#✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ` SOLDIER OF FRIENDSHIP » TSUKINO CHIBIUSA.

[flegomai-blog]

tag dump. ( 1 / 4 )    Character edition!

[silvermoon424]

The Sailor Moon paper I wrote for my gender studies class

Last week, I mentioned the presentation I did on Sailor Moon for my gender studies class, and how my professor was so impressed by Sailor Moon’s themes that she told me she wants to show it to her kids. Anyway, I promised that I would post the paper the presentation focused on once I finished writing it, so here it is!

I drew quite a bit from a previous paper I wrote on Sailor Moon, but I also included a lot of new things. Particularly, I added sections on how femininity is often negatively portrayed in the media, Haruka’s gender nonconformity in the manga, and the presence of the Outer family.

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon

It seems as though more and more frequently, the lack of female-centric media is being called into question. It appears as though the majority of movies, tv shows, and other media feature a male protagonist, with female characters being relegated to the sidelines. Even if there is a female protagonist, it often feels like she doesn’t get to develop strong relationships with other female characters. The lack of deep female relationships and overall female representation in media is indeed unacceptable; the same can be said for the lack of representation regarding LGBT people. However, I feel as though we should praise a particular series that not only delivers on those things, but proves that doing so can lead to massive success. It’s called Sailor Moon (known as Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon in its native country of Japan), an anime (cartoon) and manga (comic book) series aimed at girls. Sailor Moon is so impressive because it provides positive portrayals of femininity, female relationships (both platonic and romantic), gender nonconformity, and even non-traditional families.

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, which means “Beautiful Soldier Sailor Moon” in Japanese, was created by a female Japanese mangaka, or manga artist, named Naoko Takeuchi. The manga debuted in the girls’ magazine Nakayoshi on December 28, 1991 and ended on February 3, 1997; the animated adaptation premiered on March 7, 1992 and ended February 8, 1997. From the very beginning, Sailor Moon was a smash hit; originally intended to only consist of a single arc, its popularity caused Takeuchi to expand it to five arcs. In addition to the original anime and manga, Sailor Moon’s enormous popularity has resulted in, as of 2017: A series of stage musicals, 31 in all; three movies with theatrical releases; a live-action series that comprised of 52 episodes; numerous rereleases of the manga and anime; many video game spinoffs; many foreign-language dubs; and finally, a new, updated anime reboot entitled Sailor Moon Crystal that is ongoing.

Sailor Moon revolves around an ordinary 14-year-old girl named Usagi Tsukino who befriends Luna, a mysterious talking cat who gives her a magical brooch. After saying a transformation phrase, the brooch enables her to transform into Sailor Moon, a beautiful soldier who fights against evil and protects good. Usagi and Luna must work together to find both the Legendary Silver Crystal, an artifact of enormous power that the antagonists are also searching for so they can conquer the world, and the missing Moon Princess, who can use the Silver Crystal for the sake of good as her birthright.

Along the way, Usagi makes friends and allies who assist her in her mission. The first is the studious and shy Ami Mizuno, who becomes Sailor Mercury. The two later meet a fiery shrine maiden named Rei Hino, who awakens as Sailor Mars. After a period of the three fighting alone, they meet the strong yet sensitive transfer student named Makoto Kino, who becomes Sailor Jupiter. Finally, they encounter a bubbly aspiring idol singer named Minako Aino, who had already awoken as Sailor Venus and later joins the team with her own cat, Artemis. Together, they’re known as the Sailor Soldiers (or Sailor Scouts, popularized by the English dub of the series). Usagi also meets and falls in love with Mamoru Chiba, a high-school student who assists the Sailor Soldiers as the mysterious Tuxedo Mask. It’s eventually revealed that Usagi herself is the reborn Moon Princess, Serenity, and Mamoru is her lover from her past life, Endymion.

