The People vs. the Princess of the Moon et al.
What’s that? Didn’t I already talk about the possible plagiarism by everyone’s favorite Sailor Moon theme song, Moonlight Densetsu?
Of course I did! But thanks to the wonderful readers here, commenters on Twitter, and further research, it’s come to my attention that there was not only an even earlier song that sounds suspiciously similar to DALI’s hit, but they were actually even accused of copyright infringement.
Well, let’s get started!
Moonlight Densetsu – AKB48
I can’t possibly be the only one who instantly hears the first few bars of “Moonlight Densetsu” play through my head whenever I hear the words Sailor Moon come up in conversation, right? From the enchanting, upbeat melody to the heart touching lyrics, it’s hard to imagine a more perfect some to ring in the some a beautiful anime.
Except… the song wasn’t originally made for Sailor Moon at all. At least, not when it first came out. That’s right! Today, we’ll be talking about about the history of Moonlight Densetsu!
Who Could It Be?
Spoiler: It’s definitely not who you think it is!
One thing I absolutely love about doing this blog is being to stop down and actually look at the nitty-gritty details of this series that I love so much, and open my eyes up to new things that I either never noticed before, or never gave a second thought.
Today, I’m stopping to take an in-depth look into something you’ve probably never wondered about before – who is the most popular Sailor Moon villain? The answer will definitely surprise you!
… I’m not sure how I’d feel about seeing this
As I’m sure I’ve mentioned on many different occasions, I absolutely adore the Cardian story arc from the first half of Sailor Moon R. It’s not so much to do with the fact that the story itself is particularly interesting or that I’m a huge fan of Moonlight Knight,1 but rather it’s precisely because the story itself is less epic in nature. The whole storyline felt like a series of “slice of life”2 episodes where you actually got a know a little more about the day-to-day lives of the characters.
And today, we’re going to talk about one such episode.
Who’s in Charge?
Before you get all excited and start commenting that Sailor Venus was the leader of the Inner Senshi and that this is clearly spelled out in the manga, I’ll stop you right there and point out that I know this. However, outside of one or two mentions in the manga, Sailor Venus never functionally performs any leadership roles, and in the anime I’d say it’s up to debate whether she’s actually leader at all. When you consider that the the battles against the Monsters of the Day end with someone shouting to the effect of “Now, Sailor Moon!” it’s pretty hard to view anyone else but our titular character as the leader. Or… is it?
Did this actually happen?
Ever since starting this blog, I’m always very careful to try to avoid ever saying something stated or depicted within the anime or manga is either a lie or didn’t happen, at least not without compelling proof to the contrary. Once you start going down the rabbit hole of saying that “Maybe Usagi was lying when she said she was 150cm!” or that “Makoto is probably just estranged from her family,” you really can’t say anything definitive about the series since all of your proof is suspect.
But sometimes, the situation can justify a deeper analysis. Such as, for example, Usagi and Mamoru’s purported “first meeting” in the Sailor Moon R movie. So, did they really meet as kids?
To reject a mother
Though Sailor Moon fans are a pretty diverse lot when it come to the subject of a “favorite” — be in favorite character, season, manga vs. anime, or anything else — I find that the Sailor Moon R movie tends to fare pretty well among fans. Going by sales figures alone, it was definitely the most popular of all three of the movies, grossing nearly 30% more than the Sailor Moon S movie and over double that of ticket sales for Sailor Moon SuperS. It’s no wonder that it’s managed to stand the test of time.
However, one thing that I never really got when I was younger is what is the movie trying to say? It’s only recently that I started to think about ChibiUsa’s famous line to Luna and Artemis: “It’ll be okay, Sailor Moon is everyone’s mom!”
But what did she actually mean by that?