Sailor Moon

Sailor Moon was a very popular Japanese kid's show (at least I think it was for kids) that ran in the
90's. It features the magical action-adventures of a teenage girl who learns of her destiny as the legendary warrior Sailor Moon, who must band together with the other Sailor Soldiers to fight for love and justice against the evil minions of The Negaverse to defend the Earth and it's Galaxy. To help them in their quest they heed the advice of two talking cats, Luna and Artemis, and the mysterious Tuxedo Mask.

In recent months the writers of this show have revealed that in the New Year a fifth season of Sailor Moon is set to be released in Japanese and English.

Just The Facts

1. Notably, Sailor Moon is the most popular and addicting series to ever come from Japan, with 200 Japanese episodes (182 in English) on TV, 18 books, 25 musicals and three movies. This covers the show. 

2. There are 10 Sailors named after 8 planets and the moon as well as chibi moon. 

3. Every guy in the show is either a dick or a nerd with little-to-no exceptions.

4. This show should not be watched at night without headphones while still living with your parents. 

Just the weirdness (and, The Story Too)

Based off the popular comic book series "Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon", Sailor Moon (real name apparently "Serena") was pretty much every little girl's favorite show. Why? Because half the time they're talking about cute boys, shopping, and being famous. And the other half consists of, well, crying.

Her friends are about as whiney and mindless as she is. The exception is what seems to be the only guy in the school, Melvin. And, being the world of Sailor Moon, the guy is a socially awkward nerd. And a stalker, which needs to be mentioned.

But, despite being a complete wimp/priss, Serena had freaking super powers. Which are pretty much useless, seeing as she doesn't do much else as Sailor Moon. Even after the cat "Luna" gives her pep talks, every episode it seems she's saved by "Tuxedo Mask." Or, in layman's terms: she always needs saving.
But that apparently didn't keep the girls away! Watching the pretty girls fighting evil-doers kept them glued to the tube. The unfortunate older brothers having to sit through this while waiting for Dragonball Z were treated to what can only be said as their first strip show.
I really wish I was kidding. 

Sexual Subtlety  (Minus the Subtle)

The Transformations

Anytime that they were in danger, any of the sailors could use the mighty pens and say some really silly catchphrase. Within 30 seconds, the Sailors change out of their school sailor uniforms into...well, sailor uniforms. GENIUS!

Freeze frame at any point, and you'll get some very, very weird thoughts in your head. With the, you know, addition of being completely undressed and exposed in all their girly wonder. Several boys, including the band Bare Naked Ladies, like them a little too much.

Devices

As with all standard girl anime, the girls can change only with the help of a relic that the damn cat can make appear from out of nowhere. The same, they say some silly catch phrase and change into their sailors. Now, look at the pen. As a kid, you can't see it. But as an adult, you question how this went by unnoticed. This pen actually changes Sailor Moon into other people. They are usually suspiciously seductive characters in the form of some popular bedtime role play games, like a school teacher, nurse, police lady, air hostess etc. Yes, they all wear short skirts, too.

The Lesbian Sailors

Coming out (literally) in the 90th episode, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune are lesbians.

However the english dubbed version has the characters played low key. What does this mean? 

They're cousins. 

This doesn't work with what a kid's show is supposed to display, and they do their best to cover this up. However, flirting with each other and getting very close is kind of hard to cover up. No doubt making guys very happy. 

Inappropriate Age Gaps

Sailor Moon's boyfriend in the show is Mamorou (Darian or Tuxedo Mask). This relationship begins by the end of season one when they find out that in their past lives they were married. Until season 4 Usagi (Serena or Sailor Moon) is still in middle school which means that in Japan she can be no older 15 years, Mamorou is in his last year of University making him about 23. Previous to the relationship between Usagi and Mamorou, he was the boyfriend of Sailor Mars, who is only one year older than Sailor Moon.

Molly Baker (or Naru Osaka) is a minor character featured throughout the series as Sailor Moon's best friend at school. At one point Molly falls in love with the villain Nephrite, a character who is an attractive man in his 30's, while Molly is only 14. There are episodes of Nephrite sneaking into Molly's room at night to watch her sleep and begins to become infatuated with her until he is forced to run away forever. Illustrations drawn suggest that Nephrite was married to Sailor Jupiter in a past life and was originally intended to become her lover in the series. Sailor Jupiter is 15 years.

Chad is a ragged looking young man who only appears in the anime and helps out at the "Hikawa Shrine" as a trainee Shinto Priest. In the English version he talks like a surfer dude

and describes himself as a struggling musician. When he first appears in episode 30, he is sleeping on the steps of the shrine. He is awoken by Rei Hinto (Sailor Mars) and immediately falls in love with her. As a result of his feeling begs her grandfather to stay and train at the temple to be near to her. Even though she does not reciprocate his love he always remains faithful and tries to protect her. She warms up to him considerably over time. It would all be very romantic except when this occurs Chad is 27 and Rei is 15.

Chibiusa meets Crayon Shin-Chan

In this episodes the writer's of Sailor Moon have obviously decided to feature a young boy who is behaving like Crayon Shin-Chan from the popular manga series, which follows the adventures of a rude and seriously perverted 5 year old, Shin-Chan. When Rini (Chibiusa) falls on the ground a boy says he wanted to show her something after throwing his Shin-Chan toy at her. Most of what happens in this scene was either completely cut or heavily edited out of the English versions. I had trouble even finding a Japanese version that contains the full unedited scene, and this was the best I could find.

The Popularity of Unrealistic Expectations

As with anything we grew up with in the 90's, some people just will not let it go and thus it remains popular. (This wasn't just Sailor Moon but also TV shows like Pokemon, Digimon, Card Captors, Will & Grace, Angel, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Charmed etc. ) It's not that all these shows were actual masterpieces worth the praise they are given, it's just that people who refer to themselves as "90's kids" often nostalgically look back at that decade through rose tinted spectacles.

Even today anime conventions are filled to the brim with many. many cos-players dressed as Sailor Soldiers or even the Man Moons (sadly). They all remember their childhood hopes and dreams that some guy in a tuxedo and a mask (called simply by that) will take them away while they fight evil with their super powers. It's not necessarily a bad thing as much as something some people over-obsess greatly with.

A very good example of this was the american 90's comedy, Friends. The series was based around a circle of normal professional working class friends in Manhattan. This was different from every other comedy previously popular because it did not feature any overly dramatic or theatrical characters like Basil Faulty or Hyacinth Bucket. None of the gags required much set up and most conversations consisted of predictable, cheesy, easy-to-get one liners which didn't really require good or hysterical acting. In the 90's this show was really popular because it was relate-able, fresh and modern. 

However, since the show ended in 2004, literally hundreds of shows with the same style of humor have been released successfully across the world and became popular. Friends is no longer new and the jokes are at this stage over used and stale. Yet, due to nostalgia for the 90's, people will continue to watch the same re-runs over and over and come up with a million and one reasons to explain that anyone who doesn't like Friends or hasn't seen it is odd. Anyone who watches Friends for the first time in this day and age finds it repetitive and boring. 

If you're a fan of anime be sure to check out the fifth season of Sailor Moon which is out very soon! Happy November!