The series goes on for four more arcs, although the basic premise of the Sailor Soldiers fighting against evil always remains. Within the second and third story arcs, five more Sailor Soldiers are introduced. Chibiusa, Sailor Moon’s daughter from the distant future who travelled back to the past in order to train alongside her mother’s past self as Sailor Chibi (which means “small”) Moon; world-class violinist and artist Michiru Kaioh, who can transform into Sailor Neptune; famous racer and notorious flirt Haruka Tenoh, who becomes Sailor Uranus; Sailor Pluto, an immortal goddess who was originally the guardian of time but later became a human named Setsuna Meioh; and finally Hotaru Tomoe, a chronically ill and misunderstood girl who later becomes the dreaded Sailor Saturn.

These characters are what Sailor Moon can attribute its phenomenal success to, as well as  its overall themes of female empowerment and optimism. Before Sailor Moon and, indeed, to this day, superheroes are predominantly male and geared towards a male audience. Not only that, women and girls are underrepresented in entertainment media as a whole and femininity is often portrayed as weak (or at least weaker than masculinity). Traits and qualities that are usually associated with women and femininity are often devalued, scoffed at, or are, again, at least portrayed as being weaker than qualities associated with men and masculinity. These feminine, so-called “weak” qualities include cooperation, mutuality, equality, sharing, empathy, compassion, caring, vulnerability, a readiness to negotiate and compromise, emotional expressiveness, and intuitive and other nonlinear ways of thinking (Johnson 7).

Moreover, female characters are usually less multidimensional than male characters. The documentary Miss Representation examines this lack of representation and how girls and young women in particular are affected by it. The documentary argues that, because media propagates such limiting portrayals of women, teenage girls are left feeling powerless and unrepresented. And it’s not hard to understand why that is. As Miss Representation demonstrates, women are rarely the main protagonists in films and tv shows. When they are the protagonists, their stories are rarely about finding one’s destiny or saving the world the way it is for male protagonists. Adding insult to injury, even if women are action heroes, they are usually hyper-sexualized. Femininity is limited to its sexual aspects for the benefit of male viewers.

With all of this in mind, it becomes apparent just how much of a game-changer Sailor Moon herself was. In her article “Sailor Moon: Japanese Superheroes for Global Girls,” Anne Allison elaborates on this concept:

Sailor Moon is popular for both the female and superhero parts of her character. As such, she is something of a hybrid, embodying conventions both of boys’ culture- fighting, warriorship, superheroes- and shoujo (girls’) culture- romance, friendship, and appearance… The show’s creators have merged two features that have traditionally been kept fairly distinct; the masculinity of a fighter and the femininity of a romantic…. Sailor Moon is a warrior who retains, rather than revokes or transcends, her femaleness. (273) Not only is Sailor Moon a warrior who fights against evil alongside her teammates, she’s also a beautiful, sensitive girl who dreams of romance and shares close, loving relationships with her family and friends. Although Usagi becomes much more focused and determined after she transforms into Sailor Moon, her femininity is still readily apparent.

This weaponization of femininity is most apparent in Sailor Moon’s attacks. Her most powerful weapon is the Silver Crystal, which often emits sparkles and pink bursts of light when in use. Sailor Moon also uses pink, ornate magic wands to utilize her attacks, which present themselves as hearts made of pink energy, bursts of rainbow colors, and sparkly feathers. Sailor Moon may be a warrior, but she doesn’t fight like a conventional one. In fact, instead of beating enemies into submission, she prefers to love and heal them instead. One of the major themes of the show is that Usagi’s unparalleled ability to love and forgive is her true strength and the source of her power. In fact, in the very last episode (“Usagi's Love! Moonlight Illuminates the Galaxy”), Usagi redeems the final arc’s main antagonist by appealing to the goodness that remained in her heart instead of just killing her. All of these traits are associated with traditional femininity.

All of these traits associated with Sailor Moon immediately endeared her to a wide audience. She instantly connected with Japanese schoolgirls in particular, in large part because of her approachability. The “Sailor” part of Sailor Moon comes from the fact that the Sailor Soldiers fight in modified versions of sailor fuku (also known as seifuku), or school uniforms that are based on naval suits. The majority of Japanese middle and high schools implement sailor fuku as uniforms, so Japanese schoolgirls were able to easily relate to the Sailor Soldiers and were excited to see girls who looked just like them fighting as heroes (Choo 279). Sailor Moon’s approachability is not limited to appearances, which is what allowed the series to connect to millions of people worldwide. Each of the ten Sailor Soldiers are completely unique and have their own personalities, interests, strengths, and weaknesses. The cast is so varied it’s guaranteed that almost anyone who watches the series will find at least one role model or a character to look up to. Instead of struggling to find a female character to connect with, viewers were now presented with ten to choose from.

