English 22
4 December 2000
Imagine a world where middle school, high school, college students, and adults alike ban together to watch, honor, and pay homage to a cartoon staring a 15-year-old girl who magically transforms into a fighting super hero a la Mighty Mophin' Power Rangers. Conventions are held, and parties are thrown, plush dolls, CD's, videotapes, laser disks, pencils, party favors, and just about everything imaginable are plastered with the faces of the cartoon's sugar induced main characters ("Hitoshi's Angels"). Well imagine no more, for this is reality! In the same world where you go about your own life of school or work lives a magnitude of fans who ravage comic book stores by day, surf the web by night, and all the while, pray to the same goddess Naoko Takeuchi. A Japanese woman, with a major in science, Ms. Takeuchi created the manga (Japanese comic book) in which they worship. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, which is more commonly known as Sailor Moon, is a cartoon, this is for certain a fact. If you want to be technical, you can say it's a shoujo anime, a Japanese cartoon, but a cartoon none the less. So why is it people of all ages delve into the world of this 15-year-old girl made of pencil smudges who's imported to America from the far East? Not all cartoons are restricted to kids; such is the case with Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, which was originally made for older teens and adults (MacKinnon 12). While anime itself varies in audience, anime shows are geared towards specific age brackets, as is Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon due to violent content, suggestive themes and mature content.
Before the madness that was Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, there was another manga character and another manga. Codename wa Sailor V was Ms. Takeuchi's manga about a crime-fighting heroine of love and justice who fought crime under the alias Sailor V by night, and was a normal school girl by day. Toei Animation, Co. showed interest in turning Codename wa Sailor V into an anime, the decision was later made to create an entirely new manga, one with a longer story line and deeper plot, which would be more suitable to become a cartoon (MacKinnon 12). Codename wa Sailor V was about Minako and her life as Sailor Venus, or rather as she calls herself, Sailor V. There are three tankubon which make up Codename wa Sailor V. Though Codename wa Sailor V before Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon it wasn't finished until much later. Ms. Takeuchi took the idea of the sailor suited warrior Sailor V, along with the popular sentai style anime, a team of fighting warriors, and created Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, which included, once finished fourteen Sailor Senshi (Sailor Soldiers), along with the mention of an infinite amount of Sailor Soldiers throughout the universe. The anime Bisjoujo Senshi Sailor Moon made its Japan television debut in March 1992, only one-month after the release of the first Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon manga (Decker 6).
The manga Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon began in Nakayosi a magazine published by the company Kodansha. The manga was supposed to stop after the second arc, the Black Moon story, but Kodansha convinced Ms. Takeuchi to continue the story of Sailor Moon. When Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon finished publication there were a total of 52 acts in spanning over 18 tankubon covering five different story arcs. The Sailor Moon anime covers 5 seasons1 which consists of 200 episodes, in addition to specials episodes and live action shows. There are also many stories of Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, both anime and manga which aren't considered acts, don't fit into the story line, and have no set time period in which they occur. These include the Chibi-Usa's Picture Diary series (four stories total); Ami-chan's First Love, the Inner Senshi special stories in the Dream arc (three total); Casablanca Memories focusing on Sailor Mar's from the first series which was later reprinted in tankubon 11; also in tankubon 11, The Lover of Princess Kaguya; and the special parody story in the Materials Collection artbook called Parallel Moon which focuses on the children of Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus and their transformation into Sailor Senshi. Ms. Takeuchi has done several other manga unrelated to Sailor Moon, mostly with romantic themes such as Cherry Project, Miss Rain, and Rain Kiss. Though Sailor Moon is by far her most popular and successful manga.
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon soon became a run away success in Japan (Decker 6). With the simultaneous release of new manga and the airing of new episodes of the anime, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon had been on the cover of every Japanese anime magazine in the country. Sailor Moon paraphernalia, merchandise and cheap imitation items soon began popping up everywhere and Ms. Takeuchi's manga even inspired a parody manga (Decker 6). The shows star, a leggy 15-year-old girl with mile long legs and a tiny micro-mini skirts who spouts the same innuendo at the climax of each episode, had not only captured the interest of an immeasurable amount of worshipers, but has spouted endless fan web sites owned and operated by fans for fans in a race to be the biggest, the best and to claim the most devotion to the fictional characters.
