The 90s anime erased the Starlights' gender identities as well by having them physically change sex, and this was clearly done so that Seiya could be a love interest for Usagi while keeping her straight.
Explain all the subtext and she gets with Rei then??? Usagi even in the 90’s anime, despite her rather insensitive homophobic comments is very much
not straight and is coded as an in-the closet bisexual/pan sexual.
Even if she
weren’t coded as bi before based on her interactions with Rei (it’s worth noting since Reisagi was one of Ikuhara’s OTPs ofc he wouldn’t allow for Usagi to be made straight) this theory still wouldn’t line up because we have an in-series example of the very much turned straight 90’s anime Minako immediately disregarding Yaten (and Haruka back in S don’t forget) once she finds out about their sex-changing identity. It’s notable that we
don’t see Usagi immediately writing Seiya off once she learns that they’re also Sailor Star Fighter. (In fact she doubles down when the Outers come to pressure her and outright admits that “she loves Mamoru but has other people she loves too.”
You can also make arguments about the changes to Rei's character, her dynamic with Minako,
Replaced with the Reisagi dynamic, the 90’s anime simply played around with different ships compared to the manga.
and the dynamic of Chibiusa and Hotaru's relationship
And yet Chibi-Usa still remains bi in the 90’s anime considering her crush on Tamasaburo when she
thought he was a she.
Is it problematic that characters who were clearly queer-coded in the manga like Hotaru and Minako are made straight in the 90’s anime? Perhaps, but they make up for it by turning characters who
did appear to be straight in the manga (Ami, Mako, the queer male villains + Grandpa Hino and maybe Mamoru) queer in the 90’s anime so I’d say it all evens out by the end.
In reality the 90’s anime added way more to the queer character count than it erased. (adding Ami, Mako, Kunzite, Saphir, Demande, Mamoru, Grandpa Hino the original character Fiore vs erasing Minako, Tigers-Eye, Hawks-Eye, Hotaru and possibly Nephrite into cishet. That’s 8-9 characters coded queer who weren’t in the original manga vs 5 who’s queerness from the manga was erased.)
I've criticized Naoko repeatedly concerning her messiness regarding queer characters, from her complete under-development of Haruka and Michiru's relationship
This is only because she shipped Haruka with Usagi in the manga, nothing to do with her needing to do better in the area of queer female representation. Again, it’s simply a matter of Naoko shipping different couples compared to Ikuhara.
to the transphobic mess that was the final chapter of Toki*Meca.
I have yet to read this work of her’s, tell me, what makes it transphobic? I don’t mind spoilers. This is kinda surprising to hear since while I knew Naoko seemed to have hang-ups regarding queer cis men, she seemed generally trans-positive or at least friendly. After all she’s the one who made her own Haruka genderfluid and I’m pretty sure all 3 of the Amazon Trio are meant to be the trans variety of the “Ok*ma” term. Even Nephrite and Zoisite both crossdress in the manga and could potentially be read as trans.