The team here at VIZ was very excited to take on the honor of localizing Sailor Moon, especially acknowledging that Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus are not friends, but in fact, partners. pic.twitter.com/TNPpvEBIXU
— VIZ (@VIZMedia) June 24, 2019
Many Sailor Moon fans, growing up with the popular English dub that came out in the 90s, were exposed to the idea that Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune (Haruka Tenoh and Michiru Kaioh respectively) were cousins rather than them being lovers. This, of course, was the result of purposeful censorship that decided that LGBTQ relationships were not acceptable for young audiences. Thankfully, now more and more people are aware of this, as the redubbed version doesn’t erase their gayness. But it doesn’t mean that the problems have ended.
There was a Sailor Moon: Sailor Stars translation error that ended up affecting how some could interpret the relationship between Sailors Neptune and Uranus, so Viz Media, the company behind the property, was quick to head on Twitter and address the error and let people know that the characters are not friends, but partners. Erica Friedman, of Yuricon, was one of the first to call out Viz.
This might seem like a small thing because it’s common knowledge to many of us now, but the reality there are still a lot of people who think any inclusion of queer characters is done for clout.
don’t know sailor moon well but is this just a ploy to make the LGBT community happy or is this an actual thing from years ago?
— Just Piger (@pigerchou) June 25, 2019
Even now Uranus and Neptune are immensely popular, as they should be. And considering it was already erased once before and people are concerned that Netflix’s dub of the classic anime Neon Genesis Evangelion is also erasing queer subtext, I’m not surprised people were concerned and wanted some assurance. Because even when you think something is set in stone, a bad translation or dub can completely screw everything up.
Ayeeee my OTP got their status back. Thanks Viz! ❤❤❤ pic.twitter.com/iCiyxf0SvU
— Aoi kun🍌🐟 | Momiji’s real mom (@Aoikun) June 24, 2019
It’s about time that those two were partners in the English counterpart to the Japanese version. It’s about time the industry recognizes same sex couples in anime. Thank you Viz for addressing this!
— Mori (@mori_kafun) June 25, 2019
I know this about a printing mistake but out of context it looks like shade towards Netflix Evangelion
— pasta (@warmpastas) June 25, 2019
Good on you Vis for righting the wrongs of that DIC dub
Nostalgic as it may be….Pork buns aren’t doughnuts
This is Usagi
Kunzite and Zoisite are both males
And Neptune and Uranus aren’t ‘cousins’ pic.twitter.com/LOZnS49Jfg— Veryrandombutterfly – RTX 2019 (@VryRdmButterfly) June 25, 2019
What dubs have made changes that still make you rage to this day?
(image: Viz)
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