"Fighting evil by moonlight, winning love by daylight, never running from a real fight, she is the one named Sailor Moon." - Sailor Moon Opening (English Dub)
Hello my Amazonian Wonders! Here is the first in the Fandom Chat series. So with this series I'll post a video on Youtube and then writ a more in detail blog post for you all. With each fandom I'll say how I got into it or how I know of it, the basic plot and background and extra tidbits. Then I'll end with my favourites: protagonist/sidekick or minor character/antagonist/overall character from fandom/OTP (one true pairing/couple).
You can find the video right here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L-ph42hheY
So today's fandom is Sailor Moon:
(Sailor Scouts; left to right: Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Mini/Chibi Moon, Neptune, Uranus, Pluto and Saturn)
So let's start with how I got into Sailor Moon. I was probably about 4 or 5 when I first watched an episode of Sailor Moon, and it was the dubbed version that aired on Fox Kids and Sky One in the UK. When the anime no longer aired on tv, my Dad would buy the video tapes or download the episodes for me and my little sister to watch. I was hooked from the off start and haven't stopped loving Sailor Moon since - I mean, I'm now 20 and I still know the lyrics to the English opening theme.
As I got older and really understood what anime was - and that Sailor Moon was one - I made a point of watching all 200 episodes of the series (much to the annoyance of my Momma since I skipped doing homework to watch another episode on our family computer). I've since watched the entire series in English and Japanese, and read the manga series and side manga series too.
(Top: manga; middle: 90's anime and bottom: 2014 anime)
Okay, so here's the background on Sailor Moon. The series was originally a manga series that ran from 1991 to 1997, consisting of 18 volumes and 6 side manga volumes with adventures of Sailor Moon's daughter: Chibi Moon. Then the anime came out in 1992 in Japan and ran through to 1997 also, consisting of 200 episodes! Seriously, that is a lot of episodes.
Now the English dub for the anime (at least in the UK) didn't air until around 1995/6. So I would've been 2 or 3 when it first came out, but I didn't get into Sailor Moon until I was 4 or 5. Unfortunately, the last season in the anime series was never dubbed due to America not liking some of the aspects of the season - women transforming into men, implied homosexual relationships, etc. Remember, this was 90's America. Come on, they changed a character in Dragon Ball from brown to blue because the thought they'd be racist. Ah well.
Anyway, enough about the background and onto the actual plot. Yes, I know that this is anime, but I'll be using the English names that i grew up with and put the original Japanese names in brackets, okay? Okay.
So the story starts with our main character Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon is the Princess of the Moon, also known as Princess Serenity. her kingdom is destroyed by the Negaverse and the Queen of the Moon sends Sailor Moon and others from the Moon to Earth. A millennium passed by and our characters are reincarnated in 90's Tokyo. Sailor Moon is called Serena (Usagi) and one day finds a cat called Luna. Now Luna can talk - which is weird because she's a cat, but who doesn't love a talking cat? Luna explains to Serena that she's the legendary Sailor Scout of Love and Justice! Serena's job is to find her fellow Sailor Scouts, defeat the Negaverse, and find the Legendary Silver Crystal and the Moon Princess. (Serena has no idea she's the princess).
So in the series there are 5 main Sailor Scouts: Sailor Moon (Serena/Usagi), Sailor Mercury (Amy/Ami), Sailor Mars (Rae/Rei), Sailor Jupiter (Lina/Makoto) and Sailor Venus (Mina/Minako). There are also 4 Outer Sailor Scouts (Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Saturn) that are introduced later on in the series.
Like in any good shoujo anime and manga, there has to be a dash of romance and love mixed in with the plot. Of course Sailor Moon has that. In the series, Serena/Sailor Moon has her main love interest: Darien (Mamoru or Mamo-chan).
(Serena & Darien: 90's anime)
Now here come the differences between the original Japanese and the English dub: in the Japanese version, Serena is a middle school student and Darien is a high school student, so their age gap is okay for romantic coupling. However, in the English version, Darien is just starting college (I always thought this meant the USA version of college, not the UK version). This means the age gap between our lovers seems a little more iffy. (I'm going with Serena being 14 at the start of the series and Darien being between 18-20). But that's 90's dubs for you I guess. Moving on, Darien is also a reincarnated character; he was the Prince of the Earth - Prince Endymion - and now helps out Sailor Moon and the Scouts in the guise of Tuxedo Mask.
(Sailor Moon & Tuxedo Mask: 2014 anime)
In the anime only, he was also another side protagonist called The Moonlight Knight. This alter ego persona came about when Darien lost all his memories of his past life and his present day relationship with Serena. Since Tuxedo Mask wasn't around, Darien's subconscious created The Moonlight Knight to help out the Scouts.
(Moonlight Knight, 90's anime)
There are so many enemies - too many to count really - in the Sailor Moon series, but I'll list the main sets of enemies and who they comprise of throughout the series. We have:
- The Negaverse: Queen Metalia, Queen Beryl and the Shintennou (Endymion's possessed generals: Kunzite, Nephrite, Jaedite and Zoisite)
- Ann and Alan, and the NegaMoon Tree.
- The Black Moon Clan: Rubeus and the Spectre Sisters (Koan, Berthier, Calaveras and Petz), Emerald (Esmaurade), Saphirre (Saphir), Prince Diamond (Demande), the Wise Man and Small Lady.
- The Deathbusters: Prof. Tomoe and Koalinite, Mistress 9, Pharoh 90 and the Witches 5 (Eudial, Mimete, Tellu, Viluy, and Cyprine & Ptitol).
- The Dead Moon Circus: Queen Nehelenia, Zirconia, the Amazon Trio (Tiger's Eye, Hawk's Eye and Fisheye) and the Amazoness Quartet (CerraCerra, PallaPalla, JunJun and VesVes).
