Part 4

Minako, Minako, Minako.

Aino Minako – We get to see Sailor V long before we saw any of the other Senshi, which was cool. And she’s a fine Venus and all, but it’s in her interactions with the Senshi – particularly Rei and Usagi – that really makes this Minako a yuri top-runner.

Usagi’s natural lovableness threatens to eat through Minako’s cool exterior almost immediately. Every time she’s with her Princess, this very competent and self-acknowledged leader of the Senshi is forced to remind herself, repeatedly, not to succumb to her charm.

But her interaction with Rei is completely different. Rivals right from the start, Minako and Rei shoot lightning bolts at each other for the first few times they have to interact. This changes to a kind of grudging mutual respect, as Minako quite evilly forces Rei to do things she might otherwise avoid in order to become stronger. It takes a strong person to do that – and to not care that the other person might hate you for it. As Rei gets stronger, Minako pushes the boundaries of their relationship. Rei’s reaction is to bind herself even closer to their enigmatic leader, coming to care about her as an actual person. Even as the climax approaches, Rei is carrying the heavy burden of the truth about Minako. Not that we’re worried, mind you – they won’t kill our darling golden girl off. But it’s fun to watch Rei suffer. ^_^

Komatsu Ayaka is, in my very personal opinion, breathtakingly lovely. She makes a faboo Sailor Venus, and an even better Aino Minako, all tragic and bearing up under the pressure. She seems less natural as Aino Minako the idol, but then, we hardly ever see her just being an idol. Still – every time we do see her “in concert” it seems a little forced. She is, otherwise, quite wonderful in the role.

Minako’s Yuri goggle rating is the highest of the bunch – 9 – just for her concerted torture of Rei. ^_^

In conclusion, there’s plenty of sweet-cute-snuggliness between the Senshi, with a specific statement that no boys will be ruining the sisterhood, so overall, the Senshi have a rating of ‘8’ in the ole Yuri goggles.

Please do join us on the Yuricon Mailing List and join us in our prayer for this particular version to do well, just long enough that we get those bastions of Yuri-ness, the Outer Senshi. ^_^

Part 3

So, we’ve done Ami and Usagi, so now we have to notch up the Yuri ratings with the advent of:

Hino Rei – Rei comes onto the screen like a scorching flame, no pun on her attributes intended. Kitagawa Keiko is playing Rei with an admirable sense of discomfort, distaste and annoyance, which makes her utterly charming and irresistable. She’s the kind of gal who will scare little kids in her aged years and make 20-something psychic wannabees pee their pants when she looks right throught them. One of the best things about Rei is how really uncomfortable she is in her own skin, and how that comes through with her being so unbending and uncompromising. Usagi softens her up, but it doesn’t make her any happier to be soft and woojawooja.

When Rei meets Minako, the sparks fly immediately – more than a few folks who watch them see a torrid, and probably self-destructive, love affair in the making. ^_^ And Minako returns Rei’s interest with, well, interest. She’s horribly mean to Rei – pushing her to perform in public and generally break out of her self-imposed box…all for Rei’s own good. Rock on, Minako!

After Rei’s little sleepover with Ami, her Yuri goggle rating has got to be a 9.

Kino Makoto – Yup, she’s boyish, tall, strong, athletic. We love her. Sure, she has this stupid old sempai thing, but they put that to rest almost immediately and, in her super-duper fun power-up episode, Makoto informs us that she, and all the rest of the Senshi are meant to be alone in this life – i.e., “Stop writing us to see if Makoto and Motoki will ever get together already! No! No, they won’t!” To which we all say, “Yay!”
Because, if they girls will never have a boyfriend in this existence, then they’ll just *have* to rely on each other, won’t they. ^_^

Azama Myuu is doing a bang-up job of making Makoto butchy, without losing her essential girl-ness, and giving extra time to her internal torment, without making her pathetic.

Yuri goggle rating of a 7, because while she perfect baby dyke material, we haven’t actually seen her staring at anyone since she met Rei (and has obviously lost Rei to Minako.)

