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Takeuchi Naoko (ÉðÆâľ»Ò) is the creator of Sailor Moon and other award-winning manga for the shoujo monthly magazine Nakayoshi. She was born on March 15th, 1967 in Kofu City, Yamanashi prefecture. She graduated from Kyoritsu Chemical University.
In 1986 she twice won Nakayoshi's New Artist award with "Love Call" which debuted in the Nakayoshi Deluxe September 1986 issue. She authored such works as "Chocolate Christmas", "Miss Rain", "Ma-ri-ah", and "The Cherry Project". In 1991, she wrote a story about a female action heroine called "Codename Sailor V" for the Summer edition of Run-Run, a sister publication to Nakayoshi. It proved so popular she created Sailor Moon which began it's run in Nakayoshi with the February 1992 issue. The Sailor Moon TV show began its broadcast March 6th, 1992. |
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The following interview was composed by Mark Vallen.(The Black Moon). |
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| Naoko Sensei appeared at this year's International Comic Convention in San Diego, CA,,, and gave fans a chance to ask questions about Sailormoon and other series. When asked "What inspired you to create Sailormoon?" Naoko-san answered that in Japan, the sailor uniform was very much the symbol of a young schoolgirl and that junior high was a very challenging and emotional period for girls. She wanted to create a character that would empower her readers, that girls could easily relate to because of the uniform. She also joked that older men also liked those uniforms, and may explain the diverse fanbase! | ||
| When a fan asked "What are the Star Lights?" the question presented an instance where Naoko-san displayed annoyance with the producers of the anime series (we know how she feels--it's analogous to the NA fan's relationship with DIC). She put the matter to rest by proclaiming that in the manga, the "Three Lights" had always been girls, and that the anime made them into guys that transformed into girls. She admitted that
this alteration really bothered her. *but without this, we could never have had souch a touching relationship between Usagi and Seiya ;(* |
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| The question "Are Uranus and Neptune really lovers, and if so why did you make them gay?" came from a young female fan who seemed genuinely upset and wanted a clear answer. The translator for the event left Naoko-san in a lurch, not fully comprehending the homophobia in the West that makes such a pairing unacceptable to some (for those not in the know, Uranus and Neptune are two female characters who enjoy a close relationship). Naoko-san's answer was that, yes, they were a couple... but her answer indicated that she didn't at all understand
the question from a Western perspective.
She obviously saw no "problem" in such a relationship, commenting only that Neptune was "feminine" and Uranus "masculine" and joked they had a relationship because "they had lot's of time on their hands." In yet another question of gender, Naoko-san also came clean by saying that Haruka (Uranus) always has been and always will be a girl, dispelling long held rumors of hermaphroditism, or the SOS dillusion that Haruka-san was a prince during the Silver Millenium and re-incarnated as a woman. |
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| Perhaps one of the most touching moments of the panel was when a little 10 year old girl dressed as Sailor Mercury asked Naoko-san simply, "Do you believe in astrology?" The crowd oohed and Naoko-san was obviously moved, and replied that yes, she did, and asked "Mercury" if she did as well. Naoko-san was VERY curious about her North American fans, and during the later half of her panel she asked a series of questions of her audience. Through this interaction Naoko-san revealed that she is good friends with Yuu Watase (the artist responsible for the series "Fushigi Yuugi"), and that they send each other drawings by fax all the time! | ||
| Naoko-san asked "Are there any girls here who want to be manga artists?" The overwhelmingly enthusiastic response to this question must have delighted Naoko-san to no end. Almost a third of the audience raised it's hands to this question. Some budding artists even raised up their own drawings in response! Naoko-san also asked "Do you have school festivals? Is it popular to come in costume like this?" Naoko-san commented that at school festivals in Japan, some people come in anime costumes... since she was aware we had no such festivals in the U.S., she wondered where we would wear costumes. The crowd shouted back; "ANIME CONVENTIONS!" | ||
| Naoko-san asked "How do you know so much?" She was truly flabbergasted that fans knew so much about the series beyond what has been offered in the North American dub. I'm sure that Naoko-san was impressed to learn that her legions of fans use the Web to educate themselves.
I hope that what has been presented on this Web page will clarify some of Naoko-san's ideas and at last put to rest some of the things we've heard about the characters in Sailormoon... after all, what more authoritative voice do you need other than Naoko Takeuchi herself? |
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| You can send fan mail to Naoko-sensei by writing to, "Ms. Naoko Takeuchi c/o Nakayoshi Henshuubu Shishobako 91 Akasaka Yuubinkyoku, Tokyo 107-8652 Japan. |
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Again, this interview was composed by Mark Vallen, and I used it here. You should definitely visit his site "The Black Moon". It is a wonderful site that tells you everything you ever wanted to know about Japanese Culture (and a few things you didn't). Arigato Mark-chan!! |
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