After the wonderfulness of the Sailor Moon Super S Special on Disk 1, is there really anything left worth talking about in this season? Apparently…yes. ^_^
Sailor Moon SuperS Anime, Part 1, Disk 2 continues what I personally find to be the most difficult season to watch – not only because it focuses so heavily on Chibi-Usa, but also because Usagi is positioned as exceptionally grating as a result of her jealousy of Chibi-Usa and Mamoru. Much more importantly, the rest of the Senshi are largely sidelined throughout this season, until their power-ups are needed.
Nonetheless, I think it’s worth mentioning the very queer character who steps front and center on this disk – Fisheye. All of the Amazon Trio are boys, Tigereye tells us explicitly. Fisheye appears to see themselves as female, certain as female presenting. Fisheye’s affection is for men. Fisheye might be gender non-binary, gender-X, gay, trans, or some other identity, but that is not the point I wish to make. The point that is worth noting is that, 25 years ago, yet another season of this cartoon gave queer folks a character they could claim as theirs.
I have been thinking about this a lot these days; about how critical it is for young people especially to see someone like, if not the same, as themselves. This is the heart of why I think Shimanami Tasogare is so important. In the story itself, the young protagonist is given a number of older role models who each contribute to his evolving understanding of himself and the people around him. Before Misora, before Shuu-chan from Wandering Son, there was Fisheye, a doomed character because they were on the side of evil (through no fault of their own,), but who provided an example of a way to live to young folks in the mid 90s in Japan. And how powerful a thing is that?
Ratings:
Art – 6
Story – 2 Usagi is not much better than Chibi-Usa, frankly
Characters – 4 I’m feeling for Fisheye
Service – More lolicon creepiness than I’m comfortable with, frankly.
LGBTQ – 5
Overall – 6
I am literally keeping a list of queerness in Sailor Moon. I expect to write up an article on it when I’ve finished reviewing the Viz edition, In the mean time, I find myself impressed all over again at how freaking queer this 25 year old kid’s anime was. ^_^
What I love about Japanese qeer content is its intuitiveness and unobtrusiveness. Without even trying to intentionally be representative, Takeuchi manages to make a more positive and sympathetic representation of qeer characters than many qeer-ish western shows.
By the way, thanks for mentioning Wandering Son! This manga was the first serious LGBTQ content in my life.
We can also praise the flexibility of the queer fan community, who can find something to take ownership of, regardless of intent, too. ^_^
Wandering Son is an undersung classic. ^_^
Well, this is a really useful skill when you consider that the announcement of any “official” LGBTQ content is still a remarkable event. Of course, I am often annoyed about people with shiping goggles, but when I think about how limited their actual selection can be, I even can understand them.
Yeah, not to mention that it was thanks to this work that I learned about Aoi Hana. Shimura was definitely able to help me understand what kind of LGBTQ works I needed.
That is most excellent. ^_^