I may never have actually become an anime fan (that is almost a tragedy in and of itself).
And then we had Lita.
Lita, who even before knowing she was a Sailor Scout saved Serena from thugs and took on Zoisite bare-handed. Lita who had a sense of style about her. But she wasn’t the cool and untouchable beauty queen. She was ditsy and love sick with a huge heart who loved to cook for others and felt miserable when left alone. She was a dynamic and interesting character who could be tough when the occasion called for it but wasn’t ashamed of her deftness at her skills around the house. Lita was an eye-opening character to the teenage me and I absolutely loved her.
So here are 3 reasons why Sailor Jupiter is the best of the Sailor Scouts and the reason why I have at least 4 different miniature models of this scout around my house, a plush toy, key chain, and jigsaw puzzle (bought while last in Japan). That said, I am only discussing Lita as portrayed in the 90’s anime series in seasons 1 and 2. I am not discussing the manga or Crystal versions of the character.
Number 1: When the other scouts hesitate to take action, Lita knows that the direct approach is the best.
On more than one occasion Lita has been the push the scouts have needed to get into what will end up being a dangerous situation. When Serena and Darien were in the tower it was Lita who busted open the door. When the other scouts couldn’t bring themselves to fight Darien and couldn’t accept that he had been turned, Jupiter took him on one-on-one (unsuccessfully but it was still a rare and pretty cool display of actual combat without all the powers). Lita’s brash approach may not always win the day, but it so often spurred the others on and ultimately was the reason they managed to get through so many situations.
Number 2: Absolutely loyalty and absolute trust; you want Lita on your team.
When Rei and Ami go on strike, Lita is the one who runs to Serena’s rescue. At no point does Lita abandon Serena or even question her as leader. That doesn’t mean she is blind to Serena’s less desirable traits admitting that Serena is a crybaby and not very brave. But Lita remembers the girl who approached her at school without fear of her reputation and the girl who speaks honestly at all times (even if she is without tact). Lita isn’t someone who switches sides. From the moment she became a scout, she followed Serena and she held true to that through thick and thin.
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Number 3: Lita summons and commands lightning.
Sorry, does that need an explanation? Ami plays with bubbles, Rei admittedly is a very cool fire user but there are plenty of those to be found in anime, Mina has a chain of love hearts which looks cool and all, but none of those come close to being as awesome as Jupiter’s lightning. Okay, friendly fire is an issue on more than one occasion and having Jupiter’s power thrown back at them kind of sucks because it’s pretty intense, but the attack itself is beautiful to watch in action (even if it is one of the longest to get going given she usually says a prayer or some kind of summons to Jupiter before she gets moving). The payoff is worth it as this is no bug-zapper lightning attack. This is divine thunder and you do not want her aiming it at you.
Now, we could go on and list the absolutely divine boots the girl wears, the fantastic hair-style, her earrings, her short temper when losing at arcade games, and her general disdain for people who are cheats or unfair, but really I think I’ve made my case. Still, I’m always open for a great Sailor Moon discussion so feel free to tell me who your favourite scout is or your reasons for loving Sailor Jupiter.
Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James
I always liked Sailor Pluto. She was the Goth of the team. And then they took away her planetary status.
I know. It seems a bit weird that Pluto isn’t a planet now and yet Sailor Pluto is still a part of the team. Then again, Sailor Moon doesn’t represent a planet either and she manages just fine.
What do we do when we discover another big planet?
Definitely the best Sailor Scout.
Oh yes. I would have happily watched a Jupiter spin-off.
Super late to this party but as an extreme lover of Sailor Moon (and having now read your current reviews on the classic series) I have to weigh in. I totally loved Lita! I think you outlined her character really well, she is the rock of the group and without her there would be so much infighting between Rei, Mina and Serena with Ami and Luna too submissive to control them (although Ami could take amazing control in dire situations).
As a girl Serena had always been my favourite scout as she somehow managed to make what was typically a weakness, being scared, emotional and not wanting to fight her strength.
As I got older I appreciate Rei a lot more, she went from snarky and up herself to possibly the one sailor scout who knew Sailor Moon best. The fact that she had the guts to go after Darien and coped when she found out Sailor Moon and Darien were always meant to be. When she took it upon herself to keep the moon wand when she worried Serena wouldn’t be strong enough to resist handing it over. It was a good example of two incompatible people finding a way to make it work and care about each other.
