Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon Act 54 Review

 

The Starlights are shocked to see their princess Kakyuu appear before them and kneel in respect. Kakyuu says she heard their song and wanted to go to them but "her body's recover took more time than expected" suggesting she have may have been injured in a fight against Galaxia's forces when they escaped their Star System.

If that's the case it does sort of raise the question of how she got to the Sol System if she was injured and recovering inside the incense burner and how she got separated from the Starlights. Kakyuu says that Chibi-Chibi was helping her and telling her about what was going on. Kakyuu speaks to Chibi-Chibi and says she felt her stellar power and asks her "You're a Sailor Senshi aren't you?" Chibi-Chibi transforms and confirms that she is herself a Sailor Senshi with angel wings like Eternal Sailor Moon.

Back with Usagi, Nyanko reveals her true form as Sailor Tin Nyanko and attacks Luna and Artemis after they called her a hiding cat monster basically saying "Takes one to know one." Luna and Artemis, changing into their human forms, manage to evade but Tin Nyanko is right on their heels

Usagi transforms and pursues. Tin Nyanko use an attack called "Galactica Puppet" which sends out energy strings from her bracelets to grab enemies but to Luna and Artemis' shock Eternal Sailor Moon jumps in the way of the attack. During the encounter Tin Nyanko is still jokingly pretending to be Sailor Moon's friend introduces herself as Sailor Tin Nyanko from the planet of Mau, where Luna and Artemis are from. Luna calls her just a shallow imitation of their planet's Sailor Senshi and Artemis asks how she can go against the peace-loving values of their home world. 

Tin Nyanko angrily protests, calling Luna and Artemis traitors again and saying they know nothing; Sailor Mau and all Mau are dead, the Shadow Galactica turned it into a world of death. 

This is a repetition of the idea presented with Phobos and Deimos actually being aliens from Coronis, wanting to better tie the history of the Solar System to the history of the Galaxy at large. I also think Takeuchi-sensei, knowing this was the last arc wanted to give the backstory for one of the story's oldest ideas; the mooncats. While it's not particularly integrated into the plot I think she does well enough including it naturalistically and the explanation makes a fair deal of sense. They are aliens from the world of cat-aliens Mau. I also think Tin Nyanko is a relatively interesting villain having a playful catlike attitude yet also clearly projecting onto Luna and Artemis her own feelings.

Nyanko angrily expresses that she will survive this battle and that she will have her bracelets removed and being given her "former, complete" body back again. Before the reader can register that Nyanko continues with the same thing Lead Crow said, saying Galaxia will give her a Sailor Crystal and planet of her own, becoming a real Sailor Senshi. However going into the implications of the statement, Tin Nyanko is implying that all the Animamates and those who wear Galaxia's Bracelets are enslaved to Galaxia's will, which is why her attack is one that references puppets and has strings that control them, because they lack their original bodies, that Galaxia altered their bodies to be of better use to her. This will be relevant symbolically later but broadly notice again that Galaxia is associated with a gnostic contempt for the body, that her power reveals the temporality of bodies. 

Usagi comments to herself on Luna and Artemis being from Mau the way Phobos and Deimos were from Coronis, and they left their home planets to aid them. Then Diana in her human form appears to aid her parents, the three of them getting hit by an attack from Tin Nyanko, the attack hitting Diana's Crescent Moon disabling her ability to speak.

The attack disabling Diana's speech because it hits her Crescent Moon makes sense since in Act 1 we were shown the Mautians can't speak or use some of their abilities if the Crescent Moon on their forehead is covered. The bigger problem is how Diana returned to the past, though while this is a mystery for now, it does get an explanation later. 

Sailor Moon actually tries to convince Nyanko to stop her actions which I just thought was notable as it meant Nyanko really did a good job convincing Usagi they were friends, possibly cause of Usagi's loneliness at the death of the other Senshi. Nyanko just creates some kind of illusory duplicates however and hits Luna and Artemis, similarly disabling their ability to talk. Before Nyanko can kill them however Sailor Moon leaps in the way again, protecting them, Nyanko believing it. Star Fighter than bursts in and shoots a laser at Tin Nyanko. Nyanko's evidently a lot less confident than the other Animamates and runs at away at the number of enemies there.

Sailor Moon reacts in surprise to see the Starlights, and extra surprise to see the newly transformed Chibi Chibi. While their speaking is disabled from having their Moon Crescents damaged and they are hurt, the Mautians are still alive. It does make one wonder why Galaxia decided not to show up this time. It might have been a cool scene to see Galaxia show and have the Starlights freak out at her finally appearing before them, though it would have disrupted the flow of the act. The Senshi bring the Mautions back to the wise Princess Kakyuu to get her advice on helping them.

Kakyuu gives herself a very formal and regal introduction to Usagi expressing that she is "Kakyuu, First Princess of the Tankei Kingdom, of the Planet Kinmoku." Kakyuu as a name typically refers to a fireball or a very bright meteor. Kakyuu gives a very formal bow to Usagi and apologizes for the Starlights rudeness, expressing admiration for the future Neo-Queen Serenity. Usagi in confusion asks "How do you know me?" and Kakyuu responds that the whole galaxies admires the strength and beauty of the Senshi of the Sol System, and that when she and Mamoru came together and coronated themselves at the end of the Dream Arc, they sent a shining image across the universe, a message of strength and warmth from the Solar System.

This is a really cool way to link up the Dream and Stars arcs and it makes sense both literally and metaphorically. The End of the Dream Arc was the Coronation of Serenity and Endymion, it was their formal declaration of nation, it was them stating that the Solar System was a kingdom again, their kingdom. But kingdoms have enemy kingdoms. By declaring them, they drew the eye of Galaxia as seen at the start of the arc, and her Shadow Galactica, the most immense of cosmic kingdoms  Their coronation like many similar royal ceremonies is also a coming-of-age ceremony where the Princess becomes Queen. And like any adult, they must shift from their problems of childhood represented in the first four arcs' villains, internal problems of their own inner world, the Solar System, and unto the problems of the greater world, the problems of other people. The villains in this arc are other Sailor Senshi as a way of showing the increased maturation of the threat. They're not fighting formless space monsters anymore, they're fighting other people who are like them in a sense. I also just think it's cool how this isn't framed as a bad thing they did which could have been an easy error to make, making it seem like Usagi and Mamoru were wrong to announce their presence to their universe. It did draw Galaxia's eye and brought on their current crisis. But the presence of strong and noble Senshi like them clearly gave hope to a hopeless Galaxy under the imminent reign of Galaxia. This isn't a cosmic horror story, or just a cosmic horror story, about how everything in space wants to kill you, it's a tale of Usagi's increased responsibility with the immense challenges that come with it and also increased ability to care for others.