Additionally, Sailor Moon became so popular because it completely reinvented the magical girl (or mahou shoujo) genre. Before Sailor Moon, most magical girls only used their powers for mundane or personal purposes. Sailor Moon introduced the concept of a magical girl warrior, a mix of traditional magical girl elements and sentai (Japanese-style superheroes, such as the Power Rangers) action. What resulted was a type of magical girl who used her powers to actively fight against evil. Not only did the Sailor Soldiers have flashy, pretty transformation sequences and wear cute, feminine uniforms like the protagonists from previous magical girl series, they fought like the Power Rangers. This hybrid magical girl/sentai style became enormously popular and soon other series began trying to emulate Sailor Moon’s success (Allison 262-267, 272-274).

Furthermore, Sailor Moon provides a wide array of strong female relationships, both platonic and romantic. What we typically think of women’s experiences in friendships and women's virtues- emotional expressiveness, dependency, the ability to nurture, intimacy, and so on- are prominently featured and celebrated in the series (Kimmel 375). In fact, the friendships that the Sailor Soldiers share with one another- specifically, the friendships between the five original girls who are collectively known as the Inner Soldiers- is one of the main themes of the series. They aren’t just teammates who support each other in battle; in fact, much of the series’ screen time is devoted to the girls’ everyday lives as they go to school, go shopping, study, and hang out together, just like ordinary friends.

The deep and intimate bonds of their friendship are shown in full in Sailor Moon R: The Movie, the series’ first theatrical release. Towards the end of the film, the main antagonist, Fiore, speaks of his loneliness; the Inner Soldiers (sans Usagi) all think of how they have also been lonely, shunned by their classmates for being different or strange. At the movie’s climax, in order thwart Fiore’s plot of sending an asteroid to hit Earth, Usagi is forced to use the full potential of the Silver Crystal; doing so is incredibly dangerous for her, as using too much of the Silver Crystal’s power exhausts one’s life force. The other Sailor Soldiers immediately rush to help her, resolving to combine their powers so they can all return to Earth together. As the girls join hands, they think of how much Usagi means to them, and how she saved them from their loneliness with her love and friendship. With her friends’ support, Usagi is able to destroy the asteroid before it hits Earth. The film makes it clear that the Sailor Soldiers’ bond with and devotion for one another is what makes them powerful. This is in stark contrast to the many movies and tv shows that depict women as natural enemies who compete with each other to be the most beautiful or to win the man (Miss Representation).

Platonic relationships aren’t the only kind featured in the series. In fact, Sailor Moon is significant for its prominent representation of LGBT people. Most notably, two of the Sailor Soldiers, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, are actually lovers who share a close, loving relationship. Within the series, their relationship is treated as something as something completely ordinary; their closeness is never questioned or objected to, and the other Sailor Soldiers sometimes comment on how perfect they look together. In one episode (“Episode 95: Let Moon Help With Your Love Problems”), they even enter a couple’s competition and blow everyone away. But what’s more important is that Haruka/Sailor Uranus and Michiru/Sailor Neptune are given ample characterization outside of simply being lesbians. Their sexualities, while part of who they are, don’t dominate their characterizations; in other words, they’re gay characters who are treated like normal people instead of stereotypes.

Aside from being a lesbian, Haruka/Sailor Uranus is also presented as gender-nonconforming in the manga. Haruka identifies as a woman, but her gender presentation often changes; she easily switches between pants and button-down shirts to short skirts and flowing blouses. At one point in the manga’s third arc (“Act 32: Three Soldiers”), Michiru/Sailor Neptune says “Uranus is like a man and a woman in one. She has the strengths of both genders; it is her special advantage as a soldier.” Michiru isn’t saying that Haruka is physically both male and female; she’s saying that Haruka does not choose to present as either totally masculine or totally feminine, but rather a combination of both. Haruka’s gender nonconformity isn’t portrayed as strange or off-putting; rather, it’s explicitly stated that it’s her strength as a Sailor Soldier. What’s more, nobody ever questions Haruka about her androgyny; rather, the other characters just accept it as a part of who she is. This portrayal is very admirable, especially considering how gender nonconformity is usually handled in media. As Leslie Feinberg explains, “Those of us who cross the ‘man-made’ boundaries of sex and gender run afoul of the law… We have grown up mostly unable to find ourselves represented in the dominant culture” (Feinberg 147). Although character like Haruka is unfortunately hard to find, at least she’s able to be a good representative for gender-nonconforming people.

