#theres also the fact that Nephlite is. very obviously not straight.

[pareidoliajules]

I have some Thoughts abt age differences in Sailor Moon.

(For reference, I am referring to the DiC dub version that everyone else hates with a passion, and will be using those names. If you have a problem with Serena vs Usagi, just....have those problems somewhere else. 😘)

So Serena is canonically 14. Amy is presumably also about 14, since she's in the same grade as Serena, along with Molly (who is one of the main points of this post).

Rei is older, but still in high school; I'd put her at 16 or so, but going to a different school than the others. Every bit of Rei's furious annoyance with Serena can be explained by Local Gay Sixteen Year Old Forced To Put Up With Fourteen Year Old Crybaby. Rei also has Actual Responsibilities; she helps her grandpa at the temple and helps keep her grandpa from,,, idk, being old and alone or whatever.

And Then We Have The Boys.

Andrew, at the arcade, is definitely An Adult; he's saving for med school, and we later learn he's already in university.

We learn that because that's when we learn how old Darien is, which was a big point of confusion and curiosity for me. He's also Definitely An Adult; I'd had him pegged as early 20s or so, but there's an argument to be made for like....An old, independent 18-19. If you squint. However, I still say adult-adult, because when he makes Serena cry in public (for the zillionth time), everyone stares at him and he's like Oh Shit Please Stop Crying, as an adult would do if they made the 14 yr old they regularly bully have a meltdown on the city street.

And then we have.......Nephlite.

So Nephlite is not only an Adult, but he's an Adult-Adult. Like, to put him at human years, I'd say 40 or so. He's also a Demon From The Negaverse.

Molly, age 14, develops a big ol crush on the 40 yr old Demon from the Negaverse. Because of course she does. This is where things get complicated, because...on the one hand, the show without a doubt condemns these feelings and any """relationship""" that would come from this. Molly puts herself in danger and endangers others to try and "help" "Maxfield Stanton" or whatever his fake human name was.

I was of the mind that this is actually a good message; it lets the Demon From The Negaverse thing be the text, while the 40 Year Old Man thing be subtextual, and hopefully sort of included so that when the 14 year olds watching the show meet a 40 year old man who shows undue interest in them, they can go, wow, I bet you're a Demon From The Negaverse and get the fuck away from them.

But. But. But.

Nephlite gets redeemed. Sorta. Molly's love awakens something in Nephlite, something like humanity. Or something. He cares for Molly. He saves her life.

So. Um. Is the message that the 40 Year Old Creeper can maybe be a good-ish guy after all? Because that's,,,,, not great. Molly gets traumatized and he disappears into pink sparkly dust in her arms. Sailor Moon says that they're "in love" and that's why the Negaverse is against it.

Guys. Ladies. Friends. He is a 40 year old demon. She is 14. I feel like they came close to having a great message, but then kinda. tripped on the finish line. AND they tripped on the line of trying to give texture and character to the concept of Evil. It could've been really interesting, but it came at the cost of the better, more important message of Fourteen Year Olds, Don't Date 40 Year Olds.