Kunzite

Character Information

Name:	Kunzite
Name (kanji/kana):	クンツァイト
Alignment:	Dark Kingdom
Species:	Humanoid
Gender:	Male
Lives:	D Point, near the North Pole
Occupation:	Shitennou
Family:	Unknown
Associates:	Queen Beryl, the other Shitennou, Prince Endymion
Aliases:	Shin (PGSM), Kun Saitou (musicals)
First Anime Appearance:	Romance Under the Moon! Usagi's First Kiss
First Manga Appearance:	Act 5 Makoto SAILORJUPITER
First PGSM Appearance:	Act 13 - The Last of the Shitennou, Kunzite, Appears
English Name:	Malachite (dub), Kunzite (manga, Viz dub)
Actors:	Kazuyuki Sogabe (anime); Eiji Takemoto (Crystal); Akira Kubodera (PGSM); Dennis Akayama (dub 18-39), John Stocker (dub 82); Patrick Seitz (Viz dub)

Kunzite was the fourth and last Shitennou to fight against the Sailor Senshi, and he appeared in all versions of the Sailor Moon series. In most continuities he had silver-white shoulder length hair and blue-grey eyes, but in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon his hair was longer and black and his eyes were brown.

Anime

Personality

Kunzite was very confident and sure of himself at first in the anime, when he aided or comforted Zoisite. After Zoisite's death Kunzite became very driven and a little obsessed with discovering Sailor Moon's identity rather than taking the Silver Crystal. When he finally met his death, Sailor Moon attempted to use Moon Healing Escalation upon him, but he refused to call out "Refresh!" and dishonor the Dark Kingdom, and instead tried to stab Sailor Moon with sharp projectiles. Sailor Moon simply hit them back at him, impaling him, and he subsequently died, calling out to Zoisite to meet him on the other side.

Relationships

Kunzite and Zoisite

In the anime, Zoisite was trained by Kunzite and the two were lovers; Zoisite could often be seen in the arms of Kunzite who reassured the younger Shitennou when things went wrong.

Kunzite and Prince Endymion

After Queen Beryl killed Zoisite for attacking Tuxedo Mask without her permission, Kunzite came to despise Prince Endymion for it. The two refused to work together and Endymion frequently irritated Kunzite by interrupting his plans.

Manga

Personality

The Materials Collection described Kunzite as "the greatest and best" of the Shitennou, that he "has the air of an Arabian king" and that he is "silent and calm" but "frightening when angry."

Relationships

Kunzite and Zoisite

His relationship with Zoisite was not presented as romantic in the manga; according to the Materials Collection Kunzite was affectionate toward Zoisite in the manner of an older brother toward a younger. In the manga he even chided Zoisite, warning him not to end up like Nephrite.

Kunzite and Sailor Venus

Like the other Shitennou, Kunzite appeared in the Senshi/Shitennou couples image. In this he was paired with Sailor Venus. The idea for these pairings was never developed in the manga, however, this particular pairing seems to have some minimal support from manga canon. In both the Sailor Moon manga and Codename: Sailor V, Sailor Venus was shown to have blushed in the presence of Kunzite during the Silver Millennium. Adonis even mentioned that she may have been falling in love with the Shitennou. However there was no evidence Kunzite felt the same way, or that Sailor Venus' feelings were anything more than a crush, something Minako was known to have many of.

In Crystal, it was stated that they were in love during the Silver Millennium, like all the other Senshi/Shitennou couples.

The relationship pairing was present and was expanded in the Sailor Moon musicals, particularly the first musical.

The couple was given even more support in the RPG Sailor Moon: Another Story, when, during Venus' quest for Kunzite's light stone, it was stated that she and Kunzite were in love in their past lives, and often visited each other. However, this cannot be fully applied to other canon due to the nature of the game's plot.

Kunzite and Prince Endymion

When the Silver Crystal restored Kunzite's memories of the past, he began to show regret for having chosen to ally with Queen Metalia, and became protective of his former master. After they were turned back into stones by the Sailor Senshi, Kunzite and the other Shitennou continued to aid and advise Prince Endymion. As stones they protected Endymion against Sailor Moon's sword blow, and Kunzite's spirit informed him about Metalia's weak point.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon

Kunzite in PGSM

Personality

In the live-action series Kunzite was more aloof than most of the other Shitennou, and less subservient to Queen Beryl than any other, except perhaps Zoisite. He wanted to restore the power of Queen Metalia and was not truly interested in the welfare of Queen Beryl or Prince Endymion. Before being revived by Beryl, he lived as a man named Shin.

Relationships

Kunzite and Sailor Mercury

Kunzite was the one who converted Sailor Mercury into Dark Mercury, and there is some evidence that he might have felt affection for her. She was not interested in him, though, and instead seemed to like Nephrite.

Kunzite and Queen Beryl

Kunzite distrusted Queen Beryl, as he did not think she was worthy of Queen Metalia's power.

Kunzite and Prince Endymion

Kunzite did not trust Prince Endymion, whom he blamed, at least partially, for the disaster that destroyed the Silver Millennium and the Earth Kingdom, and often sought to kill him.

In a final clash against Endymion, Kunzite realized that he was planning on dying with Metalia, who was sealed inside his body, in order to protect the planet. It was then that Kunzite finally resolved his anger and switched back to being loyal to his true master, Prince Endymion.

Powers

In the live-action series most of Kunzite's powers were based on his sword, which he used in sword fights and to produce waves of offensive energy at his enemy. He also had the ability to teleport.

Musicals

In the musical Sailor Moon - Gaiden Dark Kingdom Fukkatsu Hen, the Shitennou played high school boys assigned to romance certain Sailor Senshi. Kunzite was played by Yuuta Mochizuki in the original musical, and by Ryuuji Kasahara in the revision and the Sailor Moon Super Spring Festival.

Eien Densetsu included Zoisite and Kunzite revived to work with Queen Beryl, and Kunzite was played by Hidetaka Asano. Neither one of the two Shitennou appeared in the revision, however.

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, Kunzite was played by Miki Kawasaki, who reprised her role in Kakyuu-Ouhi Kourin - The Second Stage Final.

He appeared with the other Shitennou in the musical La Reconquista as members of a boy band called "Pandemic 4." Misaki Komatsu was originally cast to play Kunzite, but had to drop out due to illness and was replaced by Mayu Iseki.

Nogizaka46 Version Musical was based on the Dark Kingdom arc and also included the Shitennou, with Chihiro Ando playing Kunzite.

Kunzite was played by Reo Sanada in The Super Live.

Trivia

• Kunzite's name is likely derived from a variety of spodumene known as Kunzite.

• Kunzite was unique in the anime, in that he was the only Shitennou who did not find out Sailor Moon's civilian identity, the only one who created all of his Youma minions from humans, the only one who did not wear any disguises, and the only one who died in combat with Sailor Moon. His costume was also the only one that included a cape.

• In the Materials Collection, Naoko Takeuchi mentioned that she had an affection for Kunzite.

• His name in DiC's dub was Malachite, likely derived from the mineral of the same name, and he was the only Shitennou to have his name completely changed (rather than have the spelling altered). His name was thus the only one in the dub to be spelled the same way as its corresponding mineral, but it was still not the same as the original. The reason for his name change is unknown, but one theory is that there are legal issues surrounding the use of the name Kunzite in English. Another possibility is that Kunzite sounds too similar to slang for a part of the female anatomy for a children's television program.