Aside from all that, Sailor Moon even features a very positive portrayal of a non-traditional, lesbian family. This is significant, because as Stephanie Coontz explains, “For 150 years, the married-couple nuclear family based on male breadwinning and female domesticity has been the main set of instructions on how we should organize adult sexual relationships, raise children, and meet interpersonal obligations” (118). When people- especially LGBT people- attempt to deviate from this familial norm, many immediately protest it; they do so because they argue that children raised by gay or lesbian parents will be not be as healthy as children raised by heterosexual parents (Kimmel 183-184). In reality, however, gay and lesbian couples provide a model of family life in many cases. For example, homosexual couples are more likely than heterosexual couples to share housework and child-rearing responsibilities (Kimmel 185). Moreover, research shows that the children of same-sex parents are just as emotionally healthy, and as educationally and socially successful, as the children raised by heterosexual parents (Kimmel 186). It’s the quality of person’s parenting, rather than their sexuality, which determines how well a child will develop.

In the final chapter (“Act 38: Beginning a Journey”) of Sailor Moon’s third manga arc, Sailor Saturn exhausts her powers and is reborn as a baby. Because she has no family, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, and Sailor Pluto decide to adopt and raise her. Several chapters later (“Act 44: New Soldiers’ Dream”), we see that Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna, and Hotaru (the reborn Saturn) have formed a loving, stable, and healthy family. Hotaru (who by now is a young child, as her powers have caused her to age at an accelerated rate) refers to Michiru and Setsuna as her “Mamas,” while she calls Haruka “Papa” due to her more masculine appearance. The manga also states Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna all share the housework and child-rearing responsibilities; in fact, all three of them wear promise rings to symbolize their dedication to raising Hotaru and being good parents to her. Thanks to their love and support, Hotaru grows up to be a much happier, more outgoing, and stabler girl than she was in her previous life. Just like real-life research indicates, Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna’s gender and sexuality did not negatively impact their ability to raise Hotaru. All that mattered was the quality of their parenting.

For all these reasons and more, it’s easy to see why Sailor Moon is such a beloved series. It brought audiences what they sorely needed: Strong and brave, yet relatable, female superheroes who encouraged them to be themselves and provided something to aspire towards. Moreover, it provided positive representation for LGBT people (including gender-nonconforming people) and even debunked stereotypes about them, such as the idea that same-sex couples cannot properly raise a child. The series also provides a healthy view of female friendships. Rather than portraying the Sailor Soldiers as rivals or making their relationships with each other shallow and insignificant, the series consistently characterizes their relationships as strong, meaningful, and loving. When keeping all of that in mind, it becomes clear that the series is just as relevant and needed in 2017 as it was back in 1992. Its themes of love, friendship, hope, and female empowerment will always be needed by not only girls, but by boys and adults as well.

Works Cited

Allison, Anne. "Sailor Moon: Japanese Superheroes for Global Girls." Japan Pop! Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture. New York City: M.E. Sharpe, 2000. 259-78. Print.

Choo, Kukhee. "Girls Return Home: Portrayal of Femininity in Popular Japanese Girls’ Manga and Anime Texts during the 1990s in Hana Yori Dango and Fruits Basket." Women: A Cultural Review 19.3 (2008): 275-96. Web. 28 Apr. 2017.

Coontz, Stephanie. "How Holding on to Tradition Sets Families Back." The Way We Really Are: Coming to Terms with America's Changing Families. New York City: Basic Books, 1997. 109-22. Print.

Feinberg, Leslie. "To Be or Not to Be." Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings. 2nd ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2004. 147-50. Print.

