Are Luna and Artemis running a gang of magical child soldiers

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Nadia

Aurorae Lunares
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The word used in the actual Japanese dialogue is 者たち (mono-tachi), which is a pluralization of 者 (mono), which means "person".

The old subs also continue to mistakenly say "the beings living there had changed into a life form that possessed a peculiar supernatural power."

The use of "a life form" is what's wrong, since it makes the text sound like it's saying that the multiple individuals fused into a single entity, which is not true.

Viz corrected this in their subtitles as "the inhabitants evolved into beings with unique super powers," which better matches up with the next line that, in both versions, talks about multiple individuals (even showing two group shots to visually illustrate that) instead of a single combined one:

ADV: "They were the Black Moon, clan of the Dark Moon!"
Viz: "They are the evil Dark Moon Clan, Black Moon."
Thanks for for the translation.

However, to play the devil's advocate, "people" may not necessarily mean "human beings." I know NOTHING about Japanese, but I am presuming that Endymion is speaking somewhat more formally, since 者たち (mono-tachi) I think is a more formal term than the more widely used 人間 (ningen) In some anime I've watched, the more colloquial ningen refers to both humans and human-like individuals, while other anime play up the difference between humans and species that look human but aren't. While Sailor Moon almost certainly likes to differentiate between minion species (Youma, Cardian, Droid, generic bakemono, yokai, etc) and the humanoid bosses. I'm not sure how much distinction there is between those bosses and humans. The backstory for the Black Moon Clan in the anime is so vague, their ancestors could be human-like enemies, former humans, or actual humans.

Again, I don't know Japanese, so I'm almost certainly wrong, but it's just a thought I got from watching too many white-haired guys talk about 'dem ningens.

But given that the Black Moon Clan was made up of people who had evolved to gain powers on Nemesis, the point still stands that Sailor Moon used that Silver Crystal to "cure" people who may not have needed to be cured.
 
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So does this mean the 90’s anime BMC are meant to be interpreted as full human? Doesn’t Calaveras say in Petz’s death episode that they turned human though?
Petz's death?

If you meant the episode where she and Calaveras were redeemed, checking both subbed versions of that episode, no such statement is given (if such was stated in another episode, I can't say).

All that's said in both versions is that Koan and Berthier turned traitor, having betrayed the Black Moon Clan, and when those two give their side of the story, they claim that the Black Moon Clan had forgotten about "human love" (人間の愛 ningen no ai), which the Sailor Senshi had to re-teach them about. Then, when Sailor Moon is asked to purify Petz and Calaveras, Koan's request is for Sailor Moon to "help" her older sisters.

At one point, when Petz insults the Sailor Senshi for taking pity on Calaveras (after Petz shot at her with the Black Moon Stick), an appalled Jupiter asks Petz, "Are you even really human?!" as if Jupiter expected her to be one but was disgusted that Petz could be so awful as to deliberately try to murder her own sisters.

But, if you instead meant Saphir's death episode, checking that one, no such statement about the sisters having turn human is given either.


Thank for for the translation.

However, to play the devil's advocate, "people" may not necessarily mean "human beings." I know NOTHING about Japanese, but I am presuming that Endymion is speaking somewhat more formally, since 者たち (mono-tachi) I think is a more formal term than the more widely used 人間 (ningen) In some anime I've watched, the more colloquial ningen refers to both humans and human-like individuals, while other anime play up the difference between humans and species that look human but aren't. While Sailor Moon almost certainly likes to differentiate between minion species (Youma, Cardian, Droid, generic bakemono, yokai, etc) and the humanoid bosses. I'm not sure how much distinction there is between those bosses and humans. The backstory for the Black Moon Clan in the anime is so vague, their ancestors could be human-like enemies, former humans, or actual humans.

Again, I don't know Japanese, so I'm almost certainly wrong, but it's just a thought I got from watching too many white-haired guys talk about 'dem ningens.

But given that the Black Moon Clan was made up of people who had evolved to gain powers on Nemesis, the point still stands that Sailor Moon used that Silver Crystal to "cure" people who may not have needed to be cured.
King Endymion is of royal nobility, so it would make sense for him to speak formally.

Of course, everyone else in the show does say "ningen", but in the sense of the word "human" rather than "person". The King referring to a "people" who tried to conquer the world makes it sound like they were indeed Earth humans, since one does not normally refer to a person of their fellow species by that species name. That's unnatural speech. They would instead call them "people" or "persons".

When talking about what became of the people who ventured into space and settled on Nemesis, he says that those people evolved into a new kind of "lifeform" (生命体 seimeitai), which could be interpreted to suggest that the present-day members of the Black Moon weren't human, but something more. Superhumans, if you will.

