Naoko Takeuchi Da Vinci Magazine interview (February 2021)

  • This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn more.
Feb 20, 2023
239
707
665
#21
This mightn't be a reach - Takeuchi might've insisted to have her reprising the role, like she insisted Sawai to play the role in PGSM back then. :)
PGSM also had Keiko Han, who voiced a version of Luna Takeuchi disliked, and that's why I think it's a reach to relate Takeuchi's fondness of voice actors as people to how she feels about the characters they've played.
 

Saturius

Luna Crescens
Jun 13, 2011
154
67
65
#22
Rather then start a new thread, I'd like to ask a question that this interview made me think about.

Takeuchi mentions how rushed she was and how she just didn't have time to properly flesh out characters and story as much as she would like. Is there any reason why Sailor Moon isn't as padded like other well known manga like Cardcaptor Sakura, DragonBall etc etc. I like that Sailor Moon is a brief story that didn't have a gazillion chapters, but what's the history or story behind why it had to be the length that it was?

Was it because she was too new as a creator to get more? Spacing issues in the magazine? I guess I just don't get why she couldn't make a 20 part arc 1, a 30 part arc 2 or some other combination. I'm sure some of you may know the reason that was revealed over the years. Just curious.
 

Mathiwn

Luna Crescens
Feb 20, 2021
154
353
165
29
#23
Rather then start a new thread, I'd like to ask a question that this interview made me think about.

Takeuchi mentions how rushed she was and how she just didn't have time to properly flesh out characters and story as much as she would like. Is there any reason why Sailor Moon isn't as padded like other well known manga like Cardcaptor Sakura, DragonBall etc etc. I like that Sailor Moon is a brief story that didn't have a gazillion chapters, but what's the history or story behind why it had to be the length that it was?

Was it because she was too new as a creator to get more? Spacing issues in the magazine? I guess I just don't get why she couldn't make a 20 part arc 1, a 30 part arc 2 or some other combination. I'm sure some of you may know the reason that was revealed over the years. Just curious.
If I understand it correctly, she didn't have time because the pressure was for her to wrap up the arcs before/right during the time the anime arcs were ending. CLAMP, for example, took many years to wrap up the twelve-volume cardcaptor sakura arc, and they're a team of 4.

If there needed to be 30 chapters for each arc, monthly, it'd take 30 months for it to wrap up, longer than each anime arc.
 
Feb 8, 2021
4,165
2,403
1,665
35
www.deviantart.com
#24
If I understand it correctly, she didn't have time because the pressure was for her to wrap up the arcs before/right during the time the anime arcs were ending. CLAMP, for example, took many years to wrap up the twelve-volume cardcaptor sakura arc, and they're a team of 4.

If there needed to be 30 chapters for each arc, monthly, it'd take 30 months for it to wrap up, longer than each anime arc.
CLAMP took 2 years before CCS got adapted into Anime.
 
Likes: Mathiwn
Jul 29, 2012
7,784
5,741
1,665
#25
CLAMP took 2 years before CCS got adapted into Anime.
Nanase Ohkawa certainly must have needed time to turn the manga into an anime of 70 episodes. And I think it’s good that CLAMP took time to think about how to adapt CCS.

The X/1999 film came out the same year CCS made its debut, in 1996, and the Rayearth OVA came out in 1997.
 
Feb 20, 2023
239
707
665
#26
Yes, I think it's because of the way Takeuchi developed Sailor Moon that she also mentions in this interview. If she had just gone with the plan to adapt Sailor V, she would have had a head start and maybe could have taken it more slowly, like how other mangakas do when their work is adapted, but she insisted on creating a new story on the spot, and specifically one with many characters and plot elements, all while having to pump it out as fast as possible to allow the anime to continue.

I guess you could say she just aimed too high from the start and she was bound to become overwhelmed sooner or later, but I'm glad she did so because while I like Sailor V, to me Sailor Moon elevates that story and, much like Osabu, I feel like its fast pace and the often vague backstories can even be seen as positives in how they make the manga more mysterious and fun to theorize about. Plus like Takeuchi says we still have the anime (and now PGSM, musicals, etc.) to pick up the slack for some things she couldn't do, so in the long run the way her manga is told has allowed different adaptations to continue to be creative.
 
Feb 8, 2021
4,165
2,403
1,665
35
www.deviantart.com
#28
Nanase Ohkawa certainly must have needed time to turn the manga into an anime of 70 episodes. And I think it’s good that CLAMP took time to think about how to adapt CCS.

The X/1999 film came out the same year CCS made its debut, in 1996, and the Rayearth OVA came out in 1997.
Clamp Campus Detectives Anime came out in 1997.
 

Rika-Chicchi

Staff member
Site Admin
May 7, 2009
43,643
6,751
1,665
#30
This mightn't be a reach - Takeuchi might've insisted to have her reprising the role, like she insisted Sawai to play the role in PGSM back then. :)
PGSM also had Keiko Han, who voiced a version of Luna Takeuchi disliked, and that's why I think it's a reach to relate Takeuchi's fondness of voice actors as people to how she feels about the characters they've played.
While I was using the same word "reach," I wasn't referring to your previous post containing that word, but to my own comment following that hyphen, i.e. "Takeuchi might've insisted to have her reprising the role, like she insisted Sawai to play the role in PGSM back then" - sorry for the confusion.
 
