Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon Act 20 Review

 

Act 20 begins with Chibiusa going to hug her father, only to pass right through him

It's a moment that threatens to be particularly sad, though the manga, ever fast-paced doesn't linger on it. Chibiusa's father introduces himself as King Endymion, and commends Chibiusa's cleverness and bravery escaping to the past. He says in another underratedly sad line that he never wanted to show them a future like this. They comment in shock that he has no reflection or shadow. 

That's right. He's a vampire.

No, King Endymion explains he's just spiritually projecting this form the same way while his real body lies comatose, which might be related to Mamoru's earlier display of channeling the spirits of the Heavenly Kings. King Endymion asks Chibiusa to introduce herself and she adorably does so with a little royal curtesy, expressing that she is Usagi "Small Lady" Serenity, daughter of Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion, crown princess of the Silver Millennium. Endymion commends her and Diana reveals she can speak telling Chibiusa that the king was watching over her all this time....somehow. As Mamoru and Usagi figure it out, King Endymion reveals it to them; Chibiusa is their daughter, leading to adorable blushing reactions from both of them.

I like this in several ways. First of all, it's not generally shown in fiction to have the guy also express some embarrassment in this type of situation, and I just think it's so sweet and cute how they have the same embarrassed reaction. Even Minako seems to have a mild blush! I like how Chibiusa is deliberately made to be as similar to Usagi as possible. They share the same name, the same look, the same birthday, the same temperament. It's reflective of Chibiusa's struggle to escape her mother's shadow. As I mentioned I also really like that Sailor Moon actually allows the Superhero to gain political power without it being treated as instant-gateway to being an evil dictator, even though she is queen of the world! Usagi is not just a physical force, she is a spiritual force, she whose tears revitalized the world, who is proclaimed to be the messiah. It's a set of imagery a lot of modern stories seem scared to utilize, but which I find enjoyable.

King Endymion and Diana give the backstory of what happened, what little they know. The Queen would almost never leave the palace, but one day she ran out in a panic, cutting dramatically to a picture of Chibiusa looking in despair, though they don't notice it. They tell of a massive explosion wiping out everything but the Crystal Palace, made from the Silver Crystal. The Guardian Senshi at their queen's side fell to the explosion but the Silver Crystal encased the queen to protect her, as it did during the first arc when she stabbed herself

The enemy tried using poison gas on them, but Endymion, Chibiusa, and Diana were unaffected. Likely due to the protective power of the Silver Crystal. As the Queen and the King had often told Chibiusa tales of the Legendary Sailor Senshi, Sailor Moon, she fled to the past to gain her aid. 

Once again, Naoko really just does not care about what kind of content was considered acceptable for a Shojo manga at the time. I appreciate that she wanted to show a horrors of war scene and so just...included it. While this isn't her most graphic scene, it doesn't shy away from saying that the enemy used poison gas based weapons to kill of the civilian populace. 

But enough horrors of war, we've got cutesy kittens! Diana introduces herself as the daughter of Luna and Artemis, getting it's own shocked reaction

I'm eternally impressed by Naoko's ability to change moods so quickly without causing massive whiplash. I also just love Diana as a character. She's another example of Naoko's tendency of making things a little....TOO convenient. Like does it really make sense Luna and Artemis would have one child near the time the main events of Chibiusa's life were to happen? Not REALLY but this is by far one of the more believable ones she's done, and the result is this loveable ball of fluff.

Mamoru asks his future self how it is that no one seems to have aged and Endymion reveals that it's from the Silver Crystal, that its auspices grant immortality. After he married to Serenity, through marriage he became part of the line of the Silver Millennium and was blessed by its immortality, and when Serenity ascended to the throne of the Earth, uniting it in harmony, that immortality spread to all humanity.

I think this is really cool and am always happy to see it. I love it when Good-aligned characters are allowed to have agency and shape the world for the better rather then just giving the supervillains all the agency and making it just the heroes stopping them. I also really don't like the casual dismissal of the idea of immortality in a lot of media as wrong. I don't really wanna get deep into my views on life extension and immortality but broadly speaking I don't agree with the immortality would be some kind of horrid curse. It would have difficulties and struggles, but so does life in general and the decision to live anyway is to me, noble and beautiful.

