Fisheye Appreciation Post~ The greatest of the Amazon Trio!
Iāll apologize in advance for this being so long on your dash but can we talk about this girl? Cause like Fisheye is probably one of my favorite characters in Sailor Moon and I love her a ton, as a villain and also cause sheās just a BAMF.
I mean growing up she was essentially my āonlyā representation for a trans girl in a positive light. I mean sheās a villain of course, but she was portrayed in a super positive way (despite Hawkseye & Tigerseye giving her the occasional confused looks due to her sexuality and presentation). Upon rewatching I could also see the argument made that sheās genderfluid. But regardless, whether you see her as a non-binary person or a trans woman like me, she definitely wasnāt cis.
And I mean sheās still different from a ton of recent media from Japan. She still stands out as trans amongst all the crossdressing guys who are forced to crossdress for one reason or another in various anime today. I mean I tend to headcanon a lot of those characters as trans as well, but frankly Fisheyeās transness is canon. And canon representation is pretty damn important, especially to a young girl growing up.
Fisheye is pretty much perfect too. Almost everyone is just in utter awe of her beauty and her talent. And honestly her only flaw is probably bad taste in men (despite what Usagi might say when she was after Mamoru ;x).
No but seriously letās take a look at why I can pretty much forgive Fisheye for wanting to look into these peopleās dreams and then kill them :V I mean they are pretty much ALL huge assholes to her.
Fisheye, unlike Hawkseye and Tigerseye, seemed to legitimately want a relationship with the ones who she targeted. And for the most part they were all over her. I mean outside of a couple of characters the others were completely infatuated with herā¦ until she wore out her use. And thatās why pretty much all these characters were assholes.
Starting outā¦ Fisheye actually doesnāt do much of anything early on since sheās not too interested in women and obviously women just have beautiful dreams more often then men so she has to wait around till episode ten of Sailor Moon Super S before sheās given a target.
And then we get this guyā¦.
ā¦this dude who has an obsession with fairies and actually expects Fisheye to live up to his completely unrealistic fantasy.
Like it almost seems like they were dating for a few weeks or so actually. This guy actually talks about how he went to his parents just to talk about how great she was. Hell, he even gives a proposal almost! Pretty much implying that he loves her so much in this short amount of time that he actually wants to marry her.
And you know what turns him off of Fisheye? Thisā¦..
Yupā¦ quite literally because she ābroke a flowerā this dudebro, who a minute before was talking about wanting to marry her, tells her she isnāt worth shit. She was worried about her (likely pretty expensive) dress. You know, how a normal person would react if they got a stain on their pretty white dress which that cared about??
And Fisheye is just like āIām sorry I donāt live up to your creepy expectation that I have to be like a fairy. Moreover that you are prioritizing that flower over the person you were just talking about marrying!ā
Annnd then she tries to kill him. Completely reasonable response Fisheye. I love you <3
Second Target, and thus we get this guy.
Heās a designer who saw Fisheye on the street and absolutely knew he wanted her to model for him (and I mean why not, look how cute Fisheye is there! :3 ) And she offers her own constructive feedback and literally the entire design team freaks out on her.
This ass literally shoves her out of the way and gets all super defensive. So Fisheye threatens to quit unless heās fired. And you knowā¦ Iād demand that too. This guy thinks he can lay a hand on her because he doesnāt like her feedback?? Nope. I wouldnāt put up with that work environment either bby <3 You go Fisheye <3
So then later on in the episode we see Usui (the designer) pretty much saying he loves Fisheyeās help with the designs and he hopes she stays with him always. Sounds to me like sheās being pretty helpful. I mean and she never is told not to help, so why wouldnāt she with positive feedback like that?
But despite all of this, he has a change of heart after talking with Usagi. And so he completely loses it. :V
Like seriouslyā¦.? Fisheye is standing right there and you are going to tear up the designs the two of you worked on and call them animal suits?? You know, the designs that you praised Fisheye for and helped makeā¦ Super asshole move there ;x
And poor Fisheyeā¦ sheās just standing there like āummmm whatā¦ just the other night you were praising these and telling me you want me to stay with you forever.ā Then we get this from Usui.
Really. Justā¦ really, guy? You drag this girl off the street to model for you, have her help you design clothesā¦ and then when you (pretty randomly) have a change of heart you intend to throw her out? Sorry isnāt gonna cut it.
And thus Fisheye decides to murder him. I like where your head is at Fisheye <3
Getting to the next targetā¦ we have Fisheye being kind of a creeper and hitting on a little boy :V But I digress! Cause you know what? This kid is a little jerk ;x (plus Fisheye is a fish sheās probably like one years old anyways).
