Rei Hino (火野 レイ, Hino Rei) is the civilian identity and present-day incarnation of Sailor Mars (セーラーマーズ, Seera Maazu). She is a miko who lives at Hikawa Shrine with her grandfather and the crows Phobos and Deimos in the manga.
Nomenclature & Etymology[]
Etymology[]
Rei: Her given name is in katakana, rei (レイ) and therefore offers no translation or meaning.
In the Chinese versions of the series (anime and manga), Rei's name is written with the character "麗", which carries the same phonetic as "Rei", but means "beauty" and/or "lovely". Rei can also be written as “霊,” meaning “spirit,” perhaps in reference to her job as miko.
Hino: The kanji of Rei's surname translates hi (火) "fire" and no (野) meaning "field" or "civilian".
Her entire name is structured as a pun, as the syllable "no" indicates a possessive so that her name can also be understood as "Fire of Rei".
Nomenclature[]
Naoko Takeuchi provided many additional details on Rei which include:
Appearance[]
Civilian[]
Rei is a teenage girl with deep violet eyes and long black hair, that shows off a slight purple tint. Takeuchi described Rei in her notes as being "slender".
Unlike the other Sailor Senshi's school uniforms, her school uniform was very stylish and classy and reflected the elite status of her private school. She wore a gray blouse that had a black collar with red stripes on it, a red bow, a black skirt, white socks with a red stripe, and black shoes. When she became a high school student in Stars, the red bow on her shirt became black. Another outfit she is often seen wearing is her red and white shrine priestess robes. She also always wears her pendant.
Sailor Mars[]
Sailor Mars' sailor uniform consists of her tiara, which has a red gem in the center. Six pointed stars dangling from red stud earrings. Her plain red choker. Her sailor collar with three white stripes on it. Her purple front bow with her circular red brooch. Her leotard, which has three white shoulder pads with her deceased mother's brooch, which is a red gem with gold accents on it on her waist. Her gloves are elbow-high with three red bands at the end. Her skirt and back bow are both red. She also wears shiny red high heels. Her brooch becomes heart shaped when the Holy Grail awakens.
Super Sailor Mars[]
As Super Sailor Mars, her choker has a five-pointed golden star on it with a red gem embedded in the center, the bottom of her sleeves became transparent, the center of her front bow became a heart, and her back bow was enlarged and lengthened.
Eternal Sailor Mars[]
Rei receives this form in the Stars arc. Her uniform almost appears to be similar to Eternal Sailor Moon's uniform, minus the wings. However, it is red and has lighter red bubble-like sleeves with red bands. Her choker is a "V" shape with a gold star on it. Her chest bow remains purple, but her back bow is a lighter shade of red. The belt is two shades of red ribbons with a star in front. Her gloves are now up to her forearms. Her skirt has two shades of red layered together. She no longer wears the high heels from both her first and super form; she now wears white boots topped with a "V" shape and a star in the center.
Princess Mars[]
As a Sailor Princess, she wore a red strap dress that went past her feet and wore a red choker that was tied into a ribbon at the back. She had a gold necklace with a red gem and small red stud earrings. She also wore red high-heeled shoes with straps. The symbol of Mars was present on her forehead. She had Phobos and Deimos Castle.
Personality[]
Rei dislikes modern romantic relationships and resents men. She has an old fashioned way of thinking, and is very traditional. She remained stoic and serious, making her a rather mysterious character. Due to the lack of male role models in her life and her resentment towards her father, she seems to not rely on men and is uninterested in ever getting into a romantic relationship. Despite her seriousness, she is extremely loyal to Usagi and her fellow Sailor Guardians, and cares a lot about the ones who are close to her.
Information[]
Background[]
Rei was an only child and the daughter of Risa Hino and Takashi Hino, a famous politician. Her mother Risa eventually fell ill and died, leaving a grieving Rei who began to despise her father for never visiting her mother once as she was dying in the hospital. Rei would soon move into Hikawa Shrine with her grandfather and work as a shrine priestess as well as befriending two crows named Phobos and Deimos.
Rei would develop psychic powers that she would cultivate by diving through the Sacred Fire at the shrine. However, her abilities would cause people to view her as strange and avoid her.
Once a year on her birthday, Rei would meet with her father and receive Casablanca lilies and a white dress for her to wear, gifts ostensibly picked out by him, but in reality, picked out by his secretary Kaidou, whom Rei had a crush on.
Because Kaidou expressed a disinterest in getting married and having kids, Rei believed them to be kindred spirits. However, Rei eventually found out that her father wanted Kaidou to take over his position when he retired and insisted that Kaidou be married to maintain a good impression. Rei saw him being affectionate with another woman and learned that she was the daughter of another high-class politician from his circle of friends and co-workers. Many people believed she and Kaidou would make the perfect couple.
