The folks behind Sailor Moon Crystal, the rebooted animated series set to premiere this July, have announced their first early premiere event. In partnership with ViVi magazine, the event is timed for June 30th, the birthday of heroine Usagi herself, and will admit no men… unless they are accompanied by a woman.

Naturally, this last detail has been received with reactions anywhere from glee to indignation from many folks who, you know, have and have always had a 0% chance of attending the event in the first place. Gender restrictions are always going to be a bit of a can of worms, but there’s also not a lot of context in the announcement, particularly for Western news audiences. Though I haven’t been able to find a good solid source for this, lots of folks out there are pointing out that ViVi is a women’s fashion magazine well known in Japan that pitches itself for teens and young adult women, and frequently hosts women-only events. It also might be wise to take into account the solid basis in Japanese entertainment/bar culture for gender segregated social spaces in a search for broader context to the restriction.

(via Anime News Network.)

Previously in Sailor Moon

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