In a way is Sailor Moon a cult classic like Star Wars or Star Trek?

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Swan Cat

Lumen Cinererum
Oct 31, 2016
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#1
The Sailor Moon franchise has alot of fans of all ages and I hope they make constant new Sailor Moon anime in the future for a long time just like they do with Pokemon!
 
Apr 1, 2017
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D-Point
#4
I like all three of those things (to some extent) but I like Sailor Moon more strongly. Does that count?

I'd say it does has a significant following, but it is much smaller overall. It's like, it's still popular decades later (even through a more-than-ten-years dry spell between PGSM and Crystal, although I think they were still making musicals in that time... heck, is Sailor Moon legendarily famous within the world of stage show musicals? I don't know), so I'm pretty sure it's more famous than some things, and the majority of random people have at least heard of it (though, frustratingly, in my experience the average american's knowledge seems to henge* on having seen assorted DiC dub episodes 20 years ago and they don't care and have a bunch of vague and flanderized ideas of what it even involved).

But, you can't go to comlpetely random places right before a release and have people be like "OH MY GOSH HAVE YOU HEARD THE NEWS I HEARD KATHLEEN KENNEDY REHIRED KINOHIKU IKUHARA AND THEY ANNOUNCED SHINO KAKINUMA IS REPRISING HER ROLE OMG!!!!" or whatever. But random peope here at SMFxSS probably know Billy Dee Williams is in Episode IX, so.

Basically, it's a medium or small size cult while SW and ST are huge sized and I'd hesitate to call them cults, more like what's left of mainstream culture (I think the MCU movies are up there too although I haven't paid much attention to those. Then again, I haven't watched any of the new Star Trek show or The Other new Star Trek showrville so far, either. But I was never as big a Star Trek fan as a Stargate fan, anyways).

* Typo preserved for posterity, this post has been corrupted by Wiseman.
 

blondibear_17

Lumen Cinererum
Mar 3, 2017
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#5
I don't know I can't really say because I think that because it doesn't appeal to old white guys it probably can't become as big as those franchises I think those franchises have been around much longer as well so who knows if Sailor Moon could ever reach those levels. If it was based on something American and a studio had something to gain from rebooting and spinning it off I think it could reach the heights of Star Wars and Star Trek but I don't see that happening any time soon.
 

Nadia

Aurorae Lunares
Jun 30, 2010
1,831
1,331
1,665
www.smcx.me
#7
Not only is Sailor Moon not a cult classic, it is actually quite the opposite of a cult classic.

A cult classic is something that was niche or unpopular at the time, but over time, gained a devoted & wider following that kept the media alive.

Sailor Moon, aside from its initial unpopularity in syndication, was a very popular media franchise. It is definitely still iconic.

But it's not popular.

Some might mention that there is a new dub, and that Sailor Moon movie are being released in North American theaters, something that never happened before. But you've also seen reports of empty theaters and general disinterest from the public. Heck, I think there was more interest from people in any of the fan films a few years ago than the official theatrical media.

This anecdote alone demonstrates this.

(though, frustratingly, in my experience the average american's knowledge seems to henge* on having seen assorted DiC dub episodes 20 years ago and they don't care and have a bunch of vague and flanderized ideas of what it even involved)..
A true cult classic would be something that the average American wouldn't even half-remember. They'd either never hear of it, or their memories would be of the fresh, newly released material.

Sailor Moon is just an old series that spits out merch for the devoted but fails to connect even with its own former fans.
 

Nadia

Aurorae Lunares
Jun 30, 2010
1,831
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#11
Star Wars and Star Trek aren’t cult classics they’re pretty mainstream
That's true, too, but I didn't want to pick on the OP too badly.

I believe its more on TOEI.
All parties involved share responsibility. Naoko Takeuchi shares a great deal of the blame because she doesn't seem know how to run this franchise. Toei is also to blame because they're trying to milk as much value out of Sailor Moon with the least amount of work possible. Kodansha USA is to blame for hiring a sub-par translator who couldn't even get attack names right and whose translations became the official standard for all Sailor Moon media. Viz is to blame because in its rush to "please the fans" and put its own stamp onto its product, it tried to push a product based on nostalgia that fans didn't actually have nostalgia for.

