I was shocked they didn’t mention that relationship in the video haha. Even as a kid with the original heavily censored dub, I knew something was up with those two haha
@@MikeOfMichigani saw that movie in adult swim it was very much censored (and. One of the only times I was allowed to actualy watch adult swim (Ofc I then convinced them to let me watch it 6.6 bcs technically cartoons
and a far more fitting permutation of it than the original holder of that phrase, Bridget, since Bridget always presented as female, and eventually found herself as a trans woman; vs Haruka who presents NB, wearing both feminine Senshi garb and masculine clothing.
@@jaymiechan well in general haruka is a butch lesbian (takeuchi herself confirmed it) anyway its only right that every senshi are gay for haruka , also especially usagi who’s really bi icon
Ah yes. Sailor Uranus and Neptune. The "cousins." My sister and I grew up on Toonami and the Sailor Moon censorship. And we STILL were like, "nah! We don't buy it! They're definitely gay." Lol.
I remember in the early 2000’s when the internet was in it’s infancy hearing from a friend “Did you know in Japan Uranus and Neptune are lesbians?” Like it was so scandalous but also “oh, that makes more sense”
Me personally, I'm as straight/cis/hetero as they come. I also grew up in a christian household. But sailor moon does something profound with breaking relationship societal norms. It normalized all types of sexualities and orientations. Everyone in the anime just accepted it and I always thought that was beautiful. Definitely ahead of its time. Sailor moon taught me at a young age to keep an open mind towards others. Love this show so much ❤.
Great video! As an asexual woman I always find amusing how any ace representation in anime is often a mystical, magical being beyond the confines of existence and understanding. Whelp, I guess that makes me some sort of spiritual chaos being. Also, please kindly note that asexual people can be aromantic, homoromantic, biromatinc, and panromantic. Asexuality is a huge spectrum.
Came here to say this, or the last part. Being Ace has nothing to do with the romantic aspect, but rather if they enjoy s*xual intimacy or no. Whether they are comfortable or not with doing so, as some do if it's with folks they love, or do so for bonding rather than gratification. Aromantics, like Aces, are on a spectrum, but focuses on what level of romantic feelings they have, if at all.
@@ThatFlamingFroggoIn my experience ace isnt necessarily whether they enjoy sexual intimacy, but whether they feel sexual attraction. There are some sex positive aces who love sex and sex negative aces who are super uncomfortable with it in general.
@@TheNinjaKitsunewait I do heard ace can get horny/sexual urges at random times but I never heard they can get sexually attracted to someone... It's quite contradicting ace definition, sorry I'm not bashing anyone but just curios about this topic cuz I may identify as an ace as well and need guidance
Still kinda sounds like an excuse to have a love storey between a person and a cat like when shows have a magical being who looks like a little girl but they make them like 2000 years old so they can sexualize them
As an aside: In the LATAM dub, Zoycite was made a woman because the Dub director saw the episode where he dresses up as Sailor Moon first, with no context, to do the dub cast, and honestly thought he was a woman. Later, when she was informed of the truth, she expressed the wish to redub and leave him as a man. Later, the second Dub director asked which characters were male and which were female, and treated Fisheye as either a NB character or a trans woman, letting them have a female voice, BUT when it came to the episode when their gender is revealed, leaving he/him pronouns. Haruka and Michiru were left as girlfriends.
They did censor a bit of dialogue in the SMR movie though, namely a scene with Ami/Mercury saying that Mamoru is so attractive that even boys are interested in him.
@@minako10 That was a choice by the translator, as far as I know. My first dubbing job was in fact telling the Dub director which characters were male and which were female, and also, translating the powers from R to SuperS :)
I knew your name ringed a bell. You are Adalisa Zarate. You along with Gabriela Maya interviewed Gloría Rocha years ago and disclosed that topic about Zyocite.
Gray romantic bisexual is more likely based on her chapter in the Dark Moon Circus arc. She fights her mirror self who wants to get married and defeats them and decides she has no interest in having a partner outside of her servant relationship with Usagi (the manga has a lot of Arthurian Neo-platonic chivalric romance theming).
I’ve seen Sailor Moon in Japanese, Cantonese, and both English dubs, and never did I get the impression that Naru’s attraction to Nephrite was reciprocated. I think he exploited her feelings to manipulate her, but getting into her pants was never even a blip on his radar. When he turns and becomes protective of her, it’s far more about him coming to understand humanity, kindness, and protecting those you care about. Yeah, he said he’d go get a chocolate parfait with her, but I don’t think he was committing to a date and all it implies. I think she told him it was something she wanted to do, and he wanted to make that happen for her.
@@zinzolin14I honestly don’t know. My best friend would either get VHS tapes in Chinatown or when her mom took a trip to Hong Kong, and this was almost thirty years ago. I don’t speak Cantonese. My friend would translate as we watched.
@@marcusmoutra Her love for King Endymion It is an unrequited love that makes her lonely existence that much sadder. It's a vague reference, with depictions of Pluto blushing when she's around the King, as well as her reaction when he rushes to her side as she passes.Apr 20, 2018
@@marcusmoutra It is also hinted at in artwork that features her, Endymion, and Queen Serenity. In the two Sailor Moon musicals, Eien Denetsu and Shin - Densetsu Kourin, there is a song called "Onna no Ronsou" ("Woman's Conflicts") where the love that Sailor Pluto has for Endymion is explicitly stated. The actors in those musicals also played up those unrequited feelings.
Came here to say this. She could still be ace, I don't think we really have evidence one way or another, but she definitely had feelings for a man and is at least straight.
It makes me so happy to see someone else reads Ami as ace. All the times the other girls are going heart-eyes over someone pretty and Ami's just standing to the side confused. Also I just recently watched the episode clipped at the beginning, where Haruka is hanging over Usagi after she's claimed she's gonna break up with Mamoru. It's so funny to hear that in the 90s dub they had her talk about hitting on Mamoru instead of the Viz dub having her immediately ask "So does that mean I have a chance with you?"
Venus in the prequel manga Codename Sailor V is also a really interesting case! She clearly has a romance with Danburite, but resolves to put her duty to Serenity above any romance. And then she goes on to flirt shamelessly and play with romance. But there's never anything for her as permanent as her devotion to her queen.
I find it hilarious how in the Dub they changed Sailor Uranus and Neptune to "cousins" and apparently that was more acceptable than lesbians. Also, I love how Sailor Moon emphasizes so many different types of love between both genders. Plus so much Yes to queer anime.
I love this video. ❤ Few things that I feel you could've included or maybe forgot or just did not mention. idk. Sailor Pluto in the manga, at least, is implied in a very a blink and you miss it moment that she has feelings for King Endimion. I was expecting you to mention something about Mamoru and Fiore from the Rose movie, the way Sailor Moon worries in that movie is so beautifully done, is not about that Fiore is a guy at all. Sailor Mercury and Sailor Star Maker have a really intellectual attraction, or that ep when she "falls" for that musician that actually already had a girlfriend. In the manga besides Pluto, everyone else has a "pairing" Moon and Mask, Mercury and Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, Chibi-usa and Satrun. And many other smaller ones. Naoko most likely wanted to create something that shows love has no boundaries, and friendships can have more flavors than one.
If you throw the live action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon into the equation, suddenly Mars and Venus end up looking extremely gay for each other. Honestly I didn't start shipping Reinako as hard as I do now until that series came out. And as a kid who knew everyone was gay for Haruka, goddamn did I want to be her. She definitely was the start of my queer and trans awakening.
I feel like Usagi is a pan with a slight gravitation towards individuals who present themselves more masculine: she was into Mamoru, Seiya, Haruka, I also felt something between her and Makoto, and her and Rei, who are a bit more masculine between all girls but also, like you said, everyone is kinda bi/pan in this story~
sailor moon was my first manga when i was in 5th grade, i remember reading it on the bus on the way home when i saw the page of haruka kissing usagi. after that everything made so much sense. i remember talking to my friend at recess about sailor moon, and she would tell me how much she loved tuxedo mask n how he was her first cartoon crush. i didn't understand where she was coming from at all.. i never really had fictional crushes before, besides maybe link in twilight princess? but when i saw that page i finally understood what it was like 😭😭
Before watching the video: Hmm, I wonder what Ant has to say about Usagi as I think she’s probably my favorite characters in Sailor Moon. *Sees Sailor Moon is a Disaster Bisexual in the TH-cam chapters.* Oh, now it makes sense.
