Nostalgia Critic Takes a Stab at “Sailor Moon”

Agreed. My definition namely drew using Google’s “define:” search feature as well as my personal exposure to the magical girl genre, all of which namely included women fighting. This particular definition does better apply to Sailor Moon and is essential to my response.

….You guys realize that Nostalgia Critic is a CHARACTER, right? Not a guy just…being an asshole because he can?

I think his review would’ve been better if he had one of the anime reviewers on to counter his opinions. He kept complaining about the reused footage, of course there’s going to be reused footage it was made on a budget like most other shows that were being shown at that time and even today.

Um……It’s just a show

For god’s sake, the nostalgia critic is a comedian, not a reviewer, the fact that you want someone like that to be fair and un-biased makes you the moron. And the fact that someone is an idiot because you only saw a few videos of him makes you a bigger moron

It was a comical review. A satire. He brought up valid points about an anime he isn’t too crazy about. I liked it as a kid and as an adult I still like it but I can acknowledge the flaws. Plus, at the end he said that he gets why people like it and that its harmless. If you didn’t like he’s review or you thought it wasn’t funny that’s fine, but no need to be offended by a review made for comedic purposes only.

You do realize Doug Walker isn’t NC and he plays a character, right? While some opinions he may share, they don’t reflect what he does and all. As someone who loved Sailor Moon too, I saw where he came from. I think you took him a little TOO seriously. Nice opinion but uh, calm down. Its okay!

Satire is meant to break down powerful institutions and people. Satire is not an excuse to mock those who are constantly oppressed by said powerful institutions. Women (and other marginalized groups) are already mocked in a non-satirical sense; they don’t need to be TOLD “haha it’s funny because I’m mocking the people who make fun of you by parroting the things they tell you every day.”

Also Doug Walker (IRL) seems to love intelligent debate. Giving thought to understanding an opposite point of view and respond to it, calmly and rationally is exactly the kind of thing that moves society forward. People need to be able to both disagree, debate and respect each other while doing it. I can’t give you enough props for doing just that.

except that, you know, the people that requested it, might have been expecting just what he did, since that is the character… if they wanted a more contextualized analisis then they shouldn’t have requested it to him. and it’s not a negative attitude either, that’s like saying that tarantino is a violent person, it is made for entertainment purposes.
you are taking a funny over-the-top commentary way too seriously.

The Nostalgia Critic didn’t watch the entire series. He was critiquing the first season as an outsider.

Chill out article. A majority of the points he makes are exaggerations. he admits he only saw a portion of the show, admits he doesn’t know everything that happens later and states that he does hear that sailor moon does become a better character over time. It’s just a comedic review and that’s it. Besides, who the hell can find out all of this information on the show in a week, let alone the information on the manga, creator interviews and anime terms. It’s fine to make those points, but acknowledge the fact he did it for fun and not to knock the show down a peg.

Yeah we can. I found the show hilarious.

Everyone should just chill out and watch some Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged.

LOL BUTTHURT ANIME FANS <3

Because Critic should ALWAYS be taken seriously.

His word is law.

Did you hear about that guy who beat up Bugs Bunny and shit on his face?

What an animal abusing dick.

Wow. Yeah, as a Sailor Moon fan, I enjoyed this review. Yes, I did see a lot of things wrong with it, but the NC is suppose to rag on everything he sees. Doug Walker, he man behind NC, says he sees nothing WRONG with the show itself. It’s meant to be funny, lighten up.

He also makes fun of guys and how they think with their dicks. He is also respectful of the cultural differences between Japan and America. If was really ‘mocking’ women, he would have said a lot worse but he’s too smart for that.

She’s not picking a fight with him. She has an opinion different from his and that’s fine. If Doug is reading this then I’m sure he applauds that someone is voicing their interpretation of the show. This allows both parties to learn and grow respectively and to get a deeper understanding of the show, other issues that the show brings u p, and of themselves.

