Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon Act 44 Review

 

The act begins with little Hotaru reciting a poem by Yeats called "The Second Coming."

The Second Coming was written by Yeats in the seemingly apocalyptic aftermath of the first world war, and the political chaos going on in Ireland at the time. It describes the aftermath of a world-ending apocalypse, and that with the nearing 2,000 years of the first coming of Christ, soon shall he return. It also mentions a Sphinx emerging from the Spiritus Mundi, the world soul. The usage of this poem here is absolutely brilliant on Naoko's part. Obviously, a world-ending threat is there, but Sailor Saturn is the one reciting it, Saturn being the one that ends the world in the cycle of life and death corresponding to the cyclical theme of the poem and Yeats' personal mystical views of history being cyclical. The part she speaks of here is specifically that the sphinx, pitiless emerged from the world-soul... you may recall that last arc the alien world-soul Pharaoh 90 emerged into the dimension and born from it was Sailor Saturn known for her eerie otherworldly gaze. It speaks of the second coming which not so subtly foreshadows the fate of Hotaru in this act.

We cut to Haruka either imagining or recalling Usagi talking about her dream. Usagi expresses her dream is to live with the one she loves and child in a small house surrounded by flowers, the picture of domesticity.

To my shock, there are some that believe Usagi's domestic dream corresponding to her stated dream of being a housewife is sexist. I have...a lot of problems with this position. Chief among them is that there is nothing dishonorable about being a housewife; it is my solemn belief that the greatest honor given to woman is to be a good mother just as the greatest honor given to man is to be a good father, and wanting to focus on this, if possible, is wholly understandable. Secondly, this is meant to reflect Usagi's personality; she doesn't like to be alone and her dream emphasizes the togetherness of living with her loved one and child, it's not intended to be any kind of position on the place of women or anything. It is explicitly Haruka, the least traditional of any of the Senshi thinking about Usagi's particular personality. In conjunction with that, the Sailor Senshi have a wide variety of goals and dreams which are meant to show the young female reader the wide variety of paths available to them from the traditionally feminine (Usagi's dream of being a housewife, Makoto's of running a bakery or flower shop, Michiru's position as a musician) to the traditionally masculine (Haruka's job as a racecar driver, Ami and Setsuna working in the STEM fields.)

Finally, there's another narrative reason that Usagi is presented with this dream and it's an overarching theme of the arc that I feel those who have a negative response to this dream might benefit from learning. It's the same reason Superman is usually depicted as wanting to humbly live with his family as a farmer. It's meant to show the humility of our hero. We know Usagi shall one day reign over the world as Queen, but she is not someone who strives for power for its own sake. That is a major theme of the arc, that grand material ambitions are fine in service for noble goals like love but for their own sake are corrupting. Nehelenia seeks the entire universe for herself and is struck down. Usagi wishes only to be with her loved ones and is exalted.

We cut back to Haruka, where in a slightly odd sequence of events, a driver next to her notices how cool her car is and then wonders whether Haruka is a man or woman, before seeing her earring and, figuring that means she's a woman, immediately hitting on her. Haruka hilariously gives a cool comment and leaves him in the dust.

I don't think there's any page that better exemplifies Haruka's personality. I especially love how she refers to herself as "Haruka-sama." 

Paralleling that we cut to Michiru who is browsing for CDs when a man approaches her, telling her he's a big fan of her, having all her CDs and trying to ask her out. That said Haruka comes out of nowhere and literally goes between them, giving a fake cordial handshake. I like to imagine Haruka was nowhere around them but her "someone approaching my Michiru" sense went off and she used her superspeed to just flash step over there. Michiru seems annoyed, possibly at Haruka overprotectively breaking her fan's hand or possibly for making her wait, it's not entirely clear. 

Haruka asks if a fan got her the white flowers but Michiru replies that she bought them as a commemoration for six months of their new life. Haruka and Michiru are drawn looking all pretty together as onlookers gawk at the power couple, wondering if the rings on their hands mean they are married.

As they drive home, Haruka notes that there's a sale on diapers and milk but Michiru comments that she guesses Haruka isn't used to it yet, but their little princess has "long" outgrown milk and diapers, an unusual occurrence given it has only been six months. 

