Manga Plot Review #1 ~ Act 1 "Usagi A.K.A Sailor Moon"

I will be away for a long weekend this week, so the next post for this blog will be on Tuesday.

This act is arguably one of the most important in the Sailor Moon saga. It has to introduce Usagi to the reader as well as immersing them in the Sailor Moon universe and hooking them onto the story. This is a challenge for an installment which only lasts 41 pages as often authors spend their entire books achieving these goals.

The Sailor Moon manga opens with Usagi, who is late for school as usual. On her way there she accidentally steps on a black cat with plasters on it's face. She peels them off, exposing a crescent shaped "bald-spot". The reference to the moon shape on Luna as a "bald-spot" continues throughout the acts of the first book, much to Luna's chagrin. Revealing the crescent moon, restores Luna's powers and, as we find out later, allows her to identify the clumsy Usagi as Sailor Moon.

Much of the earlier pages are spent establishing Usagi's character as a normal girl, with normal friends, who enjoys gossip and shopping. We are however alerted to the fact that Usagi is failing school when she recieves a grade of 30/100 on a test. Her protest of "But i hate English!" only serves to cement her in the readers mind as being perhaps slightly childish. This however is where the characters main development takes place over subsequent acts.

Usagi's friend Naru Osaka is the daughter of a jewellery store owner and it is here that we first meet an enemy from the Dark Kingdom. Naru's mother (who is tied up in the basement) has been replaced by a minion of Jaedite who is stealing energy and searching for the Silver crystal. Usagi, oblivious to this goes along to a sale but finds that she cannot afford anything and due to failing her test is unlikely to be able to convince her parents to purchase her a gift. Unwittingly, these facts save her.

Later, while taking a nap, Usagi is awoken by Luna who tells her that she is a warrior, here to protect a mystical princess and find a crystal. Usagi, understandably, believes it to be dream and attempts to go back to sleep but Luna gives her brooch which immediately perks up the fashion conscious 14 year old. After her first transformation, Usagi shows one of her most appealing traits; her ability to toss all of her doubts aside in order to save a friend. In the first and last use of her goggles, Sailor Moon sees her friend Naru being attacked by the creature that has taken the place of her mother.

Next thing we know, Usagi is at the jewellery shop to save her friend. She wins the fight in truly spectacular cry-baby style and saves the day leaving her friend to tell everyone about the new heroine on the scene, Sailor Moon!

Also important in this act, is that it is the kick-start for the love story between Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion. The first meeting between Usagi and Mamoru does not go particularly well. While sulking about her low test score and lamenting the fact that her parents will not buy her anything from the jewellery store sale, Usagi throws her scrunched-up test paper behind herself, accidentaly hitting Mamoru in the face. He tells her off, calling her "cow-tails". This annoys her and her first observation about him is that "he thinks he's so cool". After Sailor Moon's first battle however, she meets Tuxedo Kamen who was observing her from the shadows. Not realising that he and Mamoru are one and the same, Usagi is rather taken with the well dressed man and this begins a love affair that will last throughout the Sailor Moon story.

This act introduces the two absolute main characters in the manga plot line; Usagi and Mamoru, while drawing the reader into the story by maintaining a certain level of mystery alongside the dramatic irony of the duel characters, e.g. the fact that Mamoru is also Tuxedo Kamen. This encourages the reader to continue reading as we want to know if these two characters will ever know what we do about each other.

"Luna! I don't get any of this, but Naru's in trouble!" - Usagi Tsukino, Act 1. 

Location profile #2 ~ Crown Pachinko

The "Crown Game Parlor" is featured in both the anime and manga and it serves as a base of operations for the inner Senshi. In reality known as "Crown Pachinko", this game arcade stood in Tokyo, Azabu prefecture until it closed it doors in the late 90's - early 00's. This is the place where Usagi cements most of her friendships, bringing the new senshi here as a form of ice-breaker.

Crown Pachinko was not actually an arcade in the traditional sense portayed in the Sailor Moon series. Pachinko is a game that does not require alot of input from the player; it is a mixture between a slot machine and a pinball-type game. The player only controls the speed at which balls enter the game making it rather boring for somebody of Usagi's age group and vibrant attitude. However the facade of the shop is bright and attractive, so Naoko Takeuchi used it and transformed the building into the gaming arcade that would attract girls of Usagi's age.

It is however Minako which first penetrates the male orientated world of the gaming arcade, arriving with style in the Sailor V manga and immediately gaining high scores and displaying her lightening reflexes. This paves the way for Usagi and the others.

Very close to Crown Pachinko is a jewellery shop known as "Jewel A". This is the real-life parallel of the "Osa-P" jewellery shop owned by Naru Osaka's mother.

Young, free, single and gothic?

Hotaru has long been a subject of debate amongst Sailor Moon and Sailor Saturn fans. The question is: Is she a goth? I do not believe that she is but there are plenty who would disagree. So, here is the argument.

She dresses in black - Black is not purely the colour of gothica. Many people wear black. Also it may be that Hotaru is in mourning for her mother and thus dresses in dark colours.

She has a strange power - Goths have strange powers? If only i had known that growing up...Hotaru was born with the power to heal people simply by touching them. This does not make her a goth.

She is the Senshi of death - Actually the mythology of Pluto and Saturn are mixed up in the Sailor Moon saga. However, this does not alter the fact that Hotaru is the Senshi of death and destruction. This too however does not make her a goth as even Hotaru reminds us that with death and destruction come hope and life. Hope and life are not gothic ideals and Hotaru merely represents the passage of living.

