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Recognizing Her Relationship

Haruka's sexuality and relationship with Michiru have been as controversial as her sex in America as well as many other countries. Some of this is due to culture. Culture standards of what is acceptable public behavior and acceptable sexualities vary.

As any private and responsible person knows, putting your romantic or physical relationship on display is rude and unwanted. This is universal in all cultures. Now, what can be shown in public and what cannot vary.

Showing Affection in Japan

In Japan, public displays of affection are not common. It isn't even a country of "casual" touching. When it comes to interaction you typically keep your body to yourself. The fact that you never see Haruka kiss Michiru or vice versa is perfectly normal. Most situations show them out in public, where hand holding and interlinking arms is the farthest most couples will go in Japan. (As the years have progressed from the 1990s, however, the line of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable has changed.)

Things such as putting your arms around each other's shoulders, embracing and kissing are meant to be done in private and only recently are showing such signs of affection in public becoming more common. Like in many countries these are expected to take place empty parks at night, in the privacy of one's home and dating spots.

Even words of affection are considered very private. Married couples in Japan do not tend to tell each other "I love you." Even before marriage, young people will simply use the terms "I like you." Most will not say these words aloud because they find it embarrassing to express their affections so directly. All the more, in Japan, actions hold more meaning than words do. Those in romantic relationships expect each other to understand their feelings without words. To rely on a simple phrase and repeat it often causes "I love you" to lose depth and meaning.

As displayed in both the anime and manga, Haruka and Michiru follow these guidelines. Even Mamoru does as well, despite Usagi is a bit more "American" when it comes to affection.

The Topic of Sexuality

When it comes to sexualities in Japan, heterosexuality is indeed the norm and thus what is known. Unlike some countries, however, they are less strict about letting their youth know about other sexualitites. It is not unheard of for anime that are directed at young audiences to have a homosexual couple in it. Other countries... not so much. Even in America, there has yet to be a children's cartoon that purposely features a homosexual character.

In turn, in some countries, it was hard to determine, even know, what Haruka and Michiru's true relationship was. Before the anime was even dubbed in America, those who could view the original anime via subtitles and manga through translations were uncertain. In worse cases, American fans would view subtitled versions of dubs from other countries where the series was censored.

♅ In North America Haruka and Michiru were turned into cousins.

♅ In France Haruka pretends to be a man to help protect her identity and Michiru poses as her "girlfriend."

♅ In Italy, their relationship is supposed to be close friends, thus all lines reflecting a romantic relationship were removed or changed.

♅ In other countries their relationship was kept intact, though some downplayed their relationship.

The Fact of the Matter

For those who debated Haruka and Michiru's relationship, an interview in an Italian magazine called Kappa finally surfaced. To my great frustration I am unable to find a copy of the original September 1996 issue of Kappa Magazine #51 via text records much less the actual magazine. Nevertheless, many Italian Sailor Moon fans will quote what was published when asked about Haruka and Michiru's true relationship. Naoko Takeuchi's response when asked about their ambiguous relationship is the following:

"Il rapporto che lega Michiru e Haruka è un po' speciale. Credo che il sentimento più importante al mondo sia l'amicizia. Il rapporto di amicizia tra le due combattenti è talmente forte da sfociare nell'amore. L'amore non esiste solo tra sessi diversi, ma può nascere anche un amore omosessuale, in questo caso tra due ragazze."

"The relationship between Haruka and Michiru is a bit 'special'. I think the most important feeling in the world is friendship. The friendship between the two soldiers is so strong it becomes love. Love does not exist only between opposite sexes, but it can also exist as a homosexual love, in this case between two girls."

Meanwhile, American fans do have a translated copy of the interview courtesy of Sailor Eagle, who kindly posted the article in English on her website Wind Spirit. The resource is heavily used as proof for many American Haruka and Michiru fans and from what information can be found, it is legit.

Later on an American article published in Animerica's Magazine Volume 6.11 in 1998 shed light on their relationship. The article documented the San Diego Comic Con of 1998. Naoko Takeuchi took part in the convention that year and participated in a question and answer panel. Many of the mysteries Sailor Moon fans questioned about were answered from why there was no Sailor Earth, the true gender of the Sailor Starlights, the true gender of Sailor Uranus and her relationship with Sailor Neptune. Naoko Takeuchi confirmed they were indeed created to be a romantic couple.

By year 2000 their relationship was well confirmed in America for the majority of veteran Sailor Moon fans. In The Daily Athenæum Student Newspaper of West Virginia University an article by Paul Sebert titled "Kissing cousins may bring controversy" was published. Located in the Arts and Entertainment section, it was published on June 28, 2000.

It explained the difficulty of dubbing Japanese anime into English for Americans. First it was translating the dialogue so it would fit the script and the mouthing of the characters. Over time it became about the content due to difference of what can be shown to children on television and what cannot. The veteran fan-base wished for dubs that were faithful to the original, but there was always the new, younger fan-base, their parents and overall censors to contend with.

The article continued to explain why it took so long for Sailor Moon S to finally be dubbed and easily stated how in the original Japanese version they are lesbians. Nevertheless, with the subject of homosexuality being taboo for children, Cartoon Network and Cloverway decided to handle the matter with conservative measures. Ultimately they were turned into cousins, much to the annoyance of older, more informed fans of the anime. From this the term "Kissing Cousins" became an inside joke for them.

Lastly, a web article was produced in 2001 at Akadot.com by Dany Johnson. It was a question and answer interview with Haruka's Japanese voice actress Megumi Ogata. It graciously documented the entire interview rather than summarizing it.

Two of the questions in the interview pertained to Sailor Moon. In note of the relationship change done to Haruka and Michiru in the American Cloverway dub, one question asked if the show had any "contention coming from parents or reliqious leaders." Ogata replied with the following:

"MO: When I was cast to play Haruka, I asked director Kunihiko Ikuhara, 'Are they gay?' He answered, 'Act as if they are married couple.' And I asked him again, 'Married couple? You, mean, with two ladies?' He replied, 'Yes.' So they are husband and wife."

Quite simply, the show received no objections from its viewers from children to parents alike in Japan.

Therefore, with what proof is out there, it is a certainty that Haruka and Michiru's sexuality is homosexual and they have a relationship with each other. Sadly, the Cloverway American dub still misleads many of the younger generation of fans. As for others, they simply deny it due to religious, cultural and/or personal beliefs.



Sources:

Kappa Magazine. Google search "Kappa Haruka Michiru intervista".

San Diego Comic Con 98. Animerica Magazine Volume 6.11. San Francisco, CA: Viz Media. 1998.

The Daily Athenæum Wednesday June 28, 2000. Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University Athenæum Student Newspaper. 2000.

Megumi Ogata Interview. Akadot.com