Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon Act 35 Review

 

Mistress 9, having consumed the Silver Crystal begins being flooded with power. Pharaoh 90 proclaims he can feel it as well, the light of life like the Taioron Crystal. Mistress 9 in a power-mad ecstasy proclaims she released this power for Pharaoh 90, that she will go to him.

Feeling the energy, Pharaoh 90 proclaims it's greater than thousands of human souls combined, superior even to the Taioron Crystal, an infinite inexhaustible energy source and destroys the Taioron Crystal, no longer needing it. The two become giddy at how the time of Pharaoh 90 vesselizing the Earth, turning it into the new Tau world is at hand.

All arc long the Death Busters have sought the restoration of the Taioron Crystal representing their old life in the Tau System, yet now with the potential to take this world instead the old crystal is so meaningless to them they destroy it. On one level this is just meant to hype the audience up with "ah their so powerful now that their old power source is irrelevant in comparison" but you can also argue it's symbolic. Both the Taioron Crystal and the Silver Crystal are constantly associated this arc with life, but the Taioron Crystal is constantly referenced as being finite, as being drained of energy overtime and dying out, while the Silver Crystal is constantly referred to over the course of the manga, as being infinite and unending in its energy. They are trying to abandon the idea of a temporal limited lifespan like the Taioron Crystal for the infinite immortal lifespan represented by the Silver Crystal. The disdain for the temporal, the reaching and claiming of the eternal, the rejection of death is arguably represented in this action.

Chibiusa's body begins to light up as her Silver Crystal is having the energy drawn from it, something that was shown back in the first arc with how the distress in Usagi's body caused Mamoru, who had the Silver Crystal's power in him, to shake. But then something awesome happens. Mistress 9 suddenly has her breath caught in her throat as Hotaru's soul attempts to contain the energy, keep her from absorbing it. 

This is gonna be a continual plot element and it is fantastic. Hotaru was a girl that all arc long has been beaten down by the world, who we've seen has lost everything. She lost her body, she lost control of her life, and it seemed like she had even lost the one friend she had ever found. It seemed like she was just waiting for death, but no. Even when reduced to nothing but her soul against the leaders of the Death Busters herself, Hotaru is still gonna do everything she can to protect Chibiusa. I love Hotaru, she's such an amazing blend of wholesome and awesome.

Mistress 9 painfully comments her head is on fire, it feels like it's splitting open, stating someone from inside is trying to control her. Mistress 9 comments she just needs to hold on a little longer, soon they'll have enough power to rid herself of this inconvenient vessel and take control of this world. But of course Hotaru proclaims she won't let that happen.

We cut to Chibiusa's soul which is floating, lost in a darkness. She feels like something is chasing her and calls for someone to help when of course Hotaru's soul appears giving her the Silver Crystal back. Hotaru returns it, calling it Chibiusa's heart and asks her to guard it, showing a wholesome level of love and concern for Chibiusa.

which is even sweeter when you remember the last time Hotaru saw Chibiusa through her own eyes, Chibiusa ran away in fear from her. Hotaru doesn't hold any grudge for that, she trusts Chibiusa and their friendship more than that. Moreover, she asks Chibiusa to protect her heart because she wants to protect her.

Hotaru holds Chibiusa's soul in an embrace so comforting that Chibiusa initially mistakes it for her mother's. Hotaru proclaims that she's gonna protect Chibiusa, that she's going to save her, and won't let the Death Busters use her beautiful pure soul and her Silver Crystal.

Hotaru's not a Sailor Senshi yet. She's got no supernatural powers here. This is just the sheer strength of her soul, of her determination to protect and love for her beloved friend Chibiusa. Even reduced to naught but a soul, she is going to oppose Mistress 9.

Mistress 9 notes that the power of the Silver Crystal is dimming within her, as Mamoru far away notes that Chibiusa's body is warming up, her convulsions are ceasing. Mamoru wonders if this means someone is protecting Chibiusa's soul. Meanwhile the Senshi are going through Mugen Academy finding it empty of any life. Minako smartly wonders if they're still in the labyrinth, and while they aren't literally...metaphorically they still are, as the labyrinth wasn't just the spell Kaorinite cast, it's the confusion the Death-Busters are using against them.

Super Sailor Moon has a contemplative moment wondering how they are going to save the world as if the Senshi of Death awakens, then the world will end. She prays, expressing her wish for the world to go back to the peaceful world it was

Mercury tries to scan the area, but to no avail. No life readings, and furthermore she can't figure out the readings it's giving her. Mars comments that the energy in the area is growing more and more chaotic from the coming and meeting of incredible powers. It's not expressed but the powers she refers too are clear; the coming of Pharaoh 90, and the dormant power of the Omega Area.

