While most Sailor Scouts on Sailor Moon have their specific elements, two of them stand as an exception to this rule. Sailor Neptune and Sailor Mercury use elements of water in their techniques. However, one might be mistaken to believe that it is an oversight, but the creators of Sailor Moon wanted them to have water-based attacks. Even their surnames have kanji related to water as mizu in Mizuno means water while no means field. Mizuno is Sailor Moon’s surname, which means water field. Similarly, Sailor Neptune’s surname Neptune means sea king.
Although both characters have powers based on the element of water, they use it in different ways for attacks. Sailor Neptune’s powers pay homage to Neptune, the Roman God of the Deep Sea. Therefore, it is not surprising that all of her attacks involve the deep sea and ocean. Submarine Reflection which one of her most used attacks releases a blast of seawater using Deep Aqua Mirror. Another one of her effective attacks, called Deep Submerge, gathers ocean water as a blue ball of energy, which appears like the planet Neptune. She then attacks her enemies by releasing it on them.
Sailor Mercury, on the other hand, uses water in a completely different way. Her attacks do not necessarily rely on only the liquid form of water, but she instead uses various forms like ice, snow, and mist, usually the ones that are related to weather. Mercury Aqua Rhapsody is one of her unique attacks in which she changes water into a harp’s shape. It is then used to produce a funnel of water. The harp is a homage to the inventor of the harp, Greek God Hermes. He was the messenger of Mt. Olympus, and in Roman mythology, he is known as Mercury. Ami Mizuno was born on 10th September, which is the period of the Virgo season according to Western astrology. The ruling planet of Virgo season is Mercury, which makes planet Mercury more significant for her.
The creator of Sailor Moon was not only sure about Sailor Neptune and Sailor Mercury’s water-based power, but she had quite a convincing philosophy behind it. Most Sailor Moon fans either fail to notice or don’t appreciate Naoko Takeuchi’s philosophy. The power of the pair comes from Greco-Roman mythology and the specific kanji for their names and planets. Both of them might have the same elements, but their attacks are quite versatile and unique. Moreover, there is a deeper philosophical reason for their control over water.
Source: Sailor Moon: Similarities Between the Powers of Sailor Mercury and Sailor Neptune Powers