DUDE…. are you joyless? (don’t answer I’m being sarcastic 😉 )

I’m going to raise a point that hasn’t been brought up yet. Doug Walker (Nostalgia Critic) is not a watcher of anime. He isn’t very familiar with the art form and thus has to come at any anime he intends to review from an outsider perspective. So when he chose to review Sailor Moon it should be noted that he isn’t familiar with anime so he shouldn’t be judged for “not knowing better” when, clearly, Sailor Moon has a lot of anime stereotypes and tropes that define anime. And that stuff baffles many American non-watchers. It’s a different medium for him and he did a great job stating the good in it as well as pointing out what he didn’t understand. This article seems to have missed the joke. That’s why he reviewed it in the first place.
“Put a helmet on!”

only problem is the author of this article did not watch NC’s review with objective ears, and therefore can’t have an educated debate over the issue

Annnnnnnd Doug just linked this to his page…

He still can. His point of view is that of an outsider; in this case, someone who doesn’t know much about anime, Japanese culture, Japanese history, etc. As such, his view of this show matches many of those who have not seen it and would find Sailor Moon foreign and strange. If an understanding between Doug and this author can be achieved then there’s a chance that other outsiders can learn from this as well.

The other reason the PSA was at the end of each episode was from the
amount of censored material they just omitted. And there are episodes
they just flat out didn’t bother censoring, like the summer vacation one
where they are all in bikinis.

Not to be rude, but the intent an author may have with a show can be lost among the audience. Especially if that audience is from another country which is comprised of people who think that most things that come out of Japan is weird to begin with. And even if she came over and said: “This show is for girls”, people would still have their own opinions on the matter as they may not be able to see all the good the show can do or just don’t understand how it could be.

It came from the perspective of someone unfamiliar with Sailor Moon and anime in general. You clearly know nothing about Doug or the NC if you think he is sexist.

Another thing to consider is that he was going off of the dub by DiC entertainment, and even said in the video that he didn’t get very far. In the case of the English, there’s bound to be some things that we’re conducive to the overarching story that weren’t present in the dub. Another thing to consider is that, like so many other commenter have pointed out, he was coming at it from an outsider perspective. That’s part of the comedy of the Nostalgia Critic, pointing out the flaws to things we overlook because of NOSTALGIA! Also, to respond to the “reused footage” issue, just because it’s a staple of the genre doesn’t necessary mean it’s good. There are series that have attacks like Sailor Moon that were able to avoid the trope, such as Slayers and the first season of Sorcerous Stabber Orphen.

Thinking I’ve been watching the show a bit longer then you have. Maybe I’m not Japanese but I know enough about they’re animation. Nostalgia Critic, never said anything bad about the shows was drawn. You seem to “blatantly perpetuates a negative attitude that needs to be responded. Only thought I felt he missed was the bad voice acting!

Love Sailor Moon, have the set and Sailor V only 2 also.

Something does not have to outwardly malicious to be sexist, though. I agree that it was intended to be a joke but it was a sexist joke. Slut shaming is still a real problem in society so calling an underage girl a slut so casually is just adding to the problem. I know very well that he makes fun of everyone but the problem is that humor does not exist in a vacuum. Some of the people he makes fun of are minorities. Jokes at their (well, our too) expense just further trends that disrespect them in larger society. Granted, Critic has been better about this in the past but he just dropped the ball on this one.

Sounds like someone has a case of “selective hearing”.

Nostalgia Critic is a character. Have you seen other Nostalgia Critic reviews? He is supposed to be harsh on everything and nit pick all the flaws.

When it’s the show that does the sexualizing, it is the shows problem, secondly, Serena’s intelligence was a joke, at least in the seasons I watched as a child, even though she was the main character, the was also the comedic relief, if you think what he said was insulting, well you might need to culture yourself a bit, because it was not nearly as bad as it could have been, and was also true, thirdly, your going to have to explain your view of slut shaming, because if your the type that defends a woman getting mad at a man looking at the woman in a mini skirt that hardly hides anything, well that’s a separate argument

If you look for sexism in everything you’re bound to find it, yes it is a real problem but perpetuating like this doesn’t help anything

Ooh, Doug linked this on facebook. I’M GETTING POPCOOOORN! I wanna see where the flames go! …Does this make an asshole? I suppose it does. Oh well!

Yeah, I heard about that guy who took a dump on Bugs Bunny. What was he thinking?! And why would you have to beat him up first? It’s a confusing rule. I’d rather get trampled by a raging buffalo than have to follow that logic.

*takes a sip from some Rolling Rock*

To be fair, he did say good things about Gargoyles. And Double Dare. And Follow That Bird. And SATAM. And Turtles Forever. And a handful of his top 11 lists and Old vs New videos.

Not bad. I think that was a good response to Doug’s response to Sailor Moon. And Doug likes it, so I guess we’re all good 🙂 Also I’m glad no one went all nuttymadame.

An argument about whether Sailor Moon is a good anime or not? Just when I thought the 90’s were over.

