I have come to the following conclusion...that no matter which way you put it...whether we are talking about Tsukino Usagi or Serena Tsukino...we are talking about the story of a young girl taken from her normal teenage life, given extraordinary powers and similarly large responsibilities. The story is of a young girl growing up.

Now, there is a division out in the Sailor Moon community. On one side of this divide are those who came to love Sailor Moon in its original form, the Japanese anime series Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon. They feel that the original series is the best rendition of the story, and that people who have not become acquainted with the original are missing out...

...Well, if that was all they said, I wouldn't have a problem with them. See, I am one of the people on the other side of that divide...the side composed of people who came to know Sailor Moon through the dubs of the series. The dub that has had the most impact, and gained the most notoriety is the North American dub distributed by DiC.

Now, I have to say that in nearly a year of exposure to Sailor Moon and the fans, probably the most unpleasant experience I have had has been dealing with what I call "non-dubbers". The non-dubbers are quick to jump on the use of NA name or information. I have been on the receiving end of insults and rudeness, and I have seen others targetted for asking simple questions.

When a non-dubber and I got into an argument over the dub, the entire thing boiled down to one issue. He felt that what I truly liked about the series was the elements of the original series that weren't destroyed by the dub. My position was that while that might be true, I wanted to discover it for myself, and I could only do so by watching as much of the original series as I could find. The non-dubber insisted he was right, and I was soon labelled a "dumbass" for daring to disagree with his opinion... which was obviously right.

More recently, someone asked for a list of birthdays of all of the Sailors. I had purchased a copy of "Sailor Moon, the Roleplaying Game" from Guardians of Order, and it happened to have a timeline which contained all of the birthdays for the major characters. I listed all of the characters and their birthdays, in order. Included in this list were the Outers, which Guardians listed using their original names. Guardians said in their introduction to the timeline that information from the original was used in place of information from the dub where it could be found, but that didn't seem to matter to the non-dubbers that responded.

"They're NOT SAILORS!" Then came the insults and fowl language... "They're SENSHI!" Really? When was the last time Haruka was referred to as "Senshi Uranus?" Excuse me, but ALL of the Sailors are referred to as "Sailor ..." and all the complaining and insults by non-dubbers can't change that. One recent thing I have noticed is this habit non-dubbers have of telling people that the NA dub is an entirely different series.

I beg to differ. If Star Trek was dubbed into a different language and the dubbing company only dubbed half of the episodes, that does not negate either half of the series. Besides, that is not the way to approach the situation. Instead of badgering and brow-beating dubbers into fear-induced compliance with the view held by the majority...I believe a different approach would work and would convince more people of these views.

Instead of insults, why not say to dubbers: "Yes, you've seen the dub, but that is only a portion of the entire story. There is SO much more to it...." From there, dubbers can explore the original series for themselves without the stigma of liking the dub hanging over their head.

Let me end this with a bit of a story. The year 1997 was not a good year for me. My nother died in May of that year, and this capped off seven months of self-induced Hell. Instead of trying to heal, I made myself a functioning member of society and tried to continue with my life. By May of 1998, I thought I had recovered. I had completed two semesters of college very successfully, and I had deluded myself into thinking I could make myself into the perfect "hero" by piling success atop success. Serena Tsukino, her trials, her successes, and her adventures conveyed a spirit, a soul that reached out through the mangling that DiC did to the series and touched someone far outside the normal fanbase of the story. In the case of the NA dub, the messenger could not kill the message.

Although I knew this already, I was reminded that heroes are often very human people who take what they are given and make the best of the situation. Instead of arguing about who s right, why don't we all face the facts. No matter what version of the series people watch, no matter how old they are, they have fallen in love with the STORY of Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon, and that includes everything from episode 1 to the end of the last movie. The only thing the dubbies are missing is the end of the story...and you know, I am sure I speak for the majority of dubbies when I say that I would not mind seeing the end of the series, and I would probably become a non-dubber if I am given the chance.

However, as long as dubbers are given the grief we are, there is no motivation to change except to fit in, and that is not a good reason to do anything.

Artemis

(comments welcome - please email me at [email protected] and I will post your comments here as well.)

Responses: May 6, 1999 - From Veronica:

I agree with you completely when it comes to this whole dubbing business. I finally found a place where I could get the original series, and though it is true that there is much censorship, and that much is lost in the dubbed series, it is also true that DIC did not do a poor job with the NA version.

We have to understand that they had to adapt the series for an audience of a different culture. The characters are very well portrayed as NA middle school girls, who talk as such. I actually found the dub to be even funnier at times, due to the expressions used. I can assure you that the scouts do not say things such as "wicked kewl", "as if," or "not even" in the original japanese dialogue. What I can tell you is that I do hear such language being used by my 14 year old sister and her friends. The dub did a great job at transforming the series into something that the kids in NA could relate to.

What is most important, as you said, is that we all love the story, and that young and old alike, we are all inspired by this anime princess who stands up for those she loves and for her beliefs, and who, most important of all, never gives up. I love the original, but the dub has added character and attitude to the show. The important thing is to "right wrongs, and triumph over evil," and in both versions the message is the same: Love can overcome all. I think we need to quit arguing about what's better, and that we should all just be glad the the dub, poor or not, made it to the NA market, increasing the popularity of anime.