The Seven Great Youma is a mini-arc that begins in the second half of Sailor Moon‘s first season. While the Seven Great Youma are an important part of Queen Beryl and Queen Metalia’s plans in the Dark Kingdom arc, the subplot only exists in the original ’90s anime and doesn’t come from Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon manga canon. These Great Youma are meant to be the Dark Kingdom’s strongest warriors, also called the Seven Shadows.

The Seven Shadows fought against Queen Serenity and the Moon Kingdom until they were defeated and scattered on Earth. They’re then reborn as humans who the Dark Kingdom must find and activate. They each carry one of seven Rainbow Crystals, an invention of the ’90s anime only, which have a precarious connection to the Serenity line’s greatest tool, the Silver Crystal.

The Seven Shadows Were Key Players During the Fall of the Moon Kingdom

Queen Serenity Sealed Them Away & Launched Them into Space

The Seven Shadows, or the Seven Great Youma, depending on the English dub or sub translation, were the Dark Kingdom’s greatest asset when they launched their fateful attack on the Moon Kingdom. The Great Youma are depicted as shadowy creatures not shown in great detail in the flashback scenes about the War that destroyed the Moon. These warriors battled for days during the War.

Queen Serenity turned the tide of battle when she successfully captured them all in the Silver Crystal, effectively imprisoning them. The Silver Crystal shattered into seven Rainbow Crystals when she hurled the Seven Shadows into the void of space. Since the Moon Kingdom is obviously so close to Earth, when Queen Serenity cast out the imprisoned warriors, they landed in Earth’s atmosphere. The imprisoned warriors were then reborn on Earth in the form of regular humans, each with one of the seven Rainbow Crystals lodged inside them.

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The six humans and one cat that the Great Youma are reborn as all display wonderful qualities. None of the reborn Youma remember their past lives as warriors for the Dark Kingdom. As humans (and one cat), they all display admirable and heroic qualities, like bravery, compassion, kindness, and a self-sacrificial nature. Some of the reborn Youma even have magical or psychic gifts, like telekinesis or prophecy. Those psychic gifts grow stronger as the Youma inside them begins to awaken. The reborn Youma also have ties with the Sailor Guardians, either previous to, or synonymous with, their past life awakening.

The Rainbow Crystals Are Believed to Be the Key to Discovering & Restoring the Silver Crystal

The Dark Kingdom’s Black Crystal Tracks & Recalls the Rainbow Crystals From the Reborn Youma

Crystals are powerful artifacts and power vectors in Sailor Moon. The most powerful, and sought-after, crystal is the Silver Crystal. It’s the birthright and duty of every Serenity heir from the Moon Kingdom line to carry, protect, and wield the Silver Crystal. The Silver Crystal is the key to controlling and shaping the universe, and the Serenity line is honor-bound to do so in service of protecting the galaxy and preserving life and peace.

Queen Beryl’s tasked with finding the Silver Crystal for the Dark Kingdom, and it’s widely believed by her and allies of the Moon Kingdom that finding and gathering all seven of the Rainbow Crystals is the key to finding the Silver Crystal. It’s only in the ’90s anime, which has the Seven Great Youma mini-arc as part of the Dark Kingdom arc, that has the Silver Crystal shattering into seven Rainbow Crystals during the Fall of the Moon Kingdom.

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​​​​​Midway through the Dark Kingdom arc in the ’90s anime, Queen Beryl takes counsel with Queen Metalia, the entity behind the Dark Kingdom and Queen Beryl’s enhanced sorceress powers. Queen Metalia gives Queen Beryl the quest of finding the Seven Shadows in their reborn forms on Earth. Queen Metalia instructs Queen Beryl to use some of the significant human energy they’ve gathered on Earth to create a powerful tool for the Dark Kingdom: the Black Crystal.

The Black Crystal of the Dark Kingdom arc is solely an invention of the ’90s anime, and it’s not to be confused with the manga-canon Malefic Black Crystal from the Black Moon Clan arc. The Dark Kingdom’s Black Crystal acts as a homing device. The Black Crystal guides the Dark Kingdom’s agents to certain humans (and one cat), discovering the reincarnated identity of each one. The Dark Kingdom isn’t the only faction who knows to look for the Rainbow Crystals, though. Luna lived as an advisor and assistant to Queen Serenity during the Silver Millennium, and she tells the Sailor Guardians the same story about the Seven Shadows and the fall of the Moon Kingdom. Sailor Moon’s Moon Stick can also track each Rainbow Crystal.

