I love Sailormoon.
Thus it was no surprise that when I met my first love when I was 19 he also loved anime. He called me ‘Udango’, based on the character Usagi, the lead character my generation has come to know and love, the Pretty Solider Sailor Moon. Always running late, loves video games, pork bao and incessantly crying, I saw myself as her and him as my Tuxedo Mask, always poised to save the day just in the nick of time as an older figure who made me feel safe and invincible. We have been divorced for almost seven years and I still call him Mamochan, the nickname Usagi gives Mamoru in Sailor Moon.
Dating long distance for two years he and I would use MSN messenger and chat while we watched episodes of Sailor Moon. It was so comforting watching that anime with him virtually. We saw ourselves like them as two characters destined to be together, in every lifetime.
The text below includes subtitles from the final episodes of Sailor Moon with the first from the final scene in the final 200th episode juxtaposed with a paraphrase from my 2013 journal.
The virtual performance below lets you choose your own adventure. You can watch me negotiate this choreography moving forward as a soldier or you can focus on the text.
The choice you make is the perfect choice for this moment. In these uncertain times, it is imperative to be reminded we have so much autonomy over our bodies and choices. Please choose your own adventure and visit this 360-degree film multiple times.
Enjoy,
Jonathan
Mamochan?
(looks up because
you're so tall)
Do you love me?
Yes.
Really?
Yes!
Like how?
Why so suddenly?
Please, like how?
Let's see...
It feels wonderful
to be with you!
Below is a 360 video. You may need to connect to WIFI and give the video a moment to buffer for the best quality. Use a phone for the most immersive experience, though you may also watch it on a computer.
Phone instructions: navigate by walking and rotating the phone
Computer instructions: navigate by clicking, holding and dragging with a mouse.
There's an ache that I get
from time to time.
It's intermittent.
Sometimes if I put a hat on
too tight... or if I'm stressed.
But now it comes for reasons
that I know are metaphysical.
It's an ache just above my left eyebrow
about the size of an American silver dollar.
It swims down to push onto
the top of my vertebrae.
It descends to the 4th and 5th
cervical vertebrae...
like a candy cane.
It hooks and applies pressure
at the front of my head.
I can never seem to get rid of
it unless I slept
and used a methylated oil.
...but then you physicalised.
You with your very full top lip
would just come and kiss my forehead very slowly.
Four counts in and
four counts out.
And for some reason
unknown to me
the headache always went away.
For years, I thought it was a
placebo because I knew
you loved me and
kissed my forehead like that.
But I realised later that
it was the energy you had,
your sincerity...
your unconditional love.
(Tension rising)
(Gasping)
(Gulping and cracking)
(Shuddered breathing)
(Echoing) It looks like the end.
We no longer have wings to fly
freely in the blue sky.
We've dirtied our hands
with the blood of betrayal.
I know.
(Echoing) I know.
(Clicking)
(non-physical energy moving)
I can endure anything with you...
… even being burned by the fires of hell.
(Clashing)
(Twinkling)
Hell? It doesn't suit you...
I don't regret it...
(wonders in disbelief as he repents)
With every kiss on that forehead your mission
Was complete and I would slip away
ignorant to it all without
a sense of gratitude.
I would come back with
tension seeping out of my pores.
And then another kiss,
and then I would leave and...
galavant
Those missions that you
were on sabotaged you.
I knew you didn't want it to.
But there were agents within us,
around us, out of our control.
(Crying about faith)
(Lamenting over ancestral trauma)
Jonathan is such a cry-baby.
♪twinkles of hope♪
(our destined demise)
Jonathan Homsey is an arts maker and manager interested in the intersection of street dance, visual art, and social engagement. He has a passion for community outreach using the moving body as a source of empowerment. Born in Hong Kong and raised in the United States of America, he immigrated to Australia in 2010 where his award-winning choreographic practice has evolved from a theatrical context to interdisciplinary installations across Australasia and Japan.
He is also passionate as a curator who has worked with institutions from Melbourne Museum to Footscray Community Arts Centre. Working with mediums from ceramics to augmented reality, Jonathan’s choreographic practice uses street and queer dance movement to inform his works that explore utopian worlds and emotional connection. Currently, in these uncertain times, Jonathan is passionate about providing intimacy through technology and to remind viewers that they have autonomy over their body and their choices.
Filmed, written, directed and choreographed by Jonathan Homsey, 2020
Sailormoon Audio extracted from episodes 200 and 198
Backing track samples by Injoy
Transcription by Acacia Christensen
360-degree Video, 5mins 32sec
Onward pretty solider is a 360-degree film exploring love from the lens of the inner child. Based on Homsey's marriage and he and his ex-husband's love for Sailor Moon, this work examines the internal landscape of this relationship and how external forces dissolved the veil of childhood love. Onward pretty soldier exposes the use of cartoons and roleplay to distract from the inevitable mortality of romantic relationships.
I love Sailormoon.
