From: jinzo17@UCEBLOCKERvoicenet.com (Jinzo17) Newsgroups: alt.fan.sailor-moon Subject: The Sailor Moon Phenomenon (was: Why?) Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 05:36:59 GMT OK. First let me say that it's late, and I'm tired. But if I don't do this now it won't get done this weekend, I'll lose my train of thought, and this whole thing will never be explained. So please forgive me if I have spelling and/or grammatical errors. Second: to Cernovog: Lovely piece. It truely hits the mark. But you have the same trouble with Sailor Moon everyone does when trying to explain WHY they like it. You start analyzing it, and taking it apart piece by piece, and examine it to see what shines, and what doesn't. The problem is, it's dissection, and you only end up mutilating with a dissection. It couldn't be THAT complex. If it was, few people would bother to sit through Usagi's first major whine, and... well, let's just say: things would be different. Now, on to the theory: Back in 1992, Toei Animation released Sailor Moon, with a rather sizable amount of hype, in the hopes that it would be a successful program. It was designed as a show aimed at young girls, between roughly the ages of 6 - 12. For this reason, Toei did not expend exuberant amounts of money on the series. The hope was that it would become popular enough to help sell the billions of yen in merchandise Toei was giving (actually selling at high cost) the liscensing for. To this end it worked. In fact it worked SO well, that Toei actually becan spending more money on the show to improve it's look. And so the animation improved. Now, at this point something strange happened. Something that I call "The Sailor Moon Phenomenon". To sum it up, the Sailor Moon Phenomenon is simply this: that a series, originally intended only for young girls began to gather a rather sizable adult fan base. Include adult males. Now on the surface, this seems pointless to discuss. Other children's shows had gained such popularity, so why would this one be different. The reason was that the show was never really meant to gain such a large adult fan base. Yes, they through in "fan service" shots, but they were intended to gain VIEWERS. Not neccisarily obsessed fans. Yet that's exactly what happened. Leap ahead now to 1995. Coming off of it's strongest season yet (SM S), Sailor Moon is nabbed by DiC for NA release. DiC, a company dedicated to producing animated children's shows, (Let me repeat that: *animated* CHILDREN'S shows), signed the rigths because they saw the show as having the same potential here in North America. They had seen the success of Saban's imported "Power Rangers" and hoped to tap the market. As such, liscensing rights were sold for just about every product under the sun. And they all pretty much share one thing in common: they are for CHILDREN. And so, in August of 1995, Sailor Moon was officially released in NA in Canada. (later premering in the US.) The results in Canada were promising, though less than expected. But the results in the US wer beyond pitiful. The show was dying, and they hadn't even finished redubbing it yet! DiC scrambled to save the show (and later themselves). But ultimately it was out of their hands. US TV stations, seeing Sailor Moon as just more cartoon fluff, stuck it in time slots reserved for shows that have to be shown, but that no one in their right mind would get up so early to watch. And so the show languished. That's when the funny thing began. The Sailor Moon Phenomenon kicked in full force, and before they knew what hit them, DiC, would had NEVER seen anything like this before, was being bombarded with massive fan mail from ADULTS! And they weren't happy. Some complained about the editing, but most complained (later on) about the show's demise. DiC was feeling the heat, and they were pretty darn pissed about it. They never intended for this to happen, yet here they were in a vertiable hot bed of angry rabid fans who they never expected would exist. In fact, the fans even went so far as to organize them selves! Now, this kind of thing is hardly rare. It's happened before, to shows like: Star Trek, Babylon 5, Monty Python, The X-Files; just to name a few. But there's a difference. They were made for adults. And to a certain extent, they (at least some of them) intended to attract a fanatical adult fan base, to help support the show. If the show itslef couldn't make money, then the merchandise could. But Sailor Moon was NEVER intended to go that route. OK, I know what you're thinking: it happened in Japan, so DiC should have been prepared. But remember, the