Answering Your Sailor Moon Questions – the Threequel

Your questions, me desperately trying to answer

Your questions, me desperately trying to answer

That’s right, it’s that time again where I take a look at some of the questions that often come in and either answer, explain why I can’t answer, or spout off random nonsense until I hit my required word count.

Today’s questions are brought to us by the list of Google search terms, and the types of questions people are asking the open internet and ultimately brought them to this blog.

There’s not much else to say, so let’s dive right in!

Bring those questions, I'm ready!

Bring those questions, I’m ready!

(If you’re keeping track, here’s Part 1 and Part 2 of the “Answering Your Sailor Moon Questions” series)

I probably don’t need to tell you that many, many of the search terms are… well, not exactly what I’d call “family friendly.” Honestly, I’m not sure why people clicked on this blog if they’re in the market for something a little more of the adult persuasion, but I hope they found something interesting anyway!

As for the rest, they’re actually pretty interesting. Some I’ve addressed, some I haven’t.

So can I actually answer some of these questions? Let’s find out!

Is the Tsukino Family Still Alive in Neo Tokyo?

This is an interesting question, and something I’ve wondered a lot about personally. Well, okay, not if they’re alive exactly, but what happened to them.

To clarify, since the series seems to suggest that Neo Queen Serenity’s assumption of the throne was a pretty peaceful/natural transition, I think we can rule out that they all died or anything. It seems that the Silver Crystal gave long-lasting (eternal?) life to all people of Earth at that time, so that should extend to her family as well.

If so, I imagine that their relationship is just similar to that of any other young married couple: you have your own family now, but still call your mother once in awhile to talk and reminisce, and maybe spend some holidays together.

When Do the Outer Senshi Appear in Sailor Moon?

Technically? In the second season, with the appearance of Sailor Pluto in the fight against the Black Moon. I mean, sure, she wasn’t actually referred to as a member of the Outer Senshi at that point, and she was actually referred to in all materials at the time as the sixth member of the Sailor Team. So I guess for all those reasons, you could consider this answer to be cheating.

First Outer Senshi... technically.

First Outer Senshi… technically.

More accurately, as most of you already know, the Outer Senshi as we know them appeared with Sailor Uranus and Neptune in the third season, the Infinity Arc.

Why Does Haruka Use Masculine Pronouns?

This is something I’ve touched on in the past, most specifically with regard to how Haruka’s use of pronouns was different in the anime and the manga.

While I do feel that this does give us an interesting insight into Haruka’s character — especially with regard to how she switches from feminine first-person pronouns as Sailor Uranus to masculine ones as Haruka Tenoh — I think that people may overanalyze how significant this really is.

There is a well established culture in Japan of women using masculine pronouns that isn’t always associated with gender identity or sexuality. For example, Megumi Ogata, Haruka’s voice actress, she uses the gender neutral pronoun 私 (watashi) in normal life, but the masculine pronoun 俺 (ore) on Twitter.1

Additionally, according to a 2009-2010 study,2 1.2-3.8% of Japanese women prefer to use masculine pronouns.

Conclusion? Though not common, it’s not unheard of either and is often more a stylistic choice than anything else.

Now for something a little different...

Now for something a little different…

Are Sailor Moon Body Standards Unreal?

Of course they are. It’s a cartoon.

That said, I did an extensive write-up about just how they stack up (… pun only kinda intended) with the real world.

Why Does ChibiUsa Disappear at the End?

I’m not totally sure what this is asking, but I’m going to assume it’s in reference to ChibiUsa not being a part of the Sailor Stars anime.

While there’s no official reason given, I think it’s pretty telling that the Outer Senshi are also pretty much non-existent in the Stars season. If you take a look at the season as a whole, and can somehow tolerate seeing Taiki and his monstrous forehead, it’s pretty apparent that the people in charge of that season were going for a strong romantic comedy/school romance/high school life angle.

Sadly, ChibiUsa doesn’t really fit into that kind of story due to the fact that she’s not only goes to a totally different school, but it’s not all that realistic to have her pining after one of the Three Lights.3 Or, even more creepily, to have one of the Three Lights chasing her romantically.

Three chibis on a single page = no

Three chibis on a single page = no

Like I mentioned, this is purely a guess on my part, but I think the change in focus for the series made ChibiUsa a difficult character to work into the story. Also, with the introduction of ChibiChibi, there probably hit the chibi-quota and didn’t have a choice.

What Anjime Isis Resposible for Body Stage Change?

I… have absolutely no idea what this means. I guess there’s a running theme of… “body stage changing” in anime or pop culture, that you’re under the impression some anime which was responsible for this trend, and you’d like to know which anime started it all?

Reading into this further, I assume you’re asking about either gender changes like in Ranma 1/2 / the Starlights in Sailor Moon… or you’re talking about body swapping, like in the theatrical hit Your Name.

Maybe?

Yeah, umm... no clue on this one

Yeah, umm… no clue on this one

As I mentioned before, these question-and-answer weekend threads aren’t actually meant to be an in-depth look into anything, but are just a fun way to do an off-the-cuff analysis of questions I normally won’t be able to get around to.

That said, I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of the above! Do you have any other thoughts about why ChibiUsa suddenly is cut from the anime? Any thoughts about pronouns? Can anyone help me with this anjime thing?? Let me know below!

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References:

  1.  See this March 2, 2013 tweet by Megumi Ogata
  2.  See Boku Girls (Wikipedia)
  3. Let’s not talk about the Mamoru thing in Sailor Moon R.

