Sailor Moon Infinity Arc Review and Ranking

The Infinity arc's reception noticeably changed over time. I remember in the earlier days of the Sailor Moon when the Infinity arc was super popular and considered possibly the best arc in the series. Nowadays while people don't exactly dislike the Infinity Arc, it certainly seems to have lost it's luster to the point I saw a recent poll putting it as the worst of the Sailor Moon arcs. And it seems to me the reason for the shift in this perception is that the biggest thing the Infinity Arc did has started to be taken for granted. The Infinity arc introduced three of the four Outer Senshi, the Senshi that at the time were viewed as cooler, more mature, more deep than the Inner Senshi and were massive breakout hits as characters with both Haruka and Hotaru being so popular that they have topped Sailor Moon character popularity polls. While these characters aren't disliked now, the fact that the Outer Senshi have been in so much more than this one arc has caused people to not really view that as such a special trait about this arc. Plus there's the whole thing of the arc is arguably the darkest arc of Sailor Moon with a gritty mature conflict of "is it right to sacrifice the lives of innocents to protect the lives of the many" which played really well in the darker "too cool for school" attitude of the 90s but in the 2010s a massive disdain for dark and gritty, and a massive appeal towards bright and childish became popular so the major feel of the arc became not quite so enjoyed. While I definitely think the Infinity Arc has aged far more gracefully than a lot of 90s edginess, I can sort of understand where people are coming from. With that said I think my position on the Infinity arc on the manga has remained relatively consistent.

For me, the middle three arcs of the manga are all roughly similar in quality, though while I do think all of them have their own relative strengths and weaknesses, I do have a soft spot for the Infinity arc and would probably rate it the best of the three. This is for a variety of reasons but let me start by not making what I believe to be a broadscale failure to recognize innovation. The Infinity arc introduced Haruka, Michiru, and Hotaru as characters all of which are beloved characters, more than any arc in the series save the first and it probably has the best usage of the characters in the entire series. Haruka and Michiru are both really good characters. I appreciate Haruka's emotional character growth over the arc even if I don't personally connect to her well. She's nonetheless very well written in her in her emotional contradictions and the way she paradoxically draws close and far to Usagi at the time. In opposition, I connect well to Michiru though she doesn't have as much attention as any of the Outer Senshi. I greatly enjoy and appreciate Haruka and Michiru's inclusion and what it meant for the Japanese Yuri community, and the level for which the pair were important for the self-realization and social acceptance given to many, and I applaud Naoko for her forward-thinkingness in that regard. However even more so, I absolutely adore Hotaru, and have since I was a kid. She had the strengths I loved from both characters; she has my favorite emotional character development in the arc and is a character I felt immensely personally connected too. She's such a versatile character, adorable enough to have cutesy bff romance scenes with Chibusa-chan and also with enough of a dark presence to terrify an eldritch horror while speaking to herself about how beautiful the agony in the moment before death is. She can be tragically heart-breaking or even really funny and sometimes is both in the same scene. If she was just this, that'd be good enough but she is also one of the most dynamic characters in the series constantly changing and developing everytime you see her with a broad emotional arc during Infinity of realizing that she truly wants to live, that protecting people is important to her, and that even after losing everything material to her in the world she still has the strength deep in her soul to fight. 

The arc has some of the most themes and most mature themes in the entire series. It's perhaps the only one so far I don't think I really got to the bottom of it's layers because it's so complicated thematically. But it's filled with themes and concepts that mean a lot to me; themes of the cycle of life and death, the body and the spirit, transformation/rebirth, gender, LGBT expression, childish idealism vs adult cynicism and religion. Compare this to the first arc's themes  of identity and destiny, or the second arc's theme of responsibility and maturity and you can see why it's harder to really talk about the third arc's themes, because there's so much happening. If I had to try and tie them all together, it's about the importance of the heart of someone, the soul of someone, as opposed to the physical condition of them. Usagi first didn't understand Haruka when she thought Haruka was a man, but as she came to realize Haruka was a woman like her, was a Senshi like her, it was linked to her coming to understand the Outer Senshi' hearts were like hers, that they were soldiers for the same mission, with the same goals and intent. This blossomed into the Super Senshi form being an expression of their hearts coming together because even though physically they seemed to be at each others throats, downright literally with Cyprine controlling them to fight, their hearts were always as one and when they were able to recognize that, it allowed them to become greater than the sum of their parts. The Outer Senshi wanted to kill Hotaru, but the irony is her heart was always alive, always fighting even as her body and everything about her physical condition was dead while their hearts were broken knowing what they had to do, even though the seemed to live lavish lives of luxury, as cool adventuring Senshi with a rich lifestyle. The Outer Senshi seem glamorous and impossible to measure up too, being older, more powerful, more experienced, more knowledgeable, rich, with an intimidating presence, but the true heroes of the story are Chibiusa, Hotaru, and Usagi. Chibiusa for first trusting in Hotaru, not caring about her creepy powers but believing she needs to save her friend above all else, which allowed her to reach Hotaru before the Outers. Hotaru for realizing that even with everything physical she ever had gone, she still had power in her soul that she was willing to fight with for her Chibiusa. And Usagi for constantly trusting that the Senshi hearts were all as one, that they were all people with the same true intent, and with the same emotions. Conversely the villains of this arc the daimon are specifically seeking out the physical; extensions to their lifespan, something Professor Tomoe specifically calls out as his goal, but do this by sacrificing the souls of others. They literally sacrifice souls, the hearts of people for the physical. Similarly they break the Taioron crystal represent temporal life for the Silver Crystal representing eternal life. The Daimon and Pharaoh 90 do not recognize the importance of the soul or people hearts, and will remove those things to wear their bodies like skin suits. The broad message of this arc is to recognize the importance of the heart, of the soul, of the person within, both of yourself and of others.

