Fandom: Sailor Moon
Ship: Rei/Minako



I started my Sailor Moon yuri days as a ReiUsa and Setsuna/Minako shipper. I didn't really catch the Rei/Minako bug until years later when suddenly I was feeling Sailor Moon-y again. Suddenly I just. Had this craving and realized how good this ship was.

I cut my teeth on the 90s anime where Rei and Minako didn't interact as much. The manga really showed me what I'd been missing, plus I heard SO much about the live-action where their relationship was much deeper with Minako's illness and the rivalry and Reiko Mars and all that. Spoilers, I was NOT disappointed when I finally watched PGSM with Alex. Episode 47, SO MANY FUCKING FEELS. So much that my first PGSM fic (...of two, I've gotta remedy this someday) was pure unadulterated Rei angst based on that episode.

But the manga and the new anime were also Very Good for this ship, and I very much enjoyed their side story about the Girls' School battle! They also may have had a hand in me discovering my fondness for Red/Gold ships. It's like Red/Blue except it's less rivalries and more "passionate fire warrior meets golden retriever". Or "aloof dark-haired red-coded character meets golden retriever".

(Except in the live action where Usagi's the golden retriever and Minako and Rei are both serious broken birds.)

ANYWAY.

Mars and Venus, red and gold, "who needs boys", the ship was pretty damn obvious and I quickly realized why it was so popular among yuri fans! The 90s anime kinda ate most of fandom but diehard Moonies and yuri fans knew the score, especially when the live-action came out.

(PGSM also made my Sailor Moon/Voltron: Legendary Defender fusion idea even more perfect. Minako as Shiro? They both literally die and Rei and Keith get SO FUCKING UPSET about it. I need to get back to that whole 'verse one day, lol.)

And of course the official art seems to have quite a thing for this ship:























Plus there's the whole "it's okay to be involved with a teammate because they Get It and you won't outlive them by centuries" angle. :3 Granted there's also the angst of "what if we're being disloyal by choosing someone other than the Princess", but. The Past Life can have the angst, by the time Crystal Tokyo happens they've figured it out and Usagi gave them her blessing.

Which technically holds true for any Senshi/Senshi pairing, but I feel like it'd hold even more weight with Minako because of Sailor V. Her prequel story ended with her being cursed to choose duty over love, swallowing her tears, and going to find the Princess she's sworn to. The manga doesn't go as hard with her crushes as the anime does, iirc she does fawn over guys but she's more duty-oriented.

Yet with Rei, she could find a loophole because of the aforementioned Getting It.

There's just a lot to explore with the pairing. Even in the 90s anime where Minako gets more episodes with Makoto and Rei with Usagi, some of the official art still sticks them together and they are teammates. But my favorite continuities for them are the manga, Crystal, and the live-action because there's just so much to work with.