<p><strong>TL;DR:</strong> Because the target audience for the show are girls. And girls are supposed to like makeovers.</p>

<hr>

<p><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=Ck2Q5qPVSlYC&amp;pg=PA137&amp;lpg=PA137&amp;dq=sailor%20moon%20make%20up%20transformation%20keyword&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=7hhK9AYMoU&amp;sig=s6Q0SdrVNr2d6ftA2WNV1aR17IE&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=VWElVJi9ArHgsATo_oCACA&amp;ved=0CEsQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&amp;q=sailor%20moon%20make%20up%20transformation%20keyword&amp;f=false" rel="nofollow">An excerpt from the book</a> <em>Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination (Anne Allison)</em> (emphasis mine): </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>In a property like Sailor Moon, these two words [romance and fantasy marriage] blend in a story line that incorporates both fighting and romance, (...) however the text still belongs in "girls' country" (...).  </p>
  
  <p>Girl heroes have powers rooted in magic or otherworldliness, they fight to help friends, <strong>their weapons double as fashion accessories</strong>, a princess or spirit empowers them, they "make up" when transformed, and "love" is their keyword. (...)</p>
  
  <p>When girl heroes morph, however, the <strong>process is more a "makeover"</strong> than a "powerup". Apart from empowerment, that is, transformation also beautifies girls, fostering personal attractiveness, romance and dreams.</p>
</blockquote>

<hr>

<p>We can infer that the <strong>"make up"</strong> magic word in Sailor Moon is used to foster the identification process between the audience (young girls) and the characters.</p>

<p>In Sailor Moon Crystal, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protagonist" rel="nofollow">protagonist</a> is 14 years old. From the same Wikipedia article:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The audience is intended to mostly identify with the protagonist.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>So, there you go.</p>

<p>This answer also answers: "Why is Tsukino (sailor moon) 14 years old?"</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-26T13:03:01.010Z
2014-09-26T13:14:07.100Z
2014-09-26T13:14:07.100Z
Mindwin Remember Monica
<p>It's always seemed a bit odd to me. The best explanation I can think of is that it's a reference to makeup, which is itself (sort of) transformational. Just wondered if this is something Takeuchi ever explained somewhere.</p>

<sailor-moon>
Why is "Make Up" the transformation keyword used by the Sailor Senshi?
# Why is "Make Up" the transformation keyword used by the Sailor Senshi?
Posted by: username_0 on 2014-09-22
It's always seemed a bit odd to me. The best explanation I can think of is that it's a reference to makeup, which is itself (sort of) transformational. Just wondered if this is something Takeuchi ever explained somewhere.
**Tags:** sailor-moon
---
## 1 answers
### Answer by username_1 on 2014-09-26. Score: 4
**TL;DR:** Because the target audience for the show are girls. And girls are supposed to like makeovers.

---

[An excerpt from the book](http://books.google.com/books?id=Ck2Q5qPVSlYC&pg=PA137&lpg=PA137&dq=sailor%20moon%20make%20up%20transformation%20keyword&source=bl&ots=7hhK9AYMoU&sig=s6Q0SdrVNr2d6ftA2WNV1aR17IE&sa=X&ei=VWElVJi9ArHgsATo_oCACA&ved=0CEsQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=sailor%20moon%20make%20up%20transformation%20keyword&f=false) *Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination (Anne Allison)* (emphasis mine):

> In a property like Sailor Moon, these two words [romance and fantasy marriage] blend in a story line that incorporates both fighting and romance, (...) however the text still belongs in "girls' country" (...).
>
> Girl heroes have powers rooted in magic or otherworldliness, they fight to help friends, **their weapons double as fashion accessories**, a princess or spirit empowers them, they "make up" when transformed, and "love" is their keyword. (...)
>
> When girl heroes morph, however, the **process is more a "makeover"** than a "powerup". Apart from empowerment, that is, transformation also beautifies girls, fostering personal attractiveness, romance and dreams.

---

We can infer that the **"make up"** magic word in Sailor Moon is used to foster the identification process between the audience (young girls) and the characters.

In Sailor Moon Crystal, the [protagonist](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protagonist) is 14 years old. From the same Wikipedia article:

> The audience is intended to mostly identify with the protagonist.

So, there you go.

This answer also answers: "Why is Tsukino (sailor moon) 14 years old?"
---
