Sailor Jupiterr: Sodlier of Thunder, courage, and ass-kicking!

SPOILERS!
You no like, you no read.

Our three main scouts are here! We have Sailor Moon: the Pink-Protagonist whose heart is close to be saintly without being sicking, who's love for her friends and family just barley supersedes her appetite. We have Sailor Mercury: The brainy warrior of water whose kind, shy soul and super-high IQ helps the scouts be more tactical, and keeps the group from forgetting their home life. We have Sailor Mars...sorta We have the scout of burning Passion and sheer will who's independence and fiery-fighting nature is sadly overshadowed by her vindictive-boy-crazy-ness(READ THE MANGA). We seem to have a pretty balanced team, but some thing's missing from the bunch...oh I know. How about the girl who tried to punch one of the big bads before  she was a scout?

And succeaded?

The girl who just clocked one of Beryl's big Warriors is Makoto/Lita Kino, another new Transfer student in Usagi's school, transferred over via rumors of fighting. She's a natural born scout with impressive strength, martial arts skills, and bravery that even overshadows Rei's overconfidence. Vigerous in attitude and always the first one to rush to aid anybody, including Moonie. The two end up having a sister relationship, with Makoto playing the big sister, when she isn't lifting a monster over her head (once again, before she was a scout.).

But you wouldn't know on first glance. Mako-chan's one of the sweetest people you'll meet. She's kind, loyal, protective, and one of the best cooks you'll find of the group (Moonie has no talent, and Rei cannot cook that which doesn't have Microwave instructions. Hah.). She lives alone in her apartment, giving her a level of maturity the other scouts have no access to, because her parents died while she was very young. She's been through personal tragedy and a few heartbreaks with the boys, and yet she's almost as cheery as Moonie herself.  In all, she has the most tragedy in her life, and yet she's far from being emo!

 

Whoops! Spoiler...

And what does this fighter-for-cute-things have to do with anything? Why she's Sailor Jupiter of course! As the green-suited Soldier of Love and Courage, Jupiter takes after the Roman subtext, with the ability to toss around lighting in several different forms, including a Dragon The can crawl along the ground. Her tiara even can even sprout a lightning rod to control the charges spinning around her in an electric ring of death. But, she also takes the Japanese translation of Jupiter. The written word of Jupiter in Japanese refers to nature, and thus Sailor Jupiter can also throw around plants in the "Jupiter Oak Evolution" spin attack.. She is, also, my absolute favorite scout.

But why do I love Jupiter so much? Well it involves taking a look back at our previous entries for scouts. We have our smart girl, Mercury, we have our self-righteous bitch aggressive fighter, Mars, and we have our protagonist klutz, Sailor Moon. Where's the girl that kicks out without kicking the ass of her team-mates? Where is the girl who towers above the others and goes for the prize without leaving the girls behind?  This is the niche Jupiter fits perfectly! She kicks butt, she's brave, she's an amazing cook and she reminds me of myself quite a bit. But, above all, she's the active girl who doesn't treat her teammates like their below her.

She's my girl. And my ultimate example of how Mars is screwed up. But enough of playing favorites. We're back to normal analysis next time, with a character that has been hinted at all through the show, but was much closer than you suspected.

Sailor Mars: Soldier of badly handled characters.

SPOILERS AHEAD! Along with a big rant. Ye be warned.

For the introduction, I will be fair. This character does have a following all her own, so I will introduce her proper.  We've gone a few episodes in, give or take a few depending on what language your watching, and we've now got two scouts ready to save the day before bedtime(whoops, wrong show!) but some thing's missing. That missing link (I wish I could say literally) turns out to be on the Hikawa shrine. Her name is Rei/Raye Hino, a shrine maiden who regularly keeps the shrine neat and tidy, chants weird prayers over a fire, has a strange sixth sense, and just happens to be stunningly beautiful. Add to that she (isn't the princess, sorry Luna) happens to be Sailor Mars. Because the Japanese word for Mars literally means "fire planet", Sailor Mar's powers circle around tossing fireballs, along with ancient slips of paper that disperse demons, as she is still a priestess of the Shinto religion. Problems? Oh, plenty.