And if you see that the NC’s remarks as totally sexist and without merit then that is on you more than him. The reason it “Largely ignores why the show is appealing and empowering for women” is because he wasn’t trying to give a fair and unbiased, honest review. He was putting on a comedy show…or was the part where he hired a guy called “Dr.Hack” to create a formula for television to make him rich and famous too subtle? He pointed out the flaws, made jokes about the obvious sexual depiction, and hyper female traits of the scouts within the show. but in the same ‘review’ (which it still isn’t).

He also pointed out that the characters were indeed a decent batch of characters, the show, while not great, wasn’t actively hurting viewers and was somewhat of a good show for women (he even does make a mention that the show can be quite empowering showing such a ‘normal’ character being so empowered. He even mocks the Americanized version for its incredible homophobic reaction to those two scouts. The ‘review’ is mixed, if you ask me. On one hand it does use the word slut a few times..but on the other hand it does make fun of the sexualized attire of the 14 year old scouts, the homophobia the american version, does bring to light several rather damning points about the sex trade in Japan, and mentions that the show can actually be empowering…

So yeah, I take it back. The ‘review’ (which it still isn’t) isn’t a mixed thing with balanced good and bad points. It is mostly good points, but with the one bad point is that he used the word slut a few times.

Just my two cents, you are of course entitled to your opinion, but I am equally entitled to think it incorrect and offer my own.

It generally is not an interesting thing to say, “It’s just…” when discussing pop culture. We all know it is just a show, we all have decided to care for the purposes of discussion, and arguing about the nuances of this sort of product acts as a proxy for arguing about bigger issues (like say, Feminism, the Serialization of Young Women, and the difference between a Good Character and a Character that is a Good Role Model).

It is like going to see “Pacific Rim” and complaining that there are giant robots. By having the discussion you are buying into giving a shit rather than being dismissive.

so you’d rather remove the comedy from the comedy show and replace it with a simple discussion as to why Sailor Moon is good? Errr, gunna have to disagree with that sentiment.

There is a time and a place for a mature, balanced, and unbiased review of Sailor moon and it’s topics such as female sexuality, gender roles, empowerment, ect. But I do not feel it should be on the shoulders of a character such as the NC to deliver that. Within that ‘review’ (which it isn’t, it is a comedy show the same way the Daily show isn’t a news show) he hired a man named “Dr,Hack” to create for him a formula for television to make him rich and famous, had a flash back to having an argument with his penis, which ended with his penis pulling a gun on him and shooting him. This is a character that was constantly besieged by the burger king, casper the friendly ghost, a bum looking for change, his floor, and murdered by a ‘spooky’ balloon.

Part of the humour in his show is that he DOESN’T understand why something is the way it is. With understanding comes familiarity, and with that it does not breed for good comedy. Even if he did bring on one of the other reviewers on the site, such as JesuOtaku, the review likely would not have been changed very much but rather would have had the anime reviewer playing as comedic straight man to the NC’s over reactions.

Good article, I just feel as if the anger here is slightly misplaced.

This article also proved to be incredibly biased itself too.

The main character in the beginning at least is at best a complete airhead who literally goes shopping so she doesn’t think of her terrible grades…and the outfits are pretty slutty including panty shots of 14 year old girls that had no point other than to sexual them for the male audience. So nothing in that description was in fact false. And just because you target one gender in an audience doesn’t mean you ignore the other gender. Hence why guys in action movies tend to lose their shirts all the time. Also making fun of the obvious fan service isn’t objectifying anything.

Likely he meant fanboys.

The point being made was the article writer intentionally adds and tries to spin everything as some great example of feminism and brilliant female writing. Sometimes a spade is a spade. And a dumb shallow main character is just dumb and shallow. While sometimes dressing 14 year old girls in miniskirts that basically give constant panty shots is just obvious sexualization to attract the other gender.

Budget is not an excuse for being bad. It’s an explanation that lets us know the creators weren’t idiots, but it doesn’t make the show good. If all you have is blue paint, you don’t attempt to paint a portrait and pass it off as generic or mainstream, even if what you make is good. Objectively, it doesn’t make the art any better. It just gives us a fuzzy feeling. Heck, most things would be better if you threw a few million dollars more into it.

The phrase, “Um… It’s just a (whatever)” doesn’t add anything. If that is all you have to say, then don’t bother. He isn’t refuting either, he isn’t saying anything. It is a waste of space.

