4 Absurd Things 90s Sailor Moon Fans Fought Over

The Moonie Wars were a tough time for all

The Moonie Wars were a tough time for all

And no, I’m not talking about whether Sailor Moon or Goku was more powerful (and yes, that was a thing). What I’m talking about here are the different causes that early Sailor Moon fans were up in arms over back in the late 90s and into the early 2000s. These were debates that could quite literally figuratively tear fan communities apart and that… well… are all pretty absurd when you have 20 years’ worth of hindsight to work with.

Whether you’re an old-time Moonie or a newcomer to the series, I think  it’s worth taking a look back at how the fandom has evolved over the years into what is (hopefully…) a better and more caring Sailor Moon community.

So listen up, kids! As a proud veteran of the Great Moonie Flame War of 1998, I have some interesting stories I’d like to share. And you better pay attention! You know what they say about history: those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.1

Continue reading

Prism Power: Exclusive Interview With Sailor Moon Series Director Junichi Sato

Prism Power: 173% Funded on Kickstarter and Counting!

Prism Power: 173% Funded on Kickstarter and Counting!

Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined when I started this blog two and a half years ago that not only would I be writing a book about Sailor Moon, but that I would be sitting down for coffee to chat with those involved in bringing the series to TV.

The world apparently works in mysterious ways, however, and that’s exactly what’s happening.

I’m incredibly pleased to announce that the Prism Power book will be featuring an exclusive interview with Sailor Moon series director and critically-acclaimed anime veteran, Junichi Sato!1

Click here to check out the Kickstarter campaign! (ends on June 29, 2018)

Unlike the other stretch goals — including the 悪霊退散 (Akuryo Taisan) bookmarks printed on Japanese-style washi paper and the oh-so-close-to-being-funded illustrated map of Sailor Moon‘s Azabu-Juban — this exclusive interview with Junichi Sato will be joining the anime episode and manga act reviews as a part of the book itself.

If this is something that interests you, there’s more information available in today’s Kickstarter update, including some of the questions I plan on asking, and an opportunity for you to submit your own! It’s not every day that we get to ask why certain choices were made to someone who personally had a hand in Sailor Moon‘s creation, so I’m hoping to make the most of it!

In closing, I just want to say how immensely thankful I am to all of you who read Tuxedo Unmasked, and have even turned this personal project of mine into an exciting two-way dialogue. None of this would be possible without you.

Prism Power Book Kickstarter Now Live!

"Prism Power" now live on Kickstarter!

“Prism Power” now live on Kickstarter!

Update: 320% funded! (199 backers)

After months of preparation, I’m incredibly excited to announce that the Kickstarter campaign for Prism Power: A Fan’s Guide to Sailor Moon is finally live!

Exclusive Kickstarter extras include:

Click here to check out the campaign! (ends TODAY, June 29)

Continue reading

Tuxedo Unmasked Book Gets a Name and Announcing Other Exciting Projects

"Prism Power" (cover design not final)

“Prism Power” (cover design not final)

Picking a name for my upcoming Sailor Moon book was surprisingly much harder than I ever expected it to be. After all, I had quite the opposite experience with this blog. I actually already had the name “Tuxedo Unmasked” picked out before I even knew  what I wanted the blog to be about. After two or three false starts, I settled on what you see here today.

But! I’m happy to announce that the name issue is finally behind us now.

Prism Power: A Fan’s Guide to Sailor Moon is now starting to take shape! I’ve hammered out the direction a bit better, and the slow, painful exciting drive toward writing all of the content continues to chug along.

I’ve got a few more announcements about the book — including the Kickstarter launch date and details on that — and about some other new Sailor Moon-related projects I’m hoping to start up soon.

Stick around, I’ll try to keep this interesting!

Continue reading

Tuxedo Unmasked Book Announcement, Details, Kickstarter, and More!

Henshin-ing from a blog into a book!

Henshin-ing from a blog into a book!

It’s been awhile since I made the initial announcement about the upcoming Tuxedo Unmasked book, but ever since that post I’ve been working feverishly behind the scenes doing research and working on the initial drafts for this deep dive into the Sailor Moon universe.

My goal is for the book to serve as a thorough analysis of the first season of Sailor Moon, taking you through each anime episode and manga act of the Dark Kingdom saga to shine a light on the many blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments throughout the series.

Rather than just being a cleaned up reprint of the material you can already find here on this blog, I hope to take the in-depth investigations that Tuxedo Unmasked is known for and turn that obsessive attention for detail to the very source of the Sailor Moon story itself.

But I think I’m getting ahead of myself. Before I start talking about lofty goals and ideals, we should probably get back to basics and explain what it is that we’re doing in the first place. So, in the true spirit of Tuxedo Unmasked, I think we should probably put this in the form of a question:

Why do we even need a Sailor Moon story guide?

Continue reading

What Kind of Sailor Moon Events Will Be at Universal Studios Japan?

Sailor Moon comes to Universal Studios Japan

Sailor Moon comes to Universal Studios Japan

If you’re anything like me, the moment you heard that there was going to be a real, live Sailor Moon attraction opening up at Universal Studios Japan (USJ), you were probably overcome with excitement. This is very likely the one and only time that we’ll ever be seeing the Sailor Soldiers in a theme park setting, so we’re going to need to make the most out of the experience.

Now that we’re only two months out from the unveiling of Sailor Moon: The Miracle 4-D, it’s about time that we take a look at what USJ has in store!

Continue reading

Did Sailor Moon Influence the School Girl Miniskirt Boom?

Are people trying to mimic this?

Are people trying to mimic this?

While the vast majority of what I write tends to be about either lore within the Sailor Moon universe or fans’ perception thereof, it’s also interesting to sometimes take a step back and analyze the impact that Sailor Moon had on the real world.

Today, I wanted to stop and take a look into one curious theory that I occasionally see floated around on Japanese blogs and books: that the Sailor Moon series was — at least partially — responsible for the rise in popularity among Japanese high school students wearing miniskirts in the mid- to late-90s.

As absurd as it sounds on the surface, it turns out that there may actually be some basis to this theory. Join me today for a look back into 90s Japanese skirt culture!

Continue reading