With the release of the Sailor Moon anime in America in 1995, the cartoon was a moderate success, but was cancelled after only 65 episodes were dubbed into English (Ho 1). Though it was canceled, Sailor Moon had attracted a number of fans in America, and rival controversy soon spouted when American fans true to the original Japanese version of the anime saw the 'dubbed' version produced by DiC Incorporated. The first American series entitled simply Sailor Moon was cut to ribbons with what seemed like a dull butter knife. Dialogue was changed, scenes were cut, and plot lines were revised to satisfy American censors. Characters were not even allowed to slap each other, let alone transform into a superhero with nothing more than ribbons covering their silhouette as it was in the original (Arromdee). DiC went on to finish the second series, and expand the total number of episodes they dubbed from 65 to 82, which completed the second Japanese season Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon R. While DiC finished up to the end of the second season in 1995, it is to say that they never fully completed the the first two seasons, since quite a few episodes were deleted from the American version, those episodes contained either to much violence to edit out, or were unrelated to the immediate plot line and were simply left out, disregarding the large overall story line of the Sailor Senshi and the fact that anime characters are portrayed as regular people with everyday problems, regardless of their superhero alter egos (MacKinnon 9). Of those deleted episodes many of which were for character development, such as the case with Japanese episode2 #42 "Sailor Venus no kako, Minako no hiren!" which translates to "Sailor Venus's Past, Minako's Blighted Love!" delves into the past and tells the tale of how the fifth Sailor Senshi made her way from England to Tokyo to join the other Senshi (Doi). Sailor Venus, who's American name3 is Mina, originally lived in England, but after losing her best friend and her love, she faked her own death and relocated in Tokyo. Up until this episode, Mina is portrayed as a shallow, lighthearted girl who cares only about boys and video games. This deleted episode deals with her heart-wrenching ordeal, which included leading her best friend and love to believe she was dead so that the two might live a happy life together, since only hate and conflict would ensue if she had stayed. Due to the deletion of the episode, Mina continues to be shallow and self absorbed until the end of the season, where she suddenly seems to care about her duty as a Sailor Senshi and dies to protect Sailor Moon. (Sailor Moon)
In the third season of Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, two new characters, Michiru and Haruka are introduced, we find later in the season are the Sailor Senshi Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. In addition, the original Japanese version has the two characters as lesbians (Sailor Moon S). While, it is not directly said in dialogue that the two are a couple, there are some references, taken directly from the original Japanese version:
Episode 181:
Haruka doesn't want Usagi to go on a date with Seiya, a popular boy bandsinger but Michiru stops Haruka's protest by taking her wrist and dragging her away.
Haruka (to Michiru): "You're hurting me!"
Michiru (softly): "Am I?"
Haruka: "I want you to touch me gently."
Michiru: "Later, when we're alone."
Episode 187:
When Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune were facing death by the hands of Sailor Galaxia, she presented them an option, a way to live on, since otherwise, she would kill them. If they would willingly give up their star seeds, they could work for Sailor Galaxia. Though they would not be dead, it would be the equivalent of selling their souls. Sailor Pluto and Sailor Saturn immediately refused, saying they would rather die, but Sailor Uranus was interested in the offer, and tells Sailor Neptune:
Sailor Uranus: "If I can be with you, I don't mind selling my soul to the devil."
Sailor Neptune: "I'm with you until I die"
Sailor Uranus: "Let's be together in hell."
These instances show that Haruka and Michiru, though never bluntly saying how close they are, shows the love of the two characters supersedes the bond they two share with Setsuna and Hotaru, whom they consider close family. The dialoge from episode #182 also shows Haruka and Michiru trust each other with their lives. Michiru doesn't casts doubt with Haruka's decision, and follows her to their death, where as Setsuna and Hotaru beg them to reconsider (Doolan).
Even an interview with Naoko Takeuchi, states that Michiru and Haruka are together:
"The relationship between Haruka and Michiru is quite special. I think the most important feeling in the world is friendship. The friendship between them is so strong that it becomes love. There's not only heterosexual love, but there also can be a homosexual love, in this case between two girls."
