Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon Act 34 Review

 

The act starts off with Usagi wondering if the Guardian of Silence, Sailor Saturn has been awoken. we cut to a hospital where Chibiusa is on the bed where a doctor says she's gone into cardiac arrest, she's on the verge of death. 

Usagi wonders in terror that Hotaru has killed Chibiusa however Haruka tells her elsewise, that her hoste, her soul has been stolen. This is what the death busters do, their process of vesselization, they steal the souls of people and fuse with their bodies, using it like a skinsuit. 

Haruka tells her that wasn't Sailor Saturn, that it appears Hotaru was actually vesselized a while ago by the enemy. That Hotaru IS in fact, the enemy now. She wasn't just taking Chibiusa's Silver Crystal, she took her soul as well. 

Usagi, in fear, asks what will happen to them. Haruka replies that vesselized ones need to consume souls but eventually degenerate through atavism into the creatures they fought. Once that happens, there's no saving them. This world is not suitable for daimon, and it is impossible for them to live in the world naturally. This is a really creepy idea and explains the Death Busters ultimate goal, converting the space of the main Sailor Moon world into Tau space they can live normally, biding their time till then by living within humans. It gives off the infection feel when Haruka proclaims that they cannot live in this world, emphasizing the inevitability of these events, leading Usagi intentionally or not to Haruka's conclusion

Haruka tells Usagi that Hotaru has already been claimed by the enemies already, she'll suffer and by destroyed eventually...but they can end her suffering. Usagi, ever the idealist, says she can't do that and Haruka explodes in anger that the enemy have Chibiusa's soul and her Silver Crystal, that even if Sailor Saturn doesn't awaken at this rate they'll all die anyway, it's kill or be killed.

I think this was a really effective way of building drama. Haruka's anger here is very understandable. From her perspective, the Inners getting involved has unnecessarily risked Chibiusa, and even now they are still not just staying out of the Outers way, but actively telling them not to do the sole thing they can see that would save Chibiusa and the system. When Haruka says it's kill or be killed, she's revealing the binary way she's been feeling the entire arc. The glaive of the Shinigami Senshi has loomed over them subtly since the start of the arc, giving the Inners premonitions of tragedy and fear, putting them on edge, and the threat of her awakening pushing the Outers more and more desperate. How one acts in the face of death is another aspect of oneself, something that will come up later.

The Outers proclaim they're headed out to save not just Chibiusa, but everyone. Of course how Usagi hears that is, to save everyone except one. The Senshi take Chibiusa to Mamoru's place...for some reason...and Mamoru uses his psychometry to keep Chibiusa alive while the Senshi go to get Chibiusa's soul

I like that this is one of the few magic deus ex machina Naoko actually set up with Mamoru's healing being shown back in the second arc. Also sad Diana is heartrending.

Mamoru asks the Guardians to leave them alone for a bit and Usagi confides in Mamoru, that she can't abandon anyone, be it Hotaru, Chibiusa, or everyone on Earth. Mamoru helps Usagi focus without having to commit her heart to anything yet by telling her she can't choose between anyone right now, and as Usagi hears Mamoru's heartbeat spread to Chibiusa's bringing life back to her, the two lovers embrace and kiss again.

I love Mamoru and Usagi's relationship so much. Mamoru is so incredibly supportive of Usagi. While Usagi can see into the hearts of everyone, Mamoru is the one who saw the greatness in her, her ability to always show a new side of her. Mamoru is the one who always seems to know what Usagi is feeling and what she needs to hear. He's both logical yet emotionally warm. 

Mamoru holds Usagi close, their hands together, sharing the same vision of the Messiah of Silence in their dreams, literally through Mamoru's psychometry and metaphorically through the connection between their hearts, their dreams. He tells her that they will retrieve Chibiusa's soul and the Silver Crystal, telling her not to give up hope. The two lovers wonder together whether the person in their vision was their messiah or the goddess of destruction.

We cut to the daimon inhabiting Hotaru's body, identified as Mistress 9. She keeps cutting her hair, yet it keeps growing extraordinarily long. She wonders if this is the annoying nature of human bodies. Pharaoh 90 and his forces unlike the other villain groups of Sailor Moon that are identified with death and desolation are identified with nature and the wild mutant overgrowth of life. Just as the Outer Senshi are seeing to avoid the awakening of the Soldier of Death, trying to preserve the lives of everyone they can, so too are the villains this time obsessed with life. Professor Tomoe's goal is the creation of immortal superhumans, and the Daimons are seeking the replenishment of the Taioron Crystal, the source of their life. This symmetry will come back later but is exemplified here, with how Mistress 9's possession of Hotaru's body is exemplified by the overgrowth of Hotaru's hair. What's interesting is Hotaru's body is supposed to be dead...Professor Tomoe in a classic Frankenstein fashion brought life to the lifeless unnaturally, creating a monster fused of different things. 

