Nephrite

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Character Information
nephrite.jpg
Name: Nephrite
Name (kanji/kana): ネフライト
Alignment: Dark Kingdom
Species: Humanoid
Gender: Male
Lives: D Point, near the North Pole; a mansion near Tokyo
Occupation: Shitennou
Family: Unknown
Associates: Queen Beryl, the other Shitennou
Aliases: Masato Sanjouin (anime); Nefukichi, Nefurin (PGSM); Light Mifune, High School Student C (musicals)
First Anime Appearance: Girl Power! The End of Jadeite
First Manga Appearance: Act 3 Rei SAILORMARS
First PGSM Appearance: Act 4 - Sneaking into the Party!
English Name: Neflite, Maxfield Stanton (dub); Nephrite, Masato Sanjouin (Viz dub); Nephrite (manga)
Actors: Katsuji Mori (anime), Kosuke Toriumi (Crystal), Hiroyuki Matsumoto (PGSM), Kevin Lund (dub), Liam O'Brien (Viz dub)

Nephrite was the second of Queen Beryl's Shitennou to appear. He was shown to have a different personality and different loyalties in the different versions of the series.

Anime[edit]

In the anime, Nephrite's plan was to manipulate people to reach the time in their lives when they would attain their peak output of energy, and then steal their energy from them. He did this by using astrology to learn who in the area would soon be reaching this point. He then would disguise himself as the billionaire entrepreneur Masato Sanjouin, so he could meet up with them and insert a Youma into an item of importance to them (e.g. a tennis player's racket, a photographer's camera, etc.), ready to collect their energy when they reach their peak. When the victim used this item, they developed an obsession with it and devoted more and more energy towards using this item.

Nephrite was one of the very few villains who seemingly reformed before their deaths. Usagi's best friend, Naru, developed a crush on whom she thought was Masato Sanjouin. This crush developed into love, even after she found out who Nephrite really was. Naru was willing to sacrifice her life to protect Nephrite, which gradually changed him. He never actually openly stated he loved Naru, but he did apparently feel deep affection for her.

In the end, however, Zoisite used Naru's love for Nephrite as a trap. Zoisite gathered three Youma, kidnapped Naru, and Nephrite (scarcely believing his own behavior) rescued her. Zoisite followed the pair and had one of his Youma stab Nephrite. Neither Naru nor the Senshi were able to save him, and he died in Naru's arms.

Attacks[edit]

  • Starlight Attack - An attack used by Nephrite in the anime. He gathered power and blasted it at his enemies in the form of multiple balls of light.

Manga[edit]

In the manga, Nephrite was close to his fellow Shitennou Jadeite and was devastated by his death; he swore to destroy the Sailor Senshi in his comrade's name and to revive him with the Silver Crystal. Nephrite used his "shadow" to disguise himself, both times as women, to enact plans to gather energy for the Dark Kingdom. When the second attempt failed, he confronted Sailor Jupiter, who killed him instantly with a lightning attack.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon[edit]

nephrite.jpg
Nephrite in PGSM

The Nephrite of the live-action series was very hot-tempered, jealous, and impetuous. His original mission was to find the Princess and the Silver Crystal, and his main objective was to complete this mission in such a way to prove to Queen Beryl that he was the most worthy of the Shitennou, and thus gain her love. She, however, seemed to like him the least of the four, and he often became the target of ridicule from her and Kunzite. It was during one of these times that Dark Mercury showed kindness to him by giving him a new cape and saying she did not like seeing him alone. Though at first he was angry with her and tried to kill her, he eventually protected Dark Mercury from Kunzite in return.

In Act 36 Beryl used her telepathic power to force Nephrite to stab himself, in order to prove her power over the Shitennou. Shortly thereafter he reappeared as a normal human, and began working at Karaoke Crown with Motoki. While human, he became almost obsessed with trying to repay Ami for the kindness she showed him as Dark Mercury, and constantly tried to find gifts for her. He was even shown shopping for her when the world was destroyed by Princess Sailor Moon.

Musicals[edit]

In the musical Sailor Moon - Gaiden Dark Kingdom Fukkatsu Hen, the Shitennou played high school boys assigned to romance certain Sailor Senshi. Nephrite was played by Toshikazu Seike.

All of the Shitennou were revived along with Queen Beryl by Sailor Galaxia in Starlights - Ryuusei Densetsu as part of her plan to obtain the Sailor Senshi's Star Seeds. In this musical, Nephrite was played by Shuusuke Yoda.

Although Nephrite was not present in the musical Kakyuu-Ouhi Kourin - The Second Stage Final, the character Hiddenite was visually similar to the previous musical's Nephrite and could easily be believed to be him.

He appeared with the other Shitennou in the musical La Reconquista as members of a boy band called "Pandemic 4," and Nephrite was played by Koro.

Nogizaka46 Version Musical was based on the Dark Kingdom arc and also included the Shitennou, with Shin playing Nephrite. In Nogizaka46 "5th Generation" Version Musical 2024, he was played by Makise Rui.

Trivia[edit]

  • Nephrite is named after a variety of jade known as nephrite.