@@deathwish-fs1ibI mean the manga finale can be read as her not just marrying Mamoru but all the other Senshi. Those weren't bridesmaid Dresses, those were wedding gowns. Don't lie to me Naoko.
The funny thing for me is how they tried to censor Zoicite for example but ended up showing a powerful and villainous woman character, effectively still Breaking traditional gender roles SM will always disrupt gender norms no matter how badly they attempt to cut it down
Careful there buddy. Just like discriminating against anyone LGBT+ is a big no no. Doing it to the heterosexuals who are the majority people in the world is a huge no no.
I'm honestly surprised you didn't bring up the R movie with Mamo and Fiore's relationship. As a kid I did relate to Ami being more reserved with relationships and dicussing boys compared to her friends. Took me awhile to find out I'm aro/ace.
I do think Usagi's bi/pan-ness was evident fairly early on when she met Rei because of a rumour of a pretty girl, and then followed Rei off said bus because she was so pretty Usagi legit couldn't think straight (badumtiss).
@@luma222 If someone told me they saw a beautiful girl, I'd tell them "neat." If I saw a beautiful girl somewhere I'd probably give an appreciative look and move on with my day, maybe give them a compliment if I can break through my inherent shyness. (And the reason I'm specifying "girl" here is a total lack of attraction to men, including aesthetic attraction. I've tried, just to see, but nothing doing.) I've learned in the past few years that I have a very weak libido. I still have interest, I'm not ace (that would be my wife), but I just don't feel The Urge a lot of people apparently do.
@@Bardic_Knowledge If someone told me there was a pretty girl to the point it was a pretty big rumor I'd wonder what she looked like and that's Usagi she's 14 and just curious
Pluto has a thing for King Endymion in the manga/Crystal. It’s not a huge plot point, but it’s canon. She doesn’t seem to have any feelings toward teenage Mamoru though, so there’s probably something timey-women going on there.
@@jeanyve_person Oh, sorry - I made an assumption about someone 😱 but now I know we're not supposed to do that...unless we're assuming they're "ace" or "aro" or whatever, in which case it's fine 👍 The fact that Makoto is shown to have had a daughter in one continuity means nothing - maybe it was IVF! Or parthenogenesis! ❤️
Fun fact, I was very young when I first saw sailor moon. Like all my peers were watching baby cartoons on the kid’s channel but my mom specifically sat me down and put on Sailor Moon with the words "Watch this instead. It’s closer to the truth". I instantly fell in love with it. I didn’t even know what she meant by those words back then tbh, but I did love the show wholeheartedly and I definitely instantly connected to the characters - way more than I knew back then XD when I finally came out to my mom 20 years later she looked me dead in the eye and said "Gurl, you serious? I always knew that" And thinking back on it, I wondered if she knew BACK THEN already and wanted me to know, it’s okay
I own a page dedicated to Sailor Moon and I was recently surprised finding homophobic fans, even knowing that there are LGBT characters in the franchise.
@17:41 I honestly never really thought of Chibiusa as being older than Hotaru in a meaningful way. Like yes, there's timey-wimey shenanigans and she's hundreds of years old, but we also know that she's the daughter of two people who we see age at a normal human rate. She looks like a young child and by all accounts has a personality and maturity that match her visual age rather than her literal age, so it's always seemed to me that the age difference between her and Hotaru is in the opposite direction. Chibiusa looks and acts and functionally is old enough to be in elementary school, whereas Hotaru looks and acts at least a few years older. Tbh I normally hate the "this person who looks like a child is actually centuries old" trope, because it's usually taken in extremely gross directions, but the reason I don't mind it here is because it's not used to justify any creepy relationships. Even if she's centuries old, everyone seems to be aware that as far as romance is concerned, she should be treated and protected like the child she is.
Wasnt she sent back because she kinda was in stasis and still a child there. And yep hotaro was more mature than her age, thanks to a not great life So both are older in a sense but not.
I think it's implied in most material that Pluto has a crush on King Endymion? I googled to double check and that seems to be the general consensus and even gets a whole paragraph on her wikipedia page. But I think it's just this one off thing with that specific version of Mamo.
Haruka is so powerful that even as a boring straight dude she has always stirred strange feelings, so somehow she even makes straights feel gay I guess??
Yes. 👍 But people who have points that they want to make sometimes ignore things that contradict what they're saying. It's implied that her insistence that she isn't interested in romantic relationships is because of the situation shown in Casablanca Memory.
@@kumada84 Sometimes people don't memorize every single page and every single frame, sometimes people don't have access to all of it to begin with, or don't know a specific bit exist. I haven't seen a single side story of any manga until about 2-3 years ago because let's just say my only available sources were not the official prints and I wasn't devouring volumes just dabbling
For me, as a closeted trans kid, Sailor Moon was an outlet for a femininity I wasn’t allowed to express. I still cherish it to this day & is the ONLY anime from my childhood I don’t get bored of.
As someone old enough to have watched Sailor Moon before the Toonami days, can confirm the scheduling nightmares. If you wanted to watch this show, you had to chase it around the dial. You had to look it up in TV guides ahead of time and schedule your time accordingly. And the movies? Roll the dice and hope the big box stores had them for sale. Worth the effort though.
As a 90s kid growing up in the subrural Southern USA anime was niche and as cool as something like DBZ or Gundam was it was still weird nerdy gay sci-fi cartoon shit to everyone else. The moment anime finally became "cool" is when all the homophobes suddenly became fans. I think something similar happened to Star Trek.
I'm a fairly masc presenting bisexual guy but growing up, I strongly identified with Zoisite and, unexpectedly, Neptune. Still love this show ... Naoko Takeuchi deserves all her millions. ❤
The one thing I’ll say is that Luna isn’t Really a cat, neither is Artemis. They take the forms of cats because they can’t live on earth any other way. Lunas human form in the S movie is actually her True form. Weather that was conveyed in the show at any point, is another story. But it is made clear in the manga
I know nothing of Sailor Moon, and I didn't watch the anime growing up. But I've been calling Usagi an underrated bi disaster icon ever since I read the new edition of the first volume, in which she says about civillian Sailor Mars: "I'd do anything a pretty girl told me to!"
How dare you immediately call me out with the Ranma 1/2 genderbending comment. I'm literally rereading it now and being like "how tf did I not seen this as a sign that I wasn't cis?" 💀
Bro. @1:37. yasssss the best toonami introduction ever, 🎶Fellas, I’m ready to get up and do my thing. Transform!! 1…2…3….4.🎶 ughh. That’s my jam. Just hearing it makes me wanna bust out and hit it. 💃🏻 🪩 🕺🏻
I didn’t watch sailor moon ever until 2019 when I binged it. I was already a college student by this point, but I still connected with it a lot and it did make me feel seen. I’ll always feel a connection to the story and to the characters for what they represent
10:22 she's also 14 just like Usagi lol 19:06 I seem to remember a back story for Rei (maybe Infinity or Dream Arc?) where she fell for someone and he broke her heart. This, coupled with the lack of decent male role models in her life, just led to her not being interested in pursuing romantic relationships.
Some note on the homophobia of anime fans: Some do it in an extremely performative way to "gatekeep" the community to keep it from changing. Some wants us to look away from the underlying economic system that causes real and unrelated problems. Some outright just realized they can recruit people into their leagues, to "gatekeep" other things, like neighborhoods and whole countries.
I grew up watching the German dub of Sailor Moon which was very close to the Japanese original. So no censorshit like presenting Neptune and Ursanus as cousins. I didn‘t find it odd at all, not even when Seya was a guy but then transformed into a female Sailor. Honestly, i wanted Usagi to ditch Mamoru and get together with Seya instead because I loved their dynamic. 😂 Also the voice acting was very fitting that it could pass as a male and female voice for all the Starlights and Haruka. I didn‘t really think about it because the characters are alle so adorable. So pretty much this show normalized „just being“. It’s beautiful. 😊
Interesting on how you brought up the girls since there was an art book by naoko where she have the senshi x generals paired and we're supposed to be cannon - mercury x zosite - Mars x gedite - Jupiter x nephrite - Venus x kunzite But your points on the girls in the manga is on point about those guardians
Love that you mentioned the Nostalgia Critic video since that was what exposed me to Sailor Moon… I should have known something was up when the clips shown caught my eye as a 13-year old “boy.” I completely resonated with the ending, because Sailor Moon exposed me to a show that helped me learn so much about myself. This video is awesome, thank you so much for making it :)
Very fascinating video. Honestly all the mainline sailor scouts/senshi always gave me bi vibes. Also, I love how perfectly summed up how much this franchise means to so many people at the end. Good work.
