>ITT
>what is the integrity of maintaining a fandom meant for children
For adults who were original fans in the 90s/early 2000's, how do you adapt your childhood obsessions into functional hobbies, particularly knowing that they will always remain children's entertainment.
>How often do you have interesting or stimulating discussions about the series?
>How often do you truly indulge into the universe?
>How often do you engage with the fandom vs the series itself?
>How do you manifest your fandom (buy merch, support new releases etc)?
OP's story posted below, sorry if there's a bit of sperging.
>>9494018
(1/2)
I discovered Sailor Moon at the age of 4, it became my favorite show of all time and hugely influenced every aspect of my childhood. From there, I tried to get my hands on every anime available in the early 2000's but the availability of magical girls was limited so I stuck with Cardcaptors and Tokyo Mew Mew (other shoujo I came across was just manga).
Let's be real, I fantasized about being able to connect with large fandoms. At the time there were only random fan listings, forums and other fan sites that were hit/miss depending on the site creator. Being a child, I knew nothing about conventions and don't think they were very accessible back then. My connection to other weebs was entirely non-existent and I grew up feeling incredibly lonely in my hobbies.
>>9494020
(2/2)
Fast forward today, ~mahou shoujo~ culture is basically a subtype of general kawaii culture. The reboots. The galore of merchandise. It's major business. It's a fashion style. It's an identity tied into third wave feminism etc. Let's not even get into fetishists but they ruined so many things for me.
With this revival, comes the unfortunate side effect of attention-seeking wannabe-weebs who collect merchandise, brand name clothing/makeup etc to fake attachment to magical girl fandoms in hopes that they appear to have v special kawaii interests uwu.
>inb4 there's fakes in any fandom!!!!
I know but what's particular here is that these are CHILDREN'S shows. They claim to stumble across series aimed at kids, fall head over heels for the plots/characters/themes and suddenly their life revolves around these fandoms.
As a long term fan, this makes me want to disassociate from the hobbies I hold dear because I realize there's nothing to defend about the original source material. Kodansha/Bandai will do everything in their power to sell merch. The western fandoms will continue to use these series as symbols of female empowerment and that means normies will eat it up with no end in sight.
As an adult, I recognize that Sailor Moon has a shit fucking plot. These series are garabge. How can people tolerate Precure, they don't even have re-occurring characters. If not for nostalgia's sake, why would you ever put yourself through that torture? I couldn't even finish bits of SMC, it was so terrible, and that's coming from someone who has a fandom tattoo and owns the original manga series in every format released.
I'm abandoning all hope anons. Should a sane person in their early 20's stick to legitimately great series? Cowboy Bebop is my favorite anime and Berserk is definitely the best in terms of manga. Maybe i'm starting to feel like the fake fan after all.
>this thinly veiled thread to rag on Jill
>For adults who were original fans in the 90s/early 2000's, how do you adapt your childhood obsessions into functional hobbies, particularly knowing that they will always remain children's entertainment.
By not fucking worrying about bullshit like this.
>>9494040
i'm laughing because obviously I used her pic for a reason but no seriously i'm hoping to hear from other people who have similar experiences/thoughts, i'm tired of this shit being soooo popular at the surface level but no one will analyze what they claim to enjoy.
desu I've had this dilemma for 2-3 years thinking it would just pass, trends would change etc but I feel more than ever it's incredibly difficult to find other fans to connect with that are not actual children spamming forums/fb groups or young adults my age only looking for insta likes.
Just really contemplating the validity of being an actual adult fan of a childhood series and to what extent nostalgia matters.
>>9494020
>>9494028
I'm not sure I understand, do you feel a disconnect with the series because of new fans (who may or may not be fake) or because you find that you don't enjoy these shows anymore?
For the former I'd say just do your own thing, enjoy the new content and merch that comes along with the popularity of the thing, and you're definitely not the only one your age who enjoys magical girl anime so you can make friends your own age who feel the same connection to it as you do.
If it's the latter, well, it's difficult but you shouldn't force yourself to enjoy something because it's "always" been your thing. Sometimes you just grow out of things and that's okay. If it makes you happier to move on to other things then do that, don't stifle your growth as a person just to cling to nostalgia that doesn't serve you anymore.
