Rei Hino



Rei Hino was the present incarnation of Sailor Mars, and appeared in all versions of Sailor Moon. Rei's personality was radically changed from the original manga persona in her transfer to anime form. Personality  AnimeIn the anime, Rei Hino was a hot blooded, strong-willed, and somewhat bossy yet well-meaning girl who wanted to be everything from a globe-trotting business woman to musical idol, as well as have a boyfriend (Rei in the Sailor Moon musicals was portrayed this way as well). Sailor Mars did have another side in the anime; her loyalty to Sailor Moon was extremely strong, and her determination and sense of justice were admirable. She seemed to show her affection to the people she cares the most about in odd ways, such as her teasing Usagi or joking with Yuuichirou. Though Rei sometimes bickered with Usagi, she clearly cared about her and valued her friendship very much, and often seemed closer to her than the other Senshi. (In the Stars season, she was the first person whom Usagi told that Mamoru had not contacted her, and Rei was so distraught that she wondered out loud why Usagi had to suffer so much.)[edit]MangaIn the manga, Rei Hino was a stoic, serious individual who did not involve herself with men (due in part to her estrangement from her politician father). She displayed what could be described as the Japanese ideal for women: she was reserved, beautiful, and intelligent. Rei's manga image was more fitting with her role as a miko than her anime personality. She and Minako had a strong bond, similar to that seen in the live-action series.[edit]Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Rei in PGSMHer personality in the live-action series was very similar to how she was portrayed in the manga. Rei preferred to act aloof and dignified at the beginning of the series, and insisted that she was not interested in being friends with the other girls or joining them in their activities (especially karaoke, which she professed to hate). As time went by, however, she warmed to them and became very close to her fellow Senshi. Of all the Senshi, she was the one who cared the least about her past life, and she often argued with Sailor Venus about that. She also had a very strong bond to Sailor Venus, similar, in certain aspects, to the one she had with Sailor Moon in the anime. [edit]MusicalsIn the musicals, Rei was far closer to her anime counterpart than the manga. She dreamed of becoming a composer.[edit]Supernatural Powers Rei had various powers outside of those as a Senshi, which she used in her duties as a miko. These ranged from ESP to the ability to read flames (fire reading), as well as using ofuda as a weapon. Her ESP often led her to have premonitions about upcoming events, and she had a stronger "sixth sense" than most of the other Senshi.In the first part of the fifth season, Sailor Mars herself noted that Sailor Neptune had a stronger aptitude in her ability to judge direction and an intuition that seemed to be stronger than her own, though Sailor Neptune used her mirror to aid her.[edit]Family Rei lived with her grandfather, the Hikawa Shrine's arch priest. Her father was a very high-ranked politician, a member of the dominant political party in Japan at the time, who was not very involved in her life, and her mother died when she was younger. (This was true for both the manga and PGSM, though it was never explicitly stated in the anime.) In the anime, the shrine had a bumbling helper named Yuuichirou who also served as Rei's love interest; she also had a cousin, Kengo Ibuki, who was a well-known pottery artist, though it was not stated if either of her parents had any siblings in the manga.In the story "Parallel Sailor Moon," she still worked at the family shrine, ran a calligraphy course for children, and had a daughter also called Rei, with an unseen husband who was a Shinto priest.[edit]Relationships In the anime, Rei had a brief relationship with Mamoru Chiba, though he did not seem to take it as seriously as Rei did. Rei was initally very upset by the breakup but the two parted on good terms and later, Mamoru started dating Usagi Tsukino. Some time after the break-up, Rei confronted Usagi on her feelings, and made her promise her that she would be happy with Mamoru as a sign that she wanted the best for them.Another relationship that only existed in the anime was with Yuuichirou Kumada. When Rei first met him she did not like him, but gradually came to appreciate him. For his part, he often recklessly risked his life to protect her. In episode 99, Yuuichirou was shown becoming fiercely jealous of Haruka, whom he thought was a boy flirting with Rei.In the manga side story "Casablanca Memory," Rei was shown to have a secret crush on her father's secretary, Kaidou. He cared about Rei more than her father, and bought her gifts for her birthday. Although Rei kissed him once, the relationship never turned to romance, and Kaidou became engaged to another woman. He told Rei that it was an arranged marriage which he accepted mostly out of honor, but Rei did not believe him; in her view, if Kaidou truly wanted a marriage to gain political power, he would have married her instead.[edit]Musicals In the musicals, Rei was played by Hiroko Nakayama, Misako Kotani, Asuka Umemiya, Hiromi Sakai, Eri Kanda, Megumi Yoshida, Aiko Kawasaki, and Risa Honma.[edit]Trivia Miko are often known for their archery skills. This was reflected in her attack Mars Flame Sniper, in which she summoned forth a bow made of fire and shot an arrow of fire at her enemy.When performing Mars Flame Sniper, Sailor Mars drew the bow with her left hand, which could imply that Rei was left-handed.Her civilian first name had the same Japanese pronunciation of a kanji character meaning "spirit" (霊), among others, making her full name a possible pun on a phrase meaning "spirit of fire" (火の霊).Rei was the only one of the Solar System Senshi whose given name was written in katakana.Her school uniform was very stylish and classy among those of the Sailor Team, thereby reflecting the elite status of her private missionary school as compared with ordinary municipal schools such as Usagi's and Minako's. Such private schools are also usually expensive, though her schooling was probably financed by her politician father. The live-action version of her uniform stayed very true to the prior versions. However, her skirt was notably lengthened.Rei's membership number in the Three Lights Fan Club was 2906.Both of Rei's relatives who actually appeared in the anime, her grandfather and her cousin Kengo Ibuki, ended up being turned into a monster-of-the-day.In early promotional videos for the English dub of the anime presented by DiC, Rei was called "Dana."