Professor Tomoe and Kaorinite greet their leader Mistress 9, with Tomoe commenting that they had not fused for the longest time, saying he wondered if she would not awaken. We see a glimpse of what seems to be Hotaru's soul commenting on that in surprise which Mistress 9 seems to hear but dismisses. Instead she passive-aggressively comments to Kaorinite how much effort she put into the mission...even though she has failed repeatedly to kill the Sailor Senshi....and that Mistress 9 is happy to take on her old responsibilities of being the master's partner. 

Jeez Mistress 9, I know you're evil but that's just mean.

Mistress 9 commands Kaorinite to eliminate the Senshi and tells her that she won't forgive another failure causing Kaorinite to rush away. Mistress 9 finally reunites with her partner Pharaoh 90, presenting him with the Silver Crystal. Pharaoh 90 is highly impressed, commenting he's never felt a soul like this, but Mistress 9 corrects him, telling him it's not a soul, but the Silver Crystal those annoying Sailor Senshi were getting their strength from, the two of them powering up from it. Mistress 9 alone ponders the strange crystal, calling it a light like the Taioron Crystal, with a calming holy light. 

Hotaru's soul comments that of course it feels that way because it carries "her" beautiful pure soul. Leave it to Hotaru to make a statement here that somehow still carries the undertone of her sapphic friendship with Chibiusa. Mistress 9 hearing the ghost again yells "who's there?" but gets no reply

I find it funny the way Hotaru is basically haunting Mistress 9, so far a seemingly unstoppable monster, unnerved by the ghost of this little girl.

Mistress 9 wonders if she's imagining things but thinks that with the Silver Crystal she needs not fear. She tells Professor Tomoe that there aren't many eggs left, but that while they needed the eggs and vesselization method to get a foothold in this world, with the coming of the master it will no longer be needed. The world will be reborn as their new world. 

Meanwhile Kaorinite is doing occult stuff, drawing a mystic circle on the ground, lighting a candle that creates spooky smoke, casting an invocation...she claims that this will resurrect the Witches V and will doom the Sailor Senshi, cutting to wax figures of them melting.

This is one of the reasons I really like Kaorinite as a villain. While everyone in Sailor Moon uses magical powers, it usually doesn't feel like magic so much as generic elemental themed energy attack. Kaorinite's magic actually feels mystical with all the occult imagery.

Sailor Moon and the Guardian Senshi head off to the Mugen district to try and retrieve Chibiusa's soul. There they find that there's been a massive energy spike in the region causing the plants there to become overgrown and overtake the building, another example of how Pharaoh 90 causes nature to be re-energized and aggressive, how they're associated with overabundant life (that might need to be reaped.) The energy forms an Omega shape, Omega being the final letter of the Greek Alphabet meant to represent finality or the endtimes. 

Sailor Moon wonders about the Outer Senshi, wondering if she chose the right path, if they'll ever be able to fight by side-by-side. It cuts to the Outer Senshi where Uranus is sorry it ended this way between them, showing their hearts are still somewhat together. Uranus declares that they are going to kill Hotaru, but her heart clearly isn't in it, something Neptune notes. 

I don't know how common an occurrence this is, but when it comes to people I should hypothetically be opposed too, be it in casual settings like hobbies or important settings like the political or social, I often wonder about their hearts; whether the same feelings that cross through my heart cross through theirs, whether the values I seek are ones they are also seeking. I think this part is meant to evoke that feeling, particularly if you are also someone who relates to Usagi. Usagi wants their hearts to be aligned, wants to get along with her fellow Sailor Senshi, and like any decent person questions if she's wrong or they're wrong or if their conflict is just another one of the small tragedies of being that pits two compatriots against each other.

The Senshi enter into Mugen only to run across Cyprine and Ptilol, newly resurrected by Kaorinite who welcomes them to the Infinity Labyrinth, the title of the chapter (Infinity Labyrinth 1) before dropping them into a darkness, separating them.

What follows is an extended sequence where each of the Guardian Senshi runs across their Witches V counterpart, each one binding their Senshi counterpart and commenting on how she doesn't really want to fight but instead to follow their own desires.

Eudial calls Rei weak-willed and saying she wants to focus on training herself, improving herself instead of fighting for Sailor Moon. Viluy tells Ami that she wants to learn more, to gather data until she assimilates with the computer, being artificial life, but is forced to waste time being sent to battle. Mimete tells Minako that she's wasting her chance at her dream of being an idol singer by being a Sailor Senshi. Tellu tells Makoto that she doesn't want to fight, but to peacefully look at the beautiful flowers all day. While the Guardian Senshi try to resist, it's clear the Witches are using some kind of mind manipulation on them.

While it's mostly just a scene in the service of making Sailor Moon dramatically alone, I do like that it's kinda personalized for each one beyond the obvious part. For Makoto for instance it emphasizes that pain of fighting given Makoto's more gentle personality, while for Rei for instance it emphasizes her waning will and desire to improve, reflecting her perfectionist personality. That said, the four all have roughly the same message; that their duty as a Sailor Senshi is getting in the way of their material dreams.