My russian aunt watched Sailor Moon in the early 2000's and she said that russian censors made Haruka a boy when she was in her human form and a girl in her sailor form to I guess explain why Haruka and Neptune were in love. Which is.... interesting. They wrote out non-explicit lesbianism in favor of gender bending trans character. That's an interesting logic. I'd usually expect it to be the other way around. 👁️👄👁️
Wow, your last section really spoke to me. I never understood why I was so obsessed with Sailor Moon characters, specially Fish Eye. I adore the way the character is just... truthful. Sailor Moon definitely saved my life while was I hiding myself. But at the same time, it reallt made me understand a lot about myself. You just got a new sub, and I cant wait to see your channel grow even more.
I watched Sailor Moon around 1995-1996 (when I was 2 and 3). My fiance was confused when I told him because of how it aired in the US, being more familiar with the Toonami airing. Turns out Canada dubbed it and it was successful there 😂 which is where I'm from. The old YTV ads are gold.
I'm sitting here, watching season III of Sailor Moon Crystal and like... yeah. They all gay. They were pretty gay in previous seasons but as soon as Haruka appeared? Any notion of straightness was thrown out the window
Usagi is an absolute disaster bi in EVERY version of the story lol. I’m watching crystal with a friend of mine who doesn’t know the story, so doesn’t know the whole Endymion thing. He took one look at how Usagi responded to Rei in the third episode and was like “so…..?”
Honestly I always read him as demi (and probably also bi, but that one's harder to be confident about). The number of gorgeous people who just absolutely throw themselves at him and he doesn't even get flustered... personally, I can't relate, but from what I've heard that fits with being demi.
@@kumada84 idk how many queer friends you have IRL, but it's actually extremely common for us to just kind of gravitate to each other, even if no one's out or has even thought about their sexuality. When looking for friends you tend to stick around people you feel safe around and/or vibe with, and if you're queer (even if you don't know it yet), those people tend to be other queer people.
This was such a really interesting video! However, I disagree about Setsuna and (manga) Rei. Setsuna clearly has a crush on Endymion while in one of the short stories, Rei is in love with her father's colleague.
I mean... idk, a crush (or performing a crush) doesn't an orientation make. I'm pretty sure a lot of aro leaning people go through one or two, or think so. JaidenAnimations' video on queerness does a great job of explaining this. Aro people can also mistake squishes for crushes the same way some queers in denial mistake a crush for just "we're such great friends!" But in the end, any headcanon should be valid for this.
Fan shipping aside. The fanfiction a Absence is the best shoujo/yuri story. Kirika the author shipped Rei/Usagi, Ami/Makoto, Haruka/Michiru obviously, Chibi-Usa/Hotaru, and Minako/Setsuna. These are a very common shipping. If people have it there way these are the couples that they want.
*applause* thank you for compiling all this. Only notes are Mamoru and Fiore from the R Movie and Mars and Venus basically being in love in the live action.
No it wasn't. It was just a "fan theory" that she was in love with King Endymion because of one brief scene in the comic where she interacts with him. (They did use that idea in the 90's musicals though, and it was brilliant.)
While I don't disagree with the majority of your essay, I would say you have Setsuna-san ALL WRONG. Not only does she have a deep love and affection, unrequited of course, with King Endymion, but in the musicals, she almost outright says it in a duet with Queen Beryl. Not to mention an ACE SCORPIO?! NO SUCH CREATURE.
You made a long as video just to say that in Sailor Moon there are miracle romances. Please make a breack down of the original OP song I swear everyone talks about the english one, but man the japanese one slaps so hard and the visuals for the 2nd OP of season 1 is a work of pure art.
It's been a long time since I read the Manga (I guess I should read it again, twist my rubber arm), but I think that Setsuna had a small crush on Endymion from a distance. She knew it would never work for either of them, so she decided to give that love to Chibi-Usa instead, allowing her to get a time key and taking the portal to present day Tokyo (for the time the story was published). But I could be wrong! I think that being able to see how love doesn't always work out, and doing good with that affection regardless, is a very important lesson to learn.
We didn't know the show was censored. Even with the internet, people didn't speak languages here back in those days. But those Japanese comic pages we found. Looked very interesting to say the least
Me, before hitting play: I think most of them are straight? Idk 15 seconds after hitting play: the man is not wrong, the math is mathing none of these people are straight.
I half agree half disagree but it’s so hard to assume if they’re close or .. closer lmao I’m so close to my friends and keep saying I think they’re so pretty and cool and all... but I know I’m not lesbian. Humans are weird.
@@Krantzingoing The thing is though, the sailor moon characters don't just compliment each other, they take that shit to extremes, like Usagi following rei off that train
Also it’s perfectly normal to be 14-16 years old and have not have physical attraction or want to date not anyone yet. Especially when you are literally fighting for your life every 3 months
Anthony: "How many friend groups do you know where everyone happened to come out later in life?" Me: "Of course that happens. Stand users are drawn to other Stand users, it's called 'Gravity'." (Yes, this is me "subtly" asking for an analysis of JJBA and how none of the characters are straight)
In an in between illustration of chapters in manga volume three, it shows Minako clutching Usagi’s breast and thigh, totally random, no context ever shown. Don’t believe me? Look it up. I can tell you it had an effect on me as a young girl.
In the manga and somewhat in the anime that Pluto was actually in love with King Endymion. Pluto admired him and had feelings for him, but because of her role and her duties at the Time Door, she knew it was never a possible thing.
I still remember when anime used to be called Japanimation and was marketed towards straight boys, so I appreciate how it's opened up in the west a bit more
I think it would also be interesting to cover other sailor moon material as well if possible, like the live action show. Minako and Rei could easily be read as closer/attracted to each other. Nephrite is also clearly attracted to Queen Beryl and Ami but IIRC there’s some undertones with Mitoki that can either be read as awkwardness or some attraction between the two.
Hotaru is thousands of years old in a sense so ive always thought of her as the older one. She retains her menories of her past lives vs chibiusa not even being 1000 years old. Also if you are gonna call out naru and neph then call out usagi and mamoru??? Hello??
I started sailor Moon when i was 11 years old. I was instantly attached to the Starlights and Haruka. took me 8 years to realize i was genderfluid. oops
Loved this review. Wish you had focused a little on Mamoru. While he’s mostly focused on girls… so many other people fall for him or seem attracted to him (male or female or otherwise). I also would be curious about the newer Cosmos films, which seem to heavily agioteuse almost all the senshi MarsVenus, MercuryJupiter, Saturn with ChibiUsa. Also Aluminum Siren & Lead Crow. Something was going on there. 😹
@ Anthony Gramuglia actually Pluto in the manga doing the Black Moon Arc shows hints of romantic feeling for King Endymion so she does have romance towards someone where as the anime kinda of just glossed over Sailor Pluto and rarely got much screen time or backstory
Ironic Sailor Moon being my favorite and starter anime, as well as my favrotie Senshi. Then years later me as a teenager realizing I'm bisexual. lol I'll be 31 the beginning of next year and I still can't get enough of this series.
Great video!! But I think the use of the world “western” should be with a bigger mindset next time, because Brazilian and LATAM versions of Sailor Moon did suffer some censorship, but not to the same extent of the US one. Same with Card Captor Sakura (at least for Brazil, I’m not sure about the LATAM Spanish version for Sakura). Maybe countries in Europe also didnt suffer much censorship, or maybe no censorship at all and, as far as I know, the “western world” is made of many more countries than US and Canada. Sorry, I know this is far from being the video’s main topic, but it kinda bugged me how much you used that word to talk about the anime version you know 😅
i consider dragon ball Z sailor moon and gundam wing to be the holly trinity of anime from that era those 3 shows on toonami where fucking HUGE and showed how diverse anime could be
I was one of those kids that read, and wrote SailorMoon fan fiction, and spent most of my free time watching the many many sailormoon AMV's. I also ended up buying the final season from someone who got it on their trip to japan, and recorded them onto VHS for resale. I still love the show, and credit it for the person that I am today. It's so crazy to me that Anime in general is so popular now when back then it was something you would get made fun of for enjoying.
when I was a kid I realised that Haruka and Michiru are a couple by seen how seductive Michiru looked at Haruka when she asked her to help her with the dress.
