Shojo Power! is a blog dedicated to feminist analysis of the Japanese anime/manga Sailor Moon, other girl-oriented anime, and Japanese culture.
Why Sailor Moon?
Originally airing in Japan from 1992 to 1997, Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon has spanned 18 volumes of comics–over 15 million copies sold in Japan–various musicals over 10 years, a live action show in 2003 and billions of dollars of merchandise. After a short stint on American TV from 1995 to 1997, the English dub of Sailor Moon returned to the airwaves to a wide audience on Cartoon Network. The re-release of the manga has sold over 50,000 copies in the United States making it the best-selling manga in 2013.
With the 25th anniversary project well under way, now is the perfect time to look at Sailor Moon with a feminist lens. The rebooted anime, Sailor Moon Crystal, has been broadcast online around the world giving Sailor Moon possibly the widest audience it has ever received and the opportunity to spread its message of shojo power, or girl power, to a whole new generation of anime fans.
Why Shojo Power?
In June 2013, I presented a “Sailor Moon & Feminism” panel at the first ever Senshi Matsuri. I had a pretty good crowd who were not only experts on Sailor Moon, but also pretty knowledgable about feminism. Despite all this, many attendees were absolutely excited about the panel and wanted to see more. So, Shojo Power! was born.
Who is this Anne Lee person?
Heya! Anne Lee here, a thirty-something white lady, originally from the American Midwest, but now lives in New York City. I began watching Sailor Moon back in 1995 when it aired in the mornings before school. At the time, I was really into astronomy and Greek mythology. So when Nephrite was all, “Let me check out the stars” and then Sailor Mercury appeared blasting her bubbles, I was all, “WHAT IS THIS. I MUST WATCH IT.” When Sailor Moon went off the air in 1997, I was bummed, but I wondered if I could find more information about it on this new fangled thing called “The Internet.” As many other fans discovered, I found that there was so much I didn’t know! My passion for Sailor Moon lead me to the Tokyopop manga, the live action TV series, the Kodansha manga and finally watching the whole subbed anime. I’m less familiar with the musicals, although I have seen Kaguya Island, Black Lady and the new musicals. My passion for Sailor Moon also sparked my interest to live and work in Japan as an English teacher. I worked there for nearly two years before I came to New York City.
Hey, you spelled “shojo” wrong. It’s supposed to be “shoujo.” What gives?
Overall, my stylistic choice for this website is ō instead of the “u” since I feel the “u” can lead English speakers to mispronounce the word. At some point, I might change it to Shōjo Power! But for now, I’m taking a cue from Shojo Beat.
