Sexism on Sailor Moon.

[Neo Moonlight Knight]

From Sailor Moon uncesored website opinions section.

I could go on a long rant but I really want people to read this and hear my points without seeing my fanatic side. So I will start out with a few comparisions of the Sailormoon manga in comparision to the anime.

In the manga our favorite heroine Sailormoon/Usagi is a young girl who finds out that she is not the average teenage girl she thinks she is. Not only is she a powerful former princess of the moon, she is the legendary hero Sailormoon. Now while the animators keep this premise up many things were severly changed in the story conversion.

Fact 1- In the manga Tuxedo Kamen, while he does appear to help out from time to time, was not always needed to help Sailormoon defeat the enemy. In fact he sometimes watched as she defeated the enemy using the Ginzshou and even comments on how strong she becomes everytime she fights. Another thing with Mamoru/Tuxedo Kamen is he not only represented a hero but he also had become a hostage for the bad guys several times in the manga thus turning around the theory that only women can be helpless victims.

Also a major difference in the relationship of Mamoru and Usagi can be seen between the manga and anime. In the anime their relationship is turbulent even leading some to believe that maybe the two should not be together. Mamoru was made into a cold hard headed macho man (especially in the dub). And Usagi was so boy crazy it made viewers believe she would cheat on Mamoru the minute another guy looked her way. Then when they finally got together they made her so clingy to him it was practically sickening because you did not feel that Mamoru felt as devoted as she was. In the manga their love was declared almost early, and there was not swaying from it once it was declared. And while Usagi did have a small crush on Motoki early on in the manga it was quite squashed once her memories and love for Endymion/Mamoru came back.

Fact 2- the other senshi personality changes. This is a factor for all the other senshi from Mercury being considered a wimp because she only does defensive attacks, where clearly in the manga she is more versitale. To Sailor Mars who in my opinion in the anime acted more like an enemy then a ally to Sailor moon. Then there is Mako who is another victim of "Boy Crazy Fever" and Venus who for some reason is made to look as if she is bored with being a Senshi.

And please dont get me started on the Outers who in my opinion in the anime really need an attitude adjustment! Why were these girls attitudes and or attacks changed to make them seem not only petty, bitchy or weak? My only guess is a big male influence in animation and in society in general. Lets face it even in this day and age were we at least have a few female heroines more then they did in the olden days. Us women are still force fed the notion that we need a big strong male to help us save the day. To me this is not only bias towards strong female characters it sets a bad example and presidence to all young women who dream of being treated equally to our male counterparts.

After reading the Sailormoon manga and Watching the entire series I can honestly say in my sincerest opinion that sexism plays a major role. In fact Ive even created a site to were I get to rant about this and many other major differences from the manga to the anime version. I know what some people may think its just a series get over it, well call me a fanatic but I really dont see why the changes were made in the first place. The original manga characters seemed more developed easier to believe and a whole lot more likeable then the anime made them. And if I had one wish I would make it so that a revamp of the show would be done showing the exact original stories with the original characters personalities. People may or may not like it, they may even like the originals better. But given a chance I think any Sailormoon fan would agree that a stronger self suffiecent less boy crazy group of Senshi would not only recieve more respect. But would help teach young girls and boys that we all are equal human beings. But thats just my opinion

~S.O.V.

http://www.smuncensored.com/essay.php?oid=10


Really really instering... she makes great points on the sexism.

[christphern]

Wow. That did make some good points. I never really thought about it that way. I just always felt that Mamoru was a pointless and far underdeveloped character. But, I would most definitely agree that he was almost always inconsiderate of Usagi's feelings.

She's also right that most people don't think that Mamoru and Usagi from the anime should ever have been together. I'm one of them. Live action Mamoru and Usagi? All for it.

Chris

[PrimoPiccolo]

That really does make me think about Usagi and Mamoru's relationship. I just assumed since she always thought he was cute, once he actually reciprocated the feelings, it explained her being tied to his waist all the time.

But I wasn't bothered by the girls being so into guys, they're only 15, it's a natural occurence. I mean, whenever they were jealous that Usagi was the only one with a boyfriend, it was purely due to Usagi rubbing it in their faces.

All I know is the Outer Senshi were a great push back to female empowerment, going so far as to show you don't even need a man to raise a child or have a relationship with (hee-hee). That quartet was quite an independent one.

