Super Sailor Chibimoon Fuku - Manga Version

Super Sailor Chibimoon as she appears in the Dead Moon Circus arc.

This fuku is very similar to the one seen in the anime, and as you will notice from comparing the first two rows of images, it is more or less identical both times it appears -- in the Dead Moon Circus arc and in the Death Busters arc. The major differences in this costume aren't really from construction, they're in coloration. Still, I'm going to hit the differences so you know what you're up against when building a manga Super Sailor Chibimoon costume.

The bodysuit is identical in construction to the anime Super Sailor Chibimoon bodysuit, so I'm going to refer you to that which in turn refers you to my notes on the bodysuit in the anime Sailor Chibimoon fuku notes.

One of the biggest differences between this fuku and previous Chibimoon fukus is that instead of a solid color on the collar and skirt (or three solid colors, as with the anime Super Sailor Chibimoon fuku) the manga fuku has a gradiented watercolor look to it. The collar goes from pink on the V to golden orange at the square cut back. The skirt is nominally white and first dyed with a band of orange gold, then an intermediary band of pink and finally a band of very dark high saturation pink or simply red. Sometimes the intermediary band of pink on the skirt is omitted, leaving only the gold and the red-pink.

The only way I know of to achieve this effect is to custom dye the skirt and the collar yourself. Dying isn't as hassleriffic as you may at first be imagining. First you'll need a tub of a good enough size that you can control exactly what part of the skirt and collar are going to go down into the dye at any given time. Then you just need some hot water and some packets of RIT dye that you can get at most supermarkets (and if all else fails, the craft store, where you may find a wider color selection).

Make sure that you're wearing old clothes, dying in some place with a tile floor, and have put newspaper down, so as to minimize disasters. You also need to make sure that you've made your skirt and collar out of a material that will take and hold dye well. You can find a lot of information on what kinds of fabrics will behave the way you want if you just look them up online before you go shopping for fabric at the store. For the skirt, to achieve the layered effect it will make the most sense to dye in the golden ring first, as it's the lighter color. Don't put the whole skirt into the dye. Fold up the hem so that you have a mostly clean section to then dye red-fushia in the next go. Also expect a little bleeding of the color up and down from the ring you dyed. That's okay, it goes with our water color look! Now dye the back of your collar, leaving the plenty of it clear to take the pink you'll be doing next. Now let these dry. Once they are dry you can use common sense and repeat steps with the two additional colors that you'll be doing. Again, the light pink on the skirt is optional, and the collar has no red, only the pink.

Be sure to let the skirt and collar thoroughly dry before you think about doing anything else with them, or your body suit may end up splatter pink polkadotted.

As she appears in the Death Busters arc.

Although difficult to spot in some of the pictures, Chibimoon still sports the two lines of trim on her sailor collar, which are fine gold thread, probably a decorative stitch. It is a standard sailor collar with a V necked front fastening inside the V of the bodice and a square cut back. The trim continues all the way around and also squares in the back, although not visible in these images.

The skirt is mini length with knife pleats. The main fabric is a white to match the body suit. The color is water color gradiented and will have to be dyed to reach this effect. Besides the white trim of the skirt (that again should be riding over your hip bones) and like the anime version of the fuku, this fuku also has a metallic golden belt around the waist that again I believe to be something like an omega chain. At the front V of the chain where it crosses the white trim of the skirt sits a beveled pink heart. It's surely made out of something shiny, although sometimes it is painted with metallic highlights and sometimes simply shiny highlights. Presumably it is a pink crystal, meant to match the one in the brooch that Chibimoon is sporting in both of these versions of the Super fuku.

The front bow is crimson ribbon, and as in the anime the manga super fuku also sport smaller, more angular bows. It could be made from either wide wired ribbon or fabric with the proper sheen, although then it will have to be lightly wired interally or it will not hold its shape unless the thickness and stiffness of the fabric itself holds the shape for it. I know I'm always singing the same song about wiring your ribbons, but nothing's sadder than a fuku with limp, droopy ribbons. If your bow holds it's shape by itself properly? Fantastic. If it doesn't? Wire that puppy.

The back bow is enormous, with trailers reaching all the way to the feet. Images are provided so you can judge size for yourself, but you'll need to make this one out of something very light and transluscent, since the thing appears nearly completely transparent in just about every image. Although I've never worked with it, all I can suggest is something like silk gauze. This one will have to be wired to hold its shape because anything you find that's properly transparent is also going to be way too gauzy and light to hold shape by itself. The same is true of those ribbon trailers, which are always depicted as spiraling in scalloped trails. When the bow is given color it is a faint pink or faint lavender pink.

The brooch I have talked about before, since it's the same one she has as manga Sailor Chibimoon in the Death Busters story. It is also the same as the one Super Sailor Chibimoon uses in the anime, or virtually indistinguishable. Although the brooches do get powered up in the manga, Chibimoon's appears to change very little. The only addition may be the little crown on top, although this is sometimes omitted in the simplified drawings.

The Bandai toy for comparison to the images.

The earrings are gold post crescent moons, as you can see. The choker appears to be metallic gold, so it reflects the light. It may well be intended to be a second linked chain of gold, to match the belt, but probably it's simply shiny golden yellow fabric. The accent piece on this one is a beveled pink heart.

For the first time, the tiara is noticeably different (even in the anime, the only change was really the switch from a pink stone to a crescent moon). In this fuku the tiara is depicted as being two bands of metal descending to form a V, but instead of meeting in a point as usual, they are joined by a golden crescent moon. That means this tiara would be at least three separate pieces of metal to build -- the two straight bits of gold and then the upward pointing crescent moon that connects them.

Alternate coloring. Otherwise known as Naoko forgot to paint the gold on Chibimoon. Feel free to cosplay this. It is interesting in its own way.

The gloves are elbow length, with either two or three caps of pink material that reflects the light with a high sheen -- so something like vinyl or plastic. Again there is inconsistency with how many caps there are on the gloves. Sometimes there are two, and sometimes there are three. Just make sure your gloves match one another and you should be set. Again, the white parts of the gloves appear to be matte and not satin.

These boots are the same boots we've been talking about since we got here. Please see the other fuku descriptions for my nots on construction, especially anime Super Sailor Chibimoon which even addresses the additional crescent moon accents that appear on these boots as well.

For accessories, wands, and hair bits, please check the accessories page.