manga style! pretty soldiers in sailor suits

BSSM Original Picture Collection Vol. I

There are multiple versions of certain two-page illustrations which have been merged together by different people.

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I drew this picture with my favorite colors and the easiest methods. It's very like me, and I like it very much. I'm very happy I was able to draw it packing in just the things I like. The main lines are a nouvelle cool gray, with a slightly blue ink. Since I was in high school, I've really liked this ink.

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At the international book fair event at the beginning of 1994, my original pictures were displayed next to those of the esteemed Yamato Waki-sensei. Yamato-sensei's color pictures then were drawn on thick tracing paper, so I wanted to try it as well, and I drew this on thick trace. I'm worried about the colors coming out nicely. The color pictures of Yamato-sensei's I saw then were so beautiful they made my head spin.

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When I speak of Ami-chan, of course I get an image of her in the water. Even though this is the first time I've drawn a color picture of Ami-chan like this, it feels familiar. Maybe because the TV and magazines and fans have drawn many more pictures of Ami-chan like this than I have. A bathing suit really looks good on Ami-chan.

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This color picture of Rei-chan is very appealing to me. When I thought I'd draw Rei-chan not being a soldier, the image clearly gushed forth, and in the blink of an eye I was able to make this picture. Inside of me, this was the very first, and still unchanged, image of Rei-chan.

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Mako-chan loves cooking, so I wanted to make her with the appearance of a cook. I wonder who she made the cake for.

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I wanted to draw the cheerful Minako-chan, and I put her on a bicycle. Drawing it was so fun, I finished it in the blink of an eye. Taking Artemis and Luna, on a Sunday afternoon with good weather, she's going to Omotesandou in Harajuku. I guess that's the feeling.

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This was a color picture for use as the cover of the first issue of Nakayoshi with the serial. At first, I planned to have Sailor Moon's hair be yellow before transforming, and silver after transforming. But I was told by the editor in charge of the front cover, Silver is plain for use on the cover. Yellow is definitely more flashy, and it will stand out. Since then I feel my way of thinking about my color pictures has completely changed.

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Actually, I drew this color picture to be used in the first comic volume, and I'm very pleased with it. However, one of my male friends saw it when he came to visit, and simply said, Usagi-chan's face is different. It was a big shock. The cover of the first volume is a copy of this one.

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This is a color picture from the title page of the first issue with the serial. I was still wavering on Sailor Moon's costume design, and drew this while worrying about it. I waver a lot. At first I was thinking about giving her a cloak and a boomerang. The picture and design are really completely different from now. But since this is the color picture from the title page of the first issue with the serial, which should be commemorated, it's a work very, very deep with memories.

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This picture was to put into form my image of Sailor Moon at the beginning. I love looking at night views and I love drawing. I really wanted to put lots of night views in Sailor Moon. By the way, the night view in this color picture is New York for some reason. As usual, Sailor Moon-chan's hair is silver.

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I actually planned to make this picture a poster, and went to the trouble of drawing it on large paper. But for various reasons, they weren't able to make it into a poster. Since I was looking forward to it, it was a shock. Maybe because of that, I have a real longing for a poster.

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When I look at it now, it's not very like Sailor Moon, but I'm pleased with this work. Especially the two on the right half of the picture. I remember, Ms. Tadano Kazuko, who I love, was drawing this picture for me, and I was very happy when I found that item. In my room in my parents' house, the Itoki study desk with that picture of Ms. Tadano's is carefully placed. [Tadano Kazuko is a character designer for the anime.]

[A fascinating bit of trivia is revealed by Sarah-neko: The illustration that Tadano Kazuko is mentioned drawing appears to have been inspired by a pose from an American movie poster for an obscure 1991 movie starring Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin. The title of the movie is The Marrying Man. What do you think? Sarah says: Substituting the crescent moon for the wedding ring, of course, and allowing for the fact that Usagi is so much more enthusiastic than Kim Basinger, and Mamoru is clearly having to work harder than Alec Baldwin to hold her up. (I like the implication that she would get married in that ass-baring dress.)]

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People ask why Minako-chan isn't in this picture. It's because she hadn't appeared yet. I really want to do lots and lots of pictures with the five girls in these princess-like clothes!

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I feel this picture is a work very like me. The paper is Watson, the materials are color ink and transparent watercolor, and it has the fellow lovers. And there's rain, which I love. Since high school and in college, I liked color pictures with this motif, and drew lots of them. Really, I love drawing watery, blurry color pictures with gloomy sadness.

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When I heard there would be a pin-up included, I drew this thinking that, since the picture collection goes on sale in summer, it would be swimsuits for sure. The work choosing swimsuits for the five and painting the colors was very fun. I want to draw a color swimsuit picture again.

[There is no page"22" in this artbook because page 21 (above) is a pull-out poster which is blank on the back.]