I'm not so much into magical girl anime but one of my favorite things in the world is the Moomin series which is also (mostly) aimed at children, so I'll go ahead and answer your questions if you don't mind.
>How often do you have interesting or stimulating discussions about the series?
Not so much anymore because of time restraints but I used to post character and plot analyses quite often, and people enjoyed reading them.
>How often do you truly indulge into the universe?
Can't tell you how often but it's definitely an interest that has a prominent part in my life. I read the books or watch the 90s series for comfort after long days at work, for example.
>How often do you engage with the fandom vs the series itself?
I'm more involved with the series than the fandom but the fandom is pretty chill and nice to interact with so it's a personal preference more than anything. I'm not "turned off" by new fans at all, if anything I enjoy discussing the series with them and help them discover new things about it.
>How do you manifest your fandom (buy merch, support new releases etc)?
Like I said I read the books and watch the series, I follow and support new releases, I buy merch that appeals to me (some of it is wearable so I wear it outside too), I produce written content (analyses, headcanons, fics) and draw fan art.
>>9494063
Yeah. Who cares, just like what you want to like, watch it if you want and collect merch if you want. No one cares as much about your interests as you think they do.
And I think by now it's established that Sailor Moon is just as much for adults as it is for kids, the mahou shojo genre as a whole is not only for kids. Crystal was targeted at fans of the original now grown up, and I expect the same for the CCS reboot.
I don't think we can really say mahou shoujo is strictly a kid's fandom after shows like Madoka and BRS becoming the most popular anime in the genre (sans Sailor Moon, of course). The companies knew adults are just as into it, if not more than children, and have been catering to us accordingly.
I didn't grow up with Sailor Moon, but got into it obsessively when I hit my weeb phase, so my case might be different.
(1/2)
>>How often do you have interesting or stimulating discussions about the series?
Not very often, it's not a private hobby by any means, but I don't interact with a lot of fans a lot. I follow a lot of the major release groups for the series (Miss Dream, Sea of Serenity, Tuxedo Unmasked) and will sometimes reblog or add into the discussion, but rarely do I have long conversations with friends.
>>How often do you truly indulge into the universe?
It's always there in the background, but I have times where I get really into SM again and then times when I chill out about it. It's all about escapism for me, especially when I'm stressed or lonely.
>>9494091
(2/2)
>>How often do you engage with the fandom vs the series itself?
Usually more often with the series than the fandom, but that goes for almost all of my weeby interests. Tumblr made fandom cancerous to me, and harder to access. Used to, there were forums and web rings to get information on and meet fans. Now, content like translations, fan art, etc. are usually scattered on hundreds of tumblr blogs and twitters that have other content as well, and sifting through that is a chore. That, and most of the fans are rabid SJWs or tumblr-ites that get on your nerves pretty fast.
>>How do you manifest your fandom (buy merch, support new releases etc)?
Being an adult, I thought it would be easier to buy all of my weeaboo desires but you quickly learn there are bills to pay and groceries and savings, so I usually only buy what I really want. I only have four volumes of the manga plus the old Mixx manga volumes of the Dream/SuperS arc I bought at a used book store. As for merch, I collect Tuxedo Mask things specifically so I only will be a few things of him here and there if I can justify it. I have other hobbies and interests, and as much as SM is a part of my life, I can't spend everything on it. I really wanted to see the Promise of the Rose movie in theaters, but I had to pick up extra shifts at work instead.
Jill and those like her get on my nerves because even though they can buy every piece of merch I could ever want, they aren't really true fans. They don't really care about the fandom or series so much as appearing as though they do because it's in to have that "aesthetic". I might not be able to afford every proplica or figure that I want, but I still love the Sailor Moon with all my heart and support it and engage with other fans in the ways I can.
Same with the new feminist obsession with Sailor Moon. SM is pretty progressive and full of girl power, but all of these "fight like a girl" pictures and punk senshi AUs feel like shallow cop outs.