I think it’s perfectly valid to present the other side of the argument, because a lot of people who are not too familiar with Sailor Moon probably don’t realize a lot of the underlying themes involved in the series. Yes, to an outsider the costumes probably look like they are for male gratification. Here is why, if you look a little deeper, that is not the case. Yes, to an outsider, the main character seems hopelessly inept and cowardly. Here are reasons why that is actually a positive thing.

This is not an insult to NC or the guy behind it. He admits himself that he was not a fan of the show, thus probably was not aware of these things. This article fills in the blanks. There is no reason for all you NC fans to be upset. You got your jokes, now here is the real truth.

Actually, there are lots of reasons for them to wear those uniforms. They are designed after the very same sailor school uniforms that a real 14-year-old girl would wear, but made more compact and lighter for ease of movement, much like a gymnast or figure skater. We could easily get into a similar argument about why western super heroes traditionally wear leotards instead of body armor. In the Sailor V manga, there was even a joke where she tries to wear full-plate armor instead, and falls over because it’s too heavy to move in. And, despite how short the skirts are, the up-skirt shots are pretty minimal compared to many other anime series–the animators kind of went out of their way to keep the skirts in place.

Yes, of course it’s a little bit sexy, but the costumes were designed by a woman, reflecting what she would have wanted to see a super hero wear when she was a teenager. So while men might find them sexually appealing, that is not the original purpose of the costumes at all.

while usually is does, I believe is means “attempt to insult” in this case

I think you may want to read over the article again, because I don’t believe it is as accusatory as you seem to think. She said that NC had “concerns” over the sexualization of teenage girls. At no point does it accuse Doug himself of being sexist.

He was critiquing the first episode and tried to pass it off as seeing more. That’s the problem.

Not entirely true. Doug Walker has gone on-record in a video once stating that all views and opinions given by the Nostalgia Critic are of that of the character he portrays and that his character generally portrays the perspective of the general viewers. He has gone on to explain that he has his own views and opinions and that a some films he has torn apart as the NC he personally likes.

To be quite honest I think this entire article is taking things waaaaay to seriously.

Naah, just ignore it, it’ll disappear like all fads do.

Are you a moron?

The Nostalgia Critic is played by Doug Walker. Where on earth would you get the idea that he was played by John Travolta?!

You guys realize 1. the Nostalgia critic is a character. 2 He is allowed to not like something. 3. I’m a woman and never got into the show as a kid, but I do not knock other people who like it. He also says in the review that he can see why it was popular it just didn’t appeal to him.

Fangirls then. That’s just nitpicking.

T
I love Miyazaki’s work too, but to be fair, he does recycle a whole bunch of tropes, the most prevalent of which being the enviromental message in most of his films.

You know this show was originally made for japanese businessmen, right?

really?
care to explain?

You both are great: NC and the author of this review. ^^

I don’t remember him saying “slutty” but he made a good point that the skirts is for sex appeal and these are young girls. The point is that NC is a character that went into from the perceptive of someone who’s not a hardcore fan. He even said he gets why it was popular but it just wasn’t for him

It’s not tfirst time he’s seen anime. He watches the Miyazaki movies and has said to have watched Cowboy Bebop

As someone who doesn’t really care about Sailor Moon? This is a good response And all these Nostalgia Critic fans need to chill. When you have a voice that reaches a certain number of people, you need to understand that your opinion will spawn other opinions.

Angelic Noir isn’t “butthurt”, she’s responding in an adult manner. She didn’t insult or mock his opinion, she merely disagreed. She’s showing that its okay that he didn’t like it, but its also not okay to misrepresent the show. She managed to stand up for a favorite show of hers without being a typical “internet person” about it, and I’m okay with that.

Great article Angie.

because it was the 90’s.

It’s a show. He’s supposed to make stabs and snide comments about shows. If he did a review as himself, I’m sure he’d give much more credit.
Even on some reviews where he makes fun of the movie, he says in commentary or later on that he does actually like it, in complete opposite to the NC.
Look at his Facebook post, he’s obviously being more mature than an anime fangirl.

He’s mostly does the reviews for the jokes.

I personally thought the show was stupid, nothing as good as anime series that I consider better, such as Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, and hell, even Inuyasha is better. I think people are making a bit too much of a big deal out of a anime.

I also found the nostalgia critic review for this show to be very funny, and that’s the thing that I think some people don’t understand. In the critic’s top 11 fucks videp part 3, he stated that he’s mostly here to make jokes.

Doug Walker, AKA the Nostalgia Critic: “I’m here to make jokes. Calm the fuck down.” I really think more people should take this advice when they are somewhat offended by one of his reviews.