Kakyuu comments on the Mautions that their Star Seeds have the same shining power as Sailor Crystals. Seiya tells Princess Kakyuu that the enemy fled before they could deliver the finishing blow, and therefore it doesn't seem like Galaxia had complete control over her, an astute observation. Kakyuu tells Sailor Moon of the woes of the galaxy. Sailor Galaxia is recruiting young ambitious people and giving them the power of Stolen Sailor Crystals which is what gives them their power, however they're not True Sailor Senshi and without their bracelets, their shackles to Galaxia's will, they die, forcing them to her will. 

Kakyuu says that the places Galaxia has taken are planets of death, where both the living and dead die. Even... and Kakyuu is unable to explain who but she is clearly referring to her love also perishing, paralleling her to Usagi.

Sailor Galaxia is the Soldier of Destruction making her the fundamental opposite of Sailor Moon, the Soldier of Restoration, their powers being opposite. I've seen some people compare Saturn and Galaxia in regards of their Sailor Affiliation but the major difference is that Saturn is the Sailor Senshi of Death as well as Life, of the cycle. She causes living things to die so that they may be reborn. Galaxia is nowhere near as benevolent in her powers. She simply destroys things; body, soul, and all else, leaving nothing but their Sailor Crystal. 

Princess Kakyuu tells Sailor Moon however that no matter how many planets Galaxia attacks, her ultimate goal is...her. Usagi. Usagi, shocked, asks why and Kakyuu responds "Because you carry the Sailor Crystal with the strongest power in the Galaxy, you carry the Silver Moon Crystal." We come full circle back to the First Arc. Usagi then wondered if she was losing herself to Princess Serenity, the princess doomed by fate. Now Usagi is trapped by Sailor Moon, by the Silver Crystal, by being the heroine and inviting death and destruction on everyone else. Usagi thinks back to the Second Arc, where Saphir has yelled in fury that she and her Silver Crystal disrupted history...she questions in her mind, "is all this really my fault, everyone was attacked because of me?"

An excellent callback, perfect for the situation, and an excellent internal conflict that both calls back to the themes of prior arcs while also advancing the character. Usagi tells Kakyuu that she has to go where Galaxia is and asks her location. You'd normally expect in this type of scenario for the characters to be like "oh no it's too dangerous!" and the main character to be all like "It's dangerous but I have to do it" or some such but Kakyuu gets a determined look and says she will lead Usagi there herself, to the surprise of the Starlights. There's an atmospheric picture of Usagi and Kakyuu holding hands transposed over the galaxy while the Starlights give some exposition on the galaxy, Taiki saying that the Solar System is a special place in the Galaxy for being exceptionally well-balanced and having sustained balanced growth. Yaten elaborates that all things that bear life have a Star Seed including people, planets, and stars from which they grow. Special Star Seeds, called Sailor Crystals are sent to chosen planets to guard them, developing into a Sailor Guardian alongside them. This might be why the Sol System Senshi are so strong, their System has the most sustained balanced growth and so the planets and consequently the Senshi developed the most.

This actually does explain something alluded to since the first chapter of Sailor V, that the Sailor Senshi are "chosen" Soldiers, blessed by the planets, bearing the light of the stars within them which is what grants them their superpowers. This is the light of the Star Seeds within them enveloping like an aura, that glow around them sometimes, and the way they are chosen is to grow and develop like their associated planet. The notion that all living things have a special thing, a spirit, separating them from inanimate matter is a common idea in spirituality.

This line of thought reminds Usagi of her friends and she begins to weep again. Seiya goes to comfort Usagi but she regains her composure, saying "the battle with Galaxia awaits me." Seiya metaphorically sees Seiya with Heavy Angel wings, her arms chained commenting how she always has those heavy angel wings holding her down.

It's really beautiful imagery I think, that what should be carrying her up to her heaven, her love and purity are dragging down into the ground as she suffers from the burden of responsibility and the pain of loss. Seiya's words carry the connotations that Usagi's always felt this way, that this weight is one Usagi already knows. I find it hard to interpret this sentiment, not because it has no obvious connections but because, like so many scenes in Stars, it can be seen in so many ways. Perhaps it is in admiration. Usagi, though the manga makes it easy to forget this fact, is a teenage girl who has to bear the weight of the world numerous times and her ability to transform from a tearful cowardly girl to the Hero of Love and Justice so quickly as Seiya just witnessed is truly something incredible. Perhaps it is in despair at how easily she accepts this binding, this horrid responsibility suggested by Usagi's cold expression on the first panel. Notice how the bindings on her go to her wrist, the wrist bracelets of Galaxia and her minions enslaving them being a common idea this arc. Perhaps as suggested by the next panels, it's an expression of Seiya's love wondering if Usagi has seen the death of her loved one before. It's a beautiful complex motif that can be seen in a multitude of ways. 

Seiya tells Usagi that Kakyuu also lost her true love to Galaxia and in classic knight and princess manner pledges her strength to Usagi, kissing her hand as she does so. Usagi looks in Seiya's eyes and wonders if she was never a Sailor Senshi, would she have ever met her companions, without the Silver Moon Crystal would she even exist? Thinking back to Yaten talking about their Eternal Star Seeds, Eternal Identities as Sailor Senshi,  Usagi says the thing in her heart all arc, that she wishes their physical bodies would last for eternity too.

This is another scene I don't know how to express. So many emotions are intermingling on this page and I feel like to properly address it would require a blog unto itself. This arc is about the dichotomy between the temporal, physical reality and the eternal, spiritual reality. The physical world, our physical lives are contingent on the spiritual reality, is born from it. Even if you're not a religious or spiritual person at all, you can understand this by comparing your personal life to the cosmos itself, practically a form of eternal more spiritual existence in comparison. All things are instances of broader patterns and trends, temporary bodies inhabited by widespread animating forces, just as Usagi in an incarnation of the Silver Crystal, the temporary mundane life compared to her eternal role as Sailor Moon.

