This page is an analysis of the show Sailor Moon and, as such, it does not necessarily reflect my spiritual beliefs

Homosexuality in Sailor Moon

Perhaps you are thinking "What? Homosexuality in Sailor Moon?" Well, if you have only seen the North American version of Sailor Moon, Surprise!  In the original Japanese version there are two characters, Neptune and Uranus, who are a lesbian couple with a daughter. Here is a picture of Neptune, Uranus and their adopted daughter, Sailor Saturn (the character in the back with the dark green hair is Sailor Pluto, who is a second mother to Saturn):

neptune, uranus and their daughter

When we started this project, I had no idea that there was a lesbian couple in Sailor Moon. On the survey I asked the question "Are there any aspects of Sailor Moon that could be of interest to a paper on youth culture that I have not asked you about?" and many people told me that I didn't ask about the relationship between Neptune and Uranus. This came as quite a shock to me as I did not know that there was a lesbian couple on Sailor Moon. I then asked them a few questions about the girls' relationship and I will discuss what they told me and what I learned from some of the web pages dedicated to their love story.

First of all, I want to say that the company that imported the show into North America edited Uranus and Neptune's love story completely out of the show. I don't know if that is because it is generally felt that the subject of homosexual relationships is something that young children should not be exposed to or simply because the producers of the NA version have issues with homosexual practice, but the stories dealing with homosexual practice are non existant in the NA version. However, this does not mean that North American youths do not have acess to the Japanese version. All of the people who commented on the story were from North America and they had all seen the episodes involving the couple.

Everyone I asked told me that the relationship was dealt with in a very positive way. The other characters treat these two Sailor Scouts in the same way as they treat all of their friends (although I think there were a few episodes in which the others had to get used the fact that the two were a lesbian couple (and that Uranus was a even a girl)).
 

 
        "Certainly the suffering of gays and lesbians is very real, especially for adolescents coming into a first understanding of the ways in which their society is determined to fail them. But what about the joys of falling in love? What about all the minute complexities involved in finding a relationship at all? Or the grief of losing someone? Or the deep relief when someone who might have been lost comes home? what about stories which involve people who happen to be homosexual simply living out their lives?" (click here)
         
Well, watch Sailor Moon (the Japanese version). Neptune and Uranus are a couple that face all of the challenges involved in a relationship (except of couse they get to save the universe everyday ^_^). One romantic moment (among others) between the two is described at http://www.king.igs.net/~ajhd/romance.htm  Here is a small fragment of that (don't worry if you don't understand the entire plot!):
 
        "Streatched out on a roof top, out of reach from each other, Uranus and Neptune were weak, and getting weaker every moment.  Even so, they needed that one last touch....they needed to feel the warmness of the other person one more time before their end.  Centimetre by centimetre the two struggled to clasp hands one final time.  Using all the energy left in them, they managed to touch, and finally hold hands. "
         
Here is a small transcript from an episode of sailor moon illustrating Uranus'(Haruka) jealousy when she thinks Nepune(Michiru) might be interested in a man (I got this quote here):
        Haruka noticed the  roses. "Who are the flowers from,  your boyfriend?"
         "Of course," replied Michiru.  "Oh, so there was a man brave enough to approach you," teased Haruka.
         "Hmm, I didn't think you would be the jealous type," replied Michiru mildly.
         "I'm not jealous," said Haruka, "I just can't stand knowing that you looked at someone other than me."
         "Haruka, that's called jealousy," chided Michiru, but she was smiling.
         
Obviously, these are situations that every couple (lesbian or no) could identify with. The love between the characters is always tender, respectful and very, very strong. In fact, most of the people I interviewed told me that this relationship was the most romantic, committed and tender that is part of Sailor Moon.

So, what affect does this story have on young girls who either have lesbian parents or are, themselves, questioning their sexuality? Well, first of all I think that the love story between Haruka and Michiru will help them to feel that they are not alone. They will also have a positive role model as the couple have a loving relationship and the dynamics within that realtionship are explored over several episodes. Also, the fact that the other Sailor Scouts are very tolerant of their relationship might ease some of their concerns about being rejected by their friends if they "come out."

