By Dave Paone (photos and text)
Campus News
A popular feature of the annual Anime NYC cosplay convention is the “meetup,” where fans of a particular series gather together at a specific location and time to celebrate that series.
At the con held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center last month, “Sailor Moon” cosplayers had their meetup and about 50 fans gathered dressed as the eponymous, junior high schoolgirl, as well as other characters from the series. There were also a few “Sailor Men” in attendance.
“Sailor Moon” originated as an illustrated series first published in a Japanese magazine in 1991. Fifty-two individual chapters were published through 1997.
Over the following two and a half decades came TV series, video games and feature films, the latest released this year.
Just as Superman is really Clark Kent, and Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker, Sailor Moon is Usagi Tsukino. In the first installment, the Japanese middle schooler befriends Luna, a talking black cat who gives her a magical brooch enabling her to transform into her alter ego, a guardian destined to save Earth from the forces of evil.
So why has “Sailor Moon” endured for over 30 years?
All the attendees who Campus News asked had essentially the same answer.
(Some cosplayers use their first and last names, some use just their first names while others like to be called by their Instagram handles.)
“I think she perseveres because she’s a good role model for young women,” said Naomi, a 27-year-old from Virginia. “A lot of young women aspire to be like her.”
One of Sailor Moon’s attributes that Naomi thinks inspires others (as well as herself) is “having to persevere no matter what, even if you’re sad or crying, you just keep going.”
Naomi has had times in her life when she was sad and crying but forged ahead.
“Especially during college,” she said.
Naomi came dressed as a “mashup” of Sailor Venus (a supporting character) and Ariel from “The Little Mermaid.”
“I think a lot of young girls, especially, and just people who felt kind of outcasted kind of resonate towards Sailor Moon,” said Maria, a 23-year-old recent grad from Sacred Heart University with a BS in neuroscience.
“It teaches you love and the power of friendship,” she said.
Maria came to the meetup with her 34-year-old friend Sarah, who expressed the same sentiment.
She feels “the themes of love and friendship [and] female empowerment” are what makes the series timeless.
“It’s all about friendship and being strong, just being strong females,” said 42-year-old Cristal.
The meetup was hosted by @rizuki, who describes herself as an “East Coast cosplayer mostly skipping around New York City and Long Island.”
“Sailor Moon” holds a special place in her heart.
“I met my husband because of ′Sailor Moon,′” she said. “My maid of honor – everyone in my wedding was there because of ′Sailor Moon.′”
Four “Sailor Moon” cosplayers came dressed as Sailor Starlights and the Princess, who’ll be reintroduced in the latest feature film. The costumes were made public outside of Japan at the con for the first time.
@thelastblackmoon dressed specifically as Sailor Star Fighter, one of the three Starlights.
@thelastblackmoon takes Japanese culture very seriously. She lives in Japan.
The 27-year-old’s first trip there was in 2017 when she was a psychology and East Asian studies double major at Ursinus College in Pennsylvania. She studied abroad over the summer.
It wasn’t until her return to the US that she discovered cosplay and anime during the lockdown.
“My friends here [and I] were all locked in the same house and there was nothing to do but watch anime and put on costumes and throw our own parties,” she said.
After graduation, she landed a job with the Japanese Exchange Teaching Program, which brings English speakers to Japan to teach the language to ESL students.
“I just shipped right off to Japan, six months after graduating,” she said.
@thelastblackmoon has been working in Japan for three years but thinks her time there may be coming to an end soon.
Immediately following the “Sailor Moon” meetup was one for “Genshin Impact,” where another 50 fans gathered to celebrate the action, role-playing game. Naturally, they were all in costume.
“Genshin Impact” is relatively new on the market, having been launched in 2020. According to Wikipedia, “the game is estimated to have grossed nearly $3.8 billion by the end of 2022, representing the highest-ever, first-year launch revenue for any video game.”
Clearly, it’s a fan favorite.
One of those fans is Yatabbay, who dressed as the game’s Candace. The college sophomore has been cosplaying for only three years but has been to about a dozen conventions.
Another is Olivia, who came dressed as Shen He. She chose this character because she finds her backstory interesting and “a little tragic.” However, Olivia’s own life story is nothing like Shen He’s.
“I didn’t have to fight to the death as a child,” she said.
The “Sailor Moon” and “Genshin Impact” meetups were only two hours of the three-day convention. The venue was imbued with college students and recent grads showing off their costumes.
Gal pals Erin Kim and Iris Kwon are seniors at New York University.
It was their first time cosplaying so they chose characters with easy costumes, from “Bocchi the Rock.”
Iris is a business major and even though cosplaying is a far cry from the corporate world, she feels it’s a better match with her interests than the clubs at school.
She said the two of them felt that since it’s their senior year, they should “do something” and this is what they chose.
Michaela Sallese is a first-year student at South Hills School of Business and Technology in Pennsylvania and came dressed as Lanzhu Zhong from “Love Live! Nijigasaki.”
Although technically a freshman, Michaela is 27 and in her fourth go-around of college.
“I’ve had a lot of mental health struggles and family physical health struggles. I’ve had to drop out of college a couple of times,” she said.
Since South Hills is a two-year, associate’s program, she feels it provides her with a pace she can handle and enables her to work full-time and go to anime conventions.
Michaela feels cosplay has boosted her confidence which in turn has helped her with her mental health issues.
Last year she cosplayed as her favorite character, Cure Flora of “Go! Princess Precure” and it was just what the doctor ordered.
“I felt the most beautiful I’ve ever felt,” she said.
Corinne Rasmusen is a 23-year-old recent grad from Rutgers University with a degree in library science and works as a children’s librarian in New Jersey. She came dressed as Aerith Gainsborough from “Final Fantasy VII.”
She only started cosplaying a year and a half ago but – much like Michaela – it’s boosted her confidence greatly.
“I was very unconfident in college but starting cosplay – I finally got the nerve up – and I’ve made so many friends,” she said.
Corinne found a way to combine her love of libraries with her love of cosplay, by running an anime club at work.
Kyanna Lewis is a sophomore at Mercy University in Dobbs Ferry, New York. She came as Monkey D. Luffy from “One Piece.”
Just as the Sailor Moon fans find her inspirational, Kyanna feels the same way about Mr. Luffy.
“When I was going through hard times, that anime helped me a lot,” said the computer science major. “His character was very uplifting and I saw how even though people who were stronger than him still brought him down, he still had the confidence and faith to be brought back up.”
If Sailor Moon were a junior high school student when she was introduced in 1991, let’s say she was 13. If we do the math, she was born in 1978, making her 45 today, and the world’s oldest middle schooler.
That’s still not as old as Archie Andrews, who’s a 99-year-old high school junior.
Facebook Comments