Now before I open the worm can, I'll make myself silver-crystal clear. I know what Rei's character was intended to be, and I intend to cover that very much when I go over the Manga for the series. However, I judged, as a child, by what I saw on the screen. To put it bluntly, I saw a much more aggressive copy of Moonie herself. On the good side, Mars is pragmatic, fiery (pun unfortunately intended) straight-forward and fiercely protective of what friends she has. This is unfortunately hindered by a girl who is boy-crazy, selfish, needlessly cruel and just downright petty. Her character in the anime completely betrays what her other traits should say about her. After all, if one has a politician for a father who pays less than bupkiss attention to you, why the hell would you give any man your attention?

As she stands, Raye periodically flirts with The male lead, and yet ignores the only male in the show, Chad/Yuchiro, who practically falls at her feet. I'm not sure if she's just picky or two-faced, and neither bode well. Beyond that, my annoyance with Mars would usually stem from the arguments she would always get in with Moonie. These arguments were always long, petty and a result of somebody just being downright nasty to someone else, or because Mars has the hotts for Tuxedo mask and just realized she'd never have a chance with him (blame the plot sweetie, not the main character). Then there were moments when she was just straight out cruel, to the point where even the other characters were like "Girl, WTF?"

But hey, I understand that not every character need be best friends with the main character, and I've always said that people who don't like the main character aren't always evil. But rewatching this girl's antics makes me want to just knock her right in the kisser. She's a prima-donna at its finest, when she was supposed to be a mature pragmatist. So now, not only do I hate the character, I hate what they did to the character. I don't mean to sound harsh, but for somebody who claims she should be a better leader she sure has a hard time taking care of the team. Leaders don't pick favorites, and the definitely don't last out emotionally at their teams mates like a five-year old.

But you know what the biggest insult about her? She's a hypocrite. No, seriously.

Her favorite activity is pointing out how irresponsible and selfish Moonie is, and calling her a big immature spoiled brat. And yet, half the time, she and Moonie are swooning over the same guy, getting excited about the same things, and acting just as petty and stupid. It's such a large case of the pot calling the kettle black that it drives me insane. Every time she made a comment on the show, I found myself going "just like you." recently. And it always used to annoy me how she singled out the exact same person each and every F@#ing time...

But you know what? After her character went through such a horrible change, after she's proven to be the worst possible candidate for the leader I could ever see, after she choose to be Moonie's full time trauma inducting harmful friend? I forgive her. I forgave her and still forgive her now. For, despite my rants and constant shouting at the screen when she's talking, there are good things to be had with her. Despite the bullying, she's fiercely protective of her, and has sacrificed herself to save her on so many occasions. And Mars even admits that she's gone several steps too far before as well. So, much like Moonie, Mars comes out of the gauntlet stronger and more mature.

If Moonie can befriend her, so can I. The feisty, independent and straightforward center is there, you just have to chew through some bitter salt first.

But now the bile is done. Next time we look at one of my favorite characters in the series, and why she practically exudes awesome.

Toodles!

Sailor Mercury: Soldier of Love & Exams.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

You no like, you no read.

So picture yourself seven episodes into the show. So far, Moonie's been doing alright, but her strategy is less than fantastic (Cry, than use the plot device). Also, you distinctly recall that Luna mentioned that Sailor Moon was one of the scouts sent to protect the princess. So, by these pieces of logic, naturally there should be another scout somewhere along the line, right? So where are these mythical extra fighters that will make the show more interesting, and will certainly help Moonie do her job in a much more efficiently?

At Cram school, having her energy stolen by a PC.