In this sense, we could say that the ancestors of the Black Moon who first tried to conquer the world were originally humans from Earth. But after they left the planet and settled on Nemesis, exposure to the Dark Power of the Malefic Black Crystal resulted in their descendants evolving over time into superhumans.

Upon being cleansed of their Dark Power by Sailor Moon's Silver Crystal, the four sisters were then de-evolved back into the original human state of their ancestors (of whom we could see a clothed arm and a head full of hair in the flashback).

This doesn't need to be so complicated.
 
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Petz's death?

If you meant the episode where she and Calaveras were redeemed, checking both subbed versions of that episode, no such statement is given (if such was stated in another episode, I can't say).

All that's said in both versions is that Koan and Berthier turned traitor, having betrayed the Black Moon Clan, and when those two give their side of the story, they claim that the Black Moon Clan had forgotten about "human love" (人間の愛 ningen no ai), which the Sailor Senshi had to re-teach them about. Then, when Sailor Moon is asked to purify Petz and Calaveras, Koan's request is for Sailor Moon to "help" her older sisters.

At one point, when Petz insults the Sailor Senshi for taking pity on Calaveras (after Petz shot at her with the Black Moon Stick), an appalled Jupiter asks Petz, "Are you even really human?!" as if Jupiter expected her to be one but was disgusted that Petz could be so awful as to deliberately try to murder her own sisters.

But, if you instead meant Saphir's death episode, checking that one, no such statement about the sisters having turn human is given either.
Yeah sorry I meant Saphir’s death, and I remember one subbed version I was watching having the subs use the term “turned human” during the part where Calaveras explains why they shouldn’t come along with Saphir to help because they don’t have their powers anymore. Might’ve just been faulty/inaccurate subtitles though.


In this sense, we could say that the ancestors of the Black Moon who first tried to conquer the world were originally humans from Earth. But after they left the planet and settled on Nemesis, exposure to the Dark Power of the Malefic Black Crystal resulted in their descendants evolving over time into superhumans.

Upon being cleansed of their Dark Power by Sailor Moon's Silver Crystal, the four sisters were then de-evolved back into the original human state of their ancestors (of whom we could see a clothed arm and a head full of hair in the flashback).
But then why did NQS and King Endymion require their original ancestors to get cleansed in the first place then if they were always human? Cleansed of what?
 
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Yeah sorry I meant Saphir’s death, and I remember one subbed version I was watching having the subs use the term “turned human” during the part where Calaveras explains why they shouldn’t come along with Saphir to help because they don’t have their powers anymore. Might’ve just been faulty/inaccurate subtitles though.
When did that happen in the episode? I watched all the scenes with the sisters in that episode (or at least, I'm pretty sure I did), and don't recall any such scene with Calaveras. Petz got the lion's share of screen-time in that episode.

But then why did NQS and King Endymion require their original ancestors to get cleansed in the first place then if they were always human? Cleansed of what?
Cleansed of "evil", of course. Evil is a personified, tangible force in Sailor Moon, which makes sense for a children's fantasy series that isn't meant to be too complex or adult in its themes. The full phrase King Endymion used to refer to these "evil people" was 邪悪の者たち (Jaaku no mono-tachi), with 邪悪 (Jaaku) comprising of two Kanji that both mean "evil" and "wickedness", meaning these people were pretty thoroughly evil.

In fact, the 邪 (Ja) in 邪悪 (Jaaku) is also the very same Ja in Jakokusuishou (邪黒水晶), the name of the Black Moon clan's evil black crystal, translated nowadays as the "Malefic Black Crystal".

And now that I think about it, if they could actually put up a fight against the likes of Crystal Tokyo, they were probably some pretty powerful people, too. And, thinking even more about it, the anime never actually did give a proper backstory to Wiseman, yet he's full of vengeance and hatred of Crystal Tokyo for some reason. Maybe the implication was that Wiseman (or whatever his original name was) was originally the leader of these wicked people who rose up against Crystal Tokyo, and that he perhaps corrupted his followers with some dark power that turned them all evil, which would be what those who were cleansed had to be cleansed of in the first place. Then, refusing to be purified like the others, Death Phantom and the rest of his followers retreated into space, settled on Nemesis, and then became even more powerful by the Malefic Black Crystal. While the descendants of his followers evolved into even more powerful superhumans, the man who would become Wiseman instead evolved into the immortal "Death Phantom" and assumed the new identity of "Wiseman" to ensconce himself into the new royal court of Nemesis's Black Moon clan, serving as an advisor to manipulate the people and their ruler into one day going to war against Earth and ultimately conquering (or even destroying) it, all in the name of spite against Crystal Tokyo and avenging his original failed attempt at conquering the Earth all those years ago.
 
