How did I discover Sukeban Deka? Well, it starts with Sailor Moon.
I’d been a Sailor Moon fan for long enough, to the point where I was doing a lot of research on lore, theories, etc. My favorite Sailor Moon blog is tuxedounmasked.com, and I’ve spent more time there than I want to admit.
My favorite character by far is Makoto Kino, aka Sailor Jupiter. She’s tall (by Japanese middle school standards) and superhumanly strong. She lost her parents at a young age, lives alone in an apartment in Tokyo, and she’s destined to fight evil in a sailor suit. When she first enrolls in her school, she’s feared by everyone due to (untrue) rumors of fights. While tough, she’s a truly sensitive and emotional girl with a strong sense of justice, who spends quite a bit of time alone.
That sounds just a little bit familiar, right?
In fact, her long skirt and ponytail remind me quite a bit of the first Saki…..
So back to the blog. On Tuxedo Unmasked, I found this article:
https://www.tuxedounmasked.com/was-makoto-a-member-of-a-gang/
While she’s still quite young (14), it’s clear in the article that Makoto was intended to be quite Sukeban-y, although that was toned down a bit in her final form.
Sukeban Deka came out in 1985, and Sailor Moon, as well as Makoto’s first appearance, debuted in 1992. Considering how popular Sukeban Deka was in its time, I find it very hard to believe that Sailor Moon’s mangaka (manga artist) Naoko Takeuchi didn’t see a few episodes.
Still don’t believe me? Consider this:
Sailor Moon fans already know this, but for those who don’t, Sailor Moon’s love interest is named Tuxedo Mask. He’ll come to her rescue sometimes in the middle of battles. His weapon of choice? A red rose, which he throws to deflect an enemy’s projectile, usually from a high vantage point.
Why is this important?
In episode 9 of Sukeban Deka, Saki’s incarcerated mother makes an artificial rose, and Jin somehow gets a hold of it.
He meets Saki at this old place, I’m not sure exactly what, but it seems to be the ruins of some old building. Jin is standing high up in the ruins, and Saki is on the ground with her motorcycle, as he talks down to her from the building giving her her instructions.
But then he tells her about how her mother made the fake rose for her, and--get this--throws it down to her, in a way that looks *incredibly* similar to the way Tuxedo Mask throws his roses.
It’s a bit hard to show in screenshots, but if you go to the 5:10 minute mark here, you’ll see it.
https://archive.org/details/sukeban-deka/%5BSkewedS%5D_Sukeban_Deka_1_-_09_%5B323D1CF6%5D.mp4
While the context is quite different, the motion looks too similar to be a coincidence. Add that with how similar Makoto and Saki’s design and story is, and I must say that Naoko Takeuchi took at least a bit of inspiration from Sukeban Deka.
And considering the theme of Sailor Moon is schoolgirls fighting in (albeit modified) sailor school uniforms, that simply must have been inspired by Sukebans, who fought in their sailor uniforms.
What do you think? Leave any comments below, or if there’s something I might have missed.
Here’s a fanart of Makoto as a Sukeban Deka! (credits to artist)
And the entire Sailor Soldier group in Sukeban attire (credits to RikuxTee on Deviant art)
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