Welcomed with a standing ovation by an enthusiastic audience, Sailor Moon's creator, Naoko Takeuchi, appeared at her first American convention, San Diego Comic-Con International 1998.  Takeuchi explained a little bit about her early career, beggining with her first ambitions of becoming an artist. "It's very common for boys and girls to want to become artists, and that was my dream as a little girl," she said. "Also, there are a lot of comics in Japan, even in textbooks." She went on to describe the creation of her serial Sailor Moon as the result of a discussion with her editors at Nakayoshi, the magazine where she had previously published stories, to decide what her next story would be. Since she had been a fan of sentai (live-action costumed-hero) shows as a child, she wanted to create a female version.  She went on to answer detailed questions about the series' characters. Her own favorite character, she confesed, is Sailor Moon, because she'd created Sailor Moon to be closest to her own personality.
"Why isn't there a Sailor Earth?" one fan wanted to know. "That would be Tuxedo Kamen," Takeuchi answered, going on to explain that his surname, Chiba, is written in Kanji for "Earth." Tuxedo Kamen is indeed her ideal man, she said, because "I like men I can't rely on."
The Sailor Starlights provoked particular interest, as questioners tried to figure out the gender of the mysterious singing group that appears in SM Stars. She explained that in her manga, the Starlights were women, but in the anime their gender was made to change from male when they are in their civilian identities to female as the Starlights. Apperently, Takeuchi hadn't been terribly pleased with this decision, the reason for which became clear in answers to questions about Sailor Uranus, whose relationship with fellow Sailor Neptune had always been a matter of conjecture. "All the Sailor Senshi are girls," Takeuchi said firmly. "Haruka has always been a girl and always will be." She also confirmed that the pair were indeed intented to be seen as lovers. "Uranus has the heart of a man, while Neptune is more girlish," she said.
When asked if the series would continue, she confirmed that the story of Sailor Moon was indeed finished :( as of the end of the 18th compiled manga volume. As the SMSStars animation had stopped a bit short of her own ending in the manga, Takeuchi confessed that she'd been a little disappointed in the series' ending and that she shared the fans' desire to see more animation produced, either in the form of movies of OVAs. "But it's not my decision," she said with some regret.
One audience member pointed out that Sailor Moon was introducing a new artform to America and asked how Takeuchi felt about that. She replied, "In Japan, many shows are for girls, and I would like to see that become a trend in the rest of the world, too."

Write to Takeuchi Naoko!
You may send fan letters to
Naoko Takeuchi, c/o
Mixx Zine, 746 W. Adams Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA 90089-7727