For the longest time, I couldn’t figure out why I’m so attached to Sailor Moon.

For the longest time, I couldn’t figure out why I’m so attached to Sailor Moon. Some might say it’s a gay thing, which I don’t fully agree. I met plenty of gay men who are not into Sailor Moon at all, for example, my boyfriend.

So what is it? Why I’m so fascinated by this character. I re-re-re-watched Sailor Moon (90s anime and Sailor Moon Crystal) and re-re-re-read the manga recently. They instantly brought me back to my middle school years, when I was a chubby teen who was horrible at sport, not popular among classmates, who occasionnaly got bullied, and who had a lot of trouble getting friends.

The highlight of the day for the friendless low self-esteem 14-years-old me is to go back home after school hours and dive my nose in my Sailor Moon manga.

Then it hit me. Not the manga, but the anwswer I was looking for. I was attached emotionally to Sailor Moon, not because of its fancy transformation or colorful costumes, but because she was my only friend during those lonely teenage years.

Just like Calvin has Hobbes, I have Sailor Moon. Some kid have a fluffy talking tiger as his imaginary friend, and I had a 14-years-old japanese girl named Usagi Tsukino, who often failed English exams in school but chose to proudly shout out some random English words before she attacks.