In this arrangement the physical is indebted to the spiritual, indeed would seem to disappear into them. Our little lives seem to disappear into the grand scope of the universe, the moment slipping away into eternity. And an existential panic can arise, that all we are can be subsumed, eaten up like the fragile moment, by the underlying reality that causes us. Are we born purely as a vessel for the eternal reality, is our sense of self and all the details of life going to disappear into the role we inhabit? Moreover, are all our efforts and passions and loves we find in this world meaningless if it disappears like any other space dust? But Usagi ever since she feared losing herself to Princess Serenity back in the first arc is the girl who wants to elevate her humble mundane life on Earth, who chose to live on Earth as a normal girl over living as the Magical Queen of the Moon for the time being. In this way, she is the opposite of Galaxia. Galaxia asked why the Sol Senshi cling to their human Star Seeds just in the same way Usagi wishes their bodies, their human lives were as eternal as their Sailor Identities. 

Seiya gives her a reassuring kiss on the cheek, saying she hopes they can be reincarnated again. Seiya offers to walk Usagi home but she gives a brave smile and takes Chibi-Chibi. Watching her leave, Seiya comments that it would never work out between them, her rank in the Galaxy is higher than hers, which is a fun little bit of world-building.

Chibi-Chibi plays on the swings a little and Usagi starts thinking about how strange Chibi-Chibi is, always trying to make Usagi feel better but she knows nothing about Chibi-Chibi. She asks Chibi-Chibi who she is and and Chibi-Chibi hilariously responds with "I am me." Not only is that a good childish response that's also kinda profound, especially for this arc which is so focused on identities and the divide between identities it also carries extra meaning if you know already who Chibi-Chibi is. 

Usagi gets annoyed at the answer-dodging and begins to chase Chibi-Chibi only to be stopped by a crystal falling from the sky. A Sailor Crystal. A very familiar woman wearing a long flowing dress and with long flowing hair asks for it and thanks Usagi for giving it back to her.

The woman says "you always have so many friends" to Usagi before asking if it's because...of Usagi's Sailor Crystal.

An immense energy emerges from her upon saying that, sending Usagi into a defensive crouch over Chibi-Chibi. The energy is greater than any Usagi has feelt before as Usagi realizes just as she said she had too earlier, she's come face to face with Galaxia!

Act 54 is a great act though acts as a slightly, emphasis on slightly, calmer act after the trauma of last act. Mostly this act serves as an exposition on the current state of the galaxy and the nature of the Star Seeds, the big plot device of the arc. Despite this however, Naoko manages to make the arc really engaging imo through these really beautiful imagery.

This is always the part of Sailor Moon I love most, when it gets all otherworldly and esoteric when you're not even fully sure what's meant to be literal and what's meant to be metaphorical, when the boundary between worlds is thinnest, and each scene, each line can be read in a dozen different ways, thought of and understood differently in different tones over and over again. It's a type of content that I can enjoy almost uniquely over and over again when most series the meaning is expunged almost immediately after seeing it once. It's a tone that makes images and feelings cascade through my mind the way emotional music or poetry can do. Most Arcs in Sailor Moon start in the relatively mundane world and build up over the course of the arc into the surreal and otherwordly, and even most acts have this internal structure. Yet Stars as the finale for the entire series feels that way semi-consistently throughout, as though it is to the other arcs what the confrontation with the Eldritch Horrors are for the other arcs. 

It's kind of hard to know where to even start talking about this act because it's so consistently good throughout the course of it. My favorite part however is probably the two pages where Seiya comments on Usagi's heavy angels wings binding her, and the following page where Usagi wonders if she would have even been born without the Silver Crystal and comments she wishes that their bodies would also last for eternity. I feel there's so many emotions packed into those two pages and it's so indicative of the greater conflict of the arc, and the two dualities, the one with Usagi and the one she has with Galaxia. Galaxia this arc represents one who also sees the Eternal Identity of Sailor Senshi as valuable, who wonders why they even bother to have a mundane temporal identity. However for Usagi this is exactly reversed in orientation; she lives in the mundane temporal world of her friendships and her normal identity, and it's precisely losing herself and all she knows to the Eternal Identity of Sailor Moon that crushes her. She would rather never fight for Love and Justice again, would rather live everyday having fun with her friends, and taking up the mantle of her responsibilities of her Eternal Self which should give her the freedom to fly through the Heavens unbounded like it does Galaxia, instead, it weighs her down with guilt and self-doubt as she holds herself responsible for the deaths of her loved ones and comrades against the galaxy.

We just came off the tail of an arc that taught that one should not put their eternal dream as secondary to the temporal material dream, but Usagi here is not trying to make her Sailor Identity secondary, she just wishes that their mundane identity was as important, as eternal as it was, because that's where she draws her power from her. Stars has a longer emotional journey, but this section here really tells you everything you will need to know about the conflict between Usagi and Galaxia as established earlier, setting the stage for the arc. It's incredible to me just how paradoxically this arc can be incredibly esoteric and abstract in its theme, yet so incredibly personal and relatable. On a personal level, I have found this to be perhaps the most primary conflict in my life from the very small and irrelevant to the existential and massive: that the smaller and more local an event, the more temporal it is, the less you can trust it to always be there. If you turn your gaze into eternity, you find that all the soft parts of you and your life fade away into the infinite. Everything you have a fondness for, from clothes to food, from fandoms to works, from ideals to people, the things you trust fade like planets and stars and galaxies as you zoom out into the perspective of the cosmos. And if you're someone who perhaps struggles with change like Usagi, or perhaps like me, you might feel Earth is too Chaotic and Heaven too distant for your heart, wishing that these joys you find in the world may continue for eternity. 

To get away from my personal meditations and back to the more literal parts of the act, I think other parts of this act really complement the overall theme and plot of the arc. As mentioned the act does a lot of exposition work for the arc as well as explain plot elements that have been mysteries since the beginning of the series such as what the Silver Crystal IS, where Luna and Artemis come from, what the nature of Sailor Senshi are, and more. The beginning fight with Tin Nyanko is pretty good and the ending part of Galaxia ambushing Usagi when both are in their civilian states is an ironic moment for good reason, it's yet another point of Galaxia's unpredictability and engaging in prolonged mental warfare and downright torture of the sensitive Usagi for her own purpose, making her feel like it's impossible to trust anywhere or anything no matter mundane, making her feel like every moment is just one step away from the world fading away around her again into blackness the way it did when Mamoru died. I also think it was a really cool decision to have Usagi face Galaxia directly now that Usagi has accepted the reality of what Galaxia represents.

