Sailor Moon A to Z, MoTD Style: Lyrica Hubert

Lyrica is another slightly unusual MoTD. Like Bonnoun, she was the antagonist in an Anime special based on a manga side-story; in this case, she was from one of the Chibi-Usa’s Picture Diary manga specials.
There are a few different romanizations of “Lyrica Hubert”; “Ririca” or “Yubelle” are common (her last name is written as “yubeeru” in Japanese, but it fits with Hubert’s french pronunciation).

^{Lyrica’s story is similar in both the anime and manga, but with a couple of significant changes.
In both, Lyrica is a new student at Chibi-Usa’s school. She is incredibly beautiful and very popular, especially with the boys. However, she is also very sickly, and often experiences dizzy or fainting spells, and asks some of the boys in her class to walk her home on days she feels particularly weak. Chibi-Usa and Momoko grow suspicious when the boys who walked her home don’t attend school the following days; they feel they’re confirmed when they spy her eating some of the flowers in the school garden. Ami and the other girls theorize that, given the evidence, Lyrica might be a vampire.
Chibi-Usa, Momoko and a skeptical Kyuusuke visit Lyrica’s house to grill her for answers. There, she explains that the ‘flowers’ she was eating are sugared flower candies, and she has no idea where the boys are. The children seem placated, but Momoko is attacked while going to the bathroom. The Sailor Soldiers arrive on the scene and Lyrica transforms into an early bat-like Lemures. They weaken her with the “Sailor Special Garlic Attack” - in reality, they breathed on her with their still-garlicy breath from yesterday’s Korean BBQ - and she gets taken out by Moon Gorgeous Meditation. Lyrica is freed and returns to her normal life.
The manga story had two major differences. For starters, Lyrica was not alone; when the children visited her house, they didn’t speak with Lyrica herself, but rather her similarly beautiful mother. The biggest change was that Lyrica Hubert and her mother were not possessed by any monsters, but merely straight-up, garden-variety vampires, and were killed off for good.}

Sailor Moon A to Z, MoTD Style: Jamanen

_{Jamanen’s theme and design was uncharacteristically unrelated to the episode’s plot of Petz and Calaveras corrupting a charm shop. She was a gelatinous, shape-shifting monster formed from a glass of wine, with a calm and serious disposition. Unlike many MoTD, she was perfectly content with the idea of dying for Calaveras, her master; her servitude, origin, and a conspicuous bow tie as her only real distinguishing feature all suggest her design might be based on a waiter or bartender.
Jamanen could sink into the floor, walls and ceiling, and used this ability to catch the Sailor Soldiers by surprise, then incapacitated them by trapping their limbs in goo. Though she never got to use it she could also transform one of her arms into a long blade. She was either immune to Petz’s electricity or content to withstand any pain it caused when Petz attacked Jupiter while she was holding her, but was damaged by Mars’s Burning Mandala. She was a highly competent monster and managed to subdue the other four Soldiers, but Sailor Moon arrived and inevitably destroyed her.
TRIVIA: Jamanen was a monster in the Sailor Moon R Super Famicon side-scroller beat-‘em-up game. Retaining her ability to sink into the floor and evade player attacks, she was a tricky monster to beat.}

Sailor Moon A to Z, MoTD Style: Iguara

Iguara was one of the first MoTD, appearing in episode 5 (which was cut from the DiC dub airing). She symbolizes both a beginning and an end; she was one of the last examples of monsters who looked truly monstrous after their transformation, and was one of the first examples of the series’s “every monster must have breasts” disease. She is a lizard. But with breasts! Comparably, monsters before her like Morga and Baam were totally flat-chested.
Right, canon info now.

_{Iguara was one of Jadeite’s monsters, working on a plot that revolved around the new “Pet Shop Perfume” and her small scented rabbits, the Chanella. These cute, pastel-coloured, fluffy bunnies hypnotized anyone who looked into their eyes; as they slowly drained their owners’ energy, they forced on them a strong bond that made them want to look at their Chanella and do nothing else. If they were forced to look away, they developed withdrawal-like symptoms within a few minutes. The bewitched were also extremely protective of their Chanella, with Usagi’s classmate Yumiko pushing Ms. Haruna into another desk when she threatened to confiscate hers.
Iguara controlled the Chanella, and could draw the hypnotized owners to her store at night. From there her plan was to get the already-ensared owners to spread Chanella to more people. When Sailor Moon intervened, she revealed that those who had been hypnotized already - including Usagi’s little brother Shingo - could be turned into zombie-like minions with Iguara’s yellow eyes and scaly skin. This was dispelled by the series’s only use of ‘Moon Tiara Stardust’.
With her minions useless, Iguara transformed and attacked Sailor Moon, proving that she was strong and fast. Unfortunately, the base of her tail glowed when she used it to lift and strangle Sailor Moon, revealing to Luna that it was her weak spot; after taking a Moon Tiara Action directly to that point, she was turned to dust, along with her Chanella.}

Sailor Moon A to Z, MoTD Style: Hurdler

_{Eudial created the Daimon Hurdler from - you guessed it - a hurdle; she was designed to target Elsa Grey, a sprinter/hurdler and minor celebrity. Hurdler’s greatest strength appeared to be her speed and agility, outrunning Mars’s Burning Mandala and leaping clear over Venus’s Love-Me Chain.
Her main attack was ‘Hard Line’; using the meter on her back, she threw down a strip of white track lane paint, which turned into tape she used to tie the Sailor Soldiers up. However, it was easily broken by Sailor Neptune. Fast though Hurdler may have been, she couldn’t outrun Haruka, who held the Daimon to be weakened by Neptune’s Deep Submerge and finally finished off by Sailor Moon.
She’s also… a giant shoe.}

