Sailor Chibi-Chibi

Chibi-Chibi (ちびちび?) first appears in Act 44 of the manga and Episode 182 of the anime. She appears to be about two years old, and cannot really talk yet: she imitates the ends of others' sentences, and mostly says "chibi". Her red-pink hair is always up in two heart shaped odango with little ringlets sticking out the sides, echoing Usagi's hairstyle. Chibi-Chibi's name is a doubling of the Japanese term meaning "runt," "dwarf," or "shrimp," and is used both for that reason and because of Chibi-Chibi's similarity to Chibi-usa. It is also a pun, as the word chibi-chibi also means "making something last".[13]

Chibi-Chibi's first appearance echoes that of Chibi-usa. In the manga, she is shown floating down to Earth with an umbrella in her hand, and then simply shows up at the door of the Tsukino house. When Usagi's mother expresses surprise, asking "Chibi-usa?" the little girl repeats "Chibi chibi?" and receives her nickname. In the anime, she meets Usagi in the park one afternoon and starts to follow her around, saying only "chibi chibi" (without having been prompted). In each series, Chibi-Chibi immediately attaches herself to Usagi's family, whose memories are modified so that they believe her to be the youngest child—almost exactly what Chibi-usa had done on her first appearance.[14] The Senshi theorize that she might in fact be Usagi's sister, or perhaps her second daughter, or the child of Chibi-usa.[15] In the anime, Setsuna states that Usagi herself only has one child,[16] and in the manga, any Queen of the Silver Millennium line will have only one daughter. When Chibi-usa meets Chibi-Chibi (in the manga only), she feels very strongly that Chibi-Chibi is not hers.[17]

In each series, Chibi-Chibi is the caretaker of a small, ornate incense burner that releases a scent of fragrant olive blossoms, which the Sailor Starlights gradually recognize as a symbol of Princess Kakyuu. They threaten Chibi-Chibi and try to take it away from her, and Kakyuu herself is revealed to have been resting inside it, hidden from the evil Sailor Galaxia.[18][19]

Chibi-Chibi eventually transforms, under her own power, into a Sailor Senshi. In the manga she is simply named Sailor Chibi-Chibi, while in the anime she is called Sailor Chibi-Chibi Moon. Although the reprint of the manga continues to omit the word 'moon', it is added to her name on a sticker included with Volume 12. In the manga, Chibi-Chibi transforms into a Sailor Senshi by shouting the words "Chibi-Chibi Crystal Power! Make Up!"[20] This transition is never shown on screen in the anime. In this Senshi form, she carries a heart scepter with what looks like a planetary ring and uses it to defend herself and Sailor Moon. She is not shown using any attacks of her own, but she does increase Sailor Moon's power.

The truth of Chibi-Chibi's identity is very different in the manga from what it is in the anime, largely because the two series were being produced at roughly the same time. In the manga, Chibi-Chibi's childlike form is really a disguise for Sailor Cosmos, an ultimately-powerful Senshi from the future. In the anime, Chibi-Chibi is the starseed of Sailor Galaxia, who had once been a great force for good. When Galaxia fought Chaos, she could see no way to defeat it except to seal it away inside her own body. In order to protect her starseed from being corrupted, she sent it away to Earth, where it finally becomes Chibi-Chibi. Chibi-Chibi is also referred to as the "light of hope" (kibō no hikari) by the Starlights—their one chance for defeating Galaxia. She is able to transport herself and the Senshi around Galaxia's domain freely, and in the end, transforms herself into a Sword of Sealing (fuuin no ken). This is the weapon Galaxia had used to seal away Chaos, and Chibi-Chibi begs Sailor Moon to use it to defeat them.

In the original anime production of Sailor Moon, Chibi-Chibi is voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi, who also provides Usagi's voice.[21] In the stage musicals, Chibi-Chibi has been played by 4 actresses: Mao Kawasaki, Mikiko Asuke, Yuka Gouchou, and Mina Horita.[22] Naoko Takeuchi praised Kawasaki's cuteness as Chibi-Chibi.[23] When she appears in the stage musicals, Chibi-Chibi's backstory always follows the anime version. She is given her own song, "Mou ii no" (It's All Right), which she sings to announce that she has come to rejoin Galaxia.