How Popular Is Sailor Moon With Younger Fans?

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Nadia

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Jun 30, 2010
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#42
As one of the Moonies over a certain age, I can understand. For me, Sailor Moon was something from my older childhood/adolescence, hence why the old dub is important to me. Had I been only a little child when I first watched the show, I probably wouldn't even remember it.

From my perspective, you all are the "kids."
 
Sep 6, 2014
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#43
Me and my sisters had way too many of the VHS tapes (all the Buena Vista releases, the entirety of the Kaori Knight and Mimette arcs in S plus the vhs of the final 3 Eugueal episodes and the 3 movies) for me to have forgotten Sailor Moon but yes given that Sailor Moon’s prime days in the US ended when I was in the third grade I probably would have forgotten the show if not for vhs tapes. And then of course Youtube


And nooooow I’m sad the vhs versions of the 3 movies with the DiC music doesn’t seem to exist on the internet :(
 

Kerochan no Miko

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#44
As one of the Moonies over a certain age, I can understand. For me, Sailor Moon was something from my older childhood/adolescence, hence why the old dub is important to me. Had I been only a little child when I first watched the show, I probably wouldn't even remember it.

From my perspective, you all are the "kids."
I was watching the show in college (which is why I have no nostalgia for the old dub - I didn't watch it pretty much at all). Y'all are a bunch of tiny whippersnappers.
 
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Greyman-X

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Oct 1, 2017
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#46
I was watching the show in college (which is why I have no nostalgia for the old dub - I didn't watch it pretty much at all). Y'all are a bunch of tiny whippersnappers.
Neither did I, and I watched the subbed original during a tough time in my life, in between when I had to drop out of college and later went back. Which was in the mid 2000s.
 

Kerochan no Miko

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#47
Neither did I, and I watched the subbed original during a tough time in my life, in between when I had to drop out of college and later went back. Which was in the mid 2000s.
Yeah, uh, I was in college about ten years before that, so.
 
Jul 31, 2012
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#48
Probably not as popular these days since most younger folks are into Marvel which doesn't make sense but does..Marvel has been around forever...

I on the other hand could never forget SM. It's partly responsible for my drive and success with becoming an author & artist.

I wonder what things will be like 20 years from now...
 

Kerochan no Miko

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#49
Probably not as popular these days since most younger folks are into Marvel which doesn't make sense but does..Marvel has been around forever...
People can like more than one thing at a time, you know... and I see the Marvel stuff as being more popular with older people than small children.
 
Sep 13, 2008
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#51
I can only tell you from an older fan's perspective : I was born in '86 I was 9 years old when I got into sailor moon in the tail end of 1995 - the dic has nostalgia factor for me cause it was my first sailor moon experience and my first time seeing an anime - I saw others later that same month, the show wasn't aimed at me as I am a boy but sailor moon became my hero and I always looked forward to watching. New fans have the benefit to binge watching where us 90s fans watched 1 sometimes 2 eps a day [2 cause sm aired in two channels at one point - one at 6am another at 4pm the same day] so any issues about the 90s being too samey didn't outright bug most people so easy plus in japan the eps were weekly - when you binge you notice flaws more easy and complain more not every fan is like that but it just becomes more noticeable, but new fan or old everyone has their own point of view - not everyone is gonna have the same view so I won't generalize how new fans feel about any version other than the fact that they have more options upon their first viewing than we did and their judgement maybe based off a point of view that we back in the day didn't have
 
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Kerochan no Miko

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#52
I would not trust the opinion of a bunch of 30-40 year olds on the subject, especially when they’re so strangely territorial about the series
Except that 30-40 year olds are the ones most likely to have children and thus see what kids think.
 

Kerochan no Miko

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#54
Conversely, active Sailor Moon fans may be as a whole less likely to have kids than other people of similar ages
Why is that? There's nothing that stops adults from being parents and being a fan of a particular tv show. Just look at all the people who bring their entire families to conventions, sometimes even all in cosplay.

Being an adult doesn't mean that you have to give up everything that makes you happy - and having kids means you can pass those things on to them, as well.
 

Nadia

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#55
Nothing stops parents from passing along their fandoms...except the parents not having kids. I am of the belief that semi-active Sailor Moon fans as people are much less likely to have kids to begin with.

