Zodiac Signs

Of Picses and Aquarius.

When creating the characters of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Takeuchi Naoko added many little subtle details that tie in with each girl's planetary allegiance. Some of such details include the birth dates; Michiru's birth date is March 6 which makes her a Picses and Haruka's birthday is January 27, making her an Aquarius.

The ruling planet for Picses is Neptune and its element is water, just as Sailor Neptune controls the seas. Aquarius' ruling planet is Uranus and its element is air, just as Sailor Uranus is tied so closely to the wind.

Takarazuka Theater

Inspiration for Haruka & Michiru.

When Takeuchi Naoko was developing Haruka and Michiru's personalities, she originally designed them to be members of the Takarazuka Revue, an all-female Japanese musical theater group. Takeuchi said she wanted to create two characters who complemented each other. In this case, Haruka represents the women who play the male roles (otokoyaku, lit. "male role") and Michiru represents the women who play the female roles (musumeyaku, lit. "daughter's role"). The women in Takarazuka are segregated in training based on what roles they fill and the otokoyaku cut their hair short, wear men's clothing and talk with male pronouns when referring to themselves in order to best prepare for the roles they will play.

Takeuchi considers Takarazuka to be the "maximum level of feminine emancipation" and decided to use the Revue as a way to explain to children how two women could be in love with each other. As Takarazuka is popular in Japan, it would be a lot easier to understand when using this as a reference. Haruka is otokoyaku, so she naturally would fall in love with Michiru, the musumeyaku.

Blood Types

A window to Haruka & Michiru's personalities.

In Japan, blood types are said to define personalities. There are four types of blood, each defining the negative and positive traits for four different types of personalities. The blood types are A, AB, B and O.

Haruka's blood type is O which means that she is wild, active, creative, passionate and strong. It also means that she is selfish, irresponsible, unforgiving and erratic. This seems to suit Haruka's personality very well, as she is extremely active, strong and passionate in her mission but she can also be rather selfish at times. While I would not necessarily say Haruka is erratic, she can be unforgiving regarding anyone who hurts those she protects.

Michiru's blood type is O, meaning that she is confident, self-determined, optimistic, strong-willed and intuitive. Negatively, it means she's self-centered, cold, doubtful, unpredictable and a workaholic. While Michiru is certainly strong-willed, confident and intuitive, I'm not sure she's self-centered or unpredictable. She can be cold as Sailor Neptune when she has to be.

Sources
Interview with Takeuchi Naoko - http://www.kicie.net/realm/naoko.htm
Wikipedia information on Takarazuka Revue - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takarazuka_Revue
"Blood types in Japanese culture" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_types_in_Japanese_culture