April 17th is Rei Hino/Sailor Mars’s Birthday!
So how can you celebrate?
♂ Rewatch or reread your favourite Mars-centric chapter, episode, or musical! As one of the earliest established characters, she has several key episodes in the 90s anime. Try episode 010, her introduction; 054, where she reveals her passion for songwriting as she stages an idol-like performance at her school’s culture festival; 070, where she saves enemy Koan from self-destruction; 090, the first episode of S, where she is targeted for her Pure Heart; 103, where she works hard to convince a renowned taiko drummer to perform at a local festival; 152, where an excitable young girl models herself after Rei’s every move; or 183, where she goes camping to visit her sculptor cousin in the mountains.
You can also find the Rei-centric manga side stories Casablanca Memory (volume 2) or Rei & Minako’s Girls School Battle (volume 1) in the Sailor Moon Short Stories manga anthologies.
♂ Sailor Mars has several official image songs across different canons you can play for her big day:
90s anime: Eien no MELODY [“Eternal Melody”] (Dic produced an English song for Sailor Mars with the same melody, called Oh Starry Night); Sei · Hi · Ai ~FIRE SOUL LOVE~ [“Holy · Fire · Love ~FIRE SOUL LOVE~”]; Watashi no “Hito” Gingahen [“The One, Arranged by the Heavens”]; Honoo no Sogekisha (FLAME SNIPER) Musicals: Honoo no MESSENGER [”Flame Messenger”] PGSM: Sakura Fubuki [”Cherry Blossom Storm”]; Hoshi Furu Yoake [“Stars Falling at Dawn”] Crystal: Hi no Umi ["Ocean of Fire”]
Here’s a playlist of all these songs and other Sailor Mars BGM cues!
♂ Why not go out on a dare and try Rei’s favourite food - puffer fish. If you’re not confident in the toxicity of fugu in your area, she also likes all Thai food, so you could visit your favourite local Thai restaurant. Her least favourite food is asparagus, but only the tinned kind - so try and hold off for the day.
♂ Rei has many hobbies, a “jack of all trades” thanks to her dream of being a high-powered multi-career woman. She is shown to be a competent singer-songwriter, even if it takes her a lot more effort than she pretends. Since she dreams of someday making it big as a musician, why not support local talent and see a live show for her birthday?
Rei relies a lot on her ESP and sixth sense, receiving premonitions through dreams and by scrying in flames, but Rei’s favourite method of divination is actually tarot readings. You could shuffle through a deck yourself for a self-reading, or find someone online or in your area who can perform a reading for you.
You may think of Usagi or Minako as the resident “fangirl” of the series, but Rei is a closet nerd herself; she has a large collection of Sailor V manga, and is enough of a fan of the Takarazuka revue to own photobooks. Celebrate by rereading your own favourite manga series or by watching a Takarazuka stage performance.
As a representative of Hikawa Shrine, Rei is very community-minded, volunteering herself for public events, festivals, etc. The subsequent publicity for the shrine and springboard for her own career is obviously not a factor… In her (fiery) spirit, why not involve yourself in your own community-run events and services, volunteering your time and skills on a recurring or one-off basis?
♂ Dress like Rei for the day! Rei has a very forward-focused, goal-oriented personality she likes to show through her clothes, with bold colours, dramatic cuts, and sharp or form-fitting silhouettes. Because she is an expert at tailoring her presentation to the time/audience, her style can vary from cute and innocent to mature and businesslike based on how she wants to be perceived, but common wardrobe staples include miniskirts, tailored tops, statement jewellery, and a killer high heel. She favours vivid colours like reds, purples, mustards, and black.
As Sailor Mars, she wears chunky 80s throwback earrings in the shape of stars (5-pointed to start in the anime, 6 pointed from Super form and in the manga, 4 pointed in PGSM) and iconic red stiletto heels. Her nails are shown to turn firetruck red from her second transformation onwards. Her image colours are red and purple.
♂ In the 2004 live-action Sailor Moon series known as PGSM, Rei wore a name charm bracelet made of beads and crystals that was very important to her and later allowed her to transform. Why not make your own name bracelet with your favourite colours and birthstone beads?
♂ Fav and read some Sailor Mars fanart and fanfic on sites like Pixiv, Twitter, and AO3 - or contribute your own new content! Don’t forget to tag!
Feel free to reply and reblog with your own ideas of how you’re going to celebrate Rei’s day!
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