King Endymion mentions the Black Crystal Monolith they saw last chapter. How it absorbs energy, warps space-time, creates the poisonous mist, and just generally is the source of all the messed up stuff going on, and that the only thing that could stop it is the Silver Crystal. He takes them to a high-tech sci-fi looking observation room and shows them Nemesis, the 10th planet of the Solar System discovered in the far future, and the base of the Black Moon Clan.

King Endymion goes into some exposition about Nemesis, calling it an "illusory" dark planet, using the same word used to refer to the Silver Crystal, impossible to normally detect, but which Crystal Tokyo detected via its negative energy. This is pretty interesting because in real life it's one of the ways in which astronomers find black holes which are invisible to the naked eye. Endymion says that long ago one prisoner was given the ultimate sentence and exiled there before the planet was closed off. However the Black Moon Clan have made their base there, the Black Moon clan being a militant terrorist organization who despise the peaceful long-lived society of Crystal Tokyo.

I find it really interesting how this parallels themes from the first arc, in particular that Planet Nemesis acts like the Silver Crystal in it being an illusory ideal that pulls people to it, though this time darkly rather then nobly. Likewise the reason for the Black Moon Clan's hatred of the people of Earth is the same as what Queen Beryl used to propagandize the people of Earth against the Moon in the distant past, that they are a long-lived race. But while Beryl spread jealousy of the former, and a distrust of the aliens, the Black Moon Clan instead view it as unnatural and against God's will to extend the natural lifespan, and now arguably aliens themselves trying to take over the Earth. One of my biggest issues with Sailor Moon is that it can feel like the arcs are fairly disconnected, but every once in a while you do get these thematic internal connections.

Luna tells King Endymion what they have learned, that the Black Moon Clan is using something called the Black Crystal to attack, with even tiny fragments of it bearing great power and are using its power to attack the past as well. However before King Endymion can express the danger that presents, Sailor Moon's body begins disappearing

Endymion tells Sailor Moon she has to hurry to the past as multiple of the same person cannot exist in the same space-time or it will disrupt the flow of space-time. This...doesn't really seem to make sense to me, and more just seems like a rather clumsy way to end the scene. Beyond the "why" of why that makes sense, why is that only triggering now and why is it only happening to Sailor Moon when Present and Future Mamoru are right next to each other. And if you're gonna say it's because King Endymion is only spiritually projecting, I'd say that his real body is comatose back where the queen is, meaning the exact same effect should be happening to Mamoru.

The Senshi say their farewell to Endymion, affirming their shared desire to stop the Black Moon Clan and rescue the other Senshi. Mamoru affirms to the King that he would risk his life to protect Chibiusa, and King Endymion comments on how strange it feels to be talking to his younger self. Meanwhile Usagi starts getting a little jealous again of the attention Chibiusa is getting.

As the team moves back towards the Spacetime Door, Endymion exposits on Sailor Pluto, saying she is the solitary guardian of the final sacred domain of time, existing in the interval between times, descended of the God of Time Chronos. It's all very atmospheric. 

Sailor Pluto, at the request of her king, gives Sailor Moon a time key to move between the times at will. Endymion commends Sailor Pluto for having lived through every era, longer than anyone, with wisdom and judgement better than anyone, asking Sailor Moon to trust her. This will become relevant later.

Sailor Pluto sends them back to the Present Day, leading to a quick gag of Minako accidentally landing on the others

Unfortunately this leads to another scene of Usagi exploding at Mamoru and Chibiusa over Mamoru giving her all the attention. On the one hand, yes, it's realistic. Teenagers can be possessive and jealous for their attention of their significant others. Even some adults can be. But narratively it does feel unsatisfying to have this repeated. I get it's necessary for the effect Naoko is going to be going for in the next chapter, and really the rest of the arc, but especially as I don't there is a really good trigger for it, it's just Mamoru telling Endymion he would risk his life to protect her, and agreeing to take Chibiusa back to his place for the night.

That night Usagi is thinking to herself how dumb this jealousy is, how she's their child, how they have so much more important things to be thinking about. Mamoru meanwhile is looking off into the distance, considering what to do, all manly-like, and Chibiusa is snuggling in his oversized pajamas all guilty-looking. See it's tricky because you think she might be feeling guilty over Usagi and Mamoru's parents fight but it's something else you might have noticed back in Crystal Tokyo. We also briefly get a cut to Minako thinking about rescuing the others, which is nice I suppose.