Well, the stupid anime fans.

Well, I think the Transformers movies would have been worse with less money, and probably a bit better with more money.

The first Transformers movie has a higher IMDB rating than Sailor Moon. That’s not indicative of total consent, and I am even a little surprised. But “I like it” =/= Effective. Some people love Transformers, some people love Sailor Moon. My distaste for both is irrelevant to this. The fact is, being broke doesn’t make everything you produce better.

Good article, though for some reason I do feel like malice was assumed that Doug himself never tends to suggest. He has such a tight schedule making these videos that he had to go to bi-weekly on the main vids just to have a chance, and that probably cuts into his research time. (It’d be better if he got Marzgurl or JesuOtaku involved with this, of course, but who knows what THEIR schedule is?) So he could only possibly have gotten an impression at best.

But the thing is, I personally never saw this show as empowering. Blame my tomboy self, but I never really got into this. And the whole Tuxedo Mask thing bothered the hell out of me to the point that I never DID give this show a chance, which if you’re right means I never got to see Serena pay TM back. (The fact that I never really ‘got’ anime style was also a thing.)

Maybe that’s my loss.

haha well what can I say my grammar is not always perfect I’ll be more aware in the future

Glad to know I’m not the only one who liked both the NC review (though I’ll admit I winced a few times he got stuff wrong) and this article ^_^

It’s a cartoon, not life. Maybe you should learn to take a joke?

If you’re even capable of thinking someone’s made-up opinions on a cartoon can be in “poor taste” maybe you shouldn’t be allowed to watch anime. It’s obviously becoming a disturbing obsession.

Pah, Cardcaptor Sakura was the superior series in terms of magical girling.

I was reading some of the comments and some people are getting too mad. nostalgia Critic fans and Sailor Moon fans are being ridiculous. There are these things called opinions. Look it up.

Now, I don’t really like Sailor Moon but I can see both sides of the argument here. Doug made a lot of really good points but angelicnoir also made a lot of good counter points. Doug not really being a fan of anime and not knowing a lot about Japanese culture means he didn’t know much about what he was talking about. All he could really do was just review the show for what it really is. But, now we have someone who does watch anime and does know about Japanese culture so it’s a good,valid argument going on. Just accept Doug’s and angelicnoir’s opinion and get over it.

Also, whoever said that “Dr.Hack” was a jab at Spoony obviously did not get the joke. The joke was a jab at people who come up with these stupid ideas that somehow become huge hits. I didn’t know that people actually didn’t get the joke. It’s not a joke that is hard to understand.

Also, money does not a good movie make.

Lack of money does not make a good movie, inherently, either.

It does add something because the article clearly tries to portray it as more than a show and refuses to take anything at face value.

…I love that someone else remembers Sorcerous Stabber Orphen. I think, though that it really comes down to budget. Did Sailor Moon have a bigger budget than Slayers and Sourcerous Stabber Orphen? No idea, but it’s very likely, at least, that the budget for Sailor Moon was going elsewhere, and while it’s not really able to be said that it’s GOOD that they reused footage, I think a bit of slack can be cut for it, based on that knowledge 😛

That was already my starting point. I don’t make a habit out of watching dubs unless they’re parodies.

Not true- Doug’s said multiple times that the critic’s opinions are the common opinions of those who are critical of whatever he’s watching, plus whatever jokes he can come up with. There are movies he ripped apart as the Critic that he actually likes- but for the sake of the show he still ripped them apart.

Over-the-top skimpy? Hardly, their outfits are no more revealing than a figure skater or a female gymnast!

True, but I don’t recall female gymnasts having to wear mini-skirts the size of an average belt.

The outfits in Sailor Moon are not practical like the leotard of an athlete, they are just skimpy for the sake of it. Or do you know any purpose for them except for fanservice?

1.: I was exaggerating for the sake of humour. Which is something many people in this thread do not seem to get.

2.: When do people in jobs that require physical agility wear mini-skirts? Why would they not wear pants (which provide more comfortability) or armour (which provides more protection)? I mean, they are fighting evil monsters, why don’t they cover their skin a bit more? That seems like the logical solution, not a mini-skirt.

3.: A university-decree doesn’t make you uncriticisable. And whilst this is most definitely a matter of taste, I am merely demonstrating my own taste here.

I’ve heard he’s apparently a fan of Death Note too.

