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Remembering Sailor Moon From My Childhood
MOON CRYSTAL POWER! MAKE-UP!
Everyone in the manga world knows that Naoko Takeuchi’s famous series, Sailor Moon, is making a triumphant return to the United States. Kodansha Comics will be releasing enhanced versions of the Sailor Moon manga and the prequel series CODENAME: SAILOR V this September.
This series actually brings a small tear to my eye, since I grew up with both Dragon Ball Z & Sailor Moon before they made it big in the States. Sailor Moon was first released in 1992 in Japan. Around the time, I was introduced to the first Sailor Moon series and also part of the Sailor Moon R series. A friend and his sister both were into anime since they rented Chinese-dubbed anime from Chinatown, so I frequently went to his place to watch. It’s funny because I got into DBZ while my younger sister was into Sailor Moon. We even made fanfiction stories in which both series collided.
When Sailor Moon finally made it to the States in 1997 on TV, I decided to give the English version a try one weekday morning. My first impression was “Wow, the voices sure sound funny!”. At the time, I was mostly used to watching Chinese-dubbed anime. Never would I have thought that Sailor Moon (and also DBZ) would engrave themselves into American pop culture.
Watching episodes of Sailor Moon also made me develop a crush on Makoto Kino, also known as Sailor Jupiter. Honestly, I don’t even know why I liked her in the first place. Was it because she was the first tomboy cartoon character I seen? Or maybe because she was a tall girl? Yeah, Rei Hino (Sailor Mars) was supposed to get the guys bothered. But, to me, it was Sailor Jupiter. She was the start of my love for “tough girls”, alongside Chun-Li of Street Fighter since SFII was insanely popular around the time Sailor Moon began airing in Japan. Seeing cute girls kick ass became quite the fascination for me.
Also, Tuxedo Mask. Oh man. A guy coming in like that to save the day. It was kind of badass to me. I didn’t care too much about the relationship between Mamoru Chiba & Usagi Tsukino, but I liked how he made his appearances to save the Sailor Senshi when they’re getting their butts kicked by monsters. That developed another fascination with roses. Roses are filled with thorns and you have to be cautious when dealing with such beauty.
Sailor Moon will definitely be on my to-watch manga list for this Fall. This was part of my early childhood and it is wonderful to see a new generation of female readers see the series that truly revolutionized the “magical girl” genre.
So, for the haters out there, under the name on the Moon, I WILL PUNISH YOU!
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Robot Relations (Karakuri Odette)
This week, I decided that I’m going to join the Manga Movable Feast by doing an entry on this month’s MMF book, Karakuri Odette, by Julietta Suzuki. It is an interesting series that takes a look at how androids & humans interact with one another. Karakuri Odette represents a world that could be our reality someday. Going forward, will we be able to treat androids (& robots in general) as more than just tools & toys?
(For more information on what the Manga Movable Feast is, you can read this great description of the monthly event by Katherine Dacey, the Manga Critic.)
Karakuri Odette is a science fiction/romantic comedy series about an android girl named Odette Yoshizawa. The story chronicles her life in high school. She is fascinated with human emotions and is programmed not to hurt anyone. Odette decides to go to school because of her experience watching a drama about high school girls. She gets her creator, Professor Hiraoki Yoshizawa, to enroll her into one to see the difference between herself & high school girls. The series goes into love, friendship, loneliness, & what it means to be human.
The first thing that came to my mind while reading about Odette’s adventures was Chi, from the manga series, Chobits. That was another series about a robotic female who liked a human male. There is another android character that Odette also reminds me of: Aigis from the video game, Persona 3 (her story is almost similar to Odette in terms of understanding to be human).
With society’s fascination with robots, making robots that appeal to people is really a grueling task. There are a lot of psychological factors to consider when making one. The issue of gender in robots is also a concern and can draw a lot of controversy. Female robots have often been portrayed as domestic servants or sex objects in fiction. It’s refreshing to see the character of Odette as a innocent android who wants to understand how people live. The Professor is very supportive of her ventures & her attempts to become more “human”. The student body doesn’t know that she is a robot, but they have warmed up to her. Although a couple of students know Odette’s identity (Asao Kurose & Shirayuki Ringozaka), they have kept it to themselves.
Regarding the two characters mentioned, Asao & Ringozaka help to make sure that Odette doesn’t get into trouble. What gets us attached to things that seem human? According to an article at Psychology Today, the oxytocin hormone plays a huge role in how we develop bonds. Human beings enjoy being around strangers & communicating with them. The hormone makes us feel good whenever we find joy in being around and/or talking to certain people. Oxytocin can also cause people to develop a habit of bonding with objects with human-like qualities and giving life to them (e.g. naming cars, pets, etc.). It doesn’t differentiate what’s exactly human and what isn’t.
Karakuri Odette shows much how much humans want to bond, whether it’s with a person, place, or thing. It’s part of human nature. Both Asao & Ringozaka represent normal people being motivated by an inner need for an attachment with someone/something (Odette) that plays an important role in their lives & makes them feel comfortable.
The most important thing is comfortability. Unfortunately, most people tend to have a very depressing view on androids in regards to them being creepy and possibly being smart enough to destroy the world. (Though in Japan, things are very different since some Japanese don’t seem to enjoy talking to strangers and prefer speaking with an android) Media stereotypes do not tell the whole story. There is also the “uncanny valley theory”, which states the more realistic a robot looks & behaves, the more likely people will find the robot to be disturbing. It is possible to treat androids as people, since we do have a tendency to form attachments over many things. However, we cannot expect so much from android creators since AI development is very tricky & can get extremely complicated.
So is Odette the “perfect” android for society because of her good & non-judgmental nature? What really defines a “perfect” android? Finally, I want to ask all the MMF folks who have written about the manga: how would you interact with Odette if she existed & was a close friend of yours?
With many advancements in robotics, many issues could be raised regarding possible relations with androids. Before anyone freaks out, remember two things: ask questions first, then judge later. That is probably the one lesson that is stressed throughout Karakuri Odette & one that should be taken to heart.
Karakuri Odette was originally published by Hakusensha in “Hana to Yume” Magazine in Japan. The series is collected into 6 volumes. The English version is currently published by Tokyopop in North America.