Last, but definitely NOT least, I’ll linger lovingly over Minako…tomorrow. ^_^

Part 2

There are just some series we can’t stop talking about on the Yuricon Mailing List. We beat ROD The TV to death and are now involved in a love affair with Madlax, but deep in so many of our hearts, we are eternal adoring fans of the magic of Sailor Moon. As a result, I plan in drawing this discussion out, because I love talking about these girls!

The new version has some new qualities – the girls and the plot are not the same as either the manga or anime, which has given rise to some interesting dynamics. However, PGSM has been no less rife with yuri than any previous version. We must of course, begin with the heroine.

Tsukino Usagi – As in every version, Usagi is a cheerful, clumsy, bubblehead. Thankfully for all of the viewing audience this Usagi is not the complete moron of the anime. This new Usagi for a new century of young female empowerment, does learn from mistakes, actually picks up hand-to-hand combat skills (of the stylized dance variety that passes for fighting in this series) and is growing, before our very eyes, into a remarkable young lady. The character is, of course, completely in love with her hollow-chested lad, but Sawai Miyuu is doing a breathtaking job as the airy, but utterly lovable Usagi. The key here being “lovable.” In the early episodes, we were treated to the spectacle of actually *watching* as each of the Senshi fell in love with their Princess. This is especially noticable with Minako because she’s still resisting, and it’s fun to watch her remind herself to NOT be won over.

There was some early silly wishful thinking style yuri with Usagi and some of the others – particularly Ami – although the ReixUsagi fans fought the good fight. But they have had to give up, and for good reason, as we will later discuss.

Usagi’s “Yuri goggle” rating is a 6 – she’s not gay herself, but has clearly turned Ami so…

Mizuno Ami – Always the “good” girl in the bunch, this Ami has a hell of a mischievious streak. She’s also got a spine and a bit of spunk, which is making her rather fun to watch. In yuri inspired by the anime, it was most common to see Ami paired with Makoto, but in this version she’s all over Usagi, touching her as often as possible, getting hugs, and generally being her biggest supporter. I’m betting she notches the bed everytime she gets another hug. :-) In a recent arc, she pulled even with Minako in the race for Rei, as well. Now we’re all torn, because while Minako is *evil* and funny with Rei, Ami would be much better for our taciturn psychic. And who could resist the sight of Ami and Rei having a pillow fight while dressed in animal costumes, then snuggling together for a sleep? It was horrifically cute. Hama Chisaki is playing this version of Ami with a glint in her eye and no fear of the unknown, which adds a dimension of “bad” girl” to the character. Her stint as Dark Mercury has only made her that much stronger and a bit more outspoken. If she wants Rei she’ll get her, Minako be damned. I think, luckily for Minako, she’s really Usagi’s girl. ^_^

Ami’s Yuri goggle rating – 8

To Be Continued

Part 1

A friend of mine coined the phrase “gateway anime” – you know, the kind of anime that, for whatever reason, brings many new fans (read: “obsessive otaku”) into the fold. Ranma, DBZ, Bugglegum Crisis, whatever’s on Cartoon Network right now…, etc, are all examples of gateway anime.

And no matter how your tastes evolve, you never forget your first, the series that made you a fan.

Sailor Moon was my first.

Now a new generation is being introduced to the Senshi through what is being affectionately referred to as Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, aka PGSM.

The show was originally targeted at very young girls, but if you watch the commercials, you can see the age creep happening – where all the first commercials were for little kiddy underwear and candy, now we’re seeing ads for real grown-up make up and other health/beauty aids for adult women. And the storylines have matured, as well – forcing the writers to introduce a cuter, young character just to keep the kiddy appeal. (And probably to appease the creator, who loves her Luna.) The original run was meant to be 26 episodes or so, but after a few episodes, the series was boosted to 52 episodes. And boy are *we* glad!

The question all of you have to be asking (assuming that you’re not already watching this obssessively – and if you’re not, why not??) is, “Is there Yuri?”

You betcha there’s Yuri! Enough for any fan.

I’ll spend the next few entries lovingly discussing the yuri subtext of nearly every Senshi introduced so far. But in the meantime, I have to go watch Episode 37…again. ^_^

Oh, and please feel free to join our prayer circle at the Yuricon Mailing List. Here’s the mantra: “Please gods, let them get to the Outers.” ^_^