Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon Act 42 Review

The act begins with Chibiusa looking out a window thinking about Helios. Usagi comments to Chibiusa that there are snacks down in the kitchen if she wants some. Chibiusa, uncharacteristic for her says she doesn't have an appetite, shocking Usagi. Usagi comments to her that's too big given that there's and then listing a bunch of yummy snacks. This causes Chibiusa to relent her position and say even though she's not hungry, she'll eat, a hilariously relatable joke for anyone who thought they were full and then had a delicious dessert paraded in front of them.

Usagi comments that she's going to go check on Mamoru whose missed university from illness, but once again defying Usagi's expectations Chibiusa says she's alright not going. By her lack of appetite and not clinging to Mamoru, Usagi is shocked and wonders if the world is coming to an end.

Chibiusa thinks to herself that these strange love feelings are causing her to feel like an adultress and that there isn't even any pudding there... a pun that unfortunately only works in Japanese. Diana does adorably point out how this isn't adultery since none of the married with a little pointing stick and definition sheet.

Chibiusa continues to wonder about Helios, and all the strange secrets he has, the way he turns into a Pegasus, why he appears sometimes. She thinks to herself she should ask someone for advice and in an adorable hilarious bit thinks about asking each of the Guardian Senshi and the inherent flaws with several of them. Ami would be too professional, Rei too anti-romantic feelings, and Minako TOO interested, and I would also add too likely to concoct a hair-brained scheme to get them together, leaving her to conclude asking the sensible yet romantic Makoto is the only rational choice. 

In a...semi-non sequitur Chibiusa once again does the "comparing herself to Usagi" bit, commenting it must be nice to be Usagi who has so many friends she can go to advice. Diana responds Chibiusa that she's still in-training and that she can't reasonably compare herself to Usagi, something Chibiusa annoyedly comments "I know, I know" too. As I mentioned before, I feel this bit is a bit belabored and was already kind of done in the Second Arc.

We cut to Helios being tortured in his cage by electricity, commenting valiantly that he needs to hold on, and if he gives up, the prince's body will fall too...as will the planet. Nearby Nehelenia commands Zirconia to her side. Nehelenia, in a reversal of the classic "evil queen speaks to the magic mirror" part of Snow White, the evil queen in the mirror Nehelenia asks Zirconia who she is, with Zirconia responding she is the most beautiful creature in the world, leader of the Dead Moon Circus, Nehelenia. 

It's a cute little fairy tale reversal. 

Nehelenia asks Zirconia what their goal is before asking Zirconia the airspeed of an unladen swallow. Zirconia responds that their goal is to overthrow those of the White Moon Kingdom, take the Silver Crystal and thus become rulers over the entire universe. Zirconia laughs at how the Moon is now desolate, and Nehelenia responds that all that is left is to kill the survivors, a job the Quartet proclaim they will do. It's mostly standard villain exposition though Zirconia gives hint to the idea that they were there in the ancient times, saying that since ancient times the people of the White Moon have protected the Earth. This seems like an impossibility given that during the end of the Silver Millennium Sailor Saturn awoke and ended all life, though the explanation will come in time.

We cut to Mamoru, deathly ill, coughing up black blood. The Heavenly Kings cameo, their spirits watching over him, noticing that the master's aura grows weak, something blocking his healing power, shown in the second arc but they lament there's nothing they can do without their powers. Usagi shows up and the spirits depart. While kind of just there for fanservice, the Heavenly Kings cameo does help to add yet another connection for this arc to the first, and also helps the atmosphere. In a lot of things like plays with supernatural elements, there will be otherworldy ethereal entities to comment and exposit to the audience, and the Shitennou here serve the same purpose.

Usagi brings Mamoru lunch, and suggests she can go medicines for him, with a supportive cheer. Mamoru asks her politely to leave as he would like to sleep. Usagi, can tell something's wrong and though she leaves at his request, she's clearly deeply worried for him. Meanwhile as Mamoru continues to cough up blood, as he thinks at the doctor telling him he has a black shadow over his lungs, he comments that he can't burden Usagi anymore.

There's two ways to read Mamoru's statement here. The sweeter version of him trusting her to save the city and him before he dies from this...or the sadder version, that he's willing to die to stop burdening her. Perhaps both. You know, my most disliked part of any version of Sailor Moon is the breakup arc in the 90s anime. This has a little of the same problem, but is essentially a much better version of that. It still has the frustration of watching Mamoru lie to his loved one out of the masculine pride's need to bear all the pain alone, but the motivations of both Usagi and Mamoru are clear and relatable here.

The Senshi continue to investigate the Dead Moon Circus, getting dizzy and confused from the show. They note that strangely they seem to be the only ones affected this way, perhaps because as Senshi they can mystically feel how "off" this whole place is. The Senshi talk about the strange way the Dead Moon Circus are attacking, slowly and at infrequent pace. Meanwhile the Quartet are watching the Senshi, and clearly know their identities, showing it in their mirror. Mirrors really are a recurring theme this arc; both in how they reflect true and how they can distort the truth. JunJun uses a sling and bounces a rock off the Senshi' heads, just to annoy them. 