We cut to the Outer Senshi residence where Setsuna is trying to work on the computer when Hotaru breaks something and starts to cry. Setsuna gets an exasperated look suggesting this is a common occurrence, commenting that she was reading quietly just a moment ago. Haruka and Michiru get home and Hotaru runs up to them wanting to play more of "that game yesterday" but Haruka tells her it's time for her violin lesson and tries to get her to get dressed. Meanwhile Michiru gets angry at Setsuna for allowing Hotaru to break her Royal Copenhagen Dishes with Setsuna apologetically explaining she was reading quietly just a moment ago. This leads them into discussing Hotaru's supernatural development, that she's already reciting Vergil from memory, with Hotaru growing to the size of a child several years of age in just six months. Haruka comments that everyday is.... "like a dream." Right. 

There actually is some precedence for this earlier in the manga, interestingly enough. In the Black Moon Arc, the Silver Crystal kept Chibiusa from developing in age until she was ready, so it's not out of the question the Saturn Crystal might age Hotaru up quickly if it needed too. 

As Haruka playfully scolds Hotaru that she was once such a calm child and now is an energetic brat as a joke, Michiru and Setsuna both agree it's felt like they're living in a dream. Setsuna thinks back to a few weeks after their new life began, how she was at the observatory observing the eclipse when she felt something immense no one on her team did, that space itself warped. She tried to transform but found she couldn't due to the same darkness barrier that was blocking the Guardian Senshi.

Setsuna comments to herself that the fact that she couldn't transform she took as an indication that their duties were no longer to fight as Senshi, that their path had changed yet Hotaru's quick growth makes it seem as though she's awakening, questioning that idea. She wonders if Hotaru without meaning too is trying to them something. It's a strange thing children do where sometimes they will tell you what is needed without realizing just by a change in their behavior, possibly because they don't know or can verbalize what is happening around them.

Hotaru and a bunch of other children take Michiru's class where Hotaru plays the violin. This causes the ghost image of a Pegasus to appear before everyone.

This frightens the other children continuing the trend from Hotaru's past life of her powers freaking the other children out. I do have to say they say that this happens every time she plays...you have to wonder did the children not say anything to their parents? Also, why does Michiru keep letting her do this with the others if it keeps scaring them?

Hotaru sees the ghost of a young girl, Chibiusa, chasing the Pegasus and chases the two ghosts around the corner. When Michiru goes to find her she finds Hotaru watching the ghostly Chibiusa crying over the ghostly pegasus dead, with her eyes glazed and far-seeing like Sailor Saturn's, a connection Neptune also makes.

One of Naoko's great strengths as a writer is creating atmosphere, and this chapter without question has some of the best atmosphere in the entire manga. Part of this has to do with Hotaru's influence. Sailor Saturn is a threat the reader knows very well how threatening she can be from last arc and Hotaru's immediate shift from cutesy to scary is somehow both jarring yet inevitable feeling. If you've ever had the displeasure of seeing a truly troubled child, you'll recognize the eerie silence and focus Hotaru demonstrates her.

Michiru hugs Hotaru and she returns to normal, the other children leaving quite cheerfully as though nothing happened. The Outer Senshi go on living their blissful mundane lives, yet in their hearts know something is wrong, and feeling unsettled comparing it to knowing you're in a dream that's going to end sometime soon. Hotaru and Haruka decide to play "that game" Hotaru mentioned earlier. Hotaru releases her stellar energy which they use to create a simulation of the Solar System at fast forward speed, Haruka controlling the energy and restraining it.

You know just a normal fun household game. There's a lot of little details about this section like how Hotaru mentions she sees the asteroids which aren't part of her plan, they appeared on their own and she's not sure yet whether she's gonna let them live or die like the tiny goth she is.

Haruka comments on the white light of the moon saying it always surrounded her, Usagi, and that she misses her with Michiru giving Haruka a supportive hug. However as they get to the moment of the eclipse, the present day something goes wrong...

the moment of the eclipse happens and then refuses to end, shrouding Earth and Moon in darkness. Haruka sends Hotaru to bath and then bed so the grown-ups can talk.

Setsuna confirms that the vision Hotaru saw was true, that the Earth and Moon are covered in a darkness barrier, raising temperatures, spiking plant life and more. The three wish they could help but they can't transform with Haruka commenting that the fact that they can't transform means they're no longer needed as Senshi, and that the Guardians can protect the princess now by themselves. She wonders if maybe the Princess has abandoned them. 