This video is ridiculous, obsessed with labels and shows very little understanding of Japanese culture and Female bonding in Japan. Rei has an interest in Takarazuka Theatre where all the roles are played by women. Takarazuka is very popular in Japan among straight women because men and women in Japan, especially in the past have been quite divided. Japanese women fantasised about elevated romance that was lacking in their own relationships. As a result, instead of waiting for men to be more affectionate, they gravitated towards Josei Manga and Takarazuka where women portrayed hyper romanticised roles of men. Takarazuka fans are mostly straight in the same way western woman reading Romance Novels are. I highly recommend watching some videos of Takarazuka to get a better understanding of this phenomenon. Having seen Takarazuka in person myself, surrounded by a full theatre of women being picked up by their husbands after the show definitely put things in perspective for me. The reason all girls are so "confused" about finding Haruka attractive is because she was modeled after Takarazuka actors that portrayed male roles. She's masculine and feminine when she wants to be, she's charming, always says the right thing that straight women resonate with, she's sexy. I don't think any girl that would blush after being approach by Haruka is gay or bi. We would all blush because Haruka is just very forward and masculine enough to make us forget for a moment she's a woman. I beleive what we're seeing especially in season 3 is that exact confusion a straight teenage girl might feel when approached by an older, confident, masculine woman that is very direct and flirtatious. There's a reason Minako is so disappointed once she realizes that Haruka is in fact a girl at the end of her introductory episode. Also, in the manga Rei doesn't want a relationship with a man because of how her father treated her mother, how cold and absent he was and how painful her first love was in the short story "Casablanca Memory". Calling Minako polyamorous for going on two dates at the same time feels absurd. Are we forgetting this show is about teenage girls and Minako is simply boy crazy? As much as I would love Makoto and Ami to be a thing, it's very clear that Mako is stuck on her unrequired love to her senpai and Ami is shy, introverted and focused on her studies. The two of them dancing together simply shows how close they are as friends. I remember how in the 2000s many of my girlfriends would walk holding hands. It wasn't romantic. It's natural for women to want to show affection to those we love. Setsuna was in love with Kind Endymion. She's portrayed as mature and a motherly figure. She's not asexual, her love was simply ill placed due to her solitary role as the Guardian of Time and Space. Zoisite and Kunzite were a call back to a famous gay couple in the anime "Boku Paralliro!" from 1982 and 1983. Even watching short clips from that anime is enough to see how Zoisite and Kunzite were extremely faithful adaptations. Yes, they're gay and it's amazing to see them in Sailor Moon but the research into "Boku Paralliro!" should have taken place when discussing these two. Are there many queer characters in Sailor Moon? Of course!! Usagi is clearly bi/poly and it only adds to her character, her pureness of love and lack of judgment. Haruka, Michiru, Seiya, Fiore, Zoisite, Kunzite, Fish Eye, potentially Tiger's Eye, Alluminum SIren and Lead Crow and many, many more... Unfortunately this video was badly researched and biased. Trying to force straight characters into queer roles based on throw away gags (like Makoto seeing Ami's underwear) is a huge stretch to say the least.
Very well said (although I disagree with the last paragraph - I don't think you should make assumptions about people, no matter how obvious you think something may be). I've always found it incredibly bizarre that people seem to assume that, because there are a few "gay" characters in Sailor Moon, Japan is therefore some sort of extremely progressive, judgement-free paradise for gay people. (It's not.) And the fact that people don't understand that Uranus and Neptune and Zoisite and Kunzite are based on "tropes"... 🤦♂️ (And let's not even get started on the fact that Zoisite and Kunzite aren't in a relationship in the comics, or that Fisheye tries to seduce Ami..... 🤷♂️🤷♂️)
Sailor Moon has an American fandom and Japanese culture isn't the be all and end all of its influence. Rei might have been affected by various experiences but her desire to not be married is a Platonic Chivalric Romance trope where asexual devotion to a monarch is seen as a higher calling. Haruka's crush on Usagi and Pluto's on Endymion is the same trope. Catholic Platonism (mostly decoupled from Christianity outside of a few signifiers like crosses, lilies and the Madonna) is a major theme in queer shojou manga and literature. Its still pretty gay in a Japanese context.
But Zoisite and Kunzite aren't lovers in the manga so it shouldn't even be considered canon to the "sailor moon" story. I don't even know why the anime studio made so many unnecessary changes. They were like brothers in the manga so I don't know why they felt the need to make them date anyway.
![[#2024MAMA] BIGBANG (빅뱅) - 뱅뱅뱅 (BANG BANG BANG) + FANTASTIC BABY | Mnet 241123 방송](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EQsYfiPR9uM/mqdefault.jpg)
Venus was like " Being into haruka isn't gay it just means you have a pulse"
I HAVE A PULSE! LOL
"Why are you booing me, I'm right"
Venus really defined pansexuality with this one.
After a bit of research i have found, that i have a pulse
I agree! lol Mina was always so wise.
Lets not forget Mamoru and Fiore; that alien boy was absolutely in love with Tuxedo Mask!
The sailors even gossip about it in the original dub. Not even a doubt, let alone him passing on him to bunny , and mamoro as damsel.
I was shocked they didn’t mention that relationship in the video haha. Even as a kid with the original heavily censored dub, I knew something was up with those two haha
@@MikeOfMichigani saw that movie in adult swim it was very much censored (and. One of the only times I was allowed to actualy watch adult swim (Ofc I then convinced them to let me watch it 6.6 bcs technically cartoons
He fell for him hard
Ikuni went HARD with that movie 😂
"Everyone is gay for Haruka" is literally the most correct statement anyone could ever say about Sailor Moon.
and a far more fitting permutation of it than the original holder of that phrase, Bridget, since Bridget always presented as female, and eventually found herself as a trans woman; vs Haruka who presents NB, wearing both feminine Senshi garb and masculine clothing.
@@jaymiechan So, we categorize people based on their clothes - got it 👍
@@kumada84 go away troll.
Fr 😂
@@jaymiechan well in general haruka is a butch lesbian (takeuchi herself confirmed it) anyway its only right that every senshi are gay for haruka , also especially usagi who’s really bi icon
Ah yes. Sailor Uranus and Neptune. The "cousins." My sister and I grew up on Toonami and the Sailor Moon censorship. And we STILL were like, "nah! We don't buy it! They're definitely gay." Lol.
In a way, alabamafication is even more woke in the eyes of the west, no?
Making it incestual is localizing apearently 😅
too bad the actual setting is that haruka is both male and female. Neptunes own words in the comics.
I remember in the early 2000’s when the internet was in it’s infancy hearing from a friend “Did you know in Japan Uranus and Neptune are lesbians?” Like it was so scandalous but also “oh, that makes more sense”
@@Souten66
and yet they arent really lesbians if you read the comics, but dont let facts get in the way of your kosher brainwashing.
Me personally, I'm as straight/cis/hetero as they come. I also grew up in a christian household. But sailor moon does something profound with breaking relationship societal norms. It normalized all types of sexualities and orientations. Everyone in the anime just accepted it and I always thought that was beautiful. Definitely ahead of its time. Sailor moon taught me at a young age to keep an open mind towards others. Love this show so much ❤.
Great video! As an asexual woman I always find amusing how any ace representation in anime is often a mystical, magical being beyond the confines of existence and understanding. Whelp, I guess that makes me some sort of spiritual chaos being. Also, please kindly note that asexual people can be aromantic, homoromantic, biromatinc, and panromantic. Asexuality is a huge spectrum.
Came here to say this, or the last part. Being Ace has nothing to do with the romantic aspect, but rather if they enjoy s*xual intimacy or no. Whether they are comfortable or not with doing so, as some do if it's with folks they love, or do so for bonding rather than gratification. Aromantics, like Aces, are on a spectrum, but focuses on what level of romantic feelings they have, if at all.
@@ThatFlamingFroggoIn my experience ace isnt necessarily whether they enjoy sexual intimacy, but whether they feel sexual attraction. There are some sex positive aces who love sex and sex negative aces who are super uncomfortable with it in general.
