chibi no more!

[phosfate]

I keep doing these dames with little formalized Barbie/manga faces lately. I'm not sure why (scroll down and see Rogue). Maybe it's because I've been working on dinky 7 x 10 paper.

Anyway, here's Rini, aka Sailor Chibi Moon, as The Wicked Lady.* For those of you unfamiliar with the story, Rini is a character from Sailor Moon who, normally, is a (pink-haired, red-eyed) girl of single-digit age. In this part of the story, the bad guys play her a nasty trick, exploiting her desire for adulthood simply by granting her wish, and turning her on her friends. Like much of Sailor Moon, it is simultaneously surreal, weird, stupid, and yet oddly affecting.

*In the original Japanese, she's The Black Lady. The anime translators decided, understandably, that this name would not play well in English-speaking countries. "Chibi," in this context, is rather like calling her "L'il Sailor Moon." Unfortunately the anime folks call her "Sailor Mini Moon." They should die for that.

Comments

surreal, weird and stupid yet oddly affecting

[nitasee.livejournal.com]

I'm beginning the think that the Japanese have minds much more receptive to the fantastic than Westerners. It's a cultural thing, I guess. Whatever it is, they seem to take the most bizarre and amazing things in stride when it comes to their entertainment. Westerners tend to shove that kinda of stuff in the periphery, unless it's an old idea in a "fantastic" setting. Like say, Star Wars.

Oh, by the way, Rini is charming.