It’s midterms at school, so I have been lax in my duties as a 90s blogger. Sorry! But today’s theme will make up for it: Sailor Moon.
For those of you that don’t know, Sailor Moon was a Japanese comic and TV series that ran from 1992-1997. The basic premise was that a teenage girl and her friends gained magical powers in order to fight the forces of evil. It had 200 episodes over 5 seasons that aired in Japan, and the series ran dubbed in the United States. It had some “mature” content, so it was heavily edited for the target audience here in the United States.
This series had something for everyone, and that’s why it was so wildly popular. The art was beautiful, it had strong themes of friendship and strength in the face of adversity, and cute girls. It was also ahead of its time because it was generally considered to be a children’s show, but it depicted normalized gay and lesbian relationships (which unfortunately were edited out for conservative American audiences).
Like most things from the 90s, this show has seen a huge resurgence in popularity. The original merchandise put out nearly 20 years ago is selling for hundreds of dollars, which makes me really wish I had kept the original Sailor Moon merch I used have so I could pay my bills. The original comics have slowly been re-released over the last few years, and they are so popular that each volume that gets re-released sells out right away. The most exciting news of all is that the cartoon series is getting revamped and aired in the summer of 2013! I’m 23 years old but I’ll be damned if I won’t be catching that as it airs every week in Japan.
To finish off my post, I’d like to point out that while this show is totally awesome and its general messages of love and acceptance are still very valuable, it is extremely dated, and therefore the outfits from the show (paired with the sometimes unrealistic proportions of the characters) are hilariously awful. Hopefully the new series will bring Usagi/Serena and her pals up to date fashion-wise, but here are a few examples of bad Sailor Moon fashion:
Rei/Sailor Mars in these gorgeous pink overalls…Really, girl?
This isn’t THAT bad but still kind of weirdly proportioned and super 90s. Love it.
Mamoru/Darien, Sailor Moon’s boyfriend, in one of his many sexy looks
He wears this one a lot and those shoulder pads and the purple pants are all wrong. I don’t know any 18 year old guy that dresses like this but whatever…
This is the whole gang, looking like they walked right out of a Hannah Anderson catalogue
And as an honorable mention…This is Sailor Moon’s final form, and the colors and accessories are just awful. Most of the costumes are over the top but come on. Way too much going on girl!
So there you have it. If you like the show, definitely keep an eye out for news about the revamp coming this summer.
N0stal9ia 