firecrouch wrote: |
If you ask an average American about girls' anime, they wouldn't think of "Powerpuff Girls" as an anime. Although I don't know, when you say anime do you mean the literal definition or just Japanese cartoons? And while I do think "Sailor Moon" has and will later still be more fondly remembered than "Powerpuff Girls", there's no denying that in America "Powerpuff Girls" ultimately got greater ratings, more merchandising, and more exposure. I mean "Powerpuff Girls" got a cover story in L.A. Weekly, "Sailor Moon" mostly just appeared a lot in anime magazines.
|
I have to disagree with you there, and I think it all depends on the age of the girl you ask. If she's under 13 then it's very likely she'll say something like Yugioh, Naruto, etc, not Powerpuff girls since anime is a lot more known now. If she's over 13, she's more thank likely going to know what Sailor Moon is because that's where the generation cut off were the younger viewers remember it before it was taken off the air.
Sailor Moon mainly survived and spread via word of mouth among girls, and word of mouth among little girls in elementary and middle school is a big thing with shows airing. Girl cartoons never got serious advertising because that's just how it has always been with the girl demographic for networks, but the word of mouth among girls is strong, and then you're not counting the original American Sailor Moon viewers, the big sisters to the newer generation, to fuel the flame of the fandom. We didn't just like Sailor Moon, we LOVED IT, and more than likely still do since we're aparently willing to dish out several hundred dollars for out of print dvd box sets, and 20+ for a single out of print Mixx volume of the manga.
I watched Sailor Moon since the 1st grade, am 21 now, and I practically forced any girls to watch it back when i used to babysit in my teen years in an attempt to brainwash them into the fandom as well, which was surprisingly easy to do with that show. Girls love it. Powerpuff girls is cute and all, but Sailor Moon had everything a little girl, and older girls, could want, and it wasn't episodic. It had the central themes of friendship and a social life, princesses, cute guys, annoying siblings, fashion and music, and most importantly of all: girls kicking butt. And they didn't do it in a way where all the girls are mindless, totally ditzy, and JUST guy and fashion driven like other sucessful girl shows of the past, making Sailor Moon unique in the role model aspect of television, something America is desperate for in the generation of little Britneys, Druggy Lohan, and Paris Hilton. Little girls have crap on television and movies, bringing us to parents, and the older, original American Sailor Moon fans who so desperately want the show back.
The average Sailor Moon fan of my generation still has at least a couple VHS tapes from back in the day, DiC dub or Geonon sub, some dvds maybe, or even some old style VHS fansubs, and we still get any younger girls we get our hands on to watch it. It's a weird weird sickness we have. But on top of that, we're about to see something few American anime generations have had: Female anime fans going into motherhood. Us old school Sailor Moon fans are now at the age where we are having kids. We're gonna wanna raise our kids on the only positive cartoon role model we had growing up, and we're willing to pay for it, as we always have.
We're obviously crazy. Don't get between us and Sailor Moon.
I don't think there's ever been a better time for Sailor Moon to re-emerge into the American market, which is why the online Sailor Moon community which is still surprising big and kicking, is so avidly watching what Toei is doing with the rights. We're just waiting for the day we can buy it again, and even better, buy Sailor Stars.
Creepy random thing on Sailor Moon fans on motherhood: I know two girls from my childhood who were Sailor Moon fans, and have had little girls recently, and they've named them Serena/Serenity. I shit you not. That's how crazy some of them are, and they aren't even girls that kept in anime fandom, they just loved Sailor Moon. That's not just looking back fondly, that's obsession years later, and obsession is a good thing to sell to.
I'm looking forward to importing the new Sailor Moon game Namco is developing for release sometime next year for the Wii. Don't care how much it is, or if it totally sucks, I'm getting it.