Trying to make friendly conversation and you pull that? No wonder she tried to kill you immediately afterwards.
Then can we get into how the kid wasnāt even so much a target. Killing Sailor Moon was the main goal. This kid probably had bad dreams anyways :P and Fisheyeās trap actually almost works. It was pretty well thought out as opposed to just randomly going after peopleās dreams over and over again.
Essentially she blocked off Sailor Moon & Sailor ChibiMoon from Pegasusā power.
She would have gotten away with it tooā¦ If it wasnāt for those pesky Sailor Senshi and their Pegasus, Helioooooos~~
For the next target we see our heroine Fisheye showing off her talent at ballet. Is there anything she canāt do well?
And the ballet instructor, who owns the studio and actually his own production it seems, seeās her talent and immediately confronts her.
Then we have this guys girlfriend come in (I assume they were lovers?) and sheās pissed that Fisheye is getting the lead role. But I mean, Fisheye dances better than you? You canāt be too mad. And at least she actually admits this to Usagi later on.
So Yamagishi has Fisheye practice the lead role right off the bat, even giving her private lessons after class to get the routine down. And sheās just amazing at it.
But loā and behold, because every guy Fisheye hooks up with isnāt actually interested in her. We find out this.
Turns out this guy was basically just using Fisheye for Kirikoās sake. Which honestly makes zero sense since if he wanted Kiriko to learn from her why were the two constantly dancing alone?
Heck he even admits that Fisheye is the better dancer.
So really the dude is just playing favoritism in his studio. Thatās not really fair at all to Fisheye. Especially when he wasnāt clear at all that she wasnāt going to be playing the lead. With that said her reaction is pretty valid.
And so she decides to kill this guy like the rest. Once again might I point out that Fisheye never attacks them until after theyāve been complete jerks to her. She really prioritizes the relationship over her task at hand, unlike both Hawkseye and Tigerseye. Iām pretty sure that if these guys actually cared for her then she likelyĀ never would have tried to look into their dreams/attack them.
But finally everything starts to come crashing downā¦
The target this time is Mamoru :V and despite what Usagi might say, Mamoru isnāt that great of a guy. ((And honestly Iām upset with the entire show for making a lot of the villainessā fall for Mamoru.)) You can do waay better Fisheye!
But of courseā¦Ā she actually falls hard for Mamoru, for whatever reason ;x
And afterwards Fisheye is really starting to question her self worth. She canāt understand why Mamoru doesnāt want to be with her. She doesnāt understand why Usagi has dreams and she doesnāt. Or rather she doesnāt understand why sheās told she doesnāt have any dreams. Because obviously, whether she saw it or not, she did have her own wishes and her own dreams to live by.
She thinks (because of everyone else) that if she doesnāt have a 'Mirror of Dreamsā that means that she actually doesnāt have any.
Confirming that they donāt have a dream mirror only left Fisheye more confused.
But then the Amazon Trio finds out that theyāve been messing up too much. That they actually arenāt humans at all. And in fact they are animals who have only been giving their bodies through one of Zirconiaās spells. That the only way they can be saved at all is by capturing Pegasus. That.. thatās a lot to take in.
Iād argue that at this point every one of the Amazon Trio have the dream of becoming human. They donāt need a mirror to tell them that. Although Iād also argue that Fisheye has always had the dream of being with someone who loved her. Thatās all sheās ever seemed to want, and yet as detailed above, she constantly had to deal with assholes who just used her.
And can I just say that her conversation with Mamoru after this is heartbreakingā¦ Like she flat out tells him (though he doesnāt understand) that she would choose to be with him over life. And I say life because even though she could probably go on living as a fish, all she is, her memories, everything, theyād be gone. Fisheye as she knows herself would be dead. But sheās willing to give up on life if her dream of someone loving her, even for just a short while, would come true.
And god Mamoruā¦. you say this.
And you know what. I can take that. It makes sense because you have no idea what Fisheyeās situation is right now. But then you follow it up with this.
You have no right to criticize someones dreams. Absolutely no right Mamoru. You have no idea what her situation is. You have no idea that she just basically told you sheād rather die then be alone. That all she wants is your company until all she is fades away and is gone.
And likeā¦ this just destroys Fisheye. It destroys her dream really. No one is ever going to love her. No one is ever going to want to be with her.
And you know what? Unlike the other guys sheās dealt with she doesnāt even want to kill Mamoru. At that crushing second her only sliver of hope was that Mamoru had pegasus inside him. That she and the others could be human. Maybeā¦ maybe then she could find happiness.
But of courseā¦.
And then yeah. Fisheye has literally zero reason to go on. She kisses Mamoru farewell, returns his dreams, and just wanders off numb to the world.