This arc's themes also ties in with the two broader themes of the Sailor Moon manga as a whole; the pain of isolation and the ennobling power of love. The Outer Senshi are defined by isolation. Their backstory involves living in isolated territories away from their home and everyone else for their duties, causing them immense emotional pain. Even though they are adored, they are also isolated with few others to understand them, and though they pull away from Usagi, it clearly hurts them to do so. Hotaru is isolated; she's a loner not by choice but because her classmates spun her for her creepy powers. Professor Tomoe is isolated, ostracized by the scientific community which is maybe part of why he's so insane without any other voices to contradict him. Conversely it's in the love of her friends, in the unity of their hearts that Usagi develops her stronger form, Super Sailor Moon, explicitly the source of her powers. It's explicitly because their hearts are as one that she in the final battle can enter Pharaoh 90 to awaken Sailor Saturn. Similarly it is her love for Chibiusa that allows Hotaru to fight Mistress 9 and which turns Sailor Saturn from the ultimate enemy, the messiah of silence, into an ally that saves the world. 

If there's any faults to this arc it's that it sometimes gets a little too ambitious, tries to be a bit too smart. There is no moment in the Infinity Arc that strikes me as hard as Usagi's defiance of Demande on Nemesis or Diana taking the responsibility for Sailor Pluto. Those were moments defined by the purity of the heroic character and the sheer contrast with the situations they were put in, the wisdom coming from a pure character unwilling to let a dark situation stop them. The third arc is almost too smart for that, every moment in it is full of emotional depth to the point that no moment is just simple elemental goodness. The closest is perhaps Hotaru as a ghost's goodbye to Chibiusa and that might indeed be my favorite moment in the arc for that reason. If I was to compare this arc and the last to anything in their relation what jumps to mind is the comparison between the Dark Tournament Arc and the Chapter Black Arc of Yu Yu Hakusho. Chapter Black is moodier, angstier, more mature, more thought out, more complex, more consistent. However it's so mature it never reaches the elemental level of emotion seen in the climax of the Dark Tournament. Sensui might be more complex then Toguro, but in that complexity there's a lack of pure immediate emotion. Similarly the climax of Infinity Arc is more complicated than climax of the Black Moon Clan arc, it's got a wider range of emotions, and it lacks any weird dips in quality, but it can be too ambitious (such as its fight choreography which tends towards being confusing) and it can lack the emotional impact of simplicity.

With that said I obviously love this arc to pieces. This arc as an advantage compared to the arc before and after it is consistent. The good parts of the arc are distributed a lot more evenly and even lower ranked acts this arc are significantly better then the worst acts of almost any other arc. It's an arc I think characterized more than anything else by Naoko's ambition. She had already revolution-ized the Magical Girl Genre and she set out to do it again AND SUCCEEDED. If any arc has an influence on pop culture after the Dark Kingdom arc, for better or worse it was the Infinity arc. It's an arc that seeks to tackle some of the most serious and hotly discussed topics there are. It introduces truly ground-breaking characters. And all the while it keeps the things that make Sailor Moon great; cosmic imaginative world-building, a sense of both grandeur and atmosphere this time of apocalyptic proportions, and perhaps my favorite part of Naoko's writing; the synchronization of the physical narrative and the emotional narrative behind it. 