This parallel with the Guardian Senshi is so good. The Guardian Senshi for the last four acts have felt inferior to the Outers and that they need their help but had to learn to internalize the messages the Outers had given them and thus be able to be self-sufficient. Conversely, the Outers worried the opposite, that the Guardians had no need of them, that their duties have changed such that they can no longer help them, but have to learn that the Guardians even if self-sufficient can still have need of their aim and that it's not that their duties have changed, it's not that the princess has abandoned them, but that and spoilers for the rest of the act but that the princess freed them such that they can not help for their duties but for their love and friendship with the Guardians. This arc is a contrast between the true dreams motivated in love we have, and the material dreams we have that are used as a tool to achieve our deeper dreams, and the emotional turmoil of putting the latter above the former. For the Outer Senshi because of their eons-long servitude in duty, their material dream is only to achieve their duties. Narratively they're already all massively successful as people so they couldn't really have dreams based on jobs, but their material dreams, in this case, are just to fulfill their responsibilities, yet the reason why they want to fulfill these duties, their true dream is in love and service to the Lunar Royalty, not seeing that the Princess has freed them from the heavyweights they bore in the last arc.

In the bathroom little Hotaru sees Sailor Saturn in the mirror putting her hand up against the mirror as Saturn reaches back and presses her hand on the other side, looking into her eyes with a cold elegance. It is a common idea in folklore that mirrors reveal the true nature of things, something seen before in SM. Here we see that Hotaru in the mirror is seeing her true deeper self, the self that she felt within her in the third arc giving her a strength she didn't know she had, the self that bears her true dream. Hotaru asks Sailor Saturn who she is, and Saturn replies "I am the you that sleeps within you." As an aside, I love how the Saturn Spirit introduces herself with "Don't be afraid" like an angel. After all, she's easy to mistake for the angel of death.

When we dream, whether be is in physical sleep or whether we wander through life in a daze, the dream the Outer Senshi talk about being in now, a state of dormancy where images come before us we find that we are not the unified beings that we pretend we are. We find more parts of ourselves we never through we had through our idle fantasies and our sleeping dreams. This was the pattern that the first sub-arc of the Dream arc is meant to show. That our material dreams, the material ambitions we gather when not unified with our deeper dream divide us, make us into multiple selves within us. This is why the tiny selves of the Senshi appeared before them, to show the idea that we are not one within ourselves, but that in living out material dreams in contradiction to the true desire of our heart, even if only because we'd forgotten that desire with the passing of the years, that we divide ourselves internally into many. Likewise, little Hotaru has forgotten her true self, born into this new life without memories, existing in the dream of an idyllic domestic life away from the war of the Senshi, and so she too is divided internally. What this arc will go on to show is that not only can the one be many, but the many one. The spirits of others can live within us, and the deeper desire of our hearts, dreams of love, will unify us so that just as the one may be many, so too can the many be one again!

The Saturn Spirit speaks unto little Hotaru telling her the time has come to awaken again, to begin a new mission, calling on her sleeping soul to awaken. It's an immensely evocative call to action that works on a physical, emotional, conceptual, narrative, metanarrative level all at once. The Outer Senshi had been lulled into this false dormancy, and their very souls must be ignited again in passion, connecting with Hotaru literally awakening as Sailor Senshi, a soldier.

Hotaru sees visions of the other Senshi while bathing, and says to herself she must hurry. She climbs out of the bath and approaches her reflection pressing her hand against it, older now, and the reflection now resembles her again

If the mirror is showing the true her, then she become her true self, the internal has been made external, she has awoken to her true identity. Also coming from a bath can be seen as purification or as rebirth both of which, especially fit nicely here. 

Hotaru goes to the other Outer Senshi continues the poem she began at the start of the act. "The darkness drops again; but now I know that 20 centuries of stony sleep were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle." 20 centuries, 2,000 years, it seems like a long time to us between the first and second coming of the messiah, but the poem compares it to the single sleeping night of an infant, just as the Outer Senshi marveled at how quickly time seemed to pass in this dream of theirs, just as time itself in this arc is warped like a dream. The cradle is imagery associated with something just born, referencing the newly reawoken Sailor Saturn, vexed to nightmares in her sleep by the rocking of the cradle referring to the visions. Naoko uses the poem masterfully as a generalized representation of the shaking of the collective dream we inhabit together.

Hotaru looks at the Outer Senshi and gives another quote to them, this one by Einstein. "A person starts to live when he can live outside himself" before telling them that time has come for a new awakening for them.

In our material dreams, in the general wanderings, we have as we go through the universe, guided by material ambitions we are not truly alive, our souls are asleep. It is only in living for those outside of us, only in living in love and empathy and understanding that our souls can truly come alive. This once again coincides with the arc's expression of the two dreams. 