Outside the larger parts of the act, it also has a few cute smaller details peppered in. You've got Seiya's crush on Usagi that she knows will remain unrequited, you've got Chibi-Chibi's cute and honestly kinda brilliant response to Usagi's question of "who are you?" with "I am me." You've got Kakyuu's backstory as well as two different fantastic callbacks to prior arcs with Usagi remembering Saphir telling her that she and her Silver Crystal have thrown off the course of human history at exactly the time Usagi would remember that, as well as the reveal that the Stars Arc happened because of the Coronation at the end of last act, a callback which not only makes a lot of sense literally and metaphorically but also makes sure to show that it was not just a bad thing which is a really smart writing decision. 

I can get if someone's  not super into this act because it's a lot of talking and not much happens for the majority of it, plus if you already know the lore of the series it's a lot of just exposition, but for me personally I absolutely adore it. 

Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon Act 53 Review

 

Lead Crow addresses Phobos and Deimos recalling the time when they ere all young soldiers in training on the alien world of Coronis. However the were the lucky twins chosen by a princess of the Solar System, which Lead Crow claims was the most shining place in the galaxy, presumably because of the Silver Crystal. They were chosen to serve Princess Mars, becoming her partners and given names and moons of their own. This is a pretty cool backstory, though it does kind a bit of a paradox. This would have had to happen in the Silver Millennium hundreds of millions years ago or longer and Saturn dropped the Silence Glaive since then, meaning nothing should have survived since then. I think the best way to handle this paradox is to assume that Lead Crow is talking about their past lives and that the power of a Sailor Crystal, the Coronis Crystal given to Lead Crow or the Mars Crystal that Phobos and Deimos are connected to allowed them to remember that time.

Sailor Lead Crow says that all living things have a star seed, and those with special star seeds are given the protection of their planets, Sailor Crystals and Sailor Senshi. Phobos and Deimos comment that she must have taken the protection of Sailor Coronis, something only Sailor Coronis could do. Sailor Lead Crow launches an attack "Galactica Tornado" which destroys the Hikawa Shrine, boasting that Galaxia gave her the power of the Coronis Crystal as one  of her Sailor Animamates, and once she brings her the Sailor Crystals of the Sol Senshi she will be reborn a real Sailor Senshi with a real planet.

I think Sailor Lead Crow has a really cool aesthetic and backstory. It also shows the distinctive trait of Galaxia and the Animamates; their ambition to get their own world with the Animamates desire being a mirror of Galaxia's own motive, shown later. Lead Crow is motivated by a sense of envy; angry at Phobos and Deimos for becoming the partners to a Senshi and getting their own satellites, and now she rubs in that she is going to become superior; a real Sailor Senshi with her own planet. 

Phobos and Deimos are shocked that Lead Crow betrayed Coronis and its Senshi but Lead Crow declares that Coronis and all its people are dead before taking Phobos and Deimos' Star Seeds just as Mars and Venus arrive. Mars shoots her Mars Flame Sniper at Lead Crow who equals the attack before grabbing Sailor Mars to use her as hostage, telling Venus not to move or she will steal her Star Seed as well.

I really like the picture of Mars and Lead Crow crashing. I've also always theorized that the reason Lead Crow can physically hold Mars in place is while both have the power of a Sailor Crystal, Lead Crow also has soldier training besides that. 

Sailor Venus calls out for Sailor Moon which far away the other Senshi in their civilian forms sense. Lead Crow questions who to take the Star Seed from first, Sailor Mars or Sailor Venus only for Sailor Moon to show up. Sailor Moon uses her Eternal Attack, Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss to destroy Lead Crow, hitting her without hitting Mars, saving Venus and Mars.

then Galaxia kills Mars and Venus

This is really well thought out narratively, for Galaxia and for Usagi, all in a linked way. It's a representation of what makes Galaxia so threatening and entertaining, that she always wins, that even when you think you beat her, she just immediately reverses it. Galaxia has initiative and agency in a way most villains don't. When one of her minions fails, she just completes the mission herself without any struggle. Galaxia this entire arc feels inevitable and unstoppable yet entirely unpredictable. Even when Usagi thinks she's saved some of her friends, they just immediately die because...Galaxia. Once it breaks audience expectations and its suddenness relates the pain of things in this temporal world we live just suddenly disappearing and throwing your perceptions into Chaos.

Galaxia laughs at Usagi's horror as visions of everyone who have died so far flash before her eyes. Usagi faints. In Crystal Tokyo, everyone's celebrating Small Lady returning to the future but there's been chaotic strange weather. Small Lady goes to bring flowers to Pluto, overhearing Pluto talk to her mom saying that a maelstrom is warping spacetime and that history may change.

I'm not...exactly sure how this works. Wouldn't there be storm clouds every day from the Present Day to the Silver Millennium? The Mechanics of it are deliberately vague but it still feels kinda strange that things are happening in the 30th Century and...only the 30th Century seemingly.

Small Lady interrupts their discussion and in shock asking if history is gonna change and then saying she needs to go back to help Sailor Moon. Neo-Queen Serenity however tells Small Lady her training is completed and that she's going to be studying here at a Remote Moon Palace for her own safety before sending her to bed. Small Lady does so but talks to Diana about what they said about the part and telling her that she needs to go back.

It's a fairly standard conflict for Chibiusa at this point of her development but I like how she says "Yes Mama." and thinks "No Way!" and the adorable picture of Diana in a little basket.

Back in the past, the Outer Senshi are standing around Usagi's unconscious body questioning what to do. Haruka suggests they put up a shield around the system but Michiru comments that it's too dangerous, it could disrupt the balance of the system, and they don't have the power to do so. Haruka says they'll have to borrow the power from their Sailor Power Guardians and even says they'll have to get the cooperation  of the Starlights...which coming from Haruka is how you know it's serious. Haruka asks Luna and Artemis to take care of Hotaru and the princess before the three teleport off.