18 thoughts on “Answering Your Sailor Moon Questions – the Threequel

  1. I am afraid i cant help with the questions above…but i have a question myself that maybe you could answer. At what point do you think Michiru and Haruka started dating? Like is there any indication in the anime or manga? I have a couple thoughts on that but i am not very sure , i would like to hear your opion or anybody elses that might know :))

    • Gut instinct without doing a full analysis? For the manga, I’d say they probably were the whole time, while in the anime I would say about mid-way through the season. When Michiru is asked by Minako and Usagi about if she’s dating Haruka, she actually denies it. When you consider how open they are about their relationship later in the series, it really makes no sense that Michiru would flat-out deny being together with Haruka.

      How about you??

      • I think i agree that they started dating mid season ,i wasnt sure if michiru was lying when she answered Usagi’s and Minako’s question but after some thought i think shes telling the truth because later there are more indications . Also found this https://seramyu.wordpress.com/2015/10/24/sailor-moon-the-relationship-of-haruka-michiru/
        that analysed it … some points are really interesting others are just assumptions . It would be nice if you could put your analysis about the subject in a post :)) Either way thank you for replying and you do a lovely job with this blog ^-^

        • Thanks for your comment! It’s always nice to hear that people actually can stand reading through my ramblings.

          As for the relationship between Haruka and Michiru, it’s definitely an interesting subject since the series basically considered them “officially” a couple, without ever actually going out and saying the word “couple.”

          • Well, considering how quickly high schoolers in Japan are considered a couple, I disagree with the Mid season assessment but would said latest when they were out together driving in the car. The “I know a girl who kept watching you” was a love confession, which Haruka accepted when she decided to go on a trip with her.

            As for the lying, the average high schooler is super shy about that and tends to be embarrassed about it. You don’t just admit easily to having a boyfriend. Even worse, a girl-friend as a girl. And/or they may have downplayed their relationship because as single persons they found it easier to build up a relationship with the girls. It may even be a leftover from the manga where they knew the identities of the inners.

  2. hello about the Why Does ChibiUsa Disappear at the End i have not seen season 5 so i cant say this for sure but from what i have read i have always thought that the reason why they droped her was because as long as she was there you knew there was no way sailor moon whould end up with the 3 stars girl with her and tuxedo masks kid from the future still being there ( most people think that a kid is a mix of both parents ) this is where not having seen the series i cant be sure but i think when ChibiChibi is put in to the show it is not said that she is tuxedo masks kid as well till the last episode just sailor moons that way making people wonder if she is sailor moon and the 3 stars girl/guy’s kid not having seen the season i cant be sure but that is what i have always thought does it fit

  3. Taiki is totally my favorite character. Forehead and all. If you need me to do a guest post explaining why Taiki and the Starlights are the best characters, I am so totally there.

    • I may need to take you up on that offer! I’d be interested in seeing a new side to Taiki, since I’m admittedly biased, which probably colors my perception of the character.
      What is it that you like about Taiki, if you don’t mind my asking? ^^ Genuinely curious.

  4. One thing that I have always wondered is: Why is Super Sailor Moon’s back ribbon long in S, but short in SuperS?
    I assume it was because it made it easier to animate, but I’ve never been able to find, or really see a real answer.

    • That’s an interesting issue that, honestly, I never really thought much about. The idea that it was easier to animate is definitely one possible idea. Another is that there may have been a change in art direction between the two seasons? Though I’m pretty sure most of the cast stayed on between Sailor Moon S and Sailor Moon SuperS.

  5. As for the Tsukino family: Maybe I’m totally wrong but I thought everyone’s re-awakening at the end of the series took place in the future… but you know what, that has to be wrong if Chibiusa is 900 years old, doesn’t it? Honestly I’m just confused at this point. I always assumed the Tsukinos had a happy normal life… I never thought about them being granted long lives as well.

    As for Chibiusa in Stars… if they were going to make up their own storyline that’s so different from the manga, I suppose you might as well send Chibiusa home because there are just too many characters already. I understand why they did it. Though it would have been fun to have one more Sailor Senshi in that episode where every single one of them were packed into a small room in a house!

    I wish Stars would have stayed close to the manga storyline though. Both SuperS and Stars suffered by taking too many liberties with making up their own storylines. (On the other hand, anime-only storylines worked OK in the past, so I can’t totally blame them.)

    • I guess for me I don’t really mind that the anime storyline diverged from the manga. After all, if I want to enjoy the story offered in the manga, I can read the manga. But by having the anime tell a different story, it gives me the opportunity to enjoy a different side to Sailor Moon, and see the characters in more/different scenarios.

      At least that’s how I always looked at it!

      • that is a good way of looking at it i have come to think of both the anime and the manga as different takes on the story both good in there own ways going to places and doing things the other did not but still sort of following the same great story

  6. On the topic of Chibiusa in Stars going poof, as I’ve been thumbing the later volumes of the manga for funsies, I can say, Chibiusa leaves for 30th century Crystal Tokyo and ENDS UP STAYING (instead of immediately coming right back…), and doesn’t actually return until she leaves against her mother’s wishes with the Asteroid Senshi in tow.

    Also? SuperS was a thing. And was 129% all about Chibiusa kissing a horse, so sending her off was a breath of fresh air I bet.

  7. I love how every time Taiki gets mentioned, T. MASK also mentions his immeasurable forehead.

  8. Okay so the outer Senshi actually appear in season 1 of the original anime. There is a flashback when they visit the moon about what happened and how all the Senshi were reborn, you see Haruka and Michiru floating inside their own little bubbles among the others.

  9. In regards to Rei’s “man-hating” persona, while part of it can be said that it’s because of how her first love didn’t love her back, I think it comes down to her issue with her father. She mentioned how men can’t be trusted and she has a really bad relationship with her father. So I’m pretty sure her main reason for hating men is because of how her father is (Classically termed as “Daddy Issues”).

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