Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: #11 & #12
The final arc of the Sailor Moon manga (Stars) starts in Book 11 with Usagi having a tearful farewell with Mamoru, who’s off to study abroad. Just as Mamoru gives Usagi a ring, strongly signalling an engagement, an unknown enemy suddenly rips Mamoru in front of Usagi’s eyes and she collapses. The trauma of the event leaves Usagi with no memory of the event, believing her beloved is in America. Meanwhile, the members of a new idol group by the name of the Three Lights have suddenly grown in popularity, even enrolling into Usagi’s school, much to the delight of the other senshi. However in their tow comes a new enemy, claiming to be senshi from other worlds with the goal of taking the Sailor Crystals from all the senshi on Earth…
As this is the very last arc of Sailor Moon, Naoko Takeuchi does everything in her power to make the whole story far greater and epic than any of Usagi’s battles before. The enemy is no longer just another ‘evil incarnate’ but in fact a fellow Sailor senshi with a lust for power, and all the other senshi she recruits are also powerful in their own right with no means of reasoning with them. The stakes are astronomical as well; the whole universe is at the mercy of Sailor Galaxia, with the future in danger of being rewritten by her actions. Even Sailor Chibi Moon and her future team travel to the past to help Sailor Moon in her greatest battle yet. To top all of this, Sailor Moon is now completely alone; Mamoru is killed early on and the rest of the team are not far behind, making her struggles and plight of how to face her greatest foe all the more emotional and dramatic. To conclude it all is a massive confrontation that thankfully isn’t as predictable as previous arc endings; there’s a great spin when Sailor Cosmos comes in (her first and so far only appearance) and puts Sailor Moon’s victories into an alternative perspective, but it’s also great to see Usagi, who’s grown so much as a character during the duration of the manga, face the enemy against the odds, giving us a very satisfying climax.
But of course, no story completion is perfect, even a well-loved series such as Sailor Moon has a few flaws but overall these do not impact too much on the great ending. One such flaw is the length of the arc: the story is told over two books/ten chapters, which is not the shortest or the longest arc of the manga, but it should have been a lot longer considering the amount of world building Naoko Takeuchi went to the trouble of inserting. There’s a fantastic amount of detail she’s thrown in that demands a spin-off or side story expansion; we learn more about where the cats come from, gain brief glimpses of brand new senshi from across the universe and we even see Uranus’, Neptune’s and Pluto’s castles for a few panels. Naoko Takeuchi opens our eyes and shows us these wonderful new gems of information but then either quickly moves on as though it means nothing, or kills a character off. It’s such a shame to see; maybe the future anime reboot could help bring these elements to life but for now there are nuggets of gold that have yet to be further explored.
Long-time fans of the other senshi outside of Sailor Moon will also be saddened by the treatment that the other members go through, being killed off rather swiftly before the final battle, and only brought back at the very end for the big ending. There’s no further character development and barely any of the senshi get a chance to attack let alone have a panel to themselves. It works in favour of the drama; the arc builds towards the final battle, putting Usagi into a horrible position of watching those she loves disappear and facing Galaxia on her own, but it’s a kick in the teeth to fans of the other sailor senshi, having to watch a final battle with the newly introduced (and sadly lacklustre) new senshi in the form of the Starlights and Princess Kakyuu. Although I will say that it is appreciated that the ‘pop idol’ angle of the Starlights wasn’t played as heavily or as long as it is in the anime; it’s a nice little cover story for them, but thankfully when the plot gets serious, they move on and get their heads in the game.
The art is still very strong, all the way up to the final pages. Naoko Takeuchi really goes into remarkable detail in each panel, designing new senshi and bringing all the elements and places, like the Milky Way, to life. It would have been lovely to have a few more colour pages attached to the end of the last book to see it in all its glory. There are still a few niggles of terribly long legs and such but nothing too distracting compared to earlier chapters.
The re-release of the Sailor Moon manga has had tremendous success in the West and it’s well deserved. With beloved characters, the simple story with a grand world and emotions to get lost in, and a vast cast to attach yourselves to; it’s known as Naoko Takeuchi’s greatest work and one of the best manga series for a reason. Re-experiencing it as an adult anime/manga fan has made me love and appreciate this series all over again. If you’re an original Sailor Moon fan who has been on the fence about these releases or if you’ve never had the chance to get invested into the fandom; be sure to experience it now that the whole series is available commercially. And don’t feel too down about purchasing the last book; thankfully we’ve got two more volumes coming out later this year containing short stories, and of course the 2013 anime reboot to look forward to.