Hotaru tells that no matter times they reincarnate, it's clear who'll they be fighting for. The others are shocked she has regained her memories, looking at her in worry of the fearsome Sailor Saturn. Yet Hotaru tells them that she is not the same person she was before... that none of them have to fight alone anymore because they had been reborn along with their princess.

This is the climax of the Outer Senshis' development over the past two arcs. Repeatedly they have had to bear the extremely painful weight of their duties even when they wish nothing more than to follow their hearts. Repeatedly their isolation from the others has been emphasized. But Sailor Moon has an overarching Messianic themes, and the Messiah is known for relieving people from what they thought the law was to follow the spirit. The Outer Senshis' material dream was their duties, was their isolation, was everything they had to do, suffering alone and performing unthinkable acts. Yet in the love and trust of the princess they have been showing their new duty as Sailor Senshi, which is not the material dream that isolates them but the dream of the heart that unites them.

Hotaru thanks Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama and Setsuna-mama for raising her but telling them it's time for her to lead them, a beautiful moment expressing that beautiful reversal in life as the parent takes care of the child until the day the child takes care of the parent. She shows them her Saturn Crystal, gained from her awakening earlier and unity with the hearts of the distant Guardians and shining to meet it, the other Outer Senshis' crystals shine in unison which Hotaru proclaims is the sign that they are new Senshi. 

The Saturn Crystal manifests the Holy Grail...somehow.... and the Outer are shown visions of the others in danger. Hotaru shows them an image of a rose wilting, representing the Earth and the Prince and tells them that their prince and princess are facing a terrible crisis. I really love the subtle show of their new duty in that they now think of Mamoru as their prince. He was the prince of the Earth, not of the Silver Millennium, but with the changing of the eras, Serenity and Endymion are joined together and in their mission to protect Serenity and the royal family of the Moon, so too are they to protect Endymion. He is now their prince just as Usagi is their princess.

The insignia of the Outers shine on their foreheads and they discard their promise rings, as their duty of raising Hotaru representing their old life is complete and the Outers race off to that place, that place that holds their "true dreams." To be by the side of the Princess.

Permit me to just fangirl a little here but the Outer Senshi are SO COOL! Unfortunately, the act's not quite over yet, and the rest of it, while fine can't live up to the Outer Senshis' section. 

We cut back to Artemis holding Minako from falling as Palla-Palla summons rubble to crush him. Minako thinks back to her times with Artemis their fights and fun together all the way back to Sailor V, and is hit with a massive way of anguish realizing that the pain he feels, she's feeling too, that he's and she are two sides of the same coin. 

However a humanoid hang grabs Minako's and Artemis' voice comes through telling he understands now why she hadn't been able to transform. It's because he wasn't good enough as a partner, revealing humanoid Artemis.

I'm all for the first part of this section for Minako and Artemis's sweet connection and on some level the idea of Artemis being Minako's other self the way the small Mercury and Jupiter or the Saturn spirit were for Ami, Makoto, and Hotaru respectively I can appreciate. Sometimes we find the other half of ourselves in other people. What I don't like about this sequence is the Guardian Senshis' dream chapters and their transformation into Super Senshi all showed something about them. It was an exploration of their characters. While this is a sweet moment between Artemis and Minako, as Artemis says its about Artemis not being "strong enough" which is something that has had no build-up, nor does it say anything about Minako. If Naoko wanted to focus on a bit more of a minor character like Artemis, that'd be fine, though this feels like the wrong way to go about it, since it doesn't really say anything about Artemis.

With Artemis' help, Minako transforms into Super Sailor Venus and goes to stop the villains, declaring herself "Venus-sama, Goddess of Love and Beauty." She then quite easily dispatches Xenotime and Zeolite.

Good Night, sweet monsters of the week, we hardly knew ye. And I mean that literally. I will say Venus is pretty cool in this sequence regardless from how acrobatic her combat style to her declaration of herself as the literal Goddess of love, to using her chain weapon so masterfully.

Anyway Minako reunites with the others who are relieved to see she can transform and she gives them her signate "V for Victory" sign while Artemis looks on in approval. However their victory celebration is cut short when the quartet arrive and ensnare them with vines. The Quartet finally introduce themselves to the Sailor Senshi as the descendants of the legendary Amazons, hailing from the Amazon Rainforest (despite the fact the Amazons lived in the Mediterranean) 

This part is a little confusing to me. If the Quartet could just..do that the question arises why they never have and why they always seemed so scared of the Senshi, even like earlier this act. Likewise why did Zirconia not to try and face off with the Senshi as they'd get blown away. I could maybe accept the answers are "the Quartet were just playing around earlier, as is their nature as brats" and "Zirconia was talking about Sailor Moon doing so with the Silver Crystal and she's not here right now" but it still feels kinda...off.

Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, and Sailor Jupiter all start falling under the sway of the lemures brainwashing while Sailor Venus wonders if even this level of power isn't enough. Meanwhile Chibiusa is watching the night sky while waiting for Usagi, thinking that things don't feel right and wondering about the condition of Helios and Elysion. Usagi gets back but seems more tired then usual with the last page showing that just as Mamoru feared, Usagi has caught the curse.

Act 44 is probably the best act in the Dream Arc, but that doesn't really do it credit. If there was a chapter or episode of this quality in almost any other series including most of my favorites, it would be my favorite moment from that series, it's an act better than most series in their entirety. 

The first two third of the act, the part with the Outer Senshi has writing that is so elevated and beautiful. I knew when I was going into the Dream Arc that this would be one of the most emotionally impacting parts to write about. This sequence is extremely well liked in the SM Fandom and it's not hard to see why. Of course a lot of people like it just for the fact that it's showing a home where a little girl is being raised by essentially three moms, two of which are in a lesbian relationship. The Outers in general are extremely popular characters because they're very cool and mature type characters who give everything they do an extra layer of style and class. 

The part with Hotaru however is why I love it. This part is so rich with meaning, and on themes that mean a lot to me, yet also not just connects to the arc's main theme, but is the centerpiece explaining it. Hotaru's encounter with her "other self" is the Dream Arc taken to its absolute pinnacle, happening at the exact center of the arc, explaining everything that's happened before and foreshadowing everything that will happen from that point. It feels like the Dream Arc is a mountain building to that point, as you climb towards it and as you descend away from it, it expresses the logical consequences of that point.

As we journey through this material world, we acquire material ambitions, material dreams of what we want. But in trying to acquire that, we can put them above what we truly want, and even in attaining those dreams if they didn't bring us that which our soul yearned for, then we will be restless in even within that paradise. Even if we acquire our material dreams, we will become divided within ourselves, the one becoming many. But even just pursue-ing our deeper dreams we will be united within ourselves and with others, holding them in our heart, the many becoming as one. The Senshis' dreams were manipulated by the enemy, until they were able to discover their other selves with the spirit of their friends in their hearts and unite with them, reach the Super Form, symbol of their unity. 

This is shown and finally expressed directly in Hotaru's section where Hotaru meets the Saturn Spirit, her other self, who tells her that her soul must awaken, showing her visions of the other Senshi. That imagery, of the soul awakening is immensely evocative to me, I can relate to it, the feeling of the emotional state being sent into a state of dormancy before being brought to life, excited into a state of passion with the awakening to a realization. 

There's also just a whole bunch of other great stuff in this act. The usage of quotations from Yeats and Einstein are very well integrated and so directly contribute to the subject matter. The domestic situation of the Outers is funny and wholesome and just alien enough to be cool such as the scene where Haruka plays controller and lets Hotaru simulate the solar system with her energy. The sensation of time being warped both literally by the Dead Moon Circus but also in the symbolic sense that in any dream, whether literal or a waking dream that one inhabits, time can seek to move differently subjectively is a really evocative analogy. As always Naoko does an amazing job building atmosphere.

The last third is....fine. You could probably tell by how much less I talked about it compared to the first two-thirds that I don't find it nearly as stimulating. I appreciate the Sailor V reference, and I think Minako and Artemis relationship is sweet and all but as I said I feel like it doesn't really say anything about Minako's character, instead focusing on Artemis who, as much as I love him, is a pretty minor character in Sailor Moon. Minako fighting Xenotime and Zeolite was as cool as Minako could make it given she was fighting guys who just throws knives at people. And as mentioned the Quartet suddenly beating the Super Guardian Senshi feels thematically out of place given they just unlocked their super forms the Quartet were super afraid off. The ending cliffhanger is a pretty strong one though as the Senshi have always relied on Usagi using Silver Crystal ex machina to beat most of the big bads and the threat of her being taken out of comission is a great way to build tension at the end.

Overall Act 44 is fantastic, a real stand out of the Dream Arc, and something that is meaningful to me on a lot of levels. 

Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon Act 43 Review

 

Continuing from the last act, the Lunar Senshi and Sailor Jupiter run to the side of Mamoru, extremely ill, and Helios, damaged from protecting him from the lemure. Mamoru coughs up the truth alongside his blood. Chibi-Moon asks Helios if this is part of the enemy's plan. To answer Helios takes on his humanoid form again, introducing himself properly as High Priest of Elysion.

As images of the planet are drawn in front of Helios to compliment the surreal tone, unclear if it's a physical illusion Helios is making or purely an effect Naoko is drawing for the reader's benefit, Helios explains his purpose. He explains that Elysion is a Holy Land resting deep within the Earth, acting like the Heart of the planet and that as the High Priest of Elysion it is his duty to protect the Earth along with it.

One of the things people cite as one of the draws of the Dream Arc is it is a visual showcase, showing along with the Stars Arc Naoko's development as an artist, particularly because the Dream Arc's tone allows her to regularly represent ideas with otherworldly imagery drawn alongside the literal events that are transpiring, allowing the artwork to shift easily between the literal and the symbolic allowing Naoko to do what she loves to do visually; draw striking images. I'm not especially good at analyzing visuals for quality, but I know that the final two arcs are usually considered the high point of the series visually.

Helios tells Mamoru he's Mamoru's guardian priest, addressing Mamoru as the prince of this planet. Mamoru is surprised at how Helios knows of his past life, and Helios confirms that he knows of Endymion, his prince, even if Mamoru knows nothing about him. He explains that his body and Mamoru's bodies are linked with the Earth and Elysion, that their bodies have been resonating together. He then uses some kind of x-ray beam from his horn that shows a black rose growing in Mamoru's chest, explaining that the black rose is the curse Nehelenia placed upon Elysian, affecting all four of them.

It's a very elegant shojo-y image while also being quite dark. 

Helios continues to exposit that the form they see now is just his astral projection, that his real body was imprisoned in Elysium and turned into a Pegasus by the curse. Chibi-Moon asks who did this. Helios finally tells our Heroes what they're up against. Helios tells them of the Kingdom of Nightmares residing within the New Moon, led by the Queen Nehelenia, sealed away long ago in the darkness of the new Moon. I really like this backstory as it's very fairy tale sounding yet has that cosmic Sailor Moon element.

In the darkness Nehelenia stirred, casting a dark curse on the Earth, infecting its heart, Elysion, and causing the dark rose to blossom in Helios and Mamoru as was shown earlier. Helios using the holy power of Elysion was able to for a time hold the curse at bay, but was overtaken but the nightmare which lay Elysion to ruin. 

With Helios' power gone, the Earth was laid open for invasion and the Dead Moon Circus emerged from the New Moon. But it is more complex then that, for the Dead Moon Circus is trying to encircle them, invading them from within and without, attacking the surface with their ship, and nightmares sieging Elysian, trapping them all. Once the nightmares reach the surface the world will die.

Helios mentions they have a single saving grace, that the Dead Moon Circus didn't realize the Heir to the Silver Millennium had been reborn upon the Earth, and implores Super Sailor Moon to save the world. Usagi gets all resolute and says she will of course save the Earth and Mamoru and defeat the enemy. However, Helios drops the other bad news...that even if they destroy Nehelenia, her curse will not subside. Instead, Helios says that the person he was truly looking for was the "chosen maiden", the one who can break the seal on the Golden Crystal which can restore the Earth. It does seem strange that another crystal could heal what the Silver Crystal itself could not but I will have my own explanation for that when we come to it. It also provides an extra wrinkle to the plot to give it the cosmic "search and find" mystery element most Sailor Moon arcs have rather than just have it be the too simple "beat the bad guy and everything goes back to normal.

Helios describes the chosen maiden again, one protected by moonlight, a soldier and a princess with beautiful dreams, the chosen maiden of the crystal can break the Golden Crystal, a description that can apply to both Usagi and Chibiusa. Helios is pained and begins to fade away as he loses the strength to maintain his astral projection, asking the Lunar Senshi to find the Golden Crystal and use it with the Silver Crystal to banish the nightmares from the Earth.

Mamoru continues to cough and double over from pain, and tells Usagi to stay away from me, that he doesn't want the curse to spread to her. Admittingly, I don't know why he thinks this curse can spread, but I imagine he was just being cautious and it does set up this awesome moment that comes next. Usagi tells him "I'm staying with you, just as you feel the planet's pain, your pain is my pain. No matter what happens, I will find a way to make you better" before embracing him wholly declaring in no uncertain terms that she WILL stay with him, that she will protect him and this world.

