Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon Act 19 Review

 

We begin the second third of the Black Moon Clan arc right where the last one left off. Chibiusa says she's from the future, but she didn't think they'd believe her and that she doesn't know exactly what happened.

The Senshi and allies promise to help Chibiusa and asks her to lead them to the future. I do have to admit, I'm not the biggest fan of time travel stories. I feel like they usually lead to the same few types of plots and are also just a magnet for plot holes. All the biggest plot holes in Sailor Moon are caused by time travel. I also don't think it was necessarily a good idea to have the time travel arc in the second arc of five, since that means in every future arc we know that the Senshi have to eventually win, though for the type of story Sailor Moon is, it's not that big a deal since we know the villains aren't going to destroy the universe regardless. Also Naoko didn't know that it was going to extend past the second arc when she decided it was gonna be time travel.

Chibiusa doesn't want to go back because she's scared but Mamoru once again comforts her in a paternal way

Usagi's shocked expression at Chibiusa wanting to go to Mamoru's is pretty funny I think.

At Mamoru's house, Chibiusa is adorably wearing Mamoru's PJs which are massive on her as he tucks her in and gives her some encouragement. Usagi is watching and asks if she can stay too, noting Minako has already taken Luna and Artemis to her place...with the implication being the two of them are alone...

Usagi mentions to Mamoru his birthday is coming up and asks what she should get him which leads into Usagi admitting her insecurities, how it seems Mamoru pays more attention to Chibiusa than her. Usagi admits that she knows it's silly to be jealous of a child like that and apologizes. I really like it, how Usagi is a young girl in what seems to be her first relationship and is dealing with a fairly relatable problem while also recognizing her own fault. 

Usagi turns and comments she shouldn't even be thinking about then when Rei, Ami, and Makoto have been kidnapped and for a second it looks like she'll disappear. A really interesting little bit that I think is supposed to symbolically show how Usagi has always been somewhat ethereal and mysterious to Mamoru and maybe even herself, the Lunar element. Mamoru holds her, commenting on how for a moment it'd look like she'd disappear. The two then pledge their love for each other and get close...

I think the implication is pretty clear and I couldn't be happier for it.

In series aimed at teenagers, especially for the time it felt like there was two ways sex was approached. It was sensationalistic and cool and edgy. It was what made girls cool. Or it was what bad girls did. It's what made them impure. Some of that dichotomy is present still today. But Sailor Moon presents sexuality better than any manga for teenagers I've ever seen. Usagi and Mamoru's love here is not impure, Usagi remains the pure-hearted embodiment of love after this. It's not sensationalistic to the point many people miss the implication. It's a pure and beautiful embodiment of their love, appearing at a natural point in their relationship as Mamoru comforts Usagi from her relationship insecurity. In the manga Usagi and Mamoru can't keep their hands off each, they're constantly depicted touching each other lovingly. They're constantly supportive of each other and each others dreams. They compliment each other in ways that are so symbolically archetype yet also feel so personal.  I love their relationship, it's my favorite in fiction and I get so happy everytime I read this part again.

Meanwhile at Minako's house, Minako comments they didn't get to sleep all day likes cats normally do so tells them to get a good night's sleep and as if to accentuate the prior scene, Luna snuggles up to Artemis.

However Luna dreams, and as she dreams she sees a memory of being talked too by Queen Serenity who gives her a bunch of exposition about not going to a door she's looking at because it's a door to the future. That it's a forbidden sacred ground guarded by a solitary Senshi. 

In contrast to the prior part, this part is not done as well. It's just a bunch of exposition for something we're going to see not just this chapter but literally in several pages. It's technically foreshadowing but it's foreshadowing that makes it seem like Naoko was writing this manga chapter by chapter. I also don't even really know what's going on in the chapter. This has to be taking place on the Moon right, if Queen Serenity's there. But then why is the space-time door, why is Luna going up to the space-time door for Queen Serenity to stop her. It's only a page, and it's cool to see Queen Serenity, but I have so many questions. 

The next day they're getting ready to go to the future and Usagi comes out of Mamoru's apartment wearing the dress she wore yesterday....but not the undershirt...and with Mamoru's shirt on over it......

....I think we know what that means ;)

Chibiusa takes out the key from around her neck calling it the "Time Key" flashing back to a mysterious figure we'll learn later in this act is Sailor Pluto gave her but told her only to use if necessary as time travel is strictly forbidden. I do like the repetition of the idea that time travel is a forbidden thing. Chibiusa wonders if she should even bring them through time before telling the others they need to hold onto her hands and not let go no matter what. I'm sure that they will follow these instructions to the letter and will absolutely definitely not let go. 

Chibiusa uses an invocation to the God of Time, Chronos to show them the road of light through time. I tthink this is really cool imagery and while how time travel might be possible, if it at all, is unknown I do think the strange properties of light may relate to it as from the perspective of a photon, and this is a real mind-bender, there is an infinite time dilation, there is no separation in time, just the single eternal moment of being emitted and re-absorbed. At least to my understanding.

