Last week I read an article on Anime News Network about Vice’s mini documentary on "Sailor Moon" and its impact on LGBT kids from the 90's. Being a die-hard fan of the series (as well as a 90's LGBT kid), I was automatically intrigued. The documentary is heartwarming; it brought back a lot of memories and made me feel as grateful as ever for the existence of "Sailor Moon," a 1990's magical girl shōjo manga series turned anime. It gained a large fan following, especially since it was adapted into languages other than Japanese. The series follows a young schoolgirl named Usagi Tsukino and her friends, the other senshi (soldiers), as they fight enemies and embrace their differences. It was a staple of my childhood.
I’m, sadly, one of those people who can’t help reading the comments on every video or article that I come across on the Internet. Luckily, the comments on this article didn’t leave me with a headache. Actually, one user made a comment about being underwhelmed by the documentary and wanting more of a feminist/LGBT study of shōjo. I agreed.
But, what is exactly is shōjo? And why is it so important? Shōjo is a genre of anime and manga that’s geared toward the teenage female audience. Though it sounds pretty awesome to have an entire genre geared toward young women, it can be pretty detrimental at times. Joana Fraga wrote a piece on Dere Project, where she says:
“Shoujo Manga represents a big conquer when it comes to female authorship and market space. However, it is still trapped in meaningless stereotypes of what a woman should be and how she should behave, as well as the romanticization of abusive behaviours. As women, we can not be deceived by false ideas of representation. To have such a big market dedicated to females should be more focused on bringing more female-centered self esteem (and not by validation of a male counterpart), instruction and most importantly: empowerment.”
This applies to a lot of shōjo manga/anime that was popular in the past, but there are definitely gems that challenge gender roles and stereotypes. Most of my favorite shōjo that’s done this successfully has been about magical girls (*cough* Sailor Moon *cough*). Magical girls have been a fantastic example of girls being pretty and strong, which is something that seems to be missing in a lot of earlier shōjo. The video that Hypeathon linked to in the comments of the ANN article, uploaded by YouTube user Subsonic Sparkle, goes over why the magical girl trope is so important, and highlights the impact that it’s made even in Western cartoons ("Steven Universe," "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic," etc).
Though the video is a bit hard to understand (the narrator speaks really, really quickly), the content is spot-on. Acceptance, femininity and friendship are among some of the things discussed. One of my favorite parts of the video, though only brushed over briefly, is the idea behind nakedness. A lot of criticism that comes along with the magical girl genre is the fact that the girls are sexualized; their bodies accentuated during the transformation sequences.
Subsonic Sparkle mentions the fact that nakedness doesn’t necessarily need to be sexual. In fact, it represents so much more than that: vulnerability, being stripped down, etc. I was so ecstatic to hear them say this. I especially appreciate the fact that the creator of the video isn’t actually a fan of "Sailor Moon," but still sees the value that the show had on kids in the 90s. Even though this video was uploaded in November of 2015, I’ve only just seen it and I’m in love. To sum it up: please watch it. Magical girls influenced much more than you might think.
