By: Kimiki
A lot of Inner-Senshi lovers ask the popular question 'Why
does everyone place outer-senshi so high and superior?' I
have a few answers to share:
First off, let's face it, the Inner Senshi are the four
basic all-purpose characters: Mercury: the smart one. Not
too pretty, shy, non-aggressive. Mars: The spiritual one.
Pretty, mysterious, religious. Jupiter: The strong one.
Boy-crazy, out-going, tomboy, with a hidden-ish feminine
side. Venus: The Pretty one. Not-so-smart, totally
boy-crazed, hyper. Even with such characters as Mercury and
Venus, there seems to be barely anything but the
un-original shell of a person. Character-orientated
episodes usually reveal hidden aspects of a senshi's
character- What makes them afraid, who broke their heart,
what made them the way they are, or hidden aspects of their
personality. But with these two, all you see is more of the
same. We learn that Mercury is smart. We learn she's shy.
We learn she's not competitive. WOW! With venus, all we
ever seem to learn is about past crushes. Ooo, deep.
The Outer Senshi, by comparison, are characters that are
not usually seen in North America: they're loved because
they're something new. Not only are they much more
powerfull, but they hold taboos that would never air in NA,
like lesbianism, possesion, almost occultism even. Also
things like Pluto, guardian of time, or Uranus the tomboy
and nothing else, are rarely shown in NA cartoons. All the
guardians of time don't seem to do much with it, and all
the tomboys are really feminine inside (like Jupiter). Such
characters as Saturn, so frail and quiet, yet possessing
inside her the incredible power to destroy all of humanity,
are also just too 'complex' for NA cartoon-makers to think
of.
Even the relationships, like that of Neptune and Uranus,
are funnier... you get to watch them tease each-other and
get all jealous when someone makes a pass at the other, or
the other makes a pass at someone else ^^. In NA,
relationships are never fun. They're never secret. They're
never interesting.
The Outer senshi, also, seem almost more human. It's well
known that to make a character popular, you have to make a
character that people can relate to. Somehow, the Outer
Senshi just seem more human to me, and many other
outer-senshi lovers. We can relate to Uranus' blind
determination, Neptune's love of the arts, Saturns frailty
and alienation, Pluto's secretive lonely life.
Another good reason could be that DiC hasn't butchered the
outer senshi yet. A lot of people think of Mars as Raye, but
think of Uranus as Haruka. They have to; they have nothing
else to go by but the original Anime. (And I hope they
never do, no matter what any SOS-supporter says.)
And that, my friends, is my theory on why the Outer senshi
are so well loved ^^. Tadaaa!
Comments on this article can be sent to:
Kimiki.