Arc Ranking:

12: Act 27: This is what I mean by the arc is more consistent than the first or second arc. This is the worst act of the arc and it's really not bad at all. Act 27 is the first arc of the arc, and as such it's kinda slow needing to set up everything. I don't really feel like it being 75 pages, tied for the longest act in the entire series is justified and it feels a bit slower than the rest of the arc. It's got some good parts. Mamoru holding Diana is cute, there's some mild gags, it sets up Haruka and Michiru pretty well though Hotaru only comes in at the VERY end of the act. There's nothing really wrong with this act, it's just the act is basically just setting up for the rest of the arc. 

11: Act 34: Act 34 has probably the worst part of the arc, though it's not that bad. It has the anticlimactic resolution to the Guardian and Outer Senshi not trusting each other with the Labyrinth plotline. The anticlimax of the arc is really what holds it back and I did switch it around with Act 27 a few times. That said Kaorinite is a really cool villain and she single-handedly gives the act a lot, especially with resurrecting the Witches 5 and casting a occult curse on the Senshi. It also has some good conflict between Usagi and Haruka as well as Usagi and Mamoru being cute, and the start of ghost Hotaru. I guess I'd give it a slight bit of advantage over Act 27 just for efficiency, being much shorter and having all 5 Guardian Senshi fighting the Witches 5. 

10: Act 31: Act 31's another act that doesn't have a lot to it. It's the Tellu act, and outside Sailor Pluto awakening and showing up in the latter half, not a whole lot really happens. There's some cute stuff with Chibiusa and Hotaru, there's some good emotional stuff with Usagi and Haruka. It's got all the basic fun stuff in the Mugen act, but lacks a bit of personal identity. I will say Chibiusa making her classmates jealous by wanting to give her arts and craft project to Hotaru is funny and the scene of Hotaru being possessed my Mistress 9 and scaring her bullies was cool. I just wouldn't be able to tell you which act they're from off-hand.

9: Act 38: The final act is comprised of three sections, all of which are pretty good individually but also leads to this act feeling a bit disconnected. There drama with Hotaru and Setsuna doesn't super land as well since there's not really any special established connection between the two. The themes of rebirth are pretty strong here, and the start of the dream arc is pretty good, overall this is a really enjoyable act however this is probably the weakest epilogue act in the series. 

8: Act 28: Act 28 is another setup act, similar to Act 27 but is shorter, more efficient, and springboards off the introductory elements Act 27 set up. There's two really great Hotaru scenes here that set up the dichotomy of her character; first her friendship scene with Chibiusa where she heals Chibiusa's wound, and then later her confrontation with her father and Kaorinite, only to be comforted by her father as she lays ill. While Act 27 were focused around building up Haruka and Michiru, Act 28 focuses around building up Hotaru and the villains, as well the mystique of the new Senshi. The act also has the Eudial plot, complete with the really cute scene of the Senshi celebrating Rei's birthday with her. 

7: Act 35: Act 35 like Act 38 is comprised of three sections, the backstory of Professor Tomoe and Hotaru's robotic body, the Outer Senshi sharing their backstory with Sailor Moon, and Hotaru beginning to fight back against Mistress 9, however these sections are not just individually stronger but tie into each other MUCH more than Act 35's. Hotaru saving Chibiusa's soul is fantastic; it's sweet, awesome and symbolically rich and that this act isn't higher for it speaks to the quality of the arc as a whole. The other two sections are, while weaker and could each have been handled a bit better with some tweaks, still quite good one really complimenting the themes of the arc, and the other really complimenting the themes of the series as a whole.

6: Act 37: The penultimate act of the Mugen arc truly is an iconic act for Sailor Moon, involving the awakening of Sailor Saturn and her defeating Pharaoh 90. It's a real contrast with Act 35 as instead of several vignettes good in their own way, Act 37 is incredibly focused. Yet despite it containing only really two broad sections, it doesn't have any feeling of drag, being so atmospheric and emotional carrying the weight of Sailor Saturn better than any act in the entire series in all her complexities. It's also got the climax of the arc's themes with Super Sailor Moon choosing to trust in Sailor Saturn, willing to believe even the Senshi of Death has a heart in unison with theirs. 

5: Act 30: The Top 5 acts of this arc are in a higher tier than the rest of the acts of the arc, the way the last two acts had three acts that were their own top tier. Act 30 is an act that isn't really about Sailor Senshi stuff and is instead about Usagi and Mamoru's relationship and the resolution to their feelings in relation to the new Outer Senshi. Usagi and Mamoru's relationship is my favorite in all of fiction and I love this act for the depiction of their love. I also really enjoy the stuff with Usagi and Haruka resolving the emotional conflict of last act. I can understand why someone might not like this act as much since the Viluy stuff doesn't take up that much time, though I think it's got a lot of spectacle for a villain of the month, and I can understand some objection to Sailor Pluto being brought back, but this act just gives me the feels.

