Do you have a top 5 best senshi/senshi relationships? It’s a cruel tier list when you have to choose between Ami/Usagi and Rei/Minako.

[Note, this is the relationships that I personally am interested in and is thus a mix of canons because they’re all a little jumbled up in my head, but I hope this still brings some truth to your eyes]

Ami/Usagi somehow ended up capturing my entire heart, from day 1, ride or die, all eggs one basket. The way I look at it, it’s a beautiful karmic balance between the one who needs to give affection and the one who needs to receive affection. And they’re both the most incredible sweethearts to grace this earth. Hungry? Usagi made you cookies! Cold hands? Ami surprised you with handmade mittens! Ignore the sword cuts in the fabric! She was going through a rough patch and a couple of angel tears will make it as good as new! 

Rei/Minako didn’t grab me until I watched PGSM, but then it grabbed my by the collar and rooted through my pockets for loose change. They flirt by trying to be better than each other, and by “better than” I mean “good enough for.” And, in this competition to become The Best, they must also become the Nicest and the Kindest and the Most Affectionate they accidentally as a byproduct improve themselves as people. Oops!

Haruka/Michiru I need to mention, for obvious reasons. Of course, their canon relationship is beautiful and perfect and is perhaps best exemplified by the matching outfits like those pictured below. But also, these two had a massive impact outside the series itself. Probably every single LGBT+ person around my age that I know, Harumichi was a formulative moment of girls loving girls and presenting masculine or feminine while doing it. They are truly baby’s first gays.

Mako/Ami (while it’s no Ami/Usagi) is also very important to me. If Reinako is constant intensity, then Makoami is pure chill. They both have a deep, deep caring streak and I’m struggling to think of a word to describe their relationship besides “soft.” Additionally, I love the tall gf/small gf dynamic. Ami is the perfect size of a dance partner. (Actually, I think this scene is exclusively responsible for my investment in MakoAmi.)

At number five, I have to go against my immediate Ami/Usagi instincts once again and bring forward Rei/Usagi. Usagi sees the vulnerable side of Rei, something that not many people are allowed to see, and instead of teasing her about it, she nurtures it. And, you know, Rei is always fighting, but it’s not because she’s mean-spirited; it’s because she’s found something worth protecting. She’ll always defend Usagi, even if it’s from Usagi herself. 

Most people of the Sailor Moon fandom feel that all five of the inner senshi are bisexual, do you agree?

Long answer: This interpretation works really well for me. Even for characters I like to speculate are on the ace spectrum, I see the Inners as biromantic or bicurious at least. I’m sure that this is partially inspired by my incredible disdain for the “straight until proven otherwise” mentality that perpetuates in most readings of fiction. Declaring Usagi is exclusively straight because she ends up marrying a man contributes to invalidation of bisexuality in general; people are not defined by their partner. Another factor is the lenient portrayal of gender in the show. Haruka often chooses to present herself as male, despite identifying as female, and many of the Inners express attraction to her either way. This is played with even more with the Starlights; when it’s revealed that they are female, the Inners recognize that they were attracted to them and whether or not that should change retroactively, which I think forced them to think about their own preferences. Then again, they are middle/high-school girls, still changing and growing, and they have plenty of time to consider how they identify themselves. The anime never really addresses bisexuality specifically, but that’s how it is in real life; people are attracted to who they are attracted to, and there’s no need to Officially Decree the Sexual Orientation of Oneself to the world. Everyone is welcome to their own interpretations, and this is the one that works for me.

Short answer: I’m down