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Nadia

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When talking about what became of the people who ventured into space and settled on Nemesis, he says that those people evolved into a new kind of "lifeform" (生命体 seimeitai), which could be interpreted to suggest that the present-day members of the Black Moon weren't human, but something more. Superhumans, if you will.

In this sense, we could say that the ancestors of the Black Moon who first tried to conquer the world were originally humans from Earth. But after they left the planet and settled on Nemesis, exposure to the Dark Power of the Malefic Black Crystal resulted in their descendants evolving over time into superhumans.
So basically the Black Moon Clan...were Marvel Comics-style MUTANTS? Not even mutates, but flat out MUTANTS?

Cue the theme.


Upon being cleansed of their Dark Power by Sailor Moon's Silver Crystal, the four sisters were then de-evolved back into the original human state of their ancestors (of whom we could see a clothed arm and a head full of hair in the flashback).
Yeah, the "human" state where they're powerless to defend themselves or anyone else.

In a way....this kinda makes "cleansing" even worse than if their ancestors had originally been monsters or enhanced or specials or supes or whatever from the beginning. That would be just your garden-variety standard speciesism and Van Helsing Hate Crimes, but it could be argued their powers made them evil and unable to fit into human society. This is that and more.

I get the intent is likely that the people were evil and corrupted, and Sailor Moon was restoring them to what they "should" be...but she flat out gave mutants "the cure." Talk about un-natural selection!

Keep in mind that the Four Sisters didn't just get these powers via a deal with the Dark Side, but evolved to have them and presumably had them, since birth or a young age, or at latest they'd acquire their powers at puberty or when teenagers like in X-Men. Anyway, these people likely had their powers for a considerable portion of their lives and it wasn't just part of their identity but part of how their very ability and autonomy. Yes, they did consent to it at least, but really, Sailor Moon disabled these women. This is like saying you can be happy but you have to have your eyes sewn out and replaced with buttons. (Yes, for those familiar with the reference, that was the villain reveal.)

If they ever reboot/adapt the old anime itself to keep the general plot but streamline it, I hope they actually don't have the Sisters lose their powers, because this...is disturbing. Maybe all those darkfics of Crystal Tokyo were onto something.

In answer to the title question...no, Luna and Artemis...are running the Friends of Humanity.
 
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If they ever reboot/adapt the old anime itself to keep the general plot but streamline it, I hope they actually don't have the Sisters lose their powers, because this...is disturbing. Maybe all those darkfics of Crystal Tokyo were onto something.
Yeah the writing for the “resolution” of the BMC in the 90’s anime has not…aged well. This + Fish-Eye’s portrayal and the fat shaming episode are probably the most actively offensive, politically incorrect themes the 90’s anime has and they could really benefit from a touch-up.

Ideally a reboot would also help flesh out/fill in the gaps of the BMC’s backstory in the anime, because from where I’m standing right now it’s a whole ass mess and too vague to make our good guys look undoubtedly like the good guys.

I shouldn’t be confused and questioning whether our enemies were banished on criminal grounds or f*cking ethnic cleansing.

(Maybe also change the terminology of the wording “cleansing/purification” because that also led to my confusion and gave it it’s racial connotations. Also actually show their ancestors shadows with human silhouettes like they do the current gen rather than those black, dehumanizing shadow things)

There’s a reason why dystopian Crystal Tokyo fics and the BMC as the good guys was such a popular trope back in the day, I guarantee you nobody got that impression from the manga (which for all it’s shades of grey on the ethics and implications of an immortal society, at least had the good sense to portray the BMC as unquestionably the bad guys and NQS fair and just in her treatment of them) but rather the 90’s anime.
 
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Something else of note is the specific word that King Endymion used to refer to the process that the descendants of the evil people underwent that turned them into the superhumans that we know the Black Moon clan to be. While Viz's overall better subtitles translated the word as "evolved", ADV actually made the rare better decision to translate the word as "changed" instead, because the word King Endymion used was "henka" (変化) rather than "shinka" (進化).

"Shinka" is the Japanese word for evolution, evoking a natural sense of change and progression over time. Whereas the word used by the king, "henka", refers to a kind of change that is less natural and more artificial, and has overtones of "strangeness" and "abnormality" to it, which suggests that the descendants were altered in a way that wasn't natural and was instead induced by an external source.

This matches up well with the idea that it was the Jakoksuishou that changed and corrupted these people into what they later became (with Wiseman implied to have been the mastermind behind all of them, manipulating everything and everyone in order to achieve his personal goals). And as we've established before, the "Ja" part of "Jakokusuishou" means "evil", meaning the powers granted to these people were evil in nature. Heck, the name of this evil energy is officially "Dark Power". And in Sailor Moon, "dark" = "evil" (since, again, it's supposed to be simple enough for young children to understand).

