Title: Because magical girls still beat giant robots
G00: 6371
ENC 1101 Tues/Thurs 11:00-12:20
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In the world of television Japanese style cartoons known as “anime” has seen a recent boom in popularity. A large amount of anime has gone on to become classics in the eyes of its viewers but not everyone makes the cut. Some anime shows really do nothing more than waste peoples time with their lack of inspiration and artistic skill. This can be seen quite clearly the difference after comparing the anime “Sailor moon” and the new version of “Neo Genesis
Evangelion”. Sailor moon surpasses Neo Genesis Evangelion in a nearly countless number of ways From the character development, to the plot , even the general impact these shows had on society Sailor moon comes out on top every time.
First off Sailor Moon has a much better character development than Neo Genesis
Evangelion. In sailor moon the main character Usagi doesn’t seem all that special outside of a need abnormally large need to spend time at the arcade and day dream in a fairly pragmatic society that disapproves of such actions. That changes when she is visit by a talking cat named
Luna and told that she must fight to protect humanity. This basic plot outline is one of the biggest changes to how the magical girl genre of anime works. Magical girls were usually told to just have fun with their new found powers but for sailor moon it’s not fun it’s her job. There are lives at stake and real consequences should she lose her powers or use them improperly. This forces the young Usagi to grow up and eventually with the help of friends and comrades that she gains along the achieve all that she hoped she would. This feeling is maintained in Martha Cornog and Timothy Perper’s Non-Western Sexuality Comes To The U.S.: A Crash
Course In Manga And Anime For Sexologists “Sailor Moon is a high school girl who discovers, initially to her dismay and later to her gleeful enjoyment, that she is a super powered heroine destined to save the universe — assisted by her Sailor Scout girlfriends and boyfriend Darien.”(4)
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That initial dismay is make Silor moon special. Usagi does not want to be a hero she has to be one and she eventually lives up to her duties in that role. Neo Genesis Evangelion main character one Shinji Ikari while given similar circumstances unfortunately he fails to grow or change at all dooming the planet as well himself. The lack of growth in not just Shinji but all the characters in Neo Genesis Evangelion make it difficult to watch. This illustrated by Paul M.
Malone’s “Cruel angels? Cruel fathers” review “Unlike many of his precursors, however, Shinjiis already traumatized and embittered by loss;he has little taste for heroics or desire to accommodatehis father.”()This makes shinji not a hero but more of a sick dog that needed to be put down in terms of story line. Truly it is almost unfair to compare NSailor moon to Neo
Genesis Evangelion.
Second the General plot of Sailor Moon is vastly superior plot in comparison to Neo
Genesis Evangelion. In Sailor Moon the viewer watches five fairly normal middle school girls fight evil. But it goes far beyond that, as the story progresses the viewer see overcome their own personal demon. The viewer gets to watch as their enemies go from being clearly to having kill people and near divine beings that while not truly evil but simply another facet of life gone out of control. They go from people who are more interested in talking about the current fad of the month to people who just might be to bring about the world peace that they have been fighting to just have a chance at. Sailor moon doesn’t pull punches about either the shows you on no uncertain terms that you that they are growing up. Usagi and her boyfriend Mamoru start off very awkward around each other but by the end of the series are in a mature sexual relationship. This growth is maintain in the article by Martha Cornog and Timothy Perper’s
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"Non-Western Sexuality Comes To The U.S.: A Crash Course In Manga And Anime For
Sexologists.":
What stoodout was Sailor Moon strongly plotted action, with fight
sequences, rescues, an emphasis on feelings and relationships, some sexy
romance, all woven around Sailor Moon's growing awareness of her life's
mission. Moreover, the graphics are vivid, colorful, and lush. At first Sailor
Moon's world seems recognizably hetero-normative. She has a distinctly
male boyfriend, and there are some cute guys in the story. Yet nearly all
the heroes and villains are female. The plot includes several lesbian
relationships, characters who convert between female and male (see
illustration, page 1), cross dressing, and (in the anime) female nudity.
None of the episodes are explicitly sexual, and neither nipples nor
pubichair ever appear. But by volume 18 of the manga, when Sailor
Moon is about 20 years old, she and Darien are explicitly lovers — and
when she marries him at the end she is pregnant.-(4)
Neon genesis Evangelion on the other hand has plot that consists of a random monster of the week thrown in with some new kind of character flaw or tragedy for the cast to have to deal with then repeat as nessary. This is a bad setup per se but even with a monster of the week feel they could have done a lot more with the characters to move the plot forward the they had allowed there is no growth shown by the character to help move the plot forward all the do is the same thing over and over until the “true” enemy comes and finish all the characters off and
Shinji as the only person left in a sort of absolute dystopia. This feeling is echoed in Madeline
Ashby’s article “Epic Fail: Still Dreary, after All These Years” : “In this case, the boy is Ikari Shinji,
a self-loathing teenager, the robot is the Evangelion, a skyscraper-high biomechanoid capable
of generating force fields, and the invaders are the Angels, “other possibilities” of humanity
who threaten to bring about the apocalypse.”(348) This is basic all the plot ever really gives and
that’s just not enough in this day and age. It should be clear that sailor moon plot line is the
superior one
Finally Sailor Moon had a greater and much more positive impact than Neon Genesis
Evangelion. Sailor Moon broke many rules but the most fundamental was that a girl could save
the just as well as a guy could. At the time Sailor Moon was made saving the world was strictly
a man’s job. Sailor moon is the of many that will follow to go and change that rule of thumb.
This is because of the fact that Sailor moon didn’t break the rule they shattered it. And it
showed to put thing very much in there favor as little girls and even some boys flocked to get
sailor moon merchise. This is fact is described to great degree in the article "The Next TV-To-
Toy Phenom: Sailor Moon." “In Japan, Sailor Moon merchandise has generated over $400
million in sales since her 1992 debut. Boys aren't forgotten. They're to be lured with action-
filled plots and a testosterone-charged sidekick named Tuxedo Mask.” As the sales in the article
clearly show sailor appeals to a board aducience of people from all over with a little something
for all ages to enjoy. Neon Genesis Evangelion on the other hand can be summed up by a quote
from Patrick Drazen’s article “Resurrection of Eva!”. This is all Evangelion has to offer the only
people who are entertained by are those who are in fact depressed teenagers who think the
world will die no matter what they do any way. Outside of that of that group and even with in
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that group Neon genesis Evangelion tends to far too depressing and repetitive to watch. It
rather pathetic to even think about watching Neon Genesis Evangelion when you could watch
Sailor Moon.
In Closing Sailor Moon is far superior to Neon genesis Evangelion. Sailor Moon has plot
character development, a riveting plot line, and has help society as a whole move forward.
Neon Genesis Evangelion which had all of the potential to the same on other hand shows none
of these qualities. Where Sailor Moon changed the rules Neon Genesis Evangelion strived to
stay within them. Sailor moon created a deep an interesting world where Neon Genesis
Evangelion created was dull and life lacking the needed qualities to bring its story to life. And
finally Sailor Moon connected with people on a deep emotional level where Neon genesis
Evangelion just warded off people with its dark and dreary world. As any after comparison,
there is no comparison between Sailor Moon and Neon Genesis Evangelion as Sailor moon is