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I wanted to paint the hair of the five in their respective colors. But as I started painting Usagi-chan's pink head, it turned out there was a totally unexpected incompatibility. I really regret it. Blond hair fits Usagi-chan the best after all. Since it's a color picture, I really want to paint lots of colors, but...

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For me, it's easier to draw color pictures in which the characters aren't smiling. This is the color title page from the chapter when Sailor Venus appeared. The facial expressions of all the characters appeal to me somehow. I remember being embarrassed by being praised by my editor and boss Osabu. When I was in high school, I often drew pictures of black space like this in astronomy club. How nostalgic.

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This is a work I love, which I drew using only my favorite colors. I really wanted to draw this princess pose. This is the sacred fountain of the moon sanctuary. The blue thing floating in the distance is Earth. This is the first image I got of Princess Selenity and the castle ruins on the moon.

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My image of a princess is inspired to a considerable degree by a Western book and magazines specializing in wedding dresses, featuring just dresses like this in this kind of pose. That's right. It's a wedding dress Selenity is wearing! When princesses are in full dress, they wear cloaks. And they sit on pedestals like sanctuary shells, like flowers.

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I drew this color picture as a title page with two facing pages, but I didn't have time and used a composite photograph in the background. It came out as a rather interesting effect. I composed a photo of a burning large Earth and space, but choosing the photos to use from catalogs was really fun. I love catalogs!

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This is the two in their previous lives. While I was thinking of drawing it someday, I never had the chance, but I was able to draw it here. At home I have lots of drafts of pictures that I intend to draw someday but haven't been able to. Working drawing drafts of color pictures when I have free time, when something hits me, when I'm happy, since I finish them without thought, and it doesn't take energy, it's very enjoyable work.

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This is one that greatly appeals to me. In the book, the two on the right side of this picture are kissing. I was happy to be able to draw that passage of time. This picture has a title. It's "Memento Mori", which is French for "Think of Death".

[Sarah-neko points out that actually, 'Memento Mori' is Latin for 'remember that you will die.' It's a very equivocal tag because it can be depressing or it can be the foundation of a 'carpe diem' (seize the day) philosophy. I find this very interesting given the portrayal of destiny in Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon. Thanks Sarah!

Endymion's pose is modelled on a photographer's self-portrait as discussed at Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon for Neophytes.]

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This is the title page for the conclusion of the first series of Sailor Moon. It had a great deal of impact on the first series. Probably because the four couplings on the right side were very unexpected. I was thinking of love stories of the previous lives of these couples. I'd like to be able to draw that someday...

TOP:
189 X 271 mm.
Back cover KC volume 1.
Media: Color ink, poster color.
Paper: Canson.		 BOTTOM LEFT:
270 X 120 mm.
Supplement to the August 1998 Nakayoshi.
Media: Color ink, tone.
Paper: Canson.		 BOTTOM RIGHT:
135 X 120 mm.
Supplement to the August 1998 Nakayoshi.
Media: Color ink.
Paper: Canson.
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At first, Tuxedo Kamen was supposed to be darker, with more mysteries, and take a greater role. But in front of the power of girls, at any rate, he was easily defeated. The Tuxedo Kamen used on the back cover of comic volume 1 is one that I really like.

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These I drew for use as playing cards in a Nakayoshi supplement. I used each of their four faces divided on four playing cards. I hope fans of the generals who have these cards are surprised by seeing these color pictures. I bet you didn't think it was all one picture!

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I drew this for use as the cover of Nakayoshi. It's so flashy. I'm really embarrassed looking at it, since her breasts are kind of ecchi...

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Of all the ones I've drawn, this must be the color picture most like Sailor Moon. It's the cover of comic volume 1. Most of the color pictures that appeal to me have purple in them, since I really, really like that color.

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I really like this Tuxedo Kamen. I put my heart into painting it. But somehow I forgot to draw the right half of his body. I wonder how I made such a mistake. *sniff* *sniff*. Luna's getting a bit fat. She looks heavy.

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It's very unusual for me to paint a green background. Aside from that, I increased the amount of color, and the coloring started to be similar. So for me, this is a color picture I'm resigned to.

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In the first series, there were echoes of Sailor Moon's cloaked figure. I wonder if it was that surprising. I was determined to make the five of them barefoot. Speaking of which, I'm not doing the barefoot versions for the Super Famicom Sailor Moon yet.

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TOP:
272 X 188 mm.
Inside cover of KC volume 1.
Media: Color ink, pastel.
Paper: Canson.		 BOTTOM:
185 X 276 mm.
Back cover of KC volume 2.
Media: Color ink, pastel.
Paper: Canson.

When they transform in the anime, they're clad in whirling ribbons, right? That's really appealing to me, since it's cute, shocking, and very much like the sailor soldiers. So I tried drawing a picture with the four of them carrying ribbons. No matter how many times I watch those transformation scenes, I never get tired of them. I love them! The anime is amazing. It surely feels like a miracle for me to express this in one picture.

