Archive for the Sailor Moon Category


Live Action: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Yuri

July 1st, 2004

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





Live Action: Sailor Moon for a new century!

June 30th, 2004

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.” ^_^





Yuri Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon

January 29th, 2004


Things I’m Not Going To Write About
Part 3

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (Sailor Moon)

What is there to say about the series that launched a thousand yuri fans, that hasn’t already been said? Well, lots really. But I won’t say it all here – I’ll just focus on the yuri. :-)

In Season 3, Sailor Moon S, the adorable Inner Senshi (and let’s face, they’re yuri subtext-y enough for any fan!) are joined by Sailors Uranus and Neptune, arguably one of the greatest lesbian couples in anime, manga and related media, ever. Directed by Ikuhara Kunihiko, (director of and creative genius behind Utena,) Sailor Moon gave the world the first anime lesbian couple to ever be portrayed *as such* on Japanese television. In doing so, Ikuhara set the bar pretty high with Haruka and Michiru, instructing the voice actresses to act as if they were married.* In fact, the next time the bar was raised was by this very same man almost ten years later, with Anthy, Utena and Juri in Utena.

It’s more than five years later and we’re *still* using these five characters as poster children for yuri anime and manga, which says a lot, IMHO.

Bottom line, Haruka and Michiru are one of the most romantic, funny, and fun yuri couples, ever. Every year sees new fanfic and doujinshi and even official Sailormoon World art about these two, and now, with the advent of the Live Action Sailor Moon, a whole new generation of kids might one day get to scream “Kakko-ii!” in the general direction of yuri fandom’s reigning queens. :-)

This anime is horrifically magical girl-y, so if repeated transformation footage, girly attack names and goofy monsters bore you, then yeah, it’ll be hard to get into the story. However, if that kind of thing doesn’t put you off, and you want to see where it so much of western yuri fandom began, you might want to get a hold of this season, which is available on DVD. The Sailor Moon manga is available on the Yuricon Shop. A new edition is available in Japan, in honor of the new Live Action series, with spiffy new cover art.

(The SM manga was one of the first titles Tokyo Pop ever translated, and boy was it a learning curve for them! Originally, they changed the names of all the Senshi, only to be met with huge fan resistance. It was too late for the Inner Senshi, but ultimately, the Outers’ Japanese names were retained. I actually have the old Mixx magazine issues with the Outers’ westernized names, before Tokyo Pop got inundated with fan mail begging them not to change Haruka’s name!)

Ratings: Yuri – 8, Art – 8, Story – 7, Music – 9, Characters – 10, Overall – 9

*It’s fairly well-known that it was was Ogata Megumi’s portrayal of Haruka that catapulted me into anime fandom in the beginning, and to be honest, she’s still my favorite. While it will be very cool to see a Live-Action Sailor Uranus, it won’t be MO, boo hoo. :-(

***

This week’s brainstorm

After much thought on the subject, I have now developed a working definition for “porn” versus “erotica” that I’d like to share with you all. There’s quite a few people who think that there is no difference, but I believe there is:

Porn is any representation of sexual conduct with the implicit acknowledgement of a third party who is watching – and for whose pleasure the sexual act is being conducted.

Erotica is an honest representation of sexual conduct between people for their own pleasure.

I came to this conclusion while reading several yuri doujinshi I own. If you agree with it, please feel free to use it. If you disagree, feel free to come up with one of your own. :-)