I really have no idea when my fascination with Sailor Pluto began. My first exposure to Sailor Moon was the DiC dubbed episodes on Cartoon Network. I happened to be flipping channels and saw an interesting animated show with a really cute guy named Darien. I watched the episode, but never thought twice of it again. Then, in the August of 1998 my best friend called the afternoon of the first day of school, which happened to be my freshman year of high school. She mentioned an animated show called Sailor Moon that she had watched all summer and that I might like. I checked it out one afternoon, and it turned out that was the same show from earlier! I was instantly in love with Darien, he was the absolute coolest.

The episode I had happened to see earlier was "Treed" the dub episode with the culmination of the Allan / Anne arc of the R season. I taped the show every afternoon and watched it as soon as I got home from school. I took an immediate dislike to Rini, but when she became ill, and a mysterious new scout named Sailor Pluto appeared before Serena and the others, I thought she was the greatest.

I got onto the Internet and discovered the online world of Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon. I learned of the senshi, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn, the S, Super S and Sailor Stars seasons, along with the horrible cuts DiC had made to this beautiful Japanese animation. I continued to watch the dub episodes, but eventually stopped. I knew enough about Sailor Pluto to be hooked. I searched the web for pictures, information, anything I could get my hands on pertaining to her and her alter ego, Setsuna Meioh. I was surprised she was such an unknown senshi, along with Sailor Saturn.

Since then, I have ordered fansubtitled tapes of the S season and Sailor Stars, along with reading episode and season summaries. I read the monthly installment of the Mixx translation, and was delighted to find Sailor Pluto's first appearance in issue 12. I would rather own the original manga, but for now that is impossible. I content myself with buying the North American distributed dolls and figures, because I do not have the resources to purchase original Japanese ones. I do have an original sticker of Sailor Pluto from the S season, and it is one of my prized Sailor Moon possessions. The small, two-inch chibi-Pluto figure sits on my desk in a place of honor, surpassing my Star Wars figures and the other Sailor Moon ones.

The mental and emotional sides:

This is a bit harder to explain, or rationalize. Though I doubt any obsession can really be rationalized at all. I can try to make sense of it, but will most likely fail.

I tell myself the exciting story and three dimensional characters are what draw me to Sailor Moon. That may be part of it, but when I am staring blankly at the screen muttering "This is so cool!" all I am thinking is that Sailor Moon is really "cool." I don't stop to consider what draws me into it.

Now, I can safely say that my idolization of Pluto is for several good reasons. Setsuna is a sophisticated (though sometimes lacking decent fashion sense), elegant woman. She is also intelligent, skilled, and brave. As a Senshi, she is patient, powerful, and very loyal to her duty as the protector of the Door of Time-Space. I also think that besides Michiru and Rei (in the manga) she is one of the most beautiful Sailor Senshi, on top of that. She is everything I hope to be in the future and more.