Curtain call

My experience on tumblr within the Sailor Moon fandom and liveblogging the show has been an interesting one. I realised the cultural influences of the show itself as well as how i saw it through my child-like lens. While there are things i find helpful to understand now that I’m older it’s fascinating what i was probably better off being ignorant to as a child and also i wonder how my perceptions of international and ‘foreign’ cultures was shaped so that i now see this differently. Is it my memory to blame or societal stereotyping?

The Liveblogging experience and my thoughts

As I loaded up the computer screen to watch Sailor Moon Crystal live, I couldn’t help but compare it to the last time I’d watched Sailor Moon. It was when I was a child and I would sit in front of the TV in the spare room with my brother as he would yap on about how he wanted Pokemon on already.

Other than the difference of the device I was using there are many differences to what I remember.

I remember loving Sailor Moon for their outfits and the cool wand thing and her head piece. There was magic in it and it sparked excitement in me.

As I begin watching the new one, I have a sense of nostalgia and the little kid in me jumps up and down with excitement. Apart from much better graphics and different storylines, I realise that I probably didn’t fully understand the cartoon when I was younger. This is also based off an observation from participating in the fandom itself by following people, blogging and mostly reblogging things from the show. A lot of the stuff I probably didn’t understand just makes me love it more now. I find her relatable in the things she says like

While I’m blogging I find myself drawn to the old vs the new comparisons. My memory can be a bit fuzzy but I find myself remembering certain characters and storylines. The thing I remember most is the feeling it gives me, this inner excitement that comes back to me like I’m 7 again.

My main finding and the thing that keeps going through my head is I never thought it was in a different language despite the captioning and the language difference. It’s weird that something like a cultural difference never occurred to me as a child and I wonder if that’s something that is engrained in us as we get older. I wonder, do societal expectations and stereotypes as well as ‘othering’ affect our perceptions of foreign content?

One of my favourite findings is a multifandom crossover and i like that this happens, this appropriation of the culture and the show with other fandoms. My original tumblr is Pretty Little Liars and someone put them in Sailor Moon costumes. I have never been so excited to see a childhood show and a recent show that i love crossover.

The experience of liveblogging and seeing what other people have to say, i feel that some of it i was a bit foreign to, the anime lingo and things of that nature. I did find comfort in the posts that were about what people remember from the old version. I think being integrated into the fandom is hard when you aren’t as invested in the culture as others are but nonetheless it’s an eye opening experience as it exposes you to a different world and with people you would otherwise not interact with.

I am now invested in watching Sailor Moon Crystal and a part of me will always hold a special place for the original show as it’s a part of a time when we were innocent and free and not clouded by stereotypes and expectations. I like thinking back to when things were simpler and maybe that’s why these shows are so dear to many people, no matter their origin, they were a part of a time when everything was fun and playful.