--Naoko Takeuchi ("Naoko Takeuchi")
For the longest time, DiC, though it still owned the rights to Sailor Moon, did not finish the other three seasons of Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon. Finally during the summer of 2000, it was announced that Cloverway Inc. would take over the dubbing and releasing of Sailor Moon to America. So on June 12, 2000, Sailor Moon S began airing on the Cartoon Network as part of its revamped Toonami program, which consists of dubbed anime. The immediate complaint of fans seemed to be the new voice actors the cutting of scenes was dramatically reduced from DiC's previous slice and dice job of the two seasons before. Sailor Moon S was then placed under a microscope as fans picked apart every detail of change, which had occurred. Surprisingly only one episode was deleted, for nudity. The offending character was to be digitally revamped by being given a spandex suit to wear, but instead was left as is, though a few minor changes were made, the episode aired and will later be released in on DVD (SOS). With many changes to the original story, such as names of characters being changes, and the all around plot of Sailor Moon S which has a great deal of religious background. The editing consisted of religious references which were cut and changed as so not to offend American viewers. But in doing so, changed the plot.
The change that irked practically every Sailor Moon fan who saw the dub of Sailor Moon S was changing Michiru and Haruka who became Michelle and Amarah in the new dub, from lovers, to cousins, which tried to explain their extremely close 'friendship' of the two girls. Not only was this met with anger, laughter and all out disgust among fans, newspapers were soon printing such things as "Cartoon Network and Cloverway took a sensitive issue and actually made it more politically offensive by inadvertently throwing in a suggestion of incest" (Sebert). Had they just left the characters alone, it would have been compared to the TV show Ellen, at worst, where the main character admits she's a lesbian.
Though the truth to Michiru and Haruka may be plain to see no matter which version you watch, there are other characters in the later seasons past Sailor Moon S that also raised eyebrows. Such as in Sailor Moon SuperS, which stars three villains called the Amazon 3 (or the Amazon Trio). Which consists of Hawk's Eye, Tiger's Eye and Fish Eye. While the three villains search for a unicorn, which resides in dreams of people, they attack only people they are attracted to. While all three are male, and thus Hawk's Eye and Tiger's Eye attack women, Fish Eye set's his sights on only men, most of the time, dressing as a woman to seduce the victim to developing a crush on him, then attacking. This character was under question as to weather or not he would become a she, as was the case in the first season of Sailor Moon, when a longhaired male villain was 'with' another male villain. The more feminine of the two, Zoicite, was simply given a female's voice during the English dub, and no one knew the difference. Fans wondered if Fish Eye's fate would be the same. The question was answered when on September 26, 2000 Sailor Moon SuperS aired, with Fish Eye . . . the girl. So, now we have a woman who dates a man who's really a man but people think is a woman, two cousins who make googly eyes at each other and a woman who dresses like a woman and dates men, but she's really a he. Sound like an episode of Jerry Springer?
The season directly after Sailor Moon SuperS is the fifth and final season, Sailor Stars. This season goes beyond the scope of the previous seasons and brings in Sailor Senshi not only from another planet, but are do not belong to the 'Sailor Team'. The Sailor StarLights as they are called consists of three girls clad in skimpy black leather bikinis. Though the season of Sailor Stars has not been released in America, fans are already wondering what will happen to their beloved StarLights, especially since their human forms are as three male singers. But not just any singers, they are the most popular boy band in Japan, The Threelights. So, what will happen to the pop stars when they begin to transform, which adds in the proper increase and decrease of the character's anatomy to partake in the sudden sex change. Though the characters once state that it is "Easier to be male." in order to complete their mission, since they're looking for their princess (Sailor Stars). Will the StarLights face the same fate as Zoicite, Fish Eye, Haruka and Michiru, only time will tell.
Though sexual references and violence in Sailor Moon are extremely common in anime (Lazarowitz), there is still one major factor of Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon that cannot be forgotten. The time frame of Sailor Moon spans over thousands of years, from about 8 BC till late in the 30th Century AD (MacKinnon 136). As told by the characters Luna and Artemis in the American version #41, "A long time ago, we all lived happily in a place called the Moon Kingdom. It was a wonderful, peace-loving time for all the planets, known as the Silver Millennium. . . Princess Serena lived there in the Royal Castle. Her mother, Queen Serenity, was a fair and gentle ruler who was raising her daughter to follow in her footsteps. But then the peace was shattered when evil Queen Beryl, (Queen Metallia in the original) found a way to break out of her NegaVerse, and into out universe." We later found that her daughter, Princess Serena, is in love with the prince of Earth, Prince Darien. But Queen Metallia, an evil omnipresent force launched an assault on the Moon with the help of the lower villains and minions. Queen Serenity died protecting the people of the moon. She won the battle by defeating the evil Queen's Shadow Warriors, then sends the children of the moon to present day Earth, so they will be safe from any returning threat.