>>9494079
>>9494088
Sailor Moon was never meant for kids anyway. It had nudity in the manga, covered mature topics, and lesbians when it was a huge taboo in Japan. It was only ever advertised as such because of the people that think anything animated is solely for kids. I know the weebs here are all desensitized and think nothing short of hardcore dp loli guro is sexual or "adult only" but conservative 90s Japan barely allowed it for adult media.
>>9494108
I'll admit if you only watch the anime and ignore everything else it is a bit different. Especially considering all the clueless weebs gushing about "possible yuri" and subtext, but at it's core it was never meant for children.
>>9494096
>punk senshi AUs
Hate these so much. If you watch the damn show there's nothing punk about the girls and what they're doing.
>>9494108
While yes, only now are same sex relationships getting real progressive political grounds, but I think Japan has fetishized it for a long time. Part of the success of Takarazuka review was the heavy lesbian appeal.
>>9494109
>HONK
>>9494118
>but I think Japan has fetishized it for a long time.
It's been fetishized in every culture since the very beginning. My point is that is no matter how people like claim Japanese culture is they still wouldn't draw borderline lesbian porn in a series for children no matter how fetishized.
> Part of the success of Takarazuka review was the heavy lesbian appeal.
Same for everything else including nudity and sexual themes. Try telling most here that and you'll get nothing but how you can't see as nudity as anything but sexual for something like kill la kill or dragon maid. Different eras and all, but Sailor Moon wasn't quite at that level at least.
I mostly like the new wave of mahou shoujo over traditional ones. Things like Nanoha, Madoka, YYY, etc.
>>9494074
What's a good place to start with Moomin? It looks so cute and chill.
>>9494108
But it was serialized in Nakayoshi, a kids anthology?
>>9494018
30 years old here, I was super into sailor moon at the end of elementary school, beginning of middle school. For me it was a cool relaxing escapism thing. I'd make up headcanon as one of my default daydreaming subjects. I don't really interact with either the official or the fandom in my everyday life but I do still use various magical girls as things to space out about in a relaxing way.
I wish I could like Precure.
>>9494146
You can start with the 90s series, I'm not a fan of the English dub but it's pretty cute. I think most of it can be found easily on Youtube still; the first ep is called Spring in Moominvalley. Or alternatively you can pick up the books, they're not very expensive; the first one is Comet in Moominland. Personally I recommend the books, the series is generally "for kids" but the writing isn't silly or immature and can be enjoyable for adults too, plus the series becomes darker as you progress.
>>9494158
>But it was serialized in Nakayoshi, a kids anthology?
See >>9494108
>It was only ever advertised as such because of the people that think anything animated is solely for kids.
But so has marvel, although they made separate series eventually. I'm talking about the author's intent when writing and drawing the manga itself. It's about how OP said "particularly knowing that they will always remain children's entertainment." then immediately mentioning Sailor Moon. Regardless of how something is advertised it wasn't drawn and written to be specifically aimed at children. It can't remain a children's series if was never written for them. You get what I'm saying now?
Why the fuck are you guys taking shows for kids so seriously? Grow up. This is a weird thing to be so elitist over omg
>>9494159
I discovered Moomins at 25 and fucking loved it.
>>9494028
I feel exactly the same about my little pony. I kept my pony toys for a really long time but because of the popularity of the reboot I don't like them anymore.
>>9494118
Still not for kids
>>9494020
>>9494028
>How can people tolerate Precure, they don't even have re-occurring characters.
It... does. You get ~50 episodes with the same characters. It's a four cour show. That's plenty of time with the same characters.
As someone who is still very much into magical girls, I can't relate to your posts at all. I get excited each year for the new PreCure designs to come out. I get excited to see new shows and how they handle things like transformations and what direction they take their shows in. Are a lot of them children's shows with simple plots? Yes. But a lot of slice of life anime just has a simple plot, too, and plenty of adults manage to enjoy those. And as mentioned, there have been a lot of more "grown up" magical girl series in the last few years (although you can argue that they've always existed with things like Utena). There's always something new to watch, and while not everything is going to win an award for Best Series Ever, plenty of it is definitely worth the watch if you're into magical girls.
