Shadow Galactica - The Sailor Animamates

The Sailor Animamates

The Sailor Animamates (セーラーアニマメイツ, Sērā Animameitsu?, occasionally romanized as "Sailor Anima-Mates"), Sailor Galaxia's main reapers of starseeds, appear in both the anime and the manga. They bear names prefixed by the title "Sailor" followed by the name of a metal and the name of an animal. They are led by Sailor Heavy Metal Papillon in the manga, by Sailor Lead Crow in the anime, and by Sailor Pewter Fox in the musicals.

In the manga, despite the titles, none of them is a true Sailor Senshi but merely normal living-beings who gave up their own star-seeds to Galaxia to become one — in fact, the manga reveals that each of them murdered the Senshi of their home planet in order to win Galaxia's favor. The victims of three Animamates are explicitly named: Sailor Coronis, Sailor Mau and Sailor Chū (Sailor Coronis is the only one of the dead Senshi to ever be pictured in the manga). Two more Senshis are implied by the mention of devastated planets called Mermaid and Cocoon, home planets of Aluminum Seiren and Heavy Metal Papillon respectively.

This backstory is not mentioned one way or another in the anime; instead, Princess Kakyuu states that Sailor Tin Nyanko was once a true Sailor Senshi. In the anime, the Sailor Animamates disguise themselves as employees of Tokyo's primary television station, Galaxy TV (Ginga Terebi), in order to get closer to their victims. Under Sailor Galaxia's command, they search for true star-seeds whose shines can survive exposure to the outside world. Each of them were given a pair of Galaxia's golden bracelets that grants them the power to become a Sailor Senshi, extract starseeds and even turn their victims into phages. It has been told that they gave up their own Sailor Crystals to Galaxia in order to possess them, therefore taking them out would instantly kill them. Sailor Heavy Metal Papillon does not appear, and Eternal Sailor Moon matches them at every turn: she alone has the power to heal phages and restore star seeds to innocents. They can warp from place to place using a black phone booth.

All five of the original Animamates appear in various Sailor Moon musicals, including Sailor Stars, Eien Densetsu, Starlights Ryuusei Densetsu, and Kakyuu Ouhi Kourin. They pose as a dance troupe called the "Dancing Animamates" and go by pseudonyms: Iron Mouse as "Chū Rat", Aluminum Seiren as "Half Bird", Lead Crow as Manila Karasu, etc. In addition, the musicals introduce two new Animamates: Sailor Pewter Fox and Sailor Titanium Kerokko.