Some of this is due to demographics, since in general people are having fewer children. You are aware of the situation in Japan. Western Europe is in a very similar situation and even North America is not immune. Dual Income No Kids is becoming a norm, not to mention the rising rate of singledom. It's hard to grow an audience when the population is either slowing in growth or on the verge of collapse.

There's also the self-selection factor of Sailor Moon fans. Sailor Moon fans tend to be more progressive, and progressives tend to have fewer kids. (Note, I'm not saying there aren't more conservative Sailor Moon fans, but that the people who still love the series lean as a whole towards the left).

The biggest factor, though, is that there is no new Sailor Moon material aimed at kids or teens with the possible exception of the musicals. Thus the people who are already fans invest more into it, and the franchise in return caters to these fans.

As a general rule, you need to be able to reach kids if you want a franchise to last generations, and the only way to reach kids is to produce material aimed at this group. This means you have to start from scratch with a new adaptation. Reprinting the manga is not going to bring in that many more new fans.

Plus, while there is an intergenerational appeal for many megapopular franchises, Sailor Moon isn't one of them. Instead the franchise gets its money from an aging collectible crowd who likes to spend money on the franchise, making it a very circular relationship. Everything about Sailor Moon is marketed towards older fans and nostalgia, and now even Millennials are starting to age out of the coveted demographics. By marketing Sailor Moon as a nostalgia product, it displaces all of those who don't have nostalgia for the product. My parents both loved The Mod Squad, but I personally don't have any love for it.

I'm not saying it can't change. Sailor Moon has all the ingredients for a true revival. However, the series itself would have to change. Right now, despite the Crystal movies, the musicals, and the novelization, this franchise is still preaching to the choir.
 
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Kerochan no Miko

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#56
Nothing stops parents from passing along their fandoms...except the parents not having kids. I am of the belief that semi-active Sailor Moon fans as people are much less likely to have kids to begin with.
Er...if they don't have kids, then they're...not parents. I think you might want to rethink your logic there.

I also think that you're extremely wrong in thinking that nerds don't have kids because they're nerds - maybe your life experiences are different from my life experiences, but I can tell you that without the grown-up nerds with families, nerd culture wouldn't be as mainstream as it is today. Who do you think is driving all the anime and comic books &c into massive popularity?

Maybe Sailor Moon specifically isn't as popular with the younger crowd as it was twenty years ago, but that doesn't mean kids don't/wouldn't like it. And I stand by my assertion that it's adults who loved the series when they were younger that are going to help make it popular for the next generation.
 

saintfighteraqua

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#57
There are two young girls who have parents who shop at my store and they both love Sailor Moon. One I think is like 8 and the other around 11. As far as I know, they do not know one another (which is kind of sad.)
They got into Sailor Moon through Hulu and Netflix recently.
Most Sailor Moon fans I meet at my job are within 10 years of my age going either direction though (I'm 39. I don't feel it, though.)
 

Rika-Chicchi

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#58
There are two young girls who have parents who shop at my store and they both love Sailor Moon. One I think is like 8 and the other around 11. As far as I know, they do not know one another (which is kind of sad.)
They got into Sailor Moon through Hulu and Netflix recently.
Most Sailor Moon fans I meet at my job are within 10 years of my age going either direction though (I'm 39. I don't feel it, though.)
I don't have any stats to support it, but I guess the current modal age of Sailor Moon fans is around 35, just basing on my impression. :)
 
Jun 17, 2019
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#59
There are two young girls who have parents who shop at my store and they both love Sailor Moon. One I think is like 8 and the other around 11. As far as I know, they do not know one another (which is kind of sad.)
They got into Sailor Moon through Hulu and Netflix recently.
Most Sailor Moon fans I meet at my job are within 10 years of my age going either direction though (I'm 39. I don't feel it, though.)

I don't have any stats to support it, but I guess the current modal age of Sailor Moon fans is around 35, just basing on my impression. :)
I’m 29 myself, I wonder if I’m on the younger end of the average. I was actually born in the very year Sailor Moon was created and grew up alongside it lol.
 

Rika-Chicchi

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#60
I’m 29 myself, I wonder if I’m on the younger end of the average. I was actually born in the very year Sailor Moon was created and grew up alongside it lol.
I think a majority of fans were kindergarten or junior elementary school kids while Sailor Moon was airing. :)