- The Shadow Galatica: Sailor Galaxia and the Sailor Animamates (Sailor Iron Mouse, Sailor Aluminium Siren, Sailor Lead Crow, Sailor Nyanko and Sailor Heavy Metal Papillon)
See what I meant when I said there are a lot of enemies in Sailor Moon?
So on from the enemies and onto my favourites of the series.
My favourite protagonist is Sailor Jupiter/Lina/Makoto: Jupiter was a favourite for me from when she first came into the anime. She's an outcast at first, but she can fight and be one of the boys, but she can also cook and sew and be totally feminine, even hoping for love like all people do at some point. She was (and still) is a big role model for me when I was younger. I was bullied for liking all the things she did, or for being one of the lads when I should have been playing with dolls and not pretending to be a wrestler. Jupiter was who I wanted to be, and I think I achieved that now as a 20 year old: I can cook, sew and be girly, but I'll beat all the boys at video games too. So that's why Jupiter's my favourite protagonist.
(Sailor Jupiter, 2014 anime)
My favourite side character is most definitely Luna. I know Luna is a cat, but to me she was a good influence and funny to watch. More so in the English dub (probably because of her voice), she was more of a mother figure to Serena and the Scouts: nagging them to eat properly, save the world and to finish their homework on time (no one wants to finish their homework time). She was a voice of reason and logic, but she could be fun when she wanted to. I always giggled whenever she'd almost get caught out by Darien or someone else - "Did that cat just talk?" "Meow?" "Oh, just me then."
I used to love watching all those close calls :)
(Luna, with her yellow ribbon from the second movie; Sailor Moon S: The Movie)
My favourite antagonist is a villain from the Black Moon Clan called Prince Diamond (Demande). When I was younger he was super cool, and as an adult looking back he was the definition of sexy and suave. To compare him to someone, he's like Loki from the Avenger.
(Prince Diamond, 90's anime)
As soon as he showed up you just knew that he was going to stir up trouble. Not just because he was obviously the new enemy, but because he had a creepy obsession with Sailor Moon's future self: Queen Serenity. for some background info, Prince Diamond and the Black Moon Clan are from the future, 30th century Tokyo to be exact. Queen Serenity and King Endymion united the Earth as one kingdom and rule from the capital: Crystal Tokyo. Prince Diamond seriously loves Serenity and wants him for himself. So when him and his clan try to get the Silver Crystal from the past he thinks, "Hey, Serena and Sailor Moon will become Serenity. Might as well capture as my love prisoner now and have to myself." Yes, he's a little obsessive, but he's good at heart. But I'm not going to lie, the love triangle (or square if we add in Emerald who's crazy for Diamond) was awesome to watch. I kind of wanted Diamond to win in the end at one point. He still has a good heart though, especially when you see him care for his clan brother Sapphire.
(Love triangle and Dark Crystal manipulation. Diamond will do anything to steal away from Tuxedo Mask)
My favourite overall character from the entire fandom.... mmm... it's a tough one, but I'm going to have to say the character Helio (or Pegasus) is my favourite overall. Helio is originally introduced as Pegasus (flying unicorn's everyone, you've got to love them). He's trying to keep safe from the Dead Moon Circus and Queen Nehelenia, so he hides within Rini's (Chibi Moon's) dreams. He's the protector of dreams, but most importantly the Golden Dream, the purest dream in the world. He's also the Priest of Elysion and guardian of the Golden Crystal. (Elysion was the capital of Earth when Prince Endymion ruled in the past lives, and the Golden Crystal gives Tuxedo Mask his powers). Helios and Sailor Moon's future daughter - Rini (Chibi Moon) - get close throughout his time in the series and it's implied that they have a relationship in Crystal Tokyo.
(Helios; human form, 90's anime)
Helios is my favourite overall not just because he's a fricking flying unicorn man, or his relationship with Rini, but because of what he taught me. With the plot line of the Golden Dream when he appeared in the series, he always emphasised the belief in dreams and the heart to Rini. That struck a note with me so much when I first watch him in the anime. At the time I think I was 15, and everyone had big choices to make about school, careers and life. I knew what I wanted and was unsure about other stuff, but either way I was put down or told I was wrong in my beliefs and feeling. Helios taught me not to let my dreams go and to follow my gut instinct and my feelings. From him I learnt that I should have a Golden Dream to hold on to and pursue. I believe that everyone should have that one Golden Dream in their life, or what's the point? That's why Helio is my favourtie.
(Rini and Helio; Pegasus form, 90's anime)
Finally for my OTP from Sailor Moon. My couple may seem controversial to those new to the series, or those who like the main couples more, but this one always seemed the most real to me. My favourite couple is Luna & Artemis. Yes, we all know that Luna is a cat, and Artemis is also a cat that Mina/Sailor Venus own, but here me out on this one. This couple have been together since before the series even started and they only grew stronger as time went on and they faced new trials and struggles. They may fight and nag each other sometimes, but they truly do love one another. This is proven when their daughter - Diana - shows up from the future. And just for a little side note, this coupe weren't always cats or will stay cats too. They were once humanoids sent to work for the Queen of the Moon and the Moon Kingdom when it was known as the Silver Millennium in the past. They even get to be humanoid again in the second anime movie (for Luna at least) and in Crystal Tokyo in the future. Their love didn't happen straight away and took time to build and become what it is now.
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(Left to right (for humanoid manga and cat anime versions): Artemis, Diana and Luna)
So this post was seriously long, and I expect the other Fandom Chats will be like this too. I hope you enjoyed the Sailor Moon chat my Wonders, and please give me suggestions about fandoms you want me to talk about - I don't mind whether I'm really invested in them like this one, or if I only know little or nothing about the fandom.
See you in Paradise :3
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