For all fans of Sailor Moon! Including the 90s anime, the manga, Sailor Moon Crystal, musicals, or live-action show
Usagi x Mamoru's Relationship
I wanted to see what you guys thought about this. When responding, please note if you're referring to characters in the 90s anime (also specify dub v. subtitles), manga, or Crystal because the characterizations do change.
What do you guys think about the Usagi/Mamoru relationship? I ask because I've seen this be controversial for some people. Some love them as a couple, others on the other end of the spectrum characterize it as "weird", "creepy", etc.
Personally, I enjoy them (in any characterization). I think they balance each other out, and I like that they each get the opportunity to "save" each other (it's not ALWAYS one sided).




Wow that's so weird you posted this because I was literally thinking about their relationship this morning and was going to make a post about it.
Firstly, I strongly dislike romantic representations of underage relationships in a positive light. It gives young people (I believe dispropotionately girls) the idea that an older man's interet is acceptable. In reality, wtf would a 17yo be hanging out with a 14yo? I found this article while watching Crystal because I was deeply disturbed by the implications of one of the scenes. Its uncomfortable. I've watched both the 90 anime and Crystal with subtitles..it was a long time ago for the 90's anime, but I think Mamoru's age difference was less noticable. Sure, you can justify the relationship by saying they knew they would be together forever and they had a strong pull because of their past lives...still.
That being said, I really enjoy their relationship. I don't remember thinking of this much when I watched the 90's anime, but watching the Crystals I was impressed with the feminist portrayal of their relationship. Mamoru is extremely supportive of Usagi as Sailor Moon, especially when she doesn't believe in herself. He never tells her she's too young to be fighting evil or to let him handle it. The few times he beats himself up is when he felt he couldn't protect her/be there for her when she really needed him. But for the most part, he stays in the background and lets her do her thing. He freely lends her his powers to power up and quietly steps back to let her take charge.
When she's not being Sailor Moon, she can be very immature, overly emotional, and somewhat jealous. He handles her with a calm, reassuring demeanor, but most importantly: he lets her be her. He never tells her she's overreacting or that she's insecure or she's being absurd. He's forgiving and loving and supportive. She spends the majority of her time with her friends/fellow guardians; he doesn't make her feel guilty or get jealous or resentful.
He believes in her and loves her with all his heart, and that gives Usagi/Sailor Moon the confidence and support she needs. He adds something extra to her, but he doesn't "complete" her or overwhelm her character or the show.
The age gap is even bigger in the manga- he's in college. In the manga, she does start acting more mature over time (although she's still really young at the end- 16 I think). Of course, with all of the reincarnation going on, it gets a little murky on just how old to count any of the Scouts (looking at you, Saturn and Pluto).
Normally I would be bothered by that large of an age gap, but with all of the supernatural things in the series it seems a little less creepy.
Actually, in the manga she is 14 to his 17. In the 90s anime though, that is 100% correct - he is a first year college student (along with Setsuna/Sailor Pluto).
I do agree with Tacitala that the supernatural elements make it seem less strange. Personally, I'm not disturbed by the age gap itself because they both are reasonable about how they conduct themselves.
That said, I also agree with the point you raised Merah - it DOES have the potential to "normalize" this sort of thing for young girls, and I think it can be problematic for that reason. Sure, it was fine for the two of them (and I'm sure other people have had functional relationships come out of similar situations), but most dudes Mamoru's age are not hanging around 14 year olds for anything beneficial. :/ And if it's seen as normal, it's possible young girls may not see it for the risk it is - so I totally understand what you're saying.
But also like you said, their relationship is pretty healthy - especially in Crystal/the manga. I think he is supportive, without overshadowing. And I never really thought about it, but you're right - he accepts her as she is. He's not molding her into something she's not.
I definitely think the age difference isn't discussed as much in the 90s anime (subtitles), especially once their relationship is established. They are presented as more or less peers. That said, I definitely agree with the points people have raised about normalizing age difference. College especially is a huge time for growth and development, and even a senior in high school (I'm American and not totally sure about what the name would be for that year, but like 16-18 years old) dating a college freshman irl can cause issues because of how much more freedom college kids have. Normalizing that big of an age gap at that young of an age is a problem, although as other posters said it is less noticeable once you learn about their backstory and that they're married in the future/because there are so many sci-fi and fantasy elements. I do like that they have comparable 'powers' and that Mamoru isn't like...way stronger and more talented than Usagi which tends to happen depressingly often in supernatural romances between men and women.
I also am not a big Mamoru fan in general, though, I find the female friendship aspects of Sailor Moon both a much healthier model for young girls and more interesting/enjoyable to watch!
spoilers in this next paragraph, not sure whether to mark for those or not!
Another semi-related thing that bothers me (maybe this would be better as a different post, but I'm not sure) is how little supervision Chibiusa has/the weird energy between her and Mamoru and Usagi's 'jealousy' before they find out their backstory. Chibiusa is a very young child, and a 14 year old should not be her primary guardian, whether she is her mom in the future or not. It is a huge responsibility, and while it makes sense that for plot reasons Usagi's parents can't really know about her Sailor self, it just makes me so nervous all the situations Chibiusa gets into because of lack of adult supervision!
I also just sound like such an old lady in this post, aha. When I was 15, the age difference would have seemed totally reasonable and fine to me but now that I'm 26, I'm so much more aware of how normalizing a lot of media is about grown men and teenage girls having romantic/sexual relationships and it makes me super nervous. (Again, especially because when I WAS a teenage girl, I thought that type of relationship was fine or like 'well but they're in loveeee' and it affected the way I thought about/pursued/had relationships).
I whole heartily agree with everything you posted - we can be old ladies together!! XD I feel like a lot of times when I'm rewatching shows from when I was younger, 90% of the time I'm just sitting there like "..where are your parents???!"
But definitely as I get older, and gain more experience and develop as a feminist, it becomes harder to comfortably consume media without some part of me thinking "Oh COME ON."
I never particularly liked the Chibi story line, but rewatching this made me pretty uncomfortable. Even with her backstory...why the jealousy?? She's like, 2yo (I know not really, but she's super young) - what could you possibly have to fear/be anxious of? Idk.
I agree, I like the story line between the team better, but I liked it most in Season 1, how they were formidable on their own, but stronger as a team. I feel like in the 2nd season, they were terrible on their own, ok as a team, but mostly there to give their energy to Sailor Moon for a powerup to kick everyone's ass. Yeah yeah I know, its her show.... :/ I'd rather have a whole season dedicated to Haruka and Michiru <3.<3
The Chibiusa dynamic always weirded me out so much. It was definitely emphasized less in the manga (and by extension, sailor moon crystal) so it's not AS in your face, but it's definitely still... weird.
I think it's supposed to be one of the "immature" aspects of Usagi that she eventually grows out of? I think you're right - the whole thing could be it's own thread. The fact that she gets asked to take care of her "child" while being 14/not having given birth yet is, in itself, odd. The whole situation is strange.