One of the things that somewhat bothers me about Sailor Moon is the lack of relationship insight among the inner senshis. Yeah we know that they hang out with each other all the time, study together, fight together etc, so obviously they get along, but how close are they to each other really?

Here are some of my thoughts to get the ball rolling:
These are how their relationship seem to me at the end of stars (but taking all seasons into consideration), with main focus on the anime.

Close friends;
Usagi/Rei - they nag on each other in the beginning but their relationship is probably one that evolves the most over the course of the show. I read somewhere that one of the anime creators even shipped them and considered Chibusa to be THEIR future child, haha. Reis affection for Usagi is to me more obvious then vice versa. Rei is always the one who goes the extra mile for Usagi and comes to her aid on and off the battlefield (like their talk in Usagis room at the end of stars). Usagi seems to take Rei for granted a bit more but when all the inners die in stars... well, you know what happens.
Usagi/Minako - They sort of turn into each other, both as ditzy and get the same kind of grades. And in the last season they probably have more interaction then any of the other senshis. They share similar childish trait so I suppose that's why they get along so well.
Ami/Makoto - Seem to get along very well most of the time yet don't share that many moments. It's hard to tell if they are closer with each other then the others because both of them are so polite so maybe that's just it. What do you think?

Closer before;
Usagi/Ami - They go shopping and stuff in the beginning of their relationship but then Ami gets ALL about school and Usagi even less. Their main interactions in Stars seem to be when Ami is upset that Usagi is "cheating" on Mamoru with Seiya. Mamoru and Ami get along great in S, so perhaps she prefers his calm over Usagis ditzyness.
Usagi/Makoto - When Makoto first joined it seemed like she and Usagi were the goofball troupe, both boy crazy and getting bad grades. But eventually Minako replaced Makoto in this field as Makoto became more mature and calmer.
Makoto/Minako - They hung out alot in R what I can recall. They were sort of the only single ones without any romantic stability. (while Usagi had Mamoru, Rei sort of had Yuuichiru and Ami wasn't into it) But there's one episode when they are like "oh I guess it's just the two of us then?" and first laugh but then look really miserable. x)
I actually think Makoto is really bothered by Minakos ditzyness later on. They have this fight over a boy in SuperS where Minako ends up destroying a teddybear Makoto just fixed. And I don't think they really recovered after that little incident. As friends sure but not so close anymore. Since then they don't talk alot. What do you think?

Never close?
Ami/Rei - Ami seemed to get sick of Usagi/Reis bickering in the beginning, and since it was mostly Rei picking on Usagi maybe they never got the chance to get close? There's a moment in stars when they are left alone when the other left and it felt alittle akward.
Ami/Minako - Lol, so little interaction I even forgot the post them here.
Rei/Makoto - ? They get along i suppose...?
Rei/Minako - They barely share any alone time except for when Nurse Minako tries to cure Reis sickness, which ends... well you know. It's really a contrast to PGSM where they are almost in love i'd say.

So what do you think? Who are closer and who are... not so close. Any comment about any relationship is warmly welcomed, I want to see what you guys think!

(SORRY if there already was a thread like this, i searched but I didn't find any)

I think this is one of the flaws of the anime, luckily for us, PGSM fixes it up very nicely. I would have loved to see more interacting between the group, it was just taken for granted that they all got along. I would have liked to seen more Minako/Ami, Makoto/Usagi and Rei/Makoto friendship episodes goin' on

I think its basically because the anime didn't want to bother with relationships, it was a bit INSTANT BEST FRIENDS, it was more interested in the plot for a given episode rather than a continuous series. I think I would like the anime better with more relationships... I'm also not sure with making Stars the basis of their relationships because well... in Stars Rei and Makoto almost became secondary cast members, while Usagi took a backseat as the "save-the-day-gal" and it turned into the Seiya~Taiki~Yaten~Ami~Minako Show.

also don't forget Ami / Minako and their compatible phases of perversion.

The anime focused more on the Inners' relationships with Usagi as opposed to their relationships with each other. That bothered me. I was happy with the manga because Naoko handled it well.

In both SuperS and Stars, we see Rei and Minako's relationship and how close they are. However in the anime, I agree with you. They bicker a lot too, and while that happens in a relationship, sometimes that was their main form of interaction. When I see mostly that, I don't think besties, I think "why do they even hang out?"

I hope the new anime will focus on personal story arcs for the girls along with main story arcs and less on monster of the week.

What are the compatible phases of perversion?

I would also like to have seen more friendships scenes with other girls. Therefore, I'm glad that Mako and Mina got joint powerup episodes in R and SuperS. I also like that Artemis went to Mako to help Minako in SuperS, not to Usagi. Though later Mina got ultra-ditzy, while Mako faded in background (though she shone in Nehellenia arc). Rei kind of too, though it could be explained by her being in different school.

Some other thoughts:

Usagi/Rei - Rei seemed the most critical of Usagi, but IMO it was useful to have one friendship like that. Rei's criticism was often mean, but sometimes was meant to aid Usagi.

Usagi/Mako - I'd like to point out that Makoto was only one of the girls Usagi clicked with immediately, not because of being a senshi.

