Why is Sailor Moon so popular?
I don't get it. From what I gathered from watching a couple of episodes here and there, it's just an average magical girl show. I would understand if it was the first of it's kind but it's not.
It's gotten to the point of being on Youtube's homepage when the first trailer came out.
Or right now with this in it's homepage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0Va228UhRs
Some say it's nostalgia. But because it reminds them of the old times, it gets hyped up beyond reasoning, or gets rated too high for what it really is. Now, I'm a victim of this too. I got introduced to anime through Shonen. I know at some point in my life, I've said that Naruto or Bleach were the best anime ever. But it's the universal rule that popularity does not dictate quality.
Another example is Hajime no Ippo It aired between 2000 and 2002. It got a new season more than a decade later in the spring season last year iirc. It went by almost unnoticed, there was barely any hype for it.
Same applies to Dragon Ball Z, sure it was fun when I watched it as a kid, but it's by no means the best anime ever.
It just gets so annoying to have to listen to people tell me it's an amazing show. The CG is so jarring to watch and the worst part about this is that every episode is bi-weekly(?) so I'll get to listen to this for half a year or so.
Just my 2 cents though.
23 Comments • Newest first
@ox0Shad0w0xo
Don't get me wrong I wasn't comparing old anime to newer anime.
I chose Cowboy Beebop to show that great animation could have been done back in the day. Evangelion's soundtrack was obove average and Grave of the Fireflies had amazing story telling.
I was just showing that quality anime [i]could[/i] be made back in the day. I should of clarified my reasoning for the examples of Sword Art Online and Titan.
I was pointing out that quality anime were made back then that makes Sailor Moon pale in comparison, and questioning its popularity while being somewhat average at best.
Sorry for any confusion.
[quote=Darkness129]@ox0Shad0w0xo: Time doesn't dictate quality. Cowboy Bebop 1998- great anime.
Grave of the Fireflies 1988 amazing anime.
NGE 1995 - the anime is still talked about now. It has amazing animation.
Just because an anime is old, it doesn't mean its bad. But in sailor moon's case, its just average, hence, my rant.[/quote]
Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying anime from back then is bad. I greatly enjoyed anime like Ranma 1/2, Dragonball, Yu Yu Hakusho, Shin Chan, etc. I'm just saying that comparing what was possible with musical scores or animation from back then, with what's possible now is like comparing a ps1 game with a modern game and saying "this has horrible graphics." Like yeah, that's true, but that's not what people focused on back when it was released.
But like I said, no point trying to read into it's popularity too much. I mean we're talking about anime fans. Fans who, one day call SAO the greatest anime ever, then turn around and call it the worst anime ever, simply because they now like Attack on Titan. Heck, I almost skipped Attack on Titan completely because I was [i]that[/i] tired of people telling me how great it was, I just stopped caring about it.
@ox0Shad0w0xo: Time doesn't dictate quality. Cowboy Bebop 1998- great anime.
Grave of the Fireflies 1988 amazing anime.
NGE 1995 - the anime is still talked about now. It has amazing animation.
Just because an anime is old, it doesn't mean its bad. But in sailor moon's case, its just average, hence, my rant.
I agree with everything you said. The Original was also bad, I saw it as a kid and hated it. Also their were better shows then Sailor Moon, idk why anyone liked it. My Guess is the brain wishing theme song doing the opening.
Well the reason I think it's going to be amazing is because I'm 99% sure they're actually going to be truthful to the manga this time... Sailor Moon had a pretty good anime adaptation, but the thing is, after a certain point in the manga, stuff gets pretty serious. But in contrast, the anime continued to be kind of... gag-ish. So it only got really serious in Sailor Stars, and that wasn't dubbed. So I guess that's why some people don't really understand why everyone likes this "kiddy," if you will, anime so much... But some of us are hyped because of the manga.
I just like the Sailor Moon manga a lot okay -goes into Sailor Moon corner and reads Sailor Moon manga-
[b]Because it was everyone's gateway anime.[/b]
sailor moon is freaking awesome. i saw the first two episodes of SM crystal, but it's eh. the original was awesome though. the ost gives me the feels, and still does.
dragon ball is freaking awesome too.
i'm not some sort of anime analytical expert or w/e but all i know is that i like some anime and don't like some. there's a reason why these two are still so popular after 20 years... maybe nostalgia, but it's still ridonculously awesome
[quote=Darkness129]This is like some Big 3 syndrome.
I'm perfectly fine with the show. The reboot is most likely due to nostalgia and money. Still an average Mahou Shoujo show. I'm just annoyed by a small portion of the fandom, which every hyped anime has. Just that in this case, there's isn't anything eye-catching like the music in SAO, or the animation in Titan. Just a plain show.[/quote]
Well there's your problem. You're comparing aspects like the music and the animation to modern popular anime. It's nothing special now, but for it's time, the early 90s, it was big. Of course, if you don't like it, then that's really all there is to it. No need to over think it's popularity lol. I mean, not I'm not a fan of it either, but considering how it was all over the place in the 90s, I can understand why the new series is being pumped up.
[quote=Irony]>taking these people seriously
thats where you went wrong[/quote]
This is like some Big 3 syndrome.
