Welcome, lovely readers, to the second week of the Summer of Sailor Scouts! I’ve teamed up with Alexa of Alexa Loves Books, Cee of The Novel Hermit, Kristin of Super Space Chick, Sierra of SDavReads to dedicate the month of July to all things Sailor Moon related! This week we’re each featuring our absolute favorite Sailor Scout, and bringing you book recommendations based off of the characteristics, imagery, and story lines associated with our favorites. My favorite scout has always been the elusive Sailor Saturn, who appears the least of all of the scouts in the anime and manga, but arguably has the strongest power and greatest impact.
Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas
Sailor Saturn’s most impressive and infamous power is that of destruction- she can literally bring about the apocalypse with her Silence Glaive. Her association with life, death, and rebirth strongly reminds me of Celaena in the Throne of Glass series, who as an assassin is familiar with wielding weapons and often holds the fate of individuals’ (and later on, species) lives in her hands. Celaena and Saturn (or Hotaru, which is her “earth” name) both have darkness inside of them, no doubt, but definitely reside in the moral grey area when it comes to their powers and influence.
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Marissa Meyer has openly stated that Sailor Moon has had a huge impact on her writing, and the Lunar Chronicles brings so many wonderful elements that will be familiar to Sailor Moon fans. Cinder herself though strongly mirrors Hotaru’s character in the manga. In the original story line, Hotaru was critically injured as a small child in a lab accident that killed her mother. Her scientist father was able to save her by making her body cybernetic. Due to her cybernetic abnormalities (or in the anime, her health issues) she is treated as an outcast without friends until Rini or Chibi-usa comes along.
The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepard
One of the defining factors of Sailor Saturn’s story line in both the manga and the anime is that her father is a scientist who has gone too far with his work, making an unwise deal with a villian from another dimension named Pharaoh 90. Similarly, Juliet lives in the shadow of her madman scientist father’s scandals and experiments while fighting the same brilliance and insanity that thrives inside her. Both Juliet and Hotaru are protagonists grappling with morality and their own biology.
Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
A recurring theme for Sailor Saturn is that of death and rebirth, as she is reincarnated several times, often to serve larger purposes. In Incarnate, Ana is born a new soul is a world of reincarnation, and her odd existence is seen as a negative omen, just as Sailor Saturn’s existence is seen as a threat to the existence of humanity by the Outer Senshi (Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto).
Who is your favorite Sailor Scout? Are you a fan of Sailor Saturn? Do you have book recommendations that focus on the themes of death, rebirth, and reincarnation? Let me know in the comments!
These recommendations are so perfect!!! I really have to read the Newsoul trilogy already. Alexa has been on my case about it for some time now 😉
Thank you, Kirsten! It was a lot of fun seeing how themes from Sailor Moon were prevalent in so many YA novels!
*SQUEE* My favorite Sailor Scout is Sailor Saturn too!! ♥ And for your first rec within her theme to be Throne of Glass?! Lady, you made my day!! 😀 I also love that you have Cinder in there too – another beloved series with ties to Sailor Moon! I still need to read Incarnate though…it’s been on my tbr shelf since it came out so I really need to get on that XD Awesome post^^ xx
Thank you so much, Micheline! Isn’t Sailor Saturn just so badass? I have always been fascinated by her and her almost deity-like powers, especially since Hotaru is so sick in her human form. So glad these posts are bringing out other Sailor Moon fans as well!
This is such a cool post! Unfortunately I’m not familiar with the Sailor Scouts, but I loved your book recs/pics for them 🙂