We Asked Sailor Moon Fans How to Fight Evil in the World Today

With the state of the world right now, sometimes it feels like having Sailor Scouts around to fight evil (by moonlight) would be helpful. In case you didn't live through the 90s, Sailor Moon is one of the most iconic anime series to have ever existed. The values the show exhibits also happen to be timelessly important: acceptance, friendship, female empowerment.

Its main characters are teenage girls with magical powers who fight injustices in the world, and the series even showcases LGBTQ relationships—including a lesbian couple. (The English dub version troublingly censored the romantic relationship of Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, construing them instead as cousins.)

Sailor Moon has such staying power that there is even an International Sailor Moon Day. We asked Sailor Moon fans (aka "moonies") celebrating the special day at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto what the evils in the world are that need to be fought today in our world, and how we can do that.

One evil we need to fight would be people not dealing with acceptance. Especially for me, since I'm in the cosplay community, I see a lot of people being judged for what they do, characters that they love, and how they look. Not just in cosplay, but in everything we do: If someone loves something enough to pursue it or if they're very passionate about something and want to share that with people, it should always be accepted.

Let's say I [cosplay as] some really muscular character from a show. People will say, "Oh, you don't look like this character, you shouldn't do it… You should only do people you look like, your body is not the same." But because I have such a connection with the character and because I love what I do so much, I feel like I should be able to [cosplay as] anybody I want. I should feel proud, and I should love what I do. It hurts when people judge you like that and don't accept that we're all different body types, we're all different people. Everybody should be free to do exactly what they want. — Phil Mizuno , 28

Be more giving and generous. On a side note, something that really bothers me is the fact that there are so many Avengers movies out that Robert Downey Jr. won't finish doing Sherlock. I feel like if I was a superhero I would show up to his door and just be like, "Finish doing Sherlock." That's what I would do, OK, because I don't care about The Avengers, Iron Man, whatever. He's like Batman, but he's not. Sherlock is great. You should go back to that. That is also an evil. I hope that Robert reads this. —Nicole, 25

The evils in the world that need to be fought are really simple things, such as seeing perspectives from other people…. We don't really walk a mile in another person's shoes; we're not really empathetic, and I think that's something we really need to work on. That comes with self-awareness too.

We also need to be a lot less selfish than we are. We live in a world where consumerism really plays a part… Buy, buy, buy, this is new, this is better. We just become so selfish. [People think] they will only be accepted if they have the newest thing—but no, you'll be accepted because of everything. Look, I'm a dude in a skirt, and people accept me because of who I am. —Noel aka Bear Sailor Moon , 32

There's definitely a lot of division, prejudice, divides where there don't need to be. There's non-acceptance, putting each other down, negativity… everything from racism and LGBTQ [discrimination]. Humans need to support each other instead of tear each other down.

It's important to be good to each other. You never know what people are going through. Just be kind. Try to understand and learn about these divisions in the world, and do what you can to not make them worse. —Sarah, 30

One evil we need to fight would be greed. Greed and selfishness kind of go hand in hand. Everyone needs to just relax. Think about your neighbours and the people around you. —Annie, 28

One of the evils that needs to be fought is poverty, because there's no reason people should have little or no money. I think everyone deserves to have enough to live, even if it isn't super luxurious. Seeing homeless people on the street is really sad—they deserve a home, no matter what their past was like. They deserve a new chance. I understand it's OK for some people to have more money because they work really hard, but I think that all people should be able to have enough money to get by and feed themselves.

The best thing for people to do is if you see someone who is homeless, just give them food… I don't think there's a lot more than that you can do as an individual, but I think companies could be more accepting to people who may not have too many things on their résumés because nobody gives them a chance. I think they deserve a chance. — Darrelyn Masson , 16

These interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

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To see more of Hayley Stewart's photography, visit her website.