Feb 20, 2023
239
707
665
#31
Just wanted to say thanks for providing this! Rare to hear from Takeuchi and a very interesting interview.
I'm glad you enjoyed it! I think it might be the most insightful interview she's given, so I don't understand why it hadn't been translated to English yet, I figured everyone would be all over it. I hope she does a similar interview after Cosmos premiere.

While I was using the same word "reach," I wasn't referring to your previous post containing that word, but to my own comment following that hyphen, i.e. "Takeuchi might've insisted to have her reprising the role, like she insisted Sawai to play the role in PGSM back then" - sorry for the confusion.
Ah, that makes sense, thanks for clarifying. I think the "mightn't" threw me off, lol.
 
Feb 8, 2021
4,165
2,403
1,665
35
www.deviantart.com
#32
Usagi makes a brief cameo in the manga. :usagi:
Yes, she does, she is a background character.
Miyuki of Miyuki chan even resembles Minako.
 
Last edited:
Jun 17, 2019
2,191
3,281
1,665
31
#33
People without gender often appear in the story, like Haruka Tenoh, who has both genders
Welp there you have it, Naoko Takeuchi confirming in big bright bold letters that Manga Haruka was always intended to be non-binary, unless this is just another mistranslation and she really means Haruka having both feminine and masculine qualities, not literally being both genders/sexes.

You see that? @MariaTenebre nobody was trying to make Haruka anything, we’re just repeating what Naoko said on the matter and so far all interview and in-canon text translations of the manga support the theory that Naoko did indeed intend for her Haruka to be some sort of androgynous/intersex person.

With that being said this does seem to contradict Naoko’s previous often reported statement that only women can be Senshi, perhaps this was just a rumor as well? After all the existence of Mamoru and his Senshi status in the manga certainly proves as much, I wonder if this long-standing rumor came about due to Naoko being upset at the Starlights gender changing in the anime? I think it’s clear now she wasn’t so much upset because she feels only full cis women can be Senshi but probably because she considered it an attempt at “straightening” out the SeiUsa ship and she wanted it as a full-fledged lesbian pairing rather than just a general queer one.


Speaking of the Four Heavenly Kings, something happened in the 90s anime, where Zoisite was changed a bit. He was made to be more feminine and, in this version, he loved Kunzite. This was impressive to me.
Does this mean she doesn’t have a distaste for queer men after all or is this just PR speak? Her actions certainly contradict her words with the way she deleted pretty much any semblance of queerness from the men in the manga.


I think that means she envisions anime Haruka as what we call non-binary, not her manga character who has a different, more feminine presentation. Even though it doesn't seem like she would like the usage of "non-binary" even for her anime version.
That doesn’t make sense though considering it’s Manga Haruka who’s described as being both genders while the same is never said about 90’s anime Haruka who firmly identifies as a woman and is just a regular cis butch female.

Just so we're clear, in case anyone still wants to think the manga was aimed at teens.
It is most certainly aimed at an older crowd than the 90’s anime though, that’s just objective fact - even if it’s as little a difference between preschoolers not knowing how to read yet and elementary-schoolers who can.
 
Likes: Mathiwn
Feb 8, 2021
4,165
2,403
1,665
35
www.deviantart.com
#36
Sep 6, 2014
3,264
3,439
1,665
#37
I thought the 90’s anime was also aimed at preschoolers? 4-5 year olds, while the manga was more like 6 & up, maybe 8+.
The anime is aimed at 4-12 year old girls. It's not just preschool but all the way to the end of elementary school. The anime may go slightly lower since it doesn't require basic reading skills but they're still both largely target at young girls
 
Jun 17, 2019
2,191
3,281
1,665
31
#38
The anime is aimed at 4-12 year old girls. It's not just preschool but all the way to the end of elementary school. The anime may go slightly lower since it doesn't require basic reading skills but they're still both largely target at young girls
Right but that 4-5 year old age group that’s included in the 90’s anime targeted demographic is still different from the manga’s 6-13 targeted range. (8-13? I’m honestly not even sure if Naoko meant the manga is appropriate for even literal 1st graders but more just the middle and upper elementary grades)

It’s not a big difference mind you but it’s still the difference between what Naoko was allowed to get away with in the manga compared to what Toei could do in the anime.
 
Feb 20, 2023
239
707
665
#39
Does this mean she doesn’t have a distaste for queer men after all or is this just PR speak? Her actions certainly contradict her words with the way she deleted pretty much any semblance of queerness from the men in the manga.
But she didn't delete anything. You're speaking as if she took the plot from the anime and and changed it to get rid of "male queerness" when it was the anime that added those traits to the base story of the manga, which is what came first. In this very interview she says that she appreciates how the 90s anime could develop characters she couldn't and praises the Amazon Trio.

In short a Millenial Show.
:lol:
 
Feb 8, 2021
4,165
2,403
1,665
35
www.deviantart.com
#40