Every time I read this sequence I am filled with the impression of just how strongly these two love each other and how courageous Usagi is being for Mamoru. Usagi is a sensitive scared girl by disposition but it doesn't matter how scary the situation is, it doesn't matter if Mamoru's pain is a deathly infectious disease, she embraces him wholly, because his pain will always be her pain, because she wants to share everything he has and is with her. You can see in how she holds him to the fullness of her body that she is symbolically accepting him in his entirety, even his pain and suffering willing to bear it for him. This to me is such a strong beautiful expression of love. 

After that scene concludes with Chibiusa reiterating what was just said it cuts to the Guardian Senshi...discussing what was just said in the scene prior. The Guardians admit they don't have any strategy with Ami, Rei, and Makoto wishing the Outer Senshi were here, commenting about how the Outer Senshi made them stronger and how thinking about them in their time of crisis allowed the Senshi to reach their super state. Minako pretends to go along with this but it's revealed after that it's exasperating her insecurity as a leader, especially since she is the only one who still can't transform, something she's kept hidden from the others.

One of the things I like about Minako's chapters is they consistently mix up the plot structure that the others repeat, befitting Minako's chaotic and even cartoony energy. Minako was Naoko's favorite of the Guardian Senshi and you can really tell with how much unique plotlines she gets in the manga. Here for instance we don't get a contrast between a temporal dream and a deeper dream beneath that like we do for the other Guardians, we get Minako already focusing on her deeper dream but feeling like she can't reach it.

Artemis tries to encourage Minako telling her he's sure she will transform soon, just like the others did. Minako seems unconvinced and goes to take a bath. Artemis catches a glimpse of her bathing form and comments that Minako has grown incredibly beautiful lately, like the goddess Venus, though Minako herself isn't feeling it which is humorously reflected in the art.

This acts as a microcosm of the conflict. Minako has greatness inside her but can't see it, can't realize it.

After a brief gag where Diana comments that Artemis is looking at Minako like a boyfriend does a girlfriend and Luna bites Artemis for peeking on her in the bath, we cut to the Amazoness Quartet, who are doing circus things like swinging from trapeze or balancing on balls, commenting on one of the Guardian Senshi seemingly being unable to reach her Super Form. They comment on getting bored and two more Dead Moon Circus Members, Xenotime and Zeolite show up, and promise their "big sisters" the Quartet that they'll get rid of the Senshi.

You know I can really see why even though the anime adaptation of this arc despite being much longer and ridiculously full of filler, still didn't include these two because they are the most pointless villains in the entire arc. It's not like they have cool powers either, as you'll see...they just throw knives.

We cut back to the Guardian Senshi who are investigating the Dead Moon Circus. People are more irritable than normal and fighting all around them, which they don't know is from the intense heat, or from or supernatural interference. Rei brought Michiru's mirror using it to sense the strange disturbance and Ami comments that she's scanned the area and found there's a strange aura that is acting like a barrier around the region, attributing the discovery to a program Setsuna gave her, Minako visually twitching in annoyance. Makoto hears a helicopter which reminds her of Haruka and comments it'd be easier to scan the area from atop a helicopter like Haruka's.

Minako gets fed up, commenting that makes five times they've mentioned them...getting defensive and angry, thinking they all view her as undependable for a leader. Ami tries to console her and Rei comments she's acting strange which Minako has probably heard a lot as she runs off. Though of course, being Minako, she has to make a pun as she does so.

One of the great things about Minako is that she can do nutty stuff like this where it's somehow both comedic AND serious at the same time and the two to complement each other. Minako making a strange pun as she runs away makes the scene more comedic, but it somehow doesn't take away any of the serious impact and if anything exaggerates it by an expression of her personality.

Minako runs away, crying to herself that she's a failure as a leader. Then in...a bit of a whiplash, Xenotime from before in very slight disguise comes up to her and pretends to be a talent agent, who wants to scout her out to be an idol. We immediately cut back to Minako with the Senshi as they're all shocked she was scouted out by a talent agent, the drama of the prior interaction apparently completely lost on them. Everyone is shocked...

...except for Rei

Rei is used to this nonsense from Mina.

Ami notes that this seems really suspicious especially as it's a "Dead Moon Entertainment" production from a "Mr. Xeolite" according to her card, but as she's explaining it Minako is literally already halfway out the door. Minako in her own thoughts however reveals she knows it's a Dead Moon trap and is going specifically to prove herself as a leader and take it on by herself commenting  that she's Sailor Venus and she fights "for both fun and duty!"

