Sailor Moon Stereotypes
This is Naoko Takeuchi's original vision for Sailor Moon. When asked about the differences between the anime and manga, she replied that the anime's staff was men, while her story was told from a women's perspective- by girls, for girls and about girls.
(Especially obvious since the manga lacks a lot of the male gaze and has none of the nude transformation sequences or skirts flying up the anime boasts, as well as other things)
(and don't get me wrong, the anime is fantastic and feminist as well, and did some things better than the manga. But that's not what we're focusing on!)
This is a story about women- tons of women. Every personality type you can imagine. Young women, old women, queer women, straight women, ditzy women, brainy women. This is story about the bond of friendship between these women and how they are the most powerful people in the universe.
Sailor Moon is classic superhero stuff- eldritch villians, secret identity drama, the power of friendship, face-melting horror, epic battles- but it's set in a world where teenage girls are the greatest heroes.
This is a story where for once, it is the guy (Tuxedo Kamen) who …show more content…
gets captured and brainwashed and killed and resurrected and rescued over and over again by his girlfriend. He's unashamed about it too, suavely thanking her for saving him yet again, rushing to alert her when he spots trouble, flatly tells her that he doesn't have her powers and he got in over his head, it's up to her to save the day. He worries about being a burden on her, he is repeatedly in awe of how strong she is and openly praises her for her power and when asked if Sailor Moon is strong? He unflinchingly replies "she's invincible" And she worries that he'll get hurt, and vows to always protect him. This is not to say he's not important to the plot and doesn't get his moments to shine- he does so, much more often than in the anime. He just maintains a open and sweet relationship with her, well aware that she's just cooler than he'll ever be- he adores her for it.
He acts as her backup, motivation and emotional support, and he's good at it. It doesn't make him less of a "man", or less desirable. This is a couple that reaffirmed their love for each other by stating their dream as "protecting the planet, together with you". It's not a relationship without it's ups and downs (more mature than in the anime, there's a lot of serious issues with jealousy, confusion and Mamoru worrying that he's a *burden* to Usagi, poor thing) and there's a lot of spark with them ragging on each other and teasing with each other- but it's always clear they support each other no matter what, and Mamoru is actually a nice guy you'd want your heroine to be with, not a sexist jerk.
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Gushing about the Sailor Moon Manga rerelease and feminism
Mar. 22nd, 2011 at 1:16 AM
steph hey you
I considered working this into the main essay, but I'm too psyched, I just have to get out why I'm so excited about the Sailor Moon manga being reprinted. The out-of-print Tokyopop manga ihas with outdated art (Japan got shiny rerelease reprint volumes), flipped pages, English dub names and a general Blind Idiot Translation (especially obvious when the translators didn't realize a character was quoting William Blake). None of the scanlations of this series are complete, either. And the fun story of Sailor V finally reaches the US!
This is Naoko Takeuchi's original vision for Sailor Moon. When asked about the differences between the anime and manga, she replied that the anime's staff was men, while her story was told from a women's perspective- by girls, for girls and about girls.
(Especially obvious since the manga lacks a lot of the male gaze and has none of the nude transformation sequences or skirts flying up the anime boasts, as well as other things)
(and don't get me wrong, the anime is fantastic and feminist as well, and did some things better than the manga.
But that's not what we're focusing on!)
This is a story about women- tons of women. Every personality type you can imagine. Young women, old women, queer women, straight women, ditzy women, brainy women. This is story about the bond of friendship between these women and how they are the most powerful people in the universe.
Sailor Moon is classic superhero stuff- eldritch villians, secret identity drama, the power of friendship, face-melting horror, epic battles- but it's set in a world where teenage girls are the greatest
heroes.
This is a story where for once, it is the guy (Tuxedo Kamen) who gets captured and brainwashed and killed and resurrected and rescued over and over again by his girlfriend. He's unashamed about it too, suavely thanking her for saving him yet again, rushing to alert her when he spots trouble, flatly tells her that he doesn't have her powers and he got in over his head, it's up to her to save the day. He worries about being a burden on her, he is repeatedly in awe of how strong she is and openly praises her for her power and when asked if Sailor Moon is strong? He unflinchingly replies "she's invincible" And she worries that he'll get hurt, and vows to always protect him. This is not to say he's not important to the plot and doesn't get his moments to shine- he does so, much more often than in the anime. He just maintains a open and sweet relationship with her, well aware that she's just cooler than he'll ever be- he adores her for it.