Meet Amy/Ami Mizuno, the new student at Juban Middle School. Rumored to have an IQ of over 300, and being the top of the exams only supplements this, Amy is widely treated as the black sheep out of admiration and despite. Because she has so much more smarts than most of the student population, there is a wide regard that she "must think us all too stupid to hang out with". This isn't helped out by Amy's own shy nature, which is wrongly translated to snobbery. This is only dusted by Moonie, who ends up befriending the girl after Amy nearly hears Luna's voice, and after Moonie discovers Amy's skills at the Sailor V. Video Game. Highly insecure about herself, and quite literally breaking into a rash at any romantic provocation, Amy is the smart-nerdy girl nerdy people like myself could relate to.

And, once again, we find out this strange new students is not from the negaverse (Fire your computer, Luna) but instead the Sailor Soldier of Justice, Knowledge, Wisdom and Exams (quite literally one of her titles). She is Sailor Mercury. The Japanese for Mercury translates roughly to "Celestial body of water" which is why Mercury's main powers have always been modeled around water and ice. As a scout, she stands as the one who makes the plans and figures out monster weaknesses. For these she has a handy-dandy notebook hand computer and a scanner that links directly to it.

On a trivia note, Amy's family life is one of the few referenced, as it hinges on her character development. Her Mother, the workaholic Doctor, and her father, the painter, are divorced and Amy lives with the former. She idolizes her mother, despite the fact that she's never around, and hopes someday to become a Doctor herself. This is highlighted in several episodes, and the girl studies hard enough to get there by going to two schools and spending her free time doing school work. In fact, she's often the one who scolds the other scouts for not doing their own work. But she's far from overbearing. Compassionate and kind-hearted, she's the sweet-heart of the sea.

I'll be honest,she didn't resonate with me when I was child. I was practically High of Moon Dust, and had eyes and ears for Moonie only. Still, she existed in my Moon-spehere. The water scout was fine by me, and I preferred her way over the one that came next. I liked that she was super smart, but I never really sought out much more about her. In fact, I sought out very little about the other senshi other than the outer-senshi.  But, now that I'm older, I see more of her than I did before. I see a smart girl who is very self-conscious, and an unfortunate low esteem.

In truth, she was supposed to be a social commentary on the Japanese school system, but she doesn't really come across as such. I mean, I know girls like this in real life. Their at the top of their classes and have received several scholarships. Still, the idea that education can be harmful and hurtful is certainly a valid argument, and anything in excess can be dangerous. It certainly has its drawbacks for Amy here, as she can't speak out for herself very well, and tends to find herself out of her league quite a bit. This is kinda sad, since this prevents her from having a huge social life. Still, it's a nice counterpart to the every vain Protagonist who seems to be failing all her classes.

But is it too much? I get the character is supposed to be some kind of statement, but one must always wonder if a character arch type is being played too strongly. Still, I enjoyed the character, for what it was worth, and was happy to see Serena befriend someone who was as much of a saint as she was...
...which is more than I can say for next time.

Next time we look at a character that I cannot stand in any version of the show. Meet the pot who continually calls the kettle Black.

Toodles!

Sailor Moon: The Klutzie-Crybaby-Kick-Ass-Princess...thing.

WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!

Warned be ye.

What's a show without a protagonist? Generally speaking, SM had a group of protagonists, but this was the show's main Senshi. Serena/Usagi Tsukino was the daughter of a famous journalist (daddy) and a self-made house(mommy) with a Shingo, her annoying younger brother. By nature Serena(I grew up with the English version, so this is how I know her) was klutzie, a crybaby, a big eater, lazy and somehow unable to look fat, even when she gained several pounds and didn't exercise. Despite this torrent of vices she has on her, she also sports a big, almost saintly heart of gold, and a burning passion for her friends, and lots of love for those she cares for. Basically, she's a teenage girl Turned Up To 11.

