Scouts, Soldiers, or Guardians?

I've always wondered what is the best word to describe our pretty sailor suited team. I've always favored 'soldier' myself and I'm actually irritated slightly by the use of Guardian in the new manga. I usually associate soldier with someone who fights on either side whereas with guardian it is more of a protector. But when we get to Sailor Saturn, will she be called the Guardian of Silence or Guardian of Destruction? I also wonder how this will work with Sailor Galaxia, will she be refered to as Guardian of Solitude? Galaxia isn't protecting anything!

The title Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon comes from the live action series (right?) but does this also change the manga version of the sailors' titles? Or is 'senshi' a word that could mean 'guardian' or 'soldier'? I don't know Japanese and have always wondered.

Does anyone else feel this way or have any evidence as to what the best translation is? This might just be a pet peev of mine but I'd like to know what you guys think.

I prefer the translation of Guardian based on what they do - they protect the populace and guard the lives of the people on the planet. Soldier to me comes with connotations of serving rather than thinking, of war rather than the protection of peace, and thoughts that they might enjoy warfare.

Officially:

Original Anime, Musicals, Original Manga ---> Soldier
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Reprint Manga ---> Guardian

Those are the official translations I believe. Though I think the preferred translation of "senshi" outside of the sailor moon series, is "warrior". I personally prefer Soldier. Naoko herself most likely made the change from Soldier to Guardian, and I guess "senshi" can mean both. The real question: in the new anime will it be soldiers or guardians. I'm inclined to believe its going to be guardians again. Translation wise. It should definitely always be guardian in the new manga and pgsm because... that's what it says in the title, thats the name of the show. I don't know why you would change it to "soldier", this isn't something like a romanisation of a name like "Vilyui" as "Viluy". This is intended by the original creator. The titles of the reprint manga all have "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon" in english atop the Japanese.

I prefer guardian as well because they are the guardians of their respective planets and when I think of soldier I just don't picture them as soldiers.

I prefer "soldier" as a translation, because there's a whole different word for "guardian" in Japanese: kouken.

I think both guardian and soldier work well in English, but I think the main thing lacking about the word guardian is that guardians don't fight, they just protect. Usagi and the other actively fight against the Dark Kingdom / whoever their villain is for the day. They do act like soldiers, even though they don't usually take an offensive stance.

When I think of 'guardian,' I think of the moon cats.

Sailor Mars wrote:

I prefer "soldier" as a translation, because there's a whole different word for "guardian" in Japanese: kouken.

I think both guardian and soldier work well in English, but I think the main thing lacking about the word guardian is that guardians don't fight, they just protect. Usagi and the other actively fight against the Dark Kingdom / whoever their villain is for the day. They do act like soldiers, even though they don't usually take an offensive stance.

If guardians don't fight then how can they protect? I think it depends on what type of guardian we're talking about. Guardians can fight and some don't. The Sailors to me are guardians that have to fight in order to protect the solar system from evil. I also view them as soldiers as well. So to me it doesn't matter if they're called soldiers or guardians.

Miki wrote:

Officially:

Original Anime, Musicals, Original Manga ---> Soldier
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Reprint Manga ---> Guardian

Those are the official translations I believe. Though I think the preferred translation of "senshi" outside of the sailor moon series, is "warrior". I personally prefer Soldier. Naoko herself most likely made the change from Soldier to Guardian, and I guess "senshi" can mean both. The real question: in the new anime will it be soldiers or guardians. I'm inclined to believe its going to be guardians again. Translation wise. It should definitely always be guardian in the new manga and pgsm because... that's what it says in the title, thats the name of the show. I don't know why you would change it to "soldier", this isn't something like a romanisation of a name like "Vilyui" as "Viluy". This is intended by the original creator. The titles of the reprint manga all have "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon" in english atop the Japanese.

The art books also have Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon written larger than the actually japanese on the covers, (should this just be grouped with the original manga?)
Your right, it isn't really changing the romanisation or making changes to the story line...my stubborn little brain just doesn't like it for whatever reason!

Sailor Mars wrote:

I prefer "soldier" as a translation, because there's a whole different word for "guardian" in Japanese: kouken.

I think both guardian and soldier work well in English, but I think the main thing lacking about the word guardian is that guardians don't fight, they just protect. Usagi and the other actively fight against the Dark Kingdom / whoever their villain is for the day. They do act like soldiers, even though they don't usually take an offensive stance.

Perhaps Usagi and the others are more of a combination of "soldiers" and "guardians"? They actively fight to protect the universe but only when they have to. They never start the fighting but simply finish it.

Sailor Venus wrote:

When I think of 'guardian,' I think of the moon cats.

Haha so do I!

Yamichan16 wrote:

If guardians don't fight then how can they protect? I think it depends on what type of guardian we're talking about. Guardians can fight and some don't. The Sailors to me are guardians that have to fight in order to protect the solar system from evil. I also view them as soldiers as well. So to me it doesn't matter if they're called soldiers or guardians.

Good point Yamichan! You word things very eloquently. I agree with you, however I personally prefer soldiers, I think it flows a bit better as Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon rather than Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. That S alliteration I guess...

I do agree that soldiers does sound better than guardians which is why I do refer to them as soldiers. However I do use the term senshi a lot too.

I like 'soldier' because that's what I'm use to. I think it fits them better... Like, to me, it brings about an air of 'sexiness' because you have these powerful women who fight and protect people in sailor fuku. They're kinda like a small army (our solar system senshi). I can't really explain myself well on what I mean by this XD but overall, I prefer 'soldier' to 'guardian'. I won't complain necessarily if they're continuously called 'guardians' even in the new anime, but I hope they will at least make it fit appropriately. So that way, as Luna Nova mentioned, Sailor Saturn isn't the "Guardian of Silence" because that makes no sense. She is the "Soldier of Silence". She isn't guarding silence.

Sailor Venus wrote:

When I think of 'guardian,' I think of the moon cats.

Same.

Quote :

The art books also have Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon written larger than the actually japanese on the covers, (should this just be grouped with the original manga?)
Your right, it isn't really changing the romanisation or making changes to the story line...my stubborn little brain just doesn't like it for whatever reason!

The artbooks are definitely grouped with the original manga. Reprint manga counts as the new cover releases that were released alongside PGSM. Likely someone (likely Ms. Takeuchi or someone telling Ms. Takeuchi) changed the official "soldier" to "guardian" to differentiate the series from the original. Seramyu on the other hand, never changed to Guardian even though it ran a while after PGSM finished. Oddly enough the Third Stage begun around PGSM's airing. So it would have been the time to change it, but they stuck with "soldier" perhaps to keep the logos the same?