Of course the characters are grip is broken by the powerful current of light and they get separated

It cuts back to the Black Moon Clan where Saphir is observing that not just the rabbit, but SEVERAL energies are being transmitted across time. Wiseman tells Demande that the time has come to destroy the castle with Demande surprisingly asking if that's even possible. 

Esmeraude, in a surprising display given her love for the prince, says she will present the castle's "sleeping beauty", the object of Demande's desires, to him. Rubeus questions if she can even do that and Esmeraude summons her agents, the Boule Brothers Chiral and Achiral, sending them on the mission. Chirality is a property demonstrating asymmetry, when an object can be distinguished from its mirror image, which makes sense as Chiral and Achiral are mostly identical and create mirror images as part of their attack. 

It cuts back to Usagi, Minako, Mamoru and Luna who are trapped somewhere vague. Luna, master of time she apparently is, says they're in some kind of time purgatory between moments where they could wander forever. It seems like they're about to be eaten by a Black Hole before the Silver Crystal shines and brings them to the spacetime door regardless. The entire thing is two pages, making it feel like a kind of random interlude. You'd think it was setting up for later but...not really, no. At the time door they're stopped by the woman in Chibiusa's memories and the solitary guardian Queen Serenity told Luna about

Sailor Pluto, the Keeper of the Time Door, Guardian of the Underworld, and the first Outer Senshi. Sailor Pluto is a really cool character, one of my favorites in the series. She's the major Lawful Good of the Sailor Moon universe, a figure of rightful order and laws. As soon as this act came out there was mass speculation as to who or what Sailor Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune were. 

Sailor Pluto blasts Sailor Moon and it's clear she's way stronger than them. She says that no one may break the sacred laws and prepares to destroy them. Knowing everything it's a bit weird given Pluto's devotion thinking she might just kill Sailor Moon, though she may think it's someone disguised as her. The fight is stopped when Chibiusa runs out and hugs Sailor Pluto telling her she brought them there.

Pluto asks Chibiusa where she has been like a concerned mother. Chibiusa says she went to get the Silver Crystal from the past of the legendary Sailor Senshi, Sailor Moon, since it's stronger than her Silver Crystal but Sailor Pluto tells her that the Silver Crystal's power is the same in every era, and that Chibiusa can't use either of them anyway. It's part of the symbolism of this arc, the passage of title and power from parent to child. Chibiusa has the same power as Usagi does, the Silver Crystal but assumed Usagi's is stronger because of her own insecure comparisons to her mother yet the power in the form of the title of Sailor Moon is passed down and the same no matter the era.

Sailor Pluto speaks to Chibiusa telling Chibiusa that she broke her promise, stole a time key, and ran away to the past. Chibiusa braces for Pluto to be mad about her but Pluto just hugs her concerned doing the maternal thing "I'm just glad you're okay, don't make me worry about you like that."

It's really, really sweet. I love Pluto and Chibiusa's dynamic. 

Pluto then lets slip that Chibiusa is a princess and she says that because the others are commoners they should be treating her with respect. Usagi, annoyed at the antics, asks to see her parents and mentions that Usagi's a princess too. Pluto allows them to go through the Time Door, though says she can't go through because she was placed her long ago to guard the door. 

Usagi and company go through to the 30th Century where they find things have definitely changed. Tokyo is now a city of crystal, called Crystal Tokyo and the Moon hangs very close on the horizon. However as they get closer it gets more chilling. The city is eerily quiet and when they get close enough to see through the fog, they find the buildings destroyed and the people...

aren't doing well. The saddest part to me is Chibiusa's gaze. Her eyes turn glassy and blank, showing how familiar this horrid scene is to her already.

They see a black monument in the distance that seems to be emanating the fog. Chibiusa holds close to Mamoru, who hears a voice warning him to stay away from it. Chibiusa explains what happened from her perspective. There was an explosion, leveling the buildings. Then the entire city was engulfed by a fog that killed everyone there, and causing their bodies to gradually fade away entirely. In case it's not clear enough yet, the Black Moon Clan used strategic bombings of civilian centers and usage of biological weapons in their attack on Crystal Tokyo. They aren't misunderstood good guys. I do like that Naoko is willing to use such serious elements in her story. It gives it a feeling of honesty, that the bad guys are willing to use tactics that are not pretty to look at, though I understand it still might read as artificial to some since the named characters rarely ever take any kind of "ugly" attack.

They head to the Crystal Palace where Chibiusa's mom is only to be tricked into a mirror copy of the Crystal Palace made by Chiral-Achiral. They use magnetism somehow to keep the characters from moving or using their powers. F-ing magnets, how do they work?