But, as the astute reader will have guess, Serena is also the sailor soldier of love and justice, who will right wrongs and triumph over evil (thankfully that doesn't mean you) as the glorious Sailor Moon. The power was given to her by Luna, a talking cat with a crescent shaped mark (not a bald spot) on her forehead, claiming to come from the moon kingdom. Her reaction is understandable ("It's only a dream, it's only a dream") but the dream's officially over when she's handed a magical broach that lets her transform into a sailor-suited fighter, and told she has to fight monsters twice her size with magic powers that could easily kill her.

 

This is actually the crux of my argument in favor of the character. I'd cry too if some unholy snow-man-thing wanted to drain my soul from random parts on my body.

But Moonie's fortunes go even farther than that! For not only does she have to work with four other scouts, but she also finds out that she wasn't always a whiny school-girl. She was, in her past life, Princess Serenity of the same Moon Kingdom that Luna came from (but we're not supposed to know that til the middle of the show, so shhhh!) and, here and now, she's destined to become queen of the new world.

 Instantly this almost sounds like someone's bad fan fiction, doesn't it? Bratty girl with no real skills suddenly becomes the most important person on the planet with pretty pretty dress. And while I would normally agree, I let it slide in this case. As a show targeted for young girls, it would only make sense that the main character rises to be the most unique snowflake. It's a female play on the underdog principle that sports movies use, where the worst of the players rises to the top after a long period of work. And I guarantee that Serena goes through a gauntlet to reach the top, even if she forgot a good deal of it in the first season. I see this series as the journal of personal growth for the character from selfish-baby to loving authority figure.

    

(Relax ladies, his contract forbids permanent case of the kills.)

 From a feminist perspective, however, this doesn't bode well. Her mother is a homemaker, which is what she wants to be, and her ultimate achievement seems to be the birth of the antichrist of a daughter, with whom the rest of her time goes into. She needs to be rescued quite a bit by a man, namely Tuxedo Mask, and is highly ineffectual when compared to the other scouts who are athletic, feisty, smart and all those other things girls are supposed to aspire to me. It's the Disney princess argument in a way, as the wait for a prince becomes something worth scrutiny. Than again...is it really the same thing?

I don't think so myself. I believe me in choice, more than anything. For every Wonder Woman, there's more than enough room for Soccer Mom's. I don't think Usagi-chan is sending a bad message since she had wanted to be a house-wife to begin with, and now has a family of her own. Beyond that, she's been given a great deal of responsibility now anyhow, as Queen of Neo-Tokyo, and helps fight against the enemy trying take over the kingdom. In fact it was her that saved the world and united it together as is, so stopping to raise a family sounds like a well deserved vacation. Unlike early Disney girls, who's Beaus made the world  start working again, Serena was proactive and changed the world on pure effort.

So my final judgement on this character is fairly predictable.  She's my childhood hero, so I find myself unable to hate her and rushing to her defense out of Nostalgia. Still, these reflections have reminded me why I fell in love in the first place, and why she still holds up in my mind to this day. I feel most people don't give the girl credit, as they see the girl crying crocodile-tears as her friends are tossing fire and water about. I encourage a look at the journey, and to see that she has a vital place in the story, and is planned for great things. It just simply proves that you can never really tell where anybody goes in a story. So I shall be one of her shouting fans until I roll-over dead.

 

Next time-the brains of the show steps up to the spotlight!

Toodles!

First Thoughts: Childhood Nostolgia.

Oh woe is me. Where does someone begin with the massive pile of mini-skirts that is Sailor Moon? Do I start with the huge amount of episodes that was ultimately cut off in the English dub? How about the severe cuts between Japan and America? Heck, why not start with the Pen & Paper RPG?!

