MOONIES, REUNITE!

[azurite]

This is mainly directed to smrffers, but any other SM fan is welcome to answer... and heck knows there's a wide network of people on here from SMRFF that aren't on/don't know about the LJ group, or haven't/don't want to friend other/former SMRFFers here on LJ. Nonetheless, if you know them, pass it on; I'd love to hear opinions from all across the board:

It is interesting to compare Mamoru's portrayal in the manga, where he is very affectionate and romantic, and clearly cares for Usagi a great deal.  It seems to have been a conscious change to make him less so for the anime, but I do wonder why it was done. --Chris Kern, AFSM 7/5/06

I actually kind of agree with Chris' assessment. Mamoru's a downright jerk in the anime, and I've always thought so, but if I had to pick a canon to work with for the rest of my ficcing career (however long that is), I'd always pick the anime. Mamoru is more FUN in the anime I think, because he's not some two-dimensional perfect prince who can always snap out of it at the last minute, always save the day, always summon some magical strength, etc. etc. Even though I cursed colorful words at him (or should I say, "Darien") when I watched the dub of Episode 61 (Usagi is shocked! Mamoru wants to break up!/The Cosmetic Caper) on YouTube yesterday, the very concept of him breaking up with her BECAUSE OF DESTINY (the very thing which brought them together in the first place) just opens up a world of possibility, and speaks volumes about his character.

But it's well known that they don't exactly plan everything out to a tee when it comes to the anime, which explains a multitude of inexplicable facts, things that don't pan out with the manga canon, etc. Understandably, it's due (at least in part) to the manga being slower to release, hence the filler arcs. SuperS bombed ratings-wise, so Toei was taking a big chance with Stars, doing their best to keep it in line with the manga, but still be original and surprising. So when it comes to changing Mamoru's personality so utterly, is it a good thing, or a bad thing?

Are there factions for his "counterparts," as in "I hate anime!Mamoru, but manga!Mamoru is teh hawt!" or "PGSM!Mamoru is teh hawt!"? Which Mamoru is your favorite version, and why? Do you think his different characterizations/traits/personality alter the way he deals with Usagi, and how the series pans out?

For the record, I went home sick today, slept from 10:30am to about 2pm, woke up to see my newly-installed REMOTE-CONTROLLED ceiling fan, and then went grocery shopping. Now, I have to rough-sketch the painting I want to make for my mom, because I've been procrastinating on that, just like on everything else. :P

Comments

[a-white-rain.livejournal.com]

anime!Mamoru all the way. He's so flat and boring in the manga, but he's so wonderfully flawed in the anime. He make lots of mistakes, but I love him, and loved Usagi/Mamoru more because he felt more human.

And one thing I loved about Usagi from day one was how human she was. I wanted her to fall with a character who was just as flawed.

[azurite]

It's like how I tell people "Isn't what is worth dying for is worth living for?" when it comes to my like of anime characters-- my reasons for loving them so dearly are the same reasons why some people HATE Usagi (or Miaka, or Kagome, etc).

Usagi's not just a klutz, she's naive. She's not really intelligent, very spiritual, or particularly connected with her family. She believes in everyone and everything, and you couldn't make her cynical EVEN IF you killed off everyone she cared about (and it has been done). So she's far from perfect, and that's why I love her-- and it's also her downfall, and why she's so easy to take advantage of. She's probably pretty corruptable, too, but no one ever bothered to explore that. :P I'm seriously tinkering with the idea of an evil!Sailormoon fic taking place either in Classic or SMR2. :>

I think Usagi's endearing in the manga, but much more mature (especially for her age). The anime and PGSM both make her seem more "human," and the same applies to Mamoru. Mamoru in the manga is younger, more romantic, and certainly more caring... and the only way he gets corrupted is through death (he never actually sided with Beryl or Galaxia; he was essentially soulless when those happened). So... >_> I can't work with him as much.

[a-white-rain.livejournal.com]

One thing about Sailor Moon is – SO MANY CANONS TO WORK WITH. GLEE HERE. – I just love that. I don’t see why you can’t just play with all of them, it gives you more options.

One moment that sticks out with me in anime!canon is when Usagi was fighting with Haruka and Michiru, and losing, but she kept fighting, and in the end, she won. What I love most about her, is that she doesn’t give up when it matters. She eats to much junk food and doesn’t try as hard as she should at school, but her sprit and how deeply she loves is why I love her.

