Wrestling is a big a part of Mercedes Varnado’s profession, having gained notoriety as Sasha Banks for the WWE earlier than crossing over as Mercedes Moné for the AEW. However her followers might not notice she can also be an enormous Sailor Moon fan. The professional wrestler, who lately jumped to performing for The Mandalorian, has a deep appreciation of the basic magical lady fantasy anime primarily based on Naoko Takeuchi’s 1992 manga. Followers of each wrestling and anime know she donned a Sailor Moon-inspired outfit throughout the 2022 Royal Rumble. So it’s no shock that she’s brazenly campaigned to play Sailor Jupiter in a live-action adaptation of Sailor Moon, if that ever occurs.
Polygon caught up with Varnado throughout this yr’s Crunchyroll Anime Awards, so naturally we needed to ask: Given her love of the anime, which sailor scout does she suppose would make the best professional wrestler?
“I would say Sailor Mercury,” Varnado instructed Polygon. “She’s such a badass; she has such a good attitude. I feel like Usagi would always be a little late to the ring, she would probably slip during her matches a little bit.”
Picture: Toei Animation
Launched in the eighth episode of Sailor Moon season 1, Sailor Mercury is the first Sailor Guardian that Usagi discovers and the first to hitch her trigger preventing the forces of the nefarious Queen Beryl. Mercury’s true identification is Ami Mizuno, a shy bookworm with an abnormally excessive I.Q. who is thought for her expertise for arithmetic and computer systems. Although initially timid, Ami goes on to change into the chief strategist of the Sailor Scouts and has a optimistic, resilient angle at any time when confronted with a problem.
The 1992 Sailor Moon anime would go on to run for a complete of 5 seasons. The collection’ mixture of tokusatsu-inspired motion and romantic melodrama is credited with revolutionizing the style of Magical Lady anime, with the mixed reputation of the anime’s assorted house releases and movies contributing to the comedian’s standing as certainly one of the best-selling Japanese manga of its time. In 2014, Sailor Moon was later tailored into one other anime collection referred to as Sailor Moon Crystal, in commemoration of the collection’ twentieth anniversary. Sailor Moon Crystal is a reboot of the authentic anime that extra intently follows the story of Usagi Tsukino and co. because it was instructed in Naoko Takeuchi’s authentic manga.
Apart from the collection’ reputation, nevertheless, Sailor Moon has had a serious affect on followers (significantly women) who grew up watching the anime, and that features Varnado herself. “I still go back and watch Sailor Moon to get my life lessons, to get my energy,” Varnado instructed Polygon. “So she still inspires me to this day.”
Sailor Moon is accessible to stream on Hulu. Sailor Moon Crystal is accessible to stream on Crunchyroll.
