A Defense for Sailor Moon

I like Sailor Moon.

If you told me as a child that I’d be saying that at 22, I would have thought you were nuts. Fads came and went. Crazy Bones faded with obscurity and Beanie Babies found their place in the bargain bin. But some crazes stayed with me for life. Sailor Moon and subsequently my love for  manga stayed with me.

The odd thing is that I don’t feel ashamed of liking Sailor Moon as an adult. As with other entertainment I enjoy, I keep my obsession to a minimum in public, but I don’t mind sharing that I bought some merchandise with close friends. It’s a guilty pleasure of mine, with foundation purely in sentimental cheese and fun.

However, there’s something to be said about the Sailor Moon manga in particular. It, in itself, is somewhat of a rarity, with an excellent story and incredibly memorable characters. It’s tough to find a manga that features a likable woman character, much less one that has many women, all with their own names and distinct personality. It’s a shame because the manga is typically obscured by its anime counterpart, which is cheesy and corny beyond belief, especially in the English dub.

I personally believe that the Sailor Moon manga is a timeless treasure that should be at least recognized for what it’s done for manga and young girls around the world. I think it’s gotten a bad reputation since its beginning because of the anime and serves to be a little better respected.

I won’t go into spoiler territory until the last paragraph of this article. It will be abundantly clear when I will go into the plot, so don’t worry about reading the first part of that if those things concern you.

It’s Relevant

Recently, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, a 13 episode anime production, has been praised as a more mature take on the magical girl genre. For those who don’t know, “magical girl” is a sub-genre of fantasy in anime and manga. Magical girl shows typically feature young girls who use supernatural abilities to defeat villains and overcome adversity. Madoka takes this premise and adds darker elements that clash with the pretty and cute nature that is usually associated with the genre. These unique story telling elements are what appeal to wider audience. I initially agreed with this notion until I actually went back and read Sailor Moon again. It became abundantly clear that some of the “dark” elements Madoka is praised for are nearly identical to events that happen in Sailor Moon. Some similarities include:

• Unexpected deaths of major characters
• Eternal failure to find love
• Inability to change tragic destiny
• The end of the world lurking just around the corner
• Betrayal at the hands of close friends
• A self sacrificing deus ex machina messiah figure

I’d go into more detail on these points, but I would hate to spoil either of these great series. The point is that Madoka really isn’t that special. I’m not saying that it shouldn’t be praised for what it is. The animation is absolutely fantastic and the story is arguably miles better than Sailor Moon. But the notion that the darker elements are what make it so different is incredibly ignorant. However, it is this very misconception that spawned the idea that Madoka is a timeless classic while Sailor Moon is a fluff piece. Madoka and many other series these days have used and still use Sailor Moon as timeless inspiration in its portrayal teenage girls and their struggles to find themselves in the chaos of a fantasy world.

I might talk about this another day but I’ve said before that I don’t particularly like the anime adaptation of Sailor Moon. It’s 200 episodes, versus the manga’s 52 chapters. And when more character development and story is crammed into those relatively short chapters versus 200 20 minute long episodes, you can see where I can lose a bit of my patience with the anime adaptation. That being said, there’s nothing wrong with liking the anime version (I adore some moments myself), but I’d recommend the original manga to anyone who is interested.

It’s a Nostalgic Time Capsule

The notion of something being cool just because it’s from the 90’s is one that I can’t wait to see go away. Though as much as I bicker and complain, I must admit this is the very reason I’m talking about Sailor Moon in the first place. Sailor Moon existed as a manga publication from the early to mid 90’s. It’s the essence of that decade, which has found its place again in our culture in the 2010’s.

Characters hang out at arcades and marvel at the mystery of computers. They look forward to buying physical CD’s and games. There’s one villainous scheme in I remember in particular that relies on people sharing copies of a VHS tape. It’s incredibly endearing to see some of the fashions the girls will wear when they’re not fighting for justice.

The reason I don’t cringe at any of this like I would on 90’s related posts shared on Facebook is that it’s not the point of the story. The plot is still there to carry things forward. Yes, a character will use a floppy disk every once in a while, but the story doesn’t rely entirely on 90’s content. All in all, it’s a fantastic tale with a hint of wonderful nostalgia.

Its Incredible Story

If I had to rank the five Sailor Moon arcs from best to worse, the first one would be my second best pick. What’s the first? We’ll get to that soon, but the beginning is an excellent place for anyone to start if they want to get into the series.

