Tim Nolan
It is very hard to do a profile on either
Michiru or Haruka without including the other as well. These
two women are so close that they are almost like the two
halves of a whole, and you can't describe anything or anyone
very well if you limit yourself to only one part of
something. However, I am going to try to do that here. I
will recommend that the reader also go to the profile on
Haruka in order to read it as well, since one does need to
know both of these women in order to properly understand
either one.
This, ironically, is Michiru's biggest
problem, it seems. Many people have often said that she
seems so perfect, and have had a very tough time showing her
as being anything other than perfect, especially when
compared to her partner, Haruka. Haruka's problems are
somewhat easier to see, and Michiru's seem to be lost in the
shadows from the limelight that is focused on Haruka. It
becomes difficult to give her a personality and role other
than being a support for Haruka.
Of all of the Outer Senshi, Michiru is
the one who is the hardest to pin down. She is often not
given very much in terms of character development within a
story (I include myself as one of the guilty parties here,
btw.) Her background does not even give us much to work
with, as opposed to some of the other characters.
We do know that she is from a fairly
wealthy family, has probably led a sheltered, perhaps even
pampered lifestyle, and she is also well known in art and
music circles. It is also possible that she was one of the
earliest active Senshi, possible even predating Venus'
activities as Sailor V. There are no hints of problems at
school or from a lack of friends. Michiru gets along very
well with all of the Senshi, regardless of which group. Once
again, we seemingly have another character who seems
outwardly perfect, even more so than the other Outers. We
have to dig a little bit deeper in Michiru's case to find
out what makes her the way she is, even a little more than
the other Outers.
We know of Haruka's devotion and need for
Michiru. Far less well known is that Michiru feels the same
way about Haruka. In one point during the anime, Michiru
calmly risks destroying the world in order to save Haruka,
on the simple fact that, to Michiru, a world without Haruka
is not worth saving.
It only happens one time, but that really
can tell us a lot about Michiru. Despite her background and
upbringing, she obviously hasn't made any close friends
besides Haruka, and is as afraid of losing her partner as
Haruka is. However, as opposed to Haruka, this fact is much,
much harder to see. Michiru buries her concerns so deeply
that it is almost impossible to directly see without having
known of or seeing this particular scene. The depth of
Michiru's feelings are easily made apparent by her
willingness to let several billion people die so that she
will have Haruka. This is not something that a normal,
healthy person would usually be able to do so easily.
During the search for the talismans, we
do see a side to Uranus and Neptune that also gives us an
insight into Michiru. On a few occasions, Uranus almost
starts to try to stop the daimon of the day before it takes
the heart crystal from the victim of the day. When that
happens, it is Neptune who stops her, and coolly reminds
Uranus of their mission.
What we can draw from that is while
Michiru seems to be far more approachable and friendly than
Haruka, it is not really the truth. As Senshi, Neptune is a
far colder and harder person than Uranus, despite their
apparent feelings towards people. While they often use a
good cop/bad cop approach to dealing with people, one will
initially think that Haruka would be the bad cop. Once you
look at them and their personalities and behaviors, it
becomes clear that Michiru is actually the one playing the
bad cop while pretending to appear like the good cop.
The writer does have a distinct challenge
when deciding to use Michiru as a character, and to show her
having the feelings that she does have without making her
shift out of character. Her actual feelings are very deeply
hidden and will not easily come out without her either
wanting to tell someone about them, or if she makes a slip
and admits something. She was probably not this cold when
she was younger, but the weight of their mission and the
sacrifices involved have been a heavy burden that she has
been carrying for a very long time.
What I would recommend is to portray her
as having a number of insecurities, much like the same ones
Haruka does, but to have her hiding those behind her facade
of being the warmest of the Outer Senshi. I can easily see
Michiru being the one who is helping to keep the Outers
together and functioning as a unit. She would be the glue
holding Haruka together. Michiru would probably be the first
person who would be able to form some kind of a bond with
Setsuna, and the one who Hotaru would feel closest to in
some ways as she was growing up.
The question, however, is Michiru doing
this out of a desire to help her teammates, or is it also a
way of helping the other people around her so as to avoid
needing to confront her own problems? As stated earlier, she
was willing to trade the rest of the planet for Haruka, so
we can see that she undoubtedly does have some problems. Her
willingness to seek help or to continue to ignore this
potential problem could provide some interesting stories for
anyone exploring this angle.
While both Neptune and Uranus are very
powerful, they do not wield the same level of power as Pluto
and Saturn do. They will probably not have the same chances
of suffering from a superiority complex as those two, but
both Neptune and Uranus still consider themselves far more
capable than the Inners on a level of raw ability, as
opposed to raw power.
A point that also should be considered is
what Michiru's Talisman, the Deep Aqua Mirror, can do. It is
supposed to be able to reveal things to Michiru. There is no
proof that the Talismans have any connections to their
owners, but it must be noted that Michiru is supposedly very
insightful, and has a tool that may be in some way the
reason for that ability. This is another thing that could be
looked into further.
Greenbeans
In my opinion, of all the Senshi, Michiru
is probably the most mis-portrayed of the lot. I see two
main things come up over and over again. The first is to
have her portrayed as perfect, which she isn't. The other is
to under portray her, thus having her come out as an echo or
shadow of Haruka.
As disappointing as it may be to some,
Michiru is not perfect, nor does she ever make claim to be.
People point how she's brilliant in the arts and
academically. My answer is: 'So?' Michiru's got a brain, so
does Ami. I believe what leads people to this perfection
misconception is more of how Michiru carries herself. She
doesn't show to disadvantage easily.
Let's explore this for a moment. Michiru
is just as sore of loser as Haruka is, maybe even more so. I
can see her going to great lengths to assure that she is the
one on top of the dog pile. If we were using a sporting
event as an example, I don't believe that she would cheat
(since that would grate against her pride) but she would put
every effort into making sure she was up to the
challenge.
From what I understand of the character,
Michiru is a very proud person (all of them are actually..)
There is a difference between pride and confidence. She is
very confident in her abilities as a Senshi and in her every
day living. I would say that her confidence does spill over
into arrogence. It's a trait that all of the Outers share
and probably feeds upon itself some.
This lack of development makes Michiru a
difficult character to work with. The material for a
distinct personality is there, but it is hard to see next to
the 'glow' of Haruka. Some things that I keep in mind when I
work with Michiru: She's intelligent, worldly (the opposite
of Ami's naitive), and has a wry sense of humor. The third
point is the one I like to focus on. There have been
countless times when Michiru slips in a little comment that
demonstrates (to me at least) a healthy sense of
humor.
Undeniably, the mirror is a powerful
Talisman. The weight of carrying something that can see into
the future and having it usually be in regards to bad things
would be very tiring. Michiru is a strong character that can
withstand that weight. I think most any other person would
have dumped the mirror in a river or something to that
effect.
