They Want Serena, Too

1/19/2013

We changed the color scheme and added a new image to our page, as well as did a little tidying up. We are still working on the content, so we ask for patience in the interim.

In other news, last week, we stumbled across a webcomic, Many Guys Doing Manly Things. The creator, Kelly Turnbull (also known as Coelasquid) posted a comic featuring Sailor Moon characters. The comic itself is funny and well-drawn, but what makes it even more relevant to this site's focus is the reaction it received. A review of the comments shows the names and terms of the English version was prevalent the discussion, not the names and terms of the Japanese version. This is in spite of the comic itself not specifying a version in its dialogue,

One of the common arguments against wanting the name "Serena" is that even the fans of the English version of Sailor Moon have long forgotten the names of the characters. However, this sample proves otherwise. Outside of the Sailor Moon and general anime fan communities, there are English speaking fans of the Sailor Moon anime who do want Serena. While a webcomic audience does have its own self-selection bias, it draws from a wider variety of fans, rather than those who want to analyze Sailor Moon. This gives a more rounded picture of what the entire fandom (including the normally silent portion) thinks, not a specific subset of Sailor Moon fans.

Cluedo

4/14/2013 03:44:07 am

Yeah, I just looked through that page and comments and the English name wasn't mentioned once while the original name was used thrice. So, no they really don't want the name either. In fact, there were many complaints about the dub and the series in general on the page. Not the best example to drum up support really.

We Want Serena link

4/14/2013 04:45:28 am

Thank you for your reply, but we would like to respectfully disagree with your analysis of the comments.

"Malachite" and "Sailor Scouts" are used multiple times by different commenters, and these terms that are exclusive to the North American English dub. Since the comic itself features Malachite more prominently than Serena, he would be the subject of comic commentary, not Serena. Besides, it would be reasonable to assume that those who are talking about "Malachite" would also want "Serena." To be fair, not everyone who wants "Serena" wants "Malachite" as many fans of the name "Serena" are not fans of all aspects of the English dub. However, those who refer to "Malachite" do tend to be fans of the English dub by default. Generally, they want "Serena."

You are correct in that that there are complaints about the English dub. However, the comic creator herself strongly disagreed with those complaints, and other comments on the page indicate that neither position on the English dub can be considered universal. All this means is that people disagree with regard to the merits of the dub.

As mentioned, the aim of this site is to argue that "Serena" should be used in an English version of the 1990's anime, and to act as a countermeasure against the prevailing voice on the Internet that proclaims otherwise. The discussions on the page we linked to demonstrate that despite Internet polls, the support for The Other Name is not ironclad in an English speaking audience. If "Malachite," a name even more discredited by the Internet fandom, is still in use and a viable option, then so is the name of the main character of Sailor Moon -- Serena.

Cluedo

4/15/2013 02:39:43 pm

...Hmm, well then, I have some questions for you then. If her name is not 月野うさぎ/Tsukino Usagi, then her name is Serena What? You mention the importance of secret identities in your manifesto (which I find interesting that you mention Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne, but not Diana Prince/Wonder Woman) but never stress the missing last name that lessens the importance of Serena as a replacement. The dub gave us the names Darien Shields, Amy Anderson, Maxfield Stanton and Molly Baker, so why no last name for Serena? Wouldn't that give more relevance to the name change to the dub? Also, would you be so adamant about keeping the English name if it had been Victoria as DIC originally planned to use or Celeste as the English branch of Kodansha first used?

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They Want Serena, Too

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