In Sailormoon's third season, entitled Sailormoon S, Haruka and Michiru, who transform into Sailor Uranus and Neptune, make their appearance, attempting to find talismans that reside in the pure hearts of three people. These talismans will combine to form the Holy Grail, which when held by the mysterious Messiah will rid the world of evil. The downside is the talismans reside in "pure heart crystals," and if a person's crystal is removed, the person will die unless it is quickly returned. Haruka and Michiru are willing to sacrifice these three people to save the lives of everyone else on Earth. However, Usagi (Serena in the dub), and the rest of the Sailor Scouts oppose them, believing that they can save the world without killing anybody. The first half of the season is spent searching for the talismans, and therefore there is a great deal of focus on Haruka and Michiru (Amara and Michelle in the dub). Naturally, their relationship with each other is a part of that focus, but it is not explicitly expressed. The word "lesbian" never appears in the Japanese version, and Haruka and Michiru do no more than hold hands, and then only in times when one or both need comforting. However, since the show is aimed at children, even this is too obvious for American censors.
Are the Japanese More Tolerant of Homosexuality?: A History of Japanese Views
With all the anime aimed at children that includes homosexual relationships (or crushes between members of the same sex), one might wonder if the Japanese are especially accepting of homosexuality. However, the answer seems to be that until Western culture began to be integrated, they simply saw homosexuality in a different way from the United States.
In the samurai tradition, it was normal for a samurai warrior to fall in love with another warrior. In fact, it was considered honorable for one samurai to die for their male lover on the battlefield (Miller, Out of the Past, 518). In Sailormoon S, Uranus and Neptune can be seen exemplifying this ideal on the battlefield. Although they have promised each other that they will continue their mission under any circumstances, even the other's death, Neptune constantly puts her life in danger to save Uranus, eventually resulting in her "death" (Enokido, "Death�"). However, it seems that for the most part, samurai homosexual love was reserved for admiring one's love-interest from a distance rather than actually sleeping with him (Levi, 76).
Later on, a new term for same-sex love arrived: douseiai. While this wasn't as respected as the samurai love ideal was because it was seen as something imported from Western culture, for the most part it was not shunned either. However, it was still seen as more of an interest or hobby, rather than an actual life-style (Miller, Out of the Past, 520).
One type of douseiai was found between schoolgirls, called "S," which was short for "sister." (The "S" in Sailormoon S is short for "Supers" since the Outer Scouts are more powerful than the Inners and Sailor Moon is upgraded to Super Sailor Moon. However, one might infer that the "S" is being used as a double entendre correlating to an S relationship.) In Japan, an S relationship was a nonsexual love-interest between schoolgirls who would hold hands and send each other love letters. This was not really seen as a sign of lesbianism as much as a normal part of a girl's development. "[M]any parents consider it nicer, "purer" if the first object of a young girl's affection is female rather than male" (Levi 10-11). S relationships would often end after school was over, and women would be pressured to find someone to marry (Miller, Out in the World, 151).
Most of Japanese discrimination against homosexuality was inherited from Western culture. While lesbians have often had problems due to the pressure to marry, male-male sexual relationships were often accepted as long as it was a hobby. Once the Western idea of a homosexual life-style came about, new prejudices arose. However, it seems that although falling in love exclusively with members of the same sex is frowned upon, someone can have a crush on a member of the same sex or have a sexual relationship with a member of the same sex.
Bishonen: The Secret of the Beautiful Boys
In Japanese culture there is a concept known as the bishonen, which translates literally to "beautiful boy." Bishonen are not just handsome males, but are males who have feminine features, which tend to make them more attractive. Although often bishonen in manga and anime are gay, this is not always the case.
Japanese literature often talks about bishonen on the battlefield. These were the men that samurai would fight for, or occasionally would even be the attractive young man who won the battles (Levi 76). The bishonen figure was further popularized by the male-impersonators of Takarazuka theater, the all-woman version of Kabuki theater. The men in these plays were played by women and thus had more feminine features. The first shojo manga also had many bishonen within them (Levi 10). Since many anime series are based on manga, it is not surprising that bishonen have carried over into shojo anime.
Some examples of bishonen in the shojo anime for this study are Yukito from Cardcaptor Sakura, Miki from Shojo Kakumei Utena (although it is difficult to visually tell many of the characters' gender in Utena, Miki was the one I had the most trouble with, although that was probably compounded by his seiyuu (voice actor/actress), which is the same as Ami from Sailormoon), and Yaten, one of The Three Lights, from Bishojo Senshi Sailormoon Stars. The Three Lights, Seiya, Taiki, and especially Yaten, not only have feminine features, but they also become women when they transform into the Sailor Starlights. Perhaps because this would be near impossible to edit out or explain without having the implication of transexuality or lesbianism (since Seiya falls in love with Usagi), Sailormoon Stars has yet to be brought to the United States.