fan base that appeared in Japan WAS expected (just not expected to be that large), and in addition, it was hardly rare in Japan for this to occur. But not so in the US. True, shows like Star Blazers and Robotech had achieved cult followings. But they, too, were expected to. It was what could be called the Star Trek phenomenon: (the appeal of an intense sci-fi show to adult fans who become rabid fanatics.) Sailor Moon was a kiddy show, and never before had a "kiddy" show had a large adult fan base. Until now.... This bizarre occurance is what has prompted Disney to discuss the possibility of a live-action movie. Here's the deal: Disney has a vested intrest in DiC (obviously) and if Sailor Moon became popular DiC (and therefore Disney) would be able to make a lot of money. Most of this would come from selling merchandise. Because of the fact that the show has achieved a large following of devoted fans... specifically fans with, uhh.. monetary power (I forget the term I'm looking for).... Disney sees a lot of potential money that they could make, if the show got out to more people. Consider that the popularity of it has RISEN in the US over the past year (despite it NOT BEING ON THE AIR) and you begin to see what Disney is looking at: a LARGE money pot, waiting to be collected. But first, Disnet has to get the average Joe to learn about Sailor Moon. Well, what better way than a live-action movie. Unlike the suggestion of putting it on ABC, this one stands to lose much less money if it goes wrong. Plus, just putting the show on the air again won't neccisarily get the show noticed. But a movie, WOULD. So ultimately the reason for Disney to do a live-action Sailor Moon movie, is the Sailor Moon Phenomenon. OK, so you know all that already, right. But then we find ourselves left with one last question: WHY? Why did the Sailor Moon Phenomenon occur at all? Why are so many adults lining up to sign petitions, and buy dolls and books, for a show designed for kids? Ultimately it boils down to one simple thing. And this one thing is not only the reason the show has so many fans, it's also the reason it has so many enemies. And the reason? One word: USAGI. About now, half of you are going, "Yep, that's it." The rest are saying, "JInzo 17 is cracked ! He's lost it now ! What the hell is he talking about?" Cernovog mentioned it, breifly, but he stopped just before he got to the core of the matter. Why do we like the show? Why do other's hate it? Because we are capable of *BELIEVING* that a whiny, clumsey, 14 year old girl, (who would rather read comics and dream about cute guys then do anything else,) is not only CAPABLE of saving the world, but has done so a total of 9 times. This is the HEART of the show. This is why people hate it. Because they cannot believe that a clumsy crybaby can find the inner strength to fight against some of the most horrid forces unleashed on the world, and win. Now, you might think: well, I didn't see Usagi save the world before I go hooked, so explain that? Simple. Usagi's heart is pure. This fact is evident, even in the small failings of Usagi, and the more banal episodes. Most people don't watch one episode and get hooked. (unless it's something special. Some episodes grab your attention like no little girl's show can. But other shows have done that and not gotten the following Sailor Moon has.) Most people end up watching two or three, and for some almost inexplicable reason, they feel drawn to the show. Usagi is the glue that holds everything together. She is the heart and soul of the show. No where is this more evident than during the climax of the Sailor Moon R movie. Now, many of you may, like Cernovog, come up with a multitude of other "reasons", valid reasons to be sure, for why people are so fanatically about the show. But many of those OTHER things can be found in other shows. Shows which do not hold quite the attraction, at least for us, that this show does. No. Ultimately Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon can only claim one thing that no other show has: Usagi Tsukino, and her Silver Crystal Heart. -Jinzo 17 ------------------------------------------------------------------- [Lyric of the week :] "I climbed onto the roof and was looking down at Saturday. The patchwork roads keep on going just like a gameboard. Don't laugh. It just messes up the rythm in some part of my heart." [From: 'Suki Kirai', UY Movie 5 theme] ------------------------------------------------------------------- {SM Fandub Homepage: http://www.netcom.com/~jetwolf/slrmoon.html} VP of the S. J. A. S.: http://www.voicenet.com/~aegis