An age old controversy may have finally been answered as the Sailor Moon Eternal film has weighed in on the issue of the colour of Phobos and Deimos’s clothes! Phobos and Deimos are Rei’s crows. In the Dreams arc of the manga, and the first Sailor Moon Eternal film, we see their humanoid fairy forms. A quiz in the Sailor Moon Eternal magazine, which I posted photos of recently, asked which character was Phobos and which was Deimos. The only noticeable difference between the two is the colour of their clothes. So which is it? The answer has been a mystery until now. The Sailor Moon Eternal film, now in theatres, settles it. Phobos is red and Deimos is purple!
Twitter user @oozorakeroko2 posted that the answer as to what colour they were had been answered in the film but did not not state what that was! Earlier today Twitter user @KrissyDiggs shared a few photos of a promo packet which she got at a screening of the film. One such photo was a bio for Sailor Mars which included a colour image of Phobos and Deimos with their names under it. She then posted a close up photo of the two. The caption suggests that Phobos is red and Deimos is purple!
Why do I state that this mystery has been going on for so long? The Sailor Moon manga is black and white so throughout the Dream and Stars arcs in which Phobos and Deimos appear we can never see the colour of their clothing. There are two colour images of the two which have been drawn by Naoko Takeuchi and those gives conflicting information.
The first such image, seen in the February 1996 issue of Nakayoshi and later reprinted in the Sailor Moon Original Picture Collection Vol. IV art book, tells us that Phobos is purple and Deimos is red (PIPDIR).
A year later an image from the 1997 issue of Nakayoshi tells a different story. This image was reprinted in the Sailor Moon Original Picture Collection Vol. V art book and states that Phobos is actually red while Deimos is purple (PIRDIP). It seems that Sailor Moon Crystal canon agrees with this later interpretation of their colours. Will this settle the question once and for all or will fans continue to argue about their manga colours for years to come?
Phobos
This whole thing is reminiscent of the Transformers controversy with regards to the colours of Soundwave’s Transforming Mini-Cassettes Frenzy and Rumble. For the toys Frenzy is Blue, Rumble is Red (FIBRIR) while in the animated series Frenzy is Red, Rumble is Blue (FIRRIB).
Deimos
Check out more of @KrissyDiggs’ photos of the movie promo packet including the Dead Moon Circus and some relationship charts, bios for Tuxedo Mask, Helios, Sailor Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Saturn and Chibi Moon, bios for Sailor Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Mercury and close up photos of the Amazon Trio, the Amazoness Quartet, Phobos and Deimos, Human Artemis and Minako.
Fans can check out scans of the Sailor Moon art books from Sailor Music (Vol. IV, Vol. V) or Miss Dream (Vol. IV, Vol. V).
Possibly Related Posts
-
Here are more stills from the upcoming Sailor Moon Eternal films including human Artemis, Phobos and Deimos -
An in depth look at the Sailor Moon Eternal magazine -
The release of Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 is delayed from September 11th to January 8th due to COVID-19. Part 2 is coming February 11th. -
Check out these new stills from the Sailor Moon Eternal films -
New stills from the Sailor Moon Eternal film have been leaked and Rei is wearing Mamoru’s shirt
I love their colors.
But which one do you love more?
I like pink, because it’s my favorite color.
Oh, it’s mine too! Pink and red.
My flat is decorated with pink curtains, pink trinkets… My tableware is pink and red. My bed sheets are pink and light pastel purple, and so on… Everything for my home that I need and that I can have in pink (or red), I buy.
Sailor Mars’ colors! A beautiful association, indeed. Since red is my favourite color, I choose Phobos.
Saintfighteraqua, Joseph, have you seen? I won my bet!
You must have had inside information! That’s the only explanation!
I think the truth is much, much darker, and deeper than we ever imagine…
sometimes they swap clothing!!
“sometimes they swap clothing!!”
Finally, this sinister conspiracy has been unfold! It was obvious since the very beginning and yet, for years, no one was ever able to sense and fathom this sinister truth. How is that that we’ve been so blind, so naive?
And yet, since the twins can still swap clothing even after the said truth has been revealed, I wonder if the best for us now is not to consider that only their clothes have names: thus, Phobos and Deimos are not the two fairies/crows, but simply… their clothes!!! Phobos is the red swinsuit, and Deimos, the purple one.
Even now it simplifies a lot of things, doesn’t it?
I am afraid to think of how deep this conspiracy might still go!
You’ve won your bet, indeed! Congratulations! Your reward is seeing a winning smile for eternity! All you have to do is smile at a mirror! Yep. Well done.
Nooooo! I have to kindly and politely disagree, Sir! I had betted 100 dollars that Phobos was red and Deimos purple; and 100 other dollars for the contrary. So, I am very sorry to say that you owe me 200 dollars, each of you! You also said that I was devilish, so here is a proof of my diabolical greediness. I cannot be satisfied with a simple smile! Hey, business is business!
I’ll try to weasel myself out of the bet one more time. How about 200 dollars in board game money?
Uh, are you trying to deceive me with Pay Day bills?
YES. *Cute anime eyes* Give into my deception! Please?
Oooh, I can’t resist cute anime eyes… Ok, ok, I’m taking your fake bills! But it’s just because it’s you!
I will try to scam the cashier with those the next time I go for errands. (And I promise I will not go to jail, Saintfighteraqua
! Also, know that this bet wasn’t a scam, it was simply what I call a Schrödinger’s bet 
.
That’s definitely something to crow about!
But the bet was a scam!
As far as it is concerned, I can only say…
Do not pass Go!
Do not collect $200 dollars!
Yay
I think this debate demands further explanation. What is Red? What is Purple? I say we start there.
Well, it stands to reason that since red is the first color of the rainbow and violet the last and since alpha is the first letter of the alphabet and omega the last…
their true identities are Sailor Alpha and Sailor Omega!
(I mean we do have Sailors Phi, Chi and in the musicals Theta.)
Or maybe I am just taking it too far! XD
@ Matt: Well, my View of Life has totally changed since you asked this question. I now see a New Age rising in my existence. A new Purple Purpose. I was despaired. Now I found Light and Hope under the Prism of the Sky Rainbow. Because your question, as simple as it seems to be, answers the Big Question. The very Question about the Meaning of Life. And this changes everything. Yes, everything starts here!
(Well, now call me: Sailor Rainbow Space Cake!)
@ Saintfighteraqua: Conspiracy, Alpha and Omega… wow, this sounds very apocalyptic! And now we are waiting for the Revelation of Sailor Moon Eternal before our eyes!
(Oh yes, we are taking it too far. Wonder how Adam reacts everytime he sees how batshit crazy we are.)
I’m sure the ban hammer is always hovering when he sees our names appear.
Only because you’re too close to the truth!
The truth is out there.
*whistles X-Files theme*
I love these!
Eternal Part 1 came on 9th place on its debut weekend in the japan box office
Great!!!
I hope they made up for it in merchandising!
Yeah, I hope it was at least profitable so they will continue on with more films.
speaking of Sailor Moon Eternal here’s a video it contains new footage from the movies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9azzcQGAAg
Wow, awesome, that showed us almost everything!
It was so gorgeous!
But for those of you who don’t want spoilers, I’d avoid it.
It’s official high-quality footage with Moon Chainon playing, but it shows lots of new scenes and shows way more than any of the trailers.
adam will make a post about that AMV
Working on it! Would have been nice if my kids went to sleep before 10pm but here we are. -_-;
Anyone heard any reviews on it so far?
Yes, over on Tuxedo Unmasked he did a spoiler-free review.