Race and Ethnicity in BSSM

[GreenInkling]

Quote:

But you know, before her death, it could be argued that Pluto isn't Japanese before her 'rebirth' for the Super's Arc. (But that's going strictly by Manga.)

Please explain this for me! For general inquiry. I've always been interested: what is the difference between the Pluto of Crystal Tokyo, who seems to exist outside time, and the Pluto of the SuperS season?  

[Luamervara]

Pluto was originally standing at the Time Gate. That Exists in the 4th Dimension. Which is basically no where but everywhere for us. Kinda Omni in a way. She's not suppose to leave her post. However she does to go fight along side of Sailor Moon and the others and ultimately stops time- which resulted in her death.

So, *THAT* Pluto has died. (Never mind that Naoko T was writing the series along with the Anime at the time.. >>; Thus we have inconsistencies.. )

Now, Pluto comes back in The Super Manga- she doesn't have any memory of who she was and what she did before hand. She's a freshmen/Second year student at a Lab. She does things with Physics and such. (Unlike her Dream to be a fashion designer..)

When she's attacked by a Plant Tellulu(sp) created, it triggers her memory and also summons Haruka and Michiru to her.

We then learn that the only reason she's alive is because Neo Queen Serenity brought her back.

Now here's where we get speculative about it.

In the act of bringing Setsuna back, was she dealt with the same way everyone else who died during the battle on the Moon- Being sent to some point in the Timeline to be reborn and grow up normally.

OR

Was she revived with no memories of who she really was and was *staged* at the Mugen Delta in order for her to be awakened and to eventually awaken Saturn.


If it's Option A:- she was reincarnated because of NQSerenity. Then yes she most likely is either Half or full Japanese. (Under Japanese Law as long as the father recognizes the child as 'his' then the child is Japanese. 'course they're working to change that law but meh. )

If it's Option B. She is what she was. A Plutoian. And That comes before most nationalities we know of today were even a thought. Since the Silver Millennium Era itself is Prehistoric itself.

---

Or Really really short way~ XD;

The Difference to me, is simply that there isn't one. The people that were reincarnated directly after the battle ( Inners/Outers -Minus Pluto) are Japanese in my book. Pluto's not simply because she wasn't reborn on Earth.

For some reason when she Neptune and Uranus unsealed Sailor Saturn and Saturn basically ended the Silver Millennium- Pluto was spared. I think it's because the Time Gate/Chronos saved her from that fate the first time and she was teleported back to the Time Gate.

Thus she never died and was never reincarnated.


My thing about Pluto being 'Black' is simply because in America, if you look it, then usually that's what people think you are. I always thought Pluto was black because of how she -looked- in the Manga itself.

She has about three different skin tones to pick from. However, in the books, she always looked dark. I mean Darker then any other character.
On the covers she has a light brown complexion. In the Anime it bounces between Light brown to extremely pale for some reason.

>> Which is why I think a lot of people get confused anyway xD;  

[GreenInkling]

Thanks a ton! Let me go away and digest this and come back if I have any more questions.

 

[Yanueh]

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you don't mind me giving some input. smile

The first thing to remember is that racism is rarely intended. The most pervasive and pernicious form of racism is unintended racism; the kind that makes people freak out and go "But I didn't mean it that way! You're being too sensitive!" when you point it out to them.

Now that we've got that out of the way, I think it's important to put Sailor Moon into its proper context. Sailor Moon is set in 90's Japan, and Japan is not a country crawling with minorities - only 1.5% of the population comprises of racial groups other than Japanese. Thus, a multiracial cast of senshi would be forced at best.

(Sailor Pluto does not count as any race other than Japanese; despite her somewhat darker skin, her facial features are clearly drawn to look Japanese and she does nothing that sets her apart culturally from the other senshi.)

On the other hand, the villains have far more diverse backgrounds. Yet they all appear Japanese. (Anyone who argues that you can't tell what ethnicity an anime/manga character is supposed to be needs to watch anime more carefully; Western characters are indeed drawn differently. Just look at the episode with Sailor Venus in Britain; Alan's English ethnicity is very much apparent in the way he's drawn.) Even villains that come from other planets appear Japanese. This is indeed racist - the kind of racism that makes people think of their own race and culture as "normal" and everyone else as the outliers. It's not intentional racism, but it's still racism. Even Al, En, and Fiore, who are the most "alien" aliens in the anime, look Japanese.

The creators of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon made a very racially-unfortunate casting choice when they chose half-American Alisa Durbrow to play villain Kuroki Mio. The Japanese are already xenophobic enough as it is; having the only regular character who obviously wasn't full-blooded Japanese also be a villain was a very poor choice, similar to how American writers relegated foreigners to exotic villains. It only confirms in the subconscious minds of viewers that those who look foreign are evil and cannot be trusted.  

[GreenInkling]

Yanueh

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you don't mind me giving some input. smile

The first thing to remember is that racism is rarely intended. The most pervasive and pernicious form of racism is unintended racism; the kind that makes people freak out and go "But I didn't mean it that way! You're being too sensitive!" when you point it out to them.

Now that we've got that out of the way, I think it's important to put Sailor Moon into its proper context. Sailor Moon is set in 90's Japan, and Japan is not a country crawling with minorities - only 1.5% of the population comprises of racial groups other than Japanese. Thus, a multiracial cast of senshi would be forced at best.

(Sailor Pluto does not count as any race other than Japanese; despite her somewhat darker skin, her facial features are clearly drawn to look Japanese and she does nothing that sets her apart culturally from the other senshi.)

On the other hand, the villains have far more diverse backgrounds. Yet they all appear Japanese. (Anyone who argues that you can't tell what ethnicity an anime/manga character is supposed to be needs to watch anime more carefully; Western characters are indeed drawn differently. Just look at the episode with Sailor Venus in Britain; Alan's English ethnicity is very much apparent in the way he's drawn.) Even villains that come from other planets appear Japanese. This is indeed racist - the kind of racism that makes people think of their own race and culture as "normal" and everyone else as the outliers. It's not intentional racism, but it's still racism. Even Al, En, and Fiore, who are the most "alien" aliens in the anime, look Japanese.

The creators of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon made a very racially-unfortunate casting choice when they chose half-American Alisa Durbrow to play villain Kuroki Mio. The Japanese are already xenophobic enough as it is; having the only regular character who obviously wasn't full-blooded Japanese also be a villain was a very poor choice, similar to how American writers relegated foreigners to exotic villains. It only confirms in the subconscious minds of viewers that those who look foreign are evil and cannot be trusted.

Refreshing and unique opinion. Glad I came back around to the thread. Too tired now to comment but maybe in a few more months, LOL!