The Starlights give a wellness visit to Usagi at her home after her faint, briefly seeing Chibi-Chibi with angel wings. That will be relevant later. As Usagi awakens, she talks to herself about remembering. She remembers seeing Mamoru die before her eyes. Usagi didn't want to believe, didn't want to remember. Usagi remembers in horror the way Galaxia laughed as Mamoru...as Venus and Mars...

I've seen people who don't even like Sailor Moon comment before that the Stars Arc has "some of the best writing in the Shojo genre" and I really couldn't agree more. Usagi is at her most evocative this arc, the way she awakens both literally and symbolically at the same time, admitting she knew what happened but she didn't "want" to believe, didn't "want" to face the reality that is Galaxia. It's painfully understandable, and I think almost anyone could relate, having a sad thing happens and just...refusing to think about it because you don't wanna face it. Though for some of us this is a bigger struggle than others. The first half of the Stars Arc is broadly about Usagi's emotional inability to face Galaxia even as her world ends around her. Metaphorically it's about the degeneration of the world around us as we try to turn a blind eye to it until we can't anymore, until it laughs in our face and forces to confront the painful reality.

Usagi asks Seiya if Galaxia's the one she was talking about and Seiya confirms so, that Galaxia is by far the strongest enemy she's ever faced. Usagi asks if Galaxia is another Sailor Senshi, why she's attacking them. Taiki says it's not just the Sol System, she's attacking Senshi from around the Galaxy, and it's possible she wishes to stand atop all of the Sailor Senshi. Once again Galaxia is associated as the top of the Sailor Senshi Hierarchy, the pinnacle of ability. Seiya tells Usagi that their planet and princess were attacked as well and that the Guardian Senshi died as humans. However, Yaten says they've only died as humans, that their Sailor Crystals are eternal.

Yaten tells Usagi that Galaxia is only after Star Seeds, which is true, and symbolically the point of Galaxia. Galaxia only cares about the eternal and not the temporal, their identities as Sailor Senshi instead of their mundane identities in temporary lifespans.

The Starlights depart but before they go Seiya throws Usagi a card of the Milky Way, a giant blazing "star" in the center, the galactic center, where Seiya says Galaxia is. Usagi realizes Seiya was sending Usagi the mysterious cards she was receiving. Seiya comments on the incense burner in Usagi's room, commenting that she smelt the faint smell of olive leaves, commenting that "I'm very sure..."

The next day the teacher is calling attendance and Usagi has say that Minako is absent today, reminding her of the fate of the Senshi. It could have twisted the knife in even more if people assumed Minako was up to one of her antics and Usagi had to listen to them speculating knowing the grim reality. An exchange student comes to their class from living in Libya for three years, whose name, appearance and speech patterns are all meant to evoke a cat.

Gee, I wonder if she's the cat Animamate? It's a little bit of a mood whiplash going from "all your friends are dead" to "here's this silly cat villain."

Nyanko immediately tries to cozy up to Usago, commenting on her hairstyle. Usagi doesn't notice anything strange about this and makes friends with Nyanko but in true cat fashion Nyanko doesn't like the loud noise coming from the crowd beign all excited over the Three Lights. One of the boys in the class tries to hit on Nyanko and asks her if she "likes cats" No, I'm sure the girl who looks like a cat, makes cat noises, and has a catlike name doesn't like cats.

Nyanko rejects him and tells Usagi that only people she trusts are girls, before telling Usagi that she also probably shouldn't trust girls that pretend to be boys, referencing the Three Lights

We cut to the Three Lights who comment to each other that the next exchange student reeks of alien pheromones, but Yaten snarks "like we're ones to talk." Taiki comments that it seems they've infiltrated the school before the Three Lights teleport away.

We cut to the Outer Senshi arriving at their Planetary Castles, Miranda Castle orbiting Uranus, Triton Castle orbiting Neptune, and Charon Castle orbiting Pluto. Pluto has a really sweet little moment where she comments that she never thought she'd step foot on Charon Castle again,, flashing back to Little Pluto before she was assigned to the spacetime door happily stepping into her castle, given to the Outer Senshi when they were born by Queen Serenity. 

Guardian Pluto greets her princess, commenting she has messages from Princess Uranus. The Outer Senshi prepare to set up a shield around the system but before they do they investigate the meteor data, finding that each and every meteor have exceeded the escape velocity of the Solar System, the speed a celestial body needs to escape the Sun's gravitational orbit, a level of energy Pluto says is unlike anything in the Solar System. The Outers can only conclude that their theory is correct, that the Invaders came in on Shooting Stars. As Setsuna comes to this conclusion, suddenly Galaxia like a slasher villain appears behind her causing her to turn in shock. The screen observing this goes static on Miranda Castle and Hotaru, who was playing in a sandbox with Chibi-Chibi, senses danger to her mamas and flies off to help them

Once again I love how Galaxia is so unpredictable in that she shows such initiative and agency, constantly attacking when the reader doesn't expect her, breaking the series and genre conventions that lead the reader to expect her to act a certain way. I also like the theory that Galaxia attacked the Outer Senshi herself because she knew the Animamates had no chance against them. 

We cut to Usagi dramatically looking off into the distance, considering what Yaten told her of how they have died as humans. She wonders "Is death always so sudden and unexpected?" I can scarcely think of a more universal thing to feel. I love how many lines in the Stars Arc both fit the particulars so clearly yet feel like they could apply to any series or indeed real life, making the whole arc feel larger than life. Usagi thinks of Yaten telling her only their physical bodies were destroyed, but everything that makes a Sailor Senshi who she is lives eternally in her Sailor Crystal. Usagi asks herself "Do we need physical bodies?"

It's funny. Galaxia wants Usagi to think the way she does, and as soon as she confronts the reality Galaxia represents is something like what Galaxia would think. There is a gnostic impulse in people that Galaxia represents, the antithesis of the nihilistic impulse. That gnostic impulse leads us to wonder if these transient things we live among have any real meaning. Particularly when we lose things close to us, it makes us wonder if these strange temporary lives we lead are important. Gnosticism holds that the material is inherently inferior to the spiritual and not needed. It's a religion, but the underlying emotion can be felt by anyone regardless of faith; a skepticism of the instance, of the mundane and material. In an hour I might consider briefly the weather, the afterlife and the fate of my soul, what to eat, how to complete this blog, the great issues of society and a small rip in my clothing. There is something perverse in the mixed chaos of unfocused thought, that the most important matter and the least important are given equal weight. The Nihilist impulse feels that in light of the ultimate chaos and meaningless of things it makes no difference, that no weighty matter deserves privileged concern. Nothing matters. The Gnostic impulse feels in light of the ultimate order and meaningfulness of things, it makes all difference, that all transient matters must be sacrificed to the ultimate importance. Everything matters. This arc will focus itself on proper orientation between the two impulses, the proper relationship between the temporal and eternal, the material and the spiritual. Usagi asks herself if physical bodies aren't essential to us, the gnostic question, can we live just as eternal spirit, what's the point in all these painful temporal material details we live within in light of the perfect eternal big picture?