Checking the episodes where the sisters are each cleansed of their Dark Power, I've found some more info. When Mars asks on Koan's behalf for her to be helped, she asks if Moon could turn her into a "normal woman"/"ordinary woman" (ADV/Viz), suggesting that Koan wanted to become the normal version of her species, unaffected by the evil influence of the Jakokusuishou's Dark Power.

Then, in the next episode, Berthier confirms that the change was indeed a willing one, that Koan wanted it to happen. But, Berthier also confirms that the change turned her into a "normal human"/"ordinary human being". Not simply "a human", but "a normal human"/"an ordinary human". This is interesting because it further suggests that not only are the Black Moon clan not considered "normal" or "ordinary", but that they may indeed be a form of human after all (just not Earthlings since Nemesis is their native home).

This also aligns with Jupiter saying to Petz in the next episode:

ADV: "Trying to kill your younger sisters?! Are you even really human?!"
Viz: "You tried to kill your own younger sister. Are you even human?!"

Jupiter calling Petz's status as a human into question would make no sense if Petz wasn't human to begin with. Or at least, if Jupiter didn't ever suspect Petz to be human to begin with.

Fast forward to Saphir's death episode, and he points out that the biggest change with Petz is that he feels "peaceful"/"relaxed" being around her, which is different from how she was before, suggesting that the biggest change to the sisters (besides the loss of their Dark Power) was more on an emotional level than a physical one. Petz explains that she and her sisters have since learned true kindness and trust from Sailor Moon and the others, and that compared to how they were before, she and her sisters feel "liberated" and "wonderful", as if a great weight of discomfort has been lifted from their burden. By all appearances, what the Silver Crystal did to them was positive and what they wanted done.

Sure, they lost their superpowers, but again, they wanted to be turned into normal people without powers. Since their powers were evil in nature. And speaking of which, I did find what Calaveras said after Saphir left. What she said was not that they were changed into humans, but rather:

ADV: "We don't have the powers that we used to have."
Viz: "We're not as powerful as we once were."

So the removal of their powers was the only real physical change done by the Silver Crystal (which, again, was done by request), and with Berthier confirming that the result was them becoming "ordinary humans", without changing their species, that would mean that, all this time, the Black Moon clan really are... humans!

Just an extraordinary variety of humans who were artificially altered over time by the Dark Power of the Jakokusuishou.

And any time where they acted like they weren't humans (like, if they spoke of how silly or foolish humans were in comparison to them) can be chalked up to the air of superiority they felt about themselves being better than the people of Earth. After all, as far back as early in the first season, Jadeite would say things like "Foolish humans" when comparing himself to his civilian victims, yet he himself was an Earth human too.

(Also, the X-Gene wasn't an inherently evil thing, unlike the Jakokusuishou and its Dark Power.)
 
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I've found some more info. When Mars asks on Koan's behalf for her to be helped, she asks if Moon could turn her into a "normal woman"/"ordinary woman"
Is “ordinary” Viz’s subtitle? That’s much better sounding than the use of the term “normal,” since even that I would purport is problematic when used in reference of “curing” someone of their in-born features and powers. My point still stands though that it really shouldn’t have been this vague that we have to dig deeper into subtle implications to prove that this wasn’t a storyline that justifies bigotry, especially when you consider the target audience of impressionable 4-5 year olds who wouldn’t be able to pick up on these “hints.” Whether watching the sub or any dub they could very well come away from this arc with the notion that certain features are “unnatural” and that there’s a wrong way to be born that you should change in order to conform to the societal norm. That’s a dangerous lesson to even be insinuating to kids that young, heck even I as an adult got racial connotation vibes because it wasn’t so clearly spelled out coupled with the incredibly vague and short 1 minute explanation backstory. (if even that)

The manga for all it’s faults at least gives out a clear explanation for the BMC’s motives, where they come from, and how they got their powers so you’re never left guessing whether this is a reasonable plot-line or some kind of subliminal hate message.

(Look I love the 90’s anime but never say that it doesn’t have any flaws in it’s writing and the manga could never be the better written one because in this case it very clearly is, simply because it at least explains it’s [BLEEP] regarding the BMC as opposed to solely relying on implications and guessing games, same as the 90’s anime is better written than the manga when it comes to the creation of Crystal Tokyo. This is why I’m objective in my opinions and criticize and praise both equally rather than holding one up above the other as the Holy Grail of the fandom. Truthfully neither version has all that great writing, and PGSM is objectively the most well-written version but even it has it’s problems.)


After all, as far back as early in the first season, Jadeite would say things like "Foolish humans" when comparing himself to his civilian victims, yet he himself was an Earth human too.
Are Jadeite and the rest of the Shittenou regular Earth humans in the 90’s anime though? Remember they have a different backstory (more like no backstory…) compared to every other version, and Nephrite’s green blood would suggest they’re not.
 