Queen Beryl Chooses 1 of Her Shitennou to Track Down Each Reborn Great Youma

Zoisite Becomes the Carrier of the Black Crystal

After Queen Beryl receives her instructions from Queen Metalia, she consults with her Shitennou and chooses Zoisite to take on the task of finding the reborn Great Youma. The task is a test that Zoisite cannot fail. Queen Beryl sees great potential in him, but she will also gladly kill him if he doesn’t accomplish his quest.

Queen Beryl bestows the Black Crystal to Zoisite, which is both an honor and a grave responsibility. Adding the Seven Great Youma arc to the Dark Kingdom arc is an excellent way not just to create compelling and interlinked filler episodes, but to give Zoisite a chance to shine in the story. Zoisite is a beautiful henchman with a compelling romance with his fellow Shitennou, Kunzite.

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Previous to this mini-arc, Jadeite was the reigning Shitennou who enacted most of the Dark Kingdom’s schemes. After Queen Beryl sentenced Jadeite to Eternal Sleep for too many failures, Nephrite took his place. Nephrite’s episodes revolve around collecting energy and posing as the human millionaire, Maxfield Stanton (or Masato Sanjouin, depending on the dub).

After Nephrite defects from the Dark Kingdom and loses his life, Zoisite is the next main acting Shitennou. It’s his turn to prove himself after his taunting rivalry with Nephrite and playing a role in his death. Zoisite’s task to collect the Rainbow Crystals helps mix up the formula for the Shitennou’s schemes, while still keeping the monster-of-the-week episode style. Zoisite is eager to prove himself in the task despite the high stakes that hinge on his success. The Black Crystal gives him projected images of each new target in their Earth form. He gleefully hunts down each reborn Youma, reminding them of whose side they originally fought on in the fall of the Silver Millennium.

Kunzite tries to help Zoisite, because he knows that his lover’s life is on the line if he doesn’t perform well enough in the task. Despite Zoisite’s enthusiasm and dedication to his task, he only successfully brings back one single Rainbow Crystal to the Dark Kingdom. And though Zoisite’s ultimately unsuccessful with recovering the Rainbow Crystals and loses his life, the Black Crystal continues to be used throughout the rest of the Black Kingdom arc.

Tuxedo Mask Is the Third Faction Who Hunts Down the Rainbow Crystals

A Mysterious Princess Begs Him to Find the Lost Crystals

Tuxedo Mask, aka Mamoru Chiba, doesn’t have a moon cat like Luna or a Dark Kingdom queen to guide him. He acts solely on instinct, sometimes guided by psychic visions and dreams. In one of Mamoru’s dream visions, he sees the silhouette of a princess begging him for help. The princess evokes nostalgia, yearning, and strong protective emotion in him, because though his mind does not yet remember that he once loved that princess in his past life, his heart recalls every detail.

The dream princess, who the audience knows is Princess Serenity, begs Mamoru to find the Silver Crystal, which is the “key to everything.” She urges him to find it before dark forces, meaning the Dark Kingdom, close in on it and destroy all their hopes of union and a peaceful future for the galaxy. Mamoru wakes up from the dream questioning if he is Tuxedo Mask, alluding to the sort of Jekyll and Hyde nature of Mamoru’s transformations (in the sense that he doesn’t remember becoming his alter ego, Tuxedo Mask, up to this point in the Dark Kingdom arc).

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Just as the Dark Kingdom sets its sights on collecting the Rainbow Crystals, Mamoru’s tasked with the same quest via his dream princess. Tuxedo Mask follows Zoisite and the Sailor Guardians, stealing several Rainbow Crystals from under Zoisite’s nose. It’s in this mini-arc that Mamoru finally realizes that, yes, he is the one transforming into Tuxedo Mask by night.

The Seven Great Youma arc is also the point in the story where Sailor Moon starts to truly suspect that Tuxedo Mask may be Mamoru. The thought occurs to her when Tuxedo Mask abruptly tells her that he collects the Rainbow Crystals for his own reasons, and not to help her as she assumed. In truth, he does collect them to help her; he just doesn’t realize yet, nor does anyone, that Sailor Moon is also the reborn Moon Princess, Princess Serenity. Tuxedo Mask gamely tells Sailor Moon that, eventually, he will come for the Rainbow Crystals in the Sailor Guardians’ possession, as well. This vow throws Tuxedo Mask’s morality and goals into question with the Sailor Guardians, which complicates his character nicely in the Dark Kingdom arc.