Once the Naru-romance-with-a-villain subplot starts to appear, then it begins to pick up a bit. (Unless you wanna skip that sadness all together and just start watching when Jupiter appears)

I’m currently marathoning the Japanese dub with my boyfriend and that’s what it feels like. Keep in mind that the formulaic elements never really “leave” the show, but you do get more variety the further you go into it.

Alright, thanks. 🙂

I might give it a second chance once I’m done with Dragon Ball, then. (Another oldie I haven’t properly watched yet.)

(I wrote a reply once already.but it seems to have vanished in to thin air…)

1. OK well sorry, but as you prefaced it with “True” it was hard to tell if your were actually trying to make a serious counter argument or not.

2. Well I’ve already given the examples of figure skaters who often wear a leotard with a skirt piece attached (which is exactly what the Sailor Senshi wear when they are transformed). They do this of course because it gives them freedom of movement, and the skirt piece ads an air femininity to the outfits and flows well with their movements.

As for trousers and comfort. Many girls do in fact prefer to wear skirts. Personally (and I am female, but I know my username of choice often leads people to think I am male), I find skirts and trousers to be about equal in terms of comfort. In terms of moveability I would say skirts above knee length would win out in all honesty.

There is more modesty in wearing trousers generally but to achieve the same amount of flexibility, the trousers would have to be skintight. Realistically you would be able to see the clear outlines of her thighs and butt. Wouldn’t that kind of defeat the purpose of wearing trousers to cover up?

The point about armor is an interesting one. The Sailor V manga kinda covers this topic, where the main character disguises herself as a Sentai warrior complete with armor, but finds herself to weighed down to be able to do anything useful. Armor is pretty heavy stuff and these are 5ft tall (or thereabouts) girls we are talking about.
Interestingly, in modern fiction, women with super powers or magical powers are rarely equipped with any actual armor (or at least any that would realistically save them from serious injury).

There is also the fact that the fighting in Sailor Moon mostly consists of, twirling, posing and shooting magical projectiles and beams of energy, rather than getting up close with the enemy and physically fighting. It’s a fighting style that is more about being graceful and girly than anything else, hence why I think the figure skater comparison really does work when talking about Sailor Moon.

3. Perhaps, I shouldn’t of said the University Educated part. That wasn’t the main point I wanted to get across, nor was I trying to imply that makes anyone infailable or uncriticisable . It seems to me that lot of the commentors here -perhaps not specifically you- are under the impression Sailor Moon was invented by a man or group of men who put the characters in mini skirts just for sex appeal. I find that kind of attitude kind of maddening. The are many reasons why a girl would wear a mini skirt -for comfort, style, flexibility, to keep cooler on a hot day, and yes sometimes for sex appeal too- but it seems people are focusing on the sex appeal only, ignoring any other possible reason, and acting as if the entire show is some kind of abhorrent fanservice-fest because of it.

Expect I’m not getting mad at men for looking at girls (either myself, other girls or fictional characters) in short skirts, that’s not really the point I am trying to make.I am fully aware that most hetrosexual men will look at girls dressed in a way that they find sexually appealing. I wouldn’t be surprised if many guys started watching the show because they found the girls attractive.
What bothered me was the way the assumption that there is only one reason why the girls (or any girls real of fiction) are dressed like they are and that it is somehow wrong and shameful.
Yes, sometimes girls just want to wear short skirts -maybe for sexual reasons or maybe not- most teenage girls will have a mini skirt or two in their closet. The creator was once a teenage girl too, and it’s not impossible she liked wearing mini skirts at that age too and maybe thought it would be a fun item of clothing to dress her characters in or for what ever reason…. It doesn’t have to have anything to do with objectification.

Okay, everyone saying Naoko Takeuchi chose to draw the girls that way? No, that isn’t what happened. See, she co-created the series alongside Utena creator Kunihiro Ikuhara, who requested that Takeuchi put the girls in tiny schoolgirl skirts because that’s his fetish. She reluctantly agreed, on one condition: He had to let her indulge in her fetish too, that being mysterious men in tuxedos and fancy masquerade masks.

I feel so much like Doug didn’t actually watch the show but just the first episode and skimmed wikipedia for the rest.

oh he was trying to be funny? he wasn’t. I’m a moron for having an opinion! oh my god, it all makes sense now. /sarcasm

I hate to say it, but Usagi/Serena actually really doesn’t seem to change that much as the series progresses. During big fights with the boss she seems to actually be courageous and active, but for the most part it’s the same basic formula over and over.

