For over the past fifteen years or so, I've heard over and over that Naoko Takeuchi said "only girls can become Sailor Senshi." Because this was such a widespread quote/claim, I never challenged it. I knew the quote originated from her appearance at San Diego Comic Con in 1998, but I could never find a reliable/official transcript (the panel wasn't recorded).
While perusing the scans of North American magazines that MissDream has, I came across this issue of Animerica which contains a write-up of the event. As far as I have been able to ascertain, it's the only official write-up of Naoko's appearance that references the infamous remark. Here's what it says:
"All the Sailor Scouts are girls" does NOT mean the same thing as "Only girls can become Sailor Senshi." The former is an observation; the latter is a rule. Unless Animerica is incorrect in their write-up or translation of Naoko's remarks - and given the context of the remark, I don't think they are - Naoko was merely clarifying that all the Sailor Senshi in her manga were female (i.e. that Uranus and the Starlights were female), not establishing a rule of her universe's lore that only women can be Sailor Senshi. After all, were that here intention, she had ample opportunity to state it in the manga itself, yet she didn't. She had an opportunity to state it when answering the question about Sailor Earth, but again she didn't. (I mean, she says that Tuxedo Mask is Sailor Earth, not that the Earth is protected by Tuxedo Mask instead of a Sailor Earth.)
So.... Is this just (yet another) thing that the fandom has gotten wrong and blown out of proportion like a bad game of telephone? Was Naoko merely making a statement about her characters and not issuing a proclamation about who can and can't be Sailor Senshi? Or has she made "girls only" statements elsewhere? Let's get to the bottom of this once and for all.
While perusing the scans of North American magazines that MissDream has, I came across this issue of Animerica which contains a write-up of the event. As far as I have been able to ascertain, it's the only official write-up of Naoko's appearance that references the infamous remark. Here's what it says:
"All the Sailor Scouts are girls" does NOT mean the same thing as "Only girls can become Sailor Senshi." The former is an observation; the latter is a rule. Unless Animerica is incorrect in their write-up or translation of Naoko's remarks - and given the context of the remark, I don't think they are - Naoko was merely clarifying that all the Sailor Senshi in her manga were female (i.e. that Uranus and the Starlights were female), not establishing a rule of her universe's lore that only women can be Sailor Senshi. After all, were that here intention, she had ample opportunity to state it in the manga itself, yet she didn't. She had an opportunity to state it when answering the question about Sailor Earth, but again she didn't. (I mean, she says that Tuxedo Mask is Sailor Earth, not that the Earth is protected by Tuxedo Mask instead of a Sailor Earth.)
So.... Is this just (yet another) thing that the fandom has gotten wrong and blown out of proportion like a bad game of telephone? Was Naoko merely making a statement about her characters and not issuing a proclamation about who can and can't be Sailor Senshi? Or has she made "girls only" statements elsewhere? Let's get to the bottom of this once and for all.