Influences on Takeuchi Naoko
You may have encountered this before, but since I've seen quite a few examples
of images that have subtly or directly influenced some Sailormoon artwork,
I decided to gather them together and place them here. I am not an art
critic, but if you are, feel free to e-mail me about all the implications
of the pictures and so forth.
The original image, entitled "Self-portrait" (1988), is by photographer
Robert Mapplethrope. The second image of Princess Serenity and Prince
Endymion uses the same imagery of the skull on the cane featured in
"Self-portrait."
The "Self-portrait" image and information are from
Stephen Congly's's paper,
"Mapplethorpe's Influence on Takeuchi". Since Stephen's
site has more in-depth analysis of the parallels between the two works, you
should go there to read more. Image of Prince Endymion and Princess Serenity
from The One and Only Sailormoon!
The first picture is an ad from 1993 for YSL (Yves Saint Laurent)'s Opimum
Perfume. The photographer is Satoshi Saikusa, and the model is Kate Moss.
The second picture is Takeuchi's Black Lady character. The pictures are
nearly identical in pose and content, though the dresses are somewhat
different. It is unclear if Takeuchi imitated the dress of the model in the
picture or if it was just coincidence, but the pose is obviously based on
the advertisement. The fact that the photographer is Japanese may be
coincidental; the date, however, coincides more or less with the Black Moon
arc of the manga. Takeuchi-san stated in her linear notes for the first
artbook that she enjoys looking through catalogues, so it may be that she
simply saw the current ad and liked it.
Image of Black Lady from The One and Only Sailormoon!
This parallel was identified by Mark
Vallen from the Sailor Moon Indiana Mailing List. The first image is
"The Lantern Bearers" (1908) by the American artist Maxfield Parrish
(1870-1966). Takeuchi's image of Usagi and Chibi-usa in "clown"-type outfits
holding lanterns is very similar to Parrish's picture.
For more information on Maxfield Parrish, visit
Maxfield Parrish Biography. The image of Chibi-usa
and Usagi came from The One and Only Sailormoon!
Catherine Li, who runs
Lyric Moon, has
submitted the above images. The first image is a watercolor by the
artist William Blake. The second image is of SuperSailormoon from the
Infinity arc (which comes from MangaStyle). Below is what Catherine wrote about
the pictures:
This picture of SuperSailormoon from artbook III seems to have been based
on this watercolor by William Blake.
Further evidence is given in the notes in artbook III. The following is
excerpted from Alex Glover's Sailormoon Manga Translation page:
-------excerpt------------------------------------------
542 X 383 mm.
Title page of the September 1994 Nakayoshi.
Media: Color ink, pastel, color spray.
Paper: Fine BB Kent.
I did this picture thinking of drawing a picture in the style of William
Blake. In Sailor Moon's right hand is the holy chalice, and in her left
hand is the cane. And with the angel wings, this became kind of a
religious-type painting.
-----end excerpt-----------------------------------------
The William Blake (1757-1827) piece is a pen and ink and watercolor on
paper done around 1805. I've found titles to be [Satan in his Original
Glory: 'Thou wast Perfect till Iniquity was Found in Thee'] and
[Lucifer, Bearer of the Light] in various art textbooks. I believe the
first title is the correct one. Either title relates to the subject
of the work, Satan, before he became the Devil we associate with in
the present day.
You can make out the similarities between the two images.
This parallel was identified on a Sailormoon mailing list. The first
image is "F. Champenois" (1898) by the Czech artist Alphonse Maria Mucha.
Mucha helped influence the "French Art Nouveau" style of art towards the end
of the 19th century. The second image (not yet available) is of Usagi in her
dress from the Black Moon arc of the Sailormoon manga. Usagi's dress
is quite similar to the dress in Mucha's painting, so again, it is likely that
Takeuchi was influenced by the artwork.
For more information on Alphonse Maria Mucha and to view more of his works,
visit Art Deco Erte.
There are many other things in the Sailormoon manga that are based on
other art, advertisements and pictures, models and sculptures, etc. For
example, the Princess Snow Kaguya and the Snow Dancers from the "Lover of
Princess Kaguya" side story (tankubon #11) were both based on sculptures
Takeuchi liked.
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