It just feels to me like you grew out of something. That's okay. You can still appreciate how into it younger you was. It could still be important to you in that sense without it being an active interest.
>>9494111
But anon! They are stronk, tuff women who beat up bad guys! That's punk rock as fuck!
>>9494146
I discovered the Moomins about a year ago and honestly I love it, mostly these interesting stop motion(?)/animation versions. They're a nice place to start if you're into that, it's pretty adorable and very fascinating to watch!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utXbpKrWRBs
>How can people tolerate Precure, they don't even have re-occurring characters. If not for nostalgia's sake, why would you ever put yourself through that torture?
...and thats where I switched off. You sound elitist and very boring. Also if your making a thread about MG, I don't recommend shitting on a popular show just to make yourself look clever. You grew out of your show, so what. No need to get on a pedestal and declare you are now smarter than the newbies and normies. If you know what your watching and realise it is aimed at children, your fine.
Also I feel like this a rag on Jillian/Pixielocks mainly watching these shows for aesthetic. I get it, it's incredibly hollow. The girls a snooty bitch in every sense of the word. I feel you two would get along just fine with your up-assed mentality's.
>>9494091
>I didn't grow up with Sailor Moon, but got into it obsessively when I hit my weeb phase
Same here in terms of actually watching the series. I was first exposed to it in elementary school when I saw it on Toonami. My friend I spent the afternoons with wasn't allowed to watch it for some reason so when I was allowed on the computer once a week (this was early 2000's, definitely a much different time) I would do all the research I could on Sailor Moon. I read all the plots and characters, saved every picture I could find, and even made a PowerPoint on Princess Kakyuu. I put all the animated sprite transformations onto a floppy disk. Those were the days...
A couple of summers ago I finally sat down and watched the entire series. There were regular Sailor Moon generals on /a/ that summer and it was so much fun talking to everyone about it. I cosplayed as Sailor Jupiter shortly after and I have some petit chara figures but that's really the extent of my collection.
Maybe I'm a "fake fan" for not reading the manga or not having more merch, but it's genuinely one of my favorite shows. Most people I tell this to they say, "Oh yeah I remember watching it as a kid" but I know they haven't seen the entire series and only like it on a nostalgic level.
OP here
>>9494074
>>9494091
>>9495497
Thank you so much for sharing anons. I love reading these types of stories.
>>9494108
I was seven years old when I started reading the manga (basically as soon as I could read full sentences/paragraphs) and legitimately didn't find the themes very mature or sexy at the time. That being said, I later realized it did cause me to be highly desensitized to the glorification of loli culture/general rape/hentai etc because 14 year old Usagi seemed much older than myself and it didn't occur to me that 18 year old mamoru is a pedo. I did however question some things such as... chibiusa being romantically obsessed with her own father and going for full blown incest during her black lady phase. But it did normalize other things such as homosexuality and even trans people (sailor starlights), so that was a positive impact.
There's loads of 18+ animations that were available to the Japanese public in the 90's though?
>>9494111
I feel like a bitch but I cringe hard every time. It's almost a pet peeve of mine.
>>9494533
already addressed that >>9494068
This thread relates to me on an unnerving level. I love MGs so much..
>How often do you have interesting or stimulating discussions about the series?
I don't really converse with people about MG series because all my friends into anime don't have as much interest in it. But I would like to eventually if I find someone with as much an interest as me.
>How often do you truly indulge into the universe?
Quite often. I enjoy owning DVDs so I can easily rewatch time and time again. I often think about the genre's history and its future (which I'm mildly concerned about.)
>How often do you engage with the fandom vs the series itself?
I'm not really a fandom invested person, but I do try and keep track. I used to check confession blogs but after seeing how certain characters or plots were often grossly misrepresented for the sake of a rant or how the same confessions get rehashed over and over again, (I hate Mana/Seiya/Erika etc. I think (random western character who uses magic) is a magical girl!) I got tired of its constant negativity and no contribution towards the actual content of the shows in question. Plus like another anon said, the fandom on tumblr is so scattered and not concise like other fan blogs it's a pain to sift through, so I avoid the process altogether.
Even the Precure livejournal is losing traction.
