How Did Idol Culture Contribute to Sailor Moon’s Success?

Did someone say 'idol'?

Did someone say ‘idol’?

While many would associate Japan’s fascination with idol groups with the meteoric rise to popularity of AKB48 and the many other groups, anime, and games that have spun off from the concept since then, Japan’s fixation on love for school-aged sweethearts actually goes back several decades.

But what does that have to do with our favorite Sailor-suited guardians of justice?

Well, as it turns out, idol culture played a pretty role in engaging fans and keeping them hooked. Today we’re going to take a look at the idols that created Sailor Moon as well as the idols the series in turn created!

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Are the Outer Sailor Senshi More Powerful than the Inners?

Now girls, no need to fight...

Now girls, no need to fight…

As odd as it may sound, some of my favorite questions to answer on this blog are the ones that seem so obvious that they aren’t even worth asking. Take, for example, the fact that the Outer Senshi are much more powerful than their Inner counterparts. Done deal, right?

Well, kinda.

Taken in context of Sailor Moon, it’s a fair argument to make. Though, when you try to scratch below the surface, it quickly becomes apparent that there are never any specific references to back this up.

What do we mean by “more powerful”? Is this true throughout the entire series, or just when the Outers first appear? And how do the Sailor Soldiers stack up against each other, anyway?

Today we’re going to take a closer look at this issue and see if we can finally answer these questions once and for all!

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Does Every Object in Space Have a Sailor Senshi?

Just how many Sailor Soldiers ARE there in the Solar System?

Just how many Sailor Soldiers ARE there in the Solar System?

If you’ve been involved with the Sailor Moon fandom as long as I have, I’m sure you’re quite familiar with all the absurd rumors that were running around in the early days, rampantly mixing original characters with the actual story, making it nearly impossible to tell what was real and what was fake.

Though Ms. Takeuchi never actually directly touches on the hows, whats, or whys involved in the connection between a human, their Sailor Crystal, and their respective celestial body, I think the information we can glean from the story tells us quite a bit.

Today we’ll be looking at just where that line in the sand is between what makes a Sailor Star Maker versus a Sailor Star Faker. For all you passionate Sailor Moon fans out there making your own custom characters, this one is going to be required reading!

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How Did Sailor Moon’s Producer Compare the Inner and Outer Senshi?

So Haruka, what's the difference between the Moon and Neptune?

So Haruka, what’s the difference between the Moon and Neptune?

As someone who’s fascinated by the nitty-gritty of how things work, the distinction between the Inner and Outer Senshi is a subject that I find incredibly interesting.

Though we’re given a (very) brief explanation within the series that the Inner team handles threats from within the Solar System and the Outers handle those from beyond, any other distinctions between the two groups are fairly vague and left up to fan conjecture.

Today we’ll be taking a look at how Iriya Azuma, producer of Sailor Moon S, approached these two teams and what he felt the distinction was between them. I hope you stick around, because this is actually pretty interesting!

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Is Sailor Saturn a Member of the Outer Senshi?

Are there too many members here?

Are there too many members here?

The interesting, and seemingly inaccurate, breakdown of the two teams of Sailor Soldiers is definitely an interesting issue that I don’t feel gets discussed as much as it deserves to. Obviously from where we stand at the 25th anniversary of the beginning of Sailor Moon there are many answers that we could provide, but I’d rather take a look in how the teams formed in the first place.

Join me along for a look back into how the Inner and Outer senshi teams were formed in the first place, and where Sailor Saturn fits into that mess.

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