We cut to Luna and Artemis who are running along, sensing someone with the same powers as them, another cat-person. They reach the side of Usagi who has Nyanko by her side and suggest they hang out and have a bird dinner. Luna and Artemis confront her before Usagi can respond, calling her an imposter and demanding she show her true form. 

Sus.

Meanwhile at the Tsukino residence, Chibi-Chibi is taking a little nap when the Three Lights show up, demanding the incense burner. Chibi-Chibi stands in front of it protectively protesting "No!" over and over. This raises an eyebrow knowing who Chibi-Chibi is but I can think of some explanations when we get to it. A voice comes from the incense burner telling her it's ok, that these are her friends and emerging from it like a Djinn is Princess Kakyuu, the princess the Starlights have been searching for.

Act 53 is pretty good overall. It's not as good as Act 52 mostly because it's mostly a more surface-level connecting act that's meant to introduce some plot points and reiterate the themes that were already expressed. 

This act continues to emphasize Galaxia's sheer power in the narrative. You think based on what happened with Mercury and Jupiter that Lead Crow would kill Mars and Venus, yet the narrative subverts this with Moon actually killing Lead Crow and saving them, only to double subvert it with Galaxia showing up to kill them anyway. This not only is a surprising twist in the narrative on a literal level but also reinforces that Galaxia doesn't lose, her agenda will always come to pass even if only because of her overwhelming power, building her threat level and unpredictability. I can think of few villains more effective that don't outright win. Likewise, her surprise attack on the Outer Senshi further breaks conventions as usually in this act there's only one battle with the enemy per act, though Galaxia attacks without warning or build-up. 

I also think this act does a better job than any other act in the Stars Arc of developing members of the Sailor Animamates. Lead Crow and Tin Nyanko are both given more of personalities than Iron Mouse or Aluminum Seiren, Lead Crow having more of a motive and a backstory, and Tin Nyanko having more gimmicks and a more unique style of infiltration. Tin Nyanko does cause a little bit of mood whiplash going back and forth from these serious scenes about death to this silly cat villain, but I think Naoko was trying to provide a little comic relief. 

I love the overarching theme of this arc, but I feel it's only really touched upon here, Usagi questioning if people can live without their bodies and it's not really given any developments in thought, only really a stepping stone to be referenced in a future act. Yes the act is atmospheric and I can read that part while listening to sad music and feel myself swept up in the tragically beautiful temporalities of life, but I can do that with most acts this arc. 

Like with every Stars Act, there's some cute or interesting details spread everywhere like Chibi-Chibi's cute defense of the Incense Burner, the Outer Senshi trying to raise a shield around the Solar System noting that the meteors have exceeded the escape velocity of the Solar System, or Lead Crow's shared history with Phobos and Deimos on Coronis. I do like that Naoko tries to connect the history of the Solar System with the history of the galaxy she is working on by connecting Lead Crow with Phobos and Deimos or Luna and Artemis with Tin Nyanko, which I know has to be a hard balancing act given that she also wants to impress upon Usagi the alien-ness of the wider universe, the way our Solar System is another spec of dust floating in the cosmic winds to make this threat truly seem bigger than any prior. 

This act overall acts as a bit of a culmination of what the first few Star Acts were establishing. The Sol Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen, representing Usagi's material ties to the world of the Solar System and the ideals she trusted in are lost, the new threat is named and established, Usagi has been forced to confront the eternal reality represented by Galaxia, and the Starlights have found their Princess. The theme is in the mind of the protagonist just as it should be ours. If someone were to say the first four acts of Stars made up a sub-arc to themselves, I wouldn't agree but I would very understand. However, while I wouldn't call this the end of a sub-arc, I would call it the end of an emotional arc, and not just of the first four acts but of the entire series. We are introduced to Usagi in Act 1 as a coward and a crybaby who becomes strong and brave for her loved ones, and the two themes of this entire series this whole time have been the ennobling power of love and the pain of isolation. But now Usagi will have to ask how she can be strong when she is alone.

How they Compare: The Counter-Actor

 

The Counter-Actor is considered by some to be the strongest specifically anime villain to exist. Before the existence of the multiverse there were three Goddesses known as the Chousin. The Chousin were seemingly omnipotent.. until they asked if they were. The Three speculated on whether there was or could be a being stronger than them, and in their thought experiment, they caused the creation of the multiverse, a massive science experiment of higher dimensional deities to create the supreme being. What they didn't realize is that their actions caused a counter-action, all forces needing to be balanced out and coming to zero. Every force they used in their actions had a counterforce which would all collect into a single being, a being that could counteract even the Chousin ironically fulfilling their original goal, the Counter-Actor. 

On the alien world of Jurai a girl was born to the royal house known as Misaki Masaki Jurai, born with extraordinary gifts. A highly emotional and sweet girl with both powers and royalty she became the second of Emperor Azusa's two wives, devoted to her husband and greatly admiring her co-wife Funaho. However far in the future Azusa and Funaho will perish and mad with grief, Misaki awakens to her true nature as the collective culmination of the counterforce for every action the Chousin have done. As the Counter-Actor she was fired on by her own people trying to stop her, causing horrific wounds across her body including a blast through her head. This did nothing to her, but she keeps the wounds from healing, perhaps to show the way she has been hurt by the world.

The Counter-Actor is considered the exact equal opposite force to the Chousin, three Goddesses who created the multiverse with all its dimensions and physical laws. This multiverse is comprised of infinite experiments the Chousin ran through to create a being superior to them. Their true forms also exist outside space and time and so speed is irrelevant to them. 