Rei definitely came a long way by the end of season one. As you said, the real turning point was her accepting that Serena and Darien was meant to be and letting it go rather than becoming bitter about it. She really stepped up after that point. She still drove me a little crazy though, but her character was much improved.
I agree that she was hugely irritating at parts and I didn’t like her that much at all when I was younger, but now I really appreciate characters that make me both love them and hate them xD
Agreed. Just… agreed. 🙂
It’s amazing how hard strong she is both physically and mentally. She has no parents, but that doesn’t get her down!
Even though Sailor Moon was one of the shows with the biggest impact in regards to my anime journey, I admit I only saw the first ten or so episodes of the 90s dub on DVD and so Ami was my favourite. You do make some convincing arguments for Makoto/Lita, though.
In the early episodes, Ami is great. If Lita hadn’t come in to the story, she would have been one of my favourite characters from the show.
I can take or leave the anime versions, my favorite version of Sailor Moon is the live action – and Sailor Mars is my favorite. And it’s because of this episode and this scene…
If you’ve seen it, you probably know it.
https://youtu.be/PQhOfwY7vls
If you have seen it, what do you think of that Jupiter?
Never seen the live action unfortunately.
It’s an interesting watch so long as keep in mind it’s heavily by tokusatsu/super sentai type shows rather undiluted magical girl.
Mercury was my first fave but as you said, she quickly disappeared and her attack was basically useless until later on in the series when she gains proper water attacks. Jupiter was my second fave, and is still one of my faves for the inner scouts. As you said, she propels the characters and shows guts. In fact, I would’ve loved to see her right more barehand and even teaching it to the others.
Of course her amazing, thunder power is definitely kick-ass. Though maybe you liked her because she reminded you of Pikachu 😋
I love the outer scouts the most, they just have deeper stories and their morals are far more interesting. I’ll have to look at your 5 top sailor scouts now!
I may get kicked out of the anime fan club for this, but I really don’t like Pikachu. He’s cute and all but I never connected with him.
I also really love the outer scouts and while Jupiter would probably still come out on top, I’m glad I decided to write this article focusing only on the first two seasons where only the inner scouts were in play.
I’ll deliver my anime fan club card too by admitting that I never really watched Pokemon, I watched maybe 2 or 3 episodes. I liked Digimon more as a kid! 😋
So did I. It didn’t leave the lasting impression on me that Sailor Moon did but I really enjoyed coming home from school and catching an episode of Digimon.
I like action, comedy, romance, fantasy type of anime. I have not seen this anime. Should I go for it?
I’d say yes, but I’m a huge fan. If you watch the English dub, it is very kiddy at times as they definitely played down some of the themes when they originally brought it to the west – still fun though.
Three valid reasons for a more than worthy pick—if we’re talking Inner Scouts, Jupiter is my favorite too, hands down! As a kid, her housework skills were commendable, and her lightning powers were absolutely mystifying. If ever we needed a reliable guardian to kick ass, save the day, and prepare a feast for us afterwards, Lita is and will always be our lady!
Absolutely. Lita for the win.
I always hear about how she is everyone’s favorite, I feel like I have to turn in my nerd card since sailor moon is one of the older anime that I haven’t watched. I have wanted to give it a try, it is always daunting to start a long season. It took me awhile to start Gintama for that reason.
Sailor Moon is easy to break into chunks though as each season has its own villain and main theme being developed so you don’t need to watch 5 seasons plus the movies all in one hit. Take it a season at a time when you have time.
Great post! After reading this I have to agree as well that Sailor Jupiter is the best out of the five. Original English dub Sailor Moon was one of the first anime I ever watch, of course way back then I didn’t know what anime was. Loved it so much. I used to have a vhs box set of The Doom Tree arc.
I had the vhs set as well of season 1 and 2 and I also watched this before I really realised what anime was. To me it was just a really fun show that I fell in love with.
Of course I’m the best hello !!! You know I loved this article right A LOTTTTTT *gives you cake*
I got cake!
I am a very happy writer this morning.
WOHOOOO!!
Loved this post! Sailor Jupiter definitely deserves lots of lots <3
Absolutely agree.