Now, in present time, Serena finds out she is Sailor Moon. The time frame of Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon R, Sailor Moon S, Sailor Moon SuperS, Sailor Stars then follows along with the events from the three theatrical movies and other specials. Sometime during the 21st Century however, the Earth spins into ecological disaster, and enters a state of dormancy where the world freezes over. During the early 30th century, Neo-Queen Serenity rises to the throne and returns to world to the bustling hub of commerce it once was (Sailor Moon). Though this is a small and very unspecific summary of the history of Sailor Moon, since a complete history of Sailor Moon is in itself an entirely new paper, it is to say that Sailor Moon is an extremely complex story, with varying twists and turns which would greatly confuse a child. Who wouldn't be confused when a pink haired girl drops out of the sky, claming to be the 15-year-old star's daughter? Or when the stars travel to the future to meet their future selves. . .but then again, two of one person cannot exist in any one time, and therefore they're not really their future selves that the stars talk to, since everyone is unconscious. With the three thousand-year time line, the constant time travel, change of events, and cause and effect of fights, battles and wars on past or present events, it's difficult for an adult fan to keep up with the history of Sailor Moon, let alone a child. In addition, may fans raise questions about Sailor Moon, such as "Was Queen Serenity the Queen of just the moon, the solar system, or the entire universe?" And since life is mentioned to exist on other planets, it brings in the question of the systems beyond ours, such as the planet of the Makaiju, which is mentioned in Sailor Moon R.
Anime takes a deep root in symbolism, both of American culture and Japanese (MacKinnon 10). Sailor Moon is no exception, with just about every item, gesture and fact dealing with some a pun, or having significant meaning. A brief layout included the characters Japanese names, which all have relevance to the power they control. For example, Sailor Jupiter's Japanese name is Makoto Kino, the translation of which means "Sincerity of Wood" though the 'ki' in her last name can be read as 'moku', meaning wood, the word 'mokusei' refers to the planet Jupiter (MacKinnon 191). Sailor Jupiter's powers of wood and electricity play off the pun in her name, referring to Jupiter, the God and it's equivalent Zeus, who uses lighting as his power. This is true for all of the main characters Japanese names, gods or goddesses, the planet, and powers in relation to the Senshi.
In addition many legends and old tales are in the Sailor Moon history such as with Sailor Venus. The Senshi of Love and Beauty, who is only shown twice without the signature red bow in her hair, refers to a Japanese legend of how people find love. The legend states that each person carries a red ribbon in his or her heart, and when they meet a person whose ribbon matches, they will forever love each other. So it is only fitting that the Senshi of love wear a red ribbon. Many stories, puns and similarities befall Sailor Moon and the stories, both in the original Japanese version, and surprisingly, also in the DiC dub. The many stories are very entertaining, and tell the story of the Senshi showing they are not simply two-dimensional, hollow cartoon characters.
While the may cuts, changes and deletions DiC and Cloverway made to Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon can not be fixed and the final season of Sailor Moon waits in the wings to be dubbed, perhaps the 'shocking' ideas and gestures of the Japan TV show will be left at peace. After all, the show was originally geared towards kids when it was released in America, but as it's obvious now that little kids aren't what's paying for Sailor Moon tapes, and merchandise, it's the older fans who have been dutifully waiting for some good to come out of the American release, and perhaps it will, with the release of the best season of Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, which maybe, just maybe will be left in tact for the older viewers. Then perhaps Sailor Moon will finally loose the unfair label in which it has received of being only for children based on the hollow inference of American culture that cartoons are for children.
Author's Note: If you would like a copy of the work cited and/or content notes, email me. Please specify you want the cited and/or notes for The Controversy in Cartoons paper. This paper has a requirement of 3 pages, needless to say, it was longer than that. In total when using MLA format, this paper came out to 13 pages with content notes, and work cited.