By: Zoisite84
When Naoko Takeuchi created her manga starring
Sailor-suited warriors of love and justice, she
couldn't hardly have anticipated the coinciding
distress it would create. The internet has long since
been a place for fans of the show to bash characters
and plot-lines alike, but it seems to be most
convenient for fans in other countries to critique the
many versions of Sailormoon. Whether they have issues
with the numerous dubs in nearly twenty different
languages, or the inappropriateness of the original
Japanese version, the subject remains one of the most
talked-about on the web.
As an american viewer, I must first thank DiC for even
bothering to bring Sailormoon to the states, something
that many people who bash the dub forget. Without an
english adaption there wouldn't be the millions upon
billions of fans creating webpages and spending their
last red cent on merchandise. Oddly enough, the
majority of the dolls and trinkets sold in stores like
Hot Topic and Suncoast are those imported from Europe,
corresponding to the french version of Sailormoon.
Let's concentrate on the english dub for a moment. DiC
took the liberty of changing the names of the majority
of the characters, ie: Usagi became Serena, Makoto
became Lita. The attempt to americanize a japanese
cartoon went so far as to flip the pictures around so
that the cars would appear to be driving on the
opposite side of the road. Perhaps trying to make an
anime more "comfortable" to the american audience is
alright, but then there were other changes. The
cutting of crucial episodes and major changes to the
scripts, to the point that those who had seen the
original began to question if this was the same
episode.
An ever-present debate, especially on pages dedicated
to Sailormoon antagonists, is in response to DiC's
turning Zoisite, a vindictive, beautiful male, into
Zoycite, a giggly, ditzy female with no apparent
chest. I admit, it was pulled off pretty nicely, save
the fact that the "sailor scouts" had playboy-model
figures and Zoy got absolutely no curves whatsoever.
This brought up questions about characters in the
third, fourth and fifth seasons, for example, Haruka
and Michiru. Two of the Sailorsenshi, Sailor Uranus
and Neptune are the flamboyant lesbians of the group.
Much of the subject matter of their conversations
includes quips pertaining to their sexuality; they
even die for each other. It sickens me to think that
DiC, if the third season and up ever do get dubbed,
will create the impression that Neptune and Uranus are
sisters or something. This doesn't even begin to
discuss Fisheye, a member of the amazon trio, who
happens to be a male in love with Mamoru. How is DiC
going to deal with him dressing up as a girl and
ripping off his shirt?
Morals aside, it's also disturbing that DiC decides to
finally finish what they started and dub the last
seventeen episodes of Sailormoon R, not giving any
consideration to the fact that they completely move
back and forth to the original and dub. An example are
the attacks names, or the fact that Princess Serena
was suddenly Princess Serenity, the japanese name. It
got pretty old as well when enemies from every season
were thought to be from the "Negaverse!"
Fans of the dub will argue that DiC did what they had
to do to satisfy the "safe zone" of the average
american viewer. They claim that since Sailormoon is a
children's show, many of the original content must be
edited. My only suggestion is to stop trying to make
it suitable for young children, and get it on some of
the more adult channels. It's annoying that 99% of the
dubbed anime shown on television is found on Cartoon
Network. Sailormoon is in a much higher league than
Dragonball Z or Robotech!
I wouldn't say the dub was completely worthless. It
introduced me to the beauty of my now favorite anime.
The voices were some of the best that I've heard in a
dub in a *long* time; just listen to those of the
Voltron anime or DBZ -- not much of a comparison, ne?
The music was creative; there are two english CD's
composed of original DiC influenced music that have
been very successful in the states. For those
completely displeased with DiC's work, may I suggest
seeking the aid of fansubbers, and for those who
criticize Toei Animation for their immoral animation,
I would strongly advise against a trip to Asia anytime
soon.
Comments on this article can be sent to: Zoisite84.