And the fans are to blame because instead of realizing the current situation is untenable for an active franchise, decide to purchase all of the merch, not just to support the franchise, but to see who can have the biggest collection. Yes, all fandoms have fans like this, but in the case of Sailor Moon, those fans make a much larger voice of the overall fandom. Since fans keep buying material, Naoko and Toei don't have to take the risk of creating new work to make more toys for people to buy, but can recycle the old ones. As a result, any new work, even when it has artistic merit...is clearly a cash grab.

The only way for Sailor Moon to improve is if it reaches out to new fans, not the existing, demanding fan base.
 
Jul 5, 2009
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#12
If your experience with Sailormoon collectors hasn't been a good one I suggest you find another group to hang out with.

My experience so far with retro gamers both Discord and Facebook have been great so far. They're buying both the S and Super S Snes cartridges and help build the Sailormoon fighting gaming community. With recent exposure with EVO it will only get bigger. This game never even reached North America until recently.

Fighting gamers are just having so much fun with the game.

This 20+ year old game is actually gaining a new audience from Millenials be it casual or fighting gamers. I even post stuff about the musicals and PGSM over at different Discord groups and most of them show interest with it. Someone even posted information about the new and recent musicals.
 
Jul 5, 2009
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#16
Nerfed? So the sequel had clunky controls or something?
It's actually the speed of the release of the projectiles. Season 1 attacks were dropped in place of Season 4 attacks. They're not combo friendly anymore since they take a large amount of time to be unleashed making the characters vulnerable too.
 
#17
I think this is a Good Idea for a thread, Looking at how View of Sailor Moon is by both the Fandom and the outside world!

I think while it is interesting to think of Sailor Moon in the regards of cult status, I am Very Sure it is WAYYYYYY Beyond that status. Usually as others have so Well and More articulately said, Cult Status is something that gain a loyal fandom but is generally away from the public eye and relatively unknown by it, being more popular in the fandom or in talk in other parts of the Pop Culture worlds.

Sailor Moon IMO by what I have seen and heard over the Year is Very Much Possibly one of the Most Successful and Well Known Anime Icons in the World Today and Maybe in the History of Pop Culture! While yea how well Known she is in the U.S.A. is still debatable, it seems in most other regions of the world not just in Japan, but in many parts of the world, Especially Latin America that Sailor Moon is a Major Icon and still well popular today. Even in the USA if many don't usually watch anime, it is most likely if any of them have heard or seen anime, Sailor Moon is one of the select few.

Sailor Moon has her Loyal Fans indeed, but she is well more Mainstream IMO to go above cult status, but cult franchises are still way cool! :thumbsup:
 

blondibear_17

Lumen Cinererum
Mar 3, 2017
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#18
That's true, too, but I didn't want to pick on the OP too badly.



All parties involved share responsibility. Naoko Takeuchi shares a great deal of the blame because she doesn't seem know how to run this franchise. Toei is also to blame because they're trying to milk as much value out of Sailor Moon with the least amount of work possible. Kodansha USA is to blame for hiring a sub-par translator who couldn't even get attack names right and whose translations became the official standard for all Sailor Moon media. Viz is to blame because in its rush to "please the fans" and put its own stamp onto its product, it tried to push a product based on nostalgia that fans didn't actually have nostalgia for.

And the fans are to blame because instead of realizing the current situation is untenable for an active franchise, decide to purchase all of the merch, not just to support the franchise, but to see who can have the biggest collection. Yes, all fandoms have fans like this, but in the case of Sailor Moon, those fans make a much larger voice of the overall fandom. Since fans keep buying material, Naoko and Toei don't have to take the risk of creating new work to make more toys for people to buy, but can recycle the old ones. As a result, any new work, even when it has artistic merit...is clearly a cash grab.

The only way for Sailor Moon to improve is if it reaches out to new fans, not the existing, demanding fan base.
Do we really need new material from Naoko though? Wouldn't the fandom regret it if what she put out wasn't good and it tarnished the entire franchise? Star Wars is a great example of that happening everyone hated the prequels and George Lucas for making them and even though the new ones still make money there are still a lot of loud people that do nothing but complain.