Misaki even before awakening has supernatural gifts being considered the greatest martial artist on Jurai without even trying and being able to climb the massive Tenju tree as a child. She was able to outrun her babysitters who were skilled warriors the moment she learned to walk. She was hyper-competent. She also was born of incredible strength and skill to the point of being able to physically harm the physical avatars of the Chousin, avatars who could wipe out solar systems in an instant, which Misaki did accidentally...with a hug. Beyond that, like all Jurai Royalty she can create an astral copy of herself and can live for thousands of years. 

After awakening as the Counter-Actor she will become obviously immensely more powerful with presumably reality-warping abilities on the scale of the Chousin who created the multiverse and all its laws, turn back time, manipulate the astral and mental planes even creating the multiverse as part of a thought experiment, and be immune to all physical laws. Her physical form is functionally immune to any kind of death as can be seen by the fact that the majority of her body was shot through and it just didn't faze her and as a sentient counter-force her true form is likely also abstract. It's likely she has the ability to generate Light-Hawk Wings, a form of energy wings that can be used to manipulate energy, form a barrier around oneself, teleport, absorb all forms of attack including psychic attacks, and manipulate spacetime such as inverting black holes or penetrating into hyperspace. These Light-Hawk Wings are manifestations of the Chousins' aura and should be replicable for their opposite.

Finally there's her main ability and what she was made for, counter-acting. The Counter-Actor seems to have the ability to counteract or negate the abilities of others, even threatening the Chousin despite their immortality and reality-warping powers. The Counter-Actor only appears very briefly so her list of demonstrated abilities are quite small but she likely has more abilities beyond this. It is stated by the Chousin, Goddesses that exist in over 20 dimensional-space, that only Kami Tenchi, the result of their quest to find an entity stronger than them and the God of the setting, can stop the Counter-Actor. 

In terms of weaknesses, the Counter-Actor is mentally and emotionally unstable and was beaten by Kami Tenchi showing up and calming her down with a kiss. Also, it's likely the Counter-Actor has the same weakness as the Chousin where despite their immense power they are not very precise with it such that they must limit themselves dramatically in order to interact with places like 3-dimensional space without accidentally crushing similar to a scientist using precise tools to interact with a petri dish. The Chousin believe they could have stopped the Counter-Actor at least at one point but to do so would have required the destruction of the Third Dimension in its entirety.

Name: The Counter-Actor, Misaki Masaki Jurai

Origin: Tenchi Muyo

Powers and Abilities: Conceptual Entity (Represents the counterforce to the actions of the Chousin), Likely Reality-Warping, Likely Astral/Mental Manipulation as well as Physical Law Manipulation, Physical and Astral Body Creation, Power Negation, Higher-Dimensional Existence, Likely Spacetime Manipulation, Energy Manipulation, and Absorption with Light-Hawk Wings

Weaknesses: Emotionally Unstable, Likely some lack of precision

Destructive Capacity: Infinite

Range: Infinite

Speed: Irrelevant

Durability: Infinite

Stamina: Infinite

Standard Equipment: Nothing Notable

Intelligence: One of the most skilled martial artists in the world of Jurai without even really trying, Likely very intelligent in general (was the Supreme Commander of Jurai's Royal Bodyguards and has centuries of aiding the ruling of Jurai)

So how would the Counter-Actor do in counteracting other verses?

In the DC Comics Multiverse, The Counter-Actor would be considered a Sphere of the Gods tier entity with infinite physical power and possibly infinite conceptual power making her similar to the New Gods who can crush the Multiverse by falling on it, and with powerful Gods of the Godsphere being able to affect infinitely sized realms like Hell or Heaven with Neron and Lord Satanus able to warp all of Hell or Darkseid being able to manipulate Apokalips. However, she would struggle to affect anything higher as she lacks metafictional abilities and the Fifth Dimension is a metafictional dimension.

Against most of the Godsphere entities Misaki's power of counter-acting would work but wouldn't be an especially broken ability particularly against some of the higher godsphere entities who have large arrays of broken abilities like Darkseid, Zeus, or Neron. I think a really interesting match might her vs the Anti-Monitor as of COIE. The Anti-Monitor's primary power is the usage of antimatter which in DC is a realm comprising one third of the multiverse that nullifies all matter-energy forces from the matter realm including things like magic. This would make it a real battle between power negators. 

In Marvel Comics, The Counter-Actor would be considered a low Abstract Tier entity in a similar tier to the High Skyfathers. This would be the same tier as the Abstracts Love and Hate, Chaos and Order, as well as the cosmic entities Fully Fed Galactus, Odin, the Ones Who Sit in Shadow, or the Vishanti. These entities can affect infinite planes of reality with their power with the conceptual literally being concepts existing across the multiverse similar to the Counter-Actor. 

Ironically the Counter-Actor would struggle to kill the strongest Abstracts like Eternity and Infinity for the same reason people in her own universe struggle to kill her, while she exists in more than 20 dimensions, Eternity represents an infinitely-dimensioned cosmos meaning the Counter-Actor doesn't have the area of effect to hit his "true" form. I think Counter-Actor would have a particularly bad matchup against Love and Hate as these psychological factors more than anything else rule her mind and are the way Kami Tenchi defeated her initially. On the other hand, I think she would have a particularly strong match-up against both the Vishanti and the Celestials. The Vishanti are three magical deities similar to the Chousin and her Ability of Counter-Acting would likely negate their ability in a similar way she could to the Chousin. Conversely the Celestials powers come from manipulation of the physical laws of the universe but the Counter-Actor exists outside them and she could counteract their regeneration. She probably would lose to Odin however as The All-Father is known for his wisdom above all things and Misaki is emotionally unstable and would be fairly easy to manipulate combined with Odin's relative stats and larger variety of abilities. 

Noein is another one of the verses considered among the strongest anime verses, considered by some when it came out as the second strongest anime verse after Tenchi Muyo, so how would The Counter-Actor do if she was within it? Well in a direct fight, Misaki would almost certainly win. Noein was able to absorb the entire multiverse and Haruka was able to restore it with her power but The Counter-Actor is a conceptual entity whose origins predate the multiverse and its law itself. The central power of the verse, manipulation of quantum realities would do nothing against The Counter-Actor predates quantum mechanics and in a direct fight she could Counter-Act ultimate observer abilities turning Haruka into a normal 12 year old girl and Noein into a normal spooky floating mask. Without the ability to attack conceptual entities it's unlikely they could kill Misaki directly.