Rei/Ami - were presented as almost polar opposites - red, fierce, fiery Mars girl with fire power and psychic powers and blue, shy, polite Mercury with water power and brain. Though it was never used as conflict - maybe because Amy was too kind to argue. The conflict at the beginning with trio was mainly between Rei and Usagi, with Ami as the centre, which I also liked.

Ami/Mako - they were in the same school, so there were opportunity of joint scenes, but mostly with Usagi. They have the cute dance scene in SuperS. They are also contrasted in the episode when Makoto encourages Ami to go after Rio - Mako as the passionate one, Ami as more reserved and thoughtful.

Rei/Minako - are actually more developed in manga, which is strange, given that in anime they have common interest in showbusiness. There was one short scene in Stars, when they come to Usagi to walk her to school and Rei chides Mina for being childish.

Interestingly, when they are paired in the anime, it's usually Mars and Mercury, Venus and Jupiter, whereas in manga Mars and Venus, Jupiter and Mercury.

Rei/Mako - clash at the beginning about Usagi's leadership and Mako helps rei get over Mamoru (ironically). Earlier in the show there seemed to be more opportunities for showing relationships between girls. Later they go as team.

When they are quartet, Rei and Mako are also the fierce ones with Ami and Usagi the soft ones. Usagi and Ami are the most pure and kind-hearted of the girls, so their scenes usually involve helping other people.

Ami/Mamoru - they bonded as two more reserved, introverted, intellectual people in group of lively, more extroverted pesronalities.

Miki wrote:

I think its basically because the anime didn't want to bother with relationships, it was a bit INSTANT BEST FRIENDS, it was more interested in the plot for a given episode rather than a continuous series.

YES that's exactly what I wrote in another thread! Like just because they're all Sailor Scouts they're all best friends, and they don't even take time to teach each other what it's really about. Like when Sailor Jupiter came in for example, wouldn't she be kind of an outsider? Wouldn't it take time for the rest of the girls to teach her how to be a Sailor Scout and build friendships with her? It's annoying!

I actually think that Sailor Jupiter's inclusion in group was done quite well. She didn't start immediately to be friends with girls except Usagi, which was IMO well explained by Mako's helping Usagi, Usagi being easy with making friends, having similar interests and Mako being good at cooking. Mako fairly quickly adapting to her warrior role also can be explained by her character - she starts fighting before her transformation!

IMO appearance of Sailor Venus was much worse - it was soon overshadowed by Mamoru-Usagi, Endymion-Serenity and Evil Tuxedo Kamen drama. Mina got her backstory episode about 10 episodes after showing up. And from this time girls really started doing everything in group - see episodes with Kunzite (though it could be partly explained by their wanting to support Usagi during her trauma).

This is why I loved the episodes with Makoto and Minako bickering (like the one with the guy who already had a kid, with Makoto and Minako fighting over him the whole episode). I loved seeing that there are times when things aren't perfect all the time between these characters and that, as friends, they can overcome their fighting and move on, making them closer in the long run. Although it happened extremely rarely =[

I agree that PGSM did a much more beautiful job with character friendships (but then, I think it can be argued that PGSM did a lot of characterization things better than the anime). I loved the episode with Makoto and Rei kind of coming to an understanding with one another.

I really hope that SM2013 will take into consideration how PGSM handled some of the characters and their friendships :3

Quote :

Never close?
Ami/Rei - Ami seemed to get sick of Usagi/Reis bickering in the beginning, and since it was mostly Rei picking on Usagi maybe they never got the chance to get close? There's a moment in stars when they are left alone when the other left and it felt alittle akward.
Ami/Minako - Lol, so little interaction I even forgot the post them here.
Rei/Makoto - ? They get along i suppose...?
Rei/Minako - They barely share any alone time except for when Nurse Minako tries to cure Reis sickness, which ends... well you know. It's really a contrast to PGSM where they are almost in love i'd say.

I would have to disagree on this part.

Ami and Rei are close but their friendship is just more mature then the others because they are more mature then the others(Although both have their moments but those moments are brought out by Usagi, Minako and Makoto anyway soo...) They both study and work very hard and they have a deep kindred appreciation of each other.

Ami and Minako are close just like Usagi and Rei are close.

Usagi and Rei bicker and butt heads because they are so vastly different in personality among other things. This is the same for Mina and Ami.

Minako exasperates Ami many times but it's very affectionate and shows how close they truly are when they communicate.

Rei and Makoto share the love of Martial Arts. They have similar protective personalities and they have a mutual respect for one another, Rei looks after Makoto like she does Usagi because Makoto has a very big heart like Usagi and she pushes her to stay on course many times like an older sister making Makoto like a younger sister. Makoto admires Rei often for her grace and beauty and responsible nature.

Rei and Minako aren't that different from Usagi and Rei and Mina and Ami although they don't just annoy each other, when it comes to working together they are very similar unlike the others.

The manga goes far more in depth to their deep friendships^^

i think they are friends though I am not sure if they weren't pre-destined to be protectors of Usagi, I am not sure if they would be friends, except maybe Makoto and Usagi. I do love the development of their friendship in PGSM.