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Please enjoy my favorite song from Sailor Moon while you read this blog post!
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Sailor Moon. Neo-Queen Serenity. Super Sailor Moon. Whatever name you know her by, but I know her best as Usagi Tsukino.
I was in third grade when I watched Sailor Moon for the first time. It was dubbed in Vietnamese with the worst possible image quality one could find on Youtube. Sometimes, I had to switch between English and Vietnamese subtitles, just because that was all that was available. This made watching a little more challenging for an eight year old girl, who just started to learn English.
My father and I shared one computer, so we would take turns using it. Every time it was my turn, I would watch Sailor Moon. I was mesmerized as an eight-year-old by a show where girls could wear pretty outfits and save the world. I would shout “Moon Prism Power” at every hour of the day and perform my transformation dance for no one to see.
However, the most mesmerizing and memorable part of my experience was Usagi Tsukino, or Sailor Moon.
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Usagi Tsukino
In the first clip of the first episode, Usagi is introduced as a regular teenage girl, about to start middle school. She is immature, a crybaby, and excessively emotional. She also was not the brightest student. Her grades often cause her parents to be upset with her.
However, her flaws make her the relatable protagonist that fans love and adore. She is a secret hero, yet she faced common problems that teens faced like first love, friendship troubles, and bad grades. Despite all these issues and the pressure of saving the world, she always made time for the people she cares about.
She is kind. Within a couple of minutes of her introduction, she rescues a stray cat from being bullied by some boys (albeit that cat ended up being her guardian). Although she was clumsy at first, she was not afraid to take on the role of Sailor Moon to save her best friend from danger.
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Defining Usagi Tsukino
Like most Anime protagonists, Usagi starts out very naive and immature. This allows her room to grow throughout the series, starting from adolescence to adulthood. The viewers are witnessing her growth as they watch her on the big screen, growing as well alongside the protagonist. Her childish side encourages her viewers to appreciate and relish in the innocence of youth.
Her greatest strength, and possibly her biggest flaw, is that she is willing to believe the best in everyone. She assumes that everyone has a good side to them, no matter how deep it is buried. She offers grace for anyone willing to change for the better. Usagi has never been shy to offer her enemies the chance to be better.
She has shown from early on how deeply she cares about her friends and is extremely protective of them (makes sense why she is a Cancer). Although her extraverted nature causes her to be nosy at times, she genuinely cares about the well-being of everyone, enemies included. She does not believe in hurting or killing, opting to heal people instead, with her magic.
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Character Growth
For the multiple seasons and chapters that viewers follow Usagi Tsukino, they see her grow from a clumsy yet eager teenage girl into a strong and capable young woman. Although she still retains some of her childishness and emotional side, she becomes a role model for people everywhere. She transforms from Sailor Moon to Neo-Queen Serenity. Along the way, she never loses her roots and her charm as a protagonist.
She is pushed into the leader of the Sailor Scouts, which she handled with grace (if not a little clumsy at first). Although she is the leader, she never shy away from accepting help and advice from her friends. She allows people to see her vulnerable side, which made her powerful as a leader.
Usagi also shows a humorous side to her character. She is never afraid to tease her friends about their crushes, while still encouraging them to pursue the relationship. She takes an interest in all her friend’s hobbies, even if she does not understand them (flashback to when she tried to cook and failed miserably).
There is no denying that Usagi has a lot to grow throughout the series. She has many qualities to stop her from being perfect. She gets angry easily. She relies on others too much at times. She doesn’t take her hero duties seriously enough (along with school). However, these flaws make her human.
She reminds us that we do not have to be perfect in order to be a hero or a leader. Even if we fail or make mistakes, she teaches us to try again.
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What Usagi Tsukino Meant To Me
There could not be a better role model for eight-year-old Ha My than Usagi Tsukino. There were so many ways I related to Sailor Moon. I was a huge crybaby, I would cry at everything and I did not stop until I started middle school. I liked playing video games and reading books. I adore cats. I always saw a part of myself in Usagi. She was the first person to inspired me to be better.
There are many things about her that I wished I had. Besides the glamour of being a sailor scout, I wanted to find the family that she had. She was always surrounded by friends, family, and animals.
Although I had loving parents, they often worked long hours to make ends meet. Adding on to the fact that I was an only child, it was not surprising that I was alone and lonely throughout childhood.
She filled that missing gap in my life. I will always be grateful for all the hours I spent watching her grow. Usagi will always be a big sister to me, even now that I am much older than she is.
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I hope you enjoy this character analysis on Usagi Tsukino, one of my favorite characters. This was long overdue, but I felt it was time that I paid my respect to my childhood hero.
We all have that character that is our special person and we could always relate to. Mine just happens to be Sailor Moon. I can always depend on her for a laugh or a cry or a smile.
I would love to know who your special character is in the comments. As always, thank you for taking your time to read my blog!
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Little Creek 