My friend Laura recently told me
about this Sailor Moon Zine (“In the name of the moon!”) that the cartoonist Vreni
was putting together. She’d already put the first zine together and was putting
out the call for submissions for the second. Wanted to submit immediately, but
was unsure of how to go about properly paying homage to a cartoon that had
influenced me so early on, and in such a lasting way. Especially since its
significance had gone so beyond the original plot and characters. It’s snotty,
but I didn’t want to make “fan-art”.
The peak of my Sailor Moon
obsession was at the fat, androgynous and strangely quiet age of eleven. The characters
of Sailor Moon were more real to me than a lot of real world things that were
happening at the time. I would vehemently defend my intergalactic friends
against slander when my family playfully mocked the reverence I had for my worn
and slowly disintegrating collection of manga and books, even being hurt that
they could be so skeptical of something that was obviously brilliant and life
affirming. Any attack on Sailor Moon, was an attack on me. Or so I perceived it
to be haha I’m sure the sailor soldiers symbolized a future where I would grow up
to be a long-legged space warrior, find love and ride motorcycles. It was a feverish,
escapist Delirium I was in that I distinctly remember in shades of blue rain
and bleached summer sun.
If it weren’t Sailor moon it would
have been something else. So I’m thankful that I spent my days fighting evil
scientists and crafting magical things in my backyard instead of getting lost
so early on. So in a way, Sailor Moon was the Bully that was on my side, keeping
me safe on the schoolyard.
Thanks Sailor Moon!
No comments:
Post a Comment