“Starlights” Rebuttal

     This section features a rebuttal to the “Starlights” part of the Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Characters page of Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon for Neophytes Web site.  Those who want to know more about the names of the Three Lights should look in the appropriate section of my Names, Puns, and Fallacies article.

There is often a lot of confusion over the actual first names (in non-transformed form) of the Starlights. Generally, it has been accepted as fact that their first names were all "Kou". This is because normally, the "Kou" is the last word (example: Seiya Kou) and in traditional Japanese form, this would make it the first name.

     That is true when the full names appear in the Japanese script.  When the names appear in Roman letters, then the surnames can appear before or after the personal names.

Recently, this concept has come into some question due to Takeuchi Naoko's interview at ComicCon 1998. Based on secondary accounts, Naoko said that it was common for individuals in Japan to share the same last name. This implies that the Starlights share the same last name.

     I actually heard it both ways.  Some say “their first names are K and that it is not uncommon for friends to have the same first names.”  Others say “their last names are K and that it is not uncommon for friends to have the same last names.”  Mr. Stuart Levy probably translated Naoko Takeuchi’s answer in terms of “last names” and “personal names”  instead of “surnames” and “personal names.”  If that were the case, then the answer would have been ambiguous.  Since we know how the Three Lights’ names are written in Japanese, is more likely that Ms. Takeuchi meant “their personal names are K and it is not uncommon for friends to have the same personal name.”

On the other hand, it does not seem to make much sense for Usagi to be calling "Seiya Kou" by his last name of Seiya; more often than not, Usagi calls everyone close to her, in her age group, by their first name through the entire series.

     That is not necessarily true.  Usagi usually refers to male classmates who are her own age by their surnames.  The girls refer to Gurio Umino as “Umino” (his surname).  They refer to Ry Urawa as “Urawa” (his surname).  In the anime, the Three Lights are boys when they are not sailor soldiers.  In the manga, the Three Lights are girls who are posing as boys.  Usagi and her friends even think that they are boys until later in the Stars series.  So in both continuities, Usagi and her friends could refer to the Three Lights by their surnames: Seiya, Yaten, and Taiki.

Possibly, Usagi and Co. all refer to the members of the "Three Lights" by last name due to their immense respect for them; the evidence is as strong on either side. However, judging from real life idolisation of 'idols', calling the members of the "Three Lights" by their first name is very possible.

     There does not seem to be a rule that states that the Japanese must refer to an idol by his or her personal name.  If the surname or the personal name could be used, then knowing what the characters call the Three Lights is not going to be the best way to determine the whether K is supposed to be a surname or personal name.

Thus, it seems necessary to put forward a proposal that possibly unifies Naoko's statement and the form of writing. The Starlights, in the series, are big stars in Japan. Being big stars, it could be reasonably assumed that they have international fame thus it possibly could make sense that the Starlights 'Westernise' their names thus making "Seiya" the first name. Or else, barring international fame, 'Westernising' their name is the more modern thing to do which may possibly contribute to their popularity, as shown throughout "Sailor Moon Sailor Stars". This interpretation would resolve the documentation difficulty.

     That is irrelevant.  When Seiya writes her (or, in the anime, his) name in the Japanese script, the Seiya kanji () should be before the K kanji ().  It does not matter whether they are idols or not.  Even Japanese idols write their surname names, in the Japanese script, before their personal names.  Names are not “Westernized” in the Japanese script.

To further confuse matters, H. Doi has added that the names, as found on CD covers are typically in "Western" order when written in romanised text but are in "Asian" order when in kana/kanji. Since the Starlights' name in kana/kanji is xxxx Kou, it would appear that the first name is in fact Kou. However, exceptions have been found.

     Wait a minute!  Are you trying to tell me that there are times when their names are written as (K Seiya), (K Yaten), and (K Taiki)?  I find it funny how you do not provide any examples of those “exceptions” that were supposedly found.  In both the anime and manga, their names are always written as (Seiya K), (Yaten K), and (Taiki K).  Therefore, any of those “exceptions” would contract the canon.

Nonetheless, this site will not make a final decision over the interpretations.

     You do not need to be so wimpy.  Their names are Japanese, and the anime and manga consistently show , , and .  Therefore, according to the most reliable information that we have, the K should be read as their personal name.

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