If you think about it, you're less likely going to find merchandise of the Starlights in the Sailor Moon series. Usually, we always have them focus on Season 1 with the original 5 Senshi, and while we have seen bits of Season 2 or three here and there, the focus on earlier stuff is much like how things work with MMPR Season 1: people likely never saw anything past the other seasons, so I wasn't surprised at seeing how merchandise made for US markets don't always depict the Outer Senshi or any characters from R and the other seasons beyond any marketing for the Viz dubs of their movies (with varying degrees of color-grading issues that are mostly fixed of late). With Cosmos finally adapting the Sailor Stars story arc in animated form, and more faithfully than the 90s anime, we now have articulated versions of the under-represented Starlight trio, consisting of Seiya the Fighter, Yaten the Healer, and Taiki the Maker.
Let's give the Sailor Star Fighter the in-hand attention. Unlike the Sailor Senshi, who possess the standard sailor outfits with skirts inspired by the fukus that are on Japanese school uniforms, the Starlights possess more revealing outfits that are in black (or in this case, navy blue) rather than white with larger color-coded traits found in the normal Senshi; apart from the hair, Seiya's eyes and the bands on the arms and stomach area are baby blue. The skirts are replaced with shorts, the midriffs are exposed, there is a prominent music theme with the earpieces, and the chest pieces depict wings rather than a bow. I know you can't really tell how the materials truly feel in an animated show, but I have a feeling that they are more like leather rather than normal fabric. The music theme is a nod to the fact that she and the others run the Three Lights band when disguised as males (with the manga just having them cross-dress while the anime made more convincing disguises when changing between genders). Seiya's face sometimes looks like a more feminine version of Mamoru's thinking about it, only with a ponytail.
As is the case, the necks, shoulders, and hips are articulated. A pair of alternate arms can be swapped to give Sailor Star Fighter an alternate pose, with one arm out and another with its hand on her hip. I should mention that the details represent the Crystalverse more than they do the 90s anime, due to the more detailed and desaturated irises on the eyes while the outfits are more of a navy blue rather than a full black. For a size comparison, they are half the size of a 6-inch scale figure, such as Marvel Legends Doctor Strange. One does not need the Eye of Agamotto to determine how slim we'll ever get a 6-inch version of poor Seiya.
Up next, here we have Yaten the Sailor Star Healer. Same figure as the last character we took a look at, but with a unique hairstyle and color for this character as well as green linework. In a way, this reminds me of the Big Time Spider-Man suit with how predominantly dark it is. Her ponytail is flatter than Seiya's. Her alternate hands are a mirrored hand on hip arm that is now relocated to the right side while the left arm is stretched out and now posed as if she wants you to hold her hand rather than look like she's shooing you away like Seiya.
And finally, we have Taiki, the Sailor Star Maker. This time, the bands on her are lavender, her ponytail is on the right side, and she retains her oversized forehead the same way she does in normal proportions. You can swap out the arms with having both of her hands on her hips. Not much else to do with the creative poses, huh?
Overall, this set is pretty good if you want to have versions of the characters that are in plastic form. As far as I can tell, there are no Figuarts planned for these characters, so these will have to stay with the rest of the Minis if you have them with you. It's a shame that there aren't any third-party versions of these characters, but then again, certain members of the fanbase are better known for making statues than actual action figures.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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