False Information


A rather upset Uranus and Neptune.

Not only does SOS have no real connections in news about the show, they have frequently mislead and outright lied to the fans via their website. The most infamous fabrication, and the one SOS is still haunted by, came about in the summer of 1998.

In 1998, the SOS posted a new section to their website, entitled "What Are We Missing." It was supposed to detail what had been cut from the show, along with what was in future seasons. The controversy over this section was that SOS posted a section explaining the "truth" about Haruka and Michiru, claiming that in the Silver Millenium, Haruka was really the Prince of Uranus and was accidentally reborn as a woman, thus explaining "her" feelings for Michiru. Their source was an interview with Takeuchi Naoko they could not produce. They later listed their source as unconfirmed, as though an unconfirmed source was supposed to suffice. They also listed alongside this piece that Japanese viewers did not percieve Haruka and Michiru to be lesbians because such relationships between girls were common in Japan.

Both claims are easily proven false, but the Prince of Uranus claim garnered the most controversy. The latter claim was easily laughed off, as it was and still is a common, easily debunked statement. SOS was finally confronted with evidence of an interview in Kappa magazine from 1996, in which Takeuchi herself said she purposely made the pair lesbians. This information was also accompanied by a scan of the original article, which was more proof than SOS has ever produced. To top it off, Takeuchi appeared as a guest of Mixxzine, which was publishing the manga in the US, at the 1998 San Diego ComiCon. SOS had earlier stated that they would not change their section unless they got an answer from Takeuchi herself at the convention. This proved their undoing - when asked the question, Takeuchi confirmed they were lesbians, in front of not only the SOS, but hundreds of other English speaking fans.

SOS was finally forced to take the story down, and in its place is now the original Italian interview, with no reference to the SOS blunder of the past. However, they still left up their other piece, implying that Haruka and Michiru's relationship is up to interpretation, despite the fact they are still linking to an article proclaiming them lesbians. In 1999, they were STILL trying to spread the Prince of Uranus rumor at AnimeExpo, though they were quickly shot down by better informed fans. As of this date, no one knows where the Prince of Uranus idea came from besides SOS, and they certainly aren't talking. In 1999, as if to distance themselves from earlier controversy, they posted an article stating that SailormoonS was not being dubbed because of homophobic parents enraged over Haruka and Michiru (in reality, it was because the dubbing rights were in limbo at the time). It mysteriously vanished when they were berated by other fans for their doublespeak.

Another complaint about misinformation stems from the fact that SOS never puts dates on its articles, as one look at their main site proves. They list events as "current" that may have happened several years ago. Their information on Terri Hawkes' twins dates back to late 2000, yet it is STILL listed as current information. Just click on the link about it from their website and it says right on the page that the twins were born in 2000. They are STILL talking about the winners of a contest they held four years ago, which I can only gather from the fact that one of the prizes was a "new" SeraMyu theme songs CD that dates back to 1999. Their information on Hara Fumina as the "new" Sailor Moon in SeraMyu is also several years out of date. There's been two Sailor Moons since then, Kanbe Miyuki and Kiroki Marina (the current Sailor Moon.) They even have the controversy with Stuart Levy's treatment of Naoko Takeuchi at the 1998 San Diego ComiCon in the current news section, even though it happened five years ago! Needless to say, this can mislead fans who think that these events just happened.

Relating both to false news reports as well as the lack of dates on the articles, SOS still has an article up, listed as "Current" that Takeuchi Naoko is interested in drawing more Sailor Moon manga. This article was extremely dubious back in 1999 when they first posted it, and since it hasn't been touched for three years, the information remains even more dubious. As of late, Takeuchi has said she is not interested in drawing more Sailormoon manga, as she's already working on two manga series (at random times), Toki*Meka and Love Witch. Obviously, with Takeuchi concentrating on other projects as well as her marriage to Yu Yu Hakusho mangaka Togashi Yoshihiro and raising their son, she has little time to add another manga series to her workload. In October of 2002, in Takeuchi's update at the official Japanese Sailormoon website, she wrote that she can no longer write the Sailormoon manga. You can read her entire October update here.

Note that SOS did NOT report on the October update until January of 2003, and ignored the manga comment to instead focus on a vague statement as proof a new TV series was in the works. Their reason given for the delay was that they had wanted to give Japanese fans a headstart on writing ideas, completely ignoring that that announcement had already been translated into English by other sites and was already known to English speakers. Despite their ever-declining profile, SOS will continue to grab at straws in order to present themselves as the know-all, end-all of Sailormoon in North America.

While not entirely a major problem, SOS has finally grudingly acknowledged the existence of the Season 1 boxset, and encouraged people to "deep-six those old fuzzy Japanglish bootlegs you got off the Internet and plug into the real deal!" Apparently SOS, as previously thought, had no idea that Arctic and E. Monsoon were hardly the only ones fansubbing the series, nor do they seem aware of the quality of the DVD set...

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