RANT #1 - WE ARE THE SAILOR SENSHI!
I love Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon. It was the first anime I ever "got into" and I've been obsessed for over two years now. Of course, that's nothing compared to some fans, but still, it's been long enough for me to become, well, "protective" of my fandom. I am in high school. So, last year when I had BSSM pictures on my binders, I was considered "insane". Mixed with Japanese song lyrics to "Eien no Melody" and "Moonlight Densetsu," I had to be crazy! Right? Well, according to some people, yes.
It's funny. As Dic's dub of Sailor Moon is moving quickly back into the "mainstream," thanks to other anime shows like Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z that have caused interest in the US to spark up again, more and more fans are emerging. This is a great thing! Maybe more American toys will be produced and anime stores will import more BSSM goods! However, it does have its downsides. For instance, new fans who suddenly transformed into the Sailor Scouts.
At my school, there are two groups that I am aware of who have named each of their friends one of the Sailor Scouts. (I say "scouts" because they're really only seen and know about the Dub.) Now, I'm all for this "pick an identity" gig. I'm a huge fan of the Vampire Chronicles and I used to do the same thing with the VC when I was 12. My pal Danny and I joke about being the cast of The Slayers. It's a natural thing to do when you identify with something. But now it's getting annoying.
Group #1 consists of Freshmen. None of them really fit their chosen character of course, not even if you go by the dub, but that's fine. That's up to the them. Group #2 is even worse, because they have the Internet. All they've seen is the Dub, but they have access to the same profiles I'm sure every BSSM fan has seen (the usual stats including favorites, hobbies, blood-type, etc.). Even though the personalities they know and talk about reflect the Dub, because they've read those profiles, they use the original Japanese names for each character. Both groups are constantly mixing up information from the Dub and the original, and try to correct me and my other BSSM-obsessed friend with incorrect info they learned from god-only knows where. Also, their methods of chosing a character are ridiculous. ("I'm strong and I cook! I'm Jupiter!" or "I have one thing in common, so that must make me Venus!")
Members of group #2, ironically, made fun of me last year for my obsession.
The biggest problem is that Danny and I have learned to respect these characters very much. Having someone who's nothing like the Mako-chan we all know being called "Makoto-chan" every day is a little bit frustrating. And having some girl whine to prove she's just like Serena is irritating too. Also, there's no end to the random "facts" they know, especially Group #1. I've heard it all: Lita's song is *not* called "RainY Day Man," but "Rain Man," Amy has a braided pony tail in the Sailor Stars series, and oh yeah, Neptune and Uranus are *not* lesbians.
The worst of the worst of it is the fact that suddenly, we're not good enough to be fans of BSSM. Let me explain. Danny and I are part of what might be considered the "Gothic culture". Danny's theory is that we're too "depressing and weird" to like anime in their eyes. Maybe that's it. Danny collects BSSM keychains. One day he was messing with them, and members of Group #2 gave him dirty looks--how dare he own those?! They lie about having seen BSSM movies they haven't seen, they cover their notebooks with SM pics, etc. One day I put a manga picture of the Black Lady into my anime binder--where I keep my bad artwork--and one of the Group #2 patrons said, "Look, you're copying me!" LMAO. Sure, I never did that before I met *you*.
Anyhow, it's kind of a petty thing to get upset about. It's just annoying to watch characters you admire be diminished and destroyed because people have suddenly decided they were that character. I brought my copy of the Sailor Moon R movie to one of the houses of a girl from Group #2 (who, btw, are my friends some of the time). As we watched, every time Makoto/Jupiter came on, one of the girls cried "That's Me!" and she named each senshi in the intro according to their SM group. It was more than distracting and weird.
If you're going to have the idea as a joke, that's cool. Even if you want to live every moment as one of the scouts/senshi, that's fine too. But remember, there are fans out there who don't play that game and who would appreciate it if you came back to reality once and a while. You *are NOT* one of the Sailor Senshi/Scouts. If you relate to one of them, good. You're suppose to relate to at least one, if not more than that. Still, they have very distinct and wonderful personalities! Appreciate that, please, and respect the fandom of others.
I'll try to respect the fandom of the new Scout groups. Really. Just respect the fact that I'm a fan too.
