Is Sailor Moon feminist? How the anime changed Japan’s image of the ideal girl

“Moon Prism Power Make Up!” Usagi says in an orotund tone, momentarily starting to transform into a superhero called “Sailor Moon,” gorgeously dressed, getting ready for the battles. I had been truly fascinated by how an ordinary girl could bravely stand up and fight against villains. It didn’t take long for me to admire the strong, beautiful, kind-hearted sailor guardians as my role models.

この投稿をInstagramで見る

セーラームーン ミュージアム(@sailormoon_museum)がシェアした投稿

Sailor Moon, a female superhero TV show

Pretty Guardians Sailor Moon, as known as Sailor Moon, is a Japanese manga series created by Naoko Takeuchi, which ran in a young girl’s magazine between 1991 and 1997. It was made into a TV animated series and even films after it won popularity among young girls. The story is relatively simple and easy to follow. A 14-year-old schoolgirl named Usagi Tsukino, one day discovers that she can transform into a glamorous superhero, Sailor Moon, and that she and four other sailor guardians have a mission to save the earth and people from villains from other planets.

Indeed, there were some animations in which a girl fights against an enemy, Sailor Moon is said to be Japan’s first mainstream female superhero squad anime. Even a girl like me who preferred watching superhero TV shows to rom-coms never missed any episodes of Sailor Moon.

Is Sailor Moon feminist?

Given that strong and confident female characters are one of the features associated with feminist values, yes, Sailor Moon is indeed feminist. However, I’m not sure if it was intended to be because the work never seemed so obvious.

Actually, I didn’t know that some consider Sailor Moon as a feminist show until now. People call it feminist because female characters are more powerful and independent than those of old comics and animations. For example, when a misogynistic villain says, “Cry out, young ladies! You cannot do anything without men,” sailor guardians start to argue one after the other:
“Only old men like you say men are better than women nowadays.”
“Yes! Prejudice against women is a relic of the feudal days!”

Moreover, Tuxedo Mask, a hero and Usagi’s first love, is portrayed as weaker than Usagi. He appears to save her, but he is also saved by Usagi. He supports her mentally and shows her the right way to proceed. As a young viewer, their fair and trustful relationship looked new but also inspiring to me, while many conventional animations tended to illustrate female characters as fragile, childish and powerless. However, at the same time, sailor guardians are also relatable. They are girls-next-door kind of schoolgirls who are struggling with love, friendship and life, just like us.

I have absolutely been emboldened by sailor guardians who are confident about themselves and live their own life to the fullest, just like reliable older sisters. In fact, I believe many other girl viewers worldwide have felt the same way as I did. Come to think of it, Sailor Moon could have been the hero that formed my value: “strength, confidence and determination are indeed feminine traits that I can embrace as well.”