[azurite]

I feel like a total dork, but the speech she gave in the SMS movie, when she was telling Snow Queen Kaguya about the value of life -THAT really got to me. I think I may have cried the first time I heard it, because even if it's "just" anime, or it's "just Sailormoon" (not theological or mindbending, like Evangelion, whine whine whine), it's true. Usagi's MESSAGES really got to me. I guess I just like those kind of "pure" heroes, even if they go about what they do a little bit goofily.

[a-white-rain.livejournal.com]

Yeah.

I mean, I sometimes like the anti-hero best (Sasuke from Naruto or Ishida and Rukia from Bleach) but still, characters like Usagi and Yuugi still have touchmed me too.

[dqbunny.livejournal.com]

Hehehe, if you think Sailormoon has wonky canons to work with, try being an author in the Slayers fandom. There are four distinct canons:

- Novels (the original canon)
- Anime (came second)
- Manga (came third)
- Video games

All serve to make your brain explode. I usually meld the novel and anime canons for my stories.

[azurite]

Heh, that's part of the reason why I tend to do "fusionfic" with many of my fics, drawing the best elements from both universes. In Sailormoon, I actually tinkered with the idea of a manga!Usagi meeting up with an anime!dub!Serena during the R arc, just to highlight the differences. Usagi wouldn't be able to handle "Darien" being so cruel to her, but because she's more mature, she would kick more ass. In contrast, Serena would get more comfortable in the manga universe, where she's very involved with Mamoru, but where the danger is greater and the sadness is more poignant.

Ah, I never did finish writing that...

[ely-chan.livejournal.com]

don't forget about the 6 episode arc in the very beginning of Stars where Mamoru gets taken by Nehelenia into the mirrors. It's because of this that Usagi gets her Eternal power-up (can't remember if it becomes permanent here or not). It's so rarely explored.

[janimelee.livejournal.com]

Possibilities? Oh Seiya!

[azurite]

DAMN. STRAIGHT. BABY.
I have a Seiya x Usagi fic (well, Mamoru still loves Usagi, but he can't say it; Seiya has the opportunity to act, and Usagi loves them both) somewhat in the works, but I might as well stick my head in a crocodile's mouth for all I have going on. Still, it'd be nice to finish some of my SxU fics one day.

[dark-branwen.livejournal.com]

*pokes head in*

I actually disagree with the statement "Mamoru is a jerk" in regards to the anime. To me, a jerk is someone who intentionally wants to hurt people and purposefully acts like a complete asshole. Mamoru doesn't tease Usagi, break up with Usagi, or do anything else to Usagi intentionally. He never actually wants to hurt her (when he isn’t possessed). Mamoru does all of those things because, to put it bluntly, he's an emotional idiot.

And you can hardly blame him. The man has had essentially no attachments that teach him anything about being affectionate. He lost his parents at an early age and has no memory of them. So he hasn't had a mother figure or a sister or anyone else to teach him how to behave towards women. And he's clearly led a very lonely life. The only friend we see for most of the series is Motoki, and while I think Motoki is a very sweet guy, by the time he and Mamoru actually meet in college, Mamoru's character has basically already been formed. We also get a glimpse of Kobayashi and Saori, but they seem more like one step above being acquaintances. And besides, that was SuperS, and anything that happens in that series needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

But my point is that Mamoru knows next to nothing about human interaction. And then Usagi comes along, and it’s infinitely clear from the beginning that Mamoru is attracted to her. He likes her, so he does the knee-jerk reaction that all little boys go to when they have their first crush. He teases her. Only his jibes aren’t that gentle, and given their ages, it’s rather inappropriate. The problem is that no one has taught Mamoru how else to handle such a thing.

That’s why I think a lot of people object to his position of being the romantic lead. Because while Tuxedo Kamen might be the stereotypical knight-in-shining-armor swooping in to save the day, there’s really nothing romantic about him. He tries very hard, but he always falls short because like I said before, Mamoru doesn’t act based on emotion. He doesn’t know how to.

Anyway, I like all Mamorus in all of his various incarnations, so I can’t pick one. ^_^; I just wanted to add my two cents about that issue.

[azurite]

*laughs* Okay, emotional idiot, I can agree with that one. We have different definitions of "jerk," but your "emotional idiot" is my "jerk," so at least there's some semblance of agreement there.

Now that I think about it, this makes PGSM Mamoru a downright paradox, because he was raised by Hina's family, right? Even with amnesia and some "greater destiny" pulling him to find the princess/the Ginzuishou, he still had a better childhood than anime!Mamoru or manga!Mamoru did. manga!Mamoru, at least, seemed to act his age, regardless of his past. I think he did pretty well for himself, all things considered. But anime!Mamoru has to fall back on the excuses you made for him. Rightfully so, but nonetheless, he's different from his other two versions.