Not only will the youths who have homosexual issues learn something from these episodes but all of the people who watch them will. Young people who do not have many other opertunities to learn about homesexual culture will certainly learn more about it and perhaps become more tolerant of homosexuals. Afterall, many young women do actively use the Sailor Scouts as role models because they admire their personality traits.

This is important,  as it was said:

        "In a sense it is not unlike books on multicultural themes. The point is not that a minority group needs to read stories about its own group so much as the fact that everyone needs to consider cultures other than their own." (click here)
Sailor Moon definately helps youths to consider homosexuals and their relationships. As one girl said:
        "Yes, I know that Neptune and Uranus are lesbians and Malachite and Zoicite
        were supposed to be gay. I think Sailormoon gives a very fair representation
        of Neptune and Uranus's relationship...it is one of the most romantic in the
        show. The other characters are a bit surprised at first because they thought
        Uranus was a man, but then they seem to accept it, and eventually they are all
        touched by the closeness of the women's relationship. In short, I kinda like
        it. ^_^ It makes the show a better representation of the world...'s back to
        what I said about there being a character for everyone to identify with. It
        makes the characters more balanced."
         
One concern that I have about the relationship between Haruka and Michiru is that Haruko is also a (sometime) crossdresser. In fact as you read in the above quote, the Sailor Scouts thought that she was a man when they first met her. In this way, I believe that the show reinforces the stereotype that one of the women in a lesbian couple has to be "the man." Michiru seems to be more feminine than the rest of the Sailor Scouts and Haruka wears the boys' school uniform. Here is a picture of Haruka wearing the boys' uniform:

Because Michiru is more feminine than the rest of the Sailor Scouts and Haruka is more masculine, one could almost see them as a pseudo-heterosexual couple. For example, their daughter Sailor Saturn calls Michiru "Mama" and Haruka "Papa." I don't know if this aspect of their relationship is particularly useful to youths as an example of a lesbian family (lesbians and heterosexuals) because it is a sort of parody of a male/female relationship. (See picture below)

While researching this project I came across an excellent website that had illustrated summaries whic were basically the next best thing to watching the show. The summaries are extremely detailed and have many graphics taken from the episode being described. It is basically like reading a comic book. If you would like to read the episode in which the Sailor Scouts meet Haruka and Michiru and initially think Haruka is a man click on the picture of the two together.

In conclusion, although I feel that the lesbian relationship on Sailor Moon reinforces one stereotype about lesbians, I feel that it breaks the rest of them. Certainly the example of relationship between sailors Uranus and Neptune and their friends' reactions to them will reassure girls who have to deal with lesbian issues on a daily basis and will teach others to be more tolerant to lesbians and their families.

Transexuals in Sailor Moon

As it was mentioned before in a comment we recieved from our survey, there are also characters who are male homosexuals. These characters are not main characters in the show but they do appear fairly frequently in the SailorMoon Sailorstars series (which is one of the seasons of Sailor Moon). I have seen a couple of episodes of the show in which these characters appear however, I could not really understand their sexuality from any of these. At on point, Michiru (a lesbian in love with Haruka) is flirting with one of the supposedly gay male characters. All I can say for sure is that these male characters transform into females when they fight (as the Sailor Scouts transform into Sailor Scouts when they fight). Obviously, these characters or at least Seiya, are transexuals. As I said, I cannot figure out how these realtionships work as Michiru was flirting with Seiya (and she is supposed to be in a relationship with Haruka) but I think that young people might become a little confused, not only with the confusion of gender but also with the confusion with relationships and flirting that are portrayed in this show. Here are two pictures of Seiya (one as a male and the other as a female):

Here's what one person had to say about the fact that the story of Seiya and the Sailor Stars has not been released in North America and that a male-male relationship occurring early in the series was edited out of the North American version:

        "i must say it is a little different in the japanese version though....but i was very dissapointed when it was canceled due to the fact it was innaprpriate for kids(such as some charicters being gay or lesbians...some male charicters were changed to female for that very fact for the american versin EX-zoisite)...they could have shown it at night..."

If you would like to watch some episodes of Sailor Moon with Haruka, Michiru, and the Sailor Stars on the internet click here: http://amer.simplenet.com/stars.html

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