Sailor Moon is a pioneer in LGBT representation for younger audiences

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Who remembers the Sailor Moon anime, which aired in the 90s on the channel TV Manchete and in the beginning of the 2000s on Cartoon Network? Originated from a manga (japanese comics), the animated television show was a worldwide hit and to this day it has a big legion of fans, resulting in a 2014 remake (Sailor Moon Crystal) and even a live action series in 2004.

If, nowadays, conservatives defend that young audiences should not watch production with LGBT characters, back in the 90s it was a different reality, since this subject wasn’t even discussed and society, at least the ocidental part of it, had a considerably more homophobic view of things. In audiovisual productions, it was common to see gay people being secondary and comical characters.

However, every rule has its exceptions and apparently the Japanese have always been more liberal towards LGBT people. Almost thirty years ago, Sailor Moon was a pioneer in representation, with gay characters, as well as bisexual, gender fluid and transgender ones, in such a natural way that, until today, it’s rarely seen.

Within this universe, issues such as prejudice, homophobia or any kind of discrimination are not discussed, besides the fact that even heterosexual characters, such as Sailor Jupiter, was naturally more masculine when compared to the others.

Haruka and Michiru: A lesbian couple

Probably the anime’s most remembered homoaffective couple, Haruka is Sailor Uranus and Michiru is Sailor Neptune, and both of them have the task of saving the world during the third and fourth seasons.

However, what draws attention is the “civil” life of both characters, since the fact that in the episodes in which we see their characters’ development, we notice that Uranus plays the part of a butch lesbian: she likes to wear men’s clothes, drives a motorcycle and has manly mannerisms, while Michiru is very feminine.

Besides that, after the tragic events of the third season, the baby “Hotaru” moves in with them. A story of a homoaffective family.

Zoicite and Kunzite: A gay men couple

Two villains from the first season, Zoicite and Kunzite were the first characters to have a homoaffective relationship in the anime.

Their relationship is underdeveloped, considering the fact that the story focus on their fight against the Sailors, besides it being exclusive to the anime, since they are depicted as straight in the manga.

Fish Eye: Transgender

Seen in the first episodes of the fourth season, Fish Eye is a villain who turns good. Appointed and depicted by others as a man, he is very effeminate and, in his civil form, he dresses and behaves like a woman, seeming to feel more comfortable this way. A typical case of a trans person.

Sailor Starlights: Gender Fluid

These are three characters from the anime’s last season that are men in their civil form, but become women when they turn into Sailors. Within the fan community there have been a lot of debates about whether they were transgender or gender fluid, but the latter is more accepted, since they navigate between both sexes in a free way. It is worth mentioning that, in the manga, they are women who disguise themselves as men.

Fiore: Gay

He is the villain of the “Sailor Moon R” movie and shows affection for Mamoru (Sailor Moon’s boyfriend, who is called Darien in the Western world). In one of the first scenes of the movie (the video above already starts at this scene), Fiora shakes his hand and Usagi (known by us as Serena) says: “Sorry, but he is MY boyfriend” . In a following scene, one of the sailors says:“It looks like Mamoru isn’t just popular with women”.

Sailor Moon: Bisexual or Pansexual

Sailor Moon herself isn’t straight either, at least neither in the manga nor in the animated remake, which follows the manga’s story. In one of the first scenes in which Haruka, previously mentioned, shows up, she kisses Serena (known as Usagi in Japan) and, shortly after, even though she is in love with Mamoru, there is a scene of her with heart-eyes.

There is an episode in the 90s anime that has a comical tone and also explores the idea of her falling in love with Haruka, however thinking that he was a cisgender man. Many fans theorize that Sailor Moon is pansexual, even though she has a love story with Mamoru.

Rei and Minako (Live-Action): Lesbians

Considerably less known by us, Sailor Moon’s first season was also adapted to a live action, in the best superheroes that we watched on TV Manchete style. Even though it has the same characters from the anime and the manga, the Live Action ends up introducing a new story and working as a reboot.

In it, Rei (Sailor Mars) and Minako (Sailor Venus) share a strong affective bond which a lot of fans theorize that it is a romantic relationship.

Thanks to the groupchat Sailor Moon Brasil on Facebook for the information and clarification of doubts.

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