Anime film restorer reveals reason why ‘Sailor Moon’ has a pink 'aesthetic'
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A possible explanation has been given as to why the 2000s DVD version of the classic “Sailor Moon” series has a pink tint “aesthetic,” a topic recently sparked discussions on social media.
Driving the conversation: X user @kane_hisa kicked off the conversation in a post on Jan. 9, highlighting how the pinkish grading of “Sailor Moon” has caught the attention of younger audiences with its “emo” aesthetic.
ビデオソフトの色調が赤すぎる問題といえば『千と千尋』だけど、『きんぎょ注意報』『セーラームーン』辺りの褪色はもはやその異様に赤みがかった色調が若い視聴者層から「エモさ」として受容されてたりするので、ちょっとどうなんだと思うところはある
— かねひさ和哉 (@kane_hisa) January 9, 2024
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Users said the characteristic color was present in the version of the show released by Toei Animation — the studio behind the series and “Dragon Ball Z” — for DVDs in the 2000s. The original "Sailor Moon," which did not have the tint, aired from 1992 to 1997.
The Sailor Moon color drama is giving me generation anxiety. To be clear: the 90s broadcasts weren't pink. This is something relating to 2000s era Toei DVDs.
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but like...how many people were actually exposed to that? I can't assume everyone was a 90s kid https://t.co/RouuQUWVnd
— subversiveasset (@GASpriggs) January 14, 2024
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Another X user described the matter as “historical revisionism,” writing that it is “hard to accept” it.
色褪せていることを承知でそれをセピア調の写真のようにノスタルジアとして味わうのはまあ分かるんですが、あの真っピンクな色調を当時の制作者の意図したスタイルであるかのように受容するのは端的に言って歴史修正主義的なので許容しがたい。 https://t.co/ixJ2JF4CJs
— ΝΑΠΠΑ (@nappasan) January 9, 2024
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How it happened: David Miranda, a film restorer who specializes in anime, explained that it came down to Toei's process of digitizing the classic anime. The studio, he said, used master positive prints that "had faded over time" instead of the original camera negatives.
“Eventually, film will start to break down chemically with different types of film fading differently,” Miranda, who does not work for the Japanese animation studio, told Yahoo! News. “The film prints used to digitize ‘Sailor Moon’ in Japan in the early 2000s were all Eastman Kodak [film], which are known for fading pink and red.”
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Miranda also spoke about the issue in an X thread, noting how some episodes in later seasons also appeared greenish.
I've spoken about the issue briefly before, but yeah, Sailor Moon isn't supposed to be tinted pink. Like most of the anime of that era, whites are supposed to be white. To prefer 1 or the other is up to you, but keep in mind 1 is objectively incorrect/against the original intent. pic.twitter.com/s004UWeYST
— David Miranda 🦊🇨🇴 (@dubudavid) January 12, 2024
Why it matters: While the unintentional changes created an “interesting aesthetic,” Miranda stressed that it is “not authentic.” He said those who prefer the incorrect colors are entitled to their opinion, but those changes are "wrong, not intended and go against the original color designers' work."
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