@@TheNinjaKitsune Yeah, yeah you right. Sometimes I struggle with wording things.
@@TheNinjaKitsuneI was going to say the same thing as a biromantic ace lol
@@TheNinjaKitsunewait I do heard ace can get horny/sexual urges at random times but I never heard they can get sexually attracted to someone... It's quite contradicting ace definition, sorry I'm not bashing anyone but just curios about this topic cuz I may identify as an ace as well and need guidance
Luna isn’t actually a cat, she is an alien that takes a form of a cat. Her Artemis and their kid all have human forms
Artemis also has two wives - Lunda... and the blonde disaster-zone Minako.
@@peterwindhorst5775 Who's Lunda? XD
Still kinda sounds like an excuse to have a love storey between a person and a cat like when shows have a magical being who looks like a little girl but they make them like 2000 years old so they can sexualize them
@Daisy_Friends it was a one sided crush luna had on a man who already had a girlfriend. It wasn't a freaky thing.
@@Meandsushiroll I didn’t say it was freaky but I think my point still stands
As an aside: In the LATAM dub, Zoycite was made a woman because the Dub director saw the episode where he dresses up as Sailor Moon first, with no context, to do the dub cast, and honestly thought he was a woman. Later, when she was informed of the truth, she expressed the wish to redub and leave him as a man. Later, the second Dub director asked which characters were male and which were female, and treated Fisheye as either a NB character or a trans woman, letting them have a female voice, BUT when it came to the episode when their gender is revealed, leaving he/him pronouns. Haruka and Michiru were left as girlfriends.
They did censor a bit of dialogue in the SMR movie though, namely a scene with Ami/Mercury saying that Mamoru is so attractive that even boys are interested in him.
@@minako10 That was a choice by the translator, as far as I know. My first dubbing job was in fact telling the Dub director which characters were male and which were female, and also, translating the powers from R to SuperS :)
@JustinW332 Thank you! all true! The LATAM Anime Dub scene is quite interesting :D
I knew your name ringed a bell. You are Adalisa Zarate. You along with Gabriela Maya interviewed Gloría Rocha years ago and disclosed that topic about Zyocite.
@@GusMir-k5l Yep yep. Gloria Rocha, the Godmother, was an amazing dub director.
Rei could be biromantic and asexual, which are not mutually exclusive. Naturally, this makes her what we call "based."
Fair point there!
Real
Me who loved her and identifies as both: Well… it’s all starting to make sense…
High quality pun-work right there. I will be stealing this one.
Gray romantic bisexual is more likely based on her chapter in the Dark Moon Circus arc. She fights her mirror self who wants to get married and defeats them and decides she has no interest in having a partner outside of her servant relationship with Usagi (the manga has a lot of Arthurian Neo-platonic chivalric romance theming).
I’ve seen Sailor Moon in Japanese, Cantonese, and both English dubs, and never did I get the impression that Naru’s attraction to Nephrite was reciprocated.
I think he exploited her feelings to manipulate her, but getting into her pants was never even a blip on his radar. When he turns and becomes protective of her, it’s far more about him coming to understand humanity, kindness, and protecting those you care about.
Yeah, he said he’d go get a chocolate parfait with her, but I don’t think he was committing to a date and all it implies. I think she told him it was something she wanted to do, and he wanted to make that happen for her.
Which canto dub? I watched the TVB one growing up
@@zinzolin14I honestly don’t know. My best friend would either get VHS tapes in Chinatown or when her mom took a trip to Hong Kong, and this was almost thirty years ago.
I don’t speak Cantonese. My friend would translate as we watched.
@@michaelmammano-cheydleur2651ah all good, that's super interesting! Hope you and your friend enjoyed it in a different language 😁✌️🌙
@@zinzolin14it was really cool to experience the show in so many different ways!
Ah, Pluto in the manga was in love with King Enydo.
Yep. Plus I think think in the manga Ami gets an allergic reaction to a love letter. To which my ace self has to say: same girl.
I'm glad someone said this.
@@marcusmoutra Her love for King Endymion It is an unrequited love that makes her lonely existence that much sadder. It's a vague reference, with depictions of Pluto blushing when she's around the King, as well as her reaction when he rushes to her side as she passes.Apr 20, 2018
@@marcusmoutra It is also hinted at in artwork that features her, Endymion, and Queen Serenity. In the two Sailor Moon musicals, Eien Denetsu and Shin - Densetsu Kourin, there is a song called "Onna no Ronsou" ("Woman's Conflicts") where the love that Sailor Pluto has for Endymion is explicitly stated. The actors in those musicals also played up those unrequited feelings.
Came here to say this. She could still be ace, I don't think we really have evidence one way or another, but she definitely had feelings for a man and is at least straight.
It makes me so happy to see someone else reads Ami as ace. All the times the other girls are going heart-eyes over someone pretty and Ami's just standing to the side confused.
Also I just recently watched the episode clipped at the beginning, where Haruka is hanging over Usagi after she's claimed she's gonna break up with Mamoru. It's so funny to hear that in the 90s dub they had her talk about hitting on Mamoru instead of the Viz dub having her immediately ask "So does that mean I have a chance with you?"
Venus in the prequel manga Codename Sailor V is also a really interesting case! She clearly has a romance with Danburite, but resolves to put her duty to Serenity above any romance. And then she goes on to flirt shamelessly and play with romance. But there's never anything for her as permanent as her devotion to her queen.
As a very flirty ace, Rei is my spirit sailor
wake up bisexuals new anthony gramuglia essay dropped
I find it hilarious how in the Dub they changed Sailor Uranus and Neptune to "cousins" and apparently that was more acceptable than lesbians.
Also, I love how Sailor Moon emphasizes so many different types of love between both genders.
Plus so much Yes to queer anime.
Gay is alright if incest 😏
Okay but there are more than two genders, so "both" may not be the best word there
I love this video. ❤
Few things that I feel you could've included or maybe forgot or just did not mention. idk.
Sailor Pluto in the manga, at least, is implied in a very a blink and you miss it moment that she has feelings for King Endimion.
I was expecting you to mention something about Mamoru and Fiore from the Rose movie, the way Sailor Moon worries in that movie is so beautifully done, is not about that Fiore is a guy at all.
Sailor Mercury and Sailor Star Maker have a really intellectual attraction, or that ep when she "falls" for that musician that actually already had a girlfriend.
In the manga besides Pluto, everyone else has a "pairing" Moon and Mask, Mercury and Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, Chibi-usa and Satrun.
And many other smaller ones.
Naoko most likely wanted to create something that shows love has no boundaries, and friendships can have more flavors than one.
If you throw the live action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon into the equation, suddenly Mars and Venus end up looking extremely gay for each other. Honestly I didn't start shipping Reinako as hard as I do now until that series came out.
And as a kid who knew everyone was gay for Haruka, goddamn did I want to be her. She definitely was the start of my queer and trans awakening.
I feel like Usagi is a pan with a slight gravitation towards individuals who present themselves more masculine: she was into Mamoru, Seiya, Haruka, I also felt something between her and Makoto, and her and Rei, who are a bit more masculine between all girls
but also, like you said, everyone is kinda bi/pan in this story~
Good on Usagi for teaming up with her Polycule to become queen of the world.
sailor moon was my first manga when i was in 5th grade, i remember reading it on the bus on the way home when i saw the page of haruka kissing usagi. after that everything made so much sense. i remember talking to my friend at recess about sailor moon, and she would tell me how much she loved tuxedo mask n how he was her first cartoon crush. i didn't understand where she was coming from at all.. i never really had fictional crushes before, besides maybe link in twilight princess? but when i saw that page i finally understood what it was like 😭😭
All I want to say is as an ace girl so many ppl think I’m lesbian because I’m not « actively heterosexual » and that’s both weird and funny.
Can we all appreciate the 90s transitions and overlays used in this video? The nostalgia is hitting hard. 😅
Usagi being bisexual makes so much sense. It’s just another reason she’s my favorite character 🌈🏳️🌈💖✨
Before watching the video: Hmm, I wonder what Ant has to say about Usagi as I think she’s probably my favorite characters in Sailor Moon.
*Sees Sailor Moon is a Disaster Bisexual in the TH-cam chapters.*
Oh, now it makes sense.
I really can't help but see the Senshi as anything other than Usagi's harem at this point.