The manga starts off a bit episodic, with Sailor Moon fighting monsters and recruiting Sailor Scouts to join her team. Things take a quick and serious turn, which leads into its intense and rather mature story by about Volume 2. Some of the themes can be a bit challenging for young readers, which publisher Kodansha rightfully addressed by placing a 13 and older suggestion on current Sailor Moon publications. It surprises me that as a child, I frequently watched a show that featured depression, suicide, murder, gender fluidity and unconventional relationships. Censors and localization removed these elements from the anime, but I found them untouched in my personal collection. It’s not a story for kids, which is alarming considering the impact it had on a lot of our childhoods and why I find it frustrating that Sailor Moon is often labeled as a children’s series. I have no problem with liking something that is meant for teenagers and children, but I knew of many children younger than me who owned Sailor Moon volumes and were unprepared for these mature messages.

Now, if you’re older and haven’t read this roller coaster of emotion, I’d recommend checking  it out. It has its highs and lows, but it’s a fairly steady ride overall. The only thing I would keep in mind is that it’s an emotional story, not a logical one. You have to be willing to accept that events like Sailor Moon and her friends teleporting to the moon can happen without clear reason. The story is paced on emotion, not reason, which can understandably frustrate some readers.

The most often complaint I’ll hear from friends and peers about manga is when a series ends on a lackluster note. Even great series like Fullmetal Alchemist are widely accepted as not having the same spark as they did in their origins. Current publications like Naruto and Bleach drag on mercilessly, barely resembling the great concepts they once were. Sailor Moon is incredibly similar. In the end, the series takes a drastic turn, barely resembling the thing the story once was.

For Sailor Moon, the ending is easily the best part.

For those who want to read the Sailor Moon manga for yourselves, I suggest you don’t read past this paragraph, but please understand that it has an extraordinary ending that’s well worth your time.

Usagi, Sailor Moon’s secret identity, is enjoying high school life with her friends when her boyfriend, Tuxedo Mask, announces he’s studying college in America. At this point, this doesn’t come as such a bad revelation. After all, they’re destined to be lovers forever. It’s the one crucial plot point that’s been set up from the very beginning of the series. Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask will rule the Earth together and live happily ever after while somehow spawning a pink haired child. But as Usagi is waving goodbye, an unknown figure in gold obliterates her boyfriend in front of her, reducing him to dust.

Wait a second.

The last arc, or “Stars,” is to Sailor Moon what The Dark Knight Rises was to Batman, except in that Stars is the critical equivalent of The Dark Knight. For most of the series, Sailor Moon relies on the love and support of her friends to save the day. In Stars, every single Sailor Scout is killed off in some horrible fashion, with the exception of our protagonist. It’s up to Sailor Moon to save her friend’s very souls before they’re harvested for power by the will of Chaos itself, the purest essence of evil. Standing in her way are false Sailor Scouts, powered by the stolen souls of legitimate Sailor Scouts from other galaxies. If this doesn’t sound metal to you, I don’t know in what other way I can convince you.

There’s a real heartbreaking scene toward the end where Sailor Moon is forced to fight her friends’ reanimated bodies. This scene used to really get me as a kid, seeing Sailor Moon’s memory of her best friend, Sailor Venus, juxtaposed against the horrible monster she’s become.

And in the end, Sailor Moon fails to save Tuxedo Mask. Using what’s left of her friends’ souls, Sailor Moon plunges into the core of the galaxy itself, destroying both Chaos and her in one final sacrifice.

Fortunately (but unfortunately, in my own critical opinion), everyone is reincarnated, given the chance to continue their lives because of Sailor Moon’s sacrifice. It’s a bit of a cop out ending, put there to satisfy fans. It’s not awful, but it does take a lot of the bite out of the sacrifice and struggle the characters put themselves through. Despite this,  it’s a great ending and I’d highly recommend reading it to anyone interested in manga. I’ve avoided some of the major plot elements in my description, so there’s still some surprises if you want to check it out.

Sailor Moon is “shojo,” a manga directed toward women, so it definitely doesn’t appeal to everyone. Last year, Sailor Moon beat Naruto and Bleach as the top selling manga in the United States of America, so it’s clear that even in its republications, it’s not going away anytime soon. There’s never been a better time to get into the hype and it’s well worth your time.