The Seven Great Youma Have Changed With Their New Human Forms

Each Youma Has an Interesting Connection to the Sailor Guardians

Each of the Seven Great Youma has an episode devoted to them. They are introduced and defeated within one episode, which many fans point out doesn’t quite match up to their reputation of being the strongest warriors of the Dark Kingdom. One theory for each Youma’s relatively easy defeat and purification by the Sailor Guardians could be that the anime creators wanted to finish the mini-arc within a handful of episodes. It’s perhaps more likely that being born as a human influenced the ancient Youma warriors. Several reborn Great Youma fight back against the influence of the Black Crystal, and some don’t even put up a fight against the Sailor Guardians because they’re bent on choosing peace in this current life.

Gamecen is an android and crane game-inspired cybernetic youma. He carries the Red Rainbow Crystal, and he was reborn as the talented gamer human, Crane Game Joe. Crane Game Joe has a longstanding talent for telekinesis, which he uses to win crane games. To his credit, though, he does donate his winnings. Zoisite traps the unsuspecting Crane Game Joe easily and steals his Red Rainbow Crystal, leaving him as the Great Youma, Gamecen.

Boxy is a vulture-inspired youma with magical boxing abilities, using his boxing gloves as projectiles charged with dark energy. He carries the Orange Rainbow Crystal, and is reborn as a kindly and humble Catholic priest. Usagi and Naru meet the priest when Naru wants to find some solace for her grief over losing Nephrite. The priest is the first reborn Great Youma to try to fight against Zoisite’s confrontation, especially because Naru is caught in the cross-hairs, and he wants to protect her. When Sailor Moon purifies Boxy, restoring the priest, the priest is even more determined to preach nonviolence.

Bunbo is a lizard-like youma, spliced with Swiss Army knife-bladed limbs. The Yellow Rainbow Crystal carrier was reborn on Earth as Ryo Urawa, a filler character who ends up having a sweet connection with Ami Mizuno. The two of them have a mutual admiration, because they are both excellent students, though Ryo aces his tests with the help of his prophetic abilities. Ryo also uses those prophetic abilities to help anyone he comes across. Even when Zoisite turns him into Bunbo, he refuses to attack Ami for as long as he can.

Veena is a gorgeous angel-inspired youma who carries the Green Rainbow Crystal. The Great Youma was reborn as the human artist, Yumemi, who seems to have some subconscious access to her past-life memories. Yumemi has visions and grew up being told legends by her family of a celestial princess and her star-crossed lover. When she paints the couple, it’s obvious that she is recalling Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion from her past life.

Rikoukeider is a youma who throws explosive vials, and she carries the Blue Rainbow Crystal. Rikoukeider was reborn as the manga-canon character, Reika Nishimura, who is also Motoki Furuhata’s girlfriend. Motoki tries to keep Zoisite away from Reika, but he’s ultimately unsuccessful and Zoisite removes her Rainbow Crystal. When the Sailor Guardians restore Reika to herself, she’s able to continue her life and career as she did before.

Jiji is an oni-themed youma who carries the Indigo Rainbow Crystal. He was reborn as Sailor Mars’ grandfather, Grandpa Hino, who lives and works in the Hikawa Shrine. Grandpa Hino has exceptional spiritual talents, and he holds off Zoisite’s influence for an impressive amount of time, even finding a way for his soul to speak to his granddaughter while Jiji is fully awakened. No one is more relieved than Sailor Mars when Grandpa Hino’s restored to his human self.

Bakene is a wild cat-themed youma who carries the Violet Rainbow Crystal. Bakene was reborn on Earth as a cat rather than a human. The cat’s name is Rhett Butler, and he is delightfully chubby and lazy, but he has a heart of gold and he protects Luna several times. He’s the only Great Youma that totally resists being forced to attack the Sailor Guardians in his ancient form. Not only does Bakene never strike the Sailor Guardians — he takes great pains to protect Luna once again.

Sailor Moon

Release Date

March 7, 1992

Directors

Junichi Sato, Kunihiko Ikuhara

Writers

Sukehiro Tomita

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