She's a kin of mine fr fr
Mamoru is such a chad, being chill with his wife’s harem…
@@deathwish-fs1ibI mean the manga finale can be read as her not just marrying Mamoru but all the other Senshi. Those weren't bridesmaid Dresses, those were wedding gowns. Don't lie to me Naoko.
The funny thing for me is how they tried to censor Zoicite for example but ended up showing a powerful and villainous woman character, effectively still Breaking traditional gender roles
SM will always disrupt gender norms no matter how badly they attempt to cut it down
Venus being the roman goddess of love, venus being polyam pan makes sense
“Is Anyone in Sailor Moon Straight?” I sure hope not
Artemis is straight? He just has two wives - Luna and the the blonde... of the two, the latter is the one he actually obeys.
@@peterwindhorst5775 Depends if we also count Luna the Dog from the manga.
Why not?
Careful there buddy. Just like discriminating against anyone LGBT+ is a big no no. Doing it to the heterosexuals who are the majority people in the world is a huge no no.
Lol why would you care so much if there is a straight person??
I'm honestly surprised you didn't bring up the R movie with Mamo and Fiore's relationship.
As a kid I did relate to Ami being more reserved with relationships and dicussing boys compared to her friends. Took me awhile to find out I'm aro/ace.
I do think Usagi's bi/pan-ness was evident fairly early on when she met Rei because of a rumour of a pretty girl, and then followed Rei off said bus because she was so pretty Usagi legit couldn't think straight (badumtiss).
You don't look when you see a good looking person or aren't interested in seeing what the person looked like if someone told you there was?
@@luma222 If someone told me they saw a beautiful girl, I'd tell them "neat." If I saw a beautiful girl somewhere I'd probably give an appreciative look and move on with my day, maybe give them a compliment if I can break through my inherent shyness. (And the reason I'm specifying "girl" here is a total lack of attraction to men, including aesthetic attraction. I've tried, just to see, but nothing doing.)
I've learned in the past few years that I have a very weak libido. I still have interest, I'm not ace (that would be my wife), but I just don't feel The Urge a lot of people apparently do.
@@Bardic_Knowledge If someone told me there was a pretty girl to the point it was a pretty big rumor I'd wonder what she looked like and that's Usagi she's 14 and just curious
Pluto has a thing for King Endymion in the manga/Crystal. It’s not a huge plot point, but it’s canon.
She doesn’t seem to have any feelings toward teenage Mamoru though, so there’s probably something timey-women going on there.
Hearing someone smarter than me explain how Sailor Jupiter might be Ace is exactly what I needed to hear today.
FACTS💚
Her entire goal in life is to get married. 🤦♂️
@@kumada84Lots of Aces want to get married, dude. Ace doesn't mean Aro. Please don't conflate the two.
@@jeanyve_person Oh, sorry - I made an assumption about someone 😱 but now I know we're not supposed to do that...unless we're assuming they're "ace" or "aro" or whatever, in which case it's fine 👍 The fact that Makoto is shown to have had a daughter in one continuity means nothing - maybe it was IVF! Or parthenogenesis! ❤️
@@kumada84 ....lots of aces have kids, dude.
Fun fact, I was very young when I first saw sailor moon. Like all my peers were watching baby cartoons on the kid’s channel but my mom specifically sat me down and put on Sailor Moon with the words "Watch this instead. It’s closer to the truth". I instantly fell in love with it. I didn’t even know what she meant by those words back then tbh, but I did love the show wholeheartedly and I definitely instantly connected to the characters - way more than I knew back then XD when I finally came out to my mom 20 years later she looked me dead in the eye and said "Gurl, you serious? I always knew that" And thinking back on it, I wondered if she knew BACK THEN already and wanted me to know, it’s okay
I own a page dedicated to Sailor Moon and I was recently surprised finding homophobic fans, even knowing that there are LGBT characters in the franchise.
@17:41 I honestly never really thought of Chibiusa as being older than Hotaru in a meaningful way. Like yes, there's timey-wimey shenanigans and she's hundreds of years old, but we also know that she's the daughter of two people who we see age at a normal human rate. She looks like a young child and by all accounts has a personality and maturity that match her visual age rather than her literal age, so it's always seemed to me that the age difference between her and Hotaru is in the opposite direction. Chibiusa looks and acts and functionally is old enough to be in elementary school, whereas Hotaru looks and acts at least a few years older.
Tbh I normally hate the "this person who looks like a child is actually centuries old" trope, because it's usually taken in extremely gross directions, but the reason I don't mind it here is because it's not used to justify any creepy relationships.
Even if she's centuries old, everyone seems to be aware that as far as romance is concerned, she should be treated and protected like the child she is.
Wasnt she sent back because she kinda was in stasis and still a child there.
And yep hotaro was more mature than her age, thanks to a not great life
So both are older in a sense but not.
She wan encharmed to keep her mind as young as her body, so she really should be counted as a child.
I think it's implied in most material that Pluto has a crush on King Endymion? I googled to double check and that seems to be the general consensus and even gets a whole paragraph on her wikipedia page. But I think it's just this one off thing with that specific version of Mamo.
Haruka is so powerful that even as a boring straight dude she has always stirred strange feelings, so somehow she even makes straights feel gay I guess??
Doesn’t Rei have a side story called Casablanca in the manga where she falls for one of her dad’s employees when she was like 13?
Yes. 👍 But people who have points that they want to make sometimes ignore things that contradict what they're saying. It's implied that her insistence that she isn't interested in romantic relationships is because of the situation shown in Casablanca Memory.
@@kumada84 Sometimes people don't memorize every single page and every single frame, sometimes people don't have access to all of it to begin with, or don't know a specific bit exist. I haven't seen a single side story of any manga until about 2-3 years ago because let's just say my only available sources were not the official prints and I wasn't devouring volumes just dabbling
@@kumada84 nice
For me, as a closeted trans kid, Sailor Moon was an outlet for a femininity I wasn’t allowed to express. I still cherish it to this day & is the ONLY anime from my childhood I don’t get bored of.
As someone old enough to have watched Sailor Moon before the Toonami days, can confirm the scheduling nightmares. If you wanted to watch this show, you had to chase it around the dial. You had to look it up in TV guides ahead of time and schedule your time accordingly. And the movies? Roll the dice and hope the big box stores had them for sale.
Worth the effort though.
Trying to set the VCR to record the episode when you had to leave for school was a chore 📼
As a 90s kid growing up in the subrural Southern USA anime was niche and as cool as something like DBZ or Gundam was it was still weird nerdy gay sci-fi cartoon shit to everyone else. The moment anime finally became "cool" is when all the homophobes suddenly became fans. I think something similar happened to Star Trek.
I'm a fairly masc presenting bisexual guy but growing up, I strongly identified with Zoisite and, unexpectedly, Neptune. Still love this show ... Naoko Takeuchi deserves all her millions. ❤
The one thing I’ll say is that Luna isn’t Really a cat, neither is Artemis. They take the forms of cats because they can’t live on earth any other way. Lunas human form in the S movie is actually her True form. Weather that was conveyed in the show at any point, is another story. But it is made clear in the manga
I know nothing of Sailor Moon, and I didn't watch the anime growing up. But I've been calling Usagi an underrated bi disaster icon ever since I read the new edition of the first volume, in which she says about civillian Sailor Mars: "I'd do anything a pretty girl told me to!"
How dare you immediately call me out with the Ranma 1/2 genderbending comment. I'm literally rereading it now and being like "how tf did I not seen this as a sign that I wasn't cis?" 💀
almost lost it with the emotional music at the end🥲
Bro. @1:37. yasssss the best toonami introduction ever, 🎶Fellas, I’m ready to get up and do my thing. Transform!! 1…2…3….4.🎶 ughh. That’s my jam. Just hearing it makes me wanna bust out and hit it. 💃🏻 🪩 🕺🏻
I didn’t watch sailor moon ever until 2019 when I binged it. I was already a college student by this point, but I still connected with it a lot and it did make me feel seen. I’ll always feel a connection to the story and to the characters for what they represent
Oh my god, I LOVE THIS ESSSAY! Can you please do more essays on Sailor Moon? ❤❤❤❤
10:22 she's also 14 just like Usagi lol
19:06 I seem to remember a back story for Rei (maybe Infinity or Dream Arc?) where she fell for someone and he broke her heart. This, coupled with the lack of decent male role models in her life, just led to her not being interested in pursuing romantic relationships.