She reaches the idol auditions which apparently called for swimsuits. Minako comments on how hot and humid it is. Seeing how many girls showed up for the idol audition Minako wonders if she can save all these people herself but worries that if she calls the others to help her, they'll find out she can't transform and decides that she's her mind up on it.

The audition starts and Zeolite calls out to them that that it's a story audition, that they are heroes in a jungle and have to get through the jungle and save the kids on the tower....I thought this was an idol audition, not an actress audition? Zeolite mentions the reward is 5,000,000 yen, though Minako obviously cares more about the childrens' safety. The girls run off with their fighting each other releasing energy with Jun-Jun collecting the energy, turning their dream (to be an idol) into a nightmare. Minako tries to calm them down, to no avail.

Giant rocks are rolled in the way of everyone and Jupiter shows up smashing them with her bare hands. The other Guardians get angry at Minako for not calling for help from them. Minako tries to transform, but to the shock of the others she can't, and in embarrassment, Minako runs away, devoted to stopping this herself.

Minako runs through the jungle commenting on the multiplying lemure sucking up everyone's energy, getting angry at how these girls just wanted to follow their dream and how she's gonna tear the Dead Moon Circus apart, climbing the tower. Meanwhile Xenotime and Zeolite are throwing knives at the Super Guardian Senshi and actually pressure them, telling them if they fight back they can't ensure the safety of their untransformed friend. Lemure attack the not fighting back Guardian Senshi.

Minako reaches the top of the tower, however the captured children turn out to just be disguised lemure. She's attacked by VesVes and one of the knife-throwing brothers, who pins her down. VesVes uses the lemure to brainwash Minako, but Artemis jumps in her face, scratching her to snap her out of it. VesVes, annoyed at this, opens the hatch below them, which causes what I think is  supposed to be a cartoon-style "temporary don't fall until you look down" gag

before Minako can fall Artemis catches onto her, somehow supporting her full weight on his little kitty arms. However PallaPalla arrives and summons another giant stone like before to come down so it will crush Artemis. The act ends on a cliffhanger as Minako yells for Artemis.

As I mentioned Minako's character chapters are always a bit different to the other Guardians in plot structure, seemingly in part because Naoko likes Minako most but also probably because Minako's chapters are last so Naoko wants to subvert the formula she had established. There's a little bit this act about Minako's two dreams, but the conflict isn't really about conflict between them so much as it is about Minako's insecurities as a leader.

On the positive side, I will say it's a fairly understandable and sympathetic motivation for Minako. Especially with how the last three chapters has had the other Guardians look to the Outer Senshi for their inspirations, as opposed to her their leader. Combined with her inability to transform and it's very understandable that Minako would be feeling insecure. Minako's antics and the reactions the others have towards them are generally funny as well.

I will say however this plot isn't resolved very well. It'd be one thing if it left on a cliffhanger and it was returned too, but without spoilers, this subplot isn't resolved in a way that really connects to Minako so much as it does another character. Because it's also focused moreso on Minako's relationship to the other Senshi, as their leader, it doesn't really explore Minako as a character in herself the way the other Guardian Senshi chapters do. There's a little of that with Minako declaring herself a Senshi who fights for fun and duty, but that isn't really an expounded on idea, or her getting angry that the Dead Moon Circus are exploiting childrens beautiful dreams for their energy but that's a motivation that could equally apply to any of the Senshi or really any heroically inclined character. Plus Xenotime and Zeolite are some of the most boring villains in the entire series.

Back on the positives though, I adore the sequence with Usagi refusing to leave Mamoru's side despite his sickness. I may had had problems with the whole "Mamoru hiding his sickness" in previous chapters but I think this resolution is a beautiful display of Usagi and Mamoru's love and a highlight of the Dream arc in general. I also thought that the lead up to it, while just exposition was very elegant and at least conceptually cool, even if I'm not sure what the deeper meaning is, if there is one. I've wondered if the idea of the Dead Moon Circus attacking from without and within is a reference to the idea of the two dreams, but that doesn't seem to connect based on depiction. 

It's strange to me possibly the most serious, dramatic sequence basically explaining the stakes of the arc are the prelude to Minako's silly antics this act, but on some level I think that's just Minako as a character, for whom silliness and seriousness, fun and responsibility, congeal and become hard to tell as distinct. Overall I think the act's pretty good; it had one great scene and the rest was pretty good and a nice mixture of serious and funny, even if not as deep as I'd like. Next time however, is an act oft considered the best act in the Dream Arc. 

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.