Am I the only one to notice that Hotaru looks a whole lot younger in the preliminary merchandise photos?

I know she wasn't as tall as the other Outers, but it seems to me that she's being depicted much too chibi for the character we're presented with within the manga.

If she's as young and as friendly as she appears to be in those pics, what is she going to look like within the Dreams Arc, and later Stars Arc? o.O

Also, do we ever get a satisfactory answer for why ChibiUsa when traveling to the past manages to remain the same height, though she's begun to grow? Namely my question is how she manages to be in the same grade in the past, whilst having physically grown. Does this only manifest in senshi form?

You're right. In the manga I always thought Hotaru to look at least 2 years younger than the Inners and then the same age as the Inners after awakening. Here.... she looks off?
Though she seems like the promo art in the bit of the trailer where she's healing Chibiusa.

This is an edited image done in the style of the first two seasons. Nevertheless this is what I mean in relation to Hotaru/Sailor Saturn.

^ Mugen goes past K-12, so that theory is out.

How?

Haruka is only 16, so she's about 4-5 years older than Hotaru (I don't recall when Haruka's birthday is).

Setsuna didn't arrive in Tokyo (as Setsuna) until after Michiru and Haruka have been awakened. Prior to that she was guarding the Gates of Time until she died in Black Moon Arc, then got reincarnated in modern day Tokyo when they needed her.

There's no information on when Haruka and Michiru were awakened, it could have been a few months prior to the beginning of Infinity for all we know. The Death Busters' activities might have just reached its peak by then and be strong enough to finally awaken them. They could have kept a low profile before.

I was under the impression that the Outer Senshi were awakened as soon as a threat from the outside of our solar system made itself known. In the same way that Minako was awakened well before the other Inners, so too would the Outer senshi have been awakened when Chaos-Pharaoh 90 made himself known in our world. 

As to Setsuna, well we have conflicting data on the subject.

We're informed that she died in Silver Millennium after Saturn dropped her glaive, but the Pluto that we're introduced to during the Infinity Arc claims that she was reborn thanks to the aid of Neo Queen Serenity. It's so confusing.

It's definitely a continuity error, but it is what it is.

Well there's no evidence that the Outers were awakened that early. What if their Sailor Crystals weren't mature or ready to be awakened yet?

I headcanon that Pluto simply returned to the Gates of Time after Saturn dropped her Glaive in SilMil, and she lived all the way to Crystal Tokyo where she died and was reborn courtesy of Neo Queen Serenity. It's the only explanation that makes sense with the timeline.

It's definitely a continuity error, given that as others have cited elsewhere, Naoko only intended for Sailor Moon to run till the Dark Moon Arc and the finding of Princess Serenity. 

However,the Infinity Arc poses a number of continuity issues. Of those continuity errors is the awakening of the Outer Senshi and the first appearance of Chaos on Earth.  It would appear that Metallia was not the first manifestation of Chaos on earth, but Pharaoh 90 from outside our solar system. If that is the case, who was watching out for the residents of Tokyo when Prof. Tomoe's experiments were being conducted? Likewise, Hotaru's powers would have manifested in her youth (IIRC in the manga that is the case.), wouldn't her impending death trigger the awakening of the Outers? The 90's anime hinted at it being the case with Uranus awakening Neptune (how they managed to get their liprods is anyone's guess...). What doesn't quite make sense is how Princess Serenity's awakening didn't have a regenerative effect on Hotaru, or at most isn't even hinted at within the Infinity Arc.

Mod Note 


Please remember to stay on topic of Saturn and Chibi Moon's age. 

Thanks, 

Addelyn 
GC and RP Mod

east02west wrote:

I learned this on another thread, so I figured it would be best to continue the discussion here:

ChibiUsako stated that Hotaru is supposed to be 12 years of age, given that the Mugen school runs from grades K-12.

I believe I said that it is kindergarten through college, but I'm just trusting what the manga says! The manga also says that she is 12, even though it depicts her to look much older than that. (Perhaps Professor Tomoe built her body to look that way?....)

As for Chibiusa's age, she looks significantly older when she transforms. However, her civilian body begins to grow as well after the black moon arc so she is in a higher grade when she appears in the infinity arc. Now one may ask the question... how is she still in the same grade as Momo? My headcanon is that she was smart enough to be in Momo's grade in the black moon arc and when she returned, her body's growth had caught up enough to make her seem the same age as Momo and the others. And of course she can also hypnotize people so they wouldn't remember her physical age from before.
I don't like to think of it as an error, but more of it as something that is left up for the readers to decide themselves. Unexplained and illogical things that happen in Sailor Moon could be justified with theories such as different timelines, time travel, etc.

Chibi-Usa and her friends are in 1st grade during the Black Moon arc.  She turns 902 during Infinity.  Right before Stars, she (still at 902) and Hotaru are in 3rd grade.

That was all stated directly in the side stories.

Just for fun: Chibiusa and Hotaru can totally be the same age. Hotaru just looks a little older and is a little taller, but that happens with kids in real life. 

Haruka and Michiru are 16. I want to say if Chibiusa and Hotaru are NOT the same age, I'd guess Hotaru is 13 and Chibiusa is...hmm. Maybe 10 or 11. So not a real big difference. Though I suppose if Hotaru is 13 that would explain why she looks mature in the way we all know her. Old enough to start looking mature but young enough to still have that innocent look about her. And my head canon is that season 3 is when everyone is transitioning to 15 years old so it works for Hotaru to be close in age to the inners but not look like them.

Simply put, since Hotaru is a sixth grader, she´s 12. Chibiusa, not regarding the future age, should be 8, since she´s a second grader. Now, regarding the future age, she´s completing 902 years in the Tanabata short story, which is around Infinity Arc.

But in the manga you can be easily confused with their ages, since Naoko draws young girls in quite the mature way, sometimes (Like Chibi´s friend, Momo.) Fortunately, Crystal made their bodies accurate to their ages.