Some note on the homophobia of anime fans:
Some do it in an extremely performative way to "gatekeep" the community to keep it from changing. Some wants us to look away from the underlying economic system that causes real and unrelated problems. Some outright just realized they can recruit people into their leagues, to "gatekeep" other things, like neighborhoods and whole countries.
I grew up watching the German dub of Sailor Moon which was very close to the Japanese original. So no censorshit like presenting Neptune and Ursanus as cousins. I didn‘t find it odd at all, not even when Seya was a guy but then transformed into a female Sailor. Honestly, i wanted Usagi to ditch Mamoru and get together with Seya instead because I loved their dynamic. 😂 Also the voice acting was very fitting that it could pass as a male and female voice for all the Starlights and Haruka.
I didn‘t really think about it because the characters are alle so adorable. So pretty much this show normalized „just being“. It’s beautiful. 😊
the way i found this video on usagi's birthday, june 30th. kinda iconic
Interesting on how you brought up the girls since there was an art book by naoko where she have the senshi x generals paired and we're supposed to be cannon
- mercury x zosite
- Mars x gedite
- Jupiter x nephrite
- Venus x kunzite
But your points on the girls in the manga is on point about those guardians
Love that you mentioned the Nostalgia Critic video since that was what exposed me to Sailor Moon… I should have known something was up when the clips shown caught my eye as a 13-year old “boy.” I completely resonated with the ending, because Sailor Moon exposed me to a show that helped me learn so much about myself. This video is awesome, thank you so much for making it :)
Very fascinating video. Honestly all the mainline sailor scouts/senshi always gave me bi vibes. Also, I love how perfectly summed up how much this franchise means to so many people at the end. Good work.
I remember being in the 3rd grade with the sailormoon vhs tape 😭😭 quite the foreshadowing
My russian aunt watched Sailor Moon in the early 2000's and she said that russian censors made Haruka a boy when she was in her human form and a girl in her sailor form to I guess explain why Haruka and Neptune were in love. Which is.... interesting. They wrote out non-explicit lesbianism in favor of gender bending trans character. That's an interesting logic. I'd usually expect it to be the other way around. 👁️👄👁️
Sailor Moon was a huge success here in Brasil in the mid 90s, lol.
Wow, your last section really spoke to me. I never understood why I was so obsessed with Sailor Moon characters, specially Fish Eye. I adore the way the character is just... truthful. Sailor Moon definitely saved my life while was I hiding myself. But at the same time, it reallt made me understand a lot about myself.
You just got a new sub, and I cant wait to see your channel grow even more.
This is one of your better videos. I was especially impressed by the first 7 minutes and the structure kept me interested till the end.
I watched Sailor Moon around 1995-1996 (when I was 2 and 3). My fiance was confused when I told him because of how it aired in the US, being more familiar with the Toonami airing. Turns out Canada dubbed it and it was successful there 😂 which is where I'm from. The old YTV ads are gold.
I'm sitting here, watching season III of Sailor Moon Crystal and like... yeah. They all gay. They were pretty gay in previous seasons but as soon as Haruka appeared? Any notion of straightness was thrown out the window
one of the funniest parts about the 90s show is what an absolute disaster bi usagi is throughout the whole thing
Usagi is an absolute disaster bi in EVERY version of the story lol.
I’m watching crystal with a friend of mine who doesn’t know the story, so doesn’t know the whole Endymion thing. He took one look at how Usagi responded to Rei in the third episode and was like “so…..?”
Now there seems to be a question that was unanswered...
Is Mamoru also bisexual? 🤔🤔🤔🧐🧐🧐
Honestly I always read him as demi (and probably also bi, but that one's harder to be confident about).
The number of gorgeous people who just absolutely throw themselves at him and he doesn't even get flustered... personally, I can't relate, but from what I've heard that fits with being demi.
Sure, why not - I mean, apparently everybody is. 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🙄🙄🙄
Why are you people so obsessed with labeling everything?
@@kumada84 because there's like, a whole ass MOVIE, with a guy crushing HARD on him and he didn't flat out refuse him, That's why.
@@kumada84 idk how many queer friends you have IRL, but it's actually extremely common for us to just kind of gravitate to each other, even if no one's out or has even thought about their sexuality. When looking for friends you tend to stick around people you feel safe around and/or vibe with, and if you're queer (even if you don't know it yet), those people tend to be other queer people.
This was such a really interesting video! However, I disagree about Setsuna and (manga) Rei. Setsuna clearly has a crush on Endymion while in one of the short stories, Rei is in love with her father's colleague.
I mean... idk, a crush (or performing a crush) doesn't an orientation make. I'm pretty sure a lot of aro leaning people go through one or two, or think so. JaidenAnimations' video on queerness does a great job of explaining this.
Aro people can also mistake squishes for crushes the same way some queers in denial mistake a crush for just "we're such great friends!"
But in the end, any headcanon should be valid for this.
I absolutely loved Zoisite and Kunzite, and I was so sad that they weren’t together in Sailor Moon Crystal. They were my power couple 😔
Fan shipping aside. The fanfiction a
Absence is the best shoujo/yuri story. Kirika the author shipped Rei/Usagi, Ami/Makoto, Haruka/Michiru obviously, Chibi-Usa/Hotaru, and Minako/Setsuna. These are a very common shipping. If people have it there way these are the couples that they want.
*applause* thank you for compiling all this. Only notes are Mamoru and Fiore from the R Movie and Mars and Venus basically being in love in the live action.
Pluto is in love with tuxedo mask it was shown several times.
No it wasn't. It was just a "fan theory" that she was in love with King Endymion because of one brief scene in the comic where she interacts with him. (They did use that idea in the 90's musicals though, and it was brilliant.)
While I don't disagree with the majority of your essay, I would say you have Setsuna-san ALL WRONG. Not only does she have a deep love and affection, unrequited of course, with King Endymion, but in the musicals, she almost outright says it in a duet with Queen Beryl. Not to mention an ACE SCORPIO?! NO SUCH CREATURE.
You made a long as video just to say that in Sailor Moon there are miracle romances.
Please make a breack down of the original OP song I swear everyone talks about the english one, but man the japanese one slaps so hard and the visuals for the 2nd OP of season 1 is a work of pure art.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 as a sailor moon fan of almost 30 years, I applaud this! Great work!
And yes, I am also rainbow family :3 Moonies 4 evr!!!
It's been a long time since I read the Manga (I guess I should read it again, twist my rubber arm), but I think that Setsuna had a small crush on Endymion from a distance. She knew it would never work for either of them, so she decided to give that love to Chibi-Usa instead, allowing her to get a time key and taking the portal to present day Tokyo (for the time the story was published). But I could be wrong! I think that being able to see how love doesn't always work out, and doing good with that affection regardless, is a very important lesson to learn.
I found out I was bi when I had a...formative dream involving the sailor scouts and a spa. That is when the questions started.
We didn't know the show was censored. Even with the internet, people didn't speak languages here back in those days. But those Japanese comic pages we found. Looked very interesting to say the least
Glad You Got to seeing you make Your Sailor Moon Video & Well Done on it!👍🙂
Me, before hitting play: I think most of them are straight? Idk
15 seconds after hitting play: the man is not wrong, the math is mathing none of these people are straight.
I half agree half disagree but it’s so hard to assume if they’re close or .. closer lmao I’m so close to my friends and keep saying I think they’re so pretty and cool and all... but I know I’m not lesbian. Humans are weird.
@@Krantzingoing The thing is though, the sailor moon characters don't just compliment each other, they take that shit to extremes, like Usagi following rei off that train
Also it’s perfectly normal to be 14-16 years old and have not have physical attraction or want to date not anyone yet. Especially when you are literally fighting for your life every 3 months
Great video! just one little thing, in the manga, if I remember right, is implied that Pluto is in love with King Endymion.
Anthony: "How many friend groups do you know where everyone happened to come out later in life?"
Me: "Of course that happens. Stand users are drawn to other Stand users, it's called 'Gravity'."
(Yes, this is me "subtly" asking for an analysis of JJBA and how none of the characters are straight)
In an in between illustration of chapters in manga volume three, it shows Minako clutching Usagi’s breast and thigh, totally random, no context ever shown. Don’t believe me? Look it up. I can tell you it had an effect on me as a young girl.