Meanwhile, Sailor Moon finds herself trapped in darkness. Visions of the wounded Guardian Senshi appear before her, blaming her and proclaiming they don't want to fight alongside her again while melting like wax, followed by demented visions of Chibiusa proclaiming it's all her fault and attacking her, the Outer Senshi coming to attack her as well. The final part of the vision is Mamoru tearing Chibiusa literally in half, proclaiming he wants to be free of her.

Oh Naoko with your casual horrific imagery... Obviously this is meant to represent Usagi's anxieties, that the hearts of everyone are not as one, that her loved ones will turn against her. For someone like Usagi this is the most horrific thing to imagine.

Usagi recognizes that she's being deceived and attacks the darkness which destroys the vision. 

Hilariously enough, of all things, this power will get a callback later,

We cut to the Outer Senshi trying to get through the plant overgrowth but everytime they cut down a plant, it just grows back frustrating Uranus who busts out her talisman, slashing her way in furiously. Once again brute force solves all life's problems. Neptune and Pluto run across the Four Guardian Senshi, attached to a wax structure unconscious while the Witches V menacingly stand in front of them. Neptune and Pluto, wanting to save them use their Talismans which instantly one-shot the Witches V and releases the Guardian Senshi from their spell. It's sweet seeing the Outers are willing to bring out their talismans, risking the awakening of Saturn, to save the Guardians but it is a little bit of an anti-climactic end to this sequence lasting a large section of the chapter, plus it once again presents the Outers as a league beyond the Guardians when the Guardians thematically were able to reach their level earlier.

Sailor Moon reconciles with Sailor Uranus, the two groups of Senshi joining forces based on the Outer Senshi's desire to fight alongside the Guardians. It feels a bit of a quick resolution to the conflict presented last chapter. It's emotionally meant to show the Outers care about them and are willing to place the Guardians safety over the risk of awakening Saturn, but they still haven't come to any kind of consensus as to what divided them. With that said, the hearts of the Senshi become as one and Usagi transforms into Super Sailor Moon again.

Super Sailor Moon releases a massive light with her transformation again which Kaorinite sees. As the Senshi blast their way through Mugen Academy, Kaorinite runs up to her spell to see what happened, only to run into them, the wax statues being completely melted down. Kaorinite is shocked they managed to break her spell and transforms into her daimon form...but Super Sailor Moon was shocking Pharaoh 90 with how strong she was, and just one-shots Kaorinite. Super Sailor Moon says that no matter what illusions are in the labyrinth, she won't lose hope.

Mistress 9 notes they got past Kaorinite's illusion but isn't especially worried saying that as long as she has the Silver Crystal, she's invincible. Then she goes a step beyond. Afterall most of the times when a villain has an object they think makes them invincible the heroes somehow disarm them of it. So Mistress 9 EATS THE SILVER CRYSTAL!

I do genuinely love all Sailor Moon acts and I do like Act 34, but it's one of the weaker acts of the third arc. 

It starts off pretty well. The conflict between Usagi and Haruka is good, and Mamoru reassuring her is good. Kaorinite using more occult styled magic is cool for a villainess like her, and the start of Ghost Hotaru is really cool to see. The act starts off with some really good set-up.

The problem is really the latter half of the act and generally feeling anti-climactic. This act seeks to resolve at least partially both the conflict of the arc, the division between the hearts of the Inner Senshi and the Outer Senshi, and the conflict of its own being the labyrinth gets put into. It tries to do this by making them one and the same; the Outer Senshi saving the Guardian Senshi from the labyrinth heals the division between them. But in doing so, it makes feel somewhat unsatisfactory, doesn't really resolve the philosophical conflict between them, and puts the Outer Senshi above the Guardian Senshi when they were treated as relative recently. 

What if instead Kaorinite, thinking the Outer Senshi were the real threat, cast her dooming spell on them, trapping them in the Labyrinth where they had to fight their own insecurities about what they're doing before the Inners saved them? It'd allow for more exploration of Michiru given she's seemed like a perfect lady without any faults so far, you could do stuff with Setsuna's love for Chibiusa and fear losing her again maybe even referencing the Second Arc, and because Naoko really wants to focus on Haruka this arc, you'd get more time to play around showing Haruka's pain at having to defy her princess and kill an innocent girl. It's basically the scene where Haruka tries to act tough about what they're doing but can't quite do so, and making it a whole sequence. Then you could have the Guardian Senshi beat their Witch counterparts showing their growth and have a reason for the Outers to better accept, at least temporarily, following Usagi's lead.

Anyway, that's just how I'd do it. I do still like the chapter. It's first half is really good and atmospheric. I really like how ethereal it all is with scenes of Ghost Hotaru haunting Mistress 9, and the repeated emphasis on the ideas of life and death with the Death-Busters wanting the Taioron Crystal, the source of their life to be restored, and the Outer Senshi believing it's kill or be killed. I also think Mistress 9 eating the Silver Crystal is a really good dramatic moment, just because it's a really memorable logical way of keeping her enemies from getting it back even if they confront her.