The next day Mamoru wakes up to find that Chibiusa has run off again, as she seems prone to doing whenever she's in a high-stress situation. Chibiusa runs off to Sailor Pluto, much to Pluto's shock. She asks Pluto if she can stay there with her, commenting Pluto's always alone. Pluto smiles and tells Chibiusa she's a good girl though Chibiusa thinks to herself she's not a good girl at all..,

Chibiusa returns to the future and pets the sleeping Diana wondering if Diana is dreaming of her mama and papa. She then goes to the place where Neo-Queen Serenity lies encased in the Silver Crystal and in a heart-breaking sequence, begs in despair for her mother to open her eyes. Meanwhile King Endymion's spirit watches sadly.

You'd think he would go to her, but in his spiritual state where he can't even hold her close, he would just be another painful reminder...

Meanwhile on Planet Nemesis, Demande is creeping over the hologram of Neo-Queen Serenity as he is prone to doing. Esmeraude spies on him only to get busted by Rubeus. Esmeraude pleads with Demande for a second chance, saying that she has a secret weapon to use, revealing she's gained the same warped hands that Wiseman has

As Chbiusa leaves the palace sadly, Esmeraude ambushes her, grabbing her with the Beast Hands, causing Luna-P to beep beep in alarm and the spirit of King Endymion to call for her in shock. Esmeraude begins strangling the little girl asking her where the power she inherited is, the power of the Queen, beating into her again that she is a shadow of her mother's. 

Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Kamen, and Sailor Venus show up. Sailor Venus and Tuxedo Kamen working together manage to save Chibiusa from Esmeraude's grasp. Sailor Moon tries to use the Moon Princess Halation on Esmeraude, but it doesn't work and Esmeraude grabs all three of them with her beast hands, quickly draining their bodies of energy. Fortunately the spirit of King Endymion appears behind Tuxedo Kamen and lends him power to destroy Esmeraude

King Endymion tells Sailor Moon that the presence of the two Silver Crystals close together is causing the same paradox effect mentioned before, nullifying both their powers. In other words, Sailor Moon can't use the Silver Crystal in the 30th Century! This is a pretty good way to up the drama of the situation I think in a logical extension of what's already been established. 

Demande and Wiseman teleport in, Demande commenting they blew Esmeraude to bits and Wiseman noting with curiosity how the Silver Crystal's power seems weaker than they thought. Demande introduces himself to our heroes, and Sailor Moon, despite her lack of powers looks at him with defiance demanding to know what he's done with her friends. It's theatrical and dramatic and I really love the way that despite her lack of powers Usagi still defies Demande courageously. It really shows her character as well as her character development. 

Demande notes how she has the same eyes...the same hate-filled eyes of the Queen looking into his, and uses his mystic evil eye. The act ends with Demande's Evil Eye paralyzing Sailor Moon and shockingly abducting her.

Act 20 is a pretty good act overall I think. Despite the fact that it has some of the flashiest things in the second arc up to this point, it's good in ways that are more subtle and more personal then Act 19 which I probably like more overall.

There are some pretty legit complaints about this act. Them going to the past and then back to the future feels unnecessary, Usagi's jealousy of Chibiusa, while realistic, is maybe not the most fun thing to read even though it does contribute to the themes, the paradox stuff doesn't really make sense, and probably biggest of all is the fact that the first 2/3rds of the act are mostly just exposition.

I can't really say there's any one big thing I like about Act 20 but there are a lot of little things I like about it. I like Diana in general, she's very cute. I like the characters blushing at the reveal Chibiusa is their daughter. I like the buildup of atmosphere around Sailor Pluto and when Chibiusa is speaking to her mother. I like how the heroes are allowed to have agency to change the world around them and made it into a harmonious utopia of immortals. I like how Usagi defies Demande even without her powers and how her getting kidnapped is unexpected, though with the pattern earlier it's possibly a triple or quadruple subversion.

However the thing is, the thing I most like this act for is that it sets up something great coming up and while that's in some ways really good, in some ways it's also a downside. This act is mostly Naoko setting up the second half of the arc, and she throws in cute bits or atmospheric bits everywhere to make it more interesting. When I think of the best parts of the first arc of Sailor Moon it's concentrated into basically 5 acts. The best parts of the second, third, and fourth arcs, on the other hand are spread out more evenly and I think that's reflected in stuff in how the acts of those arcs will often have bits of greatness sprinkled throughout them but rarely have super in-depth concentrations. 

Overall, I do like act 20 a lot, even if it's harder to explain why because it's not so much a few big things, it's a bunch of small details I like.