Believe it or not it gave exposure to young new fans that time. I actually shared that link you provided in a
Gaming Discord server.
So you poisoned the well against the well against the Nostalgia Critic and anything that was "inaccurate" in order to gain a fan. I'd rather there be no new fans in that case.
It's not that he had to watch 200+ episodes to have an opinion but I think the response video had a point in the fact that it was more sexist and racist than other videos as well as somewhat creepy and lazy. It did come off as if he totally didn't pay attention to or misunderstood what he did see. Considering he makes his living off of reviews you would expect him to be a little more informed than the average person even if he is just another pseudo comedian internet hack he still claims to be a critic. Plenty of fans make fun of aspects of the show and people can laugh at the flaws because they are based in reality but if humor was his main priority he maybe should not have done the review because there is no humor in it for fans if he is just going to misrepresent the show and the review wouldn't be for non fans because non fans just don't care.
The Nostalgia Critic is
playing a character.
For his reviews, he is putting up a persona, a persona that is intentionally problematic and somewhat exaggerated. This character can be less than ideal, but that's part of the point.
There was a humor in it...for his audience and people who remember Sailor Moon as this nebulous thing and want to laugh at it. Why is it a problem for people to laugh at the correct version of show? It's a cheesy kids show that is terribly written, inconsistently animated, and formulaic. For many people, the only draw was the pretty girls who got naked and transformed into what are perceived as skimpy outfits.
And I don't see where his review was racist. Upon re-watching his actual review, he even praised the opening for being catchy.
It’s not so much that he didn’t know much about the series it’s the gross sexism and misogyny being treated as comedy/feigned feminism.
Haha Sailor Moon’s a slut because she wears a short skirt...over a leotard. Ballerinas are also sluts apparently..I guess?
Do ballerinas also wear high heels with exposed legs without tights? I'm not saying those things are inherently "slutty." I am saying I can easily see that through the male gaze those outfits can be seen as immodest, and again, it is in part this very misogynist audience the series panders to. There are problems at looking at Sailor Moon through a feminist lens and to pretend that guys didn't look at the show for "pervy" reasons is also disingenuous.
The transformation is so obviously fan service because it gave me a boner”
And...how else would you define fan service? If it makes me excited, it's fan service.
And let’s not forget the racist “I’m Japanese failure is everything” joke or the bisexual erasure Sailor Says parody or the sexist 100 percent earnest “girls don’t watch Star Wars”’bit
That was a knock on Japanese culture and how Sailor Moon, like most other anime, places a
very high value on class achievement to the point of absurdity. It's no more racist than talking about British stiff-upper lips or French surrendering.
Funny, the "girls don't watch Star Wars" bit was in direct response to the "obvious Americanizations" and was a complaint that people who hate the old dub repeat endlessly. Of course that the people who complain ""obvious Americanizations" are themselves being sexist and racist when complaining about the changes, but the fandom won't go after them because..."authenticity" but when the Nostalia Critic points out this same issue, he's sexist.
This isn't directed at you personally, but for those who call out the Nostalgia Critic for using their own arguments against the show, either acknowledge the original criticism was problematic and rescind it or lay off the Nostalgia Critic for saying the same thing you've been saying for years.
It’s fine that he thinks the show is stupid. It’s fine that he clearly didn’t watch past episode 3 or 4 (given how he treats Jedite as a far more prominent character than he actually is) I agree with your point that it’s stupid for people to expect him to come from the review as a fan especially when his schtick is/was mocking schlock from the 80s and 90s (seriously I never understood why his fans always requested he review things they liked when his thing was being obnoxiously nitpicky?) The problem is his review goes beyond “This show I never really watched is dumb” and into gross sexist bs.
To me, it seems he's more playing a sexist character and just peddling fanboy humor.
And let’s be fair it’s not like the Sailor Moon fandom itself at large doesn’t have this creepy borderline obsession with sexualizing middle school aged cartoon characters.
Indeed, and whether intentional or not, he took the complaints of "true fans" and showed how obnoxious and petty they are. And of course "true fans" don't like it, because it would force them to admit that all of the racism, sexism, and other problematic attitudes are their own projected onto their designated targets.
I don't remember that link being posted, but looks like I'll have to eat my words, that's good to hear at least new fans of the show were made.
New fans being made based on fan re-interpretation of the work and not based on the actual work itself.
That's the root issue which I have a problem with. There is
still this pressure to provide this unified, "true" version of Sailor Moon for people to like and only a narrow set of opinions that may be held.
Why can't people like or dislike the show based on ignorance, surface knowledge, or even the "wrong" information, version, whatever? Why can't people watch the show, interpret it how they want, and like or dislike it? Why is there this need to "correct" anyone who doesn't see Sailor Moon the way they see it?
I remember when there were anti-Sailor Moon pages on the Internet, one of the most notable ones from a person who went by the handle "Toad Kinopio." He formed his opinions based on misinformation, but I never had a problem with him making an anti-Sailor Moon page.
It was okay for him to hate Sailor Moon based on bad reasons.
The same is true of the Nostalgia Critic or anyone else. Sailor Moon is just a show.