[Sugar Baby]

Originally Posted by christphern

Wow. That did make some good points. I never really thought about it that way. I just always felt that Mamoru was a pointless and far underdeveloped character. But, I would most definitely agree that he was almost always inconsiderate of Usagi's feelings.
Chris

He was pretty pointless in the anime. Really, really pointless.:P The most interesting thing that happened to him was when he was turned evil by Queen Beryl.
I agree with the statement that he didn't seem to reciprocate or at least communicate his true feelings for Usagi as much as she did - if at all. Especially since he just shut her out of his life when he thought she was in danger instead of telling her. For crying out loud, they are warriors against evil - you'd think they'd entertain the thought of an enemy manipulating their dreams or something. And Darien never considered the fact that because Serena was Sailor Moon that she'd never get hurt or die, but simply because they were together it would be the death of her? What's up with that?

Originally Posted by PrimoPiccolo

All I know is the Outer Senshi were a great push back to female empowerment, going so far as to show you don't even need a man to raise a child or have a relationship with (hee-hee). That quartet was quite an independent one.

*shudder*
In some aspects I love the Outer Scouts. Setsuna (I refuse to call her Trista because 'Trista' was such a weak character) appealed to me when she spoke to Rini through the Luna ball when she ran away from home and had such a sweet sounding voice actress. That's about as far as that went as soon as she first got onto screen in the dub.
Sailor Uranus had a good voice actress but her character was poorly developed, as was all of the Outer Scouts. Sailor Neptune was instantaneously a poor character because the voice actress was Serena's mom. Don't get me started on how the dub made their relationship worse by making them cousins.
I really like the idea of Sailor Saturn, but with only seeing the dub so far, I don't have much to comment on "Sailor Saturn", per say.
The Outer Scouts had great potential when they were introduced in S, but they were a complete let down with their standoffish and often callous attitudes and poorly, poorly developed characters.

~Sugar Baby

[christphern]

Aw, come on SB. Don't you know how the dubbing censors mind's work? Cloverway seemed convinced that a better option than lesbians was incestuous lesbians. They had to make sure not to alienate the people in Arkansas, you know.

The whole R thing with Mamoru breaking up with Usagi bothered me, too. He didn't seem to be using that brain he was shown to possess in S. If anything, he put her in more danger during R by breaking up with her, since she was constantly distracted by the whole situation. I guess logic or common sense is as lacking in some animes as it is in real life.

Chris

[Neo Moonlight Knight]

Guys as a Mass media Production major, I have to tell you... the lesbians thing wasn't Cloverway's fault. They have orders to follow from the FCC and Cartoon Network's Practices and standards deparment.

Sailor Saturn? The one that had the same voice as Serena's mom was Michelle(Neptune) Saturn voice was completly diferent.

[christphern]

Neo, it wasn't that they made them cousins due to their relationship in the original. It was that they left in most, if not all, of the romantic scenes between the two (the 2 minute hand-holding scene in S springs to mind). Made them seem more like incestuous lesbians than just lesbians.

I think we, or at least I do, understand the reasons why they changed that. The FCC has very strict guidelines on children shows. What can't be shown, or said, or even implied. However, I think in that regard they could have done a better job handling the whole thing. At least they could have removed the scenes that blatantly screamed "We're not cousins, we're lovers!"

Chris

[PrimoPiccolo]

Originally Posted by Neo Moonlight Knight

Sailor Saturn? The one that had the same voice as Serena's mom was Michelle(Neptune)??Saturn voice was completly diferent.

That's what Suga' said. Sailor Neptune had the voice of Serena's mom. Of course it helped me that I had completely forgotten the voice of Serena's mom when I started watching S.

[PrimoPiccolo]

Originally Posted by christphern

At least they could have removed the scenes that blatantly screamed "We're not cousins, we're lovers!"

Oh, how I agree with you. I mean, all me and my brother ever saw was the dub, and we didn't need a bit of help from an outside source to figure out those two were far from cousins. And yes, the hand-holding scene always comes to mind first and foremost. It's like they were just making non-verbal communication to the fans saying "You and us both know what's what, just don't tell your folks". Either way, worked out for the dub viewers. I'm tired of us being played for fools.