Salem Saberhagen said:
(I wonder if a values difference between cultures is making him seem worse. Since we're so individualist it's considered cruel to criticize someone's grades or eating habits, while in Japan he might be considered rude but maybe they'd also think his intentions were good?)
On this note, I'm reminded of something that I'd seen in another anime that was changed in its English dub to better match the more individualistic American mindset rather than adhering more to the Japanese perspective of individuals that was presented in the original Japanese version.
In the 34th episode of the 2000 Transformers anime series
Transformers: Car Robots (which was dubbed in English as
Transformers: Robots in Disguise), the main human child character (named "Yūki" in the original and "Koji" in the dub) was under the impression that he might possess some kind of unique special ability (like some kind of superhuman power) because of something extraordinary and otherworldly that only he was able to perform in the episode prior. Though the other characters, his father included, were skeptical of this, the rest of the episode had this theory put to the test to see if it was true or not, and by the episode's end, he and everyone came to accept that Yūki/Koji really was no more special than any other human.
In the scene where he accepts this reality, his father tries to raise his son's spirits with words of wisdom that were very culturally different between the Japanese and English versions. In the English dub, his father's words were more comforting and friendly:
"Listen, son. You made me very proud today. You were willing risk everything for your friends. Your loyalty and your courage, and the goodness in your heart, are very special powers indeed. Never forget that."
In the original Japanese version, however, his father is a little more pragmatic and blunt in expressing the reality he's trying to teach to his son, but still meaning well by his words:
"Yūki. I understand, so it's okay. In nature, there is no such thing as a special human. You're still a child. From this point on, just take your time and grow into something that you're good at doing."
At first glance, the original message seems colder and like it's trying to promote real world practical thinking over dreams and fantasies. But from the Japanese side of things, they might view the English dub's message as sugar-coating a greater lesson to be learned.
That said, the kind of blunt advice Mamoru would give Usagi is largely similar to the kind of advice given in the Japanese lesson above. Whereas the dub softened the notion of Yūki/Koji not not having a special power with comforting words of his courage and goodness being special, Mamoru simply isn't one to give that kind of advice since the culture he's a part of doesn't have that mindset.
We look at his behavior from an American standpoint, but viewing it from a Japanese standpoint would provide a different perspective. From that point of view, Usagi behaves very immature and overly defensive about her shortcomings, when, to the Japanese, she ought to be doing something to about her shortcomings to better herself and become more like the Japanese's vision for the ideal teenager, which in the Sailor Moon series Ami resembles the closest. Whereas Usagi is lazy, childish, and more concerned about the present than her future (with her ultimate goal simply being to get married and live a domestic life as housewife to a working husband who will take care of her), Ami is diligently studious, intelligent, and very focused on her future goal of becoming a doctor. In these regards, Ami is what Japan wants girls like Usagi to be like. Proactive in her studies and dedicated to societal conformities. Mamoru is like this as well, and when seeing Usagi behave in such flighty, non-conforming, nontraditional ways, he calls her out on it as a means to help set her back on track to how a young Japanese schoolgirl ought to behave. And Usagi takes offense to his blunt advice as a result of her personality being atypical for traditional Japanese people. Usagi stands out from the norm while Mamoru at first is a part of it.