This kind of nonsense is why the Quartet are really popular. They're the closest thing the Sailor Moon manga has to "joke villains." Magical Girl Manga, particularly in the 90s, typically had villains that were basically humanoid monsters or monsters disguised as humanoid, sinister and malevolent to the extreme, growly or plotting to themselves about how they'd destroy those pesky Magical Girls, meant to be very threatening but could get kinda dull. The Quartet are just a bunch of chaotic brats. 

The Senshi notice that the Dead Moon Circus have gotten really situated in town, with flyers and promotional stands everywhere. As a result trash has accelerated from the crowds. They don't notice, but hovering on the black trash bags are the dark lemure, waiting...

Chibiusa shows up and runs over to Makoto saying she needs to ask her something. From Chibiusa's question and expression, Makoto correctly intuits that it's about a cute boy, getting a knowing smile. She invites Chibiusa to her place for dinner so they can chat about it.

At the market picking up food for dinner, Makoto and Chibiusa run into Hawk's Eye disguised as a woman. Hawk's Eye pretends to be looking up for spices from the Amazon so the kind-hearted Makoto will instruct "her" where to find it. Hawk's Eye takes them to a building he says is his spice store, saying he was just looking up the competition here. Makoto is impressed until Hawk's Eye mentions from being the Amazon, which gets her suspicious. However, Hawk's Eye regales them by saying his dream had always been to run a medicine shop, saying that Juuban is such an honest town, so it didn't cost much for him to rent this storefront. 

Makoto is taken in, given its her dream as well to open a shop of plants. Expressing this to Hawk's Eye, Hawk's Eye gives her an "amazon stone", a beautiful ring with an "Amazonian charm" said to make wishes come true. 

It's a bit hard to do the same type of storyline for Makoto as it was for Ami or Rei the past two chapters as while the other Guardians are internally complex, Makoto is simple wholesome. Despite having her own tragic origin, she is not emotionally conflicted or holds any inner turmoil about it, and so Naoko changes the focus to be more about associating Makoto with the humble innocence Azabu-Juuban as a town represents, that's being deceived and infected by the Dead Moon Circus, disguising themselves. Crossdressing is a common motif in Naoko's work, and she has a particular dislike it seems of men that disguise themselves as women, as one was, without spoiling, also depicted negatively in Toki Meca. I think a good comparison can be made with the third arc where when Haruka was disguised as a man, Usagi felt Haruka was aloof and impossible to understand, but when she realized Haruka was a woman, a Sailor Senshi even her, like her, she began to feel she could understand her, that their hearts were as one. In contrast, Hawk's Eye is a man disguising himself as a woman and pretending to have the same goal as Makoto, pretending their hearts and dreams are as one but are really outright opposed.

We cut to Makoto making dinner for her and Chibiusa, admiring the beautiful ring, thinking how amazing it was that Hawk's Eye was able to work hard to make her dream come true. Makoto thinks to herself that since her parents died when she was young, she's been lonely for a while. So she can't wait to be a bride, and build a home of her own to not be alone. She dreams of owning a flower or cake shop. Looking into a mirror, she comments she dreams of being strong like Haruka, but also has the secret wish to be beautiful like Michiru. It's a really cute scene and speaks to how innocent and wholesome Makoto is.

Makoto wonders if she's really been trying her best to make her wishes come true. 

We cut to Chibiusa whose excitedly explaining all the things that happened to Mamoru the way young children are, showing him her Amazon Ring before giving it to Mamoru. Chibiusa tells Mamoru to get well soon before leaving. In the greatest feat of common sense in the entire manga, and one of the best I've ever seen in the entire Magical Girl genre, Mamoru immediately begins analyzing the Amazon stone, guessing it's probably something sketchy, crushing it and saying he'll see if anything happens.

Meanwhile Chibiusa meets up with Usagi, admitting Mamoru seems no better, and even perhaps worse. Chibiusa asks Usagi why she doesn't go to talk to him herself, but Usagi is scared of being rejected again, worried that she's done something wrong to make him not want her to be around him.

Painfully relatable Usagi is painfully relatable.

Meanwhile Makoto goes to see Hawk's Eye again, mostly to ask for advice on pursuing her dreams. Makoto admits to Hawk's Eye she finds it hard to talk about it with her friends, but she has a lot of dreams she doesn't know how to pursue.

As the ring begins to mess with her mind Makoto continues to spill her feelings, saying she doesn't know what path to pursue, if she even wants to be a Sailor Senshi and keep fighting if that's distracting her from her dreams. Hawk's Eye asks her if it makes her so unsure, why doesn't she just quit, as reality seems to warp around them from the daimon, emanating from her ring. Makoto tries to take it off, but it magically won't come off. Hawk's Eye tells her the lemure love her, a girl so bursting with dreams to turn into nightmares. In mockery of her dream, Hawk's Eye tells her that soon she'll be part of the Dead Moon Circus and they will go around selling nightmares to all.

