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The
creator of BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON speaks at the
1998 San Diego International Comics Convention
Photos
and text by Mark Vallen ©
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In
1998, fans of anime in the United States had a rare opportunity
to hear and met the talented Naoko Takeuchi. On a
late friday afternoon, a huge room at the San Diego Convention
Center became the gathering place for hundreds of Sailormoon
fans. They began lining up a full hour before the scheduled
event and everyone was excited and full of anticipation.
Many wore t-shirts emblazoned with their favorite Sailormoon
characters and others wore full costumes. The crowd was
a good mix of ages and races, and many fans clutched Sailormoon
books, cels, posters, and other goodies for Ms. Takeuchi
to autograph.
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Naoko-san
was brought out and received a thunderous standing ovation...
she was clearly moved all smiles. Ms. Takeuchi's insightful
answers to the many questions were revealing and often times
funny. North American fans who hadn't seen the full extent
of Naoko-san's work had many questions cleared up from the
artist herself and numerous troublesome rumors were also
put to rest. Some of the more illuminating moments of the
panel came from Naoko-san's answers to rather simple questions.
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When
asked "What inspired you to create Sailormoon?" Naoko-san
answered that in Japan, the sailor uniform was very much
the symbol of a young schoolgirl and that junior high was
a very challenging and emotional period for girls. She wanted
to create a character that would empower her readers, that
girls could easily relate to because of the uniform. She
also joked that older men also liked those uniforms, and
may explain
the diverse fanbase!
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When
a fan asked "What gender are the Star Lights?" the question
presented an instance where Naoko-san displayed annoyance
with the producers of the anime series. She put the matter
to rest by proclaiming that in the manga, the Three Lights
had "always been girls", but that the anime studio
made them into guys that transformed into girls! She admitted
that this studio alteration really bothered her but that
it was outside of her control.
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The
question "Are Uranus and Neptune really lovers, and if so
why did you make them gay?" came from a young female fan
who wanted a clear answer. The translator for the event
left Naoko-san in a lurch, not fully comprehending the homophobia
in the West that makes such a pairing unacceptable to some
(for those in the don't know, Uranus and Neptune are two
female characters who enjoy a close relationship). Naoko-san's
answer was that, "YES, they were a couple!"
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Naoko-san
obviously saw no problem in such a relationship, commenting
only that Neptune was "feminine" and Uranus "masculine"
and joked they had a relationship because "they had lot's
of time on their hands." In yet another question of gender,
Naoko-san also came clean by saying that Haruka (Uranus)
always has been and always will be a girl, dispelling long
held rumors of hermaphroditism or that Haruka "had been
a Prince in another lifetime." Perhaps one of the most
touching moments of the panel was when a little 10 year
old girl dressed as Sailor Mercury asked Naoko-san simply,
"Do you believe in astrology?" The crowd oohed and Naoko-san
was obviously moved, and replied that yes, she did,
and asked "Mercury" if she did as well.
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Naoko-san
was very curious about her North American fans, and during
the later half of her panel she asked a series of questions
of her audience. This interaction revealed that Naoko-san
is good friends with Yuu Watase (the artist responsible
for Fushigi Yuugi and Ayashi no Ceres), and
that they send each other drawings by fax all the time!
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Naoko-san
asked "Are there any girls here who want to be manga artists?"
The overwhelmingly enthusiastic response to this question
must have delighted Naoko-san to no end. Almost a third
of the audience raised it's hands to this question. Some
budding artists even raised up their own drawings in response!
Naoko-san
also asked "Do you have School Festivals? Is it popular
to come in costume like this?" Naoko-san commented that
at school festivals in Japan, some people come in anime
costumes... since she was aware we had no such festivals
in the U.S., she wondered where we would wear costumes.
The crowd shouted back; "Anime Conventions!"
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Naoko-san
asked "How do you know so much?" She was truly flabbergasted
that fans were so well versed in her series beyond
what they had been offered in the North American
dub. I'm sure that Naoko-san was impressed to learn
that her legions of fans were using the internet
to educate themselves. I
hope that what has been presented on this web page
will clarify some of Naoko-san's ideas and at last
put to rest some of the things we've heard about
the characters in Sailormoon... after all, what
more authoritative voice do you need other than
Naoko Takeuchi herself? You can send fan mail to
Naoko-san by writing to;
Ms.
Naoko Takeuchi
c/o Nakayoshi Henshuubu
Shishobako 91
Akasaka Yuubinkyoku, Tokyo
107-8652 Japan.
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