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I drew this for use as the cover of the calendar. I love shading the background with pastels. It's easy since it looks subdued.

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The season is May. I always think it would be nice if I could draw more color pictures of the five of them at peace. But since just like these five, I'm always preparing for battle, I just do more color pictures with battle preparations. On nice days, I take a lunch break in the field. This is a work with that kind of image.

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Like the previous page, this is a color picture I drew for use in the calendar. July, August. I wanted to draw swimsuits, and I wanted to draw yukata, so I drew both. Finally, my personal desires of eating watermelon and being idle won out, and that picture became the biggest.

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Merry Christmas, from these five to you. This is that kind of picture. When I gave this picture to him, my boss Osabu praised it in high spirits, "It's cute, it's cute!" Osabu, do you remember? But whatever kind of picture I give him, Osabu is sure to praise it in high spirits.

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This is New Year's. I like drawing kimono and yukata, even though it's hard. The kimono in this picture I wanted to draw all the way to the bottom.

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Soon before the serialization began, this was the cover of the now-defunct Nakayoshi Deluxe. I wanted to draw balloons and a hat with ears.

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It was very fun drawing a color picture of these two like this. I love sleeping with my head on someone's lap. I also love having someone's head on my lap. Since both really put me at ease, I can be happy.

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I purposely painted this, changing the amorous glances. It was a telephone card as a service item. It's unusual for Sailor Moon and Sailor V to be lined up together.

This color picture is a picture for use as a telephone card. I drew this before the serial, when I was still wavering on the costume. The face is also different.

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This picture was made into a jigsaw puzzle for use as a Nakayoshi reader present. I kind of like the tiny Luna and Sailor Moon.

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Only Minako-chan is in Sailor V form, because I drew this when Sailor Venus had not yet appeared in Sailor Moon. Each of their poses appeal to me a little, but looking at them now, they're rather stiff.

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I drew this for use as the cover of Nakayoshi. For the Nakayoshi cover, they all have specified sizes and poses. Sailor Moon's is good, but I wanted to draw the poses of the other four with a little more style.

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I drew the cut-outs of these five for use as playing cards.

I drew this for use as a mini-notebook supplement.

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I also drew this for use as notebook supplement. I like the night view in the background.

I drew this for use as a memo pad supplement. Drawing SD characters is really hard.

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I drew this for use as a Nakayoshi supplement poster. I drew each of the characters separately and put them with a photograph in the background. I really like the background photo. And Rei-chan, too.

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This is the color picture from when we did the popularity poll in Nakayoshi. It was very enjoyable drawing this picture. Even though I said it might be hard, it seems I like drawing cluttered pictures.

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I completely forgot that I had been drawing these three-panel manga. I wonder when I drew them. It's very strange for my pictures to be like the anime version. I really wanted to do Mako-chan's move as "Sucream Sundae", parodying her "Supreme Thunder".

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I drew this color picture with just an image, when I hadn't decided on the content of the story yet. She has a crescent moon mark of her forehead, and somehow everything is revealed. At first I wanted to do Sailor Moon's tiara in a form like this. I really like it. Since the Sailor Moon color pictures started from this picture, I made it the last one in the picture collection.

[Last Page - Closing Message]

The sky and the sea I can see in a sweeping glance from this workroom, and I can watch the beautiful moments of dawn and twilight, dyed with watery pinks, lavenders, and blue-grays. I always think I'd like to try to draw a picture this pretty.

July 20, 1969 was the day man first set foot on the moon. When I look at images of that time--even though the original film is getting old and losing quality, and its colors are washing together--the moon's surface sometimes appears lavender and blue-gray like those Earth dawns and twilights. I really like these kinds of color tones.

I drew the cover of the Picture Collection with those colors I love. My pictures aren't elaborate things, and they're all somewhat alike, and I paint the colors momentarily, so I do have regrets, but... But my works are drawn filled with colors I felt were the most pretty in that instant and my thoughts at that time.

I thank from my heart my editor Irie for listening to my whims, Kana-P on staff for helping with the masking, and my manager Yurika, Saitou-kun, everyone, and Mom and Dad. And the loving Osabu, I dedicate this book to you. Thank you very much for putting your valuable time into making such a wonderful book.

And all my fans who always cheer me on, it's with your help that I was able to do this book. Sailor Moon is a special work for me, so this picture collection is a special book for me. I hope this book is a special book for you as well. If it is, I'll be very happy. I give you Sailor Moon Picture Collection I.

1994.7 Naoko Takeuchi

  • Original art and text © TAKEUCHI Naoko
  • Published October 5, 1994
  • ISBN4-06-324507-1
  • Liner notes translation © 1998 Alex Glover. Used with permission.