4: Act 29: The Sailor V homage act! More than anything I love this act for it setting up the dynamic between Usagi and Haruka as well as the dynamic between Chibiusa and Hotaru. When I think of how those two pairs of characters interact, the paradoxical push and pull between Haruka's emotional advances and aloofness vs Usagi's desire to work together but also confusion towards Haruka's aim or the sweetness of Chibiusa wholesomely believing in Hotaru, this girl whom has had such a hard life and just so deserves a sweet loving friend, I think of this act. That's not even all to love about this act, it also has the cute Sailor V homage, even if the act doesn't really go that far. Still, such a fun sweet act.

3: Act 32: The decision on which was higher between this act and the one above it has been the hardest decision I've had to make ranking acts next to only Act 22 vs Act 24. Act 32 is a great act, another iconic one for the arc. This is broadly the end of the first half of the arc, where Usagi's continued push to know and understand the Outer Senshi comes to a head and is rewarded when even Cyprine brainwashing them to fight can't stop her from using their unity of their hearts to turn into her Super form. Even better this act has one of the most effecting parts of the whole arc, maybe even the entire series as we see Hotaru's backstory and the mysterious image of the Outer Senshi gazing at her sadly through her window which she wonders if they are Goddesses of death. The Cyprine stuff is a little weird this act is great.

2: Act 33: Act 33 ties up the loose ends of the first half of the arc and sets up the second half of the arc in an incredibly efficient elegant way. This act introduces the idea of Sailor Saturn and recontextualizes the fall of the Silver Millennium, connecting the arc into the broader scope of Sailor Moon story. Naoko gets to write in her true specialty, mystical cosmic spectacle with an ethereal texture. This act introduces the central philosophical question of the arc and subtly answers it beautifully. It has Chibiusa outrunning the Outer Senshi to get to Hotaru first, it has the awakening of Mistress 9, it has the first appearance of Super Sailor Moon. This is an act that shows what's great about the third arc and connects with the rest of the series. It's a little bit exposition-heavy but it's great.

1: Act 36: Fantastic act! This act flies by when reading it because it's so incredibly engrossing. This is an act that showcases just how amazing a character Hotaru is, having her protect the Guardian Senshi's souls and has her returning Chibiusa's soul giving probably the best scene in the entire arc. This act is for Hotaru what something like Act 13 or Acts 21-22 are for Usagi, an act to show just why she';s such an amazing character, and all before she even transforms for the first time. It is a scene that speaks to the themes of the third arc embodied in its best character imo. If that was all this act was, it would still be competitive with Acts 32 and 33. But it has also the revelation of what Pharaoh 90 is and wants, probably the most abstract and consequently one of the most interesting monsters in the entire series, it's got one of the best sections for Chibiusa in the entire series, it's got the sweet hilarious line of Mamoru's, it's a fantastic act.

Sub-Arc Ranking:

So the last three acts really don't have clear sub-arcs, but I would roughly divide them into halves which makes them feel a bit weird to "rank" but whatever. In this case the two sub-arcs were VERY close in quality, reflecting the overall consistency of the arc.

2: Talismans Sub-Arc (Acts 27-32): The first half of the arc is by far the best first half of an arc so far and is good enough that even the first half of the Stars arc does not clearly eclipse it in quality with for me is huge praise. While it starts off a little bit slow, having to introduce the elements of the arc, it accelerates into full gear much faster than the Dark Kingdom or Black Moon Clan arc with some absolutely really good acts like Acts 29 and 30 showing lots of clever character writing and sweet emotional moments and with a great mid-season climax act with Act 32.

1: Messiah Sub-Arc (Acts 33-38): While Sailor Moon acts usually start out a little slow and ramp up, the Talismans Sub-Arc is a really good sub-arc, with the Messiah Arc being only a bit better, to the point I was actually not sure which one I'd put higher. While the Messiah Sub-Arc does suffer from having some relatively anti-climactic elements and focusing a bit more on spectacle than the clever character writing that the first half had, it has fantastic acts like Acts 33 and 36 and a lot of fun moving elements. Overall it took the many plot elements set up by the first half of the arc and brought them to a very satisfying conclusion, especially the resolution to Hotaru's development going from thinking she might be better off dead at the end of the Talismans sub-arc to the hero who saved the whole world out of love for Chibiusa in the Messiah Sub-Arc.