He acts as her backup, motivation and emotional support, and he's good at it. It doesn't make him less of a "man", or less desirable. This is a couple that reaffirmed their love for each other by stating their dream as "protecting the planet, together with you". It's not a relationship without it's ups and downs (more mature than in the anime, there's a lot of serious issues with jealousy, confusion and Mamoru worrying that he's a *burden* to Usagi, poor thing) and there's a lot of spark with them ragging on each other and teasing with each other- but it's always clear they support each other no matter what, and Mamoru is actually a nice guy you'd want your heroine to be with, not a sexist jerk.
Here's a couple of my favorite pages of them to illustrate my point. Behold Mamoru being totall unashamed as he goes "oh wow you save me a lot don't you"
Sailor Moon grabbing Tuxedo Mask and smooching him (their first kiss!) and then telling him to run away because he'll get hurt, she can take care of this monster. Behold how he clutches his jaw in shock and inner monologues about how strong and cool she is omg!
In addition, it's the story about a group of ten (eleven) girls, all with different personalities and powers- but all of them have their strongest relationships with each other, and their mission and female friends are the most important in their life. They have different attitudes towards men- some are boy crazy, some hate men, some don't think about it much, some are lesbians- but none of them need men and Usagi is the only one with a boyfriend. All of them explicitly state their highest goal as to protect their planet and the people they love.
This is one of my favorite pages of Sailor Moon and I cannot wait to see it all reprinted and shiny and properly translated, because it really gets to the core of what it's all about. Sailor Venus coolly states that she has already found her one and only (her best friend, Usagi, and the princess she is sworn to protect) and Mars puts her arm around Venus while bluntly saying "we don't need men. Got a problem with that?" (Some fun slash overtones there, but what I'm focusing on is the defiant and blatant show of female independence, sisterhood and solidarity that is really the core of this serie
(Especially obvious since the manga lacks a lot of the male gaze and has none of the nude transformation sequences or skirts flying up the anime boasts, as well as other things)
(and don't get me wrong, the anime is fantastic and feminist as well, and did some things better than the manga. But that's not what we're focusing on!)
This is a story about women- tons of women. Every personality type you can imagine. Young women, old women, queer women, straight women, ditzy women, brainy women. This is story about the bond of friendship between these women and how they are the most powerful people in the universe.
Sailor Moon is classic superhero stuff- eldritch villians, secret identity drama, the power of friendship, face-melting horror, epic battles- but it's set in a world where teenage girls are the greatest heroes.
This is a story where for once, it is the guy (Tuxedo Kamen) who …show more content…
gets captured and brainwashed and killed and resurrected and rescued over and over again by his girlfriend. He's unashamed about it too, suavely thanking her for saving him yet again, rushing to alert her when he spots trouble, flatly tells her that he doesn't have her powers and he got in over his head, it's up to her to save the day. He worries about being a burden on her, he is repeatedly in awe of how strong she is and openly praises her for her power and when asked if Sailor Moon is strong? He unflinchingly replies "she's invincible" And she worries that he'll get hurt, and vows to always protect him. This is not to say he's not important to the plot and doesn't get his moments to shine- he does so, much more often than in the anime. He just maintains a open and sweet relationship with her, well aware that she's just cooler than he'll ever be- he adores her for it.
He acts as her backup, motivation and emotional support, and he's good at it. It doesn't make him less of a "man", or less desirable. This is a couple that reaffirmed their love for each other by stating their dream as "protecting the planet, together with you". It's not a relationship without it's ups and downs (more mature than in the anime, there's a lot of serious issues with jealousy, confusion and Mamoru worrying that he's a *burden* to Usagi, poor thing) and there's a lot of spark with them ragging on each other and teasing with each other- but it's always clear they support each other no matter what, and Mamoru is actually a nice guy you'd want your heroine to be with, not a sexist jerk.