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Is “ordinary” Viz’s subtitle?
Yes.

Are Jadeite and the rest of the Shittenou regular Earth humans in the 90’s anime though? Remember they have a different backstory (more like no backstory…) compared to every other version, and Nephrite’s green blood would suggest they’re not.
They come from Earth, and have powers given to them by Queen Metalia, as we later see happen to Mamoru when he is turned into another commander of the Dark Kingdom.

As for the color of Nephrite's blood, don't forget the thorns embedded in his chest were also green. Residue from them could have oozed out and mixed with his blood to tint it from red to a sickly green color.
 
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I always figured that the anime crew just maybe weren't aware when making the earliest episodes that the Dark Kingdom characters were supposed to be originally human, since the DK is visually presented like some sort of entirely separate hell/demon dimension until like the very end of that season and the constant "foolish humans" dialogue kinda backs that up. Like if a viewer's aware of the manga backstory of it being underground in the North Pole then nothing except that dialogue really contradicts that, but if you're watching the anime no-context there's no way anyone would assume that the DK is even on Earth until the finale arc.

IDK how well that holds up since I think I heard something about the crew receiving a rough plot outline of where the manga would be going for the next year at the beginning of production, but it's possible the notes or whatever they received were pretty vague in that specific area (notable that relationships like Nephrite/Naru and Kunzite/Zoisite were featured in the anime instead of any of the villain/hero pairings vaguely implied in the manga, when they could have theoretically had opportunities to expand on those if they knew from the beginning the story would be going there).

Also just remembered the manga does have Luna say in an early chapter that their enemies aren't human. Yeah, that turns out to be wrong (unless she was just referring to the youma, or maybe that they're not human anymore), but it's possible the writers took that line and ran with it for the anime adaptation until they eventually had to contradict it when the full backstory got revealed.
 

Nadia

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Is “ordinary” Viz’s subtitle? That’s much better sounding than the use of the term “normal,” since even that I would purport is problematic when used in reference of “curing” someone of their in-born features and powers. My point still stands though that it really shouldn’t have been this vague that we have to dig deeper into subtle implications to prove that this wasn’t a storyline that justifies bigotry, especially when you consider the target audience of impressionable 4-5 year olds who wouldn’t be able to pick up on these “hints.” Whether watching the sub or any dub they could very well come away from this arc with the notion that certain features are “unnatural” and that there’s a wrong way to be born that you should change in order to conform to the societal norm. That’s a dangerous lesson to even be insinuating to kids that young, heck even I as adult got racial connotation vibes because it wasn’t so clearly spelled out coupled with the incredibly vague and short 1 minute explanation backstory. (if even that)
While I definitely agree with the negative connotations, an alternate reading could be taken that if you know there's an intrinsic aspect about yourself that does not match either what you want it to be or how you feel you are, you should be allowed to take the steps to be your authentic self. This goes all the way back to Disney's Pinocchio. It can be looked at multiple ways.

That said, Sabrblade, I am truly grateful for the translation, which confirms what I suspected, that on a narrative level, the power itself is evil.

That still doesn't change that it's a terrible message to send in my opinion.

It's common for characters to get powers and power boosts, and it's also common for humans to be imbued with evil power or otherwise undergo involuntary permanent transformations that don't revert on their own. So if Sailor Moon purifies the changed humans and restores them to a proper human form, it can be easily seen as setting right what once went wrong. While there are issues with this setup when you look deeper, on at least a very shallow level, it works.

It's not so common for characters to be influenced by evil and then their descendants similarly influenced by evil in successive steps that the kids now have superpowers and are tainted by evil. You're not talking about people who made the choice to be bad. You're talking about people -- not just one person, but people -- who never even had an idea of what it was like to be "good." From the surface reading, Sailor Moon is just giving them the chance to learn to be the humans they could be. But basically they have to throw away everything that they are because it's "evil."

Having powers is "evil," even if these are powers are innate.

I know you argue that the Sisters wanted this and were happier overall once they were turned into normal humans, but that doesn't change how this setup reeks of erasure, especially when applied to an entire population.

This reveal also really robs the Black Moon Clan of its agency.

It's clear as day that Wiseman is manipulating the Clan and they are being influenced to act on their darkest impulses by the energy. But if they are inherently evil because they were evolved to be...well there's a reason why "Always Chaotic Evil" is a disappearing trope. It's basically saying that as a "people" they are inherently evil. We're not talking about people who either were taken from their normal lives or were threw it away. We're not even talking about generational curses. We're talking about the entirety of the generations of those who have lived with these powers and for them this is their culture. And isn't it stated that they were still willing to consider less forceful ways until Wiseman manipulated them towards all out war? That alone implies that they aren't just "evil" even when full of dark energy and that despite the influence of the Malefic Black Crystal were capable of moral choices, Heck Saphir basically cleansed himself, and Demande was able to begin turning a new leaf without being purified. But, no...they can't help being bad because of the evil force that powers them.