I'm perfectly fine with the show. The reboot is most likely due to nostalgia and money. Still an average Mahou Shoujo show. I'm just annoyed by a small portion of the fandom, which every hyped anime has. Just that in this case, there's isn't anything eye-catching like the music in SAO, or the animation in Titan. Just a plain show.
>taking these people seriously
thats where you went wrong
Used to secretly watch every new sailor moon episode when I was in first grade at 4pm after school. Between that, dragonball z, pokemon, and digimon <3
I think this thread has pretty much covered why it's so popular. It's not people that's never heard of it going "omg that looks like the best anime ever!" it's the long time fans of the series. I personally don't like sailor moon as certain aspects of the show got really annoying really fast for me. The fighting parts were good, but not enough for me to stick around for the parts that annoyed me lol.
Sailor Moon along with Dragon Ball Z is the reason that many Americans, particularly teenage boys and girls, enjoy anime. Some of you may remember this, and others probably not. In the early 1990's Cartoon Network was doing horribly, they couldn't get as many viewers as other broadcasting channels such as Nickelodian or Disney, who both had niches. Nick, had the whole comedy reality sketch, aimed at young children and teens, and Disney had the baby stuff at the time, along with the occasional Power Rangers episodes which fulfilled SOME, not all, young children. I don't remember which one came first, but I do know they came at around the same time. Cartoon Network acquired the licenses to the English Dub of Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon both. They started airing the episodes as a last ditch effort, and suddenly people were tuning in at 3:00 and 4:00 to watch the episodes, Cartoon Network became popular among children again. Sailor Moon attracted a huge fan base, boys wouldn't admit it and still won't but at the time I KNEW guys watched Sailor Moon, not for the whole romance or anything, but because Sailor Moon did have some pretty kick-ass (AT THE TIME) fighting scenes. It was different from Nick, which was doing The Amanda Show, Degrassi at night, and Full House etc. With the success Cartoon Network was the only Network that decided to do an "Afternoon Anime block". It was a major success and Cartoon Network got Pokemon, and boom it was all over. Sailor Moon is also different because at the time of it's comics, women in comics and women in manga, were stupid, and played cliche roles. Sailor Moon was pretty diverse with its cast of characters. It had a lesbian couple, for Christ's sake. It also caused many parents to rage at it, due to the lesbian tendencies between the characters, and because Chibi-usa had this whole inces tuous thing going on with Tuxedo Mask and Usagi herself. Inces tuous 3 way, anyone?
Its popular because it defined the magical girl genre.
the simple solution is to not watch or judge Sailor Moon based on Sailor Moon Crystal. for some reason ppl thought it'd be good to have a bi-weekly, ugly, and expressionless adaptation of a good series.
It's one of the first Mahou Shoujos and (I think) the source of Mahou Shoujo.
That's because you're watching crystal and not the original
It's popular because pretty much everyone watched it as a kid, I was hyped as hell for crystal and am still hyped
It's the hype of, "oh, my childhood!" And it's a thing to love in the kawaii community of Tumblr. Like there's a lot of clothing for it, God knows why...
[quote=Plenair][b]it's just an average magical girl show.[/b]
Was the first magical girl show you newbie.
I think :v[/quote]
Yes, the first magical girl show was Himitsu no Akko-chan back in 1966.
It's like the K-On or Lucky Star of slice of life. It's not the first but it sparked more interest in the sub-genre despite being average at best.
@EpikSnow
I know that nostalgia clouds judgement, but what I'm getting at is that it's gotten to the point of being obnoxious. I may have known what Sailor Moon was back in they day, as I watched Saint Seiya when I was younger despite not being born in the 80's, but, in my opinion, if it got rebooted like it did for SM with the same plot, it wouldn't be all that great. But there would still be people raving that it's better than everything that's come before then. My rant/ish thread isn't directed at everyone who liked(s) Sailor Moon. It's more towards the small minority who think Sailor Moon>Everything else when it clearly isn't.
It is totally understandable that you may not see the impact it had on us as a kid because it was before your time and thats something out of your control.
When it came out, it influenced a lot of young audiences. These young audiences were the future.
Now, we live in the future of the past and those who watched it was able promote the show for it was a memorable part of their life.
Just like how shows are preserved through time, artists/songs can have the same effect. For example, some people say tupac was the best rapper alive. He rapped about life issues. However, was he the only one? not exactly. Twista (another rapper) did similar stuff. So why is Tupac more known? more popular? because majority of the people who were influenced by him are old enough to work in the media. They even made a hologram of Tupac to project his fame way beyond Twistas'. When kids today see the hologram, they know he is something big. However, they dont understand why.. whats the big deal... why not make Twista a hologram too? like why arent shows like The Winx Club and Magical Do-Re-Me more popular for their advanced animations and fewer plot holes when Sailor moon had crappier ones and more plot holes?
[quote=Plenair][b]it's just an average magical girl show.[/b]
Was the first magical girl show you newbie.
I think :v[/quote]
your half right. i also thought it was the first so checked the wiki.
the very first magical girl manga was Himitsu no Akko-chan. its about a girl who can change into anything she wishes for.
sailor moon revitalized the magical girl genre making it a kind of the first of its era.
taken from wiki.
sailor moon is a classic. folks that loved classic shows, such as sailor moon or dragon ball z, will be drawn to it.
hajime no ippo rising was bad