Introduction-In the Name of the Moon I Will Write for You!

Hello! I am Princess Usagi! While my name is lunar in origin, being a combination of Princess Kaguya, the legend of the rabbit on the moon, and Usagi Tsukino (aka Sailor Moon), I am not actually writing to you from the moon. However, I am over the moon with excitement to be one of the new members of the Random Curiosity team!

Like Sailor Moon, I am a bubbly daydreamer who loves anime, manga, and video games. RC is the “moon prism power makeup!” transformation that will allow me to funnel my love for anime into a power used for the good of others – i.e., the reading enjoyment of the RC readers. I enjoy writing and am passionate about anime, so I couldn’t believe it when I found out that I would be able to have an amazing gattai combination of the two!

Anime was very much a part of my childhood. I have fond memories of Saturday mornings watching Sailor Moon, Pokémon, and Mobile Suit Gundam Wing with my Dad. According to Dad, I absolutely loved anime theme songs as a child, and when I went back years later to re-watch Sailor Moon and Gundam Wing, I surprisingly still remembered and adored the songs! There was a gap of many years where I didn’t watch anime, but in the past year or two, I re-discovered it. I felt like an isekai protagonist, landed in unknown worlds that enchanted me with their creativity, beauty, and deep-felt emotions. I like watching almost any genre of anime, with some of my favorite series being Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Hunter x Hunter, Fruits Basket, and Re:Zero, to name a few.

One of the things that drew me to anime and manga were the distinct language and culture engrained in them, which fed into my love for studying the Japanese language, history, and culture. I am intrigued by Japanese folktales and their role in the culture, so it was interesting watching Hoozuki no Reitetsu where there were many characters based on folklore such as, Momotaro or the rabbit of Fire Crackle Mountain. Another series that is special to me for the historical and cultural aspects is Utakoi. My favorite Japanese time-period is the Heian-era because of the emphasis the culture of the nobility placed on opulence, writing poetry, and other fine art. I loved how Utakoi was set in the Heian era and incorporated poetry written during that period in a breathtaking way that really brought to life the fascination of that era to me.

I also enjoy reading manga in the original Japanese because of kanji wordplays and other language contexts that can get lost in English. One example would be the Haikyuu!! manga and how the names for some of the teams’ coaches are spelled with the same kanji used for the team names (which are also a word play on animal names) but pronounced differently. I did not pick up on this until I started reading the manga, since it is something that could not be conveyed in the anime’s English subtitles.

Besides my obsession with Japanese language and culture, I also love British history and classic literature, particularly Jane Austen; at one point in time, I was even involved in a Jane Austen-era historical re-enactment! My dream would be to get an anime adaptation of one (or more!) of Jane Austen’s novels – it would make for an amazing shoujo series! Besides Jane Austen, some of the other authors I enjoy reading are Shakespeare, Tolkien, and my most recent discovery thanks to a friend, P.G. Wodehouse. As a fan of British history, I spent many years reading about different eras. The culmination of that was when I traveled to England and visited different historical sites, like Battle Abbey where the Battle of 1066 took place.

England was an important trip for many reasons, one of which was it was my first time outside of the US and my experiences there strengthened my passion for travelling. For me, there is nothing more thrilling than exploring an unknown country, extending the borders of knowledge and experiences of my known world with each footstep, train whistle, or plane take-off.  Other than England, I have also been to Canada and I hope to visit many more countries in the future. I am currently a teacher in the US and hopefully, in the next year or two, depending on the pandemic, I will be moving to Japan to teach English. I am very grateful and ecstatic about this opportunity to write with RC and I can’t wait to interact with our readers!

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!