Monday, August 15th
Update
- Jonathan Mays
Where Sailor Moon Comes
Back to Life
“I wake up in the morning, the white lace curtains swaying in the
breeze. My clock chirps that it’s 7:00. ‘If you sleep any longer you’ll be
late!’ Mama cries out. I nod off thinking, ‘Just let me sleep three more
minutes.’ I’m late, just like every other day. Teacher makes me stand in the
hall, I fail another test. On the way home from school, I eat crepes with my
friends. A party dress decorating a show window catches my eye. Even the little
things make me happy. It’s that... That ordinary life I want back... I want it
back.”
—Sailor Moon, Episode 46
To kick off
the new site layout, I thought I'd speak briefly about my experiences with with
the Genvid crew. I've spent the better part of a year working on an analytical
book about junior high school girls who transform into superheroines and save
the world every weekday at 4pm. Or was it 6am? Actually, they're not even on
television anymore, but I'm sure Usagi and friends are still out there,
somewhere. It's been thirteen years since Naoko Takeuchi's Sailor Moon first
appeared in Japan, and ten since her American debut. A lot of the people I've
talked to—executives, licensors, publishers, even fans—say she's dead, lost in
an era before Pokemon and never to return. But I think we still need her. Or at
least I do.
For many, Sailor Moon is a fond but fuzzy childhood memory, lost and never to
return. Those who read this site may not realize the extent to which the public
has pushed it aside; or perhaps, as fans, you are even more acute to that
absence. To them we say, sure, it had its share of failings. But there was
something magical about it, something that made Sailor Moon more real than a lot
of other cartoons. Whatever it was, it gave you just enough reason to keep
watching, and more important, to have good memories of watching it.
When
I joined the Warriors of Legend project about a year ago, my goal was to put
some kind of label on that magic. (Don't tell Jay and Sushil; they think I'm
here to find typos.) And while I never had that single epiphany that unlocked
every secret of a multi-billion dollar franchise, I think I found what I wanted.
Reflecting on all the hours of reading and writing and rereading and rewriting,
I've learned how to take a show I loved as a kid and capture a bit of its magic
for myself as a college student. Even now (maybe now more than ever), there's
something satisfying about finding the reality in fantasy.
I've done my best to help draw every reality of Japan's history and society
from a show that already has a backdoor to your mind. I enjoyed learning about
Azabu-Juban and Roppongi, talking about it with friends, and seeing the reaction
from fans who still love the series but are concerned about where the franchise
is headed. Being so involved with Sailor Moon for the last year jogged many
memories from my childhood, plugged the holes in some others, and connected all
of those stray Sailor Synapses that got pushed aside when I started my other
habits, like JPop.
A little bit of insight, a lot of nostalgia, and some fond new memories of a
classic show—that's what I gained by remembering the part where Sailor
Moon comes back to life.
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