It seems fitting, actually, to start at the beginning. The best place to get this snowball rolling is the first time I ever caught an episode. It was ages ago when I first flipped to Cartoon Network, and caught my first dose of Meat-Ball-Head-Tiara-Action, so there is no way I can completely remember which of the episodes hooked me, but hooked I was. It seems obvious really, considering I share a good deal in common: sad to say I was a lazy girl growing up with a large appetite, and little need for exercise. But the fact that she could get up and do so many great things was a huge pick-me up. She was terrified out of her mind, but it was fascinating all the same.

Even if it usually went more like this...

Eh, every good anime has a draw back.

But yeah, this was my show. I always had to be near a TV when this show came on. It ended up being ironic, since I always had to fight my older brothers for the remote, and both of them were huge DBZ fans at the time. The fact that I was willing to wrestle people over ten years older than me speaks volumes for my devotion for the show, and for all the other fans. This fandom spawned books, replicas, games, dolls, (and sadly a full line of body pillows) and a group of people who will shove a cutie-rod up your backside if you talk trash.

But why? What did this anime do for girls that struck such a chord? Speaking for myself, it was what Goku and Superman was to the male populace, but much closer to home. Serena, or Usagi-chan if you prefer the Japanese version, was closer to our age and acted in this scary situations in the same way most of us probably would too (panic, cry and get the hell out of dodge). The difference is that she conquered the fears for us, always stood back up, and finished the job. Thus she became our hero, and a n example for us to reach for what we were afraid of. It also helps that she wasn't shy in romance, and was always hands on with her boyfriend...too much in some cases really.

Sweet Romance in all of it's stalker glory. But we'll get to their relationship at a later date.
Either way, despite her nature as a lazy-crybaby, I ate the show up like candy. I still consider this to be the very first anime I ever fully got into beyond Pokemon and Digimon; the gateway anime, if you will. It was my introduction to anime as a whole, and a good deal of the things it would bring. For example, it introduced me to The Magical Girl Genre, in which young girls are given magic powers to fight monsters or so, and the basic principle that Anime is done by Perverts...

And yet the fanbase has normally been distinctly female.

The main plot of the show was fairly simple, to those who are not in the know, and revolves around a group of girls with magic powers. Serena Tsukino, or Usagi Tsukino, is visited by a talking cat named Luna, who tells her that she is severa others are Sailor Scouts (Sailor Senshi, for the Japanese version) and that they are to protect the city from The Negaverse, or the Dark Kingdom, ruled by Queen Beryl and her Henchmen. The mystery comes in the form of royalty, as the girls are also supposed to be on the look out for the Moon Princess, as they are to be her guards.Every episode the girls are attacked by a creative monster, attempting to steal 'energy' for their dark ruler, they go through the super colorful transformations, they toss around attacks, our hero is pulled from death by the brave Tuxedo Mask...

Now hang on! I am a Feminist by trade, and you'd think I'd be appalled that these girls need this one little guy here to get off their butts and do the work? Hardly. Tuxedo Mask may be the main love interest, resident female fan-service and a typical James Bondage, but he's also hard working. It's not easy pulling that klutz out of her incidents, and its always our protagonists who do the main work. He's a side-character at best, but he added just the right amount of romance to make girls swoon. Besides, it could be worse. His personality is less than impressive, but at least he has one. As a feminist, I support female-empowerment well enough, but I also support teamwork amongst the sexes more.

But enough equality talk. How's the show?

As I said, the episodes always followed the same pattern. It always ended with Moonie destroying the monster with her big fancy attack, and everything going back to normal. There were, of course, deviations to make things interesting; Moonie had to deal with the henchmen on occasion, and the final episodes always took a more dramatic route. Still, you never missed much if you missed an episode, but you also had fun if you watched it religiously (like me!). It was funny, romantic,  and even had moments that left you suspenseful...all 200 episodes.

That big controversy will be dealt with later.
I intend to cover as many issues, cuts, jokes, and cliches as much as I can on my childhood hero, and see just how many jokes I can wring out of it. Stick around for next time, as we examine our main character in more detail.

Toodles!