Venus, because she canonically watches horror movies, advises them to split up with the Guardians going one-way and Super Moon going with the Outers which is.....a really odd way to split up tbh. Putting Super Sailor Moon and the three Senshi with the talismans on one team is focusing the power on one side. It could be because the two groups have better teamwork with their own group, but why is Super Moon going with the Outers then?

We cut to Professor Tomoe working with some nebulous chemicals making mention of the Sailor Senshi going into the elevator down. Professor Tomoe gives his motivation, his life's work. As a typical mad scientist, he wanted to create super-humans with strength and intelligence 100 times a human's, a lifespan 10 times as great, but of course they laughed at him...and now he wants vengeance by the creation of the perfect super-humans.

While this is a pretty standard mad scientist shtick on the surface, and it's fun in its own way, there's another element that ties into the themes of the arc. Note how he ends his expression of the super-humans by mentioning their lifespan. How he tried to forcibly keep Hotaru alive no matter what. Professor Tomoe is fixated on preserving life, regardless if it means mutating it or making it monstrous. Similar to the Outer Senshi whose philosophy is "kill or be killed" Professor Tomoe is in his own way fixated on death, in the obsessive desire to avoid it at the expense of all else. To wish to die and the will to do anything to avoid death have at their heart the same problem, it's a fixation on death rather than life. Usagi both in this arc and others properly values life, appreciating the joyful peaceful life she longs for, but being willing to sacrifice herself for others, while never sacrificing the lives of the innocent. This, beyond the deontological vs utilitarian or idealistic vs cynical philosophical conflict on the surface is why Usagi is ultimately correct this arc; she does not fixate on death either in pursuit or avoidance, but on life. To use a religious metaphor appropriate to this arc, she does not focus on impurity, either to pursue or avoid, but on the purifying power of grace. 

Professor Tomoe talks about the accident, the fire that took his wife, and broke Hotaru's body. He talks about how Heaven itself gave him a second chance, referring to Pharaoh 90. He was in the middle of trying to reconstruct Hotaru when lightning struck Kaorinite, changing her into a Daimon. Lightning is traditionally associated with the divine. Professor Tomoe speaks on how the gods came from Heaven bearing eggs, which he used to build souls, to create beautiful super-humans referring to the perfect daimons.

I think Professor Tomoe is a really cool villain, being a fun mad scientist type with a cool backstory, plus just a hint of humanity in his love for his daughter and desire to rebuild her. Because on some level, I do think Tomoe cared for his daughter, he tried to save her, he thought she was going to be his creation, the first of his super-humans. He was already kind of insane before the accident, he was outcasted from the scientific community, and love can drive even the sane mad. It's not said, but in my mind another thing that might drive Tomoe, and something I'd add if I was writing this is that Hotaru's ostracization at school and from her peers would drive him as well. It would be to him another parallel to the scientific community calling him mad and driving him away. He had made the greatest creation of humanity, his daughter, the first super-human and they called her a monster. He needed to make everyone daimons like them, so they could finally see her greatness, HIS greatness!

Professor Tomoe finishes his monologue by proclaiming now he is creating super-humans, fusions of daimon and humans, and as creator of this new race, now HE is the God before laughing maniacally. Hotaru's soul sadly watches from afar proclaiming... "papa."

We cut to the Outer Senshi and Super Moon going quickly down on an elevator making Usagi feel nauseous. Pluto is concerned for her and Uranus quips that it looks like even Super Sailor Moon isn't immune to gravity....

It's cute showing their connection....but Haruka.......she can fly.....she quite literally CAN ignore gravity.

They pick up speed more and more and Super Moon comments it feels like they are descending into Hell. She comments it's creepy and wonders if the others (The Guardian Senshi) are okay. Neptune reassuringly tells her that she's sure they're fine. I like that because of her mysterious intuitive powers she may or may not have some sense of it, but clearly would say so even regardless to calm her princess. Moon is surprised the three of them aren't scared at all and giggles about being nervous. 

She says they're going to fight their enemies, but she's feeling lonely without the Guardians, scared. That she has a bad feeling about this. Uranus gently chides her not to speak of loneliness, that true isolation extends into infinity like the areas they guarded. Moon asks her what it was like there, and Uranus says it was very lonely, that there was no one else there, and they guarded in isolation, no one there to rescue them. However they could always turn their gaze back towards the Moon, think of its beautiful queen and princess, a light that made them feel stronger, that gave them the strength to keep going even when they felt like giving up.