Rei was devastated by the news because she felt that Kaidou understood her views on marriage, relationships, and love. Kaidou claimed that his marriage was only a political move decided by her father, but Rei called him a liar and said that if Kaidou truly wanted to use marriage as a way to gather power, he would have married Rei herself.
Dark Kingdom arc[]
Rei makes her first appearance in the Sailor Moon manga series in Act 3 Rei - Sailor Mars. In the chapter, we first see Rei meditating over a fire and thinking that something disastrous is coming.
In the next scene afterward, we see Rei telling a young girl goodbye. After the girl leaves, Rei looks at her watch and finds out that it is six o'clock. We later see Rei on the same bus that Usagi and Ami are on.
Black Moon arc[]
Infinity arc[]
Dream arc[]
Stars arc[]
Sailor Guardian Info[]
Rei Hino can transform into Sailor Mars by saying Mars Power, Make Up! Her attacks are centered around fire and spiritual attributes.
Phrases[]
Attacks[]
- Akuryo Taisan
- Phobos Deimos
- Burning Mandala
- Mars Snake Fire
- Mars Flame Sniper
- Sailor Planet Attack
- Sailor Planet Power Meditation
- Galactica Gale
- Galactica Planet Attack
Items[]
Weapons[]
Miscellaneous[]
- Precognition: Rei is shown to have strong precognition, where she can make full use of this ability to predict events from a near future, but it can fail sometimes.[6]
- Pyromancy: She is also shown to have a great affinity with fire, to the point where she is capable to manifest her future sights by forming images on the flames. The images are very enigmatic and unreliable.
- Sixth Sense: Rei is sometimes shown to have a "sixth sense", using it to detect "evil presences" and approaching danger, but it can fail sometimes as well.[7]
- Expert Archer: As a Shrine Maiden, she is an expert archer, and this potential is shown in her "Mars Flame Sniper" attack.
Gallery[]
Dark Kingdom[]
Black Moon[]
Infinity[]
Dream[]
Stars[]
Manga covers[]
Artwork[]
Development[]
According to the Artbook Infinity, a prototype version of Rei was in a team lead by Minako and was named Miyabi Yoruno (夜野みやび), with the surname translating as "Night-Field" (her corresponding goddess was going to be Nyx); and as for her given-name, Miyabi refers to the Sanctum sanctorum of a Shinto-shrine &/or Buddhist-temple (Miya), and to Beauty/Beautiful (Bi); OR it means "Grace" and "Refinement" (雅). Her full name can mean "Elegance of Night".
According to the Artbook V, the katakana for "Rei", "レイ", actually refers to "Beauty" and "Elegance" (麗), rather than to "spirit" (霊); this most-likely is a nod to "Miyabi" (みやび (雅)) also meaning "Elegance" along with "Grace" and "Refinement".
The Infinity notes also included that Miyabi has psychic powers (which was kept in Rei before becoming less-prevalent), and powers such as exorcism (Akuryo Taisan) and that she is an occultist who can cast spells.
In the Shinsouban manga Vol. 3, Naoko Takeuchi states she made Rei a shrine priestess because she worked as one while attending university. Rei's favorite flower is a Casablanca lily because Naoko Takeuchi heard Michie Tomizawa say it is her favorite flower while spending time with the 90s anime voice actresses.[5]
Trivia[]
- Shrine Priestesses are known for carrying bows and Rei's dedication is reflected through her decision to join the archery club and her attack Mars Flame Sniper.
- The planet Mars was named after the Roman God of War, Mars, who was usually depicted in armor and carrying a spear. This is probably why Sailor Mars' original concept design features her wearing armor.
- She made a cameo appearance in Vol. 6 of Codename: Sailor V. She first appeared outside of Game Center Crown and said the atmosphere was disquieting. She was referred to as "Hino-san" and wore her school uniform.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Official Sailor Moon website; Sailor Mars' Profile
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon (Volume 10)/Tankoubon - Rei's profile.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 They celebrate Rei's 15th birthday on April 17th during Act 28 of the Infinity arc. Her previous birthday was shown at the start of Casablanca Memory meaning she was 13 when recruited as a Senshi and 14 for most of the Dark Kingdom arc, all of the Black Moon arc, and the beginning of the Infinity arc. The Dream arc begins on April 1st of the next year when she is still 15. In Act 39 they note the circus begins a month later and they attend opening day in Act 41 meaning she had her 16th birthday during the Dream arc, but it was not shown. The Stars arc takes place later that year when she is still 16.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Materials Collection - Pages on Rei
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon (Volume 11)/Tankoubon - Casablanca Memory short-story and Naoko Takeuchi's intro to it exclusive to this release.
- ↑ Act 3, Page 26; Act 14, Page 38; Act 27, Page 9
- ↑ Act 3, Pages 14, 15
