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30 Day Sailor Moon meme...Day 29
Second to last day, folks. Hard to believe it's already been a month! These posts have been bought to you by the letters S and F...for Sailor Failures.
I know there are Starlights fans out there, but I honestly think to like them over the MAIN heroines of the show is a little like blasphemy. I mean, ALL TEN of the original Senshi, and you like the Starlights MORE? What the heck? (Missing the point much?)
This is sort of my stance on a lot of "You like WHO?" arguments. Unless the hero or heroine (or rather, "protagonist") is really a douchebag, I don't know why you would like the side characters or rarely-appearing characters or even the villains more. Good leading characters often have some pretty obvious flaws--in shoujo anime like Sailor Moon, naivete is often high among them--but they somehow balance it out with "a good heart" and undying loyalty. These are probably traits that, in the era of shoujo anime that I call my favorite, were considered good traits for kids, especially young girls, to grow up emulating, and why not? There's nothing wrong with believing in others, being optimistic, and wanting to improve the world in your own way.
That said, maybe I'm just a product of that generation and that "brainwashing..."
I don't know, I've never empathized all that much with anti-hero characters unless they were actually given some pretty decent backstory. For example, Yui from Fushigi Yuugi, or the Outer System Soldiers in the Sailor Moon S anime. It's hard to empathize with them when they first start showing up against the heroine, because they are so stubborn and close-minded, and yet they're blaming the heroine for being foolish and blind? Uh, pot, kettle?
On the subject of the Outer System Soldiers, they're much more empathetic when you first learn more about them in the manga. They don't try and fight Sailor Moon; they drop down on their knees and bow to her as the princess she is! They still have very different ways of handling things than the Inner Senshi do, but at least you know why! And they're cool characters later on down the line, regardless of the form of canon, because you know WHY they do what they do. They didn't continually refuse to believe in Sailor Moon; they eventually came around when they realized "Hey, this girl who's so hopelessly optimistic and seems to love everyone? SHE'S ACTUALLY SAVED THE WORLD A FEW TIMES BY NOW MAYBE WE SHOULD BELIEVE HER!" They leave the fate of the world in her hands because they know she can handle it. It just took a lot of convincing (in the anime).
With more time to learn about the Solar System Soldiers that protect "our" planet and live lives somewhat close to our own, how could I choose the Starlights over that? Fact is, the Starlights were dropped in in the very last season, to defeat this big, all-powerful enemy who just happened to be a batshit insane Sailor Senshi herself. We know next to nothing about them, where they came from, why they do what they do...they're almost like the Outer System Soldiers redux, only in pleather or something.
Sailor Moon has weak seasons/arcs, and I do count Sailor Stars among the weaker ones, if just because going from "solar system, with Earth-bound threats" to "GALACTIC WAR!!!" was a pretty big shift. Suddenly we have Senshi coming from BEYOND OUR GALAXY when we've never even met other Senshi from beyond the solar system, but due to the nature of the hey-we-didn't-even-know-it-was-happening-till-it-was-on-our-doorstep Sailor Wars, we know they exist. Only we don't do anything about it after that knowledge. That...does not compute.
Aside from the weirdness that was Master Pharaoh 90, all of the enemies till that point originated from OUR solar system, albeit different dimensions of the same. The Dark Kingdom was spawned by Earthlings during the Silver Millennium; the Black Moon clan in the 30th century. Even Nehellenia was from the original Moon Kingdom, although her specific origins depend on which form of canon you're talking about. Even all of the Death Busters have roots on Earth; they just got their power from Master Pharaoh 90/the Messiah of Silence (Mistress 9/Sailor Saturn) in his/its weird Tau Galaxy Nebula thingy.
Clearly, "when the Sailor Senshi get too involved with outer space, weird shit goes down!" Isn't it bad enough that all these villains seem to constantly be attacking Tokyo?!
I think if we ever learned more about the Starlights, I might find them more interesting, but they simply didn't have the time to develop. Even the Outers, who didn't appear until the third of five arcs, had more development than the Starlights. I guess I'm not the type to get starry-eyed (heh, I made a pun!) over the unknown?