However Noein can interact with the physical multiverse from Shangri-La his personal realm which is a realm of consciousness which Misaki might have trouble interacting with directly. While the Chousin have shown the ability to manipulate physical laws, souls, and memories, they've never shown the ability to affect consciousness itself. And while The-Counter Actor could probably physically interact with Noein at close range due to being conceptual there's no reason to think she could just reach Shangr-La at will. It's possible form there Noein could just convince Misaki to give up, especially after a long time, though this is an unlikely scenario to occur especially in a standard vs setting.

Another verse Tenchi Muyo God Tiers were compared to were the God Tiers of Slayers, so how would the Counter-Actor do in Slayers? Each Stave of Slayers floating in the chaos is an infinite multiverse where a different version of the demonic Mazoku and the godlike Shinzoku which are astral entities battle. Each Stave has 4 Ma-o, rulers of the Mazoku, who have infinite physical power though do have finite astral power and they have a hierarchy between them, with the strongest Shinzoku being similar in power. This means they would be identical to Counter-Actor in physical power, though her power would likely be higher on a higher plane. The Counter-Actor would have no trouble defeating any single Mazoku or Shinzoku due being able to hit the astral plane and being a conceptual entity they likely can't kill but particularly with her erratic mindset might take a while to fight the sheer number the verse has considering there seems to be 8 per Stave and "many" staves. 

That said it would be relatively hard for them to defeat her as it's unknown if they can hit conceptual entities. Plus she's a higher dimensional entity which they would find hard to beat. However even if the Counter-Actor does beat them there is an even stronger entity in Slayers, the infamous Lord of Nightmares. L-Sama not only has conceptual but also metafictional attacks capable of attacking her own author. Her infinite Chaos Manipulation would also be able to likely Counter-Acting. Lord of Nightmares would likely win the fight pretty quickly, while the Counter-Actor is considered by some the strongest anime villain, LoN is considered by some to be the strongest anime character in general, depending on definition of what counts as an "anime" character

Gensokyo is another world made by a trinity of goddess-like entities, so how would The Counter-Actor do in the Touhou Project? One of the Sages of Gensokyo, Okina Matara maintained a reflection of the multiverse including a conceptually infinite realm, suggesting the Sages would be equal in physical power to the Chousin and have even higher conceptual power. This means that while The Counter-Actor would be equal to a Sage on the physical plain, she probably couldn't hurt them on the conceptual plane, let alone characters who exist on an even higher plane which she couldn't affect at all.

While the Counter-Actor through infinite stats would be able to easily beat almost anyone who is sub-Sage tier, and while Misaki could at least threaten anyone with a physical or astral type body such as Yukari or Kasen, any actual deity who exists beyond the conceptual would be completely outside her ability to affect even with Counter-Acting. Even if she was to fight Yukari or Kasen while her ability would nullify their abilities, Kasen could just as easily use her shadow arm to steal counter-acting or Yukari could just manipulate the boundary of action and counter-action to allow the former to encompass the latter, reverting to Misaki, meaning it would functionally be a quick draw where the Counter-Actor would be not as skilled in danmaku as her opponents. Plus even if she did negate Yukari or Kasen's abilities they would still hypothetically be able to use their vast intellects to manipulate the erratic Misaki into giving up. Probably wouldn't work but it does mean that if it was 50/50 otherwise that would tip it in their favor more. Her being a higher dimensional entity might be a difficulty, though Touhou powers are so broad in what they can do I imagine the sages could get around this ability if Yukari adjusted the boundary between spatial dimensions or Sagume mentions it will be hard for them to affect The Counter-Actor due to higher dimensional nature due to her speech-reversal ability. If you think that being higher-dimensional then she's just unaffectable for the tier without explicit feats than she would be a general Sage Tier character being able to beat about half of them and then stalemating the other half. Otherwise, The Counter-Actor would definitely be a Sage-Tier character but probably the weakest one. 

It would be very hard for anyone else in the tier to take her own due to her infinite stats though stealth based strategies like Koishi or especially Doremy for manipulating her emotions may be able to stop her. 

Finally, I've been told that Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy is probably the strongest cartoon overall so how would possibly anime's strongest villain due in the strongest cartoon? While even the high tiers are usually stronger than The Counter-Actor by an infinite amount the most powerful magic users and gods of this setting have the ability to change their size and powers even growing to be infinitely big. Broadly speaking The Counter-Actor would be a fairly normal God at their maximum extent for the verse. Counter-Acting would be a fairly strong power in general that would allow her to take on most of the verse's big name opponents, especially since many characters in the tier rely on objects and if she counter-acts them, they would be rendered mostly powerless. However in contrast her defenses would be fairly low tier. She'd probably be able to resist Father Time's time manipulation given she's outside physical laws like time, but being conceptual is not considered a very strong defense in this verse with many characters having conceptual or metafictional forms of attack. She would have the advantage of being a more serious and skilled fighter than most of the tier.

However, there are three fighters I don't think she would do very well against. Horror the god of the Underworld was able to use fear manipulation so intense it caused someone to literally explode and Eris is a Platonic Goddess of Chaos that would have the same advantages the Lord of Nightmares did earlier. The former would be able to hypothetically break Misaki's will and the latter would be able to hypothetically resist Counter-Acting via Infinite Chaos Manipulation and bypass The Counter-Actor existing in 20-dimensional space by sending her to a puppet dimension that metafictionally turns one into a puppet and ironically nullifies all their powers. Granted one on one Misaki could beat either of them via manipulation of their items but the real counter to her is one of the characters whose name is in the title.

Mandy is famously one of the strongest willed and most powerful psychological manipulators in cartoons to the point of being considered a relative mental challenge to a Type 5 supergenius like Dexter. Future Mandy has turned into a giant wormlike monster immune to all the powers of the verse including presumably the power nullification of the puppet dimension meaning she could outright resist Counter-Acting as well as most of Misaki's abilities. If the two were to face off, they would likely enter a stare-down and a psychological test comparing the erratic and broken sweet girl Misaki with the metaphorical embodiment of will and evil Mandy. Overall even if the Counter-Actor does manage to use her more serious mindset and taking advantage of the verse's weaknesses to beat the rest of the verse I think Mandy the villain protagonist would be able to protect the verse from Misaki the villain antagonist.