When I was a kid, I used to think that Darien Shields (AKA Tuxedo Mask) from Sailor Moon was the perfect boyfriend, and I think this was merely due to the influence of his position as Serena’s right-hand man. But now, as an adult looking back and with proper knowledge of their ages, I can’t ship it, because he’s clearly an adult taking advantage of a child, and that’s just gross and wrong. Even in fantasy, I don’t understand a grown man taking a romantic interest in a 14-year-old child.
But, as a child myself much younger than that as I first watched the series, I didn’t see Serena as a kid; I saw her as a kick-butt teenager with beauty and superpowers, so his interest in her didn’t feel off at all. Not to mention I thought they were both older teenagers AND the same age, to boot.
While I wouldn’t say that I hate his character, I will definitely say that I don’t approve of his relationship with the moon princess. I find it uber creepy, and thus I chose him for this prompt today.
I’m warping the challenge, but instead of a character, I chose a ship. BUT AT LEAST I’M FINISHING IT, YES? ❤
Shoujo Thoughts: ☆ ～('▽^人) Otaku Ramblings 
Wait, so how old is Tuxedo Mask?
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He is in college, at least in the original anime.
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Same!
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I used to be lightly into them when I first watched Sailor Moon when I was a kid. I thought they were sweet, but I didn’t get myself deeply invested in their relationship. When I got a little older (mid to late teens), their relationship started to irritate me because of how much they hated each other at first and only really seemed to fall for each other because of their destinies and their being reincarnated lovers. (Also, I wasn’t too much a fan of Tuxedo Mask constantly popping in to save Sailor Moon, but that’s a different matter.) Then when I reached adulthood, it finally sunk in for me. I always realized Darien was a college student, but for some reason Serena’s age never clicked with me, likely for the same reasons you listed. Now seeing them makes me uncomfortable – though admittedly not nearly as uncomfortable as Rini constantly hitting on him (Especially considering he’s basically her father……..) I definitely don’t hate Darien, he has likable traits, but his relationship with Serena has always been very questionable to me.
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In Crystal, is Darien younger than in the original anime? I think he might be. I don’t know how old he is in the manga… Also, RINI IS SO ANNOYING.
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According to what I read, at the start of the series, in the manga and supposedly Crystal since that follows closer to the manga than the 90s series did, Darien/Mamoru is 17 while Usagi is 14 and then at the end he’s 19 while she’s 16, but in the 90s anime he is either 18 or 19 the whole way through. And, yes, Rini is SUPER annoying.
I feel I should mention this – While checking this information, I found a blog post examining whether this relationship would constitute being illegal at any point. They reached the part where Mamoru kisses her when she’s passed out at the party and they brushed it off saying it’s fine and not illegal despite the everything because they’re so in love, and had Usagi been conscious she would have consented so it’s fine. Haven’t felt my skin crawl in a while so that was fun.
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Okay, so like… a) your knowledge is power, so thank you! I’m learning! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖° and b) it’s so weird when you finally grow up and realize all the things you didn’t notice as a kid, this included!
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