Thus it was no surprise that when I met my first love when I was 19 he also loved anime. He called me ‘Udango’, based on the character Usagi, the lead character my generation has come to know and love, the Pretty Solider Sailor Moon. Always running late, loves video games, pork bao and incessantly crying, I saw myself as her and him as my Tuxedo Mask, always poised to save the day just in the nick of time as an older figure who made me feel safe and invincible. We have been divorced for almost seven years and I still call him Mamochan, the nickname Usagi gives Mamoru in Sailor Moon.
Dating long distance for two years he and I would use MSN messenger and chat while we watched episodes of Sailor Moon. It was so comforting watching that anime with him virtually. We saw ourselves like them as two characters destined to be together, in every lifetime.
The text below includes subtitles from the final episodes of Sailor Moon with the first from the final scene in the final 200th episode juxtaposed with a paraphrase from my 2013 journal.
The virtual performance below lets you choose your own adventure. You can watch me negotiate this choreography moving forward as a soldier or you can focus on the text.
The choice you make is the perfect choice for this moment. In these uncertain times, it is imperative to be reminded we have so much autonomy over our bodies and choices. Please choose your own adventure and visit this 360-degree film multiple times.
Enjoy,
Jonathan
Mamochan?
(looks up because
you're so tall)
Do you love me?
Yes.
Really?
Yes!
Like how?
Why so suddenly?
Please, like how?
Let's see...
It feels wonderful
to be with you!
Below is a 360 video. You may need to connect to WIFI and give the video a moment to buffer for the best quality. Use a phone for the most immersive experience, though you may also watch it on a computer.
Phone instructions: navigate by walking and rotating the phone
Computer instructions: navigate by clicking, holding and dragging with a mouse.
There's an ache that I get
from time to time.
It's intermittent.
Sometimes if I put a hat on
too tight... or if I'm stressed.
But now it comes for reasons
that I know are metaphysical.
It's an ache just above my left eyebrow
about the size of an American silver dollar.
It swims down to push onto
the top of my vertebrae.
It descends to the 4th and 5th
cervical vertebrae...
like a candy cane.
It hooks and applies pressure
at the front of my head.
I can never seem to get rid of
it unless I slept
and used a methylated oil.
...but then you physicalised.
You with your very full top lip
would just come and kiss my forehead very slowly.
Four counts in and
four counts out.
And for some reason
unknown to me
the headache always went away.
For years, I thought it was a
placebo because I knew
you loved me and
kissed my forehead like that.
But I realised later that
it was the energy you had,
your sincerity...
your unconditional love.
(Tension rising)
(Gasping)
(Gulping and cracking)
(Shuddered breathing)
(Echoing) It looks like the end.
We no longer have wings to fly
freely in the blue sky.
We've dirtied our hands
with the blood of betrayal.
I know.
(Echoing) I know.
(Clicking)
(non-physical energy moving)
I can endure anything with you...
… even being burned by the fires of hell.
(Clashing)
(Twinkling)
Hell? It doesn't suit you...
I don't regret it...
(wonders in disbelief as he repents)
With every kiss on that forehead your mission
Was complete and I would slip away
ignorant to it all without
a sense of gratitude.
I would come back with
tension seeping out of my pores.
And then another kiss,
and then I would leave and...
galavant
Those missions that you
were on sabotaged you.
I knew you didn't want it to.
But there were agents within us,
around us, out of our control.
(Crying about faith)
(Lamenting over ancestral trauma)
Jonathan is such a cry-baby.
♪twinkles of hope♪
(our destined demise)
Jonathan Homsey is an arts maker and manager interested in the intersection of street dance, visual art, and social engagement. He has a passion for community outreach using the moving body as a source of empowerment. Born in Hong Kong and raised in the United States of America, he immigrated to Australia in 2010 where his award-winning choreographic practice has evolved from a theatrical context to interdisciplinary installations across Australasia and Japan.
He is also passionate as a curator who has worked with institutions from Melbourne Museum to Footscray Community Arts Centre. Working with mediums from ceramics to augmented reality, Jonathan’s choreographic practice uses street and queer dance movement to inform his works that explore utopian worlds and emotional connection. Currently, in these uncertain times, Jonathan is passionate about providing intimacy through technology and to remind viewers that they have autonomy over their body and their choices.
Filmed, written, directed and choreographed by Jonathan Homsey, 2020
Sailormoon Audio extracted from episodes 200 and 198
Backing track samples by Injoy
Transcription by Acacia Christensen
360-degree Video, 5mins 32sec
Onward pretty solider is a 360-degree film exploring love from the lens of the inner child. Based on Homsey's marriage and he and his ex-husband's love for Sailor Moon, this work examines the internal landscape of this relationship and how external forces dissolved the veil of childhood love. Onward pretty soldier exposes the use of cartoons and roleplay to distract from the inevitable mortality of romantic relationships.
Runway Journal acknowledges the custodians of the nations our digital platform reaches. We extend this acknowledgement to all First Nations artists, writers and audiences.
Runway Journal is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
Runway Journal receives project support from the NSW Government through Create NSW.
Runway Journal acknowledges the custodians of the nations our digital platform reaches. We extend this acknowledgement to all First Nations artists, writers and audiences.
Runway Journal is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
Runway Journal receives project support from the NSW Government through Create NSW.