Previous Entry | Next Entry
Gushing about the Sailor Moon Manga rerelease and feminism
Mar. 22nd, 2011 at 1:16 AM
steph hey you
I considered working this into the main essay, but I'm too psyched, I just have to get out why I'm so excited about the Sailor Moon manga being reprinted. The out-of-print Tokyopop manga ihas with outdated art (Japan got shiny rerelease reprint volumes), flipped pages, English dub names and a general Blind Idiot Translation (especially obvious when the translators didn't realize a character was quoting William Blake). None of the scanlations of this series are complete, either. And the fun story of Sailor V finally reaches the US!
This is Naoko Takeuchi's original vision for Sailor Moon. When asked about the differences between the anime and manga, she replied that the anime's staff was men, while her story was told from a women's perspective- by girls, for girls and about girls.
(Especially obvious since the manga lacks a lot of the male gaze and has none of the nude transformation sequences or skirts flying up the anime boasts, as well as other things)
(and don't get me wrong, the anime is fantastic and feminist as well, and did some things better than the manga.
But that's not what we're focusing on!)
This is a story about women- tons of women. Every personality type you can imagine. Young women, old women, queer women, straight women, ditzy women, brainy women. This is story about the bond of friendship between these women and how they are the most powerful people in the universe.
Sailor Moon is classic superhero stuff- eldritch villians, secret identity drama, the power of friendship, face-melting horror, epic battles- but it's set in a world where teenage girls are the greatest
heroes.
This is a story where for once, it is the guy (Tuxedo Kamen) who gets captured and brainwashed and killed and resurrected and rescued over and over again by his girlfriend. He's unashamed about it too, suavely thanking her for saving him yet again, rushing to alert her when he spots trouble, flatly tells her that he doesn't have her powers and he got in over his head, it's up to her to save the day. He worries about being a burden on her, he is repeatedly in awe of how strong she is and openly praises her for her power and when asked if Sailor Moon is strong? He unflinchingly replies "she's invincible" And she worries that he'll get hurt, and vows to always protect him. This is not to say he's not important to the plot and doesn't get his moments to shine- he does so, much more often than in the anime. He just maintains a open and sweet relationship with her, well aware that she's just cooler than he'll ever be- he adores her for it.
He acts as her backup, motivation and emotional support, and he's good at it. It doesn't make him less of a "man", or less desirable. This is a couple that reaffirmed their love for each other by stating their dream as "protecting the planet, together with you". It's not a relationship without it's ups and downs (more mature than in the anime, there's a lot of serious issues with jealousy, confusion and Mamoru worrying that he's a *burden* to Usagi, poor thing) and there's a lot of spark with them ragging on each other and teasing with each other- but it's always clear they support each other no matter what, and Mamoru is actually a nice guy you'd want your heroine to be with, not a sexist jerk.
Here's a couple of my favorite pages of them to illustrate my point. Behold Mamoru being totall unashamed as he goes "oh wow you save me a lot don't you"
Sailor Moon grabbing Tuxedo Mask and smooching him (their first kiss!) and then telling him to run away because he'll get hurt, she can take care of this monster. Behold how he clutches his jaw in shock and inner monologues about how strong and cool she is omg!
In addition, it's the story about a group of ten (eleven) girls, all with different personalities and powers- but all of them have their strongest relationships with each other, and their mission and female friends are the most important in their life. They have different attitudes towards men- some are boy crazy, some hate men, some don't think about it much, some are lesbians- but none of them need men and Usagi is the only one with a boyfriend. All of them explicitly state their highest goal as to protect their planet and the people they love.
This is one of my favorite pages of Sailor Moon and I cannot wait to see it all reprinted and shiny and properly translated, because it really gets to the core of what it's all about. Sailor Venus coolly states that she has already found her one and only (her best friend, Usagi, and the princess she is sworn to protect) and Mars puts her arm around Venus while bluntly saying "we don't need men. Got a problem with that?" (Some fun slash overtones there, but what I'm focusing on is the defiant and blatant show of female independence, sisterhood and solidarity that is really the core of this serie