Pale with black hair - Hotaru is Japanese. Most Japanese people have black hair. Also, due to her disability she spends alot of time in the house meaning that she is pale. Neither of these factors are purposeful.

She is depressed - Everyone who is depressed is not gothic in the same way that everyone who is gothic is not also depressed. Hotaru is a sad character, but let's examine why. Her mother is dead and she is very ill. Her father works all day and she is lonely. I think that these four things would be enough to make anyone depressed and depression with so much cause is not a gothic trait.

I feel that it was never Naoko Takeuchi's intention to write Hotaru as a goth although there are gothic aspects to her character and the story around her. Either way, Hotaru is a much loved character who draws the audience in by being so different to the personalities that surround her.

Character Profile #12 ~ Luna

Luna is one of two surivors from the original moon kingdom who retains at least some of their memory from the begginning of the story. It is her job to identify four of the Sailor Senshi and locate the moon princess and her crystal. It is with Luna's discovery of Sailor Moon that the Sailor Moon saga begins and at the start, Luna is the only source of information that the senshi have. With the arrival of Artemis this role is diluted slightly as he appears to remember more that she does, however Luna remains an integral advisor to the senshi and continues to be the main issuer of orders.

Luna's relationship with the senshi alters for each girl. For Usagi, she is almost a parental figure; attempting to encourage her to do the right thing and work hard. However there are lapses when she picks on Usagi, drawing pictures of her as fat and teasing her with names. This reveals Luna's young state of mind and ensures that she does not become like the much used "aged-master" stereotype common in Asian story telling and western interpretation.

Luna treats Ami almost as an equal. She confides in her and appears to trust her judgement which is understandable given Ami's intelligence and attitude to responsibility. To Rei she shows a certain amount of deference in the manga, possibly out of respect for Rei's highly attuned spiritual powers. In the anime however, Luna functions more as a referee for Rei's pitched battles with Usagi. Again, Luna treats Makoto almost as an equal, discussing tactics and plans with her and relying on her. This may be due to Makoto's strength, both physically and of will being an asset to the Sailor team.

Luna does not have as much interaction with Minako as she does with the other girls. This may be due to the fact that Minako has always had Artemis and so there is not much call for her to advise or guide this character. Luna's relationship with Artemis though is probably one of her more interesting ones.

Luna and Artemis are obviously destined to be romantically attached. This is assumed by the viewer as they are the only cat characters in the series that are suitable for one another. It is also reinforced with the appearance, from the future (Chibiusa style!) of their daughter Diana. However from the start of the anime and the manga, their relationship is slightly fraught. Luna bullies Artemis and Artemis attempts to impress her in the silliest of ways but perhaps more importantly, Luna falls in love with a young astronaut (pictured in doll form above). This story fills the entirety of volume 11 in the manga series and it is here that we first see Luna in her human form. But what does this love mean for Artemis?

Fortunately for Diana, not much. It is a fleeting romance born of fantasy and Luna knows that she could never be in a true relationship with a human being. Having accepted this, she embraces the love for what it is worth before returning to Artemis with a new appreciation for him. It is almost like having a crush on a celebrity; it's nice to watch a film and imagine yourself in place of their love interest, but in the end you should know that you are only in love with an image or an idea. It would never work.

Luna is an interesting character. She is a cat but she lives her life almost as a human. This could lead to a confusion within her personality but thanks to Naoko Takeuchi's expert writing she retains enough cat like behaviour to ensure that this is never the case. She is however, also a female cat and carries enough traits, such as worrying about her weight, to make her accessable and understandable to a female audience. This leads to a multi-layered character who is both interesting and fun to get to know throughout Sailor Moon.

"Well, I'm a girl too..." - Luna

Location profile #1 ~ Tōyo Eiwa Girls Academy

The Tokyo presented in Sailor Moon actually exists. The buildings and locations presented to the viewer, though renamed, are actual locations, painstakingly copied in order to give the Japanese audience the feeling that Sailor Moon may actually walk among them. In honour of Naoko Takeuchi's beautiful and tireless representation of the real Tokyo, scattered throughout this blog will be location profiles; posts on the cultural history and meaning of the places that the Senshi call home.

Rei Hino attends the T*A Private Girls Academy" which is based upon the well known Tōyo Eiwa girls school in Azabu- Jûban a short walking distance from the shrine upon which Rei's home is based in the manga. The school was established in 1884 and encompasses all grades from Kindergarten to grade school and is well considered in Japan as a training school for well-bred young women. Originally created by Canadian methodist missionaries the school began with just two students. However, as time went on more and more girls enrolled and the school expanded. Sadly, the main buidling of the school was demolished due to disrepair in 1993, however the logo of Rei's school matches the logo present on the main school building before this date.

In the manga and anime, Rei's school is presented as being Catholic rather than methodist, this aside though, why would a clearly Shinto shrine miko such as Rei be attending a Christian school? The Japanese education system of assessment relies very heavily upon which school you go to. If you can attend a well thought of school and get high grades, then this is seen as a higher achievment than attending a less well thought of school and recieving the same grades. This may partially explain why Rei is willing to attend a religios school which does not follow her faith.

Also, T*A Private Girls Academy is a well considered private school. Rei's father is a successful politician and it may be that he seeks to further his own career and reputation by sending his daughter to an exclusive and probably expensive school.

Rei however seems happy at her school. Dispite scenes of bullying from her school mates during her introductory episode (both in the manga and the anime), when we see Rei at school later on in the story she appears to have a group of worshipers and is fully engaged in school activities such as the culture festival.

 Tōyo Eiwa Girls Academy still teaches to this day although now in the new building pictured above which sadly looks less like Naoko Takeuchi's artwork of the school.