DERELLA
デレーラ · Derēra
“So, you’ve seen the truth!”
– Derella to Usagi
The seventh episode of Sailor Moon marks the end of the solo arc, leading us into the next chapters of the first season: Finding the other Sailor Senshi, the Moon Princess and the Silver Crystal. It’ll still be quite awhile before the whole team gathers, but in the coming episodes, Sailors Mercury and Mars would be joining the titular hero.
WHEN AND WHERE
In Usagi Learns Her Lesson: Becoming a Star Is Hard Work, a talent-search event called the Cinderella Caravan attracts Usagi, her classmates and many other people from Azabu-Jūban. What they don’t realize is, the host is secretly the Yōma Derella disguised as Mikan Shiratori, a real idol who the monster wrapped in glass and then left inside a bathtub. As for this Cinderella Caravan, it’s just another scheme to gather a large quantity of energy.
ETYMOLOGY
Derella’s name is straightforward; it’s a truncation of Cinderella, as in the Cinderella Caravan. “Cinderella” itself is derived from the French “Cendrillon” and means “little ashes”. Derella, by the way, wouldn’t be the only Sailor Moon monster to have a Cinderella-inspired name. In S, episodes 101 and 102, a Daimon is called the Spanish name for Cinderella: Cenicienta.
DESIGN
After the Cutie Honey-esque Kyurene from the last episode, Derella is a return to Yōma like Morga, Balm and Flau. Again, that quality of grotesqueness is firmly set in place, creating a contrast between Derella’s true form and her human disguise, not to mention Sailor Moon. And considering the fairytale motif in this episode, that aesthetic clash between beauty and beast finally feels appropriate.
Since the Cinderella theme was glossed over in the DiC dub — the Cinderella Caravan is called the Star Quest Contest, although the original name still appears in katakana — it’s understandable to not have realized Derella herself is made of glass, like that iconic slipper used to find Cinderella. (Aside: Digging into the fairytale’s origins would reveal the possible mistranslation that caused a fur slipper to become a glass one.) When fighting Sailor Moon in the DiC adaptation, the monster’s powers are even cold and icy in nature. Nevertheless, the artistic dimensionality given to Derella, to suggest her glassiness, is the most striking part of her design, other than that skullet hairstyle. Daimon Cenicienta would also inherit the same crystalline physicality, right down to the coloring.
THE BATTLE
Episode director Takao Yoshizawa and animation director Katsuji Matsumoto reunited after first collaborating in the second episode. Signs of their creative cooperation seems evident in shared creative choices, such as Sailor Moon delivering her introduction without the conventional backdrop — here the wall of stark, glowing whiteness behind her emulates a stage light — and the graphic demise of the monsters. A big and empty theater, however, is a more dramatic and visually pleasing battleground than Balm’s fortune-telling house. All that space in plain sight, and reachable exit doors that don’t appear to be locked, yet there’s still nowhere to run or hide.
Sailor Moon running for the seat rows, as opposed to running right out the doors, is still not the most illogical thing she’ll do in the series. Plus, Derella’s glassy liquid spew didn’t have the longest reach, so keeping Sailor Moon in proximity is valid. And after previously entombing the real Mikan Shiratori in glass, the episode couldn’t end without Derella doing the same to the protagonist.
As soon as the enemy gets the inevitable upper hand, in comes Tuxedo Mask displaying his impeccable sense of timing and precise aim. Perhaps audiences needed a reminder of his existence, along with his function so far in the story, since he was absent from the previous episode.
Ultimately, this fight doesn’t deviate from the norm, although Sailor Moon being briefly encased in glass offers a scary scenario. That gloriously direct hit of Moon Tiara Action is also brutal. All future episodes would typically cut away before the tiara made contact with Sailor Moon’s target, so be sure to savor this moment.
EPILOGUE
A Sailor V anime never came to fruition back then, and not for a lack of a trying, but these first seven episodes of Sailor Moon would have made a fine template for one. During this phase, the staff experimented with what might and might not work later on, and some certain favorable elements from this section were altered or simply cut out altogether, much to the disappointment of fans. For example, the standard version of Moon Prism Power Make Up was debuted in Episode 7, effectively removing those individualized sequences from before. Seeing part of Usagi’s outfit be incorporated into her transformation footage was a nice touch that, for obvious reasons, didn’t happen again once the other Senshi arrived.
Thankfully, Derella wasn’t the last of the more intimidating and ghastly Yōma; they continue well into Nephrite’s era. None, however, reach the heights of horror like Derella, whose version of Norman Bates’ Psycho shower surprise was a bit terrifying. You can almost hear the network telling the show to tone things down. 🌙
Tales from the Paulside 
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