On the sexuality, I’m sorry but it is still FOURTEEN year old girls being animated this way. Older female characters with these designs don’t show up for a considerable amount of time, and even then it’s very long before they appear more than once every few dozen episodes. Nothing wrong with exploring sexuality, but society tries to make it pretty clear that there are certain age limits you should cross before you start dressing a certain way.

Lastly, just because the Power Rangers do (or refrain from doing) something doesn’t mean it’s smart. The smart thing would be to use any tool at her disposal to end fights quickly to keep civilians from being hurt and to minimize the chances of the Scouts/Senshi being defeated and leading to more civilians being hurt. Also it doesn’t change the point that it’s bad writing, the writers could have just as easily written “change your appearance to whatever you want to look like” and it would have been far more intelligent.

NC is satirical though

True story: my brother watched an episode of Sailor Moon once, and then complained immediately afterwards that “if she was really Sailor Moon, there would be more panty shots.” I laughed because I genuinely thought it was funny, but like most people, sometimes he tells a joke that seems callous or stupid to someone in the audience.

I heavily disliked the Critic’s review because he was just so wrong about so many things. And he admitted himself, he wasn’t a big fan of anime, so he didn’t pay much attention to the show – I don’t think he should have reviewed it.

But this article seems off. Nothing in the original show or manga was actually about accepting one’s sexuality or femininity. Usagi matured as a person and a fighter, not by being okay with realizing that she likes a guy and sleeps with him, but by fighting and facing her foes, taking the responsibilities she has and so one. Yes, Sailor Moon had Haruka and Michiru, two lesbians. They are still not the huge focus of the manga, nor is their sexuality.

The issue with the whole male to female gaze ratio is that it makes no sense that in spite of the fact that it’s mostly men who work in the anime/manga industry, and most of those men completely ignore what would sexually please any potential female viewers, that the women who do work in anime still make more fanservice for men than men make for women, even though most anime primarily focuses on what male fans want already, still leaving potential female fans completely in the dark, even with anime/manga made by women. Yet apparently most women seem fine with being baselessly ignored and denied any equal treatment and representation within the majority of any fandom.

Oh look, another sad waste of semen defending that no talent hack who can’t come up with a REAL character like Dana Carvey!

Go join Doug in the fire Alevan!

A shitty one at that! The fact that people can’t tell the difference tells you that Doug is indeed a no talent, self-indulgent, sexist, waste of semen, obese hypocrite who lives in the parent’s basement!

No way this loser creates a character as compelling as Chris Kattan’s Mango.

And nobody needs to argue with with “Cartman”, instead the argument should be if you are an emo who deserves to be shot or an emo who deserves AIDS for having no life!

I bet Ana would leave you in bloody piles if the two of you ever went at it limp dick!

And a very bad one at that! But hey whatever keeps you on the depressants loser!

“I’m here to make jokes. Calm the fuck down.”

Just more so the reason he is a hack who can’t get a real job!

Maybe you can get him run “entertaining” truckers for 30 dollars an hour like you do!

“GET OVER YOURSELVES.”

You should take your own advise bukkake receiver!

Too bad you turned out to be a failed abortion!

Nicely done. It’s nice to see someone respond to this video without simply being insulting.

I like Sailor Moon and I like Nostalgia Critic.

I feel NC’s opinion of the show is just observing the earlier part of Sailor Moon where it began as a sort of prophecy and his comparison to Star Wars. In the original (which I’ve watched completely, plus waiting for its remake to get here [if it ever gets here]), it just starts off as a current event, just an average day. Which I like a lot more because it starts to describe who this main character is, what her story will be. The dub that shoehorns “that” kind of ruins the experience of what will happen down the road.

I’m also not pleased on the fact that they removed I believe 6 episodes out of the 1st saga. Those 6 removed episodes granted Usagi/Serena more credit than what the show delivered. They revealed that Usagi is more thoughtful of the current situation, and as mentioned, her friends and family.

I love the original Sailor Moon. Dub version just doesn’t do it for me.

yeah I never liked Serena’s voice she always was a crybaby more in the English dub… I only enjoyed Raye and Lita’s voice. I hated the others

I like Doug walker too it seems he didn’t take the time to think that kids in that region can deal with these issues far better than he can

How tasteless. Good for you being a bigger shit.

Those aren’t their names. Especially for the new dub. Their real names are Usagi, Rei, and Makoto.

We did not grow up with the Japanese names, the English version was aired on Cartoon Network’s Toonami back in the late 90s and those are the names I remember by Dic productions

The Nostalgia Critic dropped the ball with this one by failing to review and differentiate the Japanese (original) version from the garbage crappy dub version.