In the manga and somewhat in the anime that Pluto was actually in love with King Endymion. Pluto admired him and had feelings for him, but because of her role and her duties at the Time Door, she knew it was never a possible thing.
I still remember when anime used to be called Japanimation and was marketed towards straight boys, so I appreciate how it's opened up in the west a bit more
Love all the work and details that you did here, great job!
I think it would also be interesting to cover other sailor moon material as well if possible, like the live action show. Minako and Rei could easily be read as closer/attracted to each other. Nephrite is also clearly attracted to Queen Beryl and Ami but IIRC there’s some undertones with Mitoki that can either be read as awkwardness or some attraction between the two.
As a 7-10 year old who did not use the internet I knew Uranus and Neptune were not cousin.
That's because they made it blatantly obvious on purpose. 🤫 (Most cousins don't whisper to each other seductively)
Hotaru is thousands of years old in a sense so ive always thought of her as the older one. She retains her menories of her past lives vs chibiusa not even being 1000 years old.
Also if you are gonna call out naru and neph then call out usagi and mamoru??? Hello??
Well - the 90s anime gave them a VERY big gap. I think he’s supposed to be 16 when she’s 14, so
I started sailor Moon when i was 11 years old. I was instantly attached to the Starlights and Haruka. took me 8 years to realize i was genderfluid. oops
it's interesting when it comes to sexuality on the inner sensei in both versions it's just so fascinating how it was all portrayed in unique ways
Loved this review. Wish you had focused a little on Mamoru. While he’s mostly focused on girls… so many other people fall for him or seem attracted to him (male or female or otherwise). I also would be curious about the newer Cosmos films, which seem to heavily agioteuse almost all the senshi MarsVenus, MercuryJupiter, Saturn with
ChibiUsa.
Also Aluminum Siren & Lead Crow. Something was going on there. 😹
@ Anthony Gramuglia actually Pluto in the manga doing the Black Moon Arc shows hints of romantic feeling for King Endymion so she does have romance towards someone where as the anime kinda of just glossed over Sailor Pluto and rarely got much screen time or backstory
Ironic Sailor Moon being my favorite and starter anime, as well as my favrotie Senshi. Then years later me as a teenager realizing I'm bisexual. lol I'll be 31 the beginning of next year and I still can't get enough of this series.
Is anyone in Sailor Moon straight?
NO
There, your question is answered.
Great video!! But I think the use of the world “western” should be with a bigger mindset next time, because Brazilian and LATAM versions of Sailor Moon did suffer some censorship, but not to the same extent of the US one. Same with Card Captor Sakura (at least for Brazil, I’m not sure about the LATAM Spanish version for Sakura). Maybe countries in Europe also didnt suffer much censorship, or maybe no censorship at all and, as far as I know, the “western world” is made of many more countries than US and Canada. Sorry, I know this is far from being the video’s main topic, but it kinda bugged me how much you used that word to talk about the anime version you know 😅
Sailor Moon didn't have any timeslot nonsense in the UK either and I'm not sure if or when it was even shown on Toonami here.
i consider dragon ball Z sailor moon and gundam wing to be the holly trinity of anime from that era
those 3 shows on toonami where fucking HUGE and showed how diverse anime could be
I was one of those kids that read, and wrote SailorMoon fan fiction, and spent most of my free time watching the many many sailormoon AMV's. I also ended up buying the final season from someone who got it on their trip to japan, and recorded them onto VHS for resale. I still love the show, and credit it for the person that I am today. It's so crazy to me that Anime in general is so popular now when back then it was something you would get made fun of for enjoying.
Yooo. You didn't have to call me out on about my Ranma obsession at the start of the video lol
I got directed to this video by my GF telling me she felt called out by it
when I was a kid I realised that Haruka and Michiru are a couple by seen how seductive Michiru looked at Haruka when she asked her to help her with the dress.
This video reminds me that Sailor Moon completely shaped my view on romantic love and gender. I’m thankful for that.
This video is ridiculous, obsessed with labels and shows very little understanding of Japanese culture and Female bonding in Japan.
Rei has an interest in Takarazuka Theatre where all the roles are played by women. Takarazuka is very popular in Japan among straight women because men and women in Japan, especially in the past have been quite divided. Japanese women fantasised about elevated romance that was lacking in their own relationships. As a result, instead of waiting for men to be more affectionate, they gravitated towards Josei Manga and Takarazuka where women portrayed hyper romanticised roles of men. Takarazuka fans are mostly straight in the same way western woman reading Romance Novels are. I highly recommend watching some videos of Takarazuka to get a better understanding of this phenomenon. Having seen Takarazuka in person myself, surrounded by a full theatre of women being picked up by their husbands after the show definitely put things in perspective for me.
The reason all girls are so "confused" about finding Haruka attractive is because she was modeled after Takarazuka actors that portrayed male roles. She's masculine and feminine when she wants to be, she's charming, always says the right thing that straight women resonate with, she's sexy. I don't think any girl that would blush after being approach by Haruka is gay or bi. We would all blush because Haruka is just very forward and masculine enough to make us forget for a moment she's a woman. I beleive what we're seeing especially in season 3 is that exact confusion a straight teenage girl might feel when approached by an older, confident, masculine woman that is very direct and flirtatious. There's a reason Minako is so disappointed once she realizes that Haruka is in fact a girl at the end of her introductory episode.
Also, in the manga Rei doesn't want a relationship with a man because of how her father treated her mother, how cold and absent he was and how painful her first love was in the short story "Casablanca Memory".
Calling Minako polyamorous for going on two dates at the same time feels absurd. Are we forgetting this show is about teenage girls and Minako is simply boy crazy?
As much as I would love Makoto and Ami to be a thing, it's very clear that Mako is stuck on her unrequired love to her senpai and Ami is shy, introverted and focused on her studies. The two of them dancing together simply shows how close they are as friends. I remember how in the 2000s many of my girlfriends would walk holding hands. It wasn't romantic. It's natural for women to want to show affection to those we love.
Setsuna was in love with Kind Endymion. She's portrayed as mature and a motherly figure. She's not asexual, her love was simply ill placed due to her solitary role as the Guardian of Time and Space.
Zoisite and Kunzite were a call back to a famous gay couple in the anime "Boku Paralliro!" from 1982 and 1983. Even watching short clips from that anime is enough to see how Zoisite and Kunzite were extremely faithful adaptations. Yes, they're gay and it's amazing to see them in Sailor Moon but the research into "Boku Paralliro!" should have taken place when discussing these two.
Are there many queer characters in Sailor Moon? Of course!! Usagi is clearly bi/poly and it only adds to her character, her pureness of love and lack of judgment. Haruka, Michiru, Seiya, Fiore, Zoisite, Kunzite, Fish Eye, potentially Tiger's Eye, Alluminum SIren and Lead Crow and many, many more... Unfortunately this video was badly researched and biased. Trying to force straight characters into queer roles based on throw away gags (like Makoto seeing Ami's underwear) is a huge stretch to say the least.
Very well said (although I disagree with the last paragraph - I don't think you should make assumptions about people, no matter how obvious you think something may be). I've always found it incredibly bizarre that people seem to assume that, because there are a few "gay" characters in Sailor Moon, Japan is therefore some sort of extremely progressive, judgement-free paradise for gay people. (It's not.) And the fact that people don't understand that Uranus and Neptune and Zoisite and Kunzite are based on "tropes"... 🤦♂️
(And let's not even get started on the fact that Zoisite and Kunzite aren't in a relationship in the comics, or that Fisheye tries to seduce Ami..... 🤷♂️🤷♂️)
Sailor Moon has an American fandom and Japanese culture isn't the be all and end all of its influence.
Rei might have been affected by various experiences but her desire to not be married is a Platonic Chivalric Romance trope where asexual devotion to a monarch is seen as a higher calling. Haruka's crush on Usagi and Pluto's on Endymion is the same trope. Catholic Platonism (mostly decoupled from Christianity outside of a few signifiers like crosses, lilies and the Madonna) is a major theme in queer shojou manga and literature. Its still pretty gay in a Japanese context.
But Zoisite and Kunzite aren't lovers in the manga so it shouldn't even be considered canon to the "sailor moon" story. I don't even know why the anime studio made so many unnecessary changes. They were like brothers in the manga so I don't know why they felt the need to make them date anyway.