This is a really clear example of the two major themes that appear across the entire Sailor Moon manga; the pain of isolation and the ennobling power of love. The Outers were shaped by the pain of their isolation across the eras, the weight of the duties assigned to them reflected in their responsibilities, giving them their mature outlook. However the ennobling power of love for their royalty is what kept that responsibility from crushing them across time, allowing them to bear that burden. 

The Outers realize that this elevator ride is taking a bizarrely long time and just as they prepare for some trap of the enemy, the elevator doors open with a burst of light and the Senshi suddenly find themselves falling into darkness.

On the next few pages we see that Usagi has fallen into darkness and is surrounded by nothingness, a black empty darkness. Obviously, this is calling back to the solitude the Outer Senshi were talking about literally right before this. It's also Usagi's biggest fear, this complete isolation.

Usagi calls for the others, thinking to herself they should never have split up, that with her friends by her side she never felt insecure, but she can't do anything without them. She freaks out in the dark, not knowing what she can do alone in the darkness. It's a pretty relatable moment for those who fear isolation.

However a distant light appears in the darkness and the Outers words come back to Super Moon, that the light of their princess always gave them strength to carry on, that it guided them to never giving up. Usagi thinks to herself that whenever she was alone and scared she remembered she had everyone else in her heart, that she is Super Sailor Moon the Senshi with all their power, the power to turn any darkness into light. With the power of friendship and teamwork she triumphantly casts magic missile at the darkness again

This sequence is really sweet and I do like it a lot. I think it's a really great demonstration of the symbolic power of Super Sailor Moon being the power of teamwork and their hearts being as one. I think it's a very sweet demonstration of the twin themes of Sailor Moon as a series. Usagi was made to feel alone in darkness and felt crushed emotionally, but then through the power of love became stronger, strong enough to turn the entire darkness into light. This sequence symbolically is a really good example of what Sailor Moon is all about. It's helped by having some really good artwork, though for the darkness part that's fairly easy as it's just drawing a pitch blackness with Usagi floating in it. I do there's a little bit of a rushed-ness to it, having it immediately after the Outer Senshi explain their backstory. I would have liked if the Outers had given their talk to Usagi about their experience with isolation earlier in the arc so this moment would feel like it was calling back to it, rather than it feeling kind of convenient they talk about that to her right before she needs that information, and it's maybe a little bit of a weird diversion in the overall plot but I think it's a really sweet segment. Also I can't believe of all things Naoko chose to foreshadow, it's that Sailor Moon's new attack can illusions. Rainbow Moon Heart Ache is the upgraded form of Moon Spiral Heart Attack. Last act Sailor Moon used Moon Spiral Heart Attack to destroy the illusions of her friends attacking her, and this act Super Sailor Moon uses Rainbow Moon Heart Ache to destroy the illusions of isolation. Because THAT was the thing that really needed the foreshadowing!

Super Sailor Moon's attack blasts away the darkness. She and the Outer Senshi are back in the elevator which reaches floor........infinity. Cheesy but I like it. The elevator doors open revealing Professor Tomoe.

Neptune and Pluto casually destroy the daimons but Tomoe says he can just keep making more, as many as necessary. Moon tries to reason with him but to no avail. He reveals that Mistress 9 is at the holy temple now, offering Pharaoh 90 the Silver Crystal. Usagi reacts in shock at finally hearing the name of their new enemy, Pharaoh 90.

To kill them Professor Tomoe changes into his daimon form, Germatoid though he insists that he is not a daimon but instead the first fusion of human and extraterrestrial life, a super-human!

This fate was foreshadowed since Professor Tomoe's introduction with his glasses, one being clear and the other containing a mystical symbol speaking to his mental state; half in the world of the real and the material, the other focused in his ambitions, in the supernatural world, his otherworldly ambition blinding him. 

Germatoid attacks them with some kind of energy blast which they dodge. Moon is reluctant to kill him as he is Hotaru's father, but Uranus declares that he's not human anymore, he's just a daimon, the enemy and slices at him with her space sword, which he tanks outright. Germatoid knocks Uranus back and to protect her Super Moon destroys Germatoid with one attack. Hotaru's ghost from far away mourns the death of her father, her father who was once kind to her, helping her through her mother's death, but that what was once her father was no more. Moon senses Hotaru's spirit, but can't tell who's there.

The ground begins to rumble beneath their feet and a giant energy bursts through the ceiling but Sailor Pluto uses the Garnet Orb on her Staff, her talisman, to summon up a forcefield to protect them. I find it fitting that Pluto as Guardian of "the Underworld" was able to protect from a soul-stealing attack.