Makoto collapses from pain and having the energy being drained from her body, apologizing with her falling breath to the others. Meanwhile the Quartet watch and laugh to themselves at how this will be the end of the Sailor Senshi. 

In Makoto's mind a little Makoto comes to her the way a little Ami came to Ami, but instead of Little Ami's disposition, Little Makoto says she's Makoto's conscience and gives her a little pep talk, asking her without the Soldier of Protection, whose gonna protect Princess Serenity or all the others and telling her she's supposed to be protecting everyone in this city. Makoto realizes that she has many dreams, but they're all part of the single dream she's always had; to not be alone, to protect others, and that being a Senshi. She thinks back to Haruka telling her that her greatest enemy will always be herself, and thinks to herself she understands what Haruka was trying to tell her, that it was her own doubt in her ability that made her doubt her dreams.

Once again, the theme of the arc is demonstrated. Makoto thought there was a division between her material dreams and her duty as a Senshi until she realized she had a deeper dream, a unifying dream of love that all her material dreams were manifestations off. She wanted to get married, to own a shop, to be strong and beautiful. But these were all tools she wanted to be lonely no more, to be able to protect the ones she cares for. Makoto's more than any other connects as well to the themes of the series as well; the pain of isolation and the unifying power of love. Makoto wanted to not feel lonely anymore, and was drawn out of her self-doubt by her love for her friends.

Makoto's other self leaves after giving her the Jupiter Crystal, telling her to give em Hell. Makoto fell conscious but Super Sailor Jupiter awakens easily destroying the Amazonian Ring, causing Hawk's Eye in the form of a normal Hawk and the Quartet to freak out from the raw power destroying their nightmare space. A crown of oak leaves appear on Jupiter's head, oak being the tree associated with the Roman God Jupiter. Jupiter uses her new attack "Jupiter Oak Evolution" to destroy Hawk's Eye and send the Quartet running away in fear.

With their disappearance, the building itself disappears, having been just a product of their magic. Usagi and Chibiusa show up...somehow knowing Jupiter was in trouble earlier I guess? It's not exactly clear knew to come there. Ves Ves watching from the treetop above speaks addressing Jupiter congratulating her on her power but saying they will all die soon. 

Chibiusa's bell beings to ring and shine. Chibiusa asks Helios if he's trying to tell her something, and both she and Usagi realize at the same time Mamoru is in danger. They bust into Mamoru's room, for some reason not transformed, to find Helios doing his absolute best to fend off a swarm of lemures attacking Mamoru's prone body.

Usagi and Chibiusa transform and destroy the Lemures, but unfortunately, Helios, heavily scratched up and bleeding falls unconscious and on the floor and Mamoru begins to cough up more black blood in front of them.

I'm really interested to see how people compare Act 41 and Act 42 because to me they're kind of opposites. Act 41 was an act I would describe as being ambitious, even if it didn't quite reach the lofty goals it set for itself in my view. Act 42 is comparatively speaking, kind of a humble act. Of the Four Guardians' Dream Chapters, it's the one that takes the least risks narratively and is the simplest narratively and thematically. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Like Makoto herself, act 42 is humble, wholesome, and sweet, not really making things more complicated than it  has too.

The biggest fault I have with it isn't really even specific to it, it's just the same things I have with the first half of the Dream arc in general, that Mamoru and Chibiusa's characters arc feel a little bit like the repetition of their Black Moon Clan arc character arcs, and in Mamoru's case relies on the somewhat frustrating trait of the man hiding his pain from his significant other for noble if misguided reasons. 

Outside of that, Makoto's character arc is pretty much exactly what you'd expect from this arc and Makoto. It's Makoto feeling insecure about her capabilities by comparing her material dream to her current condition, only to realize she has the deeper dream that unites the Senshi, and transforming into Super Sailor Jupiter. 

That said, having a modest main event allows the writer the chance to play around and add a bunch of cute little scenes here and there they can't when focused on expressing a complex narrative or theme. What I remember this act for most are cute little scenes, usually lasting between half a page to 2 pages at most such as Chibiusa considering asking each of the Guardians for love advice and the resulting problems from asking Ami, Rei, or Makoto, Nehelenia asking Zirconia who she is and what their goal is in a reversal of the Magic Mirror scene in the Snow White fairy tale, or Makoto thinking of her dreams and thinking that she has the secret dream to be beautiful like Michiru. 

I think there's something to be said for trying to be ambitious and I could stand if this act was a little less vanilla, it made commenting on it both here and in the main part a bit difficult said I was oft at a loss for words to add to the situation. The act both narratively and thematically are defiantly simple. On the other hand, there's also something to be said for modesty and just as Makoto is loveable for being a simple wholesome girl with super strength, this act is kinda loveable just for its sweetness in its simplicity. Makoto was never going to angst about her life situation the way Ami or Rei could, even if she has suffered similar tragedy in her personal life. 

Overall it's a pretty nice vanilla act, giving you exactly what you'd expect and want from the Makoto act in the Dream Arc.