Sailor Moon A to Z, MoTD Style: Giwaku

_{One of Esmeraude’s Droids, Giwaku looked over a Dark Wedge hidden at the Eisai Cram School. The dark energy made the students grow malicious and spiteful, spreading rumours about Ami cheating to get her good grades. Ami was smart enough to notice that all the students experiencing a rapid personality shift were Eisai students, and scoped it out for herself; there, Giwaku attacked her, but not making much progress with her clones, decided a better ploy would be to turn Ami against the other Sailor Soldiers and have her take them out herself. She cast Illusion Doubt on her, making her hallucinate that the other Soldiers had suddenly turned against her for petty reasons. When Sailor Moon arrived, Giwaku tried the same technique on her, only to be foiled because Usagi is flawlessly free of self-doubt. However, it seemed like Mercury was still under her illusion; until at the last minute it was revealed she could never doubt her friends, and froze Giwaku’s illusion-casting antennae; leaving her open for Sailor Moon to finish off.
Giwaku also beat the shit out of Tuxedo Mask.
“Giwaku” means “doubt”; her Dub name was Mistrust.}

Sailor Moon A to Z, MoTD Style: Fuuraiki

_{Upon hearing Chibi-Usa was afraid of thunder, Petz enlisted the help of a Droid she felt would be perfect for the job of scaring her out of hiding; Fuuraiki, a monster with the power to conjure up thunderstorms. Fuuraiki had a huge drum strapped to her front that she would hit with electric plugs, conjuring both thunder and lightning, as well as a hair dryer holstered to her leg that could create huge gusts of wind and electricity. Naturally, for a storm-making monster, she could fly. She was super into her job, shouting “DON! DON! DON!” when beating on her giant drum. She eventually did manage to spook Chibi-Usa so much she ran out into the open, and chased her into a department store; there she was distracted about Tuxedo Mask talking about traditional waltzes, and was eventually dusted by Sailor Moon.
“Fuuraiki” comes from a combination of Fuujin and Raijin, Japanese Gods of wind and thunder/lightning respectively.
Personally, I think – ignoring the drum – she looks pretty damn cool. I especially liked the hair-dryer holster and how her bracers/makeup matched her electric probes, like the ends of a battery.
TRIVIA: Fuuraiki was a monster in the Sailor Moon R Super Famicon side-scrolling beat-‘em-up game. She was particularly difficult to beat, having a range attack that would burn you (implying that her hair dryer produced hot wind), and a close-combat move that would electrify you. Perhaps referencing her initial role of actively seeking out the ‘Rabbit’, she is one of the few monsters in the game who can hurt you when playing as Chibi-Usa.}

Sailor Moon A to Z, MoTD Style: Elephanko

_{Elephanko was a unique MoTD, being that she had an extended family, with two of her relatives appearing in other episodes. They were all themed around circus balls - Elephanko’s brother-in-law, Gum Mario, was a rubber balancing ball for a seal, and his second cousin (Elephanko’s, too, through some kind of monstrous wedding) Puko was a balloon-girl. Elephanko herself was a balancing ball for large animals.
She was a catty older woman, expressing a dislike for her brother-in-law. She also had a tendency to brag and to ramble, completely oblivious to her audience’s disinterest. She boasted strength enough that she would not crack, even if an elephant stood on her, though this turned out to be true for only a few moments. Ditching the elephant back to the Amazon Bar, she proved that her durability combined with her extreme speed (a trait shared with her other relatives) was incredibly dangerous and destructive. While she spent most of her appearance as a ball, she did reveal - before being dusted by Moon Gorgeous Meditation - that she had a humanoid form… save for her head.
Elephanko was Hawk’s Eye’s Lemures; Gum Mario was Fisheye’s, and Puko was Tiger’s Eye’s.
She’s also responsible for one of the most hilarious moments in the entire series.}

Sailor Moon A to Z, MoTD Style: DD Girls

Ugh, ok. So having to watch the season finale of Classic to get these caps made me cry again, like I thought it would. It is, in my opinion, the most emotional finale; each of their sacrifices are so meaningful and moving and the emotion is so raw and palpable and A BLOO BLOO BLOO.
So even though I really love these monsters’ designs, I feel more than a little bitter towards them. Sigh.
Some basic info:

_{The DD Girls were some of Queen Beryl’s most powerful minions, and personally volunteered to take down the Sailor Soldiers. At first they relied heavily on tricking them with a special jewel in the leader (pale blue)’s tiara, which could create dangerous illusions with real effects; after Mercury broke it, they swapped to ambushes and their advantage of speed, being able to travel beneath the ice of D Point and fly through the air faster than you could see. Once they had a Sailor Soldier trapped in their vines - which they sprouted from their bodies - they could either electrocute or burn them.
The purple and red DD Girls were the first to die, taken out by Jupiter’s Supreme Thunder; Venus obliterated the pink one at point-blank range, leaving Mars to finish off the green one and the apparent leader. They have never been given individual names.}

Sailor Moon A to Z, MoTD Style: Chagama

_{Targeting a young boy who worked serving at tea ceremonies, Eudial created the Daimon Chagama using an old tea pot. Chagama was a stoic monster who attacked by whisking and throwing scalding hot cups of green tea, though she wasn’t afraid to smack a titch when she had to. A powerful and competent monster, she unfortunately prioritised being a good host too highly, and was caught off-guard by Sailor Moon’s “Moon Spiral Heart Attack” whilst trying to “entertain” Tuxedo Mask midway through disrobing to her tea kettle lingerie.
Chagama floated everywhere on her cushion, kneeling as one does at a tea ceremony. Her hair style is reminiscent of the brush/whisk used to prepare bitter green tea in traditional tea ceremonies.
A chagama is a traditional Japanese iron tea pot/kettle.}