Johnson, Allan G. "Where Are We?" The Gender Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy. 3rd ed. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2014. 3-25. Print.

Kimmel, Michael. The Gendered Society. 6th ed. New York City: Oxford U Press, 2017. Print.

Miss Representation. Dir. Jennifer Siebel Newsom. OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, 2011. Netflix. Web. 28 Apr. 2017

[hirameki-amour]

Sailor Moon Ranked

This is purely my opinion so don’t attack me!

13. Sailor Star Maker/Taiki Kou

Star Maker was really boring to me. Pretty much that. She was too serious for me.

12. Sailor Star Healer/Yaten Kou

Was also really boring. Not much appeal to me

11. Sailor Star Fighter/Seiya Kou

Fighter was cool. She had a crush on Usagi but it didn’t work out since Usagi was still missing Mamoru. Too bad she was rather boring to me. I just liked she protected Usagi even though she knew Usagi would never love her back.

10. Sailor Uranus/Haruko Teno

Uranus was very appealing to me. She was very cold at the start and I didn’t like that. I know Neptune and her were just doing it to protect Usagi like Minako did in the live action but I was still resentful of it. I guess that makes more like Usagi than I thought. Though I like how she was the cool, slick, and mature one.

9. Sailor Neptune/Michiru Kaioh

Neptune was rather boring but not enough to put anywhere below. I just really liked how elegant and cool she was. Whatever she did with grace and poise and I loved it. I also liked that she was the one who kept Uranus in her place since she would always act on impulse.

9. Sailor Pluto/Setsuno Meioh

I admired Pluto. She sacrificed herself to protect the kingdom and was the friend Chibiusa needed.

7. Sailor Chibi Moon/Chibi-usa/Usagi Tsukino

While the classic never did her justice, I loved her in Crystal and in the Manga. I was so happy to see her mature later in crystal and the manga just like Usagi was able to later on. I also really loved that she trusted Saturn even though she has the most terrifying powers next to Sailor Moon and Galaxia.

6. Sailor Saturn/Hotaru Tomoe

I really liked Hotaru/Saturn. Meanwhile she was calm and collected in senshi form, she still retained her compassionate side that her reborn self had. I really liked that since she was basically the guardian of death.

5. Sailor Mercury/Ami Mizuno

I really liked the little quiet energetic side of her. While she was still the most logical and calm, she still had that little fun side of her. I also liked the short where she was allergic to love because Mercury Aqua Mirage was epic.

4. Sailor Jupiter/Makoto Kino

At times I could relate to Jupiter! While she isn’t as boy crazy as I am, I can tell that she still was still dreamy over men. I also could relate being one of the tallest in my family and expected to be manly comparison to how Makoto was tall and expected to be mainly femnine when she had the manly streak.

3. Sailor Mars/Rei Hino

I much preferred Mars in the classic but I dont hate her in Crystal. Rei/Mars was always the hot-headed but mysterious girl that I loved. She was so fierce and passionate in anything and anyone. She wouldn’t take no for an answer and her powers were awesome. I also loved the relationship with her ans Usagi. Even though they had a love-hate friendship, she still deeply cared for Usagi in the end. 

2. Sailor Moon/Usagi Tsukino

Star of the show. I always felt like I could relate to Usagi/Sailor Moon. I am a totally sensitive person but that makes up for our bright and cheerful personality. I really loved how she cared for everyone despite their flaws and still fought till the end even though she was by herself. Speaking of, I admired her courage and hope for the future and fought for it. She also matured more as the seasons went by but she still retained her cheerful personality. 

1. Sailor Venus/Minako Aino

Sailor Venus, Soldier of Love and Beauty. Also known as Minako Aino. She was always my favorite the moment I saw her on screen. She was so pretty and super energetic. I felt like I could relate to her as I could see myself in her. She was super boy crazy and had this spunk in her. Minako never got down without a fight and was super fierce in battle. Meanwhile she is more like that in the classic than in Crystal, I still love her. Though, I’m glad she is a little more energetic and bubbly in Crystal S3 since she was like that in the manga. After all, she was the first senshi to awaken and Sailor Moon was based off Venus anyways hence similiar hair color and personality.