Makoto Kino (Japanese: 木野 まこと, Hepburn: Kino Makoto; renamed "Lita Kino" in some English adaptations), better known as Sailor Jupiter (Japanese: セーラージュピター, Hepburn: Sērā Jupitā), is a fictional character in the Sailor Moon manga series created by Naoko Takeuchi. Makoto is her sailor form's alternative human identity as part of the Sailor Guardians, female supernatural fighters who protect the Solar System from evil. In the series, Makoto is the third Sailor Guardian to be discovered by Usagi Tsukino, and serves as the "coordinator" of the group, as she possesses superhuman strength, as well as powers associated with electricity and plants. Aside from the main body of the Sailor Moon series, Makoto features in her own manga short story, The Melancholy of Mako-chan. A number of image songs mentioning her character have been released as well, including the contents of three different CD singles.
Profile Makoto's strong, independent personality is hinted at in her most striking physical feature—her unusual height (5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)). She is stated at her first appearance in the series to be very tall, being the tallest Sailor Guardian, and considerable notice is taken in the original Japanese versions. Her height is downplayed in English translations as her relative height is not all that uncommon in most Europeans. She's also physically strong, and she was rumored to have been kicked out of her previous school for taking part in a brawl. She is introduced to the series after transferring to Azabu Jūban Junior High, where Usagi Tsukino and Ami Mizuno are students, and where she stands out all the more because her school uniform is different from everyone else's; unable to find anything in her size, her school's administration tells her to wear her old one. It has a long skirt, which when coupled with her hair, was a common visual cue for a tough or delinquent girl at the time the series was created. However, unlike these delinquent girls, her reddish, wavy hair is natural. Despite her tough appearance, she is very gentle. She always wears pink rose earrings and a green hair tie that decorates her ponytail.
One of the most consistent characters across the many versions of the series, Makoto is always depicted as simultaneously the most masculine and the most feminine of the four Sailor Guardians. Her most closely held dream is to get married and own a cake and flower shop. After entering high school, she also joins the cooking and gardening clubs. Her domestic talents are explained as a deliberate effort to overcome her tomboyishness. In the live-action series she enjoys shopping, but eschews "girly" things (she can be seen shopping for basketball shoes in one scene, for instance); she cooks, but also physically overpowers delinquents; she reorganizes her home, but does so with a sledgehammer. She also excels in dancing, especially ice skating. She insists that she is not the least bit feminine, and seems surprised and touched when someone tells her she is. This dual nature comes from a need to be self-sufficient: her parents died in an aviation accident as a child and she has since then looked after herself. She is self-sufficient almost to a fault, and gets shocked when an airplane passes overhead. In the anime adaptation, Makoto lives alone. In Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Makoto's parents' death is told in a flashback in Act 6, but how they died is not mentioned. Makoto has at least one former boyfriend, which is the importance of this subplot. Her senpai is mentioned only once or twice. In the anime adaptation Makoto is extremely boy-crazy, with a tendency to fall for every boy who reminds her of her senpai. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon is an integral part of why Makoto feels she needs to be alone. In each version, there are mentions of other men who were very briefly a part of her life. Makoto is generally attracted to Motoki Furuhata, especially in the anime, but only in the live-action show do they become close. By the end of the direct-to-DVD Special Act, they are engaged to be married.
Aspects and forms As a character with different incarnations, special powers, transformations, and extended longevity; an ageless lifetime spanning the Silver Millennium era and the 30th Century, Makoto gains multiple aspects and aliases as the series progresses.
Sailor Jupiter Makoto's Sailor Guardian identity is Sailor Jupiter. She wears a sailor suit colored in green and pink, with rose-shaped earrings in green, laced-up boots with height just above the ankles. In the manga and live-action series she has a belt carrying a small ball of potpourri. She is given specific titles throughout the various series, including "Guardian of Protection", "Herculean Jupiter", "Guardian of Thunder and Courage", and "Guardian of Caring". Her personality is no different from when she is a civilian, although certain powers are unavailable to her in that form. In Japanese, the name for the planet Jupiter is Mokusei (木星), the first kanji meaning 'wood' and the second indicating a celestial object. Although the Roman planet-name is used, Sailor Jupiter's dominant element is wood due to this aspect of Japanese mythology. Unusually, most of her attacks are based on her secondary power, lightning, which is in reference to the Roman god Jupiter. She is by far the most skilled of the Sailor Guardians, able to lift a full-grown man above her head, even while ice skating or to stop a stone pillar from falling. In the early manga, she always has a short antenna coming from her tiara, which serves as a lightning rod; eventually this takes on the same role as in the anime, and extends upward only when she summons lightning. It does not appear in the live-action series. Sailor Jupiter gains additional special abilities and powers, and at key points her Sailor Guardian uniform changes to reflect this. The first change takes place in Act 42 of the manga, when she obtains the Jupiter Crystal and her outfit becomes similar to that of Super Sailor Moon. She is not given a new title. A similar event is divided between Episodes 143 and 154 of the anime, and she is given the name Super Sailor Jupiter. A third form appears in Act 49 of the manga, unnamed but similar to Eternal Sailor Moon (without wings). In the official visual book for Sailor Moon Eternal, this form was named "Eternal Sailor Jupiter".
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