Sailor Moon notes the attack coming from above and notes with fear that the Guardian Senshi are up there, worrying for them. We cut to the Guardian Senshi who are caught by the attack and....Super Sailor Moon powers down to Sailor Moon. The connection with the others hearts were broken.

Moon and the Outers quickly fly up through the ceiling to get to the Guardian Senshi, only to find the sky has been distorted into evil squiggly lines. Nearby in the shrine erected to Pharaoh 90 by the Death-Busters Sailor Moon finds two glowing eyes, the presence of Pharaoh 90 staring back at her through the glass and the crazed face of Mistress 9

Act 35 is a really cool act, comprised of basically three sections; The section with Mistress 9 ending with Hotaru's soul protecting Chibiusa's soul, the vignette of the Outer Senshi sharing their experience with isolation with Usagi allowing Usagi to rescue them all, and the motivation and death of Professor Tomoe. All three sections, especially the first are really good or great. The latter two are both really good, but could be a bit stronger not by what happened in them but if they had been set up a little bit differently earlier in the arc.

The first section is the strongest in my opinion and is pure adorable awesome. It was the best set up, and unlike the others is not ended in this act but acts as a catalyst for the following acts. The Death Busters have the whole arc sought the replenishment of the Taioron Crystal to return to their former power yet now with the Silver Crystal they grow so strong that they smash the Taioron Crystal, a major signal of how big the threat is for the audience. And Hotaru protecting Chibiusa is one of the highlights of the arc, a scene that's both sweet and bad*ss as speaking to the power of our feelings for each other that an angry ghost like Hotaru's can challenge Mistress 9. This will be important for the rest of the arc, was set up well, and is just really cool to read.

The Professor Tomoe section is the one that most doesn't live up to its potential. It's still definitely quite good, and he makes for a very memorable villain with his megalomaniac insanity. I do wish a little bit more of his feelings towards Hotaru had been seen prior, as I feel like easily had the potential to be one of the deepest Sailor Moon manga villains, which is incredibly given he's also the one madly laughing about how he's the god now. I don't mean going the 90s anime route of "oh he was just a tragic father controlled by Germatoid the whole time!" I mean something more like lines of him saying to the Senshi "you...you just think we're freaks! ...That's what they always thought of me! You think she's one too... you want to kill her before she can show her potential as the greatest super-human!" which would be extra fitting as the Outers DO wanna kill Hotaru, afraid of her potential as Sailor Saturn which would have come back majorly in the ending. If it had that plus maybe a scene earlier of Tomoe consoling Hotaru after she was bullied sayings something like "They don't see...how great you are. Soon they'll see, soon they'll never make fun of us again." I think this scene could have gone from really good to great and it would have made Hotaru's mournful comment at the end even more emotional. Perhaps that's overdoing it a little, and would have been seen as too dark to have Tomoe the semi-loving father be destroyed by Sailor Moon, but given Naoko's tendency to put in anything she damn well pleases, I definitely don't think it would have been too far. Hotaru mourning her father is still pretty effecting as is and I like that Usagi was the only one to be able to hear her, a reflection of Usagi being more sensitive than the Outer Senshi, of actually trying to hear Hotaru and her feelings rather then harden their hearts to her. 

The Outer Senshi sharing their experiences of loneliness with Usagi, allowing Usagi to save them is somewhere in the middle. It's a really good segment. It does come a little bit of nowhere and I would have preferred if the Outer Senshi had told Usagi about their isolation earlier so it would feel a bit less coincidental that they talk about it right before it becomes relevant. With that said I think it does a really good job of quickly demonstrating the two major themes of Sailor Moon. If I was to show a single short section of Sailor Moon to show what the series is about, this would be a really good candidate because it's such an immediate expression of the themes of the series. To be isolated and alone is dehumanizing and full of suffering but love is a light that raises us to being heroes, with the two themes meeting in the way that even if people aren't physically there, even if one is physically isolated, their love can transcend physical distances and shine like a light from afar. It's a VERY "Sailor Moon-y" mini-episode. It connects to a lesser extent with the overall plot of the arc, mostly in how Sailor Moon has wanted all arc to unify her heart with the Outers and how them baring their hearts to Sailor Moon is what allows her to save them. 

The act is a really good act overall with some parts being great highlights of the third arc. The ending brings the disparate plot elements together as Mistress 9 steals the souls of the Guardian Senshi to replenish her loss of the Silver Crystal, causing the dramatic moment of Super Sailor Moon depowering to Base Sailor Moon, a really cool visual way to display that information to the characters and audience, leading finally into the big three-act fight with Mistress 9 and Pharaoh 90.