We see her sitting alone. Literally just sitting there hating herself. Why canāt she be human? Why canāt she find love? What the hell is even the point of going on.
And now can I just say I fucking LOVE Usagi. Seriously possibly perfect human being. She seeās Fisheye and knows that something is obviously wrong and she comforts her. Seriously think about that. Fisheye earlier in the ep was going after Mamoru right in front of Usagi but Usagi just doesnāt give no fucks. If she sees a girl depressed or in trouble sheās going to try to help. I wonāt even get into what probably would have happened to Fisheye if Usagi didnāt happen along when she did.
Heck Usagi even invites Fisheye to stay over at her house. Sheās that worried about her and she just cares that much about other girls.
And Fisheye, well, sheās still in a state of shock. Sheās pretty much given up on ever finding Pegasus or ever having any dreams. The thing is though, she becomes genuinely happy and supportive of Usagiās dreams. Sure sheās jealous, but she is really happy for Usagi. And I really do think this encounter with Usagi changes Fisheye a lot. She has a better perspective on what dreams are and what friends can be. She just wasnāt taught any of this in the Dead Moon Circus.
Then of course she puts two and two together and figures out that Usagi is actually Sailor Moon! And the funny thing here is that she doesnāt have a typical villain reaction. She isnāt immediately thinking how sheās going to take out Sailor Moon. I honestly think sheās still trying to understand why Usagi helped her.
And while sheās still trying to process everythingā¦ wow. HOPE.Ā Fisheye discovers that Chibiusa is the one Pegasus is hiding in!! She still might be able to survive!
But now like.. sheās really not too sure about the Dead Moon Circus at all. Will helping Zirconia really help the amazon trio? Will they really be able to become human if they capture Pegasus? She doesnāt knowā¦ sheās really confused now. So she kidnaps Chibiusa but doesnāt automatically present her to Zirconia.
And good thing she didnāt! Zirconia pretty much calls the Amazon Trio scum; nothing more than pawns. And luckily Zirconia gets the wrong idea and targets Usagi instead of realizing that Fisheye had already captured Pegasus. ((And can I just point out that it was Fisheye alone and not Hawkseye or Tigerseye that finally caught Pegasus~)).
So everything kind of culminates where Zirconia feels that the Amazon Trio isnāt needed anymore and decides to kill them.
Hawkseye had already captured Usagi and Fisheye and Tigerseye just appeared on the scene! And here Fisheye actually tries to convince everyone to let Usagi go. To let Sailor Moon goā¦
Usagi helped her. Usagi was there for her when literally no one else was. She canāt let Usagi get hurt. So she pleads with the others and insists that Usagi has nothing to do with Pegasus.
From there the Amazon Trio finds out that Zirconia is trying to kill them. And whatās kinda interesting here is that the Amazon Trio loses pretty badly. I point this out because every other major villains weāve seen have been pretty strong on their own (despite still using their own minions). But the Amazon Trio almost entirely relied on their Remless. In an actual fight they didnāt really put up much of an offense.
And then two things happen. Almost specifically to highlight Fisheyeās reaction. She really is the star of the Amazon Trio.
First Usagiās dreams are shatteredā¦
And while Fisheye is still just trying to process that she failed to protect the girl who had helped her when she most needed it. Hawkseye gets killed literally seconds later trying to defend her.
So basically two people she cares about, some of the only people in the whole world she cares about, have died right in front of her. Usagi may still be alive but sheās pretty much comatose. And Hawkseye pretty much bleeds out a few seconds later.
But in this moment of complete hoplessness Fisheye has a new dream. Even though it still might be possible for her to be a human she convinces Tigerseye to use their wish to restore Usagiās dreams. Afterall she really did capture Pegasus.
So fuck yeah Fisheye. Sheās basically sacrificing herself so that Usagi might avenge them all. Sheās sacrificing herself for Usagi and her dreams too.
And of course Usagi comes back and pretty much handles everything <3
In the end Fisheye and company really didnāt have much time, reverting back to their old animal forms and seemingly all dying.
The thing is, if Fisheye actually did die right here she would actually have been content with her life. She fought to protect what she believed in and sought to make it happen. If thatās not following your dreams I donāt know what is.
Sorry this was so long. Itās just Fisheye is a total BAMF and anyone who disagrees just doesnāt understand her. Sheās a woman full of dreams despite being told constantly that she canāt have any.
In the end Pegasus does resurrect them all in human bodies. They each have their Mirror of Dreams. And Iām just happy Fisheye could finally feel whole. I love her.
Art by: éē§
You always had dreams Fisheye <3
