ABOUT
What is an Otaku Senshi?
For those new to the fandom, unlikely
but possible, you may not have run across the term Otaku Senshi,
but you almost certainly would know the concept. Otaku Senshi
are characters you’ve made up that fit into the universe devised by Naoko
called Sailor Moon, young women who have discovered that they too are guided
by celestial bodies to fight in the name of love and justice!
Otaku
senshi, otaku means fan and senshi
means female soldier, have a variety of names on the internet if you’re
searching, although that one is the most common. They are also referred
to as fan scouts, Sailor Moon Other Characters (OC’s),
Universal Scouts or any combination of the above.
Otaku
senshi have earned a special place in the Sailor
Moon fandom forming their own close knit communities in forums, fanfiction,
RPG’s and cliques which can be attributed to the breadth of creativity,
and the sheer fun of creating, exchanging and talking about them.
Unlike
many fandom’s, otaku senshi are website focused
and most of the people interested have their own website dedicated to their
creations. It has a large fanart base and also
uniquely it has a variety of request sites where you can ask artist to bring
your senshi to life. Strangely, while everyone
tends to have at least a biography of their characters, there aren’t many
long running fanfictions.
Even
if there aren’t many long running fanfictions,
there are many memorable or famous otaku senshi
in the community. Some would be considered outdated or without flare these
days but are still fondly remembered by the mature members of the community.
Sailor Astera is still at the forefront of many people’s faves, along with Sailor Pandora. Alas, some of the greats
have been lost from the internet such as Sailor Orion’s epic.
However,
for every new and innovative otaku senshi that
stretches the boundary’s of creativity, there will always be another Sailor
Earth, Sailor Star, Sailor Sun, Sailor Galaxy or Sailor Elemental that reinvents
the wheel, characters with little substance or rationality in the Sailor
Moon canon. Fortunately, these guys are probably just young girls who haven’t
been in the fandom long enough to know better. If you find one of these
guys, reach out to them so they too can have all the fun of a unique otaku
senshi!
That is what I love most about otaku senshi,
and are in fact the only facet of the fandom I
converse in. I love the imagination it allows, everything from distinct
personalities, inventive histories and, my favourite, inspired fukus! I love reading the fanfiction
about their adventures! I love the gorgeous illustration! I love the intelligent
conversation other fans have and the many resources we have at our disposal.
If
you haven’t so far, I urge you to jump in and have a go!
RPG stands for Role Playing Game and to
describe it simply, it is a game of Round-the-Circle Storytelling,
however through the internet it has reached new levels of sophistication
and are varied in their execution.
The most basic are played in guestbooks but they have branched out into dice games, forums
and chapter based. The manner of play is decided by the webmaster, along
with rules, themes and story plot which is all set up prior. More often
or not you will be asked to submit your character for approval before you
are allowed to join the fun.
Honestly, I haven’t participated in many
RPG’s but they’re highly enjoyable for the interaction with other fans who
are an immense help if you’re on your first fanfiction
or otaku. It also maximises creativity of the plot with so many people contributing
and limits Mary-Sue behaviour because it teaches you to share the spotlight.
Haha! COSMIC is an Otaku Senshi RPG game, one of many of the internet but one of the
very rare that are chapter based rather then turn
or forum or guestbook. That’s one of the reasons I love it, allowing creativity
and the time to check and recheck your work.
I
think I initially found it in 2000, whilst it was under auspices of webmistress Scorpio. She chose the name COSMIC, and established
a group of well enjoyed characters. However submissions declined and Scorpio
moved losing contact with the club, which dwindled away. Alas the old site
has disappeared so you can’t read their exciting adventures.
Fortunately
amongst the remaining members there were three still dedicated and it’s
being reborn even as we speak. Syrie, owner of
Sailor Epsilon, built COSMIC Reborn and maintains it meticulously as the
new webmistress. She is enthusiastically assisted by Ruby and
Virtie, Sailor Ruby and Virtue respectively. Together we’ve
all run away to build a plot bunny farm which spawns more every day.
Joining
is so easy! All you need to do is read the rules and find the password within
them. Then once you’ve created a character that abides by the rules jump
over to the Submit a Character link, wack in the secret password. While
you’re waiting for confirmation join us in the forums, chat and breed Plotbunnies of your own!
Why
do I like it? Well I read the original COSMIC for a long time before I joined…
And then it died. Then a second site was established which I joined too.
And it died. I guess you could say I’m going three for three with COSMIC
Reborn, but love it anyway. I love the chapter based Roleplaying
and I’ve known some of these characters since I first officially found out
about Otaku Senshi. I’ve been dying to join their
adventures too but only now have gotten the chance!
Who are the Harpy Senshi?
Like many I’ve gone through
any number of Otaku Senshi, you can read about
them in the Sundry section and I made a fairly dysfunctional group called
the Harpy’s because typically I’m a fanfictionist.
I only wrote one chapter, which is probably pretty good because they had
practically no plot. Still, doodled and designed them and posted them on
Deviantart with their character descriptions.
After rolling out a few
more otakus, another not working out I resurrected
SailorAello and gave her a complete makeover,
everything from appearance, to fuku to backstory. Inspired I started drawing left right and centre.
Then an old mate of mine, interested in otaku senshi
asked if she could join to, using Podarge. Thrilled,
I said yes and she too underwent radical renovation.
With that in mind I decided
to open up the entire Altair system for play if other would be’s COSMIC’s. Some of them already
have prerequisites but if you’re willing to give ‘em
a go anyway, I’d be thrilled to have you join not only the Harpy’s but COSy too!