In a twisted sense, maybe the Sisters died in the 90's anime as well. Given that they were changed into humans and given a new mindset, they might not even be the same people as they once were in a meaningful manner.
 
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Also just remembered the manga does have Luna say in an early chapter that their enemies aren't human. Yeah, that turns out to be wrong (unless she was just referring to the youma, or maybe that they're not human anymore), but it's possible the writers took that line and ran with it for the anime adaptation until they eventually had to contradict it when the full backstory got revealed.
When Luna says "They aren't human," she immediately follows it up with, "But you should know that already," in reference to the Youma that Usagi already defeated. So, yes, Luna was talking about the Youma when she said that. Otherwise, her very next line of "They're evil. Things that shouldn't even be in this world," would be a very "oof" line.

Also, that early in the manga, Luna doesn't yet know about the enemy being the Dark Kingdom or that it's led by a queen and four generals. She just refers to them as "the enemy", without yet knowing more about them beyond the existence of the Youma.
 
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Yeah, I wasn't sure of the exact timeline of events in the manga re: who has what information and so was going off memory. But what I'm mainly getting at is that it seems possible the anime writers could have taken that moment and incorrectly extrapolated it to the entire Dark Kingdom group as a whole early on, especially if they didn't have much info about the characters (except for maybe Beryl) besides their designs. I don't think it was a mistake/contradiction on Takeuchi's part.
 

HappyMoon

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So, you guys arguing about BM Clan being terrorists who had a point or being terrorists who didn't have a point, made me wonder if Takeuchi sensei was inspired by the Japanese terrorist group Aleph and their first failed attack with anthrax in Tokyo.
 

MariaTenebre

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I will respond more to Tsundereshipper and his stanning of the Black Moon Clan Terrorists and Saphir Mengele. However I will say again this is why we need to gatekeep these far leftists out of Sailor Moon they are anti fans just like the anti fans ruining Western Comics and games.

Also to Nadia the Black Moon Clan have to be purified not because they have powers but because their powers come from a malevolent eldritch source. It is like drawing power from Nyarlathotep or Cthulu.
 
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While I definitely agree with the negative connotations, an alternate reading could be taken that if you know there's an intrinsic aspect about yourself that does not match either what you want it to be or how you feel you are, you should be allowed to take the steps to be your authentic self. This goes all the way back to Disney's Pinocchio. It can be looked at multiple ways.
But of course, this is what being trans is all about after all. The problem is though that we never see the Sisters or really anyone in the BMC being bothered or uncomfortable with the powers they have. We’re given absolutely zero indication that this would’ve been their choice anyways independent of their desire to return to the planet their ancestors are indigenous to for hopes of a better life. But no, from where I’m standing they begrudgingly rather than enthusiastically gave up their powers in exchange for the right of return to a planet that has the bare minimum of an acceptable standard of living - all because of alleged “crimes” they’re not even guilty themselves of committing but rather their ancestors.

To put it bluntly this basically counts as coercion on the Senshi’s parts, they’re being forced to give up a part of themselves that they never even wanted to discard in the first place all for the chance of a decent standard of living - something I would argue every living being is already naturally entitled to irrespective of any “flawed” pedigree - how is this fair or right? Would they have chosen to discard their innate powers if they were given a true choice and weren’t blackmailed with the very prospect of survival? Keep in mind conditions on Nemesis are implied to be unfit for life at worst and absolutely horrid at best, this planet is worse than any of our own 3rd world countries combined! I mean if even simple plant life has difficulty growing and being sustained there where are the BMC even getting their food from? They must be starving at the bare minimum - this isn’t just simply wanting to immigrate to a richer country for a better life, migration back to Earth is a matter of survival for them and yet they’re being faced with the stipulation of give up your powers or risk starving (or even risk being manipulated and used by another entity like Wiseman/Death Phantom that that toxic planet apparently produces, whatever he is) another day. This is really no different from forcing a starving homeless person to outright disable themselves by cutting off an arm just for the chance of a few scraps of bread, neither is ethical and right because you’re basically putting a gun to someone’s head and forcing them to give up a part of themselves which will make their life exponentially harder in the long run.

And we know they were never uncomfortable with these innate powers/features they developed - quite the contrary, it seemed it came as natural an inclination to them as walking on two legs is for us “regular humans” I mean Saphir and Esmeraude are always seen teleporting all over the place with nary a thought and Demande seems to prefer to levitate as his preferred mode of “standing” rather than keep his feet on on the ground. Speaking of Demande, what would be the implications of asking someone who was born with 3 eyes to revert back to the regular way of “just two?” Would he lose a good chunk of his eyesight? Y’know since his biology was already built different to accommodate for 3 eyes rather than 2, what if his vision goes down by a good chunk of 50% decrease? The BMC are basically being asked to willingly disable themselves all for the chance of an acceptable standard of living.