I liked it now better then back then, but the Sailor Moon Crystal kinda sucks, I mean, it is not the same animation. Hard to tell apart, I miss the originals. Why does Japan have to mess things up after they created it!

I’d like to say you were on the mark, because I don’t think there should be such a thing as a true “sacred cow”, but the fact is, you were way, way off. This “sexuality-empowerment” schtick is just bullshit. In the context you’re using it, rather. I saw the review myself, and it was pretty clear that he was creeped out by the IDEA of underage girls being sexualized, namely what that sort of thing says about the makers of the show to him. It wasn’t a bunch of slut-shaming, it was plain old-fashioned shaming for something many would find taboo. Now I personally found a few of his jokes rather tasteless, even for his kind of dark comedy, but I get where he’s coming from. I myself have an especially lax attitude to a great many number of controversial issues, but I respect how an issue like girls so young dressing sexy can be disconcerting to some, Hell, take Linkara for example. He’s said twice how he feels Old Man Miller is scum, but brings up the point that he doesn’t sexualize underage girls as one of his few standards. Where’s all this “get with the times” rhetoric for him?
I believe you do have a good point, I don’t think this should be automatically broken down to anime jailbait, I think it’s natural for those growing to embrace their sexuality as it grows within them, and I certainly don’t give a rip if freshman dress in miniskirts or whatever the hell the fashion is these days. Hey, if you got it, flaunt it… -but let me ask you this: say a man was writing the show, better yet, in America. Instead of Sailor Moon, it’d be “Stargurlz”, with four bikini-clad teenage girls doing sexy dances to power up. What kind of reaction do you think it would get? You think there’d be feminists praising the show for it’s strong heroines accepting their sexuality? In short, I get what both of you have said, but at the very least, he acknowledged the reasoning for that mindset being less taboo in Japan, where you don’t seem to have acknowledged it all. When one disagrees with something, one cannot make a valid argument against their opponent while completely dodging the reasons the opponent has for it. Otherwise one looks quite biased and arrogant. Oh, and TvTropes can suck it.

To the people of the future,

Lo and behold, the comments section filled with Channel Awesome fans who insufferably desire the attention of Doug Walker and vehemently defend his “review” with all of their pedantic being and soul.

To the person named Mushroom, you are in fact, the epitome of #WhitePeopleProblems. Without anime and manga to bail out animation out of the drudgery that was the Comic Book’s Code, I wouldn’t see a future with any respect to drawn medium of any sort. Your snobbery that demands all art to be perfect and like Miyazaki… Hell, you’re just like Disney Corp. Say all you want about creative freedom- I’d rather let my kids watch Sailor Moon and the 30 minute toy commercials from Japan that have moral and ethical messages than any 30 minute toy commercial here. Most of all, you’re just a whining loser like the “Critic”- Those without talent and creative insight that moan and grief those who do. Get a life.

And James Rolfe shouldn’t even be placed next to Walker, at all. I don’t care if he had a crossover with him- Doug is a hack, plain and simple. He may have taken a huge dump on Bugs Bunny but his episodes are meant to be tongue in cheek and jabbing at what is wrong with a video game. Doug? All he can do is narrate along a hackenyed Mystery Science Theatre 3000 knockoff with little analysis and humor to be found, that calling them reviews would be like calling dog feces = chocolate. There’s no comparison.

Also, because of how stupid the comments section is here, and how everyone vehemently directs their “freedom of speech” here, I’ll be free to give you a piece of my mind as well. When you are done saying your comment, give yourself a good, long stare in the mirror when you are about to go to bed. Remember me, and what you put down here. Say what you wrote here on this comments section, in front of yourself. Hear, how the words you wrote composed what you have in your being. Hear, what kinds of things you had to say from the bottom of your heart. If you can still live with yourself after this experience, I think I can respect you. That all depends however if you are a rotten person or not. Because I can say all I said in real life given the right moment and the wrong things out of your mouth.

Most of all, it’s been two years since you all have written your comments here. What have you all been doing? You, those who vehemently defending the Nolstalgia Critic feel proud yet? Hiding behind your computer? Enjoy knowing your words are forever engraved here as testament to who you are. Because I will remember what I did here, unlike you.

Also, the artist who drew that picture for the Doug Walker “review” sucks fat dickies bigtime. I hope you didn’t quit your dayjob.

Great Article. writing – I Appreciate the points ! Does someone know where my business can acquire a sample IRS 1040 – Schedule E copy to work with ?