Esmeraude shows up and while she does get credit for somewhat masterminding this plan that would have killed Sailor Moon and company without outside hope, she also loses some points for floating around gloating a bit like the vain attention-hungry girl she is giving them time to escape.

She and Chibiusa bicker a bit, with Chibiusa saying it's impossible for anyone to destroy the Crystal Palace, a pretty sweet statement given she's essentially saying nothing is stronger than her mother's power. The voice from earlier tells Mamoru that there are imitation crystals holding them in that they can break, and the team breaks through with Sailor Venus and Tuxedo Kamen teaming up and destroying Chiral and Achiral. 

The team reaches the shining Crystal Palace. It at first seems to have no entrance but spontaneously makes one for Chibiusa the princess in a really cool little display. Luna has a little moment of recognition.

They enter into the throne room finding the Queen there encased in crystal and it shows the woman that was in Demande's hologram earlier, an older Sailor Moon. This is something I really like about Sailor Moon and once again like in Act 10, it only shows up a little bit, but it's more than most series allow which is the main characters are allowed to actually change the world for the better rather than just preventing the bad guys from making it worse. Usagi actually becomes the queen of the world and it's not presented like some kind of weird dictatorship like it's presented when various other superheroes, especially super-good ones gain control of everything. I like the fact that Usagi becomes queen of the world because that honestly that makes the most sense and I'll get more into that when her rule is described later.

But enough of that, now it's time for the most important character in the entire series to make her appearance.

DIANA THE KITTEN! She's the most adorable character I've ever seen. She's this little kitten that wants to be a hero and accompanies Chibiusa. I like how Naoko introduces her at the VERY end of the chapter and doesn't have her say anything so as to keep her parentage a "mystery" until next chapter. Macabre as it is to imagine, it is kinda weird how Diana is alive, as Chibiusa mentions. I guess being in the palace protected her or something? 

Diana scampers off and reveals an older Mamoru, dressed in regal attire, ending the chapter.

The Crystal Tokyo sub-arc of the Black Moon Clan Arc, is really good to the point I might like it more than the final sub-arc of the Black Moon Clan Arc. Act 19 is a great act. Giving it an energy it hasn't had since Act 13. It's an act I think truly of contrasts. It has some absolutely adorable and sweet things like the development of Usagi and Mamoru's romance into physical intimacy, Sailor Pluto's forgiveness of and protectiveness of Chibiusa, and Chibiusa's reunion with Diana. It also has some of the most bleak imagery in the manga with the silent destroyed city of Crystal Tokyo. In some series this would come across as incredibly tonally breaking, making the sweet scenes seem in poor taste and the bleak scene seem unintentionally comical. But the advantage of having such a fast pace is that you can include little sections like that with entirely different feels in the same chapter without it feeling like the two exist in the same emotional "space." Because of the chapter can feel like it runs a gamut of emotions without lessening them arguably intensifying them through contrast.

These are interspersed with interesting science-fantasy ideas, like the Primordial God Chronos opening a pathway of light through time through eternities between moments, magnetic control of atoms, doors just appearing on a palace at the will of the princess alongside the most notable ones; the first appearance of the Outer Senshi with Sailor Pluto and the future world of Crystal Tokyo. I love how this act introduces so many cool concepts. I will say I'm not big into time travel in general, and Naoko's not the best at actually explaining her ideas. Her exposition is often either awkwardly added in right before the actual time it's needed like Luna's dream of the Time Door, or it's just not there. Having no exposition, letting the idea speak for itself CAN work like the Door to the Crystal Palace. Specifically it works when it's just increasing the atmosphere. 

Where it can cause a problem is the mechanics of how somethings works is needed for the drama of the scene. The whole Chiral-Achiral fight is like most SM fights, very short, and because it's steeped in exposition that somehow doesn't at all explain what happens, it feels like a pretty pointless diversion. I personally think it would have been better if it was just Esmeraude attacking them and she used a more straightfoward type of attack as opposed to the whole complexity with the Boule Brothers. If she wanted it to be more science-fiction-y to fit the future feel, she could have done something with a more general well-known type of science. For instance, just off the top of my head, Esmeraude uses her magic to make some kind of large magnet that keeps the Senshi from moving by pining them their metallic weapons and transformation items. Mamoru, not having metal on him, is trying to avoid her attacks while protecting the cats when King Endymion tells him where the weak point on the magnet is to free the Senshi who flees at their combined force. I feel like that would have been a better quick sci-fi fight here.

However that's, relatively speaking, a very small part of the act. I obviously adore Sailor Moon's depiction of a healthy relationship extending into physical intimacy and depiction of sexuality, I adore the introduction of Sailor Pluto and the way she is very loving and caring towards Chibiusa. I enjoy greatly the depiction of Crystal Tokyo, especially the inclusion of little Diana, and the heavy atmosphere throughout. And those are really the three things I the act is most trying to impress on the reader.