For crimes they didn’t even commit and aren’t responsible for…

And that’s another thing, I still find the original story of their ancestors to be shady. Even if what Saberblade says it’s true and the “cleansing/purification” was meant to be for the evil energy living inside them rather than because they were non-human being turned into full humans - why was the first line of punishment outright forced cleansing rather than a fair and just trial that every civilized and democratic government has always employed? Did NQS and King Endymion just abolish the entire due process and court system and now every petty criminal is faced with their personal judgement rather than going through a non-biased and thorough legal system? How does that not sound like the very definition of dictatorship/tyranny?

And futhermore why would their ancestors even “rise up” and randomly attack Crystal Tokyo in the first place? They must have had a reason, everyone does, and one doesn’t just suddenly wake up one day and become “corrupted” with evil energy just like that with no outside forces intervening, especially not in this universe. Saberblade’s theory of them being spurred on by Wiseman/Death Phantom is still just that: a theory. We’re given no indication that he or anyone else was responsible for this “evil energy” precisely because the explanation is so vague and short. Made even worse by the fact that Wiseman/Phantom’s origins are completely unknown in the 90’s anime, for all we know he’s strictly from Nemesis and was only “activated” once inhabitants came to settle there, in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the Nemesis equivalent to what Metallia is supposed to be in the anime - i.e. toxic sunspots originating from the Sun’s atmosphere.

So what on earth could cause the ancestors of the BMC to rise up and begin rebelling against Crystal Tokyo in the first place? It can’t be due to the immortality clause like in the manga since we’re never given any reason to think that exists in the 90’s anime (Chibi-Usa’s age and all) and if Wiseman/Death Phantom is an entity produced from Nemesis and can only be activated on Nemesis like I suspect it can’t be him either.

Sorry but the whole “cleansing of evil energy” still reads racial to me, especially with how the silhouettes of their ancestors are presented as during the flashback. My first thought for their reasoning was what if the attacks weren’t unprompted and came as a result of NQS demanding they be purified in order to gain Crystal Tokyo citizenship? What if King Endymion is framing it as violent attacks but it actually started out as peaceful protests that simply turned violent? If that’s the case then even their ancestors weren’t necessarily in the wrong and it was their right to remain however they came about (born that way? Are they a different race like the shadow silhouettes suggest?) rather than be forced to undergo a cleansing/purification process. They’d be fighting for their equal rights without being forced to change in order to obtain those rights, which is a perfectly reasonable justification in my eyes.

In fact if one really looks at the situation the whole “forced cleansing/purification” thing has allusions to our current dilemma of Police Brutality going on in America. NQS and King Endymion blatantly act like cops in that flashback with how they deal with the original BMC - no attempt at talks are given, no due process in a Court Of Law, just plain brute force of subduing them with “cleansing/purification.” What if the ancestors of the BMC had legitimate gripes when NQS came into power and we’re being fed a narrative of “violent attacks” when they were the 30th Century equivalent to Black Lives Matter and they were simply demanding their equal rights but were getting pushback? We’ll never know because their story is told in just vague and broad strokes which is precisely the problem with it - I’ll just say this though, the fact that our heroes are forcing their descendants to pay for crimes they didn’t commit all while forcibly stripping them of their innate powers/features and culture in exchange for clean air to breathe and tolerable soil conditions for food to grow isn’t a great look. How they deal with the descendants of those “criminals” in the aftermath just makes me believe more and more that the root of the original conflict was a racial/discrimination issue after all. Maybe if the forced “cleansing” of the powers of the Sisters wasn’t required I would think otherwise but here we are.

To add insult to injury not only are they pretty much blackmailing the BMC to willingly disable themselves but they’re also essentially leaving them defenseless. Those powers are what they use to fight back to be able protect themselves, are they just supposed to entrust their very safety to the Senshi at all times? We’ve seen how well that turned out, Saphir might have been able to live if the Sisters had kept their powers and came along to help. We also see that as the seasons pass the Sisters are basically persona non-grata forgotten and can’t rely on the Senshi to be there to protect them at all times if ever the need may be, they’re pretty much on their own now completely helpless and defenseless (which even they angst about during Saphir’s death episode).

Now you could argue this isn’t an issue because all regular humans in Sailor Moon and powerless and have to rely on the Senshi to protect them so how is this any different? But the thing is the Sisters did have powers and could fight to protect themselves, and stripping someone of that innate ability to defend themselves and forcing them to rely on others - especially what’s essentially an oppressed population who always had to rely and trust only in themselves cause no one in Crystal Tokyo ever cared to at least try to rectify the situation - is problematic to say the least.