>How do you manifest your fandom (buy merch, support new releases etc)?
I buy DVDs, figures and anything within a good price that's related to magical girls. It's my choice and I enjoy it since unlike other merchandise it's targeted more towards collectors rather than children. Plus it adds a cute touch to my room.
What's everyone's favorite 'new' magical girl anime? I'd have to say Flip Flappers because I enjoyed the themes it tried to explore and it harkened some roots while still being quite new in a way. I also wish for magical girl + shoujo crossovers to happen more I always feel that by Shugo Chara they peaked out..
>>9495629
See >>9494169
"I'm talking about the author's intent when writing and drawing the manga itself. It's about how OP said "particularly knowing that they will always remain children's entertainment." then immediately mentioning Sailor Moon. Regardless of how something is advertised it wasn't drawn and written to be specifically aimed at children. It can't remain a children's series if was never written for them."
My dad forced me to watch austin powers and super explicit horror movies as a kid, but they were never intended for children.
>>9494068
Mahou shojo has always been surface anime even out in the west though, whenever people think of anime usually a handful of animes come to mind from at least the early 2000s. DBZ, Sailor Moon, One Piece, etc. Sailor Moon is what introduced the genre to the west and complaining that something that was broadcast to mainstream audiences is now becoming more mainstream is silly at best.
"Fake" fan vs real fan arguments are always a laugh and this is no different. Mahou shojo was never obscure and people will always like things in various ways and degrees. Finding someone as obsessed/"into" something as you is difficult but can be done. Just dig deeper than fb if all you want is someone to talk to about this stuff.
>>9495629
>"I saw some lesbians have sex and it made me think rape was nbd and 18 y/o having a relationship with 15 y/o is pedo"
Uh...
>>9494028
>How can people tolerate Precure
>I know but what's particular here is that these are CHILDREN'S shows. They claim to stumble across series aimed at kids, fall head over heels for the plots/characters/themes and suddenly their life revolves around these fandoms.
>Should a sane person in their early 20's stick to legitimately great series?
True story: in college I picked up Precure. As a teen, I tried to act all mature, and watched lots of "classics." But after watching those "legitimately great" series, I felt like shit. Think for a moment about all those "great" series. How many of them are consistently uplifting and fun? Not many. Now, how many of these kid shows are?
Yeah, since I started I haven't looked back, and I've started watching other kids shows too. It's a weekly mood lifter. The characters aren't the deepest, but they're cute and consistently fun. The plot is formulaic, but seeing how they play with it ~this time~ is exciting to me. The theme is always just "have fun, try hard, trust your friends," but that's a theme that hits me much harder than most in adult anime. Precure (and Aikatsu, and Pripara) changed me for the better. I don't care what ~elitists~ say, I like them and they're fun. That's all that matters.
Yeah, there's some people who treat it as just aesthetics, and that gets annoying to me. Personally I'm much more annoyed by people who sit outside the fandom and say "ohhhh sailor moon was the only good one, everything is a ripoff, look at all these fucking (wo)manchildren" or whatever. Neither group knows shit about the genre or why people might like it. At very least the aesthetic-loving types support the media so series I like can keep getting made, so I tolerate them.
>>9496216
Same here anon. Being forced to "grow up" as a kid with my parents divorce, I ended up rejecting anything that was targeted toward kids because my little 15 year old self thought she was sooo matuuuuureeeeee and anybody who watches silly kids anime like precure needs to grow up! If you want to watch magical girl anime then watch Madoka its made for ADULTS!!!!
Now I'm happy enjoying my silly kids shows twice a week (Precure and Aikatsu), it's good to take a break from annoying life bullshit and all the ~serious~ anime that I might be watching. Not everything you enjoy has to have ~serious stimulating discussions~ or ~truly indulging in and analysing the universe and characters~ like OP seems to think. People who take kids anime that seriously need to take out the Cutie Moon Rod they have shoved up their ass.
>>9496283
Same here but at eight. Now I've fully embraced childish things as much as I can. It's one of the only things that make me happy. Besides that if you stick to the one actually made for kids you avoid pretty much all the worst parts of anime. Nothing but a win to me.