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I started thinking about this ever since I came across this post on Reddit last year: https://www.reddit.com/r/SailorMood/comments/oh29id/when_your_friends_stand_up_for_you/
And by the way, I don’t use Reddit anymore, because I know far too well about how toxic and hateful the environment is. I mean, take a look at my blog about the RinxSesshomaru in Yashahime, which was the first one that I made on here, and you’ll see what I mean. I don’t go on Reddit anymore, because of things like that. I’ll come back to Yashahime in a minute, because that’s one of the animes I want to talk about, but first, that Sailor Moon pic.

And I actually wrote in the comments, though I’m paraphrasing because I made a typo on there: “That’s how you know that Japan’s very different from America. Putting the word “wholesome” along with “high school life”, and for it not to be a joke or something. LOL”, and actually my comment is one of the first ones on there, so you can scroll down on the thread and see for yourself easily. And once you do that, you’ll see the response that I got, about the 90s being before American English messing up the word “wholesome”. And that made sense to me, and I responded in kind, also the fact that I’m in my mid-30s, and I remember the 90s full well.

But that whole thread got me thinking a bit about this subject in general. because I saw several bits of wholesomeness in Sailor Moon itself. especially the episode in the first season when they all went out to the cruise ship to track down youma, and they obviously had to go in really nice dresses and stuff. Also the fact that Usagi’s friend, Nami I believe her name was? Well she was the one that was listening to that vinyl record with Usagi (and remember, this was the [b]early 90s[\b] that the show took place as well) to really good piano music. And Usagi correctly pointing out how mature she was for her taste in music. and just think, that was just from the first season, which unfortunately was the most that I have seen of the series.

But when it really came full circle to me was when I saw two series that are currently airing as of this blog post. Any all made sense when I saw people in discussion threads for both series use the word “wholesome” to describe these two series as well, and they are Yashahime, like I mentioned before, but the other one is Akebi-chan no Sailor-fuku. Now I found out about the latter one because I have a subscription to Aniplex’s Japanese YouTube channel, I saw the preview for it, and decide to check it out, but first back to Yashahime.

Now even in the first season, I noticed some elements of wholesomeness, especially the episode where Rin was giving birth to Towa and Setsuna, with Kagome talking with her earlier in the episode. Just that whole theme of that episode, with the music as well, I was awestruck at that. But it really start to show during the whole Mohora family reunion episode. And the one after that is where someone referred to this stuff as “wholesome” by the way, and no I didn’t say it in the discussion thread, I agreed with them. And it was further added to it by the most recent two episodes, The first one where they all break out of Inuyasha’s father’s grave and what happened after that, and the most recent one, where all three families (Mohora’s, Towa & Setsuna’s and even Miroku w/ Sango during that scene with their kids as well, do not as strong as the first two. For those who haven’t seen the series or not gotten to this point yet, since it just aired yesterday, here, I’ll summarize what happened.

The one with Mohora was a reunion at the exact place where Inuyasha and Kagome met, the infamous bone eaters well. And Inuyasha really blushing when Kagome was pointing that out to Mohora was really great as well! Plus immediately afterwards, all three of them end up fighting the main bad guy in the series, including all three making a combined single attack. And when Mohora had to go with Towa and Setsuna afterwards, Inuyasha stopped the main bad guy, saying “I won’t let you lay a hand on my daughter”. I mean we would all do what he did there, but combined together with the other stuff, was really quite wholesome indeed.

And Rin’s heartfelt talk and self sacrifice earlier that episode, when she said that she would really love to give both Towa and Setsuna a big hug right then and there, but she knows that there’s something very important for them to do, so it would have to wait till later. Also, being very understanding to Sesshomaru, their father, for sending them to Kaede when they were just infants, when Rin couldn’t be there with them. and as I said in the episode discussion thread, I could’ve sworn I saw Sesshomaru even smile a little bit after she said that. So I hope that you understand now why I agree that there’s quite a bit of wholesomeness in Yashahime

But onto the second series, Akebi-chan no Sailor-fuku, and since there’s only a few episodes anyway, I’ll be brief about this because I know that this post is getting long as it is. It’s a slice of life school comedy, it takes place and all girls school in rural Japan and if you click on the link to the series, you can read the full description for yourself. but wow, I knew that it was going to be nice and light, which is what I needed at the time, but this series was all that and more! I mean, with the general setting of an all girls school in a mainly slice of life series, I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised at this. But what I was surprised is just how much wholesome this there was in the series.

Now though some have claimed otherwise, yes, it’s quite wholesome, and not really trashy at all. There was one small gross seen in episode one, but that was about it. But wow, a new girl wearing the old school uniform, because her mother forgot to check whether or not it was the current uniform, and almost everybody embraces her with open arms. And as per her goal, she’s making so many friends while she’s there. I mean seriously, nobody is making any fun or poking any jokes at her for wearing the old school uniform, which is a quite shocking notion nowadays. Plus the most recent episode, where her uniform gets dirty, and that baseball player takes her to the dorms to wash it out, and with all the events that happened there, especially those cooking scenes, wholesomeness yet again. if you’re confused on any of these because you haven’t seen them, either see them, or go to the episode discussion threads to see exactly what I mean.

Now I mentioned early in this blog post that I’m in my 30s and I grew up as a kid in the 90s. And like a lot of people on here, I’m from the US, and in the US, growing up as a kid and embracing wholesomeness, Did. Not. Mix. At. All. In fact, I recall quite a few times rolling my eyes and growning at the idea of wholesomeness. But remember, I was a kid who grew up in the US in the 90s, so wholesome this was seen as old-fashioned and corny and uncool and all that stuff. Keep in mind, that I didn’t get into anime until the beginning of 2001, so it’s not like that I could use anime for reference or anything like that, since I only barely knew what anime was. That’s why it’s actually a bit difficult to grasp my recent embracing of things in anime that are wholesome. And for those of you who are around my age or older, I’m sure you know exactly what I mean by that, I can relate to my general sentiments. So wow, I may need a Japanese were good at lots of things, but even making wholesomeness seem not uncool and corny and all that stuff? Wow, what can’t the Japanese do right? Lol

So that’s the reason why I made this blog post, because I’m still coming to terms with all of that. I hope that you understand, and I hope that you found this blog to be insightful at least.