I know there are Starlights fans out there, but I honestly think to like them over the MAIN heroines of the show is a little like blasphemy. I mean, ALL TEN of the original Senshi, and you like the Starlights MORE? What the heck? (Missing the point much?)
This is sort of my stance on a lot of "You like WHO?" arguments. Unless the hero or heroine (or rather, "protagonist") is really a douchebag, I don't know why you would like the side characters or rarely-appearing characters or even the villains more. Good leading characters often have some pretty obvious flaws--in shoujo anime like Sailor Moon, naivete is often high among them--but they somehow balance it out with "a good heart" and undying loyalty. These are probably traits that, in the era of shoujo anime that I call my favorite, were considered good traits for kids, especially young girls, to grow up emulating, and why not? There's nothing wrong with believing in others, being optimistic, and wanting to improve the world in your own way.
That said, maybe I'm just a product of that generation and that "brainwashing..."
I don't know, I've never empathized all that much with anti-hero characters unless they were actually given some pretty decent backstory. For example, Yui from Fushigi Yuugi, or the Outer System Soldiers in the Sailor Moon S anime. It's hard to empathize with them when they first start showing up against the heroine, because they are so stubborn and close-minded, and yet they're blaming the heroine for being foolish and blind? Uh, pot, kettle?
On the subject of the Outer System Soldiers, they're much more empathetic when you first learn more about them in the manga. They don't try and fight Sailor Moon; they drop down on their knees and bow to her as the princess she is! They still have very different ways of handling things than the Inner Senshi do, but at least you know why! And they're cool characters later on down the line, regardless of the form of canon, because you know WHY they do what they do. They didn't continually refuse to believe in Sailor Moon; they eventually came around when they realized "Hey, this girl who's so hopelessly optimistic and seems to love everyone? SHE'S ACTUALLY SAVED THE WORLD A FEW TIMES BY NOW MAYBE WE SHOULD BELIEVE HER!" They leave the fate of the world in her hands because they know she can handle it. It just took a lot of convincing (in the anime).
With more time to learn about the Solar System Soldiers that protect "our" planet and live lives somewhat close to our own, how could I choose the Starlights over that? Fact is, the Starlights were dropped in in the very last season, to defeat this big, all-powerful enemy who just happened to be a batshit insane Sailor Senshi herself. We know next to nothing about them, where they came from, why they do what they do...they're almost like the Outer System Soldiers redux, only in pleather or something.
Sailor Moon has weak seasons/arcs, and I do count Sailor Stars among the weaker ones, if just because going from "solar system, with Earth-bound threats" to "GALACTIC WAR!!!" was a pretty big shift. Suddenly we have Senshi coming from BEYOND OUR GALAXY when we've never even met other Senshi from beyond the solar system, but due to the nature of the hey-we-didn't-even-know-it-was-happening-till-it-was-on-our-doorstep Sailor Wars, we know they exist. Only we don't do anything about it after that knowledge. That...does not compute.
Aside from the weirdness that was Master Pharaoh 90, all of the enemies till that point originated from OUR solar system, albeit different dimensions of the same. The Dark Kingdom was spawned by Earthlings during the Silver Millennium; the Black Moon clan in the 30th century. Even Nehellenia was from the original Moon Kingdom, although her specific origins depend on which form of canon you're talking about. Even all of the Death Busters have roots on Earth; they just got their power from Master Pharaoh 90/the Messiah of Silence (Mistress 9/Sailor Saturn) in his/its weird Tau Galaxy Nebula thingy.
Clearly, "when the Sailor Senshi get too involved with outer space, weird shit goes down!" Isn't it bad enough that all these villains seem to constantly be attacking Tokyo?!
I think if we ever learned more about the Starlights, I might find them more interesting, but they simply didn't have the time to develop. Even the Outers, who didn't appear until the third of five arcs, had more development than the Starlights. I guess I'm not the type to get starry-eyed (heh, I made a pun!) over the unknown?