TD;LR: The reveal that their ancestors might have been fully human and the “cleansing” was in reference to evil energy rather than any non-human features changes very little for me, I still have a million and one issues with how the BMC’s story is handled in the 90’s anime. The fact of the matter remains is that irregardless of what their ancestors originally might’ve been the BMC we see now obviously aren’t human anymore and have essentially “mutated” into a new race, yet they’re still being punished for that and being asked to give up a part of themselves that’s all they ever knew simply in exchange for decent shelter, food and air - basic human rights and needs - on account of crimes they didn’t even commit. I’m sorry but no one can convince me that’s right or ethical.


And isn't it stated that they were still willing to consider less forceful ways until Wiseman manipulated them towards all out war?
Yes, look at the flashback to when Demande and Saphir were kids, do those look like “innately evil” boys to you? Of course not, they were just children, normal innocent children who were dreaming of a better life and had no idea what they were even being punished for.

It’s disturbing that anyone could think sweet kids like that could be “innately evil” simply because of the people and culture they were born into. (Something that again was foisted on them and started by NQS when she chose use of force rather than try to peacefully rehabilitate their ancestors to begin with)

The tale of the anime BMC is a real tragedy all around and those kids were always victims who never got a chance.


That alone implies that they aren't just "evil" even when full of dark energy and that despite the influence of the Malefic Black Crystal were capable of moral choices, Heck Saphir basically cleansed himself, and Demande was able to begin turning a new leaf without being purified. But, no...they can't help being bad because of the evil force that powers them.
Yes, yes, it does. Forget just Demande and Saphir we can already see it with the Sisters once they decided to change and be good - and mind you this was before they got “cleansed” of their powers, it’s not like they only saw the light once Sailor Moon “Refreshed” them, they had already turned good even with their powers still intact, so why couldn’t they stay that way? Why wasn’t it enough for the Senshi that they simply renounce their previous ways, discard the toxic earrings and promise to turn over a new leaf? Why did they need to get rid of their in-born powers in the process?


In a twisted sense, maybe the Sisters died in the 90's anime as well. Given that they were changed into humans and given a new mindset, they might not even be the same people as they once were in a meaningful manner.
I don’t think this really applies personality wise because we can see the innate nature of their character even pre-Refresh when they’re willing to change even while their powers intact.

But in terms of physicality and culture? Yeah, it’s not far off to say that they were essentially white-washed and forced to assimilate into the dominate culture in order to be accepted. That’s the message their “redemption” ultimately sends, assimilate or else.
 
Likes: Nadia
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I kind of get the impression that the original intent behind it was meant to be an analogy for substance abuse, and that the removal of the Dark Power from within the sisters was them purging their systems of the harmful foreign substance that was coursing through their bodies and influencing them to act sadistic and malicious.

After all, this was the early '90s when the War on Drugs was at its peak.
 
Likes: MsImagination
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I kind of get the impression that the original intent behind it was meant to be an analogy for substance abuse, and that the removal of the Dark Power from within the sisters was them purging their systems of the harmful foreign substance that was coursing through their bodies and influencing them to act sadistic and malicious.

After all, this was the early '90s when the War on Drugs was at its peak.
They had the war in drugs in Japan?
 
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Nadia

Aurorae Lunares
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I kind of get the impression that the original intent behind it was meant to be an analogy for substance abuse, and that the removal of the Dark Power from within the sisters was them purging their systems of the harmful foreign substance that was coursing through their bodies and influencing them to act sadistic and malicious.

After all, this was the early '90s when the War on Drugs was at its peak.
The original intent might have been the idea of a corrupting influence in general as that isn't just common in folklore...but substance abuse, specifically? I'm skeptical.

Plus, as @imaginationgirl just alluded to, the War on Drugs was a very, very American thing and there are lot of aspects of a substance abuse analogy that are missing here.
 
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Y’know funnily enough Manga/Crystal Saphir is sorta like Mengele, psychotic mad scientist who’s attached to nothing but his Droids and research and can go from spooky eerily calm to crazed maniac at a moment’s notice? Yeah sounds like a fitting comparison to me. :P


I kind of get the impression that the original intent behind it was meant to be an analogy for substance abuse, and that the removal of the Dark Power from within the sisters was them purging their systems of the harmful foreign substance that was coursing through their bodies and influencing them to act sadistic and malicious.
I could see this comparison fitting the effect the Black Crystal had on them with the earrings and what-not (plus Petz’s rod painting a perfect picture of what it looks like to overdose on steroids), but as far as their innate powers not from the Crystal goes? Y’know the ones they were literally born with? The analogy isn’t even close.
 
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