I grew up watching Sailor Moon, I still remember the very first time I saw the 5 inner senshi , it was in a "VUE" TV Guide and before I even saw the show I made up my mind that Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus were my favorites.
This series used to air at like 6 am here in the US and I tried to wake up every morning to watch it , if I didn't it was all good because my brother recorded it so I would be able to watch it afterschool. ( Oh and BTW this was around 95-96 long before the series started airing on Toonami )
The year is now 2012 and I am still very fond of the series, Naoko Takeuchi is a goddess and I am so thankful for this wonderful creation she has shared with the world. I am also blessed that I was able to experience Sailor Moon in all of it's glory back in the mid 90s , it was a huge part of the girl power movement in North America.
Sailor Moon had her own merchandise, 3 original english soundtracks, and she was even preaching that afterschool special talk at the end of each episode.
Sailor Moon's popularity inspired a couple of series that were similar
The Sky Dancers
Okay this was actually a popular toy line before it was an animated series. I believe the series was released in 1996 about a year after Sailor Moon arrived and as a fan of both series it is pretty obvious that Sky Dancers drew inspiration from Sailor Moon with the outfits and transformations. I am aware that Sailor Moon did not start this trend ( that is actually the reason I am writing this whole damn thing but I will get to that later ) but at that time the girl power movement was going strong partially because of series like Sailor Moon and Sabrina The Teenage Witch and I guess the manufactures wanted a piece of it.
Princess Starla aka Princess Gwenevere and The Jewel Riders
Another fantastic series that aired shortly after Sailor Moon's arrival.
Princess Tenko and The Guardians of Magic
This was a cross between live action and animation. I also think this series actually started right around the same time as Sailor Moon, infact it is originally what Saban had in mind for Sailor Moon in the very beginning ( thank god it never happened and we got the flawless anime ). Even though they started at the same time I still felt like I needed to include it.
The PowerPuff Girls
I am pretty sure the short for this debuted before Sailor Moon came to the states and I can easily say it was just as popular. Japan took notice of PPG and gave them their own anime.
It was a great time to be a girl in the 90s, there were so many shows catering to little boys, don't get me wrong I love me some Power Rangers and X-men but all of the series I mentioned above kept a smile on my face because I could truly identify with them.
Now while I have been praising Sailor Moon's light since the first time I saw the girls , I have to keep it real and say that Sailor Moon did not create the "Magical Girl" genre.
The reason I am bringing this up is because I am also a fan of an Italian series called "The Winx Club"
This series has been labeled as a "Sailor Moon knock off" many times because they are .... well magical girls who.. yah know transform , wear colorful outfits and have special attacks. I watched this series every morning with my niece and yes the character design is heavily influenced by japanese animation and Iginio Straffi made it clear that he looked to Sailor Moon for inspiration and I don't see why that is such a bad thing, if anything it represents how important Sailor Moon really is as far as animation is concerned and it backs up Sailor Moon's popularity in Europe . So as a fan of the series I was able to see the similarities and I was also able to see what set it apart from Sailor Moon. I think The Winx is a little more like Harry Potter meets Sailor Moon, Disney, and a little of The Craft. To be honest there was one thing I liked better about The Winx Club and it was the fact that all of the girls got a shot at true love whereas in Sailor Moon it was only really Usagi/Sailor Moon who was able to experience true love. People who claim that Iginio ripped off Naoko Takeuchi have no idea what they are talking about because they never watched the series, there is a difference between inspiration and stealing and Iginio did not steal anything :/ I doubt he is that stupid.
The Winx Club is not the only show that gets the heat ( although I do think they get it worse because it's a non japanese magical girl series )
Tokyo Mew Mew and Magical DoReMi have also been labeled as Sailor Moon copycats. I don't really understand why so I am going to pray that the people making these claims are just judging books by their covers because there is no way you can watch either series and claim they are jacking Sailor Moon...there is just no way. The Mew Mew origins and strengths differ from The Sailor Senshi and DoReMi revolves around witch craft :/
People constantly complain about "Sailor Moon knock offs" and it is so annoying I mean come on son does this ring a bell?
Cutey Honey is a well known title from the 70s and while it was makes the original version of Sailor Moon look like something along the lines of Dora The Explorer , there is no way in hell you can deny the similarities between this series and Sailor Moon. " Make Up! " is pretty much the modern " Honey Flash " lets be real. Cutey Honey is one of the OG magical chicks.
What is a magical girl?
Magical girls (魔法少女 mahō shōjo, also known as mahou shoujo or majokko) traditionally belong to a sub-genre of Japanese fantasy anime and manga, but it has gained traction in non-Japanese formats, such as animated television series, graphic novels and webcomics. Magical girl stories feature young girl heroes with superhuman abilities, forced to fight evil and to protect the Earth. They often possess a secret identity,[1] although the name can just refer to young girls who follow a plotline involving magic and a transformation (such as Full Moon o Sagashite and Sailor Moon). Ojamajo Doremi features magical girls as protagonists, but its plot differs from the standard as the girls use magic for friendship, behavior and achieving goals, rather than for attacking antagonists. The Japanese language identifies magical girls as majokko (魔女っ子, literally "witch girl"), though this term does not generally apply to modern magical-girl anime. Sally, the Witch (1966) counts as the first magical girl anime.
Source
Himitsu no Akko-chan ( 1962)
She is more OG than Cutey Honey considering she is the first magical girl as far as Japan is concerned.
Sally the Witch ( 1966 )
Another one taking it back
Speaking of older characters , since people want to throw shade at shows like The Winx Club and W.I.T.CH. for being non Japanese magic series I want to show you all something.
( W.I.T.C.H. is another Italian series and it is awesome )
I mentioned Cutey Honey was one of the OG magical girls , I would like to introduce you to some more and just to let you all know, whether you like it or not this genre has never been limited to Japan.
Sabrina Spellman (1962)
First appeared in Archie's Madhouse #22 in October 1962.
She may not transform but she counts because she is a good witch.
Wanda Maximoff (1964)
Another good witch
Rainbow Brite (1985)
Adorable little kiddies ain't they?
Jem and The Holograms (1985)
Jerrica Benton would use her earrings ( Sailor Moon's disguise pen anyone? ) to call upon Synergy to help her transform into Jem. Similar to "Full Moon" but Jerrica is not bad shape like Mitsuki.
She - Ra (1985)
He-Man's little fierce sister and her fierce gang getting shit done in fly ass outfits.
Kinda like those other fierce ladies
( the color schemes are almost similar OMG I AM HAVING A HAPPY FANGIRL MOMENT XD )
So .... yeah, please pardon my late night rants but this is something that has been on my mind for awhile, please excuse all of my typos and crap like that. One day I will edit this without all of the swearing and internet slang.
Anyways I just don't understand why people have to complain about things and why people think it's so wrong to like more than one series. I love Sailor Moon more than a huge portion of the series I just mentioned but that doesn't mean I have to limit myself and trash other series. Why can't there be more than one good magical girl series? I people need to calm the fuck down and atleast gather proper information about certain series before trying to talk crap.
It's almost 4:30 est , I need sleep
Magical Girls are awesome <3
No comments:
Post a Comment